Class of 1940

Class Secretary: Jean Fessenden Thomas, 90 N. Main St., South Deerfield, MA 01373

Class President: Elizabeth MacGregor Bates, 232 Elm Hill Rd., PO Box 209, Center Sandwich, NH 03227; macgregor@alumni.bates.edu

Got news? Tap out a note to magazine@bates.edu!  Len Clough and Mona had a good time at a farewell luncheon for outgoing Bates President Don Harward and Ann Harward, sponsored by Bates trustees who live in the greater Hartford (Conn.) area – until Len discovered he was the oldest person present! He’s been invited to serve on the Bates Fund Committee because they needed someone to represent the “really old” alumni…. Frank Coffin and Ruth Ulrich Coffin ’42 are enjoying life in their home by the ship channel, and he is continuing to judge and carve. They are delighted that their sixth grandson, Morey Hallett ’06 is at Bates…. Ladora Davis Blowen has moved from Maine, where she was close to daughter Martha Blowen ’75 to Minnesota, where she is close to daughter Emily Blowen Brown ’65…. Last October Fred and Judy Chick Downing ’42 moved back to Hallowell, Maine, from Pittsburgh. He is a Hallowell city official and helped facilitate local planning approval and hydrant services for a large section of the city. Judy has had frustrating difficulties with her pacemaker and assorted medications, plus a six-month struggle with hearing aids…. Kay Gould Ball says she can still drive, even if it is “at 45 mph in the fast lane.”… After several months of poor health, mainly due to a severe reaction to an antibiotic, <STRONGMARY STRONG Freidmanmoved back to her own apartment. She was hoping to make a trip to California this fall…. Ruth Gray Russell enjoyed a delightful two-week trip to the Panama Canal. The cruise started in San Diego and made stops in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Aruba. They were also scheduled to stop in Colombia, South America, but were advised against it by the State Department. She was happy to realize her desire to see the canal…. Bob Hulsizer is still teaching physics to a small class of freshmen at MIT and acting as a “grandfather figure” to them. He also raced his 52-year-old wooden boat at Martha’s Vineyard last summer and is involved in town affairs in Chilmark…. Lib MacGregor Bates had a malignant tumor removed from her right lung, and Frank had a second hip replacement. Both have recovered nicely…. Ira Nahikian and Mary have moved into a senior living community and are very pleased with all the amenities and the people, and are busier than ever…. Francena Pearson Stafford enjoyed a huge family reunion of the Pearson family held in Westbrook, Maine, in August 2001. There were 75 people in all, coming from all parts of the country – even a guitar-playing nephew from Alaska…. Bob Plaisted is still a guide at Historic Deerfield and a member of the Greenfield (Mass.) Redevelopment Authority. He’s also involved in several committees and choir at church…. Carol Stifler assists the chaplain at the retirement village where she lives. It is a busy place with more than a hundred new residents coming in during the past year. She sees several Bates people at church each Sunday, including Len and Mona Clough. She says that the best thing she ever did was to transfer from another college to Bates in the ’30s…. Esther Stout Allen writes that she had a wonderful trip to the British Isles in fall 2001, with an extended stay in London due to the Sept. 11 attack…. Les and Jean Fessenden Thomas say they are still in pretty good health, except for arthritis that slows them. “But we keep going, volunteering at church, the library and Historic Deerfield.”… Deepest sympathy for Virginia Yeomans Ansheles on the death of her husband Bob, who died on March 29, 2002. She says plans for the future are made “one day at a time.”… Earl Zeigler reports that the goal has been reached for the “Bert Bill Zeigler Memorial Lecture/Seminar Fund” at the London, Ontario, Regional Art and Historical Museum where he served for 17 years as a volunteer tour guide.