Alf Evers '29, author, preservationist, and the preeminent chronicler of his beloved Catskills, was born on February 2, 1905, in New York City. The son of Ivan E. and Anna Evers, he moved with his family at the age of 9 from the Bronx to Tillson in the Catskill foothills, where his parents tried their hand at pig farming. When the venture failed, the family settled in nearby New Paltz, where Alf was graduated from high school. He came to Hamilton in 1925 and remained on the Hill for a year. He later attended the Art Students League in New York City and found employment as a door-to-door salesman for the Fuller Brush Co. and as an insurance claims investigator.
Alf Evers' career as a writer began when he and his wife, Helen Baker, an illustrator, collaborated in preparing greeting cards for the Norcross Co. A succession of children's books followed, some 50 in all, which he wrote and his wife illustrated. During World War II, while residing in Connecticut, Alf oversaw local fuel distribution. After the war, and soon to be divorced, he moved back to the Catskills, first to Woodstock before eventually settling into a Civil-War-era home in the nearby hamlet of Shady.
Fascinated by Catskills history and lore, and impelled by a lively curiosity, Alf Evers began doing research and contributing articles to newspapers in an effort to set the historical record straight regarding regional myths and legends. When an editor for Doubleday suggested that he write a book on Catskills history, Alf eagerly plunged in, making the rounds of the region, uncovering the human side of its history, mostly by jeep and on foot, and on a person-to-person basis. After years of research and slow-paced, meticulous writing and revising, the result was The Catskills: From Wilderness to Woodstock (1972). Sound scholarship combined with lively prose, it remains to this day the definitive history of the region.
By the time of its publication, Alf Evers, had already gained recognition as "a living repository of local history and folklore," and as a spellbinding storyteller much in demand on the lecture circuit. Besides serving on the editorial board of the New York Folklore Quarterly, as vice president of the New York State Historical Society, and Woodstock town historian, he continued to write, resulting in 1987 in Woodstock: History of an American Town, a colorful and captivating account of that community. It was followed in 1995 by In Catskill Country: Collected Essays on Mountain History, Life and Lore, published on his 90th birthday.
Alf Evers, a congenial and gracious man, generously bearded and with a gentle sense of humor, loved gardening. He especially enjoyed caring for his four acres of woodland, trying to maintain them as refuges for native ferns and flowering plants. As a preservationist, he often spoke to local groups on the need to limit development in the Catskills, which was to him a treasured place. Living the simple life, he chopped his own firewood into his 90s. When immobilized by the infirmities of old age and suffering from loss of sight as well as hearing, he determinedly continued to write. He was particularly committed to the completion of his history of Kingston, on which he had labored for a decade. He put the finishing touches on the final draft of the 700-page Kingston-on-Hudson: An American Historical City, the day before his death and just weeks before his 100th birthday.
Alf Evers died at his home in Shady on December 29, 2004. He is survived by a son and daughter, Christopher and Barbara Evers, and nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. The many attendees at Alf Evers' memorial service ranged from Bard College's president Leon Botstein to the famed folklore singer Pete Seeger, who led those present in a rousing rendition of This Land is Your Land, a fitting tribute to Alf.
Howard Porter Becker '30, a retired order department manager, was born on July 28, 1907, to William H. and Lillian Bell Jeans Becker, in Rockville, CT. He grew up in Utica, NY, and was graduated in 1926 from New Hartford High School. That year, he came up to College Hill. A member of Psi Upsilon, he left the Hill a year later.
After residing for a time in Ilion, NY, Howard Becker settled in Gloversville, where he was employed in accounting by the Grandoe Corp., glove manufacturers. He was head of its order department at the time of his retirement in 1973. Earlier, during World War II, he saw military service in the Pacific and China-Burma-India theaters. An avid photographer who was also fond of classical literature and music, he, along with his wife Rose, found great enjoyment in attending music festival concerts at Tanglewood.
Howard P. Becker died on June 13, 2005, at his home in Gloversville, in his 98th year. He was predeceased by his wife, and there are no immediate survivors.
Charles Steinman Foltz, Jr. '31, a journalist who retired as senior editor of the international staff of U.S. News & World Report, was born on May 16, 1910, in Lancaster, PA. The son of Charles S., editor and publisher of the Lancaster Daily Intelligencer and News-Journal, and Josephine Kieffer Foltz, an artist, he prepared for college at Franklin & Marshall Academy and entered Hamilton in 1927. Although quickly demonstrating a talent for writing English, he was tripped up by Greek and trigonometry, which led to his leaving the Hill at the end of his freshman year. He thereafter returned to Lancaster and transferred to Franklin & Marshall College, where he applied himself more diligently and was graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with honors (but without Greek) in 1931. He later served on Franklin & Marshall's board of trustees and was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature by that institution in 1954. However, he continued to feel indebted to Hamilton for "waking me up" and could be counted upon for contributions to its fund drives.
In 1931, Charles Foltz began his distinguished career in journalism as a cub reporter for the New York Herald Tribune. But wishing to travel and cover world news, he joined the Associated Press in 1933 and was assigned to Europe as a foreign correspondent. Based in Paris and Bern, he covered French politics and the civil war in Spain as well as international conferences. Named chief AP correspondent at the League of Nations in Geneva in 1937, he was later on hand for the Munich conference. From neutral Spain he continued to serve as a correspondent during the Second World War and concluded his career with the AP as its bureau chief in Madrid. Out of that experience came his book, The Masquerade in Spain (1948), which was highly critical of the regime of General Francisco Franco.
After the war, in 1946, Charles Foltz joined the newly launched World Report (which later became U.S. News & World Report) as its European editor. While residing in Washington, DC, he continued to travel and report extensively from abroad. Named associate editor of the news magazine's world staff and subsequently director of its international staff, he logged interviews with heads of state or government from Tokyo to Canberra and New Delhi to Cairo. A past president of the Overseas Writers in Washington, he retired from U.S. News in 1976.
Charles S. Foltz was residing in the Georgetown section of Washington when he died on May 14, 2005, two days before his 95th birthday. Besides his wife, Susan Baker Foltz, whom he had married in 1997, he is survived by a son and daughter, Charles I. Foltz and Nancy Vest, born of his first marriage, in 1933, to Frances R. Ireland, and two grandchildren.
Howard Aubrey Lawrence '31, a longtime corporate attorney and lifelong Swedenborgian who served as a trustee of the Swedenborg Foundation, was born on June 9, 1909, in Brooklyn, NY. His parents were Howard E., a buyer, and Jennie Seekamp Lawrence. "Howie" Lawrence grew up in Brooklyn, prepared for college at Erasmus Hall High School, and entered Hamilton in 1927. He joined ELS, participated in interclass and interfraternity athletics, and became a member of the Musical Arts Society. In his sophomore year he helped cover his college expenses by serving as a Chapel bell ringer.
Following his graduation with honors in history in 1931, Howard Lawrence returned to New York City and enrolled in Fordham University Law School, where he earned his LL.B. degree in 1934. While associated with a law firm in the city, he took evening courses at St. John's University Law School and acquired a doctorate in juridical science in 1938. Three years later, he left private practice to become an attorney for the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Co., a position he held until he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942. Commissioned as an officer, he served in Iceland and Hawaii, and as a military government officer on Eniwetok in the Pacific at the end of World War II.
Released from the Navy as a lieutenant in 1946, Howard Lawrence joined the legal staff of General Electric Co. He was subsequently employed in the law department of Remington Rand Corp. (later Sperry-Rand) in Manhattan until his retirement in 1969. In the years thereafter he and his wife, the former Frances I. Osborne, whom he had wed in 1951, divided the year between South Yarmouth on Cape Cod and Ft. Lauderdale, FL. They later took up full-time residence in Venice, FL, where Howard continued to swim and play tennis well into advanced age. He also continued his activities in connection with the Swedenborgian church.
In 2000, after 17 years in Venice, the Lawrences moved to Dahlonega in the North Georgia mountains, to be near their adopted daughter and her family. There, Howard A. Lawrence, an ardently loyal alumnus who always retained a lively interest in the College, died on October 27, 2004, at the age of 95. Predeceased by his wife in 2001, he is survived by their daughter, Kathie Lawrence, and three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Andrew Elwyn Skinner '32, for 61 years a funeral director in his hometown of Worcester, NY, was born in nearby Cooperstown on May 19, 1911. The only son of Elmon J. and Alice Mackey Skinner, he grew up in Worcester and was graduated in 1928 from Worcester High School. "Andy" Skinner, also known as "Red," enrolled at Hamilton that year. He continued to take courses on the Hill until 1933, but never earned a degree.
In 1934, after attending the Simmons School of Embalming in Syracuse, Andy Skinner went to work for his father in the family business, the E.J. Skinner Funeral Chapel in Worcester. He succeeded his father as owner of the business, which he conducted until his retirement in 1995.
Within the community, Andrew Skinner was a trustee of the Worcester United Methodist Church, served on the board of directors of the Bank of Worcester as well as the Key Bank, and was a charter member of the Worcester Rotary Club. He had a passionate interest in baseball and enjoyed hunting in Canada.
Andrew E. Skinner, a faithful supporter of the College, died on June 18, 2005, at his home in Worcester, at the age of 94. Predeceased in 1986 by his wife, the former Mary Empie, whom he had wed in 1935, he is survived by a daughter, Christine Ten Eyck, and a grandson.
Leroy John Crane '33, a retired hotel, club, and resort manager, and the last surviving of five brothers who attended Hamilton, was born on October 3, 1911, on College Hill. A son of Philip B. and Catherine Kennedy Crane, he grew up on the family dairy farm on Griffin Road, adjacent to the College's campus. He attended the one-room district grade school, which was located where the Rudd Health Center now stands, and entered Hamilton from Clinton High School in 1929. He became a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon as well as the Newman Club, and played hockey, twice lettering in the sport.
Two days after his graduation in 1933, Leroy Crane, known as "Lee," began work as a kitchen trainee at the Hotel Commodore in Manhattan. He was assistant credit manager when he left the hotel in 1938 to operate his own retail business in Newark, NJ. Drafted into the U.S. Army during the Second World War in 1942, he was commissioned as an officer and assigned to the newly formed 63rd Infantry Division. He landed in France in December 1944 with a detachment of the division, which was immediately rushed to Alsace to help stem the German offensive in the "Battle of the Bulge." In charge of the division headquarters mess, he was with the 63rd Infantry when it broke through the Siegfried Line into Germany and went on to peacefully occupy Heidelberg. Promoted to captain and awarded the Bronze Star with two battle stars, he was discharged from the Army in 1946.
After the war, Lee Crane returned to Clinton and joined his brothers in the family business, Crane Dairy Co. By 1952, however, the milk business didn't seem to have much of a future, so he found a new line of work in managing the Westhampton Club on Long Island in summer and the Flamingo Hotel and Club in Miami Beach, FL, in winter. In 1959, he took over management of the Lyford Cay Club, a unit of the newly developed Lyford Cay Community, a residential resort complex on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. However, after spending a dozen years on "a plot of land 21 miles long and seven miles wide," he became afflicted with "island fever" and decided to retire at the age of 59 and return to Clinton.
Lee Crane, ever the genial gentleman, took up residence on Reservoir Road on College Hill, above the campus. Because of its panoramic vista of the valley below he named it "Point of View." There he acquired a dog for the first time in his life, took to gardening, and found a "wonderful" life in retirement. When not "tooling around" in his near-vintage Fiat convertible, he also enjoyed capturing birds on film with his camera. In addition, through almost 30 years, he faithfully kept detailed records of the daily weather on College Hill. Those records are now part of the College Archives, having joined the ones kept by Professor Oren Root, Sr., in the 19th century and by Professor William Carruth in the early 20th. As a result, the existing weather data for Clinton is exceptionally extensive over a period of 150 years.
In 2001, advanced age and illness compelled Leroy J. Crane to leave "Point of View" and take up residence in a retirement home in the village. He died in Clinton on February 21, 2005, at the age of 93. Never married, he is survived by a brother, Kenneth Crane, as well as nieces and nephews, including Thomas R. Crane, Jr. '61. He was predeceased by his brothers Philip J. '26, Leonard J. '29, Thomas R. '31, and Harold B. Crane '38.
Robert Maclary Diggs, Valedictorian '33, a lawyer, devoted alumnus, and former national president of Theta Delta Chi fraternity, was born on January 14, 1912, in Tulsa, OK. A son of James B., also a lawyer, and Edith Maclary Diggs, he came East to prepare for college at the Tome School in Maryland. Influenced by a classmate, the son of a Hamilton alumnus, "Mac" Diggs came to College Hill in 1929. Engaging in a variety of activities while also compiling an impressive academic record, he lettered three times in soccer and became managing editor of Hamilton Life as well as president of Psi Charge of Theta Delta Chi. Elected to Quadrangle, DT, and the journalism honorary Pi Delta Epsilon, he was also awarded the Oren Root and Huntington Mathematical Scholarships and the Tompkins Mathematical Prize.
Following his graduation Phi Beta Kappa and as head of his class, and with honors in mathematics, Mac Diggs went off to New Haven and Yale Law School in 1933. Awarded his LL.B. degree summa cum laude in 1936, he began his law practice in association with the Wall Street firm of Cravath, de Gersdorff, Swaine & Wood. In 1940, he was elected as the first vice chairman of Hamilton's newly established Alumni Council. He returned to Clinton in 1941 as assistant to President William H. Cowley, but after a year, in which he taught English composition on the side, he left to join the U.S. Army. He served in military intelligence in Washington, DC, through the end of World War II, was awarded the Legion of Merit for his contributions to the Allied effort against the Japanese in the Pacific, and attained the rank of captain. After the Japanese surrender he was assigned to the Congressional Pearl Harbor investigation as counsel to General George C. Marshall.
After his return to civilian life in 1946, Mac Diggs set up his law practice in Olean, NY, in the southwestern part of the state. A partner in the firm of Hornburg, Diggs & Dwyer (later Hornburg, Diggs, Backhaus & Simon), he became highly active in the community, serving as president of the Olean Public Library, a longtime trustee of Olean General Hospital as well as president of its board, vice president of Randolph Children's Home, and a trustee of the Olean YMCA. In addition, he was a vestryman and senior warden of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and counselor to the bishops of the Diocese.
Mac Diggs, known as "a man who gets things done," was also exceptionally active on behalf of the College and his fraternity. Several times over the years a member of the Alumni Council, he served as president of the Alumni Association in 1958-59. That same year he was elected as the 39th president of the Grand Lodge of Theta Delta Chi, having already served as its treasurer. A recipient of the John A. Evans Theta Delt of the Year Award, he also served as a director of the fraternity's Education Foundation and took a keen interest in the Psi Charge at Hamilton as president of the house corporation. He negotiated the settlement that led to the College acquiring the Theta Delt house in 1993.
Mac Diggs, who paid frequent visits to College Hill, often driving up in his RV, continued to practice law despite frailties of health and the loss of sight in an eye, until the age of 90. A general practitioner who specialized in oil and gas as well as business and taxation law, he often appeared before state and federal trial and appellate courts, and he was appointed by Governor Rockefeller as a consultant in drafting the state's first oil and gas law. At the time of his retirement he was the oldest practicing attorney in Cattaraugus County.
Robert M. Diggs died on February 22, 2005, in Olean, at age 93. Predeceased in 1992 by his wife, the former Clara Curtis McLeod, who was a widow when they were married in 1952, he is survived by two stepsons, George C. '54 and Douglas S. McLeod; an adopted son, Andrew R. Diggs, and a son, Lawrence T. Diggs; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Sol Myron Linowitz '35, LL.D. (Hon.) '78, counselor and confidant of Presidents, whose stellar career encompassed the law, business, and public service, was born on December 7, 1913, in Trenton, NJ. The eldest son of Joseph and Rose Oglenskye Linowitz, Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, he grew up in Trenton, where his father was a fruit merchant. He came to Hamilton in 1931 from Trenton Senior High School with a $250 scholarship and little else but his parents' legacy of faith in the importance of education.
Sol Linowitz worked his way through college by waiting on tables in Commons, giving violin lessons, and even selling Christmas cards. In his spare time he devoted himself to music and acting with the Charlatans. One of his many odd jobs was reading on a Sunday afternoon to the aged and near-blind Elihu Root. One day, the distinguished statesman and Nobel laureate asked Sol what he planned to do after leaving Hamilton. When Sol confided that he was not sure whether to pursue a career in the law or become a rabbi, Senator Root advised him: "Become a lawyer. I have found that a lawyer needs twice as much religion as a minister or rabbi." It was advice that Sol Linowitz took to heart and never forgot.
Described by the Hamiltonian as an "extraordinary combination of musician, scholar, and actor," Sol Linowitz was graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with honors in public speaking, political science, and German. Salutatorian of the Class of 1935, he delivered his address in the then customary Latin, which prompted some puzzlement from his mother in the Commencement audience.
After Hamilton, Sol Linowitz went on to Cornell University Law School, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Law Quarterly and earned his LL.B. degree in 1938. There he met his future wife and life partner, Evelyn "Toni" Zimmerman. They were married in New York City on September 3, 1939. The couple took up residence in Rochester, NY, where Sol had joined a small law firm, Sutherland & Sutherland. Except for the years of World War II when he served as assistant general counsel to the Office of Price Administration in Washington (1942-44) and on active duty as a U.S. Navy lieutenant (1944-46), he continued in private practice in Rochester until 1958.
While engaged in his law practice, Sol Linowitz became involved with a small local company, Haloid, which manufactured photographic papers. While Sol was serving as its general counsel, beginning in 1958, he utilized his professional skills as a negotiator to protect its patents, preserve its independence, and assure its growth into what became the mighty Xerox Corp. He was chairman of Xerox's board in 1966 when President Lyndon B. Johnson called him to Washington to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States. It marked the beginning of his distinguished contributions in his country's service.
After President Johnson left office in 1969, Ambassador Linowitz remained in Washington to become a senior partner in the international law firm of Coudert Bros. With the inauguration of Jimmy Carter as President in 1977, he received another call from the White House, to serve as co-negotiator of the Panama Canal treaties. It was an exceedingly challenging assignment, both in conducting the negotiations and in obtaining ratification by the U.S. Senate against fierce political opposition. Ultimately, however, success was achieved. In 1979, President Carter named Sol Linowitz as his special representative in the Middle East, charged with the task of mediating between Egypt and Israel over Palestinian autonomy. His negotiating efforts ended in 1981 with the Reagan presidency.
Throughout his career, Sol Linowitz devoted much time and energy to active involvement in worthy causes such as the National Urban Coalition, which he served as chairman. He was also a member of numerous boards of trustees, including those of Cornell University, the University of Rochester, the Johns Hopkins University, and Hamilton. Elected as a charter trustee of the College in 1964, he generously shared for 20 years his wise counsel, tempered judgment, and clarity of vision to Hamilton's great benefit. He was a life trustee of the College at the time of his death.
Laden with countless honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, conferred upon him by President Clinton in 1998, Sol Linowitz nonetheless remained a man of modest demeanor, gifted with a sense of humor, and always courtly and considerate of others. Also a man of great integrity who publicly deplored the materialism and moral decline within his beloved legal profession, he remained faithful to the tradition of public service combined with ethical probity that was so exemplified by Elihu Root.
Sol M. Linowitz died on March 18, 2005, at his home in Washington, at the age of 91. Besides his wife of 65 years, he is survived by four daughters, June Linowitz, Anne Mozersky, Jan Linowitz, and Roni Jolles; eight grandchildren, and three brothers, including R. Robert Linowes '44.
Warren Ray Montgomery, Jr. '36, who practiced internal medicine in Buffalo, NY, for four decades, was born in that city on April 5, 1913. A son of W. Ray Montgomery, a dentist, and the former Charlotte Lipsey, a teacher, he prepared for college at Nichols School in Buffalo and followed his older brother, Robert L. '29, to Hamilton in 1932. He joined his brother's fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi, and engaged in an impressively wide range of student activities. Besides playing varsity hockey and golf, "Monty" Montgomery sang in the Choir, became president of the Honor Court and the Executive Council, and served as business manager of the Continental. Elected to DT, Was Los, and Pentagon, as well as the journalism honorary Pi Delta Epsilon, he was graduated in 1936.
Bent upon a career in medicine, Warren Montgomery returned to his hometown and entered the University of Buffalo's medical school. After acquiring his M.D. degree in 1940, he began his residency at Buffalo General and Children's hospitals. It was interrupted by a call to military service as an officer in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1942. Dr. Montgomery served throughout World War II, including overseas tours in North Africa and Italy. Attached to the 36th Infantry Division, he also participated in the Battle of the Bulge campaign and was awarded the Bronze Star. On September 15, 1945, while stationed in occupied Germany, he made a trip to Paris to wed Ina Mae Tate, an American Red Cross worker whom he had met in Europe.
Released from the Army as a captain shortly thereafter, Dr. Montgomery completed his residency in internal medicine at Buffalo General Hospital. In 1949, he entered private practice as one of the original members of the Buffalo Medical Group. Today it comprises 115 physicians and is one of the largest multi-specialty groups in the state. He also devoted much time to teaching in the residency program at Buffalo General. Dr. Montgomery retired at the age of 76 in 1989, "with some regret, because I have enjoyed every minute of my job." However, he continued to keep his professional hand in as an evaluating physician for the Veterans Administration in Buffalo.
Despite his heavy schedule, Dr. Montgomery usually found time to indulge his lifelong passion for golf. In his 80s, he also resumed playing bridge, an enjoyment of his youth. In addition, he had a special fondness for the Lake Erie shore, where he and Ina Mae had a summer home, as well as the highlands of Chautauqua County to the south. An ardently loyal alumnus, "Monty" Montgomery was at one time president of the Western New York Alumni Association and vice president of the Society of Alumni. He kept in close touch with the College and many of his classmates, and assisted Hamilton with its fund-raising activities.
Warren R. Montgomery died on June 23, 2005, in East Amherst, NY, where he had been residing, at the age of 92. Predeceased by his wife in 1986, he is survived by a son, Warren R. Montgomery III, and a grandson. Other family members include a nephew, Robert L. Montgomery, Jr. '59, whose father had died in 2001.
Roswell Gridley Williams '37, the senior ordained priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York at the time of his death, was born on April 29, 1916, in Clinton, NY. The son of Charles R. and Dorothy Gridley Williams, he grew up on the family farm in the area of Clinton called Chuckery Corners. "Ros" Williams came up the Hill to Hamilton in 1932 from Clinton High School. Pursuing few extracurricular activities, he focused on his studies while covering his college expenses by working in the library and picking up and delivering his fellow students' laundry cases to the Clinton Post Office for shipment home.
Having survived such academic perils as flunking Professor Milledge Bonham's history course "because I was not an artist, and didn't have the correct colored pens for circling and underlining," Ros Williams was graduated in 1937. He thereafter entered General Theological Seminary in New York City to prepare for the Episcopal ministry. Ordained a deacon and then a priest in 1940, he began his parish ministry as priest-in-charge of St. Mark's Church in Candor, NY. Called in 1942 to be rector of Grace Church in Waterville, he became rector of St. Stephen's in New Hartford in 1945. As a chaplain in the National Guard, he was called to active duty during the Korean War in 1951 and served for two years in the U.S. Army with the rank of captain.
After his military service, the Rev. Roswell Williams became rector of St. John's Church in Oneida. From 1962 until his retirement in 1978, he served as rector of St. Paul's Church in Watertown. Thereafter he moved back to Clinton, where he continued active as a supply priest. During the summers from 1979 to 1993 he was priest-in-charge of historic St. Paul's in Paris Hill, which was founded in 1797. By that time he had delivered more than 2,350 sermons and gone through 26 automobiles and two bicycles while offering spiritual guidance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He was dedicated to serving his Lord and His people, both churched and unchurched, and very much enjoyed his life as a parish priest.
Father Williams, who, except for a stint in France as an Army chaplain, had never strayed far for long from his native Clinton, was active in a wide range of community affairs. He served as chaplain of police and fire departments as well as American Legion posts, and was a founder of the Watertown Urban Mission. He also remained an ever-devoted Hamilton alumnus and assisted the College with its fund-raising activities. With his wife, the former Avis L. Norton, a high school teacher whom he had wed on July 10, 1943, in Waterville, he enjoyed extensive travel abroad. In addition, they found warmth during winter months on Marco Island in Florida.
In 2001, the Williamses left Clinton to take up residence in a retirement community in Oswego, NY. Roswell G. Williams, ever a mild-mannered, genial gentleman, died in Oswego on May 15, 2005, in his 90th year. In addition to his wife of 61 years, he is survived by a daughter, Susan Vorce; three sons, Alan N., Joel S., and Mark E. Williams '76; and seven grandchildren and a sister.
Robert Victor Cardamone '38, a retired wholesale food and liquor distributor, was born on October 22, 1916, in Utica, NY. A son of Frank A. and Lucy Sacco Cardamone, he attended Utica Free Academy and prepared for college at New York Military Academy in Cornwall-on-Hudson. Bob Cardamone came to Hamilton in 1934, joined Delta Upsilon, and remained on the Hill for two years. He subsequently went to work for his father in the family's business, A. Cardamone & Sons, wholesale distributors of wines, liquors, and produce.
In his youth, Bob Cardamone developed a passion for flying, and he acquired and piloted his own airplane. In 1941, before the attack on Pearl Harbor, his aeronautical ardor led him to join the Royal Canadian Air Force. After serving for almost a year as a flying instructor in the RCAF, he returned to the U.S., which in the meantime had entered World War II, and obtained a commission as a first lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. He served until the end of the war as a pilot instructor at various bases in the States. In April 1944, while in uniform, he was married to Dorothy A. Wilson in their hometown of Utica.
Released from active duty as a captain at the end of 1945, Bob Cardamone returned to Utica and the family business, becoming its vice president. He retired as vice president and treasurer of A. Cardamone & Sons in 1977. For several years thereafter he was associated with Arctic Storage and Rich Plan, both of Utica. An avid golfer, he also took to assiduous reading in his later years and became a constant patron of public libraries.
Robert V. Cardamone died on May 16, 2005, at his home in New Hartford, NY. Predeceased by his wife in 1989, he is survived by a daughter, Nancy McGowan; a son, John R. Cardamone; and two grandchildren, two sisters, and a brother.
Gordon John Dalton '38, a former travel agent in Panama, was born on June 14, 1916, in Deer Creek, IL. A son of William A., a Presbyterian minister, and Minnie Richardson Dalton, he grew up in Oneida Castle, NY, not far from Clinton, and came to the College from Oneida High School in 1934. Gordon Dalton joined the local fraternity Beta Kappa and ran cross-country and track, becoming captain of the track team in his senior year. Called "indispensable to the Neutrals in maintaining athletic prestige," he also participated in a variety of interclass sports. He worked his way through Hamilton waiting on tables in Commons and earning his board as a Chapel bell ringer, a duty in which he took great pride.
Following his graduation in 1938, Gordon Dalton obtained a job at the 1939 New York World's Fair. When the Fair ended, he became a trainee-messenger for the central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. in Manhattan. He was sales manager for Air Reduction Co., an air conditioning business, in 1942 when he obtained a purser's license from the Coast Guard and went to sea with the U.S. Merchant Marine in the midst of World War II. As a purser sailing on "rust buckets," Liberty ships, and various other cargo vessels, including two that were torpedoed, he helped transport supplies to Allied forces across both the Atlantic and the Pacific.
After the war and brief employment by a travel agency in New York City, Gordon Dalton went back to sea as a purser for the Panama Line, which ran between New York and Panama. He was on the S.S. Cristobal when he met Margaret Stapleton Posey, a passenger aboard who was a longtime resident of the Canal Zone. They were married in Balboa on September 30, 1947. The Daltons thereafter settled in Panama, where Gordon vastly improved on the Spanish he had learned from Professor Wentworth D. Fling. He also found employment selling jewelry wholesale.
In 1964, Gordon Dalton (known as "Flaco" -- Spanish for "Slim" -- by his friends) was manager of a travel agency in Panama when he decided to open his own agency specializing in an innovative array of group tours of Latin America. The business prospered, and it gave him the opportunity to travel widely, which he greatly enjoyed. In 1973, however, he and "Maggie" decided to retire, sell the business, and move back to "Yankeeland." They bought a home in Pinehurst, NC, and moved there the following year. Later, as Pinehurst became congested with golfers, they joined the Country Club of North Carolina and built a new home on its grounds. There, while Maggie gardened and played bridge, Gordon enthusiastically took to golf. In recent years they continued to reside in Pinehurst, but in smaller quarters.
Gordon H. Dalton, an ever faithful and supportive Hamiltonian, died in Pinehurst on March 25, 2005, of cancer. In addition to his wife of 57 years, he is survived by a stepson, Carl A. Posey, and four stepgrandchildren and a sister.
Winant Sidle '38, a retired major general and onetime chief of information for the U.S. Army, who became well known for the "Sidle Commission" recommendations on news coverage of military operations, was born on September 7, 1916, in Springfield, OH. The elder of two sons of Don R. Sidle '11, an insurance broker, and the former Helen L. Winant, "Si" Sidle grew up in the Philadelphia, PA, suburb of Lansdowne and was graduated from Lansdowne High School as president of his class. His father having just lost his insurance business to bankruptcy during that Depression era, he relied on scholarship aid to enter Hamilton in 1934. On the Hill he became a member of Sigma Phi and one of the most active students on campus. He lettered in baseball and football, and served as associate and sports editor of Hamilton Life, business manager of the Hamiltonian, and editor of the student handbook. President of the journalism honorary Pi Delta Epsilon, he also chaired the Honor Court, served on the Executive Committee and as president of the Interfraternity Council, and was elected vice president of his class. Tapped by Quadrangle, DT, and Pentagon, he left the Hill with his diploma in 1938.
After a year of law school at the University of Pennsylvania, Si Sidle was compelled for financial reasons to go to work as a salesman for Atlantic Refining Co. in Philadelphia. When the first draft drawings were held in October 1940, prior to American entry into World War II, his number was the 10th one out of the fishbowl. As a consequence he became one of the first "draft-motivated" volunteers by enlisting in an artillery battalion of the Pennsylvania National Guard. After his battalion was federalized in early 1941, he earned an officer's commission in the field artillery. While stationed in North Carolina, Lt. Sidle met Anne M. Brown. They were married on September 30, 1942, in Charlotte.
During World War II, Si Sidle served in North Africa and Italy, where he participated in the landings at Anzio. He subsequently served in France and occupied Germany and Austria as a battalion commander. After the war in 1946, having decided to remain in the peacetime Army, he obtained a regular commission as a major. He was to remain in uniform for another 30 years, including five tours of duty at the Pentagon in addition to "meritorious service" with the 3rd Infantry Division Artillery as a battalion commander in Korea during the conflict there. It also resulted in the addition of an oak leaf cluster to his Bronze Star.
Earlier, in 1949, Si Sidle had earned an M.A. degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin. That year he was selected by Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer as a speech writer, which caused Si to be doubly grateful for his training in public speaking at Hamilton. He later wrote speeches for three Army Chiefs of Staff as well as a chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Throughout his military career he would more or less alternate between assignments as an information officer and artillery commander. Along the way he was being groomed for higher rank through postings to the Army's Command and General Staff College and its War College.
In 1963, Si Sidle was posted to the Pentagon as the Army's assistant chief of information and later military assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Promoted to brigadier general, he remained in Washington until 1967, when he was appointed chief of information for the U.S. Military Assistance Command in Vietnam. There he had the difficult task of dealing with skeptical reporters covering an unpopular war. He did so with great integrity, earning their respect as well as that of his "boss," General William C. Westmoreland.
In 1969, after briefly commanding field artillery troops in combat in Vietnam, Si Sidle returned to Washington as the Department of the Army's chief of information. He received his second star as a major general in 1970. Three years later, he returned to the field as deputy commanding general of the Fifth Army. By 1974, however, he was back in Washington as deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. He retired after 35 years with the Army in 1975. Following three years as director of regional activities for the Association of the United States Army, a private organization active in support of the military, he went to work for Martin Marietta Aerospace in Orlando, FL, becoming its director of public relations and later Martin Marietta's first director of corporate ethics.
In the wake of the invasion of Grenada in 1983, when there was media outrage over the exclusion of journalists from the scene and subsequent restrictions on island access, Gen. John W. Vesey, Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appointed Gen. Sidle to chair a commission to investigate and offer recommendations on news coverage of future military operations. Made up of seven military officers and seven journalists, the "Sidle Commission" concluded that the media had a right to combat access to the maximum degree possible, and recommended that the Defense Department create press pools to assure both operational security and the safety of journalists. It reflected Gen. Sidle's own view of journalism in time of war: "It should not be a lap dog, and it should not be an attack dog. It should be a watchdog." The commission's recommendations were substantially adopted by the Defense Department and have governed military-media relations to a great extent since.
Gen. Sidle, a genial pipe smoker given to both friendliness and candor, retired from Martin Marietta to Southern Pines, NC, in 1990. Always active in community affairs wherever he was posted, he had chaired United Way fund drives and served as senior warden of several Episcopal churches as well as a member of the board of Rollins College. A self-described "lousy" golfer but by all reports a good bowler, he also enjoyed gardening and refinishing furniture in his spare time.
Winant Sidle died at his home in Southern Pines on March 19, 2005, of complications from a stroke. Besides his wife of 62 years, he is survived by three sons, Douglas W., Peter B., and Andrew M. Sidle; two daughters, Meredith Hackett and Susan Callahan; and seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Gen. Sidle's brother, Paul R. Sidle '47, predeceased him in 1995.
Joseph Lawrence Kennedy '39, a retired advertising manager, was born on March 27, 1917, in Elmira, NY. A son of Daniel J. and Katharine Landy Kennedy (later Love) and younger brother of Daniel G. '34 and Charles F. Kennedy '35, he grew up in Rochester, NY, where he was graduated in 1935 from Monroe High School. "Larry" Kennedy came to College Hill that year, joined his brothers' fraternity, Theta Delta Chi, and went out for golf and hockey. He also served as art editor of The Hamiltonian and faced the footlights with the Charlatans. Combining seriousness of purpose with a sense of humor, he earned his B.S. degree in 1939.
Interested in a career in commerce, specifically in advertising, Larry Kennedy soon discovered that ad agencies preferred employees with sales experience. Consequently he began his working life as a merchandise trainee at Sibley's, a Rochester department store. The following year, with the requisite experience under his belt, he joined the Rumrill Advertising agency. However, World War II soon intervened, and he found himself providing primary flight instruction to fledgling pilots in Texas and Louisiana as a member of the Army Air Corps Reserve. Released from military service in 1945, he returned to Rumrill in Rochester as an account executive. On March 1, 1946, in Rochester, he was married to Jacqueline C. Sumner.
In 1948, Larry Kennedy moved to Elmira, NY, to serve as vice president of sales for the Kennedy Valve Manufacturing Co., which had been founded by his grandfather and of which his brother Charles was president. After four years, Larry decided to strike out on his own and move to Utica, where he established the Kennedy Sporting Goods Manufacturing Co. When competition from imports drove him out of business in 1959, he became a wholesale sales manager for Utica Club beer. Six years later, he was back in Rochester as advertising manager for Genesee Brewing Co., a post he would hold for 20 years until his retirement in 1985.
In retirement, Larry Kennedy devoted additional time to community service as president of the Genesee Hospital Associates and chairman of the Rochester chapter of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). Besides providing advice and counsel to aspiring small business entrepreneurs on a volunteer basis, he offered his marketing expertise to the Executive Service Corps, affiliated with the United Way, and assisted the Center for Dispute Settlements (CDS) in its arbitration efforts. When not wintering in Florida, he and "Jac" enjoyed spending time at their small homestead, replete with a fish pond and bee hives, 35 miles south of Rochester.
J. Lawrence Kennedy was still residing in Rochester when he died on June 15, 2005. In addition to his wife of almost 60 years, he is survived by four sons, Andrew S. '70, Stephen S., Douglas L., and Craig Kennedy; three daughters. Judith L. and Sarah E. Kennedy, and Cynthia Helander; his half-brother, William F. Love, Jr. '52; and 14 grandchildren. Other survivors include nephews Charles C. '62 and James O. Kennedy '74, and nieces Carol Kennedy K'75 and Margaret Love '83.
Philip Axel Litchfield '39, a professional photographer and avid outdoorsman, was born on October 22, 1915, in Brooklyn, NY. He was a son of Bayard S., who managed his family's extensive real estate holdings, especially in the Adirondacks, and Marguerite Berg Litchfield. His great-grand¬father was Edwin Clark Litchfield, Class of 1832, a railroad president and one of the early benefactors of the College who endowed Litchfield Observatory as well as the professorship held at Hamilton by the internationally renowned astronomer Christian H. F. Peters. Phil Litchfield prepared for college at the Romford School in Connecticut and entered Hamilton in 1935 from Katonah, NY. He left the Hill in the spring of his freshman year and spent the succeeding year at Iowa State College (now University).
Phil Litchfield soldiered in the U.S. Army from 1941 until he was medically discharged in 1943. He subsequently volunteered for the American Field Service, became an ambulance driver attached to British forces in Italy toward the end of World War II, and was cited for distinguished service by the British government. After the war he took up portrait photography professionally and later joined the staff of The Patent Trader of Mt. Kisco, NY, as the newspaper's first full-time photographer. He was also on the boards of directors of his family's real estate companies.
In addition to great affection for exotic sports cars, which he collected, Phil Litchfield had a passion for outdoor activities. Besides golfing while at his winter home in Vero Beach, FL, he took great delight in hosting hunting and fishing expeditions for family and friends from his beloved summer home in the Adirondacks.
Long ill, Philip A. Litchfield died on April 21, 2005, in Vero Beach, in his 90th year. He is survived by his wife of 35 years, the former Sarah Richardson Hamill. Also surviving are two sons, Christopher S. '72 and Eric H. Litchfield, born of his first marriage, in 1949, to Isabel Crouse; a stepson and stepdaughter, Robert B. Hamill '84 and Amelia H. Hopkins, married to Timothy B. Hopkins '84; and eight grand¬children and a sister.
Roy Raymond Male, Jr. '39, who retired as the David Ross Boyd Professor of English after 30 years of teaching at the University of Oklahoma, was born on March 15, 1919, in Brooklyn, NY. His parents were Roy R. and Mary Brooks Male, both teachers. Roy Male, known as "Ray," grew up in Brooklyn, where he was graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School. With its principal's recommendation that he was "one of the finest boys we ever had in [the school]," he entered the College in 1935. An ardent and talented tennis player, he lettered in the sport, and also worked on Hamilton Life, becoming its news editor. A member of Lambda Chi Alpha and recipient of the William Duncan Saunders Prize for writing, he left the Hill with a B.S. degree in 1939.
Ray Male returned to New York City, where he earned an M.A. in English from Columbia University in 1940. That year he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private. Promoted to sergeant and later commissioned as an officer in the field artillery, he served throughout World War II. Assigned to the Pacific theater, he was stationed in the Philippines and in Japan after the war's end.
Ray Male, who left military service as a first lieutenant in 1946, rejoined his wife, the former Carolyn Conlisk, whom he had met in Texas and married on August 19, 1944, at Ft. Benning, GA. After the war, she persuaded him to pursue Ph.D. studies in English at the University of Texas, her own alma mater. It was in need of instructors at a time when returning veterans were flooding into the university, and Ray Male soon found himself teaching four sections of freshman English in addition to his graduate studies. Nonetheless, with a dissertation on Shelley's moral ideas, he acquired his Ph.D. in 1950.
That year, Ray Male joined the faculty of what is now Texas Tech University in Lubbock as an assistant professor. He coached tennis on the side. Soon thereafter, he obtained a Ford Foundation fellowship for a year of study at Harvard University. By that time, he was focusing his interest on American literature and especially Hawthorne. In 1955, he left Texas Tech for the University of Oklahoma. Promoted to full professor in 1961, he was named to the Boyd chair in 1969.
In addition to numerous scholarly articles and co-authorship of a highly regarded textbook, Reading and Writings (1954), Professor Male was the author of two notable monographs, Hawthorne's Tragic Vision (1957) and Enter, Mysterious Stranger: American Cloistral Fiction (1979). He also edited Types of Short Fiction (1961) and coedited American Literary Masters (1965). His last major published work as editor was Money Talks (1981), which explored the relationship between language and money. Ray Male, a former president of the South Central Modern Language Association, considered himself "primarily a teacher who has enjoyed writing on the side." A recipient in 1966 of the University of Oklahoma's Regents Award for Superior Teaching, he was appointed as a Boyd Professor in recognition of his counseling and guidance of students as well as his teaching excellence and contributions to scholarship. Later in life, Ray Male stated that he had tried as best he could to emulate Hamilton's Professor Thomas McN. Johnston ("the best teacher of writing I've ever known"), not only as a teacher but as a "compassionate, humorous critic and helper" to his students.
Soon after his retirement in 1984, Ray Male packed up his tennis racquet as well as his guitar, and he and his wife Carolyn moved to Hilton Head, SC. There Ray continued to play tennis avidly and frequently. When not on the courts or at home listening to jazz and enjoying letters received from his former students, he liked to travel and explore South Carolina's low country.
Roy Raymond Male died in Hilton Head on June 17, 2005. In addition to his wife of 60 years, he is survived by a daughter, Marilyn C. Brick; a son, Frank W. Male; and a grandson.
Frederick Bogardus Chappell '40, a retired plant manager for the Bristol-Myers pharmaceutical company, was born on January 17, 1917, in Dobbs Ferry, NY. A son of Franklin A. and Willetha Fancher Chappell, he grew up in the New York metropolitan area and prepared for college at the Loomis School in Connecticut. Having entered Hamilton from White Plains in 1935, Fred Chappell joined Chi Psi, ran track, lettered in football, and trouped with the Charlatans. Elected to Quadrangle and DT, he was among the seven charter members of the Student Council in his senior year. As a result of dropping out of college for six months during his sophomore year to go to sea, working in the engine room of a U.S. Lines vessel, he was graduated with the Class of 1940.
Fred Chappell was employed by Tidewater Oil Co. until drafted into the U.S. Army in 1941 as a private. After basic training and Officers Candidate School, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. Assigned to a tank battalion, he landed with his unit in France on D-Day. Before the day was over, he had his tank shot out from under him. Nevertheless, he rallied his unit, which saw considerable action in the Allied drive to Germany. For "meritorious service in the face of the enemy," he was awarded the Bronze Star. An oak leaf cluster was later added to it for his outstanding performance of duty during the assault on and crossing of the Ruhr River, in which he helped secure and expand a vital bridgehead into Germany.
Captain Chappell, who had also earned the Croix de Guerre as well as the Purple Heart, was released from active duty in 1945. He then went to work as a junior accountant for Bristol-Myers, but shifted two years later to the manufacturing end of the business. On June 14, 1948, he and Ruth Larsen were married in New York City. Employed by Bristol-Myers International, he became a production manager and supervised the company's Cuban plant from 1948 to 1950, and its Mexico City plant from 1950 to 1955. Subsequently, until his retirement in 1978, he traveled almost continuously on company business to Bristol-Myers plants all over the world.
After his retirement, Fred and Ruth Chappell, who had previously resided in Pleasantville, NY, and Summit, NJ, moved to a condominium on Marco Island in Florida. There, when not "happily beachcombing," Fred played tennis several times a week and also enjoyed taking his boat out on fishing expeditions. But soon tiring of resort crowds and high-rise living, he sold his boat and moved inland to a house in Lehigh Acres. In later years, besides tending his garden, he delivered Meals-on-Wheels and contributed his time to the Lehigh Regional Medical Center, which named him Volunteer of the Year.
Frederick B. Chappell was still residing in Lehigh Acres when he died on April 6, 2005. Predeceased a dozen years earlier by his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Donna Kuhl, and a son, William E. Chappell.
Robert Airdrie Kerr '40, a retired bank executive and former trustee and treasurer of the College, was born on May 15, 1920, in Haverstraw, NY. His parents were William Abercrombie Kerr, a Scottish immigrant who died when Bob Kerr was 15 years old, and the former Edna M. Cooper. Bob Kerr grew up in the New York City suburbs, was graduated from Suffern High School, and entered Hamilton in 1936, at the age of 16. He joined Delta Upsilon and became a member of the Intramural Council. He left the Hill with his A.B. degree in 1940.
It was not easy finding a job that summer, but Bob Kerr finally obtained one with the Home Insurance Co. in New York City at a salary of $60 a month. A year later, he left the cold water flat in Greenwich Village that he shared with six other sons of toil to opt for a better paying job ($125 a month) with the U.S. Navy. Commissioned as an ensign and assigned to duty as executive officer aboard the destroyers U.S.S. Goff and U.S.S. Balch, he saw action in the North Atlantic and participated in the landings at Palermo, Salerno, and Normandy. After serving through the Second World War, he was recalled to active duty during the Korean War in 1951 and assigned to the destroyer U.S.S. Beale as executive officer.
Released by the Navy as a lieutenant commander in 1952, Bob Kerr returned to the Irving Trust Co. in Manhattan, where he had begun his banking career as a trainee following World War II. Promoted from assistant secretary to an assistant vice president in 1955, he was named a vice president in 1957 and senior vice president in charge of the company's national division in 1965. He remained with Irving Trust until 1968, when he left for Dayton, OH, to become president of the Winters National Bank & Trust Co. He subsequently became its chairman and chief executive officer. When the Winters Bank was merged into Bank One in 1983, he was named chairman of Bank One. A year later, he retired to Beaufort, SC.
While in Dayton, Bob Kerr was actively engaged in civic and community affairs. He helped form the Dayton Development Council, which he served as president. He was also president of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce as well as a trustee of the Dayton Museum of Natural History and the Dayton Art Institute. In addition, he was a member of the board of numerous corporations and foundations, including the Charles F. Kettering Foundation.
A devoted Hamiltonian and active on behalf of the College, Bob Kerr had been regional chairman of the Alumni Fund and a member of the Alumni Council when he was appointed treasurer of the College in 1959. A year later, he was elected as a charter trustee. He remained treasurer until 1969 and on Hamilton's board until 1971. But of all his contributions to his alma mater, the one that filled him with the most delight was realizing "one of his life's missions": seeing all three of his sons graduate from the College.
Far from retiring after settling in Beaufort, Bob Kerr soon put his commercial banking expertise to work as a founding director of the Savings Bank of Beaufort County. He also became much involved in long-range planning with the Beaufort County Council. His "last hurrah in business" was in 2000, when he, "the house Yankee," and his fellow directors merged the Beaufort bank into the First National Corp., and he fully retired.
Bob Kerr's favorite leisure activities included traveling with his wife, the former Twyliah Hamstreet, whom he had married on December 21, 1956, in New York City. He also enjoyed golf and especially woodworking, until failing eyesight caused him to abandon his workshop, where he had crafted copies of antique furniture. He turned instead to taking piano lessons and studying music theory, and also took up creative writing via a self-taught course. The result was his novel, Destiny's Bequests, published when he was 83. His intellectual curiosity and ever-questing mind also led him to pursue the study of astronomy and natural science as well as his family's genealogy.
Robert A. Kerr died in Beaufort on May 19, 2005, a few days after his 85th birthday. In addition to his wife of 48 years, he is survived by his three sons, William A. '79, Robert A., Jr. '81, and Alexander K. Kerr '87, as well as three grandchildren.
Peter Foster Warfield '40, a research chemist who retired after 30 years with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., was born on August 4, 1918, in Rye, NY. The son of Frederic P. Warfield, Class of 1896, a patent attorney and longtime trustee of the College, and the former Ruth White, he was a nephew of Charles H., Class of 1889, and Augustus B. Warfield, Class of 1900. Peter Warfield prepared for college at Avon Old Farms School and came to Hamilton in 1936 from Goldens Bridge, north of New York City. He joined his father's fraternity, Sigma Phi, and went out for hockey and tennis. Described by the Hamiltonian as being in "perpetual motion," Pete Warfield also captained the fencing team in his senior year and was a member of the Ski Club. An avid photographer in addition, he served as president of the Camera Club. Majoring in the sciences, he was awarded the Oren Root Scholarship in Mathematics and the Underwood Prize in Chemistry, and earned his B.S. degree Phi Beta Kappa and with honors in math and chemistry in 1940.
Peter Warfield went on to the University of Illinois, where he obtained an M.S. degree in chemistry in 1941 and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1944. On May 23, 1942, while a graduate student, he was wed to Anne B. Quinby in New York City. After obtaining his doctorate, he began his career as a research chemist with the Bakelite Division of Union Carbide & Carbon Corp., in Bloomfield, NJ. A year later, in 1945, he joined the Ansco Division of General Aniline & Film Corp., in Binghamton, NY. Promoted to senior research chemist and then development specialist, he returned to New Jersey in 1952 when appointed to the research staff of Du Pont's photo products department in Parlin. Specializing in polymer chemistry, Dr. Warfield served as a technical service representative. Subsequently named a senior research chemist, he retired from Du Pont as a research associate in 1982.
With his fencing days behind him (in 1958, at the age of 40, he had captured the New Jersey state epee championship), Peter Warfield played tennis instead. With his wife Anne, he also became a golf enthusiast, and in 1966 he achieved his "crowning glory" by shooting a hole-in-one. Continuing to reside in Westfield, NJ, after his retirement, he served as a certified emergency medical technician with the town's volunteer rescue squad. Even after deciding that he had become "too old to be carrying people down stairs in stretchers," he still managed to play golf and tennis several days a week as well as pursue his lifelong hobby of photography. He was taking a college course in biology at the time of his final illness. After residing for 53 years in Westfield, with his beloved pets to keep him company after his wife's death in 1988, Peter F. Warfield, a faithful alumnus, moved recently to Ocean City, NJ, to be near his family. He died there on July 7, 2005. Predeceased by his elder son, Frederic P. Warfield, he is survived by his younger son, William S. Warfield '69; a daughter, Ruth Warfield; and three grandchildren.
Leslie Theodore Francis, Jr. '41, who in midlife left the business world to pursue a religious calling and became an Episcopal priest, was born on September 21, 1918, in North Adams, MA. A son of Leslie T. and Helena Fallon Francis, he grew up in North Adams, where he was graduated from Drury High School. He entered Hamilton in 1937 and became a member of Chi Psi. In the midst of his senior year in 1941, however, he left the Hill due to illness and returned to North Adams. From 1943 to 1946, he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a weather observer, stationed primarily in Texas, and attained the rank of sergeant.
Following World War II, Leslie Francis returned to Hamilton, completed his graduation requirements, and received his diploma in 1947. Thereafter he entered a training program with General Electric Co. in Schenectady, NY. He was employed by GE in Pittsfield, MA, until 1950, and by Hunter Machine Co. in North Adams as a cost accountant until 1954. Married to Dorothea G. Carmichael on December 6, 1952, in North Adams, he began to develop an interest in a religious vocation and took up studies at the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, MA.
In 1957, following completion of his three-year course of study, Leslie Francis was appointed as curate of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Concord, NH. Two years later, he was called to Lee, MA, as rector of St. George's Episcopal Church and as vicar of the Church of the Good Shepherd in South Lee. In 1969, he moved to Barre, VT, to take up duties as rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd. He remained in that post until his retirement in 1983 when he and his wife moved to South Burlington, VT. In retirement, he occasionally filled in as a visiting minister and also pursued his avid interest in golf.
The Rev. Leslie T. Francis was residing in a nursing home in Northfield, VT, when he died on April 1, 2005. Predeceased by his wife in 1997, he is survived by a daughter, Margaret O'Connor; two sons, Robert C. and Leslie T. Francis III; and three grandchildren and a brother and sister. Edwin Adams Gourley '41, whose varied and colorful career took him from the Amazon jungles to Mexico City and eventually Cape Cod, was born on August 25, 1918, in Boston, MA. The son of Edwin L. Gourley and the former Katherine Lenora Palm, "Bud" Gourley prepared for college at Phillips Exeter Academy and entered Hamilton from Wakefield, MA, in 1937. He joined Alpha Delta Phi, went out for football, and became a member of the Interfraternity Council in his senior year. Fascinated by flying, he also took part in the Civilian Pilot Training Program offered through the College. Credited with being a "connoisseur of the arts and rare old wine, expert horticulturist and bridge player, specialist in stunt flying'," he was described by the Hamiltonian as "one of the most versatile men in the class."
Shortly after leaving the Hill with his B.S. degree in 1941, Bud Gourley joined the U.S. Navy. Commissioned as an ensign and trained as a fighter pilot, he remained on active duty throughout World War II. Assigned to a carrier-based air group in the Pacific theater, he participated in the South Pacific island campaigns, flying torpedo planes off the carriers Yorktown and Belleau Wood. He left the Navy as a lieutenant commander and with a Bronze Star for valorous service.
After the war and back in Wakefield, Bud Gourley donned a darkroom apron when he and his first wife, the former Lucille DuPont, opened a photography studio. During the winter months they traveled to Cuba and South America to do airline publicity. In 1950, after ferrying a PBY Catalina sea plane to Brazil, he stayed on with a friend to journey 3,000 miles up the Amazon to its headwaters in the Andes. He subsequently settled in Rio de Janeiro as staff photographer for Life magazine in Brazil. His photography assignments took him twice more up the Amazon as well as to the Brazilian-Argentine pampas with the gauchos on an ostrich hunt. He also ventured into the Mato Grosso when the remains of the English explorer Percy Fawcett, who years earlier had mysteriously disappeared while seeking the Lost City of Gold, were found.
By the mid 1950s, Bud Gourley had taken up residence in Mexico City, where he continued as a stringer for Life while managing Gamma Productions and working on feature films and a TV series of Jack London stories. This led to his producing the animated "Rocky and Bullwinkle" series in Mexico, which became a major hit with U.S. audiences. In the mid-1960s, after 15 years in Latin America, Bud Gourley returned to Massachusetts and settled on Cape Cod, where he managed his own real estate brokerage firm. However, he continued on occasion to take his camera abroad on trips into the Sahara desert and to South Africa on safari. His last employment before his retirement in 1980 was as proprietor of a sail boat dealership for Drascombe Longboats, an English firm.
While residing on the Cape in Centerville, Bud Gourley was actively engaged in community service, For more than 30 years he was a director of the Centerville Library and airport commissioner for the Barnstable Municipal Airport at Hyannis. He also made time for gardening. Edwin A. "Bud" Gourley died on June 13, 2004, in Hyannisport. A four-time divorcé, he is survived by his son, Douglas A. Gourley '78, born of his second marriage, in 1952, to Josette Puthod.
Hiram Barringer Van Deusen '41, an ear, nose, and throat specialist who practiced medicine in Utica, NY, for 43 years, was born on February 20, 1920, in Canandaigua, NY. A son of Leon W. and Cornelia Barringer Van Deusen, and descendant of a Dutch family who settled in America in 1628, he came to College Hill from Canandaigua Academy in 1937. While on the Hill, "Bud" Van Deusen lettered in both basketball and football, and was elected to Quadrangle and DT. A member of Psi Upsilon, he pursued premedical studies and earned his B.S. degree in 1941.
Bud Van Deusen went on to the University of Rochester School of Medicine and acquired his M.D. degree under an accelerated wartime Navy program in 1944. A year later, after interning at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, he went on active duty with the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. Wed to Muriel Ehrich on June 17, 1945, in Newark, NJ, he remained in uniform through the end of World War II, when he returned to Strong Memorial for a two-year residency in otolaryngology.
In 1948, Dr. Van Deusen established his practice in Utica. However, five years later, during the Korean conflict, he was recalled to active duty as a lieutenant (j.g.) by the Navy. He resumed his practice in Utica after 18 months, and served on the staff of Faxton Hospital. A member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, he retired in 1991. In retirement, Bud Van Deusen, who had long enjoyed hunting, and had done so on trips to such far-distant places as Wyoming and Alaska, took special pleasure in gardening around his home in Deerfield, near Utica.
Hiram B. Van Deusen, a devoted alumnus who served his classmates as a reunion organizer and correspondent for this magazine, died at his home in Deerfield on July 13, 2005. Besides his second wife, the former Diane Hubley, whom he had married in 1971, he is survived by their daughter and son, Amy M. '01 and Mark B. Van Deusen. Also surviving are a son, Bruce Van Deusen, adopted during his first marriage, and two grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, two sisters, and two brothers.
William Bliss Baxter '42, a retired insurance agency owner, was born on December 15, 1918, to William G., a draftsman, and Jessie Bliss Baxter, in Troy, NY. He grew up in nearby Ballston Spa and was graduated in 1937 from Ballston Spa High School. Although he came to Hamilton with the Class of 1941, Bill Baxter, also known as "Bax," soon found himself a member of '42 and henceforth considered that to be his class.
A member of Psi Upsilon, Bill Baxter was drafted into the U.S Army in the spring of 1942, after the country had entered the Second World War. Assigned to the Air Corps and trained in advanced navigation, he was commissioned as an officer in 1944. With the 98th Bomb Group of the 15th Air Force based in southern Italy, he completed a score of missions as lead navigator aboard B-24 bombers attacking enemy installations. Cited for his expert navigation skills in assuring the success of the missions, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for "extraordinary achievement in aerial flight" as well as the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters.
Lt. Baxter was back in the States being trained as an Air Force pilot when the war ended in 1945. He opted to leave military service rather than stay on for the obligated extra two years once he had completed training, and instead returned to College Hill in the summer of 1946. A year later, after completing his studies, he received one of the last B.S. degrees to be awarded by the College.
Bill Baxter went to work for the Glens Falls Insurance Co. immediately after graduation. He began at the "wholesale" end of the property and casualty insurance business as a special agent for that company and later for the Phoenix Insurance Co. of Hartford, CT. In 1965, he switched to the "retail" end by purchasing a local agency in Johnstown, NY, which became Fields & Baxter Insurance Co. It later became the Baxter Agency, and as president he operated it until his retirement in 1986.
Active in community affairs, Bill Baxter was a past president and longtime member of the board of the Johnstown Rotary Club and the YMCA. He was also a vestryman of Saint John's Episcopal Church and a volunteer driver for Meals on Wheels. An ever faithful alumnus, he was a former president of Hamilton's Northwestern New York Alumni Association. He also chaired the 40th and 50th Reunions of his class. In his later years he and his wife, the former Emily W. Madill, whom he had wed on October 7, 1950, in Chaumont, NY, spent increasing amounts of time at Lake Placid, where Bill enjoyed hunting and fishing as well as golfing.
William B. Baxter died on May 10, 2005, at his home in Johnstown. Predeceased by his wife in 2001, he is survived by two daughters, Elizabeth H. and Sarah M. Baxter; three sons, William M., David G., and Peter B. Baxter; and nine grandchildren and a sister.
Brace Bennitt, Jr. '42, a retired investment advisor, was born on August 16, 1921, to Brace Bennitt, a credit manager, and the former Ethel D. Cranson, in Wichita, KS. He grew up in New York City, where he was graduated from Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens, and came to College Hill in 1938 from Jackson Heights. On the Hill, Brace Bennitt, also known as "Ben," joined Chi Psi, played tennis, lettered in fencing and soccer, and sang in the Choir. Called the Chi Psi Lodge's "epee expert" and "soccer star," he was also dubbed its "headwaiter supreme."
Before acquiring his B.S. degree in 1942, Brace Bennitt enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve. After his graduation and a short summer at his family's new home of Minneapolis, MN, he went on active duty with the Navy. Commissioned as an officer in 1943, he was assigned to destroyers, first in the Pacific from Guadalcanal to the Philippines, and, toward the end of World War II, on Atlantic convoy duty. His military decorations included a Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster and a Presidential Unit Citation.
Released from the Navy after the war's end in 1946, Brace Bennitt utilized the G.I. Bill to pursue graduate studies at the University of Minnesota. On August 29, 1947, he and Janet E. Thomas were married in Minneapolis. That same year he received his M.A. degree in finance and joined the Minneapolis-based investment firm of Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood as a sales representative. However, he was soon recalled to active duty by the Navy during the Korean conflict and served as executive officer on a destroyer from 1950 to 1952.
Brace Bennitt thereafter returned to his sales position with Piper, Jaffray. Made a partner in the firm in 1960, he became a vice president and director of its information services. He also became active in professional organizations and served as district governor of the Investment Bankers Association. He retired as a managing director of Piper, Jaffray in 1986. Subsequently, with his second wife, the former Susan Fredericks, whom he had wed in 1977, he maintained a financial planning practice for several years.
Brace Bennitt, who remained in the Naval Reserve until 1963 and attained the rank of commander, was active in Republican Party politics for a time. He and his wife Sue were also deeply involved in the Christian ministry of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota, with Brace serving as a trustee of the Diocese as well as a director of Episcopal Community Services, Inc., which presented him with its Distinguished Service Award in 1991. The Bennitts also found time for travel, including camping in the national parks, visits to Australia, New Zealand, and Tahiti, and a safari in Kenya. At home, besides singing along with his wife in the church choir, he enjoyed golf, bowling, skiing, and scuba diving until sidelined by a stroke. For more than a decade a stroke survivor, he volunteered in support of other survivors.
Brace Bennitt, a devoted alumnus, was residing in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington when he died on May 14, 2005. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two daughters from his first marriage, Judith Davis and Carolyn Trayte; a stepson, Mark Plummer; and four grandsons.
John Clay Davies '42, a public relations executive who served a term in the U.S. House of Representatives, was born on May 1, 1920, in Albany, NY. His parents were John D. and Mildred Campbell Davies. He was a grandson of John C. Davies, Class of 1876, who became attorney general of New York State, and a nephew of Harold I. Cross '13 and Theodore R. Davies '25. John Davies grew up in Camden, NY, was graduated from Camden High School, and came to the Hill in 1938, after a semester at the University of Alabama. He attended the College only briefly, withdrawing for reasons of health.
John Davies returned to his hometown and launched a weekly newspaper, the Camden Chronicle, before entering the public relations field in Albany and New York City. He was a partner in a public relations firm in Utica when local Democratic Party leaders tapped him to run for Congress in the then 35th District against the incumbent Republican. It was 1948, which turned out to be a pleasantly surprising year for Democrats, including President Truman, and 28-year-old John Davies won election to the 81st Congress by 138 votes. His sojourn in Washington turned out to be brief, however, for he was defeated in his reelection bid in 1950.
Later, John Davies took up permanent residence in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he reportedly continued to be engaged in the public relations field. Only recently has the College obtained verification of his death on June 17, 2002. Several children, born of his marriage in 1941 to Bette Inman, from whom he had been long divorced, presumably survive.
Robert Austin Deyo '42, a retired educator, was born on April 26, 1920, to Austin W. and Ruth Mable Deyo, in Binghamton, NY. He entered Hamilton from Binghamton Central High School in 1938 and pledged Delta Kappa Epsilon, but left the Hill after a semester. Interested in athletics, he transferred to Springfield College, where he was graduated in 1943. Following military service in the Pacific theater during World War II, Robert Deyo, known as "Bud," returned to his hometown and found employment with the Binghamton School District. He retired after 37 years as a teacher, coach, and athletic administrator in 1983.
The College has recently verified Robert A. Deyo's death on October 21, 2002. He was a resident of Webster, NY, at the time. Predeceased by his wife, Dorothy King Deyo, he was survived by two sons, Andrew K. and Robert A. Deyo, Jr.; a daughter, Cynthia J. Baran; and four grandchildren.
Joseph Bert Watrous, Jr., Valedictorian '42, a highly esteemed obstetrician and gynecologist who practiced in Binghamton, NY, for more than 30 years, was born on November 24, 1920, in Dunmore, PA. The son of J. Bert Watrous, an insurance agent, and the former Esther S. Wilson, a teacher, he grew up in Binghamton and came to Hamilton in 1938 from Binghamton Central High School. Although Joe Watrous pursued a highly demanding premedical course of study in which he excelled, he found time for a variety of campus activities. Besides lettering in soccer, he served as assistant business manager of student publications and managed the debate team in his senior year. The winner of declamation and debate contests, including the Head Prize Oration, he was elected to the forensic honorary Delta Sigma Rho as well as the journalism honorary Pi Delta Epsilon. A member of ELS, he received his B.S. degree Phi Beta Kappa and as head of his class in 1942, with honors in biology, chemistry, and public speaking.
Joe Watrous went on to Harvard Medical School under the U.S. Army's wartime Specialized Training Program. He acquired his M.D. degree in 1945. Following an abbreviated internship at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY, and after World War II had ended, he was called to active duty with the Army Medical Corps. He served for two years, including postings in the Philippines and Guam, and was released with the rank of captain in 1948. On September 4th of that year, he and Katharine S. Couper, the daughter of Edgar W. Couper '20 and sister of Richard W. Couper '44, were married in Binghamton.
Dr. Watrous undertook his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the Boston Lying-In Hospital and the Free Hospital for Women in Brookline, MA. He later became an assistant resident in obstetrics and gynecology at Bellevue Hospital and chief resident in gynecology at Roosevelt Hospital, both in New York City. After completing his training, he returned with his wife Kay to their hometown of Binghamton, where he established his private practice in 1951. Except for the period 1975-79, when he took a stab at general practice in the small town of Montrose, PA, Dr. Watrous continued as an ob-gyn specialist in Binghamton until his retirement in 1987.
During the course of his career, Joe Watrous delivered some 10,000 babies, always with pleasure and affection. Ever responsive to emergency calls and the needs of his patients, he developed warm relationships with them while on the staffs of Binghamton General Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, where he chaired the obstetrics-gynecology department. Within his specialty, he assisted in some of the earliest work done in Boston on the treatment of "Rh babies," whose blood type is incompatible with that of their mothers, and he later introduced new blood transfusion techniques for such babies in Binghamton. Also greatly concerned about proper care for indigent patients, he was primarily responsible for the development of the DeMarillac Clinic at Lourdes Hospital. Since its founding, the clinic has taken care of thousands of pregnant women who have no insurance coverage and limited financial resources.
Dr. Watrous, a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, was a devoutly religious man who read the Bible daily. He was active in the Episcopal church, which he served as vestryman and lay reader. In his retirement, he and Kay spent the better part of the year on their farm in Hallstead, PA, just south of Binghamton, where Joe Watrous, dressed in farm garb, enjoyed coaxing the land to produce. He found special pleasure in riding his horses through the countryside.
Joseph B. Watrous, an ever faithful alumnus, was residing in Hallstead when he died on March 6, 2005, following a 12-year illness devastating to mind and body. In addition to his devoted wife of 56 years, he is survived by three daughters, Janet C. K'72, Eleanor W., and Carolyn C. Watrous; two sons, Peter S.'73 and Charles C. Watrous; and five grandchildren.
John Ogden Greenstreet '43, a retired furniture buyer, was born on September 30, 1920, in New York City. The son of the well-known actor Sydney Greenstreet and the former Dorothy Ogden, he prepared for college at Berkshire School in Massachusetts and came to the Hill in 1939. A member of Chi Psi, he left Hamilton at the end of his freshman year. John Greenstreet, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II, moved to Hollywood, CA, after the war to join his father and begin his career as a furniture buyer. In 1969, he relocated to Tucson, AZ, where he was employed by Levy's department store until his retirement in 1984. A tennis player in his younger years, he later became a golf enthusiast and winner of many trophies for his achievements on the fairway.
John O. Greenstreet was still residing in Tucson when he died on March 4, 2005. He is survived by his wife, Mary Cochran Greenstreet; a daughter and son, Gail H. and James O. Greenstreet; and three grandchildren and three stepsons.
William James Simmonds '43, who practiced oral surgery in his native Auburn, NY, and later became a condominium developer in Florida, was born on March 1, 1922. The only child of Clifford S., a dentist, and Elizabeth Hamilton Simmonds, he entered Hamilton from Auburn High School in 1939. Bill Simmonds joined Delta Kappa Epsilon and played on the football team before leaving the Hill after three years to enter the Buffalo School of Dentistry. He received his D.D.S. degree under the U.S. Navy's World War II V-12 program and subsequently went on active duty as a Naval Reserve officer.
Wed to Madelynne Joyce Benn in 1944, Dr. Simmonds returned to Auburn after the war and went into private dental practice with his father. However, he was recalled to active duty as a Navy lieutenant (j.g.) during the Korean conflict. He subsequently trained as an oral surgeon and took a prominent role in the activities of dental societies. Within the community he served as president of the Auburn Jaycees and of the Owasco Country Club, where he was often seen on the golf links. In addition, he was an accomplished sail-boat racer.
Dr. Simmonds retired in 1985 and moved to Ft. Myers, FL. On nearby Sanibel Island he formed a development company that designed and constructed several condominium complexes as well as a golf course. He also developed the Westminster Golf Course in Lehigh Acres, FL.
William J. Simmonds died on May 11, 2005, in his hometown of Auburn. In addition to his wife of 61 years, he is survived by three sons, William S., Jr., Richard, and Robert Simmonds; two daughters, Debra Hulik and Jody Brinley; and nine grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
Fitzgerald Curtis Smith '43 (known as Gerald Smith at Hamilton), a journalist who founded WLNG, one of eastern Long Island's most popular radio stations, was born on April 15, 1922, in New York City. The only child of Gerald C. and Clara Curtis Smith, he grew up in New York City and prepared for college at the Edgewood School in Connecticut. "Jerry" Smith entered Hamilton in 1939 and remained on the Hill for a year.
He thereafter returned to his native city and went to work for The New York Times, where he had earlier been a copyboy and part-time reporter. During World War II he served in the Merchant Marine and was employed as a war correspondent for the Reuters news agency. He was subsequently with the National Broadcasting Company for more than 30 years. His achievements included a Peabody award-winning documentary that was featured on Monitor, the NBC network's radio program.
Jerry Smith enjoyed spending time in Long Island's Sag Harbor, where he bought many old homes for renovation and resale. In 1963, he decided to launch a new radio station in that community, which became WLNG. When not on the air broadcasting, he enjoyed swimming off eastern Long Island's many beaches. To the end of his life he retained an inquisitive mind and the instincts of an inquiring reporter.
Fitzgerald C. Smith died on August 7, 2005, at a health care center in Twin Falls, ID, of complications from a stroke. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, the former Edith Beeson, as well as a daughter, Alexandra Taylor.
William Oliver Barnes, Jr. '44, a former president of the Alumni Association and a highly esteemed trial attorney and onetime majority leader of the New Jersey State Assembly, was born on March 18, 1922, in Baltimore, MD. The son of William O., an insurance executive, and Jane Ann Krug Barnes, he grew up in New Jersey and came to Hamilton in 1940 from South Orange, where he had been graduated from Columbia High School. Bill Barnes joined Delta Kappa Epsilon, lettered in tennis and fencing, appeared in Charlatans productions, and was active in debate, winning the McKinney Prize Declamation. After his graduation in September 1943, accelerated by attendance at World War II summer sessions, he was called to active duty with the U.S. Navy and assigned to midshipman school at Notre Dame University.
Commissioned as an ensign, Bill Barnes served as a landing craft communications officer with the Atlantic fleet. Aboard an LCI (L), he took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, helping to put troops ashore on Omaha Beach. After 16 months with the amphibious forces in the European theater, Lt. (j.g.) Barnes returned to the States, where, on July 13, 1945, he and Marilyn L. Isenberg, his steady house-party date while at Hamilton, were married in South Orange.
Released from active duty in 1946, Bill Barnes entered Rutgers University School of Law. After obtaining his LL.B. degree in 1948 and admission to the bar a year later, he clerked for and was associated with Reynier J. Wortendyke, Jr., a distinguished trial attorney in Newark and future U.S. district court judge. In 1952, Bill Barnes established his own private practice in Newark, specializing in trial work. Beginning with the firm of Barnes & Hart, he ventured out on his own in 1954. By the 1980s, after two of his sons joined his one-man firm, it became Barnes & Barnes.
Early in his career, Bill Barnes began his involvement in politics as chairman of the Essex County Young Republicans Club and state chairman of the Young Republicans soon thereafter. In 1951, he was elected to the State Assembly as its youngest member at age 29. After an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives a year later, he was reelected to the Assembly in 1953 and became its majority leader in 1955. His political career, although meteoric, proved brief, however. In 1955, he made his final bid for public office, unsuccessfully challenging the incumbent Republican for a seat in the State Senate.
Early on, Bill Barnes also took an active role in community affairs, chairing the South Orange March of Dimes and presiding over the Junior Chamber of Commerce. He later moved to West Branch, NJ, where he became president of the Board of Education. Statewide, he was a past president of the American Cancer Society of New Jersey (1965-66), which awarded him its Gold Medal for Distinguished Service. He also served on the state's Bicentennial Commission.
Professionally, Bill Barnes was highly regarded for the standards of excellence and integrity that he epitomized. A fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, he was also a founding member and former president of the Trial Attorneys of New Jersey and the recipient in 1977 of its Award for Distinguished Service. Colleagues described him as "one of the finest trial attorneys to ever practice in the State of New Jersey," and the high regard he enjoyed extended to New Jersey's Governors. Three of them offered him judgeships, which he declined. In addition, he served as president of the Rutgers Law School Alumni Association (1959-60) and as a trustee of Rutgers University (1962-69).
Beyond his legal practice and myriad civic and political endeavors, to all of which he lent his boundless enthusiasm and vigor, Bill Barnes found time for community theater, an interest catalyzed by his involvement with the Charlatans during his college days. He served as president of the Monmouth Players and wrote and directed more than 30 original musical comedies for local theater groups such as the North Long Branch Little Theatre. After retiring from his law practice in 1989 and moving to Venice and later Sarasota, FL, he continued his stage involvements with the Venice and Lemon Bay little theatres.
Bill Barnes was devoted to his family above all, but also to the law and public service, as well as the New York (later San Francisco) Giants, to which his commitment verged on the fanatical. He also maintained a strong loyalty to Hamilton. Besides serving as president of the Alumni Association (1969-70), he regularly attended reunions of his class and chaired its 25th in 1969.
William O. Barnes, Jr., died on April 18, 2005, at his home in Sarasota, where he had resided for the past 13 years. Predeceased by his wife in 1996, he is survived by four sons, William O. III, Patrick D., Timothy L., and Jefferson T. Barnes, as well as four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. In Bill Barnes' memory, the family has requested that contributions be made to the Hamilton College Alumni Association.
Bernard Mason Kilbourn '45, a dentist who became chairman of the New York State Republican Party, was born on February 13, 1924, in Sauquoit, NY, not far from Clinton. A son of William M., an automobile mechanic, and Minnie Nicholas Kilbourn, he grew up in nearby Chadwicks and was graduated in 1941 from Chadwicks High School. He entered Hamilton that year as a commuter from his home in Chadwicks. After the end of his freshman year, however, he left the College to seek employment.
Called to military service in 1943, Bernie Kilbourn served for the remainder of World War II as a technician in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, assigned to the Aleutian Islands. After the war in 1946, he returned to College Hill for a year and a summer of study. A member of Squires, he withdrew from the College in 1947 to enter New York University's College of Dentistry. After acquiring his D.D.S. degree in 1951, during the Korean War, he was recalled to military service as a first lieutenant in the Army Dental Corps.
Released from the Army in 1953, Dr. Kilbourn established his dental practice in his hometown of Chadwicks. He soon became much involved with community organizations such as the United Fund, Boy Scouts of America, and the Sauquoit Rotary Club, of which he became president. He also engaged in political activity, becoming chairman of the Town of New Hartford Republican Committee and later party chairman of Oneida County. Respected within the party as an effective organizer, he was elected state chairman in 1977, in the aftermath of the long era of party domination by Governor Nelson Rockefeller.
Dr. Kilbourn, perceiving that the state party had become vitiated during that era, gave up his dental practice to devote full time to its revitalization. He restructured the party and, after its loss of the governorship to a Democrat (Hugh L. Carey) for the first time in 40 years, he focused on ambitious fund-raising efforts. In 1980, he helped run Ronald Reagan's state campaign for the presidency and was reelected as state party chairman. The following year, with ¬Reagan in the White House, Dr. Kilbourn was named regional director of the Department of Health and Human Services, a post he retained until the end of the Reagan administration in 1989.
That year, Bernie Kilbourn moved to Port Jervis, NY, where he devoted himself to the pursuits of painting and sculpting. He had earlier been much devoted to the sport of curling and served as president of the venerable Utica Curling Club as well as treasurer of the American Curling Foundation and secretary of the Grand National Curling Club of America.
Bernard M. Kilbourn died at his home in Port Jervis on June 29, 2005. In addition to his wife, Dorothy Stevens Kilbourn, he is survived by nine children and stepchildren, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and a brother.
Charles William Krahe, Jr. '45, for almost 50 years a minister of the Reformed Church in America, was born on June 19, 1924, in Long Island City, Queens, NY. The son of Charles W., a construction superintendent, and Caroline Deutchmann Krahe, he grew up in New York City and was graduated first in his class in 1941 from Townsend Harris High School in Manhattan, to which he had commuted daily on the "El." Encouraged by the school's principal, a Hamilton alumnus, to apply to the College, Charlie Krahe came to the Hill that year and joined Tau Kappa Epsilon. Focusing primarily on his studies in those disruptive years of World War II, he earned the Benjamin Walworth Arnold Prize Scholarship, the Winchill Prize and Truax Prize Scholarship in Greek, and the Hawley Prize in Latin. He accelerated his graduation by attending summer sessions and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Awarded his diploma with high honors, including honors in Greek and history, in 1944, he was one of only 17 students to be graduated that year.
That same year, Charlie Krahe, who had felt a calling to the ministry since his early teens, entered the New Brunswick (NJ) Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church in America (also known as the Dutch Reformed Church). He obtained his B.D. degree and was ordained to the ministry in 1947. While serving a small congregation on Staten Island, he met Edith Rabassa. They were married there on June 19, 1948, the year the Rev. Charles Krahe began to supply the pulpit, preaching in both English and German, at St. Paul's Reformed Church in Perth Amboy, NJ. Asked to take over as pastor of the church in 1949, he remained in that post until 1969, when he accepted a call to the Sixth Reformed Church in Paterson, NJ. For 16 years until 1963, he also taught Greek and Hebrew part-time at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary.
Charles Krahe's final call came in 1980 fom the Seventh Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, MI. Although he formally retired by 1993, he continued to respond to calls on a supply basis. A former president of the Perth Amboy Ministers' Association and member of the board of the Reformed Church Home in Irvington, NJ, he was also for many years a trustee of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. In 1997, on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee in the ministry, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of divinity by Westminster. A chair in systematic theology was also endowed there in his name and honor. Two years earlier, during the 50th Reunion of his Hamilton class, he delivered the sermon at the Service of Remembrance. Entitled "Teach Us to Number Our Days," it is recalled by those in attendance for its moving power and passionate eloquence.
The Rev. Dr. Charles W. Krahe, a "convinced Calvinist" and very much a theological traditionalist, derived much spiritual satisfaction from his long career in the ministry. Grateful for "the Lord's mercies," he considered his life's work a "blessing." He died on April 18, 2005, following a brief illness, in Santa Fe, NM, where he had moved a year earlier to be near his daughter and sister. Predeceased by his wife in December 2004, he is survived by his daughter, Carrie Norris, and sister, Jean C. Mee. A son, Martin, predeceased him at the age of 18 in 1969.
In a tribute to Charles Krahe's memory, Banner of Truth magazine described him as follows: "A careful scholar blessed with great powers of understanding and recall, well trained and widely read, he was nonetheless known and loved for the warmth and simplicity of his preaching style." The publication added that his death "leaves a large vacancy in the ranks of the church militant."
Albert Edwin Beale '46, a retired sales manager, was born on December 21, 1924, to Roy I., an attorney and banker, and Winifred Jones Beale, in Canandaigua, NY. Al Beale grew up in Rochester, NY, where he was graduated from Monroe High School, and arrived on College Hill in 1942. He joined Delta Kappa Epsilon and became a member of Hamilton's first intercollegiate swimming team. Drafted into the U.S. Army after only a year on the Hill, he was sent to Stanford University under the Army's World War II Special Training Program to study the Dutch and Malay languages in preparation for employment as a translator-interpreter in the Pacific theater. After his training was completed, however, his orders were changed, and in 1944 he found himself assigned to an infantry rifle platoon in Europe.
Al Beale took part in combat operations in the Ardennes Forest and the Battle of the Bulge through the Siegfried Line into Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. Wounded by sniper fire and awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, he was discharged from the Army as a staff sergeant in early 1946, following a lengthy recovery. That spring he returned to College Hill to finish his studies. With credit for courses taken in military service, he completed his baccalaureate requirements in the summer of 1947. He was away pursuing graduate study when his diploma was conferred on him in absentia in 1948.
Wed in 1949 to Francoria Liljencrantz (the marriage would end in divorce in 1955), Al Beale obtained an M.B.A. degree from Stanford University that year. He subsequently embarked on a career in sales, first in California with Pacific Intermountain Express and later with Universal Rundle Corp. as its Western District sales manager. In 1961 he joined the new Arbrook surgical supplies division of Johnson & Johnson Co., resulting in several moves from Illinois to New Jersey to Texas as regional sales manager. He was director of sales administration when he left Arbrook in 1972 and returned to California and employment with Professional Medical Products Inc., as national accounts manager. He was still selling medical products when he retired from Chick Orthopedic Co. in 1985.
Al Beale retired to the "dream home" he had built earlier in Littleriver, along the coast near Mendocino, 150 miles north of San Francisco. There he became actively involved in community theater as well as the Mendocino Community Library, serving as its president. With his wife, the former Mary Lou Pfeffer, whom he had wed on February 22, 1957, in Alameda, he also enjoyed Elderhostel trips and extensive travel abroad. Their travels ranged from Baltic cruises to exploring Mayan ruins in Central America, piqued by Al's interest in geology and anthropology. His wife died in 1997, and the following year he and Margaret Voss were married.
In early 2005, the couple moved south to Santa Rosa, where Albert E. Beale, a devoted alumnus and former president of Northern California Alumni Association, died on May 12. In addition to his wife, he is survived by three daughters from his previous marriage, Catherine Justis, Elizabeth A. Beale, and Victoria Joines; two stepchildren; and three grandchildren and a sister.
Robert Willard Sollinger, Jr. '49, a retired corporate communications specialist, was born February 25, 1927, to Robert W., a purchasing agent, and Marie Louise Beaulieu Sollinger, in Syracuse, NY. Bob Sollinger grew up in Syracuse, where he was graduated from Nottingham High School, and arrived at Hamilton in 1945. He became a member of Alpha Delta Phi and stage managed Charlatans productions. He completed four semesters of study on the Hill before leaving the College in 1949.
Bob Sollinger, who subsequently took courses at Fairfield University, began his career in corporate public relations and advertising in 1952 when he went to work for Motorola, Inc., in Chicago. There he became magazine editor on the company's public relations staff. In 1954, he left Chicago to return to Syracuse as a press relations specialist for General Electric Co. He moved on in 1963 to International Business Machines, where he worked in press relations, advertising, sales promotion, and communications planning. He retired from IBM in 1987. The recipient of several professional awards, including the prestigious Graphic Arts Award in 1968 and 1970, he also guest-lectured at Yale University School of Design and Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Journalism.
In retirement, Robert W. Sollinger continued to reside in Warwick, NY, near the New Jersey border, where he took pleasure in active involvement with the Warwick Historical Society. He died at his home in Warwick on May 29, 2005, leaving his wife, the former Shirley E. Weil, whom he had wed on July 5, 1952, in Penn Yan, NY. Also surviving are two sons, Robert W. III '75 and Mark A. Sollinger; three daughters, Sally M. Sandusky, Anne E. Murphy, and Joan P. Kaiser; and five grandchildren.
William Miller Cooper Jr. '50, a retired computer systems analyst long employed by the Prudential Insurance Co., was born on October 3, 1928, in New York City. The son of William M., an engineer, and Isabel Strang Cooper, he prepared for college at Newark Academy and entered Hamilton in 1946 from Orange, NJ, where he had grown up. Bill Cooper joined Tau Kappa Epsilon and soon demonstrated his talent with a tennis racket as a member of the varsity team. An avid tennis and platform tennis player since boyhood, he captained the 1950 Continentals' team that compiled an 8-1 season's record, one of the best in Hamilton's tennis history. In 1959, he, with a longtime friend, James Gordon, would go on to capture the national platform tennis championship.
After his graduation in 1950, Bill Cooper returned to New Jersey and went to work as an assistant research analyst for Prudential in Newark. Married to Carol V. Lawson on September 22, 1956, in South Orange, he was subsequently promoted to electronic systems analyst in Prudential's planning and research division in Roseland, NJ. He continued to be employed by Prudential for 35 years until his retirement.
A resident of Chatham, NJ, since 1958, Bill Cooper remained active in retirement as an enthusiastic and dedicated member of the Chatham Emergency Squad. For 15 years a regular on its Friday crew but always willing to cover other shifts when needed, he also helped computerize the squad's records and assist in its other projects. For his contributions to the community through his work on the squad, he was honored with the Chatham Jaycees' Distinguished Service Award in 1999.
William M. Cooper, who had suffered a stroke in 2003, was residing in Maplewood, NJ, when he died in his sleep on March 1, 2005. In addition to his wife of 48 years, he is survived by a son, William M. Cooper IV '82, as well as a sister, Anne Marble.
Richard Berryman Ellis '50, a retired director of marketing for the American Telephone & Telegraph Co., was born on November 26, 1928, in Albany, NY. The only child of Richard W. Ellis, a general traffic engineer for the New York Telephone Co., and the former Viola I. Smyth, a school teacher, Dick Ellis attended Albany High School and prepared for college at Williston Academy in Massachusetts. He enrolled at Hamilton from Albany in 1946, joined Chi Psi, and contributed his extracurricular time to the Hamiltonian and radio station WHC. Majoring in music as well as English literature, he also sang in the Glee Club. Credited with being "rarely at a loss for words on any subject of conversation" and possessed of a sardonic wit, he was graduated with honors in music in 1950.
Two weeks later, North Korean military forces attacked their southern neighbor and the Korean conflict began. By September, Dick Ellis was in the U.S. Army, having enlisted for a three-year tour of duty. Released from military service as a staff sergeant in 1953, he returned home to find employ¬ment with New York Telephone, first in Albany and later in New York City and Niagara Falls, where he was traffic superintendent.
Married to Anne T. McGowan on September 1, 1956, in Troy, NY, Dick Ellis remained with New York Telephone for 12 years until he joined AT&T in New Jersey. He became marketing director of network services for AT&T Information Systems and retired in 1985.
Dick and Anne Ellis continued to reside in Madison, NJ, where he did some consulting and free-lance writing. Particularly concerned about improving the delivery of health care as well as biomedical ethics, he served as secretary of the Morristown Memorial Hospital's ethics committee and chaired the board of the Visiting Nurse Health Services and Visiting Nurse Service Systems. He was also a member of New Jersey Health Decisions, a group of citizen representatives. In addition, he served on the board of the Madison Area YMCA, chaired its planning committee, and played an active role in its capital campaign to build a new family center.
Richard B. Ellis, an ever-faithful alumnus who remained grateful to Hamilton for " a chance to grow up and learn to use what little mind God had chosen to give me," died at his home in Madison on April 17, 2005. In addition to his wife of 48 years, he is survived by a daughter, Anne W. Ellis.
Damon Laurence Getman, Jr. '50, an Episcopal priest who coped with blindness for the last 25 years of his life, grew up in Oneonta, NY, where he was born on December 18, 1928. The son of Damon Laurence Getman '22, a retail fuel dealer, and the former Julia E. Winsor, he was a nephew of Albert A. '11 and Herbert C. Getman '16. "Larry" Getman entered Hamilton from the Manlius School in 1946. He joined his father's and uncles' fraternity, Theta Delta Chi, and pursued studies on the Hill for two years.
Married in 1950 to June F. Gross, Larry Getman owned and operated the Hotel Kingsborough in Gloversville, NY, from 1948 to 1955. In 1957, after attending George Washington University for two years, he decided to take up a religious calling and enrolled in Virginia Theological Seminary. He received his licentiate in theology in 1960 and began his career in the Episcopal ministry as vicar of the Chapel of the Transfiguration in Silver Spring, MD. During the 1960s he became a civil rights activist and would remain a lifelong advocate for the rights of the disenfranchised and disabled. He was residing in Claremont, NH, at the time of his early retirement.
By the age of 50, Larry Getman had lost his sight, and a series of eye operations had failed to restore it. With the aid of a rigorous preparation program offered by the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, MA (which was affectingly recounted in an article in Reader's Digest), he learned not only to cope with his lack of sight but also to continue to lead an active life. He organized a group of his fellow blind to engage in such undertakings as bowling tournaments and cribbage competitions, and he was an ardent ham radio operator and gourmet cook. He also enjoyed skiing and was a member of the Vermont Ski and Sports Association's board.
The College has belatedly learned that the Rev. D. Laurence Getman, a resident of Concord, NH, during the last years of his life, died on September 15, 2003. In addition to his wife, he was survived by a daughter, Susan M. Getman; two sons, Laurence W. and Peter Getman; and seven grandchildren.
John Thomson Henderson, Jr. '51, a real estate company executive, was born on November 24, 1929, to John T. and Helen King Clark Henderson, in Yonkers, NY. He prepared for college at Trinity School in Manhattan and enrolled at Hamilton from New York City in 1947. John Henderson joined Alpha Delta Phi and demonstrated his athleticism as a member of the varsity football and track teams during his time on the Hill. Following his freshman year, he left the College to enter the U.S. Navy. After a year in its submarine service he returned to Hamilton for three more semesters of study before again withdrawing in early 1952. John Henderson thereafter went back to New York City, where he became a free-lance writer for radio and television programs and commercials. Among the radio shows for which he wrote scripts was "The Shadow." In 1955, he joined the Lynn Baker advertising agency as assistant director of its radio and TV department. Associated with N.W. Ayer & Son in Philadelphia, PA, from 1958 to 1964, he left that agency as a creative group supervisor to rejoin Lynn Baker in New York City as executive vice president. He concluded his career in advertising as an executive of Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample.
In 1965, John Henderson and his family moved to a farm near Princeton, NJ, where he enjoyed the rural life in the company of cows and chickens, and especially horses. By 1973, tired of the long commute to Manhattan, he took over John T. Henderson Realtors, Inc., which had been founded in Princeton in 1953 by his father. With the assistance of his wife Peggy and daughter Jane, he expanded the business to include 12 real estate offices throughout central New Jersey. The Hendersons "rode the boom through the '80s and '90s" until 1998, when the company was sold. However, in 2001, they reentered the real estate field with a boutique business, the Princeton Real Estate Group. It quickly became a leader in the Princeton residential market.
When not savoring the bucolic life from atop his beloved John Deere tractor or spending family summers on Nantucket, John Henderson was an eager student of Scottish history and a collector of maritime paintings. Gifted with a lively sense of humor, he was ardently and proudly devoted to his family: his wife Peggy, the former Margaret Ann Harrison, whom he had married on September 26, 1959, in Brooklyn, NY, and his four children.
John T. Henderson, Jr., died on June 22, 2005, while hospitalized in New Brunswick, NJ. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughter, Jane Henderson Kenyon '83, wife of Kevin R. Kenyon '82; three sons, John T. III, Matthew C. '93, and Judson R. Henderson '96, husband of Christina McDermott Henderson '96; and six grandchildren and a sister.
Richard Stephen Manz '51, who practiced law for many years in Buffalo, NY, was born in that city on January 24, 1930. The son of Philip J., a salesman, and Mary Bartha Manz, he grew up in the Buffalo suburb of Kenmore and came to College Hill in 1947 from Kenmore High School. Dick Manz, who joined Theta Delta Chi and occasionally displayed his talent with the piano and ukulele, served on the staff of the humor magazine Royal Gaboon. He also participated in intramural sports and was a member of the Newman Club. He earned his diploma with honors in economics and psychology in 1951.
Thereafter, Dick Manz returned to his native city and entered the University of Buffalo Law School. Soon after receiving his LL.B. degree in 1954 he was recruited for the U.S. Army and served in uniform for two years, much of the time in Puerto Rico. There he worked in a base legal office, "solving Puerto Rican civil problems using New York State law." Back in Buffalo in 1956, he began his law practice with the firm of Jasen, Manz, Johnson & Bayger. In 1983, he relocated his practice to Kenmore, where he was associated with the firm of Hawthorne, Markarian, Siegel & Manz. After 1999, he scaled back his practice while continuing to serve clients out of his home office.
In 1969, the New York State Court of Appeals appointed Richard Manz as a legal assistant to the Board of Law Examiners. As a state bar examiner over the 36 ensuing years, he prepared questions for the examinations and graded well over 100,000 essay answers. With his customarily wry humor, he once attributed "my poor eyesight and mean disposition" to that experience.
Professionally active and a former director of the Erie County Bar Association, Dick Manz also participated in community affairs as a director and president of the Kenmore Rotary Club. In addition, he was a former commodore of the Niagara Sailing Club and secretary of the Park Country Club as well as a longtime member of St. Edmund's Parish Council in Tonawanda. A dedicated alumnus, he was also a past president of Hamilton's Western New York Alumni Association and assisted the College with its fund-raising activities. His leisure time was given over to golf, which he played, in his own estimation, "a lot, but not well."
Richard S. Manz died unexpectedly on March 19, 2005, at this home in Sarasota, FL. He leaves his wife, the former Rose Marie Drozdz, whom he had wed on January 9, 1960, in Buffalo. Also surviving are a daughter, Lisa A. Manz-Dulac '83; a son, Richard P. Manz; and five grandchildren.
Robert Charles Richter '51, a journalist who led a peripatetic life in pursuit of a remarkably cosmopolitan career, was born on February 19, 1930, in New York City. His parents were Carl H. Richter, a salesman, and the former Grace Duernberger. Bob Richter grew up in Yonkers, NY, where he was graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1947. He came to Hamilton that year, went out for lacrosse and the Choir, and joined the staff of the nascent Spectator. He later played a bit of soccer and contributed his talents to the Royal Gaboon. A member of Alpha Delta Phi, he spent his junior year at the Sorbonne in Paris, thanks to the help and encouragement of Dean Tolles and Professors Hamlin and Liedke. He came back to the Hill "worldly-wise and ever so Continental," ready to resume his role, in the Hamiltonian's words, "as Alpha Delt greeter and faculty charmer." He had also become "a Francophone Francophile for life."
In 1951, Bob Richter left the Hill with his diploma and a future in journalism in mind. After a year at Harvard Business School, however, he was sidetracked into the U.S. Navy, in which he served for three years, attaining the rank of lieutenant. After his release from the Navy in 1955, he resumed his graduate education at New York University, where he earned an M.A. degree in political science in 1957 and a Ph.D. in 1965. During those years he was employed as an editor and writer for Radio Free Europe and Business International. With a Fulbright grant to finish his Ph.D. dissertation, he was also able to realize his ambition to return to France, where he was enrolled at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris in 1963-64.
Bob Richter, whose journalistic writings had been published on both sides of the Atlantic, was later employed as a writer for the U.S. Information Agency in Washington and as an interpreter for the Department of State. What he deemed to be his "most significant job," assistant to the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, came next. Subsequently in Cairo, Egypt, in association with the AFL-CIO's international affairs division, he was later back in New York City with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.
Through the years Bob Richter continued his free-lance writing and lecturing, as well as extensive travel. Besides visiting "godchildren all over the world," he spent considerable time during summers at his "casita" on Majorca. In 1980, he moved to the Washington area to become senior program officer for the African American Labor Institute, with special responsibility for education programs in North Africa. He also served as a research associate with the University of Maryland's Center for International Development. Based again in New York City in 1984, he continued to travel abroad, for professional reasons and for pleasure.
By 2003, Robert C. Richter, a faithful alumnus, had happily settled in at Crosslands, a retirement community in Kennett Square, PA. He died there on July 8, 2005. Unmarried and with no immediate survivors, he does, however, leave a host of devoted friends. Contributions to Hamilton's Annual Fund have been requested in Bob Richter's memory.
George Francis Van Buskirk '51, who became an insurance company sales manager after a long career as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy, was born on April 15, 1929, in Montour Falls, NY. A son of George J., a gas station proprietor, and Margaret Fowler Van Buskirk, a teacher, he grew up in Odessa, near Montour Falls, and was graduated from Odessa Central School in 1947, the year he entered Hamilton. While on the Hill he played a variety of intramural sports for ELS as well as varsity lacrosse. Credited with "a mastery of the skins (Dixieland to dance)," he also played drums in the College Band. A member of the Intramural Council in his senior year and hailed by the Hamiltonian as "the most popular of ELS's seniors," he majored in education with the intention of teaching mathematics, and left the Hill with his diploma in 1951.
Soon thereafter, in expectation of an imminent call from his local draft board during that Korean War era, George Van Buskirk opted instead to join the Navy. It marked the beginning of a 27-year career in blue uniform. Commissioned as an officer, he served aboard a cruiser in the Mediterranean, followed by various tours of duty that took him from Britain to Japan, with numerous postings in Washington, DC, in between. Among them were assignments to the Defense Intelligence Agency in the Pentagon and as head of the electronic warfare intelligence department at the Navy's Scientific and Technical Intelligence Center. He was subsequently stationed in Puerto Rico as the assistant chief of staff for intelligence in the Navy's Caribbean Sea Frontier Command. While there, he earned an M.A. in educational administration from the Inter American University in 1973.
George Van Buskirk retired from the Navy as a commander in 1978 and settled the following year in Tampa, FL, where he became a field representative for United Services Life Companies. Promoted to regional manager for Central Florida, he developed into one of United Services' stellar sales representatives, earning membership in its "Top Club." He retired for a second and final time in 1995.
George Van Buskirk, who had never become jaded in his love of travel, despite his frequent naval postings overseas, continued to tour the world, often on Elderhostel trips with his wife, Barbara. When not far and away, they especially enjoyed "spoiling" their grandchildren. Fishing, a bit of tennis, strolling on the beach, and giving new restaurants a try were also favorite recreational activities for George.
A faithful alumnus who assisted the College with its fund-raising activities, George F. Van Buskirk died on June 13, 2005, at an assisted living facility in St. Petersburg, FL. His wife, the former Barbara M. Dillon, whom he had married on September 29, 1953, in Worcester, predeceased him in 2001. Surviving are a son, George F. Van Buskirk, Jr.; a daughter, Mary Margaret Van Buskirk; and two grandchildren and a brother.
Robert Lord Finlayson '53, a former hospital administrator, was born on August 2, 1931, in Ithaca, NY. His parents were Donald L. Finlayson, a professor at Cornell University, and the former Elizabeth Dinkey. Bob Finlayson prepared for college at Moses Brown School in Rhode Island and entered Cornell in 1949. Dissatisfied with his experiences there and believing that a smaller school would better suit him, he transferred to Hamilton after his freshman year. Soft-spoken and good-natured, he joined Alpha Delta Phi and became active in the Charlatans.
On August 15, 1953, soon after his graduation from Hamilton, Bob Finlayson was married to Edith R. Foote in Little Compton, RI. That same year he was called into military service. Released from the Army as a corporal in 1955, he returned to Ithaca and obtained a B.S. degree from Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration in 1958. After a year as assistant manager of a hotel in Decatur, IL, he began his career in hospital administration.
In subsequent years Bob Finlayson served as assistant director for non-professional services at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, MA, assistant director of Newington Hospital for Crippled Children in Connecticut, and assistant administrator of Waterbury Hospital, also in Connecticut. In 1968, he returned to Newington Children's Hospital as assistant administrator, a post that he held for five years. He later retired to North Carolina, where hiking in its mountains became his favorite pastime.
A resident of Morganton, NC, since the 1980s, Robert L. Finlayson died on February 27, 2005, of a heart attack. He is survived by his wife, the former Nancy E. Sechrist, whom he had wed in 1984. Also surviving are two sons from his first marriage, Robert L. Jr., and David W. Finlayson, as well as five grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and a sister. In addition, he leaves four stepchildren.
John Carter Bacot '55, LL.D. (Hon.) '94, former chairman and chief executive officer of the Bank of New York and chairman emeritus of the College's Board of Trustees, was born on February 7, 1933, in Utica, NY. The son of John V., Jr., operator of Utica's water company, and Edna Gunn Bacot, he came up the Hill from New Hartford Central School in 1951. Carter Bacot joined Delta Upsilon and was soon "an almost permanent fixture on the golf course," according to the Hamiltonian. Otherwise minimally engaged in extracurricular activities, he was already motivated by an underlying seriousness of purpose and determination that would fuel his future success.
Having no idea of what path he wished to pursue after his graduation as a political science major in 1955, as he recalled years later, J. Carter Bacot postponed an ultimate decision by going to law school. After obtaining his LL.B. degree from Cornell University in 1958 and two years of law practice with a small firm in his hometown of Utica, he conclusively decided that lawyering was not for him. In 1960, he opted instead to go to New York City and enter the financial field by joining the Bank of New York as a securities analyst.
Founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1784, the bank was the city's first and is today the oldest bank in the nation. When Carter Bacot began his career there, it was a traditional old-line institution, modest in size, stodgy in practice, and engaged primarily in the trust business and commercial lending. Under his dynamic leadership, the bank would be transformed. Promoted to vice president and head of the bank's investment research department in 1967, he became head of the personal trust department and assistant head of the trust division three years later. Named senior vice president in charge of investment research in 1972, he was elected president of the bank in 1974, the youngest in its long history. By 1979 he was president of the parent holding company, and in 1982 he was appointed chairman and chief executive officer of both the Bank of New York and the Bank of New York Co.
Strong-willed, hands-on, and with little hesitation in challenging the customary ways of doing things in the staid banking world, Carter Bacot brought aggressive leadership to the bank. Confronted with fierce, threatening competition, and taking advantage of the opportunities provided by banking deregulation, he rapidly expanded the bank through acquisitions. With a sharp eye for the bottom line, he also restructured the bank and made it cost-effective and highly profitable.
In 1987, Carter Bacot made his boldest move: a hostile takeover of the Irving Bank Corp., a $24 billion institution slightly larger than the Bank of New York itself. A takeover on that scale was virtually unprecedented in the banking industry. With unflinching determination, and despite fierce opposition and numerous roadblocks placed in the way, he persevered for more than a year until the merger was finally achieved, the largest bank merger up to that time. It resulted in creating the country's 12th largest bank with assets of $44 billion. By the time of Carter Bacot's retirement in 1998, it was globally dominant in securities servicing and processing, with assets of $60 billion and annual income of more than $1 billion.
Carter Bacot, imposingly tall and wryly witty, became a familiar figure on College Hill as well as in Manhattan's financial district. Named to Hamilton's Board as a charter trustee in 1974, he served as its chairman from 1990 to 1994. During those years he provided his customarily vigorous leadership in the College's successful efforts to strengthen itself financially while at the same time augmenting its physical facilities. The Campaign for the '90s, the most ambitious capital drive the College had ever launched up until then, was the crowning achievement of his stewardship, and it prepared Hamilton to confront the new century with confidence. Carter Bacot's devotion to the College was profound, and the expressions of that devotion took many forms, often tangible. They will prove long-enduring.
In addition to membership on numerous corporate boards, Carter Bacot served for 16 years on the board of the New York Philharmonic as well as that of Kimberly Academy, a private school attended by his daughters. He retired from the Bank of New York's Board in 2003 and was a life trustee of the College at the time of his death.
A longtime resident of Montclair, NJ, J. Carter Bacot died in his sleep at his home on April 7, 2005, of cardiac arrest. He leaves his wife, the former Shirley Schou, whom he had married on November 26, 1960, in Kensington, MD. Also surviving are two daughters, Elizabeth G. Bacot-Aigner '84 and Susan C. Bacot '88, and two grandsons. In memory of Carter Bacot, contributions to the Bacot Family Scholarship at Hamilton have been requested.
Samih Khalil Farsoun '59, professor emeritus of sociology at American University in Washington, DC, a Middle Eastern scholar, and an activist on behalf of the Palestinian cause, was born in Haifa, Palestine, on May 14, 1937. A son of Khalil and Marie Zalami Farsoun, he attended preparatory school in Beirut, Lebanon, and studied for a year at the American University in Beirut before coming to Hamilton as a special student in 1956. Initially interested in preparing for a career in engineering, "Sam" Farsoun earnestly and conscientiously pursued his studies with the benefit of scholarship aid. He also helped cover his expenses by serving as a waiter at his fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha (later Gryphon), and working as a camp counselor during summers. Known for his great admiration for Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser, he occasionally left campus to give speeches in the Utica area in an effort to promote greater understanding of Palestine and its people.
Given credit for his year of work at the American University in Beirut, Sam Farsoun was graduated as a physics and mathematics major in 1959. He went on to the University of Connecticut, where he received an M.A. degree in sociology in 1961 and a Ph.D. in 1971. He began his academic career as an instructor in sociology at Harpur College (now Binghamton University) and subsequently joined the faculty of American University in Washington. During his 30-year tenure there, he chaired the department of sociology for 11 years and founded the university's Arab Studies program. From 1997 to 1999, he served as founding dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the newly established American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. In 2004, the year after his retirement from American University in Washington, he was named founding dean of academic affairs as well as the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the newly established American University of Kuwait.
As a scholar, Samih Farsoun was the author or editor of six books on the sociology and politics of the Middle East, most notably Palestine and the Palestinians (1997), which was hailed by critics as "a unique source of valuable information about the people of Palestine." It was later published in an updated Arabic edition, and a newly revised edition in English was scheduled for publication this year. Works he edited include Arab Society: Continuity and Change (1985) and Iran: Political Culture in the Islamic Republic (1992).
In addition to his writings, including articles translated into several languages and columns in Arabic and English-language newspapers and journals, Dr. Farsoun lectured and commented widely in the media on Middle Eastern topics and events. His extensive organizational activities included founding member and president of the Association of Arab American University Graduates, founding member of the Arab Sociological Association, and founding fellow of the Middle East Studies Association. He was also an editor of Arab Studies Quarterly and a member of the advisory board of the London-based Holy Land Studies journal. Dedicated to "keeping alive the struggle to win justice for Palestine," he served on the boards of Partners for Peace (formerly the American Alliance for Palestinian Human Rights) and the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development, both based in Washington, and the Trans-Arab Research Institute in Boston. He was also a member of the executive committee of the Washington-based Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine (now the Palestine Center).
Samih K. Farsoun, who had returned to his home in Washington after concluding his assignment in Kuwait in February, was visiting in New Buffalo, MI, when he was fatally stricken with a heart attack on June 9, 2005, while walking with his wife. In addition to his wife, Katha Kissman, he is survived by a daughter, Rouwayda Farsoun, an adoptee from the Palestinian refugee camp Tel Zatar in Lebanon, his brother David Farsoun, and sisters Regina Jabbour, Despina Farsoun and Samia Sabbagha.
Joseph Robert Nicolette '59, a longtime administrator at the State University of New York, Oneonta, was born on April 26, 1938, in Frankfort, NY. The son of Joseph B. and Rose Fragale Nicolette, he grew up in Frankfort and was graduated from Frankfort High School in 1955 as salutatorian and president of his class. He came to College Hill that year, joined Delta Kappa Epsilon, and soon demonstrated his athleticism on the baseball diamond and football field. A first-rate outfielder and captain of the baseball team in his senior year, he was also an excellent quarterback and member of Hamilton's first and only undefeated football team, that of 1958. Known as much for his good sportsmanship and team spirit as his athletic skill, he was also active in the Newman and Spanish Clubs. He majored in mathematics and left the Hill with his diploma in 1959.
After a year in a General Electric Co. training program, Joe Nicolette decided that he preferred teaching. He obtained an appointment as a math teacher and coach at Ilion (NY) High School and, in addition, took courses in education at Utica College. In 1965, he earned an M.A. degree in school administration from Colgate University. On June 27 of that year, he was married to Sandra Jean Card in Ilion.
In 1966, Joe Nicolette left Ilion to become an admissions counselor at SUNY, Oneonta. It was the beginning of his long administrative career at that institution. Named director of financial aid in 1968, he acquired his doctorate in educational administration from SUNY, Albany, in 1974, and returned to Oneonta as associate dean of students. He was appointed associate dean for academic affairs in 1988 and briefly served as acting dean of liberal studies and of the science and social science division. He delayed his retirement after 27 years at Oneonta in 1993 to serve for six months as acting provost and vice president of academic affairs.
During his 35-year career in education, Joe Nicolette touched the lives of thousands of students as advisor, mentor, and friend. As an administrator he brought the team spirit he had evidenced at Hamilton to his relationships with faculty members and fellow administrators. A few years ago, Joe and Sandra Nicolette moved to Tempe, AZ, where Joe continued to pursue his passion for golf despite the loss of his left arm to cancer. Afflicted with the disease for 24 years, he nonetheless maintained an indomitable spirit, living his life to the fullest extent possible.
Joseph R. Nicolette's long and courageous battle ended in Scottsdale, AZ, on March 11, 2005. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, JoDean B. Nicolette; a son, John J. Nicolette; and two sisters and nieces and nephews, including Donald J. Oyer '77.
John David Halverson '63, professor of surgery emeritus at the State University of New York's Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, was born on March 4, 1941, in Owatonna, MN. A son of Paul M., later a professor of education at Syracuse University, and Juliette Roberts Halverson, he grew up in the Syracuse area and was graduated from Fayetteville-Manlius High School in 1959. He entered Hamilton that year and joined Chi Psi. A large, friendly presence on campus, John Halverson went out for the Glee Club and served on the staff of The Spectator as well as on the Chapel Board. Majoring in biology and encouraged and inspired by Professor Nicolas Gerold, he pursued premedical studies. He left College Hill with his diploma in 1963. On December 25 of that year, he and Chris A. Anderson were married in Fayetteville.
John Halverson returned to Syracuse, where he enrolled at what was then the Upstate Medical Center. After obtaining his M.D. degree in 1967, he served his internship and surgical residency at Barnes Hospital, affiliated with Washington University, in St. Louis, MO. In 1973, he left the residency to go on active duty with the U.S. Army Medical Corps. Following his discharge with the rank of major in 1975, Dr. Halverson returned to St. Louis when appointed to the surgical faculty of Washington University's School of Medicine. He was promoted from assistant to associate professor in 1981.
A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Halverson gained rich experience in clinical bariatric surgery and carried out metabolic research in that field. President of the American Society of Bariatric Surgery (1985-87), he developed a specialty in the surgical correction of obesity and was the author of more than a score of journal articles on that subject.
Dr. Halverson returned to Syracuse in 1991, when he was named professor of surgery, chief of the division of general surgery, and director of the surgical residency at the then SUNY Health Science Center. He continued to be involved in teaching and research at the Upstate Medical University, as well as practicing surgery, until his retirement just three weeks before his death. In 2002, in recognition of his "outstanding achievement in medicine and medical research," he was named to Fayetteville-Manlius High School's Hall of Distinction.
John D. Halverson, a resident of the Syracuse suburb of Manlius and a loyal Hamiltonian, died on January 20, 2005. He is survived by his mother and his second wife, the former Patricia Heaton, whom he had wed on October 28, 1978, in St. Louis. Also surviving are a son and daughter by his first marriage, David E. Halverson and Julie C. Lynn; a daughter and son by his second marriage, Anne H. and James Halverson; and three granddaughters and a brother. An annual teaching day has been established at Upstate Medical University in Dr. Halverson's name and memory.
Frank Hubard Lloyd, Jr. '66, an attorney-at-law, was born on February 3, 1944, in Wilmington, NC. The elder son of Frank H. and Gethyn Poisson Lloyd, he grew up in Rochester, NY, where his father was a sales representative with the Eastman Kodak Co. He prepared for college at the Allendale School in Rochester and the Loomis School in Connecticut, and entered Hamilton in 1962. Interested in a variety of sports, including skiing and sailing, he lettered in hockey and swimming while on the Hill. A member of Theta Delta Chi, he majored in biology and left the Hill with his diploma in 1966.
That year, Frank Lloyd went on active duty with the U.S. Navy and became a fighter pilot. During the Vietnam War era he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 74 aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Forrestal. On July 11, 1969, he and Sandra A. Hawks were married in Rochester. After his release from the Navy as a lieutenant in 1972, he entered Albany Law School. In later years he credited his desire to become a lawyer to a philosophy seminar he took on the Hill with Professor Russell Blackwood, which impressed on him the power of argument and reason.
After acquiring his J.D. degree in 1975, Frank Lloyd joined the firm of Branch, Turner & Wise in Rochester. In 1982, he became of counsel to Dibble & Wright, also in Rochester, and a partner two years later in that firm. Beginning in 1990 he engaged in private practice in suburban Pittsford.
Devoted to outdoor activities throughout his life, Frank Lloyd enjoyed hunting and fishing as well as skiing. He also enjoyed a challenging game of squash.
Frank H. Lloyd, Jr., a resident of Pittsford, died on June 14, 2005. Besides his wife of 36 years, he is survived by a son, Justin H. Lloyd; a brother, John J. Lloyd '75; and a sister, Gethyn Soderman.
Steven Neal Fellows '68, who left a legacy as an activist on behalf of the disabled in Tompkins County, NY, was born on June 4, 1946, in Auburn. The son of Kenneth W., a dairy farmer, and Marion Voak Fellows, he grew up on his family's farm in Penn Yan, NY, where he became skilled at milking cows and cutting cabbage. Steve Fellows also developed a fondness for music and played the flute in school bands as well as the piano. In 1964 he entered Hamilton from Gorham Central School, where he had been president of his class. He majored in geology and was graduated in 1968.
The College has little information on Steve Fellows' subsequent activities except that he was married soon after graduation and helped his father with his dairy farm for a time. He later settled in Ithaca, where he served on the Vestry of St. John's Episcopal Church. Afflicted for many years with multiple sclerosis, he died on January 26, 2000, as recently verified by the College. Survivors include his wife, Marcia. In recognition of his activism on behalf of the disabled, Tompkins County established in his honor and memory the Steven Fellows Award, to be given to an individual or group similarly dedicated to that cause.
Mary Ann Kathleen Anderson K'74, a health care advocate, was born on March 18, 1952, in Winchester, VA. The eldest daughter of Jean and Russell Anderson, both educators, she moved with her family to Buffalo, NY, at the age of 4. There she attended Elmwood Franklin School, of which her father was headmaster, and prepared for college at Buffalo Seminary. She matriculated at Kirkland College in 1970 and, having majored in writing, was graduated in 1974. She went on to obtain a master's degree in urban planning from Cornell University.
While employed for six years by the State of Vermont during the administration of Governor Howard Dean, Mary Ann Anderson promoted new approaches to adequate health for senior citizens. A vigorous proponent of in-home health care programs, she worked diligently and successfully for the passage of reforms by the Vermont State Legislature. In 1998, she moved to Gloucester, MA, where, as a statistical analyst on projects regarding aging, she continued her work on behalf of the elderly at the University of Massachusetts. However, three years later, she was compelled by illness to retire.
Mary Ann Anderson died on August 1, 2005, at her parents' home in South Orleans, MA. In addition to her parents, she is survived by two brothers, Thomas S. and Michael K. Anderson, and two sisters, Sarah DeVantier and Cathy Estes.
Thomas Charles Meagher '76, a onetime yacht sales director, was born on March 4, 1954. A son of Robert E., a retail firm executive, and Shirley K. Meagher, he was graduated from Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester, NY, and transferred to Hamilton in 1974, after two years at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Following his graduation in 1976, Tom Meagher returned to his hometown, the Rochester suburb of Pittsford, where, on October 16 of that year, he was wed to Mary C. Felerski. After various employment, including restaurant chef, he became a factory coordinator of sales for Present Yachts, Inc., in Rochester. In 1987, he moved to Florida to take up residence in Coconut Creek and continue working for the Present firm of yacht importers out of Ft. Lauderdale. When the College last heard from Tom Meagher in 1996, he was still residing in Coconut Creek with his wife and two sons, and employed in construction.
The College has verified that Thomas C. Meagher died on May 28, 2004, but was unable to obtain additional information.
Charles Gregory Straight '82, a lifelong resident of his native New Jersey, was born on May 27, 1958, in East Orange. The son of Theodore C., a traffic supervisor, and Nina Ann Modersohn Straight, he grew up in Chatham and came to College Hill in 1976, following his graduation from Chatham High School. A cornet and trumpet player, he concentrated in music and belatedly completed his graduation requirements to receive his diploma in 1982.
Charles Straight returned to the Garden State and took vocational training at the Chubb Institute in Parsippany. In 2000, he took up residence in Lyndhurst, where he worked for the accounting firm of Ernst & Young. The College has no additional information on his postgraduate activities. Charles G. Straight died at his home in Lyndhurst on September 26, 2004. Besides his parents, he is survived by two sisters, Cheryl A. Kurland and Susan Lynn Butcher.
Christian John Duva '89, a financial investment advisor, was born on November 4, 1967, in Bayville, NY. The eldest child of Philip M., a postal clerk, and Judith Enczelewski Duva, he grew up in that Nassau County community and was graduated in 1985 from Locust Valley High School. Chris Duva entered Hamilton that year, joined Chi Psi, and concentrated in psychobiology, with a minor in economics. A pianist devoted above all to classical music, he also took numerous courses in music theory and solo performance. During summer breaks he gained work experience as an intern for Moody's Investors Service and Prudential-Bache Securities in Manhattan. His athletic interests encompassed golf, tennis, and swimming, and he went out for varsity track.
Following his graduation in 1989, Chris Duva settled in New York City and found employment as a stockbroker with Paine Webber. In 1999, after seven years as a principal at Christopher Street Financial, Inc., he established his own financial advisory firm, Duva & Co., in connection with Raymond James Financial. He managed 250 brokerage accounts with assets of $25 million, and he was at the time of his death one of Raymond James' top financial producers. He maintained a warm, family relationship with his clients and took great pride in his company's success. Beyond his business activities and an occasional stab at acting (he appeared in a few commercials), Chris Duva reserved his greatest affection for music. His pride and joy was a 1929 Steinway B grand piano, on which he often played Beethoven, Mozart, Liszt, and especially Chopin. In recent years he became a member of a group of skilled New York City pianists who met on a regular basis to perform newly learned pieces, and he often hosted recitals in his Greenwich Village apartment that were marked by conviviality, to which he added his own jovial spirit and energetic vitality.
Impelled by his natural curiosity, Chris Duva traveled extensively in Europe and Africa, and his fascination with great feats of engineering led him to cross the Atlantic twice via the Concord. At home or away, he remained in close relationship with his family, especially his mother and sister, and eagerly shared new experiences with them.
Christian J. Duva, a loyal and generous alumnus, died on March 18, 2005, "as the result of head injuries suffered in an accident in New York City," according to information received by the College. In addition to his mother, he is survived by his sister, Kimberly, and brother, Matthew Duva. He is also greatly missed by a host of friends.
