1950

A note from Ellen Pearson, Dan's widow, corrects an error that I made in his obituary in a recent issue of this magazine. Dan had retired after many years of teaching at Rhode Island College in Providence, not from Temple University as I had indicated.

If you're going to the Princeton game, at Princeton on November 23, look for the 1950 banner on top of a car in the parking lot near the observatory. The tailgate party there is usually rivaled only by those held in Hanover.

Speaking of obituaries, I will review the process that gets them into this magazine. Usually, someone notifies either the College or the alumni magazine that a classmate has passed away, although sometimes the College's clipping service will pick it up from a newspaper obituary. That action triggers the office of alumni records to issue a notice and to pull the available records of that classmate, all of which is sent to the alumni magazine which in turn forwards them to me and I write the obituary for inclusion in a future issue (two months' lead time). Usually, it will be three to five months between the time of a classmate's death and the time his obit appears in the magazine. A relative or a classmate can hasten the process by sending me a note and/or a copy of an obituary from a newspaper. Better still, if you or a relative will write an obit of a classmate, it will be much more personal and comprehensive and I will edit it and submit it to the magazine.

All this may seem macabre, and it's not a desirable one of the class secretary's chores. Nevertheless, the facts are that more than a dozen classmates pass away each year now, and the number will increase to over 25 per year in the next ten years. By my reckoning, we have lost about 160 classmates since graduation and there are about 575 of us left. Seems that an obit in the alumni magazine and taxes are life's inevitabilities.

Enough of that! But if you want me to fill this column with more light and/or enlightening news in the future, give me some input. How about sending me a holiday card with a note?

In the meantime, have a fine Turkey Day.

2 Central Green, Winchester, MA 01890