Class Notes Editor – Paul Capra
4106 Stonehaven Ln SE
Olympia, WA 98501
E-mail: shonea1@gmail.com
Webmaster – Lou Allyn
E-mail: yaleclass1961@gmail.com
Co-Chairs, Class Council
Jamie McLane E-mail: jmclane@profexa.com
Henry Kuehn E-mail: hhkuehn@gmail.com
At our 60th reunion we set a goal of $2M for the Class of 1961 Yale Cancer Center Endowment Fund. At the March Class Council meeting, Ed Cantor and Frosty Smith announced that the Endowment has surpassed that goal and now tops $2.7M. Many thanks to the two hundred classmates, widows and donors who made this achievement possible. Individual $50K awards recognize significant accomplishments in cancer research by young members of the faculty, coupled with the expectation for future outstanding contributions to the understanding of the causes and cures for cancer. This year’s recipients are Rong Fan, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Pathology, and Shangqin Guo, PhD, Associate Professor of Cell Biology. .
As Phil Perrone writes on March 1 during an annual warm water fishing trip: I am reminded of luckily hitting the once in a lifetime trifecta of bonefish, tarpon, and Permit. Now, to the date, forty-two years later and back in Belize, it was deja vu all over again. Belize is a changed place, but the fishing God remembered how to make this ancient mariner happy. Tight lines. Phil
Nick Gaede writes: One of my roommates was Lou Girdler the pitch pipe for the Whiffenpoofs. In January, I attended an informal memorial for Hobart McWhorter class of 1953 who died on January 6, 2022. Hobart was a proud Yale grad and a very talented trial lawyer (American College of trial Lawyers). We were law partners and friends. Mid-function, Hobart’s wife called for a moment of quiet so we could sing the Whiffenpoof song with a grandson on piano. Brought tears to my eyes. P.S. My wife Jo Anne and I are fine and send best wishes to all.
Thanks to the intrepid research of our own Webmaster Lou Allyn and wife Cindy, we learn that Jamie McLane received the 2021 Kurt Hahn Award for his 45 years of commitment to Outward Bound. Named in honor of the founder of Outward Bound, the award is presented to individuals who have made a significant contribution through their life’s work on behalf of others, while demonstrating the values and ideals of Kurt Hahn: an enterprising curiosity, an undefeatable spirit, tenacity in pursuit, sensible self-denial, and compassion. One speaker at the ceremony emphasized the transformative effect Jamie has had not only with the urban based Philadelphia Outward Bound School, but across the entire OB system. Jamie chaired the OBUSA Board in the 1990’s, apparently at the same time classmate Wilford Welch chaired the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Board.
A brief note from Laz Schneider: It might be of interest to some that the Yale Press has just published the biography of ”Admiral Hyman Rickover”, the father of our classmate Robert Rickover.
The Class Seminar on April 20 will feature Michael Auslin on the topic: The China Reckoning. Auslin is currently Research Fellow in Contemporary Asia at the Hoover Institution, a Senior Fellow in the Asia and National Security Programs at the Foreign Policy Research Institute,[2] and a senior fellow at London’s Policy Exchange. He was formerly an associate professor at Yale University.
The Class Seminar scheduled for May 18 will be on the topic: Putin’s Russia. The talk will feature Mary Habeck, Yale Ph.D. ’96, teacher, professor and lecturer at Johns Hopkins University; a strategic planner and an expert on military matters, Islam, and extremism.
Putin’s Russia and the China Reckoning are two in a growing list of outstanding seminars conceived and produced by members of our class. Recent titles include: Four Films that Changed America (February) and Civil Rights in the 60s and 70s (March). A Zoom announcement is emailed to each classmate prior to each event..
Mark your calendars for the New Haven Mini Reunion Scheduled for October 13 – 16, details to follow.
Frosty Smith has volunteered to try to put together another Trivial Pursuit game about classmates, like the one put together for our 60th. If any of you have unique experiences (and you all do) please send to Frosty for inclusion in the game as a question (“Who in our class – – – – -? “).
OBITUARIES
Charles A. Lane, Jr. passed on Dec. 6th, 2021. Chuck went directly from Yale into the U.S. Marine Corps where he saw duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis; followed by a long career in financial services in the Chicago area. Chuck’s full obituary can be found on the class website.
Johann P Deines (affectionately known as Yo) passed on July 30, 2019. At Yale “Yo” sang with The Alley Cats. Golf, nature walks, dogs and cheering for hometown Denver teams were his later passions. Johann’s full obituary can be found on the class website.
Webmaster Lou Allyn maintains a roster of obituaries @ http://yale1961.org.
By Paul Capra ‘61