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36 FALL 2011 . S T. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
Cl as s Notes
Mater. Then the party continued in the Hospitality
Suite, organized by Sandee and the “Three Judys”
– McDowell Casadonte, DaPrano Hollis,
and Bjorck Murray.
The suite (Dean-Eaton Dining Room to us) was
full of memorabilia — Carole Sperzel Clark
showed a video from the 25th Reunion; “Cas,”
Herm Hagedorn and his wife, Denise Hana
‘66, all modeled their Freshman Beanies and name
boards; there were four years of The Hill News, an
SLU bookcover (remember those?), yearbooks,
our Freshman Directory, a course catalog, a pledge
paddle, photos…. Such memories. Also on display
were three lovely paintings by Judy DaPrano and
wonderful books written by Kay Robertson
Tomasi, Bob Graham, Floyd Sandford and
Julie Chevalier. (Do wish the latter two could
have been with us.) Paul Taylor and several
others enjoyed entertaining the student workers
with stories of the good ol’ days.
The All-Class Dinner Friday evening was lots
of fun. While table-hopping I chatted with Nick
Brust, Bill Horn and Betsy Duevel ’62, Denny
Skidmore, Womper Wright, Wally Wal-
ton and Karen McDonald ’63.
The Alumni Parade on Saturday was so festive –
and we won second place! I’ve got some pictures
of Claire Schwennker Stilwell, Marion
Bessey Hart, Hal Schwartz, Anita Hills
Weeks, Natalie Beaumont, Betty Hor-
witz Graham, Joe Sherin, Marion Young
Jorgensen and Hal King. Ron Rencurrel
’62, Ron Daprano ’60, John Taylor ’59 and Reggie
Bowden ’59 were all in the Parade with us.
I also chatted with Lucy Prescott Bowden,
Bob Ducatte, Beth Anne Freilich Gor-
don and Jack Van de Water. And I have a
great photo of Chico Kieswetter as he finally
received a diploma from St. Lawrence – and my
camera hasn’t worked since!
During the weekend, Natalie Beaumont was in
touch with Connie Meng, and Paul Taylor and
Bob Graham called Jim Heary. Two “Chips”
were also on campus:Wade Skidmore ’98 (Denny’s
son) and Beth Record ’86 (Carole Sperzel Clark’s
daughter). Remember Geology 101 with Severn
Parker Brown? Andy Nevin asked him to stop by
the Hospitality Suite and say hello. What a treat
that was!
Sadly, before Reunion, Cornelius Loysen and
Peter Gaskin both passed away. See the “In
Memory” section at the back of this magazine.
Almost everyone who attended Reunion was
in the Memory Book, so use that as a source for
news. If you weren’t in the Memory Book, please
drop me a line so that our classmates will know
what you’ve been up to these past 50 years.
Here’s what Vic Nardone wrote about the
Memory Book: “One of my favorite quotes is, ‘Life
is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.’ I
had one of those moments when I received the
Memory Book.WOW!”
Gene Hays was sorry not to be with us, but
said that going through the Memory Book, “an
important recollection of a lifetime,” gave him a
sense of being a part of the gathering. Gene also
said that Peter Foley wasn’t at Reunion due to
a ruptured appendix and complications that landed
him in the hospital for two weeks. Surely hope
he’s fully recovered! Others who were sorry to
miss this milestone event were Mark Harran,
who spent the weekend baling about 20 tons of
hay; Harvey Eisenberg ,who couldn’t get out of
a previous commitment but said he was definitely
with us in spirit; and Jim Pritzker, who wrote
“My best to all of my classmates, and I hope to be
able to make a future reunion. I am really enjoy-
ing leafing through our Memory Book; I pick it up
almost every day.”
Right after Reunion, Carole Clark wrote that the
Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts celebrated its
100th exhibition. She’s an artist member and a
board member, so some of the work fell on her
shoulders. “Now I’m truly ready to put my feet
up,” she commented.
During the summer, Bob Graham and Betty had
one granddaughter at ballet camp at SUNY Pots-
dam and one grandson at St. Lawrence’s baseball
camp, so they enjoyed hosting them.“In September
Betty will be visiting her dear friend Anne Pitres
Benetti in Paris,” Bob noted. Anne spent 1958-59
at SLU as a Fulbright Scholar. “Concurrently, “he
added, “I’ll be joining our son, David, and a couple
of friends to do some ‘car-guy’ things in Germany:
Frankfurt Auto Show, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz
Museums.”
Pat Wright Ingraham ushered at 11 events
at the Spoleto Arts Festival in Charleston, S.C. In
between, she had lunch with old friends, one of
whom was Barbara Zeidler Lasher. Pat and
Chan plan to spend the month of September in
York Harbor, Me. On the way home, they’ll spend
three nights in New York City to celebrate their
50th and will also visit their son and his family.
By the time you read this, KayTomasi and Jim will
have joined their family for a wedding in Utah and
traveled to the GrandTetons andYellowstone.And
Nancyann Orth is looking forward to a trip to
Dubrovnik in October.
I’m humbled to share this last sentence from
Ken Shilkret: “One of the Reunion highlights was
honoring Hulit for her long service as our class
reporter (since 1961) as well as her many other
contributions to St. Lawrence alumni endeavors.”
Craig and Ken presented me with a beautiful St.
Lawrence poster showing the campus doorways
and windows. What an honor to receive this.
Thanks to each of you for giving me the oppor-
tunity to serve. Now it’s up to you to keep in
touch so that our column can continue to be the
very best!
1962
SteveWahl ’62
7899 E. Soaring Eagle
Scottsdale, AZ 85266-1280
480-575-5300
slubadger@cox.net
Next Reunion: 50th, 2012
The bad news is that I received news from only one
classmate this quarter, but the good news is that
the news came from an infrequent communicator!
Thank you, Renee Heinrich Stringham! Re-
nee is living in Oregon, retired and working part-
time at Urgent Care while teaching Feldenkrais, a
wellness-through-movement technique, one day a
week. Much of the rest of her time is spent as co-
chair of the Oregon Fellowship of Reconciliation,
working on peace and non-violence issues.
Renee has three sons, Lars, Leif and Lance, and
two grandchildren parented by Lars and wife
Isolde. Leif lives in China and at this writing has
plans to marry in August 2011. Renee has visited
China annually over the past seven years and fallen
in love with many of their parks, especially the Fra-
grant Hills outside of Beijing. Lance has returned
to college. Despite some health challenges, Renee
still likes to cross country ski and like the rest of us
spends time reorganizing life for retirement by do-
ing mundane things like sorting life’s photos. She
sends her regards to all.
Word has reached the University that Prof. Nor-
man Smith, chair of geology at the University
of Nebraska for many years, has won a significant
award. The Pettijohn Medal from the Society of
Sedimentary Geologists is presented for distin-
guished career achievement by a sedimentologist.
It will be presented next April.
When I don’t hear from you, I feel compelled to
augment my report with my own news! We, too,
have spent some time in China. This past spring
Vivian and I signed on to a cruise on the Yang-tse
River. We visited Beijing to see the Forbidden City,
the Great Wall and, of course, the pandas at the
Beijing Zoo! The highlight of the trip was a visit
to the Qin Dynasty Terra-Cotta Army in Xi‘an to
see the 8,000 six-foot clay soldiers and full-sized
horses and carriages built for Emperor Qin in 229
BC.
I must say the economic progress in China is
impressive, with examples like the Three Gorges
Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric project,
and the beautiful skyline of modern Shanghai. The
Communists have done well with America’s mon-
ey, and I don’t mean that pejoratively!
As I write this in early June, I have just returned
from Canton and the Class of 1961 50th Reunion.
As you must know by now, I have been asked to
chair our 50th next June, and my SLU visit was in
the guise of an apprentice! I am seeking a co-chair
or two and several committee chairs to make this
a “must do” event for all of us. I need lots of help,
so please volunteer! Thanks!
Want Your News in
Class Notes?
Send it to your class reporter by
these dates, so he or she will have it
a few days before his or her deadline
for the issue indicated:
November 1, 2011
for the Spring 2012 issue
March 15, 2012
for the Summer 2012 issue