1950s
Myron Beldock ’50
Myron Beldock ’50, a civil rights attorney known for fighting lost causes, was born on March 27, 1929, in Brooklyn, N.Y, the son of Judge George and Irene Goldstein Beldock. He graduated from Erasmus Hall High School before coming to Hamilton, where he lent his musical talents to the College Choir and the Jazz Band and served as business manager for the Continental, Spectator and Hamiltonian.
An English literature and history major, Beldock followed up his Hamilton years with several in the U.S. Army as a sergeant in the Security Agency. He earned his LL.B. degree in 1958 from Harvard University and began his long legal career as an assistant federal prosecutor in Brooklyn. In 1964, he partnered with fellow attorneys to found the Beldock, Levine & Hoffman law firm, where he spent his professional life and earned a reputation as a fighter of lost causes, specializing in criminal defense and civil rights litigation, among other legal disciplines.
Arguably, his most famous client was onetime middleweight boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter and his co-defendant John Artis, who were convicted of killing three people in a Paterson, N.J., tavern in 1966. Working tirelessly in their defense amongst setbacks, Beldock eventually won reversals for the pair in 1985. Another high-profile national case involved his defense of teenager Yusef Salaam, one of five teens falsely accused of the 1989 rape of a jogger in New York’s Central Park. Salaam and the others were eventually exonerated in 2002 after serving lengthy prison terms.
Describing himself as an old-time general practitioner, Beldock once told The New York Times: “I was a creature of my time, liberal, progressive and idealistic. Yes, I wanted to rectify injustices and improve the criminal justice system. But basically, I took whatever came my way.” Nonetheless, his commitment to his profession earned him the William Liebowitz Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Kings County Criminal Bar Association in 1989 and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He also served the New York City community on the boards of Brotherhood in Action and the Brookdale Revolving Fund.
A lifelong friend and generous donor to his alma mater, Beldock served as an Annual Fund volunteer and a planned giving class chairman. Described in the 1950 Hamiltonian as a “jazz-man,” that musical moniker carried over to his later years; he once commented that he made sure to find time to sing, dance and play jazz. Another particular interest was maintaining a weight loss of 45 pounds with his own unique diet discussed in an article in The New York Times: dieting for four days and eating what he wanted for three.
Reflecting on his time at Hamilton in a reunion yearbook, Beldock shared this memory: “The early a.m. crunch of snow underfoot between Carnegie and the Commons.” In response to the question about what the College experience meant to him, he noted: “Being secure in the belief that doing good work is its own best reward; my best and most meaningful lifelong friendships.”
Myron Beldock died at a hospice in Manhattan on Feb. 1, 2016, at the age of 86. Surviving are his wife, Karen Dippold, whom he had married on June 19, 1986, three sons, two daughters and three grandchildren. An earlier marriage to Elizabeth Pease had ended in divorce.
Donald Harry Baldwin ’51
Donald Harry Baldwin ’51, an export company executive, was born on Dec. 2, 1929, in West Orange, N.J., the son of Harry Baldwin, also in export sales, and the former Emma Leadbeater. Baldwin graduated from West Orange High School and elected to continue his studies at Hamilton where he joined Theta Delta Chi and acted as the advertising and business manager for College publications, rounding out those intellectual pursuits with participation in hockey and football. After leaving the Hill with a degree in economics, he earned an M.B.A. from Harvard School of Business Administration in 1956.
Along the way, Baldwin served in both active and reserve duty as a special agent in the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps. Following a brief stint at the Dewey & Almy Chemical Co. division of W.R. Grace & Co., he went to work with his father in the family company, John D. Williams Export Corp. in New York City, as vice president and treasurer. In 1965, he founded his own firm, The Ernest Holmes Export Corp. He partially retired in 1980, concentrating on management and consulting work in the export field, before full retirement in 1984.
Known as “Dutch” during his days on College Hill, Baldwin maintained a lifelong connection to Hamilton and honored his parents by establishing the Harry and Emma Baldwin Scholarship to support students with financial need. In 1978, he married Ruth Jacobs Hanson, and the couple lived in Rumson and then Atlantic Highlands, N.J. They purchased a condominium in Naples, Fla., in 1980, moving there in 1984. They also built and enjoyed a lakefront home in Wolfeboro, N.H. Enthusiastic tennis players, Don and Ruth were founding members of the Wyndemere Country Club in Naples where they also owned a home from 1988 to 2000. They relocated to a nearby retirement community in 2000 and participated actively in many organizations, with Don serving as treasurer of The Moorings Park Foundation and on the Residents’ Council. A noted skier and sailor, he spent many happy hours as skipper of his sloop, Nordrun.
Donald H. Baldwin died on Jan. 28, 2016, at age 86. He is survived by his wife and three stepchildren.
Ralph Clinton Emery ’51
Ralph Clinton Emery ’51, a life-long attorney, was born on May 19, 1929, in Victor, N.Y., the son of Ralph C. Emery, a funeral director, and the former Florence Frost. He graduated from Fairport High School, and in his application to Hamilton, named his favorite subjects as English and history. Clint Emery also stated his interest in the vocations of business and law. That proved prophetic: He earned a J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1954 and later specialized in business and corporate law. In his class’ 50th reunion yearbook he wrote: “Dean Tolles talked me into going to law school which changed our future plans and for which I shall always be most thankful.”
While on College Hill, Emery participated on the basketball and golf teams and was a member of Psi Upsilon. He played in the band during his freshman year and was elected to both the Doers & Thinkers and Was Los honor societies. In another class reunion yearbook, he credited Hamilton for the many great friendships he made, including this memorable moment of time on the Hill: “Playing varsity basketball with Jim Brown on a team that lost every game in its senior year.”
Emery married Barbara Hull in 1949 during his junior year at Hamilton. After his graduation from law school, the couple moved back to the Rochester, N.Y., area where Clint began his 37-year legal career with what eventually became the firm of Harter, Secrest & Emery and where he became senior partner.
“Clint was a legend in the Rochester legal community and at our firm which proudly bears his name,” Craig Wittlin, managing partner of the firm, said in a published obituary. “Clint set an unwavering standard for client service and left an indelible footprint on our firm.”
Emery also was active in the community, most notably serving as district governor of Rotary International and chairman of the Clifton Springs Hospital. He retained his lifelong passion for golf as a member of the LPGA and the Monroe Golf Club and the Canandaigua Country Club. He also was inducted to the Fairport High School Wall of Fame. He was devoted to the beauty of nature, which included his country home and cottage on Canandaigua Lake.
R. Clinton Emery, who served his alma mater on the Alumni Council and as a volunteer for fundraising initiatives, died on March 13, 2016, at age 86. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, five children, 14 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. A cousin, W. Bradford Emery ’68, also survives.
John Edgar Bakken ’52
John Edgar Bakken ’52, an appraiser of oil, gas and mineral valuation, as well as a consultant in financial management, was born on April 18, 1930, in Minot, N.D., the son of the former Mary Lois Chapel and Elmaar Bakken, a teacher and Boy Scouts of America executive. He graduated from the Horace Greeley School in Chappaqua, N.Y., before heading to Hamilton where he focused his studies in geology and mathematics. A member of Delta Upsilon, he lent his musical talents to the College Choir, Band and Glee Club, and devoted time to the geology club and track team.
In his class’ 40th reunion yearbook, Jack Bakken marveled that for “a kid from the sticks,” he realized on the Hill that “there was a wonderful world to be learned about, and that opportunities were endless.” A decade later in his 50th yearbook, he remarked how the Hamilton years influenced his career choice. “Opportunities and challenges became a wonderful part of life, just like they were at Hamilton. The honor code has been a keynote for my whole life, and the study of business ethics certainly resulted from it.”
For Bakken, those endless opportunities included earning an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1954, followed by two years of service in the U.S. Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories. For the next few decades, he worked as a staff geophysicist with Texaco, Inc., a senior engineer with Martin-Marietta Corp., assistant controller with Midwest Oil Corp. and vice president for two subsidiaries of Miller International, Inc. In 1973, he became president of Business Appraisal Associates in Denver, a position he held until his death. A respected and successful businessman in Denver and Granby, Colo., he served as president of the American Society of Appraisers (1997-98).
Bakken married the former Hope Michel in 1953. The couple divorced in 1975 only to rekindle their relationship and remarry eight years later. The couple were Granby residents since 1997, living in what a published obituary called “their dream home” in the mountains. Jack Bakken was active in the community, participating in the Granby Library Building Committee, the Grand County Historic Preservation Board and Historical Association, and the Rotary Club, among other organizations. His interests included hiking, skiing and sailing, and he was proud to have climbed to the top of 32 of Colorado’s 54 14,000' peaks. He credited his time at Hamilton with instilling in him a love of the earth and its geology. Continuing in his father’s tradition, Bakken, a former Eagle Scout, also was active in scouting, working as an adult leader when his oldest son was a Boy Scout.
John E. Bakken, who had volunteered as a class agent on behalf of his alma mater’s annual fundraising efforts, died at age 85 in Denver on Feb. 5, 2016. He is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His brother, David Bakken ’54, attended Hamilton from 1950 to 1952.
Silas Keehn ’52
Silas Keehn ’52, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and a life trustee of Hamilton College, was born in New Rochelle, N.Y., in 1930 to Grant Keehn ’21, a banker and Hamilton trustee, and the former Marjorie Burchard. He spent his early years in Scarsdale, N.Y., and Kenilworth, Ill., and graduated from Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts before enrolling at Hamilton where he focused his studies in government and economics. A member of the lacrosse team, Keehn demonstrated his leadership skills as vice president of Student Council and president of his senior class. A member of Alpha Delta Phi, he earned induction into Doers and Thinkers, Was Los and Pentagon, and received the James Soper Merrill Prize, sporting his gold watch with great pride long after graduation.
“Si has been beset by numerous demands upon his administrative skill and has, in reward, received an impressive array of campus honors,” the 1952 Hamiltonian notes. “For those who are awed almost to the point of consternation by his amazing capacity for hard work, there lies a very simple explanation in what is known as the ‘Keehn touch.’”
After leaving College Hill, Keehn headed to Harvard Business School but left after one year to join the Navy’s Officer Candidate School. He completed a three-year tour, including two years of active duty as the gunnery officer aboard the U.S.S. Goodrich, describing this as one of the best experiences of his life. He returned to Harvard, received his M.B.A. in 1957 and joined the training program at Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh, where he rose through the ranks to vice chairman. After a brief stint as CEO and chairman of the Chicago-based railcar maker Pullman, Inc., he became the seventh president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in 1981. He served in that post for 13 years until his retirement in 1994, working with Chairmen Paul Volcker and later Alan Greenspan.
According to the Winnetka (Ill.) Glencoe Patch in its obituary of Keehn, “His years at the Chicago Fed were marked by calm, steady leadership during a period of volatility and transition in the Midwest’s financial and manufacturing sectors, as well as the stock market crash of 1987.” Interestingly, Keehn’s retirement from the Chicago Federal Reserve completed a journey he had begun in childhood. His father was stationed at the Chicago Fed during World War II as an Army officer making loans to military suppliers. A 12-year-old Keehn sometimes accompanied his father to his office.
Following his retirement from the Federal Reserve, Keehn joined the Dutch financial institution ABN-AMRO and was a director of Kewaunee Scientific Corp., as well as the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the National Futures Association. A leader in Chicago’s business and civic communities, he served as director or trustee of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, the Chicago Association of Commerce & Industry, the Economic Club of Chicago, Rush-Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center, the National Futures Association and the United Way of Chicago. In Pittsburgh, he was a director of the Eye and Ear Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Health Center and the United Way of Allegheny County.
However, perhaps the greatest beneficiary of the “Keehn touch” was his alma mater. Known as a consensus-builder and recognized for his wise and judicious counsel, he joined Hamilton’s Board of Trustees in 1979 and for several years chaired the Nominations Committee. He was elected a life trustee in 1999 and played active roles in several capital and Annual Fund campaigns for the College. This followed his father’s 30 years of service on the Hamilton and Kirkland college boards, including several as Hamilton’s chairman. The Grant Keehn Prize Scholarship, with continued funding by Si, is awarded to student leaders in good academic standing, and the dining room in the Eells House is dedicated in memory of his parents; his mother, Marjorie, chose its stunning mural wallpaper.
Silas Keehn summed up his college experience in his 50th reunion yearbook this way: “Quite simply it has made all the difference in the way my life has unfolded.” He died on Feb. 13, 2016, at his home in Evanston, Ill. He was 85. In addition to his wife, the former Marcia Lindquist, whom he had married on March 26, 1955, he is survived by two daughters, a son and eight grandchildren, including Samuel Keehn ’19. His stepsister is Dorka Keehn ’86, and his nephew is Keehn Thomsen ’75.
David Benjamin Wallace ’53
David Benjamin Wallace ’53, a longtime business executive in packaging companies and marketing, was born in Duluth, Minn., on Jan. 23, 1932, a son of Alan L. and Esther Henby Wallace. He graduated from New Trier High School in Illinois and enrolled at Hamilton where singing in the College Choir for four years became one of his carryover memories of life on the Hill. A member of Alpha Delta Phi known for his toothy grin and social skills, Wallace also participated in football and track and crafted words as a staff member of The Spectator.
Wallace made the Naval OCS his first stop after college, followed by three years of active duty in Norfolk, Va., and Key West, Fla. In June 1954, he married Diana Downes in the Hamilton College Chapel. He subsequently enrolled at Cornell University where he earned an M.B.A. degree in 1959 before working for packaging companies in Middletown, Ohio, and Chicago, eventually settling in Lynchburg, Va., in 1962. Before long, he switched jobs and specialized in direct marketing and mail order, where he left one company under three ownerships and five name changes after almost three decades of service. Since 1990, he was a direct marketing and customer service consultant.
A volunteer with the Kiwanis Club who also enjoyed participating in Civil War forums and genealogy searches, Wallace continued his love of sports as an avid fan of the Washington Redskins, the Chicago Cubs and UVA basketball. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church where he followed his Hamilton music enthusiasm by singing in the choir.
Wallace’s fondest Hamilton memories included many lifelong fraternity and College community friendships, what he called the atmosphere and learning environment on the Hill, and the snow on the ground from Thanksgiving through Easter. Recalling his College experience for his 50th reunion, he said that learning to communicate in both speech and writing was a life-changing takeaway experience. “Life presents us with significant choices, and at age 17 I shall never regret my choice to attend Hamilton over another college,” he wrote.
David B. Wallace died on Feb. 4, 2016, at the age of 84. He is survived by Diana, his wife of almost 62 years, a son, a daughter and five grandchildren. Another son predeceased him.
Roger Carl Hagerty ’54
Roger Carl Hagerty ’54, a colonel with the U.S. Marine Corps who later pursued a career as a business administrator, was born in New York City on Dec. 25, 1931. He was the son of the former Marjorie Lucas and James C. Hagerty, who had served as press secretary and adviser to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York.
While on the Hill, the political science major participated in two varsity sports, track and cross country, both of which he led as captain his senior year. He served also as vice president of his sophomore class and was elected into the Doers & Thinkers honor society. A member of Theta Delta Chi, he was treasurer of the Block “H” Club.
Following his Hamilton graduation, Hagerty was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S.M.C. One year later, on Oct. 22, 1955, he married Eva Thoren, a native of Sweden. Determined to sharpen his skills in service to his country, he continued his education with the corps, pursuing Arabic language studies at the Defense Language Institute in 1965 and the Naval War College in 1972 and 1973. He earned an M.S.A. degree in personnel management from George Washington University in 1975.
Throughout his military career, Hagerty served both stateside and overseas, including Vietnam and the Middle East. His numerous awards and decorations include the Legion of -Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon and the U.N. Military Observer Medal. His last assignment before retiring in 1981 was at Camp Pendleton, where he served as commanding officer of the 7th Marines.
Not ready to join the ranks of the truly retired, Hagerty soon embarked on a new career, that of a business administrator in Los Angeles and, later, Grand Junction, Colo. From 1997 to 2008, he wrote a monthly column on veterans’ affairs and military history for the Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction. He also taught geography at Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University), became a proud member of Grand Junction’s Rotary Inter-national chapter and served as president of the Veterans’ Committee of the Western Slope.
The colonel was an active participant in Grand Junction’s community events. He was the driving force behind the annual Veterans’ Day Parade and was instrumental in constructing the Vietnam War memorial in Fruita, Colo. He also gave regular presentations to local elementary and secondary schools about the origins and history of the American flag.
Roger C. Hagerty, who noted in his class’ 50th reunion yearbook: “If I have had any measure of success in the Marine Corps and in business, it has come from the values and skills I learned at Hamilton,” died at age 84 on April 28, 2016. Predeceased by Eva, who died in 2003, he is survived by his second wife, Betty Dunning Hagerty, three sons and five grandchildren.
Thomas Conroy Ritt, Jr. ’54
Thomas Conroy Ritt, Jr. ’54, an insurance professional and consulting firm president, was born on March 23, 1932, in -Newark, N.J., a son of the former Hazel Duchemin and Thomas C. Ritt, Sr. He graduated from East Orange High School before heading up College Hill to major in economics and play varsity basketball. He also was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, serving as treasurer and president.
After graduation, Ritt was drafted and spent two years in Korea where he ran the Officer’s Club for the 13th Engineers Batallion. “Tough duty,” he later admitted. Ritt married his fiancée from his Hamilton days, Dorothy Mae Hossack, on Dec. 6, 1955, in Japan. The couple had two sons and a daughter.
Upon his discharge from the service, Ritt worked for the Prudential Insurance Co. from 1956 to 1969 as an agency manager and was a vice president for the Piedmont Management Co. from 1969 to 1973. He earned a Chartered Life Underwriter (C.L.U.) distinction in 1968 from the American College of Life Underwriters.
Ritt became president of his own company, People Concepts, a management consulting firm, until his retirement. In the 50th reunion yearbook for the Class of ’54, he praised his public speaking studies. “Strangely enough, Hamilton’s four years of required public speaking courses (of which I was scared to death) had a profound impact on my life as I spent my career as a stand-up lecturer and trainer of high-level executives — my specialty being internal motivation and leadership styles.”
In his later years, Ritt enjoyed golf and fishing, as well as spending time with his family. After the passing of his wife, to whom he had been married for 30 years, Ritt married Rosemary Firmbach, an executive vice president of People Concepts, in 1986. She entered the marriage also with three children; her youngest son died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.
Thomas C. Ritt, Jr., who once noted that his fondest memories of life on College Hill included the hard academic work, the fun and friends, and the mentoring by Professor Sidney Wertimer, died on Aug. 25, 2015, at age 83. Particulars about survivors were not readily available. His brother, Robert Ritt, was a member of the Class of ’55. n
Hamilton Slade Palmer, Jr. ’55
Hamilton Slade Palmer, Jr. ’55, a human resources manager, was born in Sayre, Pa., on June 5, 1933, to the former Frances Howard and H. Slade Palmer, Sr. ’32. He was raised in Waverly, N.Y., and graduated from Waverly Central High School.
Tony, as he was known on the Hill, was a member of the International Relations Club and Theta Delta Chi, and played lacrosse. He majored in psychology and history. The 1955 Hamiltonian noted, “Tony tasted all sides of college life during his years at Hamilton. In the line of scholastics, H.S. acquired a still unsatiated desire for la langue français; in athletics he collected at least a baker’s dozen of ‘lost’ lacrosse balls, and in the field of aesthetics he compiled what soon may be recognized as the most complete collection of movie stubs to be found anywhere.”
That eclectic spectrum of interests continued throughout Palmer’s military, professional and leisure life. After graduation, he spent two years engaged in U.S. military service as a sergeant for the Army’s 8th Infantry Division in Germany. He then devoted many years to working in the human resources field in Toronto, Ontario, principally as a manager for Direct Winters Transport and later the Ontario Ministry of Housing.
An outdoorsman who was happiest at his family’s cottage in Haliburton, Ontario, Palmer will be remembered for his countless hours maintaining the property and a network of trails in the woods that continue to be enjoyed throughout the year. He cherished his time canoeing, skiing, gardening and working on his many construction projects. Despite suffering a stroke in 2000, he continued to enjoy his family and the cottage. In 2009, he moved to Belmont House, an extended-care facility in Toronto.
Hamilton Slade Palmer, Jr. died on May 31, 2016, at age 82. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, the former Jane Harvey, a son, a daughter and a granddaughter. In addition, he leaves a brother, Howard Palmer ’62.
Roger Sherman Derby ’57
Roger Sherman Derby ’57, a clergyman, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on March 15, 1935, and spent most of his youth in Newark, N.Y. The son of Irving Derby, a physician, and the former Helen Bennett, a nurse, the young Derby often acknowledged the frequent confusion among friends and others of his hometown with the name of the city in New Jersey, noting that he remained thankful in his early years of continuing to receive mail at his correct home address.
At Hamilton, he was a member of Emerson Literary Society and the Anglican Club and served as a manager of the track and cross country teams. In a class reunion yearbook, Derby credited his years on the Hill with shaping his future vocation. “Hamilton’s insistence on clear oral and written communication has been absolutely invaluable to me, since I do so much of both,” he wrote. “Likewise its tradition of rigorous inquiry has shaped much of my teaching and ministry in defining and communicating faith issues.”
With his degree in English literature in hand, Derby headed to the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Mass., where he followed up his Hamilton degree with a bachelor of divinity degree in 1960 and was ordained. One year later, he married Nancy Tyner.
After serving two parishes, Derby became rector of a suburban parish in Rochester, N.Y., that had recently moved from the inner city. During a period of urban riots, he found that he identified with his parishioners on justice and poverty issues. Soon thereafter, the Derbys relocated to the Cornhill neighborhood of Utica, N.Y., followed by a move to Pontiac, Mich., where the reverend served as rector of All Saints’ Episcopal Church from 1974 to 1992, a time when the community was adjusting to court-ordered school integration. He was also interim rector for several parishes in the Diocese of Michigan until his retirement in 1998.
In addition to continued work with their church, the Derbys traveled extensively after that, spending much quality time with their daughters and grandchildren. The family summered on what they considered a second home on an island off the coast of Maine. Late in life, Derby took up playing tennis, he said, at the urging of one of his sons-in-law even after never sharing an interest in individual or team sports. The hobby was also picked up by his wife; he noted that the sport was “a great pleasure, as well as good for the old body.”
The reverend served on a number of community and civic boards during his 38 years in Pontiac, including the Pontiac Board of Education, Pontiac Public Library and the Pontiac Ecumenical Ministry, developing community outreach programs. He also served Hamilton as a volunteer on behalf of the Annual Fund.
Roger S. Derby died on March 19, 2016, at home in Bloomfield Hills at age 81. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, two daughters and four grandchildren. A brother, Bennett Derby ’49, predeceased him in 1998.
Daniel Stearns Russell ’59
Daniel Stearns Russell ’59, a professor and longtime chair of the Department of French and Italian at the University of Pittsburgh, was born in Ilion, N.Y., on Dec. 7, 1937. The son of Shirley Russell, a farmer, and the former Olive Stearns, a teacher, he was raised on the family farm in Frankfort, N.Y.
Russell majored in philosophy at Hamilton, where he was active with the French Club, and the Canterbury and Harpoon clubs. He participated on the swimming team for three years and was a member of Delta Phi. In his 40th reunion yearbook, he shared this impact of the Hamilton years on his life: “Being an undergraduate at Hamilton opened a new world to me — a world of ideas and a world of people from very different walks of life from the one I knew growing up on a dairy farm in Upstate New York.”
The College experience after that rural upbringing sparked an interest in languages and culture in the budding teacher. Russell earned an M.A. in 1961 and a Ph.D. in 1968 in French literature from New York University. He began his teaching career back on the Hill as an instructor in romance languages from 1965 to 1968, completing his Ph.D. under the guidance of Hamilton’s Marcel Moraud.
Russell then joined the University of Pittsburgh faculty as an assistant professor of French in 1968, and remained at the western Pennsylvania university until his retirement in 2005 as professor in the Department of French and Italian -Languages and Literatures in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. He was chair of his department from 1984 to 1996.
The recipient of Fulbright fellowships, a National Endowment for the Humanities senior fellowship and a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship, among other awards, he served as president of the Alliance Française de Pittsburgh (1977-84) and of the Society for Emblem Studies (2007-12). His research focused on 16th-century emblems and devices in relation to early modern culture. He published extensively on the topic and co-founded and edited the journal Emblematica in 1968.
During his time teaching at Hamilton, Russell married Suzanne Plançon, whom he had met as a student in France. Following her death in 1986, he married Lila Penchansky, an associate professor of pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He continued to swim regularly through the years and loved to “experiment in the kitchen.” A published obituary marveled that he was famous for his Niçoise salad.
Daniel S. Russell, who in addition to his academic achievements was known as a nurturing mentor to family, friends, students and colleagues, died on April 10, 2016, at his home in Pittsburgh. He was 78. He is survived by his wife, a daughter, a son and a granddaughter.
Herbert Ward Wettlaufer ’59
Herbert Ward Wettlaufer ’59, a commercial printing business executive and one of the nation’s leading amateur golfers in the 1950s and 1960s, was born on Oct. 31, 1935, in Buffalo, N.Y, the son of Samuel Wettlaufer, a business executive, and the former Elizabeth Curtis. He prepared for college at the Nichols and Hill schools.
At Hamilton, Ward Wettlaufer majored in economics and French and embraced campus life. He was a member of the French Club, Chapel Board, Block “H” Club and was elected to the Doers & Thinkers and Was Los honor societies. A member of Sigma Phi, he contributed to the Hamiltonian, serving as social editor, sports editor and as senior editor. However, his most notable accomplishments came on the golf links where he captained the Hamilton team his last three years and earned All-America honors his last two seasons.
Wettlaufer first came into the national spotlight when he won the Tam O’Shanter World Amateur in Chicago and the Bermuda Amateur in 1956. That same year, as a sophomore at Hamilton, he was the NCAA tournament runner-up to Rick Jones of Ohio State. In 1958 and 1959, he won the prestigious Eastern Amateur, the first year of which he reached the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur. In 1959 and 1961, he earned invitations to the Masters and played in two U.S. Opens (1960 and 1965, the same years he captured the Porter Cup). In 1967, Golf Digest named him among the top 10 amateur golfers.
The Buffalo News noted in a memorial tribute to the golfer, “The team of amateurs the U.S. sent to face Great Britian and Ireland in Muirfield, Scotland, in 1959 has been called the best USA Walker Cup team ever. It included future pros Jack Nicklaus and Tommy Aaron, well-known amateurs Deane Beman, Harvie Ward and Charlie Coe — and Wettlaufer. The team won 9-3, with Nicklaus leading the way, but Wettlaufer was unbeaten in his two matches.”
Nicklaus and Wettlaufer would become lifelong friends, serving in each other’s weddings. Wettlaufer married Lois Tracy Axton on Sept. 26, 1964.
Outside of his time on the golf circuit, Wettlaufer served for 50 years after his Hamilton graduation as CEO of Wilsolite Corp., a family business manufacturing and distributing commercial printing supplies. In a class reunion yearbook, he recalled freshman economics class with Professor Sidney Wertimer as “a great start at Hamilton College.” To Wettlaufer, his overall experience on the Hill provided “a liberal arts education that has enabled me to get along with all sorts and types of people in all walks of life.”
In a 2012 article in the Buffalo News, Wettlaufer summed up his choices concerning a golfing career. “I was never a professional. I seriously considered it, but I really searched my soul,” he said. “I wanted to be in business. I was fortunate enough to have a good education and had an opportunity to go into a family business, which I entered and spent a lot of time in over the years.”
Wettlaufer remained an active golfer into his 50s and 60s, winning several senior tournaments. In 1996, he was the U.S. Senior Amateur Man of the Year and ranked in the top 10 among senior golfers 10 times. For five decades, he also was a Country Club of Buffalo champion 22 times. Upon his death, the flags at the club flew at half mast as a tribute to his memory.
Wettlaufer’s ethic in sports and in the business world extended to his family life as well. “He was an all-around good guy and a good father,” his wife told the Buffalo News. “He not only taught golf well to his sons, he taught them good sportsmanship and business acumen.”
H. Ward Wettlaufer, who was one of four Hamilton athletes honored when the new athletic center was dedicated in 1978, died on March 31, 2016, at his home in Naples, Fla. He was 80. In addition to his wife, he is survived by three children and four grandchildren.
