Class of 1944

Class Secretary: Virginia Stockman Fisher, PO Box 7631, Portland, ME 04112-7631; diginny@aol.com

Co-Class Presidents: Edmund H. Gibson, 13 Wheeler Park, Brunswick, ME 04011-1635; Richard L. Keach, 51 Randy Ln., Wethersfield, CT 06109-3763; rkeach@snet.net

Next Reunion in 2004. Got news? Tap out a note to magazine@bates.edu! Harry Barba writes that although his lung condition is irreversible, he keeps to a daily routine of creative work at his desk, lots of fresh air, humor, and people! He says he’s in the last drafts of his present work and although he’s cutting back on his workload he’s not about to retire…. Laura “Judy” Campbell Dwyer had a hip replacement in December to replace a partial hip replacement she had done in 1999…. Jean Childs Black is sure they made the right decision by moving to Leisure World in Seal Beach, Calif. They’re close to the ocean, the weather is lovely and they’re very secure. To top it all off, their daughter and her family are only 10 minutes away…. Betty Corsa Weber had a mini-stroke while at daughter Judy’s for Thanksgiving 2001. She says the only bad result is a general feeling of weakness, which affects her ability to walk…. Dan and Louise (“Giffy”) Gifford Gibbs write that when Dan went in to get his mitral valve replaced, doctors discovered that his aortic valve also need replacement. The doctors also repaired a tear in his heart…. Edmund (“Tod”) Gibson and Pat enjoyed a trip to Branson in September and are looking forward to a trip to Florida this winter. The travel is possible now that Pat has closed her famed Brunswick nursery school after 39 years. Tod and Pat are delighted that their grandson, Scott Priest ’06, received an early acceptance to Bates and is busy with his first-year studies…. Phil Goodrich writes that he and Carolyn are well and keeping active. After a blizzard of summer 2001 trips, they spent part of last January in Buenos Aires and Chile. They were planning a transatlantic cruise from London to France, Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, Newfoundland, and Boston…. Mary Ann Gross Nevels has also been traveling: the first trip took in Alaska, Russia, Korea, and Japan, and the second trip was a river trip from Vienna to Budapest…. Edie Hale Ferguson says she had a great visit from Dottie Smith Jordan and her brother Stan Smith ’41 last April. She and her husband were planning an extensive U.S. western trip in June. Her e-mail address is edithhale@webtv.net…. Dick Keach and Marjorie (Walther) ’46 say it was great playing golf at Parris Island on a re-done, beautiful marsh-side course…. Betty Kinney Jones‘ husband Ted died in 2001. She is still in California and is living with a son and his wife…. Phyl and Bob Landick say they take pleasure in their immediate family and in family activities such as Habitat for Humanity, church, and brief travels. Bob says they are struck by how little they can do to affect the course of the huge events that are occurring in much of the rest of the world. They make a point of keeping aware of it all and try to support those institutions and politicians that are trying to ameliorate the various crises…. Nina Leonard Sloan continues to enjoy her new life at Jefferson’s Ferry Life Time Care Community. She says it’s easy to make friends and it’s only five miles to the Unitarian Universalist fellowship at Stony Brook. All her life she’s had to travel to get to UU churches…. Esther Linder Bray and Dan are delighted that a granddaughter started college in Texas and won’t be too far from them…. Lorna MacGray Tuthill was one of 65 women whose work was featured in The Circle Continues published by Innisfree Press. At a retreat for the authors, she found that meeting the other women excited her almost as much as seeing her own work in print. She recommends Circle of Stones and The Circle Continues to all women, young and old…. Evelyn Marsden Hill keeps up with three book groups: the philosophy group, the humanist group, and the woman’s alliance, all at her Unitarian church. She also belongs to a voluntary simplicity group, is on the board of the World Federalist Association, is taking a course on “Music and Imagination” at Union College and goes on bird walks with the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club… Vincent McKusick and Nancy continue to lead a busy life traveling and going to professional meetings. Last February, they joined Sally MacFarlane Wilbur ’46 and Keith Wilbur ’45 on a trip to Antigua and in March he and Nancy took a Norwegian Cruise Line cruise from Valparaiso, Chile, up the west coast of South America, through the Panama Canal, and back to Miami. Vince has an opportunity to act as Special Master in a Supreme Court case…. John Scott says he enjoys having two grandsons in Maine colleges: Nicholas Scott is a junior at Bowdoin and Andrew Scott is a sophomore at Bates…. Jane Styer Campbell writes that they’re still staggering under the blow of 9/11 when they lost their son, David, in the World Trade Center. She and Bev moved to a retirement community in Jacksonville last February.