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Missing in Action
If you can not find someone call or email Carl. He will post the name in this space and hopefully we will be able to find those missing in action.
If you know how to contact someone on this list, please help us to reach him. Call him and ask him to join the "BIG EVENT" of 2006.
Maj. Robert C. Appleton (Ret)
Mr. John M. Avento
Mr. Thomas J. Becker
Hon. Frederick H. Boland
Mr. Roger E. Bonvouloir
Mr. John J. Brauckmann
Mr. Richard F. X. Burke
Mr. Robert J. Carter
Mr. Francis X. Cotter
Louis D. Cox, Ph.D.
Mr. Francis X. Curley
Mr. Edmund J. Curry
Mr. Michael P. Diamantopoulos
Mr. Robert G. Dougherty
Mr. Stephen R. Dubpernall
Mr. William B. Durbin
Mr. John A. Gallagher
Michael D. Gorman M.D.
Mr. Robert C. Gransewicz
Mr.Thomas M. Halloran
Mr. Thomas F. Hogarty
Mr. James F. Keefer
Mr. Charles J. Kelley
Mr. Robert J. Kelly
Mr. Daniel J. Lahey
Thomas F. Lappin, M.D.
J. Alfred Letourneau, M.D., P.A.
Mr. Louis M. Levin
Dr. William C. Madaus
Maj. Richard H. Magee Jr.
Capt. Richard L. Martin DC USN
Mr. Hugh R. McGough Jr.
Capt. Bernard F. McMahon Jr.
Mr. John S. Morley
Mr. Charles M. Myers
Mr. Robert A.O'Neill
Mr. James E. Paquin
Mr. Wilfred R. Pflucker
Mr. Paul J. Schmitt
Edmund J. Sheehy SJ
Mr. Byron F. Smith
Mr. William G. Smith
Mr. Thomas J. Sullivan
Mr. William T. Sullivan
Mr. William F. Trainer
Mr. Richard R. Whalen
HC Class Liaison
If you would like reach our class liaison at Holy Cross, please call Heather Gelardi at 508-793-2707/2421 or email her at hgelardi@holycross.edu.
Hey guys, you email them to me and I will publish them.
If they are not digital, mail them to me at the address above and I will scan them. Our class is usually the only one that looks the same as we did in 1961. All the other classes look so much older.
O'Callahan NROTC Society Meeting 10/17/09
In His Signis, Alter Vincit, Alter Perdidit
In these signs, one won, the other lost.
Vero Beach - 2009
Class Gathering in Chicago
Class Gathering in Washington
Memorial Service for Frank Malinski '61
At approximately , April 10, 1963, the United States Submarine Thresher was lost off the coast of New England. Our classmate Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Frank Malinski, was on board.He and 128 others perished.
On April 26th, the Joseph T. O?Callahan NROTC Committee and members of the Class of ?61 marked the 45th Anniversary year of the tragedy with a Memorial Service on campus.
Twelve members of our class attended: ALJENNINGS, ED FIELD, JOE RYAN, JIM NOLAN, GENE GALLAGHER, CARL VALENTINO, JIM NOLAN, BOB GEORGE, BRIAN MCCUE, FRANK MURPHY, BERNIE BRUDER ,JACK BURKE and TIM GILES
Class Gathering in New York City
On May 5, 18 members of the class, spouses and significant others gathered for lunch at the Yale Club in New York City .Thanks to TOM BOYLE who volunteered to host the luncheon and to make all of the arrangements which were just perfect.We had drinks beginning at followed by lunch; we all departed sometime around two.There was plenty of conversation to go around.Attending were: JOHN MCGRADE, FRANK MURPHY, TIM SHEA, JAY BOWERS, JACK SINNOTT, DAVE DALY, JOHN DWYER, JIM FREEMAN, MARTY WATERS and BILL SKEHAN, TOM BOYLE and CLARK HODGSON.
I hope you have had a Merry Christmas and are enjoying the beginning of the year of our 45th Reunion, the planning for which is proceeding apace. I will have more to report in the next letter.
Carl Valentino has volunteered to assist us in the developing of a Class of 1961 website for the reunion. I expect to connect with the College some time in early January to see what resources there are and how we might use a website effectively for our reunion planning.
By the way, CARL VALENTINO writes: ?10 years ago, I retired from IBM to start a second career. My IBM career was very rewarding and challenging but I always had the wanderlust to seek the freedom of a private entrepreneur. I started a consulting company that has focused on business development and coaching as well as computer system design for small businesses. Somehow this activity led me to included commercial real estate in my business plan. The net result of all this is that my golf game never improved and I suddenly was working more hours than I ever did and learning new technologies as fast as IBM, Microsoft, Verizon and AT&T could produce them.?
In my November letter, I lofted some ideas for a Saturday morning program, which would showcase some of our classmates on a subject that they are comfortable talking to us about. One of our classmates has suggested that we have a presenter spiritual or theological topic. If there is a bioethicist among us, or someone who can explain the moral guidelines for stem cell research, you could probably do a great service to your classmates. Any volunteers?
TIM GILES has volunteered a topic and a willingness to present. I would welcome any ideas you may have and especially any who might be willing to share their wisdom or experience around a particular topic.
For this reunion year, I have asked our class leaders and former class chairs to write their reflections on a Holy Cross subject of their choice. Here is one from our Freshman Class President:
September 1957, Fay?s Folly, the heralded class of 1961 arrives on the H.C. Campus. Sleeper cells are quickly established for future campus mayhem and a shadow government installed with JOHNMCGRADE as president. To the delight of the dark side of the force we all depart in June but to their dismay return the following fall. DAVE SHEEHAN is now class president. Preeminent among our many redeeming qualities is an affection for animals ? after all we have a fox, a skunk, a panda, a frog, two sows, a whale and even a mouse, each of whose existence is threatened by a six foot rabbit dressed in a long black skirt and wearing sneakers. Our triumphant achievement that year ? the Penn State trip.
The fall of ?59 ushers in the kindler gentler administration of CLARK HODGSON as well as the addition of a famous Fish who had distinguished himself the prior year. Sadly the predators in black hair removed some of those beloved animals from our midst. Nonetheless a memorable year unfolds capped by the Junior Prom. A brief summer and back for that final year. LARRY MONROE in the presidential seat, BILL REICHARD student council president, a young football team turning its season around, our guys and Jack?The Shot? in the NIT, grad school acceptances, and dirty Dick?s banquet. Then suddenly it?s all over.
A reunion or two ago a smiling face and big stogie headed my way. It was Larry Monroe. There have been many like moments such as those which Larry and I shared that evening. Ask anyone else who has had the opportunity to return. Larry won?t be there for us this time around. It?s likely though that someone would truly enjoy seeing you again. Hopefully you feel the same way. Please let the rational exuberance of old set aside three days in June so that we can all enjoy each other once again.
JOHN MCGRADE Thank you, John. John is in the throes of retiring from his gynecological infertility practice in Brookfield, Connecticut, where he lives with his wife, Ginger.
I am meeting with the Worcester Area Alumni on January 13, 2006 for lunch at Northworks. If there is anyone who lives in the Worcester area who has not gotten an invitation or who expects to be in Worcester on that day, please consider yourself invited. If you plan to attend, let me know at chodgson@stradley.com when convenient.
JOHN HOGAN has checked in and wrote: ?Katie and I sold our home in New Haven three years ago and bought a smaller home in Woodmont, a waterfront community in the City of Milford nine miles west of New Haven. Simultaneously, I joined this 25-lawyer firm of counsel. I?m still working as hard as ever, enjoying it as much as ever with no plan to retire soon. It?s hard to believe that it?s been forty-eight years since we sat next to each other in O?Malley?s Latin class.
A Holy Cross and personal point of interest: My daughter, Joan Hogan Gillman HC ?85, was appointed to the Holy Cross Board of Trustees in September. Joan lives in Westport, CT.? (ED. NOTE: A very nice Holy Cross tribute to father and daughter.)
Here are some updates from members of your reunion committee:
JOE DERTINGER writes ?After 31 years with the FBI, I retired in Dec. '96 and became Security Consultant to the CEO of Crowley Foods. In April of '99 I joined the corporate security department of American International Group and have been there ever since. The FBI was, at least then, the best career anyone could wish for and I truly enjoyed my time with the Bureau. Corporate America is quite a different animal than my law enforcement experience. Primarily, they do not have nearly as much fun. Evelyn and I will celebrate our 40th anniversary next year with an Alaskan cruise.?
JACK VERDON says ?Since the 40th,--Still toiling the Art of Medicine in Psychiatry, with emphasis on Disease of Addiction and Forensic Psychiatry. Recent appointment to Board of American Society of Addiction Medicine?Founding Member of American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry.
?Still struggling with demise from Melanoma of my Saint Kate (Kathleen Mary) on Oct. 28, 2000. My youngest, Rene Verdon Strack, married 4 weeks before Kate?s departure to The Lord (Kate was Matron of Honor) is the force behind Kate?s Foundation for Melanoma Awareness and Research. Classmates who wish to smile through tears might visit the foundation website, www.katesfoundation.org, click on About Us and Kate?s Story composed by moi at Rene?s request.
?Eldest son Jack, and his German frau presented to us the Prince, my first Grandchild, via C-Section in Berlin on Oct 3. My bride, Mimi and I spent Thanksgiving AM there to share the Bird with Prince Quinn Christopher and his servants. My son Michael made late life career shift in NeuroSurgery Residency at Providence Hospital in Birmingham MI, (Detroit), old stomping ground of Donald J. Magilligan MD ?61 whose 16th Anniversary also from Melanoma is Nov 18th.? (ED. NOTE: I visited the website which chronicles the very difficult road Jack and Kate traveled from diagnosis to eternal reward. It is a very compelling account which fills you with great sorrow and admiration for Jack and his family.)
BILL MADDEN writes: ?Since graduating from the University of Michigan Law School I have been involved in an energy and environmental law practice, first with the Federal Power Commission and since the late 1960s, with a law firm in DC. In 1990 we merged with Winston & Strawn, a large Chicago firm, (ED. NOTE one of the nation?s most prominent law firms) where I expect to finish up in the next year or so before heading into the sunset or wherever it is that they send old lawyers. Do a lot of biking in the spare time and have been able to get in several biking tours in Europe, including Austria last summer and Ireland in 2000 where I met my wife, Kathy. Two children: Maureen (Smith '87) and Ed (Scranton '91).?
We have had a few additional volunteers for the Reunion Committee; it is not too late to sign-up. We have lots to do and expect to have some fun doing it.
If you have not already, could you let the College know that you are planning to attend our 45th? We want to keep a running list of who is planning to attend.
Sincerely yours,
Clark Hodgson
For the bravehearted, try this trivia quiz based on John McGrade?s letter:
1. What is the first name of the person (Fay) mentioned in first line of John?s letter?
2. Who was the ?Fox??
3. Who was Penn State?s opponent at the football game featured in our sophomore class trip?
4. What is the last name of Jack ?The Shot??
5. What was the name of the band that played at our Junior Prom?
Please mail me your BlUE BOOK!
February 2006
Dear Classmate:
Thanks to KEVIN COLLINS who wrote the January letter to the class as well as having located and enclosed the essay about the 60?s. There are a number of familiar incidents and themes from those days with which you will readily identify. More than anything else, it will put you in the mood for reliving the 60?s at Mt. St. James.
JOE DERTINGER is writing a letter for distribution later in February. Speaking of DERTS, he took the January trivia quiz and scored very well. He chided me for asking the class if it could recall who Penn State played during our class trip. He thought a better question would be ?What was the name of the hotel we trashed.? He actually seemed to know the name. . .I can?t imagine why.
I invited our Worcester area classmates to have lunch on January 12, 2006 on an whomever-can-make-it basis. I had four takers: CHARLIE GAGNE who is in retiring mode but who remains a consultant to his dental practice, BOB GEORGE and STEVEMCCANN, who are both retired teachers and ED FIELD who came up from Providence, but who is still hard at work at his company. We had no real agenda beyond making sure that our Worcester area classmates were in touch with our plans for our 45th.
I arrived at about 12:20 p.m., and the five of us carried on a conversation until 2:15 p.m. as if we were long-time members of a club which met every Friday. None of us were at a loss for words; all were excellent listeners. Our only common thread was that we were classmates at Holy Cross 45 years ago. It reminded me what a powerful binder attending the College had been for me, and maybe for you.
So, it is time to think about your ?Table of 5? at the reunion. It really won?t make any difference whether you were in class with the attendees or whether any of them were enrolled in ROTC, played sports, competed in intramurals or sang in the glee club. You will find that this In Hoc Signo common bond will make conversation easy, friendship more enriching and the reunion more enjoyable. Please make your plans now and let us add your name to the list of ?intendees.?
That I have not mentioned fundraising in these letters does not mean that presenting the College with a class gift at reunion time is not important. St. Thomas Aquinas (and Father Shea) would say, fundraising is the ?indirect effect? of the exuberance of a Holy Cross reunion class. However, for the College it is front and center.
The College has recommended a $125,000 class gift and for us to achieve a giving percentage of 61%. (How did they come up with an odd number like that?)
Thanks to the generosity of few classmates, we are doing very well on the dollar goal. We are at $90,000 currently. We need some work on our percentage goal, which stands at 19%. We will get there on the dollars, but I am less certain about meeting the 61%. You have some time to think about it, but there is no time like the present to send off your gift.
No one knows what the ?right? amount to give is, and certainly not me. Why not consider making a reunion gift of ten dollars for each year since graduation? I hope such a number is manageable, particularly for those of us who are still working. In any event, do whatever you can; the College will appreciate it.
Worcester has a baseball team which plays in the CAN-AM league. The Worcester Tornadoes, according to the Telegram and Gazette, is one of the best local sport stories of 2005. The Tornadoes play at Hanover Insurance Park and Fitton Field. The Tornadoes are playing on the Sunday of our reunion weekend at 2:00 p.m. It is not an official reunion event, but it certainly would be neat to see a minor league team playing on Fitton Field. Keep it in mind as you begin your reunion planning.
Finally, on my January visit to Holy Cross, I had the chance to visit with Reverend Charles Dunn, S.J., who succeeded ?Black Mac? as the Dean of Men in 1960. Father Dunn was in his office on the second floor of Fenwick and we had a 20 minute chat. You would have no difficulty recognizing him after all of these years. He is 82. After we talked for a few moments, he rattled off names of our classmates whom he remembered (without prompting) and mentioned how important he thought our Class was in his becoming established as the Dean of Men, a job he had never held before. Father was 37 years old when he was appointed by Father Swords to that position. We had a number of reminiscences over faculty, and his close friend Father La Bran, who died several years ago. A real treat. I do not know if he plans to come to our reunion, but I am certainly going to invite him.
In the meanwhile, two or three lines telling me where you are in life will be greatly appreciated by your classmates.
Sincerely yours,
Clark Hodgson
March 2006
Dear Classmates:
We are just about 90 days away from our 45th Reunion. I hope you are in the process of making plans to meet up with your classmates for some joyful reminiscing. In the reminiscing department, I found a couple of random images stored away in the 1957-61 portion of my grey matter and in no particular order they are:
? The time that the student body led a campaign to make Ravel?s Bolero the number one requested song at the WORC and when we succeeded, hearing Bolero blare all over the campus.
? Listening to the College band play the fight song on game day and watching it march from behind the right side of the Chapel led very proudly by our own JOHN COLLINS.
? The pep rally conducted on Dinand steps led by Father McKeon, using his considerable skills as a psychologist to motivate the crowd.
? In Hoc Keg, our senior play, which is among the most creative, amateur theatre productions I have ever seen (and I have seen a lot). I can still hum a few bars from one of the principal songs about Saint Nate?s beer for prenatal care I am pretty sure that this was primarily work of JOE MULREADY, RAY PECK and HERVEY CONNELL and I can remember RAY BYRNE, BOB CRONIN (I think), and DAVE SHEEHAN and BRIAN MCCUE playing various leading roles. (Apologies for anyone I left out; this is only reminiscence from 45 years ago.)
If you have a few moments on the way home from work or have your feet up on the desk during your retirement, close your eyes and see what memories come to you out of the purple haze. I hope it will inspire you to join the rest of us on the weekend of June 9-11, 2006.
You are probably hearing (or are about to hear) from your class agent soliciting you for your contribution. The College has had the positive experience of having 50% of its alumni participate in annual giving until just the last few years in which we have slipped below the 50%. So, if you have never given, or have not given in a while, $50 or $100 would do a great deal for percentages.
Our percentage goal for this year is 61%. So far 73 classmates - 24% of the class ? have made a gift and we have raised $94,270 as against our goal of $125,000 for the Holy Cross Fund. Thanks to all for helping us get to where we are and we look forward to hearing from those who are still thinking about it.
News from the Hill. Holy Cross has decided to make standardized test scores optional in admissions applications as some of us may have noticed since the decision made the national press. Once college guidance counselor wrote: ?At some point, we must all take action. The College of the Holy Cross did just that?by announcing that the SAT would no longer be required for admission. In so doing, they join a growing list of colleges that believe that there are better ways to assess whether students are prepared for college than the SAT.?
The Chronicle of Higher Education has reported that six Holy Cross students have earned Fulbright Awards, one of the highest producers among undergraduate institutions in the nation.
CARL VALENTINO, has taken a brief leave of absence from his work on the Class website. Carl recently had bypass surgery from which he is recuperating very nicely. He had very little time between recommendation and the actual surgery. I spoke to him a few days before he went in the hospital, he had a great attitude which undoubtedly has carried him through the recovery He is home now and will join us for the reunion.
PAUL GUYET told us that he has a daughter who is a junior at St. Anselm College so understandably, he is postponing his retirement. Paul is involved in the JMJ Life Center, a crisis pregnancy center, as the President of the Board of Directors. Paul?s son graduated from Fordham and is an actor in New York City. He should probably meet up with BILL REICHARD?s son who has one of the leads in the Broadway hit about the Four Seasons, Jersey Boys.
DAVE SHEEHAN, who is guest writing the class letter that you will receive later this month is a corporate EVP of a year-old company, Real LLC, in Newport Beach, California. The company promotes a new idea that offers real estate ancillary service (title, closing, escrow, mortgage services, etc.) at superior Nordstrom-like service and lower honest prices to buyers and sellers of residential real estate. The company?s board has an impressive roster of members including former presidents of American Savings and Washington Mutual. Dave married the lovely Sandy Lavender in 1999. Between them, Sandy and Dave have 10 grandchildren, 5 each.
Dave has been involved in Alcoholics Anonymous for 19 years (and Dave is ok with mentioning this) In the exchange of e-mails I have had with him recently, you can tell that he is incredibly committed to the organization, to the problems of addiction and spends a fair amount of his time helping others who are afflicted.
As you can see, the list of intendees is growing. Please contact us and allow us to add your name to this Hall of Fame.
In Hoc Signo, (borrowed from Jack Verdon who closes his e-mails this way)
Clark Hodgson
Class Chair
April 2006
Dear Classmates:
HOLY CROSS BELIEVES IN MIRACLES .
Thanks to DAVE SHEEHAN and KEVIN COLLINS for their letters to the class. They were very well received by all. By the way, there is no monopoly on who writes or when. If you would like to pen a letter, long or short, send it to me or Lorraine Driscoll at the College (ldriscol@holycross.edu).
We are doing very well in our dollar and percentage goals for the class gift. The progress toward our gift goal has been excellent: we have raised in cash and pledges $120,000. The Reunion Committee recently agreed to raise our goal to $150,000. (This is the second time we have upped our goal; thanks to all who have already given.) Participation stands at 31%; our goal is 61% and so you can see we have some work to do here. The amount? No one knows the right amount to give. Any amount will do to help us meet our participation goal. I hope many of us will seriously consider a one-time gift of $10 for each year since 1961.
Speaking of goals, and the opening headline to this letter, ?Holy Cross Believes in Miracles,? we are ?streaking? past a number of other reunion classes in achieving our participation and dollar goals. No ?miracle? here, but I know we are surprising some folks in the Alumni Office with our progress. Keep it up
Back to the headline: Holy Cross pulled the upset of history in the NCAA Hockey Tournament in Grand Forks, North Dakota and beat the University of Minnesota, ranked the number two team in the country in hockey, in overtime 4-3. The headline in the Worcester paper read ?Crusaders Go for Upset? and underneath it, ?Holy Cross Believes in Miracles.? Thanks, BOB GEORGE.
Plans are proceeding very nicely for our 45th. You should have, very shortly, the registration materials. There is no time like the present to register. If you want to stay on campus, the class will be located in Clark Hall whose amenities include: two single beds and a common bathroom in each wing.
We had another conference call meeting of the Reunion Committee in early April. I think you will be pleased with your Committee?s work in planning for the weekend. By now you have been invited by Jim Powers and Fred Haggarty to attend the Reunion Kick-Off event, Friday afternoon golf at the Blackstone National Golf Club in Sutton, Massachusetts. Sign up as soon as you can. Getting there a little early on Friday, June 9, will be a great way to reconnect with your classmates and begin the Reunion.
1961 Webpage
Minutes of the Reunion Committee are posted on the class webpage which is accessible in the following way: Go to the Holy Cross website: www.holycross.edu. Click on ?alumni and friends?, click on ?general alumni association?, click on ?classes?, and then to 1961. All of the class letters are posted there. You will see photos of some of our classmates from the 40th Reunion. We need more photos of anyone in any year at any time. CARL VALENTINO will post them on our webpage and make sure that they are returned to you. Don?t be shy.
We have heard from DAVE MCQUEENY, who sold his packaging business in 2002 and moved to Southport, North Carolina in 2004. He and Katie love it there. Their daughter Kathy and her husband and three children are 30 minutes away in Wilmington, North Carolina. Except for the threat of hurricanes in that area, they expect to live happily ever after!! Their sons Pat and David and their families are west of Chicago and among the children, they have 8 grandchildren. Dave is doing some tutoring in a local junior high school and has joined a local barber shop quartet.
PETE MAHER is retired from his medical practice after 35 solid years. He continues to practice as a volunteer at clinics run by Americares. He is also doing some clinical teaching at Yale. Carl Stetz called the other day to say that he was headed to the reunion; he is a retired physician and volunteering his time at clinics in the Hilton Head area. These clinics service families who are ?between the cracks? of the poverty level, unable for one reason or another to participate in other government medical entitlement programs. Hats off to Carl and Peter for dedicating so much of their time in these important ways.
BOB WEISS is still in the full-time practice of law, unless he is traveling to visit his 14 grandchildren, none of whom live in New Jersey where Bob lives and works. He plans to be present in June. Speaking of the Reunion, have you made your plans?
RAY BYRNE moved last fall to Plymouth, Massachusetts to house that permits him to keep his eye on the 15th hole on two golf courses in that community. He wrote that he and Maureen were expecting their ninth grandchild. They have 4 children: Michael, an elementary school teacher, Stephen, fire fighter in Fort Myers, Florida, Matthew, with his own landscaping business in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Susan, a member of the Class of 1986 whose oldest child received her acceptance for the Class of 2010. Having a third generation Crusader still allows the Byrnes to attend, Grandparents weekend.
FRED HAGGARTY is repping for ten manufacturers of dental products, and does some Consulting/Marketing as well as his active participation and support on our Reunion Committee. Fred writes that he is kept pretty busy when not playing 75+ rounds of golf a year. Fred says that he needs that much play to keep him sharp. He won his club's 9-13 flight and Seniors last year. ?Nice beating the younger guys.? Fred?s wife, Lois (now Associate Dean-Grad Studies at Boston College Nursing School) will retire in June. Fred says that he often wears his purple/white colors when attending B.C. functions.
JOHN HAMILL has been named Chair of the Advisory Board recently created by the College to tap into the expertise of former Trustees of the College. This is in addition to John?s commitment as a Trustee at the College for 18 years. John is the non-executive Chair of Sovereign Bank, New England, which gives him some time to spend with Kathryn at Vero Beach, Florida as well as with his 4 daughters and grandchildren. The Hodgsons have had the pleasure of having dinner with the Hamills almost every year, for the last several years, in Boston around the 4th of July. We have also had the chance to admire Kathryn?s marvelous and engaging artwork; we have very much enjoyed her painting of the urban scenes in the Boston area.
MORE REMINISCENCES
RAY BYRNE offered the following reminiscences about In Hoc Keg; Ray was actually able to locate the script plus some original handwritten JOE MULREDY music. He mentioned the finale piece entitled, ?We?re In.? (That one I can hum but I only remember the first 6 words: Oh, We?re In!. Yes, We?re In?) Ray recalls:
? ?The late BOB CRONIN, married to Ray?s wife?s sister, played the female lead, Myra Murine.
? Set designs were executed by the late BILL ALBERTI, costumes were designed and constructed by JOE GRIFFIN.
? Friar?s robes were made from brown corduroy and since no one knew how to sew, they were stapled together which made for some uncomfortable ?issues? when garbed classmates were seated.
? Finally, the sultry vamp number performed by JERRY LINEHAN, the growls and glowers form BILL KUBAT, and the ditsy-ness (is there such a word?) of St Nate?s Prior ? Father Albans Rodentis ? Tom Rabuczewski? (Yup, had to go to the ?61 Patcher for the spelling.)?
RETIREMENT READING ? Some of us who are anticipating retiring or are already retired, might enjoy having the benefit of recommendations for a good read chosen from books that you have read over the last 45 years. If you agree, and you are so inclined, send me as many recommendations as you wish for books worth reading from beach books to classics. If we have a decent response, we will post them on the web page and publish the list at the reunion weekend. You do not have to be an English major to submit. I was a Father Reidy/Dr. Grattan history-type and even I have a few books in mind.
RETIREMENT VIEWING ? We could do the same thing with great movies we have seen in the last 45 years. We are bound to have some time to watch movies that we missed working or raising our families in the last 45 years.
If we get 25 movies or book titles, we will post a list with or without attribution. So, how about it? Send me off-line as many as you want in each category to CHodgson@stradley.com. While you are thinking about it, how about writing out that check for the Holy Cross Fund?
WORCESTER TORNADOES - The Worcester area alums, and particularly Jim Powers are trying to arrange for seats at the Worcester Tornadoes game, which begins at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday at Fitton Field. This is not an ?official? Reunion activity so the price of the tickets will not be included in your Reunion Registration Packets. Attending the game strikes me as wonderful way to wind-down from the weekend and to get a look at the renovated Fitton Field, and see an excellent minor league baseball team. We will provide some additional information as soon as we have the word on the availability of seating.
P.S. WANTED: AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER WHO IS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE CLASS OF 1961 OR CLOSELY RELATED TO SUCH A PERSON BY MARRIAGE.
Anyone willing to bring their camera to take photo of the attendees at our Friday night dinner or on the stairs of the Chapel after Mass on Saturday? These would be terrific photo ops and a source of wonderful memories over time. If one of us or some of us would be willing to take this on, I know your classmates will be indebted to you.
---See you June 9, 10 and 11.
May 2006
Dear Classmates:
Thanks to BILL REICHARD, our former Student Congress President, for his recent letter. We have now heard from former class chairs, former student leaders and it is now time for Holy Cross to hear from you!! I hope your reunion plans are well under way, but if not, it is certainly not too late. You can register for the reunion on our website and, while you are at it, you can see reunion pictures, read the prior letters and other commentary from our classmates. Go to www.holycross.edu, hunt down alumni and you will find your way to the reunion registration page.
Connolly Challenge ? We have all received a marvelous letter from Dick Connolly urging us to make our alumni contributions (or supplemental contributions) before June 30, 2006. Dick, with extraordinary generosity and dedication to Holy Cross, has proposed to match all contributions made by the Class that come in before June 30, 2006 up to $100,000. If you ever needed a good reason to give, this is it; the College will get double your money. So far 46 of our classmates have met the Connolly Challenge. Thanks again, Dick, for your exceptional commitment and for challenging to our Class in this special way.
On a broader fundraising front, as of May 23, 2006, we have boosted our class participation up to 43%, that is 131 out of our 306 members; we are aiming for 61%.
We need 55 members of our class who have not given to give between now and the Reunion to meet our Class Participation Goal. (Yes, I know we can meet our goal if the gifts are in by June 30, but wouldn?t it be nice to celebrate our Reunion by having 61% or more in hand.) Let?s go for it!
A couple of weeks ago I made random phone calls to some of our classmates and here are some of the results.
I spoke to GEORGE PEPE who is a Professor of Classics at Washington University at St. Louis. He has been on the faculty for the last 40 years teaching Latin, Greek and a Great Books course. (After all, George was our only Classics major.) He had some other commitments that will prevent him from attending our reunion. He sounded great, reminded me of a few teachers I had not thought of in awhile, Father Harry Bean and Father Sampey.
I also spoke with DON O?MEARA, who has been retired for about six years now from Hinshaw Culbertson, a prominent Chicago-based law firm with offices in multiple cities. He and Maureen are living in Glen Coe, Illinois, and have the good fortune of spending quality time with their four children, all of whom live in the area. Three are lawyers practicing in the Chicago area at different firms and with diverse practices; daughter, Eileen, is a mom. The O?Mearas have six grandchildren and are looking forward soon, if not already, to a 7th. Don and Maureen have a commitment to attend a wedding of a dear friend in Wisconsin on the weekend of our reunion, but he sends along his best.
I also spoke with PAUL ROBBINS who is safely ensconced in Vermont, I think he said for nearly 35 years. He is a freelance writer primarily on topics related to downhill skiing and cross country skiing. He hung up his downhill skis about 5 years ago, probably wisely; the undersigned did not and wound up fracturing his leg in February of this year.
I had a lengthy conversation with RAY PECK who was shuttling between law practices in Washington and Southampton, New York. We covered a lot of territory starting with the Kimball painting incident through his appointment by President Reagan as the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration almost through to the present. We will have a chance to finish that conversation on the weekend of June 9th when Ray will be attending our 45th.
I also had the pleasure of speaking with TOM BOYLE, a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of New York. Tom?s wife is recovering nicely from surgery but they are going to sit out the 45th Reunion. His Honor is in his 11th year as Magistrate Judge and very much enjoys his work in that busy federal district. We?ll miss you Tom, but look forward to seeing you, as you said, at the 50th.
Retirement Reading and Viewing. We are generating some interesting titles, both of books and movies to keep you busy for some months into your retirement. I would like to have a few more contributors to this list so that I am sure that it is balanced (just like we would like to have a few more contributors to the Holy Cross Fund.) How about giving to both, right now while you are thinking of it. Send me books and movies at chodgson@stradley.com and send your checks to the College.
