Class Notes Editor – Paul Capra
2365 Chambers Lake Ln, SE
Lacey, WA 98503
E-mail: shonea1@gmail.com
Webmaster – Lou Allyn
E-mail: yaleclass1961@gmail.com
Website: http://yale1961.org/
Class officers:
Jamie McLane – Co Chair – E-mail: jmclane@profexa.com
Henry Kuehn – Co Chair – E-mail: hhkuehn@gmail.com
Save the date: September 25-28 for our 64th reunion in Chicago which will highlight the city’s many treasures including the Art Institute’s first ever Caillebotte exhibit, the brand new National Museum of Public Housing, an architectural river tour, a matinee theatre, a Cub game, a variety of delicious foods, a cabaret gig, sensational weather and the extraordinary warmth of our class all organized by the Chicago committee of Rich Carr, Mal Kamin, Hank Kuehn and Andy Block.
Jamie McLane reports that Hank Kuehn and he hosted a Zoom Class Council meeting at the end of February. The key takeaway is that our 65th reunion is scheduled for May 2026 in New Haven, chaired by Hank Kuehn and his reunion committee (Brian Kelly, John Pearce, Paul Capra, Paul Downey, Andy Block, Ed Cantor, and Jamie). The committee will be sending out a questionaire asking what you would like our final reinion to be so please watch for it, fill it out and return it. In addition, planning for the speakers, tours, entertainment, and a memorial service are all being fleshed out. The goal is to have enough funds in the Class Treasury to ensure the reunion is free to all attendees (spouses, partners, and widows included) so that only travel and a discounted Omni hotel charge is your expense. Dane Manchester, Class Treasurer, asks that you please contribute to Class Dues. At this point, it looks like our 65th will be held at Jonathan Edwards College on May 21-24, 2026. Put that into your calendar. Also hold the following weekend (May 28-31, 2026) on your calendar as the final date will be determined by Yale next summer. The important part is that each of our classmates come to Chicago and New Haven. In the meantime, interesting seminars and Film Group movies are being scheduled for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026. No one says that Yale ’61 is not a very active and engaged class.
Tom Johnson, B.A. ’61 and MMus ’67 passed December 31, 2024. Tom was a composer and music critic whose Village Voice columns documented the renaissance of avant-garde music in downtown New York during the 1970s, and whose own compositions embraced minimalism and mathematical clarity. After documenting the New York scene for The Voice but struggling to have his own work performed, Tom decamped to Paris in 1983, where fresh opportunities awaited, as European audiences were newly drawn to the American avant-garde. There he remained a writer, theorizing about his own music in several books. He maintained an active web presence with a video series elucidating his music. Read more at http://yale1961.org/thomas-johnson
William Stroud Hitch (Bill), a Savannah native and resident of Isle of Hope, passed away on Sunday January 5th, 2025. He was a member of the St. Elmo Society. Bill received his medical degree from Emory University in 1966 after which he served as Captain with the 46th and 5th Special Forces Green Berets. He returned to Atlanta where he opened a private practice that led to leadership positions in many local and state medical institutions. Learn more at: http://yale1961.org/william-hitch/
Donald Shoup, distinguished professor of urban planning, whose decades of teaching and scholarship at UCLA greatly influenced the field of land-use planning as well as generations of scholars, students and urban planners, died following a short illness on February 6, 2025, in Los Angeles. Shoup, a titan in the field of urban planning and specifically parking reform, is renowned for his pathbreaking research into how cities manage, or mismanage, parking spaces. This work, which demonstrated that seemingly mundane provisions in zoning codes had rendered many places overly dependent on driving, brought him academic accolades and made him an unlikely hero for a generation of urbanists determined to repair American cities. See more: http://yale1961.org/donald-shoup/
Cornelius Patrick Mundy Jr. of Spruce Head ME died peacefully Dec. 6, 2024. One of his greatest joys was teaching inmates in the Maine State Prison from 2007 to 2020. Pat was highly successful as a teacher, having a marked effect on many of the prisoners. He thoroughly enjoyed his role and was fond of telling stories of the progress his students were making. Later Pat became a mentor to some of his previous students. For Pat’s full obituary visit: http://yale1961.org/patrick-mundy/
Andrew H. Marks was a proud graduate of the Class of ‘61. He frequently reminded us that we are “Still Undefeated”. Andy spent more than six decades as an insurance executive. In 1986, he founded the NYC MLW Services, an insurance brokerage firm, in which he took great pride. He was an avid sailor who competed in two Newport Bermuda Races and was happiest hoisting the sails of his Herreshoff, Lagniappe, on Three Mile Harbor. Andy was a proud member of the Harmonie Club and Yale Club, a camper and founding member of the Alumni Association at Camp Androscoggin, and served on the boards of the Lighthouse Guild and Breakthrough New York. A master at connecting with others, his life was a testament to the power of relationships. Learn more at: http://yale1961.org/andrew-marks/
Jim Bowditch writes: Philip Carter who passed on January 5, 2025, was a good friend of mine from summers spent in Camden, ME. Although Phil matriculated with the Class of ’61, he did not graduate with us. My wife and I saw him over the past couple of years, occasionally boating with him and another friend. He seemed to be doing well, physically. What we didn’t know was that he had cancer which finally took him. Read Phil’s own verse titled “Notes for my Obituary” about his multifaceted life at: http://yale1961.org/philip-carter/
Phil Perrone. My wife Gale and I just returned from an extensive trip to Singapore and Java via Beijing which took us around the world over the holidays. Singapore is ever evolving as the world’s best city state where everything works even better than you would expect. Java was a new destination to a third world country that gave us a chance to explore part of the largest Islamic population in the world, and an exotic equatorial island that was among the original spice islands discovered but kept secret by the early Dutch explorers. Progress in Beijing never stops. Although tiring through 38 time zones, with no time for sports play, we welcomed the opportunity to refresh our experiences from prosperity to hardship in the Far East.
Ending on some short and happy notes:
My mid-80’s are going well. Lots to do and the Lord has given me pretty good health. Boola, boola!
Paul Tierney TC’61
I am pleased to report that my wife Patricia and I have two grandchildren Rex and Mason. Mark Lebow.
’61 NOTES EDITOR
Paul Capra