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John Hartwell Bucklin ’51

John Hartwell Bucklin ’51, a career Navy man, was born on March 2, 1926. He came to Hamilton from Providence, R.I., and studied on College Hill for three semesters before withdrawing. “Buck” Bucklin served in the U.S. Navy for 23 years before going to work for Pinellas County in Florida. He retired from Fort De Soto Park in St. Petersburg, where he later volunteered as a docent.

He and his wife, Ginny, whom he had married in 1952, loved to travel, square dance, entertain and solve puzzles. They were active in their local church, and he belonged to the Gulf Beach Masonic Lodge. After Buck Bucklin’s retirement, they split their time between St. Petersburg and Franklin, N.C. Among his fondest memories were family summer vacations by the Beavertail Lighthouse in Rhode Island.

John H. Bucklin, whose family will miss his vivid storytelling, died on Sept. 1, 2015. He is survived by his wife, a daughter, a son, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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George Arthur Pohl ’51

George Arthur Pohl ’51, a computer programmer, was born on Dec. 3 1927, in Oneida, N.Y., the son of Arthur S. and Julia F. Deeley Pohl, a homemaker. Arthur Pohl, a director at Oneida Ltd. Silversmiths, was valedictorian of the Hamilton Class of 1914. George Pohl graduated from Sherrill High School in 1945 and had joined the U.S. Army Reserve as a high school senior. He began his active duty in the Army at age 18 and was in basic training when World War II ended. He became part of the Signal Corps, learning Morse code and intercepting Russian communications while based at Fort Lewis, Wash. Following his discharge in 1947, and thanks to the GI Bill, George Pohl enrolled at Hamilton where he majored in history, joined the Emerson Literary Society, worked on The Spectator and earned a prize in Latin. His Hamilton education, he said, gave him the ability to express himself well in writing.

Soon after leaving College Hill, George Pohl spent his days working at Oneida Limited and his evenings earning his master’s of business administration in accounting at Syracuse University. Just prior to receiving his diploma in 1962, he and Marlene A. Haight were married. The couple relocated to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where George Pohl spent several years at IBM, first as an accountant and then as a programmer. For the majority of his career, he worked at Xerox in Rochester, N.Y., writing business applications programs, primarily in COBOL, on IBM mainframes. He moved back to his hometown of Sherrill following his retirement in 1988, and married his second wife, Dorothy H. Fredericks.

A lover of country music, George Pohl attended many concerts and, as a hobby, produced DVDs about country artists. He also pursued genealogy. A devoted follower of Syracuse University basketball and football, the Buffalo Bills, the New York Knicks and the Yankees, his favorite hobby was traveling, and he made many trips with his dear friend Myrtle Clark, who died in 2014. Their journeys took them to Germany, Australia, Hungary, Egypt and Hawaii, among other destinations; altogether they visited six continents.

George A. Pohl, who was a volunteer with the Oneida Community Mansion House and a member of the Plymouth Alliance Church and the American Legion Sherrill Post No. 230, died on Nov. 3, 2015. Survivors include a son and a daughter, a brother, Harold Pohl ’50, eight grandchildren, a great-granddaughter and a nephew. He was predeceased by two uncles who also attended Hamilton.
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Paul Walter Stucki, Jr. ’51

Paul Walter Stucki, Jr. ’51, an orthopaedic surgeon, was born on May 17, 1929, in Weehawken, N.J., the son of Paul Stucki and the former Veronica Byron. At Hamilton he majored in French and psychology, joined the Squires Club and participated in the Choir and Outing Club. After graduating with Phi Beta Kappa honors, Paul Stucki enrolled at Cornell University Medical College and graduated in 1955. He began his residency at Maine Medical Center in Portland, where he met Joyce Smith, “a neat blue-eyed student nurse.” They wed in 1957, the same year he graduated from the Army Medical Service School at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. He was posted to Korea as a captain with the Army Medical Corps through 1958.

When his tour of duty ended, the Stuckis spent a month traveling through Japan. Upon their return to the States, they settled back in Portland, where Dr. Stucki finished his residency. Upon earning his board certification, he opened an orthopaedics practice in Waterville, Maine. He and Joyce bought an old farmhouse outside of town and raised their family there. In 1988, health issues forced Paul Stucki to gear his “medical practice toward a non-surgical direction.” He retired in September 2000, and he and Joyce divided their time between Naples, Fla., and Maine.

Throughout his life, Paul Stucki was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing, hunting and gardening. A certified Collier County (Fla.) master gardener, he volunteered at a local Audubon sanctuary. An accomplished pianist and painter, he won many awards for the latter. He also enjoyed traveling, which included a “roots” trip to Switzerland with his family as well as visits to Israel, England and, after 33 years, a return trip to Japan in 1991.

Paul W. Stucki, Jr. died on Oct. 10, 2015, as the result of an automobile accident that also took the life of his wife. He is survived by three sons, a daughter and two grandchildren.
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Robert Anthony Contiguglia ’53

Robert Anthony Contiguglia ’53, a judge, was born on Feb. 27, 1931, in Auburn, N.Y. The son of Anthony J. Contiguglia, a lawyer, and the former Ida Berrena, Bob Contiguglia prepared for college at Auburn’s East High School. On the Hill, he was involved in the Squires Club, Debate Club, Campus Fund and Newman Club. A winner of the McKinney Prize in public speaking, his debating skills also earned him membership into the forensic honorary Delta Sigma Rho.

After departing Hamilton, Bob Contiguglia, along with his twin brother and fellow Hamilton alumnus, Louis Contiguglia, spent three years at Cornell Law School, where they both earned LL.B. degrees in 1956. That same year, the brothers were drafted into the U.S. Army and spent time in Fort Jackson, S.C., for training before being stationed in Poitiers, France, where Bob Contiguglia’s role was in the Inspector General’s Office. During his time in France, he met his wife, Micheline Tierce.

Bob Contiguglia returned to Auburn after receiving honorable discharge and was appointed assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York in 1958. Subsequently, he worked with his brother at his father’s law firm, forming Contiguglia, Contiguglia & Contiguglia, while simultaneously serving an appointment as assistant attorney general for the State of New York, handling civil and criminal matters. A Republican, he chaired the Cayuga County Legislature in 1972 and was named “Man of the Year” by the Christopher Columbus Commemorative Committee. In 1977, Bob Contiguglia was elected Cayuga County surrogate judge and held responsibilities in the New York State Supreme Court, Cayuga County Court and Family Court. He was responsible for Erie and Nassau counties, as well as the 7th Judicial District, which included Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Monroe, Yates, Steuben, Ontario and Livingston counties.

Judge Contiguglia served for 23 years before retiring in 2001 at the mandatory age of 70. Thereafter, he volunteered as a judicial hearing officer, serving on juvenile, civil and domestic cases. A former colleague who described him as “a man of tremendous integrity,” recalled that Bob Contiguglia smiled most when he was granting adoptions. The Cayuga County Bar Association recognized him with its highest honor, The Liberty Bell Award, for his many years of service and for adjudicating family court matters without pay during a period of state budget cuts. During his long career, he received the Key to the City of Auburn twice.

Outside of his professional life, Bob Contiguglia enjoyed fishing and hunting, as well as spending time with friends and family. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, Sons of Italy, Italo Club, Elk’s Club and the Cayuga Sportsman’s Association.

Robert A. Contiguglia, who credited Hamilton’s Honor Code with providing “a lesson to carry throughout life,” died on May 31, 2015, following a brief illness. He is survived by his wife, two children and two grandchildren. Also surviving are several siblings, including Louis Contiguglia ’53, and nieces and nephews.
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Augustus Smith Knight, Jr. ’53

Augustus Smith Knight, Jr. ’53, whose careers took him from the Texas oil industry to the farmlands of New Jersey, was born on June 17, 1931, in New York City, the son of Augustus S. and Anita Merle-Smith Knight. He spent his youth in Bedminster, N.J., and attended the Morristown School in New Jersey before arriving on College Hill, where he majored in geology and political science. Gus Knight became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, joined the Outing Club and won the Rogers Prize in geology. Hamilton started him on a varied scientific career, he wrote in 2013. His interest in geology led him to pursue a master’s degree in that subject from Columbia University in 1954. Degree completed, he moved to Texas as a petroleum geologist with Magnolia Oil. Co., a subsidiary of Mobil Oil.

Gus Knight put his career on hold when he was drafted into the U.S. Navy, serving from Dec. 1955 to Sept. 1957. He was assigned to a converted mine sweeper, the USS Sheldrake, where he specialized in depth measurement along the East Coast from Newfoundland, to Ascension Island and south of the equator. By the time he entered the Navy, Gus Knight had married Jane C. Brown one week after his Hamilton graduation on June 20, 1953, in Keene Valley, N.Y.

After his discharge from the Navy, Gus Knight returned to Magnolia Oil but soon moved back east to work as a technical writer for the Weather System Center, a subsidiary of Pratt & Whitney, in Manchester, Conn. However, Mobil Oil again persuaded him to come to work as a geologist back in Texas, and he agreed. Mobil transferred him to its geophysical lab in Dallas so he could accumulate geological and other data for use in what was then a new tool — the computer.

In 1971, Gus Knight began an entirely new chapter of his career, moving back to New Jersey to land in Chester Township, where he launched a farm that produced beef cattle, sheep and crops. “For a science major, the liberal arts education plus the public speaking gave me an advantage in the professional arena,” he wrote in his 50th reunion yearbook. “When farming, I was able to identify any rock plowed up in a field.” Gus Knight was proud of the big, bountiful vegetable garden that he and Jane grew in the “Garden State’s good earth.” During his farming years, he served on the Chester Township Board of Health, on its environmental commission and on the Morris County Solid Waste Advisory Committee. The couple sold the farm in 1998 to the state as part of its program to preserve and protect open spaces from development. Gus Knight was an active member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Gladstone, N.J.

Augustus S. Knight, Jr. died on Aug. 25, 2015. Survivors include his wife of 62 years and many nieces and nephews. The couple had two children, both of whom are deceased.
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John Paulus Semple ’53

John Paulus Semple ’53, an artist whose work earned him accolades throughout his career, was born on Oct. 14, 1930, in Wilson, Pa., to William O. Semple, Jr. and the former Mildred Paulus. His father, John Semple wrote in an autobiography that appears on his website (johnsempleart.com), was a traveling salesman for paper companies, and his mother was a trained violinist. His father moved the family to Wollaston, Mass., where the young John Semple grew up. He attended ninth grade at Thayer Academy in Braintree, Mass., and then finished high school at Mount Hermon School.

John Semple enrolled for a year in Lafayette College in Pennsylvania before transferring to Hamilton, which he later described was like “coming home.” The studio art and art history major and member of the Emerson Literary Society wrote that he received wonderful training on College Hill from professors James Penney and Paul Parker. “James Penney gave actual demonstrations. He was the only teacher I ever had who did that. When later I started to earn my living as a painter, it was his instruction that allowed me to succeed.” His peers recognized his talents and aspirations as well. The Hamiltonian noted in 1953, “Here’s hoping we’ll see you in the Louvre, John.”

For two years after he left Hamilton, John Semple served in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey, where he painted signs, taught swimming to recruits and competed on the Army swim team. He would sneak away to take free drawing classes at the Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia — until he got caught. As he recounts in his autobiography, his captain told him he could either submit to a court martial or withdraw his name from a list of candidates to become a corporal. He opted for the latter. Out of the Army and back in the civilian world, John Semple enrolled in art school in Mexico in 1956, paid for by the GI Bill. In 1958, he received his master’s of fine arts degree from Boston University. While at BU he received a full scholarship to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine and met Mallory Messner; they were married in September 1957.

In the 1950s, John Semple struggled to develop and succeed as a representational artist in a time when many, throughout higher education especially, embraced the abstract expressionist movement. Convinced that as a realist he would have difficulty securing a teaching position at a college or university, he applied for a Tiffany Foundation grant that would allow him to travel and study. He won the top prize, and he and Mallory spent a year in Florence, Italy, where he immersed himself in the study of the great masters of the past.

Returning home to the States, John Semple took on teaching jobs, including a stint at Thayer Academy, where he had studied as a boy. Years earlier, he had fallen in love with Vermont and dreamed of living there. In 1969, he and Mallory, along with their three young sons, moved to North Pomfret. The artist tried teaching and painting, but after a year he began to realize the near impossibility of doing both. “As she always has,” he wrote, “Mallory encouraged me to stay true to myself in spite of the professional risks. If I’d know how hard it was going to be to earn my living as full-time artist, I might have thought longer and harder about the decision.” All the same, he and Mallory made it work. John Semple spent 46 years as a professional artist engaging in one-person shows, national shows and countless exhibits. He was a member of the Allied Artists of America, Audubon Artists, Boston Printmakers, the Los Angeles Printmaking Society and the Society of American Graphic Artists. Over the decades he won more than two dozen awards, working in oil painting, ceramics, sculpture and graphic art.

“I have always ignored the latest fads in painting; too often the motives behind them are commercial, not artistic. Fortunately, the general public has a more enduring faith in and appreciation for the representational tradition,” John Semple noted. “You must learn how to paint and draw; art should deal with both personal visions and objects that interest and delight the eye. I have felt honored to be one of the last artists to work in the Renaissance tradition of drawing and painting and observing from nature.”

John P. Semple died on Nov. 8, 2015, at his home surrounded by his family. Survivors include his wife of 58 years, three sons, including Benjamin Semple ’83, and a sister.
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Quentin Ernest Lyle ’54

Quentin Ernest Lyle ’54, an orthodontist, was born on July 1, 1932, in Nyack, N.Y., the son of Quentin E. Lyle, a bank president, and the former Dorothy Wilson, a homemaker. He graduated from Haverstraw (N.Y.) High School and headed to College Hill, where he majored in biochemistry and psychology. “Bud” Lyle joined Theta Delta Chi, lettered in varsity basketball and played golf, and participated in the Biology Club along with many other extracurriculars.

After Hamilton, Bud Lyle enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Surgery, where he met his future wife, Barbara Touw, and they married while still students. She graduated from the university in 1957. Lyle served in the U.S. Navy from 1958 to 1960, putting in two years as a dental officer at Camp Lejeune, N.C., with the Second Division Fleet Marine Corps. He went from the service to two years at Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery to complete his training in orthodontics.

In 1962, Bud Lyle joined the staff of the Princeton (N.J.) Medical Hospital and certainly kept busy: He served on the Princeton Health Commission and was a member of the Rotary, Bedens Brooks, Springdale and Nassau clubs, The Old Guard of Princeton and many local, state and national orthodontic and dental societies. He served as an officer and president of the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Orthodontics. A practicing orthodontist for three decades, he received the Orthodontic Alumni Society of Columbia University’s Distinguished Service Award as well as the Frances G. Clark Award from the Princeton branch of the YMCA.

An athlete at Hamilton, Bud Lyle’s interest in sports endured throughout his life. He coached Princeton Pee Wee ice hockey and later banded together with a group of fathers to start the girls’ varsity ice hockey program at Stuart Country Day School, where he coached for six years. In retirement, he gardened, played tennis and golf, and attended the theatre, concerts and sporting events with Barbara. Although they both played bridge, they agreed not to play as partners but spent much time together grandparenting. It was Bud Lyle’s hope that at least one of his grandchildren would attend Hamilton since his children did not. That wish was fulfilled: granddaughter Charlotte Healey is a member of the Class of 2017.

Quentin E. Lyle, who served his alma mater as an Annual Fund and capital campaign volunteer, died at his home on Oct. 7, 2015. Survivors include his wife of 58 years, his children, four grandchildren and a brother.
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John Sanford Calhoun ’56

John Sanford Calhoun ’56, a banker, was born on March 15, 1934, in Fairfield, Conn., the son of Philo C. and Doris Wheeler Calhoun. At Hamilton he majored in history and political science and, according to his classmates, maintained a cheerful outlook on life. He joined Alpha Delta Phi, worked on The Spectator and was a member of the Spanish Club and Anglican Society.

Soon after graduation, John Calhoun married Nancy Goodwin on June 9, 1956, and returned to school. From 1956 to 1957, he attended the University of Virginia to study law. He spent his career working at several banks, including a position as a vice president at Indian Head National Bank in Derry, N.H.

In their later years, the couple divided their time between Georgetown, Maine, and Fort Myers, Fla. John Calhoun’s volunteer work in the north included giving tours at the art history center at Bowdoin College, and down south he liked to lead tours that showed off the local alligators and snakes.

John S. Calhoun died on Jan. 13, 2014, in Bath, Maine. The College has no information on survivors.
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Robert Barry Carson ’56

Robert Barry Carson ’56, a professor, economist and author, was born on July 6, 1934, in Greenburg, Pa. The son of Harry R. Carson, a food chain supervisor, and the former Catherine Postlewaite, he spent most of his childhood in Syracuse, N.Y. Active in a diverse array of activities on College Hill, Bob Carson joined Delta Phi, trooped with the Charlatans and helped guide the Intramural Council, the Press Board and the Philosophy Club. During his senior year, he also met his future wife of 57 years, Marjorie Gale, on a blind date at a Theta Delta Chi party. Reflecting fondly on his College days in his 40th reunion yearbook, Bob Carson noted that Hamilton gave him “a sense of self-awareness and a commitment to reason that has invariably served, for good or ill, as a personal compass.”

After graduation, with dual degrees in history and philosophy in hand, Bob Carson served with the U.S. Army and enlisted in the New York National Guard before obtaining his master’s degree in history in 1960 and a Ph.D. in economics in 1964, both from Syracuse University. From there he began his long career in -academia, serving as a faculty member at numerous colleges, teaching both business and economics. In 1966, he settled in as a professor at the State University of New York at Oneonta, where he taught for 27 years, earning the Alumni Association’s 1990 Faculty Recognition Award and professor emeritus status after his final year of teaching in 1993.

Described as a passionate educator who “always enjoyed an inspiring conversation or lecture that created a challenging and introspective look into current events,” Professor Carson also was a prolific scholar who authored more than a dozen books on the subjects of economics and history. Among his published works are Economic Issues Today: Alternative Approaches (1978), now in its eighth edition, and What Economists Know: An Economic Policy Primer for the 1990s and Beyond (1990), which has been published in more than four languages. His 1985 book, Enterprise — An Introduction to Business, included this introduction: “To David M. Ellis, Professor Emeritus, Hamilton College, whose lectures on American Society and institutions were where it all begin.” Dr. Carson donated royalties from the sale of that book to an endowed lecture fund at Hamilton in his former professor’s honor.

Following his retirement, Bob Carson continued his pursuit of the “life of the mind” by engaging in private consulting activities in transportation economics and by continuing to write. In the last decade he spent much of his time producing an autobiographical work of Depression-era children titled The Missing Link: Recalling the Forgotten Generation of American Dreamers Who Grew Up and Came of Age Between ‘The Greatest’ and ‘The Boomers’ (2005). Aside from writing, he and Marge enjoyed collecting antique toy trains and soldiers, and he displayed his collection at Hartwick College’s museum in Oneonta.

Robert B. Carson, who previously served this publication as a class correspondent, died at his home on June 24, 2015. Predeceased by a brother, he is survived by his wife, a son, a daughter and four grandchildren.
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Hartley Harrison Deacon ’57

Hartley Harrison Deacon ’57, who found a life on the other side of the pond in England, was born on April 23, 1932, in Germantown, Pa., to Frank Deacon, a stockbroker, and the former Dorothy Walter, a housewife who had served as a Gray Lady in the American Red Cross. After preparing for college at Germantown Academy, Hart Deacon began his studies at Hamilton in 1950 and became active in campus life, pledging Delta Kappa Epsilon and contributing his athletic talents on the soccer, squash and track teams; however, soon duty called, and he left to serve in the Army Signal Corps during the Korean conflict. In 1955, he returned to the Hill to complete his degree, majoring in history.

After graduation, Hart Deacon backpacked around Mexico, North Africa and Europe before landing in Philadelphia, where, while working at the Sheraton Hotel, and he met an English girl, Hilary “Honey” Davis. The couple were married in Aberdeen, Scotland, on Jan. 9, 1960, and moved to London where Hart found work in advertising and sales, and Hilary became a model, appearing as a Bond girl in Casino Royale and sharing the catwalk with such notables as Twiggy. Seven years later twin daughters were born, and the family moved to Surbiton, a quiet suburb.

Always maintaining a zest for life, Hart Deacon’s daughter Kate described him this way: “A true character on just the right side of eccentricity, he led many up the garden path with his adventures and stories. He loved to make an entrance and sat comfortably in the limelight whether he was dressed as Lawrence of Arabia, masquerading as a brain surgeon or a ballet dancer — new friends were never quite sure whether this colorful American they had just met really was who he said he was.”

Although an ocean separated them, Hart Deacon kept Hamilton close in his thoughts. While on the Hill, he met Michael Pemberton, an exchange student from England and a fellow DKE brother. They became fast friends and remained so. Michael served as best man at Hart’s wedding, and the two were in contact weekly and regularly played squash at the RAF Club in Piccadilly. Throughout the years, Hart Deacon enjoyed visits with a number of Hamiltonians — alumni and professors — including Si Keehn ’52 and Sid Wertimer. According to his daughter, among his prized possessions were a beer tankard with his nickname “Hart” on the back and Hamilton’s insignia and “1957” on the front, and a black sweater that featured a blue “H.”

Hartley H. Deacon died on July 11, 2014, at his home after a brief illness. Predeceased by his wife, he is survived by his daughters and two grandsons.
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James Leo Esch ’57

James Leo Esch ’57, who throughout his life maintained a passion for the open road, was born on Sept. 6, 1935, in Lansing, Mich. The son of Leonard A. Esch and the former Myrtle Barnes, he attended Stockbridge (Mich.) High School. His budding interest in travel led him to hitchhike at age 17 to California and a year later to Key West, Fla. On the Hill, Jim Esch was involved in the Newman Club and was a member of Psi Upsilon.

After graduation as an -economics major, Jim Esch joined General Electric’s training program in Utica, N.Y. Soon after, he was drafted into the Army and moved to Staten Island where his service earned him “Soldier of the Month” honors. On July 11, 1959, he married Judy Clark, whom he had met in Utica. Upon his discharge, Jim Esch spent 15 year in various positions at GE, including specialist in personnel and administration in the chemical research department.

In 1984, as a resident of Niskayuna, N.Y., Jim Esch joined radio station WQBK based in Glenmont as a salesman and then general sales manager and director of promotions. Following that successful career, he combined his love of travel and time behind the wheel and became a long-haul truck driver, navigating highways throughout Canada and from coast to coast. Always calling Schenectady County home, he helped found the Empire State Youth Orchestra and organized St. Anthony’s annual Festa. Jim Esch was a member of the committee that arranged the signing of the constitution for Niskayuna’s bicentennial celebration.

James L. Esch, who enjoyed traveling with his family, especially to area lakes and rivers for whitewater canoe racing, paddling and fishing, died on Oct. 8, 2015, at the Barnwell Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Valatie, N.Y. Predeceased by an infant son, he is survived by his wife, two daughters, two grandchildren, two step--grandchildren, two brothers and a sister.
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John Martin Freyer ’57

John Martin Freyer ’57, who practiced law for four decades, was born on Oct. 20, 1935, in Syracuse, N.Y. The son of Clayton Freyer, an insurance sales agent, and the former Helen Maloney, he grew up in DeWitt, N.Y., and attended Christian Brothers Academy before making the short journey east to College Hill. It wasn’t long before Jack Freyer established himself as a campus leader. He served as an editor of The Spectator and The Hamiltonian; a member of the Interfraternity Council, Newman Club and International Relations Club; and as president of Theta Delta Chi. He graduated with honors, having majored in political science.

Jack Freyer went on to -Harvard Law School, where he roomed with Hamilton classmate Perry O’Hara and Terry Tolles, son of longtime dean Winton Tolles. All three earned their LL.B. degrees in 1960. After passing the bar exam, Jack Freyer left for active duty with the Army Reserve National Guard. Six months later, he and his wife, the former Nancy McGrath, whom he had married on Aug. 29, 1959, returned home to Syracuse, where Jack Freyer began what would become a long career at Bond, Schoeneck & King specializing in litigation and general business and education law.

In 1985, Jack Freyer moved to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where he assumed the role of managing partner of the firm’s Albany and Saratoga offices. By this time he was carving out a life with his second wife, Barbara. At the end of 1999, complications brought on by Parkinson’s disease prompted his retirement.

Active in several community organizations, Jack Freyer served his profession as a member of the Onondaga, Albany and Saratoga bar associations and the Florida and New York State bar associations, the latter of which benefited from his work as chair of its trial lawyers’ section. He and Barbara moved to The Villages in Florida in 2005, where Jack Freyer enjoyed golf and poker. The couple looked forward to trips north each -summer to enjoy time with family at their cottage in the Thousand Islands.

John M. Freyer, who once noted that, next to his parents and Barbara, Hamilton was the most important influence on his life, remained connected to his alma mater. He handled legal matters for the College, volunteered on behalf of fundraising and reunion endeavors, and remained close to many Hamilton colleagues and friends. He died on Feb. 5, 2016. In addition to his wife of 31 years, he is survived by four sons, including John Freyer ’95; three daughters; seven granddaughters; and several nieces and nephews.
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Frederic Peter O’Hara ’57

Frederic Peter O’Hara ’57, who built a legal career in New York City, was born in Norwich, N.Y., on Nov. 24, 1935, the son of Frederic J. O’Hara and the former Mary E. Byrne. Graduating from Norwich High School, he proved to be an excellent student on College Hill, majoring in English and earning acceptance into the DT honor society and the forensic honor society Delta Sigma Rho. Winner of the Clark Prize in public speaking, he was a member of Chi Psi and served as class president and on the Student Council. He also was active with the Debate Club and as treasurer of the Spanish Club. Post Hamilton, Pete O’Hara was an Edward John Noble scholar. His Hamilton classmates wouldn’t have been surprised at his career path. “There is one conclusion to be drawn from the smiling Irishman’s stay on the Hill: the law profession had better watch out!” The Hamiltonian staff noted.

Sure enough, Pete O’Hara progressed from Hamilton to Harvard Law School, graduating in 1960. After service in the Air Force Reserves, he began practicing law with a firm in New York City, where he met his future wife of 51 years, Sabina “Robbie” Gatheral, a children’s book editor. They married in 1964 and raised their five children in Larchmont, N.Y. Most of Pete O’Hara’s law practice was in the area of corporate administrative law. He was a corporate legal officer of two holding companies and eventually joined the Brooklyn law firm of Cullen and Dykman, for which he twice served as managing partner.

Not six months after his retirement from the firm, Pete O’Hara was back at work as counsel for the town of Greenburgh. He served on the Mamaroneck board of education and the board of St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf, and was president of the Men’s Club of Saints John & Paul Parish and the Brooklyn Club. By his 50th reunion in 2007, he was fully retired and focusing his time on his children and grandchildren, on renewing friendships, traveling and trying, without success, to improve at golf, skiing and trap shooting. Throughout the decades he was a faithful friend to Hamilton, serving as a member of the Alumni Council, as Annual Fund chair and as Reunion Gift Committee chair, in addition to assisting two regional alumni associations. Hamilton’s impact on his life and values, he once wrote, was “priceless.”

F. Peter O’Hara died on Nov. 15, 2015, just a few days shy of his 80th birthday. Survivors include his wife, their five children, among them Mary O’Hara Moore ’88 and Margaret O’Hara ’92, and 12 grandchildren. A cousin, Lawrence Welch ’69, predeceased him. The family requested that gifts in his memory be directed to The Winton and Patricia Tolles Scholarship at Hamilton.
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Thomas Sumner Oliver, Jr. ’57

Thomas Sumner Oliver, Jr. ’57, an English professor, was born on Feb. 5, 1935, in Denver, Colo., the second child of Thomas Sumner, an electrical engineer, and Ruth Ann Tanguy Oliver. He graduated from Westtown (Pa.) School then headed for Hamilton. An English major, “Ollie” Oliver, as he was called in the 1957 Hamiltonian, kept busy — he joined Theta Delta Chi and took part in varsity soccer, Block H and the Charlatans, for which he served as production manager in his senior year. He also was a member of the Philosophy and Spanish clubs and earned election into the dramatics honorary Alpha Psi Omega.

After graduation Tom Oliver joined the U.S. Army and served for two years in Panama before returning to school. In 1960, he earned a master’s degree in education from Columbia University and spent some time teaching high school English, before returning to the Army for a relatively brief stint. He wasn’t done with his schooling. After earning his doctorate in English education at the University of Texas at Austin in 1967, he moved to New Mexico, then finally to Washington, D.C., where he took a job at Federal City College, which became the University of the District of Columbia. There he would remain for some 40 years. Professor Oliver taught English, among other subjects, and served as department chair and as assistant dean. For more than 20 years he also taught English to residents of the Lorton Reformatory as part of his university’s prison-college program. Tom Oliver hadn’t expected to stay at the DC university for more than three years but, he said, marriage and children have a way of changing plans. On May 1, 1971, he had married Frances “Jinx” Murray, a librarian at Trinity College.

Tom Oliver took up riding motorcycles in 1970, and he and his wife explored Germany, -Austria, Spain, Switzerland and Nova Scotia from the back of a bike. For roughly the last dozen years of his life, he taught motorcycle safety through Northern Virginia Community College and Apex Cycle Education. He was an examiner trainer at the Department of Motor Vehicles for more than five years. Earlier, he taught a beginning motorcycle course. He also edited books and newsletters and served as a play reader for the Theater of the First Amendment at George Mason University.

Tom Oliver noted that he realized Hamilton’s impact when his senior advisor in grad school told him he wrote well. “The painful black ink editing of Professor Nesbitt paid off, as did the love of Shakespeare by Professor Rudd and of poetry by others of the English faculty, as I spent 41 years teaching English,” he wrote for his 50th reunion yearbook.

Thomas S. Oliver, Jr. died on March 12, 2013. Survivors include his wife, son, daughter and sister.
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Gordon Townley Bourns ’58

Gordon Townley Bourns ’58, a surgeon with a passion for Dixieland jazz, was born on Nov. 5, 1934, in Rahway, N.J. The son of Edward G. Bourns, a physician, and the former Frances Crane, he attended the public schools of Westfield, N.J. Gordy Bourns entered Hamilton in 1952 and remained for two years before withdrawing to serve in the Army. A member of Chi Psi, he returned to the Hill in 1956 and performed with the Buffers and the Choir while finishing his studies in biology and chemistry. Following graduation, he headed east to Albany Medical College where he earned his M.D. in 1962.

Dr. Bourns remained at Albany for his internship and residency, and subsequently served as chief resident in general surgery. From 1962 to 1990, he practiced medicine in Oneida, N.Y., first at Oneida City Hospital and then as a founder of Oneida Surgical Group with Dr. William Hummers ’39. Also during that time, in September 1970, he became a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery.

In 1990, “having developed an intense dislike of CNY winters,” Gordy Bourns and his wife, Mary Ellen “Chris” Christiana, whom he had married in 1960, moved to Santa Fe, N.M., where they built a home and raised their family. For the next five years, he served as a locum tenens surgeon, answering the call to provide his services domestically and abroad, wherever they were needed. In 1995, the family moved to Albuquerque where, after back surgery and a long period of rehabilitation, Dr. Bourns retired.

Highly active in community organizations, Gordy Bourns volunteered for the community chest, local arts council and civic chorale, and enjoyed pastimes such as golf, scuba diving and underwater photography. He was a passionate fan of jazz and, at age 40, discovered a love of the tuba and proceeded to teach himself to play. He performed with traditional jazz bands and returned to campus for Reunion Weekends each June to entertain with the Hamilton College Alumni All-Stars Jazz Band, with which he earned a Volunteer of the Year Award in 2010. He also served his alma mater by assisting with fundraising efforts and serving as chair of his 15th reunion and on the Alumni Council.

Gordon T. Bourns, who credited Hamilton with imparting “a humanism that deeply affected my career as a surgeon,” died on Oct. 23, 2015. He had been residing in The Villages, Fla. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Jeffrey Bourns ’83; two daughters, including Julie Bourns Adams ’90; seven grandchildren; and a sister.
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John William Grantier ’58

John William Grantier ’58, an actuary, was born on Sept. 1, 1936, in Penn Yan, N.Y. The son of Theodore W. Grantier, a food processing plant manager, and the former Sophia L. Schuknecht, he attended Penn Yan Central High School. On the Hill, when not pursuing his studies toward a degree in mathematics, he contributed his talents to the Royal Gaboon and was a member of the Squires Club.

Following graduation, John Grantier ventured to New York City to begin what would become four decades of work in the insurance industry. While sidetracked for three years beginning in 1960 for service in the Army, he married Audrey Merkin, a legal secretary, on March 12, 1961.

John Grantier successfully completed the arduous task of passing the required exams to become a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and was also member of the American Academy of Actuaries. After working with life insurance companies in New York until 1967, he and his family headed west where he joined the Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Co. in St. Paul and was named assistant actuary of the Group Insurance Department. He remained there until 1974, -subsequently relocating to -Winston-Salem, N.C., where he served as vice president and actuary at Booke and Co.’s -Actuarial Consulting Division. He rounded out his career at the HBJ Insurance Cos. in Orlando, Fla., and United Insurance Co. of America in Chicago.

When not engrossed in data and financial calculations, John Grantier found time to serve as treasurer of the Twin City Youth Soccer Association and to travel. He was proud that he had visited all 50 U.S. states in addition to countries abroad. He was also an avid bridge player and ran a duplicate bridge group.

John W. Grantier died on Sept. 24, 2014, at his home in Winter Springs, Fla., where he had relocated following his retirement. He is survived by his wife, a daughter, a son, eight grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and one great-great granddaughter.
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Lewis Herbsman Sandler ’58

Lewis Herbsman Sandler ’58, an attorney who earned a national reputation as a leader in the real estate industry, was born on July 2, 1936, in New York City. The son of John J. Sandler and the former Celia Rubin, Lew Sandler grew up in Albany, N.Y., and prepared for college at the Albany Academy. At Hamilton, he immediately immersed himself into campus life. A member of Tau Kappa Epsilon, he joined the staff of The Spectator and participated on the Debate Club and with the Charlatans. His stellar communications skills earned him membership into the honorary forensic society Delta Sigma Rho, and he received the McKinney Prize in public speaking.

Three years following his graduation with concentrations in economics and English literature, Lew Sandler completed his LL.B. degree at Columbia Law School and began applying his craft in New York City, specializing in real estate and securities law. From 1961 to 1965, he served as an attorney for the Port Authority, where one of his first undertakings involved taking back 13 square blocks of downtown Manhattan, which would become the site of the World Trade Center. In 1977, following several years as a partner in three prominent Manhattan law firms, he joined Schneider & Sherman Associates, a real estate investment firm based in New Jersey. That decision would lead to relocating to Dallas in 1980 when the company became Southwest Properties, Ltd., one of the first publicly traded master limited partnerships that specialized in the development and ownership of multiple family homes in Texas. During this time, Lew Sandler was chairman of the Coalition of Public Traded Partnerships and testified as an expert witness before several congressional subcommittees in Washington, D.C. In 1992, he and his partners converted Southwest Properties into a real estate investment trust known as South West Property Trust. At the end of 1996, the trust merged with United Dominion, and Lew Sandler became semi-retired, although he still applied his extensive expertise as president and CEO of United Investors Realty Trust, a shopping center REIT, which he took public one year later.

When not embroiled in negotiations and investments, Lew Sandler enjoyed traveling the world with his wife, the former Willy Klinkhamer, whom he had married on Oct. 27, 1973. They explored the western parts of the United States, as well as various destinations throughout Europe, Asia and Australia. The couple even ventured to Antarctica in 2007 on a Hamilton Alumni Association trip. Closer to home, the Sandlers often hosted Hamiltonians at their Dallas home, and Lew served for more than two decades as president of the North Texas Alumni Association. He also chaired the Class of 1958’s 50th reunion and served as a longtime volunteer for the College’s fundraising and admission efforts. In 2003, his alma mater presented him with its prestigious College Key Award in recognition of his and Willy’s hospitality. Not surprising for a man who made donations to Hamilton’s arboretum. Why? He was making good on a bet lost to good friend John Driscoll ’58 when “my Cowboys managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory” in a game versus the N.Y. Giants.

When not bleeding buff and blue, Lew Sandler’s other interests included fly-fishing, collecting art, classical music and jazz, wine and single-malt whiskey, and reading adventure and mystery novels. “Willy’s and my tastes in wine and art are eclectic, to say the least,” he once noted. In 2013, he returned to College Hill to present an Alumni College during Reunion Weekend where he shared stories from his 40 years of high-mountain fly-fishing across the Americas and New Zealand.

Lewis H. Sandler, known affectionately as “Hamilton’s Mr. Dallas,” died on Aug. 13, 2015, after a long battle with cancer. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter from his first marriage to Viveca M. Lindahl, a son and five grandchildren.
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Kenneth James Burke ’59

Kenneth James Burke ’59, an attorney, was born on Aug. 24, 1937, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to Charles A. and Evelyn Keese Burke. He attended Rhinebeck Central School before heading to Hamilton, where he lent his talents to The Spectator and The Hamiltonian. An English literature major, he gained entrance into the journalism honorary Pi Delta Epsilon and was a member of Emerson Literary Society.

Not long after Ken Burke left College Hill, he entered the Army. After two years, he set out to pursue a career as an attorney and graduated from Albany Law School in 1965. On Nov. 26, 1966, he married George Anne Hoppock at Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., with Bard College’s president presided over the ceremony.

Throughout the years, Ken Burke maintained his roots in New York’s Hudson Valley region, working as a defense attorney with a firm in Poughkeepsie. From 1973 to 1984, he was the Rhinebeck village and town justice. He also served as a Republican County committeeman.

Kenneth J. Burke died on Dec. 11, 2015, with his wife and daughter at his side. Survivors also include a son and a grandson.
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Charles Warren Ring ’59

Charles Warren Ring ’59, a professional fundraiser who made community service an integral part of his life, was born on April 2, 1936, in Fall River, Mass., the son of Charles W. and Constance Varney Ring. In 1947, the family moved to Brunswick, Maine, and “Johnny” Ring prepared for college at the Taft School in Watertown, Conn., where he broke several track records before heading to Hamilton.

A political science major on the Hill, he naturally made the varsity track team in addition to taking part in the Charlatans, singing in the choir and pledging Theta Delta Chi. He wrote for The Spectator and earned entrance to the Alpha Psi Omega honor society. In his 25th reunion yearbook, Johnny Ring wrote that his Hamilton education, with its emphasis on oral and written communication, prepared him well for “a full professional and social life.”

After serving for two years in the U.S. Navy, Johnny Ring began his career as a fundraiser in 1961 at Bowdoin College, where he became vice president for development and directed the successful 175th anniversary campaign. In 1970, he completed coursework at the Harvard Business School Institute for Educational Management. After 20 years at Bowdoin, he joined North Yarmouth Academy as director of development, a position he held from 1982 to 1985. He worked on capital campaigns for the Marine Maritime Academy and the Maine Maritime Museum in the late 1980s and early 1990s before assuming the role of vice president for development and public relations at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center and the Sisters of Charity Health System in Lewiston, Maine. He also consulted for nonprofit organizations throughout the state, including the Holocaust Human Rights Center, the American Red Cross and the People’s Regional Opportunity Program.

From the time of his youth, Johnny Ring devoted himself to serving others. In 1950, he was one the youngest boys in the country to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, which earned him the privilege of traveling to Washington, D.C., to meet President Harry S. Truman and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. The young scout grew into an adult scout advocate, serving as president of its Pine Tree Council and receiving the Silver Beaver Award for his outstanding service. The dining hall and conference center at the scouts’ Camp William Hinds in Raymond, Maine, is named in his honor.

Johnny Ring’s list of community service endeavors is as diverse as it is lengthy. He served as president of the board of the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, as vice chairman of the board of the STAR Foundation in Portland and as officer and director of the Schooner Bowdoin Association. Over the years he was active in many capacities in local government, politics and organizations, including Republican committees, the United Way and the Brunswick Rotary Club. The Maine Maritime Museum is naming a space in honor of Johnny and his wife, Lorraine (Desjardins) Ring, whom he had married in 2005. Most recently he was a generous supporter of the Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick and directed its annual fund campaign. For his leadership there, colleagues and friends established an endowment fund in honor of him and Lorraine.

Charles W. Ring, who also devoted volunteer time to advancing his alma mater’s fundraising initiatives, died on Oct. 24, 2015, at his home. In addition to his wife, survivors include four children from his first marriage to the former Margaret Thomas, including Constance Ring Gregg ’84 and John Ring ’89; two stepchildren; a sister; and eight grandchildren, including Julia Carpenter ’18.
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