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These pages contain all class notes from the Yale Alumni Magazine from 1957 on. The notes from the July 1957 issue through that of July 2004 appear unchanged from their original publication in the magazine save for the correction of misspellings and other small errors. Starting with the September/October 2004 issue, the notes here appear as they were submitted to the Yale Alumni Magazine. The edited notes as published in the magazine can be accessed via https://yalealumnimagazine.com/. The differences are minor. Gaps in coverage result from the absence of Class of 1957 notes in a few issues of the magazine over the years. Also, in keeping with changes in the magazine itself since 1957, the frequency of publication has occasionally changed.
Notes: January/February 2022
Notes: March/April 2022
Notes: May/June 2022
Notes: July/August 2022
Notes: September/October 2022
November/December 2022
January/February 2022
As you know, we’ve inaugurated a series of virtual ’57 events, each one of which stars a classmate. The gatherings occur on the second Monday of each month at 5 p.m. eastern time. The first series ends in February. A second will commence in September.
Recently noted classmates’ books include DeForest (Mike) Mellon, Jr.’s The Physiology of Sense Organs (1968), English Showalter’s Françoise de Graffigny: Her Life and Works (2004), and, with Alessandro Ferrara, Frank I. Michelman’s Legitimation by Constitution: A Dialogue on Political Liberalism (2022).
Ron Sharp writes that, retired some years ago, he’s now “framing art made by my wife, trying to be a good grandpa, and being extra careful and healthy in these trying times. I cannot believe that our class notes are now only 5 pages from the start of Alumni Notes.”
In Memoriam: Peter A. Smith died of kidney failure on December 15, 2018. After graduation, Pete served as a naval officer before beginning a long career in banking, which ended with his 1990 retirement as president of Georgia-based American National (later Barnett) Bank. Lyman Drake writes that Pete, "the #1 piano talent of our New Trier era,” was “never much drawn to jazz improvisation but rather played Gershwin or Porter." Ron Ragen recalls Pete offering an impromptu concert at a hotel whose manager offered him a job on the spot. Pete is survived by his wife Nancy, their children Catherine McGowan, Alan B. Smith, and Elizabeth S. Galloway and three grandchildren. Contributions in his memory may go to Lake Forest Open Lands Association, 350 North Waukegan Road, Lake Forest, Illinois 60045, or Geneva Foundation of Presbyterian Homes, 8707 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, Illinois 60077.
In Memoriam: Jack S. M. Erickson died on December 1, 2019. Instead of entering the Foreign Service (his stated intention), Jack could be found in Europe in the late 1950s and early 1960s marketing Dreyfus funds and driving an Aston Martin DB4. By our 30th reunion he was listed as working at Decision Process International. Later, he resided in Midland Park, New Jersey, Durham, North Carolina, Oberlin, Ohio, and by 2012 again in Durham. To those who knew him, Jack was a lively, informed man. Reed Rubin describes him as someone of "superb intellect who embraced life" and believes that he married and had at least one daughter.
In Memoriam: Don R. Damuth died on July 19, 2020. Don entered Yale with us but graduated from Stanford in mechanical engineering. After Marine Corps service, he joined the Trane Air Conditioning Company and in 1970 founded Damuth Trane, a still-existing air conditioning franchise. He’s said to have enjoyed the water, cultivating oysters, and playing golf. In addition to his wife Bernice, Don is survived by their three sons and families. Donations in his memory should go to Families of Autistic Children in Tidewater, 120 S.Lynnhaven Road (Suite 200) Virginia Beach, VA 23452.
In Memoriam: Peter W. Hollenbeck succumbed to pulmonary fibrosis on December 28, 2020. Entering Yale with ’56, Pete majored in civil engineering after transferring to ’57, then worked as a civil engineer in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska before taking up employment with IBM. At the time of our 25th reunion, he was president of the Computer Center in Berkeley, California. Outside his work life, he enjoyed camping, high country backpacking, and fly fishing; provided technical assistance and refurbished computers to non-profit organizations; and offered technical guidance to orphaned and abandoned Ugandan schoolgirls. Peter Greer calls Pete "a very engaging guy, full of fun and life, with a great sense of humor." In addition to his wife Martha, he’s survived by their son Christopher and daughter Sarah Sewell and their families. Donations in his memory may go to the Voluntary Hearts Community for Girl-child Concern.
In Memoriam: We lost Joseph V. Vittoria on January 18, 2021 after a long struggle against leukemia. With a civil engineering BS and Columbia MBA, after military service Joe began work with Hertz in Rome. Following some years in London (which later honored him as a Freeman of the City), he returned to the US. Toggling between Hertz and Avis, he served as chief executive of both companies before retiring from Avis in 1997 after establishing its precedent-setting employee stock ownership plan and arranging Avis’s sale. His career was notable enough that Joe received that rare notice: a written obituary in The Wall Street Journal. After retiring, he and his wife Luciana developed the super-yacht line of Mirabellas, Mirabella V being at its 2003 launching the world's tallest single-masted yacht. Over the years, he served on many boards, including United Airlines’s, became an Overseer of the Columbia Business School, and was founding chairman of the board of visitors of Georgetown University’s School of Language and Linguistics. An active Catholic, he was also a Knight of Malta. Vin Marchesi writes, "I never saw Joe angry. He never seemed to get upset or contentious. His likeable personality was coupled with a penetrating mind that he often concealed to his advantage." In addition to Luciana, Joe is survived by children Joseph ('85), Jerry ('86), Audrey Meissner, and Edward ('93), as well as their spouses and children. Donations in his memory should go to the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Miami (special recognition to Dr. Terrence Bradley) or to the Jupiter (Florida) Medical Center Foundation (special recognition to Dr. Nicole Corry).
JMB
March/April 2022
As of this writing, our 65th reunion remains on for May 26th-29th. Watch for information and up-dates. The first season of virtual class events concluded in March after appearances by Messrs. Schaffner, Pelletreau, Marchesi, Michelman, Sharp, Benenson, and Chauncey. Videos of their talks are on the class website. A second season is anticipated.
Many write books, but few have books written about them. In the latter group fall Steve and Doris Colgate. Herb McCormick’s Offshore High is about their Offshore Sailing School (from which the book can be ordered) and their lives in business and on the waves as noted sailors, racers, and yacht people. Jim Seymour is by contrast someone who writes books. In 1998, he co-authored New Ghosts, Old Ghosts: Prisons and Labor Reform Camps in China. Its subject: the notorious prisons of northwest China, especially in Xinjiang.
In Memoriam: James M. McLelland died of Alzheimer’s Disease on November 26, 2020, near Colgate University where he long taught until retiring in 2000 as Charles Dana Professor of Geology. A collegiate geology major with a 1961 geology PhD from Chicago, Jim (a.k.a. “Chief”) was known as a demanding, lively teacher whom Colgate credited with building "one of the nation’s leading undergraduate geology departments" and inducing many students to become professional geologists. His research specialty was Adirondack plate tectonics, his reputation earning him the James Hall Medal for "outstanding contributions to the advancement, study and understanding of New York State’s geological history and evolution.” While Walt Benenson calls Jim "the most non-serious person most of us had ever come across," his students revered him for his commitment to them and his seriousness of purpose. Jim is survived by Catherine, since 1957 his cellist-conductor wife, daughter Cindy Leinberg, and sons Jonathan and Bruce. Donations in his memory should go to the Alzheimer's Association.
In Memoriam: On January 29, 2021, W. Thomas Myers, Jr. died at home in Swanton, Maryland, from the complications of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. A chemical engineering major and varsity track team member, Tom gained MS and PhD degrees from Lawrence University. Starting his career in paper research and development for the St. Regis Paper Company, he remained with that firm before becoming vice president of international development of the James River Company. Following retirement, Tom and his wife Karen settled near Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, where he ran operations for a log home sales company and involved himself in community affairs. Roommate John Tracy describes Tom as “a West Virginia mountain boy through and through: big grin, easy going, good friend, always ready to celebrate the good things in life.” In addition to Karen, Tom is survived by four daughters from a first marriage—Rebecca Spencer, Sara Franklin, Anna Brenes, and Barbara Miller and their families. Contributions in his memory may go to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 6 South Second St., Oakland, MD 21550, the International Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Foundation, 6144 Clark Center Ave., Sarasota, FL 34238, or the Deep Creek Lake Watershed Foundation, P.O. Box 376, Oakland, MD 21550.
In Memoriam: Courtenay H. Haight died in Blue Hill, Maine, of interstitial lung disease on February 7, 2021. After four years as a naval officer, mostly in Japan, Court commenced a banking career with J. P. Morgan Bank in New York City, Australia, and Japan. After returning stateside, Court and his wife Woody owned the reputedly last working farm in Greenwich, Connecticut. In the early 1990s, they moved Down East to establish their eponymous Haight Farm. Pioneers in hydroponics, they grew vegetables in greenhouse waters without chemical fertilizers, produced herbal vinegars and infused olive oils, and offered job training and employment to local teenagers while Court wove baskets and built woodworked furniture. He also became a "wicked good" steel-drum instrumentalist with the nationally known local band, Flash in the Pan. Always modest, Court kept under wraps a sharp mind. To Ernie Pepples, he was "a to-be man rather than a to-seem one, never happier than when extolling the taste of wild berries from his farm, performing with his band, and finding ways to help others and make the world around him hum." Predeceased by his wife, Court is survived by their daughters Christin Barnett and Lila Gilbert, their families, and his brother Peter (’59). Contributions in his memory should go to the Blue Hill Library, 5 Parker Point Road, Blue Hill 04614 or the Blue Hill Heritage Trust, 157 Hinckley Ridge Road, Blue Hill 04614.
In Memoriam: We lost Philip W. Pillsbury, Jr., on March 3, 2021, in Washington D.C. from the complications of Parkinson's disease. After graduation, Phil studied in Paris at Sciences Po and then at George Washington University before entering the Foreign Service for a career with the United States Information Agency. Between postings in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, he served with the Minneapolis Urban League. Along the way he spent a year at the National War College, then ran the USIA’s Youth Exchange Program. Abroad, he was principally involved in promoting American culture, overseeing American libraries, and maintaining Fulbright Scholar Programs. All who knew Phil knew him as a sweet-tempered, sunny-spirited, modest man, an active Democrat, avid photographer, and loyal institutionalist and friend. In the 1990s he and Bob Joost co-founded and co-convened lunchtime gatherings of Washington’s '57ers. Bob Pelletreau, '57's senior diplomat, writes that "in his various assignments as a cultural affairs officer, Phil was genuinely devoted to expanding international understanding. He tried to see the best in everyone and made many friends for the United States." Phil is survived by Nina, his wife of 51 years, his children Fendell, Caroline, and Philip III, and their families. He was predeceased by his first wife Marion and brother Henry ('58). Donations in his memory may be made to the Parkinson's Foundation.
JMB
May/June 2022
From John Hermann, with confirmation from the groom, comes cheering word that Peter Wolf married Betsy Davidson on January 5, 2002. All hail the newlyweds! Dick Newman writes from Monclair, New Jersey, that, retired from the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court, he and Mary spend their summers in Stonington, Maine. And from Tucson comes word from Hugh Thompson that, “retired,” he’s taken up sculpting. From what I’ve seen, all of us should move fast to own one of his works before they’re bought up by museums.
In Memoriam: We lost G. Morgan Brown on January 17, 2021. Morgan (sometimes “Morg”) was a businessman who in 1980 became administrative and financial director of the celebrated Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, from which he retired in 2003 after having, it’s said, re-organized the Laboratory's operations while “greatly expanding the impact of its basic research toward clinical development." Roommate Bud Trillin calls Morgan a "quiet and amiable" man who kept the CSHL “on a solid financial footing so that its scientists could do what scientists do." Morgan is survived by his wife Joanne, their three sons G. Morgan III, David T., and Douglas P., and their families.
In Memoriam: T. Wayne Downey died of unstated causes on March 11, 2021. After college, Wayne (also "Wayno") took a Yale M.D., continued his medical education at the University of Minnesota and in Yale's Department of Psychiatry, then served in the Army Medical Corps as Chief of Neuropsychiatric and Family Services at Fort Leonard Wood Hospital. He thereafter practiced adult, adolescent, and child psychoanalysis and psychiatry in Guilford, Connecticut while an associate clinical professor at Yale's Child Study Center. Wayne and his family spent cherished time on Branch Lake, Maine. He’s survived by Joan, his wife of over 60 years, their daughters Sharon Panetta and Susan Heston and their families. He was predeceased by son T. Lincoln Downey. Contributions in Wayne's memory may go to the Western New England Institute for Psychoanalysis, the Edith B. Jackson Child Care Program, the Elizabeth Celotto Childcare Center, or the Yale New Haven Children's Hospital, all in New Haven.
In Memoriam: Dana S. Bray, Jr. died on March 17, 2021 of unstated causes. Dana spent his career primarily as the owner of a fuel oil and gasoline business that he founded and operated in upstate New York. He was a pioneer in developing convenience store extensions of his retail outlets before their incorporation into gas stations became widespread. He was also the owner and breeder of race-winning thoroughbred horses. His mounts, which he raised at his own Braywood Farms, won races at Saratoga, the Washington D.C. International and Turf Classic, and the Kentucky Oaks, one of them earning the 1977 Eclipse Award for the Best Grass Horse in North America. President of the Glens Falls Tennis and Swim Club, he was said to play tennis with a wicked onion serve. Predeceased in 2019 by his wife Marlyn as well as by their sons Andrew and Randolph, he's survived by son Christopher and daughter Mia, their children, and many others. Donations in his memory may be made to the Hyde Collection House and Museum, 161 Warren Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801.
In Memoriam: Robert D. Pelton succumbed on October 16, 2020 to unstated medical conditions in Barry’s Bay, Ontario, Canada. A high-ranking collegiate scholar, in 1956 he joined the Catholic Church when visiting the Madonna House Apostolate in Combermere, Ontario, "a small community,” he wrote, “seeking to serve God and the poor in hiddenness and Gospel simplicity." After ordination as a priest, Father Bob studied moral theology in Rome, then Islam at McGill University, finally (for a PhD) the history of religion at the University of Chicago Divinity School. In 1975 he turned to a life of prayer in a poustinia--a hermitage-like cabin at Madonna House—for solitude and prayer. In 1984 Bob’s fellow priests chose him to succeed the deceased founder of that institution. Claiming that one root of his vocation stemmed from an encounter with Pascal’s Pensées in his Saybrook room, for our 50th reunion he wrote that he "never dreamed that 50 years later I would be so grateful for a lifetime of learning to give flesh to the holiness of God in love." A man of calm authority and unusual serenity, Father Bob’s warm friendliness never waned. He’s survived by his brother Richard Pelton and a nephew.
In Memoriam: Augustus G. Kellogg III died from the complications of dementia in North Guilford, Connecticut, on May 19, 2021. An architecture major, Gus returned to Yale after naval service for a 1964 M.Arch. After practicing in New Haven for a decade, he spent the rest of his career as director of facilities and campus planning at the Yale School of Medicine. Eventually president of the Association of University Architects, he also headed the board of trustees of his pre-collegiate alma mater, The Gunnery School, and was long president of the board of trustees of St. Anthony Hall. A man of easy-going warmth, jovial spirit, and bonhomie, Gus kept under wraps a sharp mind. Ray Lamontagne writes that "it was always a joy to see him because his smile and his greetings were infectious. He had an uncanny way of making you feel special when, in fact, it was Gus who was special." Gus is survived by his wife Barbara, their four children Erin ('85, M.E.S. '91), Elsbeth Getto, Kimberly, Augustus G. IV and their families. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Guilford Land Conservation Trust or to the Class of 1957 Music in Schools Initiative of The Yale School of Music.
In Memoriam: Rex Aubrey died on April 20, 2021, of unstated causes. A native Australian, at Yale Rex was a member of Book and Snake and a varsity swimmer, for which, along with his raffish appeal, he was most widely known. After a leave of absence, he graduated with '58. Rex started pulling down swimming championships in his teens and represented Australia at the 1952 Olympic Games. The youngest member of his country’s team, he finished sixth in the 100-meter freestyle face after setting a record in the semi-finals. In college, he became an NCAA champion in 50- and 100-yard freestyle races and set that day's NCAA record in the latter. Still representing Australia in college, he took bronze and gold medal the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Rex spent his career as a swimming coach, most of it as athletic director of the Detroit Athletic Club with service at the Oakland Hills Country Club. Winning national titles in squash, he also managed three holes-in-one in golf. It's said that, with a cover-boy handsomeness, Rex had a chance during college to go Hollywood on a generous contract but turned down the offer as of no interest. Roommate John Tracey notes that "Rex was the lady-killer. He was tall, blonde, very good looking, athletic, and had a dashing quality about him as well as a wonderful Australian accent. Were we jealous? Absolutely!" Rex is survived by his wife Ann, whom he married in 1957, and their three children Rex Jr., Robin, and Regina.
JMB
July/August 2022
Almost 69 years after showing up for freshman orientation, roughly 90 members, spouses, widows, and friends of the Class of 1957 gathered under generally cooperating late May skies for our three-day 65th reunion in Jonathan Edwards College. (A 70th is anticipated.)
As alumni are wont to do, we talked and talked and talked from sunup well into the night, our conversations staying decently this side of nostalgic bathos, more or less free of medical reports, usually focused on serious matters, and always filled with laughter. Highpoints? As follows:
1) A concert celebration in the Morse Recital Hall of Sprague Hall of the 15th anniversary of the Class of 1957 Music in Schools Initiative, whose endowment is now over $11 million. Music, played and sung enthrallingly by both city school students and graduate students of music, filled the space. Long-time booster of our 50th reunion class gift, School of Music dean Robert Blocker, told the audience (attending classmates, music school students and staff members, and teachers and officers of the city’s schools) that the Initiative has been “one of the most meaningful events in my Yale experience….Together, you changed hearts and enriched souls, and we are all profoundly grateful.”
2) The Class dinner in five components, viz.
a. Under the authority of the class’s unwritten constitution, in conformity to its unknown provisions, by virtue only of precedent, yet for all that greeted with universal approval and acclaim, the mace of secretarial authority passed from the skilled hands of Merrell Clark, a man universally admired for maintaining order and momentum during his five-year term, into the possession of in-coming chieftain Steve Wittenberg, the 13th in an illustrious line of class secretaries.
b. Reunion gift chairman Don Roberts (see next) and his committee members, indefatigable reunion impresario Bern Kosto, and yrs. truly accepted thanks for their contributions to the class.
c. Fund-raiser extraordinaire Roberts reported 1957’s remarkable 65th reunion gift, which, as of this writing (June 1st), stands just one-half million dollars short of reaching its 65th reunion goal of $14.2 million since our 55th reunion, of which (if the goal is reached) $3 million will be new funds—that is, donations laid in since January 1, 2022. If attained, the class will have contributed the magic sum of $100 million since graduation in 1957. But without yet being able to take that victory lap, we can already crow that, by the time of the reunion, ‘57 had surpassed the Class of 1938 for an all-time class participation record for a 65th reunion — 97 percent!
d. Laying aside his characteristic Miltonian gravitas, class poet Bud Trillin offered a third codicil to his 50th reunion Ode to ’57, one embodying bittersweet notes appropriate to our advancing years. Its final lines, filled with Bud’s celebrated whimsy, read as follows:
Our kids, those tots we guided as they grew,
Now tell us what we’re not allowed to do.
They say we’re not allowed to climb a ladder,
All red meat’s bad, and scotch is badder.
On subways, if her eyes and our eyes meet
She’ll sweetly smile, then offer us her seat.
But we decline, and maybe even bow—
As deeply as our aches and pains allow.
We try our best to face old age with grace.
We’re grateful for each other and this place.
e. The evening closed with the usual a capella brilliance of our ’57 Whiffs, augmented this time by Whiff alumni from other classes. Their performance was topped off by what this writer had never before experienced—the songsters’ invitation that everyone join in singing the Whiffenpoof Song with them. We did. Wet eyes were seen throughout the room.
JMB
September/October 2022
News just in: The class achieved 98% participation for its 65th reunion gift! A member of Yale’s development office writes that “this historic number will go down in the record books as the highest ever achieved by a 65th reunion class."
Other good news: Pierre Bouscaren reports being in good health, still singing in two groups, and, with his wife Sarah, traveling. Dennis Bates writes of his career as an urban historian and college/university administrator and, in retirement, a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and Des Moines’s Community Playhouse. John Francis has been laboring mightily to organize written protests from within the US and Russia to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And youthful Don Griffith continues to play championship basketball. His West Virginia Generals team, in age 80-plus competition, earned a silver medal in 2022’s National Senior Games.
In Memoriam: A one-sentence public notice reveals that Harold. T. Hofer, Jr. died on March 22, 2020, in Sartelle, Minnesota. At college, Tom majored in human culture and behavior. In 1982, he was living in Irvine, California, in 1987 in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1992 and 1997 in Morgan Hill, California, and between 2002 and 2012 in Sun Lakes, Arizona. Roommate Ray Ellison recalls Tom as "laid back." Bob Beaney, another roommate, describes him as having "kept to himself." More information about him cannot be found.
In Memoriam: James W. Murphree died of unstated causes on December 7, 2020, in or near his Dallas, Texas, home. A Fort Worth native, Jim (known in college as Bill served for four post-collegiate years as a Marine Corps officer. Subsequently, he studied for the ministry at Union Theological Seminary and in 1972 entered the Episcopal priesthood. Returning to Texas, he served churches in Dallas and Richardson, as well as ministering to hospital, retirement home, and psychiatric facility residents. He was known for being a serious student of religious, biblical, and church history and deeply interested in 20th-century naval warfare. Roommate Bide Thomas describes Jim as "as kind and caring a person as you could ever want to know....soft spoken, a very serious student, [and] a true gentleman in the classic sense." He’s survived by two sisters, as well as nephews, and nieces. Gifts in his memory may go to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Wild Horse Campaign, or the Environmental Defense Fund.
In Memoriam: On March 3, 2021, Edward H. Cook died of unstated causes at home in his native Oklahoma City. After serving for three years in the U.S. Navy, Ed spent most of his life as owner and chairman of his family’s funeral home, president of an employee benefits analysis company, and owner of a firm that provided the oil industry with exploration and drilling records. He was deeply engaged in his city’s civic life. Among his numerous leadership posts were the presidency of its Chamber of Commerce and the board of his pre-collegiate alma mater, the Casady School, and service as trustee of Oklahoma City University (from which he received an honorary JD degree). Credited with major roles in three times preventing the closing of Tinker Air Force Base, Ed considered his greatest achievement helping gain passage of an Oklahoma constitutional amendment authorizing liquor-by-the-drink. After serving in Governor Frank Keating’s cabinet as executive director of Oklahoma’s tourist and recreation agency, he stepped aside at the governor’s request to successfully raise funds for the long-postponed construction of the dome now topping Oklahoma's capitol. His personal activities included flyfishing, bird-hunting, road-tripping, golf, cigars (H. Upmann), and, though an avid Sooner fan, rooting for the New York Yankees. Predeceased by Kaye, his wife of 48 years and their son Edward H. II, Ed is survived by their daughter Jennifer Lewis, son Scott, and their families. Donations in his memory should go to the Casady School, 9500 N. Pennsylvania Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73120.
In Memoriam: Richard P. Simons died on June 27, 2021 in Honolulu, Hawaii, of unstated causes. Psi (as he was always known) entered Yale as a sophomore in 1954 after a year at the University of Colorado and service the U.S. Air Force in Korea. He majored in political science, took a history M.A. at Harvard, then moved to his permanent position as a history teacher at the Punahou School in Honolulu, where he served eventually as chairman of its history department. (No, he didn’t teach young Barry Obama, although he knew the future president.) He also gained another M.A., this one from the University of London. After retirement in 1988, Psi tutored students, taught part-time at the University of Hawaii and Hawaii Pacific College, and continued his life-long travels. John Westcott recalls that, being older than everyone else, collegian Psi was seen as a kind of big brother known affectionately as "the oldest living undergraduate." Roommate Jim Crooks describes Psi as a serious reflective man while also "jovial and easy-going." Psi’s survivors include his children Peter ('82), Christopher, and Emily as well as their spouses and children.
In Memoriam: John Leinenweber died of unstated causes on July 7, 2021, in Oberlin, Ohio. Deciding in college to become a Benedictine monk, then doing so, John first taught at Portsmouth Priory (now Abbey) School. He took up the contemplative life, eventually at the isolated Benedictine Monastery of Christ in the Desert, a "Trappist" community, in Abiquiu, New Mexico. In 1991, he returned to Yale, obtained a degree from the Divinity School, and afterwards gained release from his vows. Staying at the Divinity School as a research fellow, John became a published translator of a number of classic Catholic texts and, having developed an expertise in liturgical music, aided the Institute of Sacred Music’s publication program. Those who knew John recall his natural serenity, kindness, wry humor, and unwavering dedication to the world's improvement. Reed Taylor writes that John "was always halfway to Heaven." He’s survived by his brother, federal judge Harry D. Leinenweber and the judge’s wife, former Congresswoman and Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin, as well as many others.
JMB
November/December 2022
News just in: The class achieved 98% participation for its 65th reunion gift! A member of Yale’s development office writes that “this historic number will go down in the record books as the highest ever achieved by a 65th reunion class.”
Of classmates’ books not previously announced, the following: By Brian Kelly, Best Little Stories from the Annals of the U.S. Coast Guard: Two Centuries as First Responders in War and Peace (2021), the latest in an on-going series. And by Rod Correll, Learning to be a Leatherman: A Rite of Passage (2022), a memoir.
In Memoriam: Former Senior Fellow of the Yale Corporation Vernon R. Loucks, Jr., died suddenly at home in Sewickly, Pennsylvania on August 8, 2021. At Yale a member of Skull and Bones, Vern was known for his varsity football prowess. After three years as a Marine Corps officer, he gained a 1962 MBA from Harvard. Four years later, he joined Baxter International, the international drug firm. A member by 1975 of its board of directors, he became its president and COO a year later, then in 1980 its CEO and in 1987 chair of its board. Holding those last posts until 2000, he “retired” to be CEO of the firm that introduced Segways and chairman of the Aethena Group, a healthcare-related merchant banking firm. Vern served on many commercial, non-profit, and civic boards, the last including the group that founded Chicago’s Millennium Park. Among his honors was the 1989 Marine Corps Semper Fidelis Award. In addition to being Senior Fellow of the Yale Corporation, he was the recipient of Yale’s George H.W. Bush Lifetime Leadership Award and, in 1997, the Yale Medal. An imposing figure—he wasn't on the gridiron for nothing. And remember the 1955 win over Army? — he was a man of gentle disposition who gained authority through balanced judgment and calm demeanor. Joe Mark describes him as “a wonderful teammate, an amazing athlete, a solid intellectual, and a consummate gentleman who had a great sense of humor and a commanding presence that inevitably captured the attention of all those present.” Bud Trillin, whose Corporation term overlapped with Vern's, writes that, when Vern left Yale’s board, its members held a dinner for him. “When he rose to say a few words,” says Bud, “Vern ended with a simple sentence: ‘I love this place.’ Then he sat down.” Vern is survived by his wife Barbara (Bunny), the widow of classmate Carl Hoffman, daughters Susan Adams and Kristi and sons Charles, Gregory, David, and Eric, as well as their children and other family members. Contributions in his name may be made to the Christ Church at Grove Farm, 249 Duff Rd., Sewickley, PA 15143.
In Memoriam: Pierre Sprey, whom ’57 can claim because, though ending up with ’58, he started with us, died on August 5, 2021, at home in Glenn Dale, Maryland, of a sudden heart attack. Born in Nice to Jewish parents, Pierre escaped with them to Queens, New York. Entering college at 14, he followed his Yale degree with a Cornell MA in systems engineering and statistics. Joining the Pentagon in 1966 as special assistant to the Secretary of Defense, Pierre established himself as a civilian intellectual power battling Air Force brass, who resented his attacks on their sacred cows. His crowning achievement was his influence on the development of the Warthog, a plane that proved to be the Air Force's great workhorse. Pierre was also a jazz lover and skilled musician whose company, Mapleshade, was known for the quality of its high-fidelity recordings. He brought renowned Washington jazz singer Shirley Horn to late-life renown and recorded saxophonists Clifford Jordan and Hamiet Bluiett along with pianists Walter Davis Jr., Larry Willis, and John Hicks. He also helped bring the gospel song "Walk With Me" to wider attention.
In Memoriam: Herbert S. Donner died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest on August 25, 2021, in Fallbrook, California. An economics major, in college Herb devoted much of his time to Christian charitable efforts. Upon graduating, he took employment with Pacific Bell Telephone Company from which he retired as a division manager at the age of 50. Remaining involved in business pursuits, he became president of the children's stroller-maker Strolee, then helped his wife Beverly and their daughter Lori launch a firm that designed and built custom fantasy furniture for children’s bedrooms. After Beverly's death, he married Elizabeth McWethy. Herb's college roommate Roger Cogswell writes of his being “distinguished by devotion to family and his strong religious faith.” “About Herb,” writes roommate David Reed, “we use lots of descriptives. But ‘friend’ says it best. We can also add ‘unconditional’ in Herb's case.” In addition to his wife and her sons Todd and Adam, Herb is survived by his children Lori and Blake. Like Beverly, their son Brad predeceased him.
In Memoriam: Franco M. Muggia died suddenly on September 8, 2021. A native of Torino, Franco and his family fled Mussolini for Quito. He arrived in the United States in 1952, distinguishing himself at Yale as a biophysics major, ranking scholar, winner of the Burge Prize in mathematics, and Phi Beta Kappa graduate. He then gained an MD degree from Weill Cornell Medical College. After serving at the National Cancer Institute, in 1979, he joined the NYU School of Medicine as professor and director of its Division of Medical Oncology. In 1986 he moved to USC’s California-Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center where he concentrated in research and therapies against ovarian cancer, then returned in 1996 to NYU, where he became director of the Division of Medical Oncology at Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center until his 2009 retirement. Franco helped develop some of chemotherapy's most important drugs, especially platinum compounds, and played a major role in making them standard applications in the clinical treatment of leukemia, lymphoma, and other cancers. At his death, the Chemotherapy Foundation, which he led, credited Franco with being “a tireless champion, architect, and originator of some of the most innovative treatments of cancers in use today.” His college and medical school classmate Jack Hughes writes that Franco’s “dedication to the study of ovarian cancer and teaching and research at NYU along with his broad liberal arts interests were all parts of the richness he brought to others.” Carl Becker, another medical school classmate, highlights “his intense curiosity and his capacity to absorb and assimilate the fruits of that curiosity and do something with them.” Franco is survived by Anna, his wife of 62 years, their daughters Paola Muggia-Stuff, Victoria Muggia Roach, Diana Grubman, and Julia Muggia Ochs, their children, and his brother Albert.
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