1952

When our class first arrived at Dartmouth there was exactly one class member hailing from Texas—Jacques Adoue. But now there are 16 who call Texas their home state. How come? In the interests of dimension and completeness—and this column always strives for dimension and completeness—the '52 Texas contingent is: Adoue, Alexanian, Best, Dorey, Hawkins, Ibarra, Kerr, Malonis, McGuire, Meneely, Moody, Pierson, Sleeper, Stephens, Vail and Weed.

What drew all these folks to Texas? What's the attraction of living in the Lone Star State and what's the downside? We threw five darts at the list and phoned the five names they landed on.

Deke Dorey lives in McKinney, near Dallas. He spent many years with GE in Tyler and that's where all his kids grew up. They still live in Texas so that's a powerful Texas attraction for Deke and Mickey. Retired since 1986, Deke plays golf three times a week and can't imagine living in any other state.

Ray Alexanian is still doctoring at the M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston. He was recruited to go there in 1964 and confesses that Texas required quite an adjustment on the part of a guy who grew up in Bronx, New York. What's good about Texas is that it doesn't have a winter and his work is important and challenging. Less good, frankly, is that "there's a lot of ignorance and complacency here plus a lack of imagination. Things which contribute to the quality of life certainly don't originate here."

Chuck Best lives in Dallas and still works as an investment manager. He's enthusiastic. "Wonderful people, friendly, a business community that is very professional. The schools are good and it's been a great place to raise kids. Moving to Texas was the best decision I ever made." The flip side of the Lone Star coin? "The heat is bad. Air conditioning made Texas and there can't be too much of it!"

The geophysical industry brought Ernie Stephens down to Texas 40 years ago. Ernie and Elaine live near Austin in Georgetown, a developed community once called Sun City. He stays active with a lot of tennis, very much likes the friendly Texas people and told us the climate was actually benign. Ernie is thoroughly acclimated to Texas because when we spoke on an early June morning the temperature outside his window was 96 degrees. But for balance, Ernie adds, "We're in the Bible Belt and the atmosphere is very conservative—sometimes stiflingly so." He misses seeing classmates and much enjoys occasional trips to Hanover.

Tony Ibarra and Peggy live in McAllen, which is south Texas. When we spoke to him he'd been retired from his Mexico City consulting business for only six weeks. They lived in Mexico but bought their house in Texas 18 years ago and used it for vacations. Now they're full time Texans. What do they like about Texas? "Everyone's so friendly." But what about the heat? You get used to it, Tony says, and you dress for it. After all, "We lived in Mexico for nearly 50 years."

So there you have it. Classmates who mostly came to Texas for career reasons, ended up putting down roots. Don't forget to check out our '52 Web site at www.dartmouth.org/classes/52.

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