Page 40 - fall2011

38 FALL 2011 . S T. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
Cl as s Notes
collection of 12 murals celebrating the develop-
ment and dialog work under way in Egypt, is on
tour throughout the U.S.
From 1971 to 1995, Bob owned and operated
Good Morning Farm, a country store and restau-
rant complex. In 1997, Bob moved to New York
City to join his partner, Martha G.Welch, MD, in
her research on childhood developmental disor-
ders. For ten years, 1998-2008, Bob was CEO
and board president of HANDS (Hands Along the
Nile Development, Inc.), an American non-profit
organization headquartered in Washington, D.C.,
supporting poverty alleviation and community
development in Egypt, as well as intercultural and
interfaith dialog between Egyptians andAmericans.
During his tenure, Bob successfully reorganized
the leadership, increased recognition and organi-
zational effectiveness, and successfully raised in ex-
cess of $10 million, including grants from the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID and the Henry
Ford Foundation, among many others. Bob is also
board president of The Mothering Center, a not-
for-profit program treating children with develop-
mental disorders in Greenwich, Conn.
For five years, Bob has been managing director
of the Brain-Gut Initiative at Columbia University
Medical Center in New York City. He helps ad-
minister a significant scientific and clinical research
project comprising over 20 doctors, scientists,
nurses and staff.
Unfortunately, we have lost another classmate,
Jeffrey Gershen, who passed away in May af-
ter a courageous nine-year battle with cancer. Jeff
tried to educate as many people as he could about
prostate cancer and was interviewed on February
20 by “Katz’s Corner,” a men’s health talk radio
show on WABC in New York with over 80,000
listeners. Jeff also wrote a blog, www.pcupclose-
andpersonal.com, in which he documented his
prostate cancer journey. Jeff lived life to the full-
est until the end, skiing, scuba diving in Grenada in
April and heading off to New Orleans with two
buddies to enjoy Jazz Fest in May. On May 2, 2011,
he posted his last blog, ending it with “Goodnight
Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are. Hacha cha!” I
sent condolences to his family on behalf of the
Class of ’67.
1968
Anne Lauriat ’68
100 Horace Rd.
Belmont, MA 02478-2315
617-484-6841
lauriat@aol.com
Next Reunion: 45th, May 31-June 3,
2012 (cluster with ’66, ’67)
Three cheers to a star of our class: Shel John-
son, who chaired the Momentum St. Lawrence
campaign, which raised the most money ever in
a fundraising endeavor of our University. Many
thanks, Shel, and also for what you and your wife,
“Peachy,” have contributed: endowed professor-
ships, fellowships and scholarships a well as sup-
porting University programs and science facilities.
Let me know what you did this past summer.
I made my annual pilgrimage to England to see
flower gardens and also visited Wales. Highlights
included listening to a Welsh male choir (appar-
ently a dying breed) and driving through dramatic
school principal, he accepted a principal’s position
at a special school in Utica while he awaits his wife
Sue’s retirement as an elementary teacher in a
couple of years.
We enjoyed an eight-day tour of Italy in early May.
We traveled with our North Country Public Radio
station friends, 32 in all, and it was a very successful
fundraiser for the station.
We hope you and yours had an outstanding
summer; do stay in touch with each other (...if
you need addresses, phone numbers or e-mails of
classmates...we have them). And, of course, don’t
forget to give us some “news fit to print.”
1967
Meg Smith Eisenbraun ’67
4460 Norris Lane
Oak Harbor,WA 98277
360-682-2345
eisenbraun@earthlink.net
Next Reunion: 45th, May 31-June 3,
2012 (cluster with ’66, ’68)
In late May, John and I returned from a car trip
down the coast of Oregon and into California,
where we enjoyed hunting for sea glass on the
beach in Fort Bragg, touring Hearst Castle and
its gardens on a mountaintop above San Simeon
and the Pacific, and enjoying a few days at Lake
Tahoe. The highlight of the trip was staying with
SLU roommate Joan Friedlander Hurley and
husband Jack in Agoura. Despite having just re-
turned from a tour of Chile, Brazil and Argentina,
they were wonderful hosts, as always. We toured
Adamson House, a landmark home built in 1929
on 13 acres overlooking Surfrider Beach in Malibu.
Since Joan’s retirement, she has served as a docent
there and is now in charge of training new docents
as well.
One evening we were joined by Ginny Fos-
dick Stevenson for dinner at the Hurleys’.
As you can imagine, the men barely got a word
in edgewise as we three gals caught up on each
other’s lives. Ginny’s trip to Egypt was postponed
by the protests and overthrow of the Mubarak re-
gime, but she hopes to reschedule soon.
On the way to LakeTahoe from LosAngeles, John
and I stopped at Manzanar, the internment camp
for Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor. Only a
few of the barracks remain, but the old high school
gymnasium now serves as an interpretive center.
I highly recommend the film and exhibits there if
you ever find yourself passing through that part
of California.
Julian Bergman and wife Marcia became
grandparents again on April 15 with the birth of
identical twin boys, so they now have a total of
four grandchildren to spoil. The Bergmans re-
turned from a trip to New York in May to a hot,
dry spring in Ormond Beach, Fla. Julian is back to
playing softball several times a week.
Thanks to Steve Teret ’66, Bob Ludwig has
been found! After Bob graduated from SLU with
a major in philosophy, he served three years in the
U. S. Navy with a tour as a navigator on an am-
munition ship in Vietnam. For 25 years, Bob lived
in western NewYork State, where he worked with
internationally acclaimed artist Maritza Morgan,
producing artworks and traveling throughout the
world, mostly in developing countries. One of the
Morgan-Ludwig collections, Pyramids for Peace, a
Snowdonia where sheep dotted the rugged ter-
rain. And as you read this, I have just returned
from a month-long trip to the Dalmatian coast.
More on that next time if no other news comes in.
Please spare me having to write a travelogue! Tell
me what you are you are up to and which class-
mates you’ve seen or heard from.
1969
Patti Black Giltner ’69
16 Pellett Street
Norwich, NY 13815
607-336-1202
pattigil@roadrunner.com
Next Reunion: 45th, 2015
(cluster with ’70, ’71)
1970
Dennis Szymanski ’70
915 Hillwood Ave.
Falls Church,VA 22042-2420
703-534-1253
dszyman48@aol.com
Next Reunion: 45th, 2015
(cluster with ’69, ’71)
The youngest of Dave ’69 and Sue Harter Beisler
’69’s three daughters was married in Dewitt, N.Y.,
in May. On hand to sing the old songs and perform
the “Dying Cockroach” for Dave and Sue were
Rick Lajeskie, Keith Besse ‘69, Jim Nealy and
myself.
Alison Lajeskie, daughter of Rick and Stephanie,
has joined the Class of 2015 at The American Uni-
versity inWashington, D.C. Rick was hoping “State
School” but it was not to be. On the bright side,
Allison’s academic achievements are such that AU
awarded a scholarship.
Don Rigabar and Linda welcomed grandson
Brady James into the world on June 21 in Saratoga
Springs, N.Y. The Rigabars have four grandchildren,
three boys and a girl, and all live within hours of
their beautiful lakeside home.
While visiting my mom, I had the opportunity
to have dinner with Donny. He stays involved
with Oneida High School, where he worked for
35 years, and recently presided over the awarding
of an athletic scholarship in his name. The award
goes to a baseball player who exemplifies Don’s
work ethic and love of the game.
In his congratulatory note to Don and Linda,
Dave Murray wrote that his youngest,Kate,was
married on July 9. A noteworthy event anywhere
but especially in Greencastle, Ind., where Kate was
married by her mom, the mayor of Greencastle!
I’m sure that Mayor Sue Virtanen Murray ’71 was
both appropriately official and beaming. How spe-
cial! I can only wonder whose idea it was to pitch
a nine-person tent in their back yard and have
all six grandchildren for a sleepover. We are still
awaiting the after- action report from FEMA.
Have a fabulous fall, my friends!