Class Notes DI S PAT C H E S N EWS F ROM A LUM N I
1943
Joseph D. Hayes (603) 964-6503 • jhayes697@yahoo.com
The year was 1937. My family was living in Newtonville, Massachusetts, and I was 12 years old. I remember a big man visiting our house in the spring, recruiting my brother, Bob, to come to a school called Kimball Union Academy somewhere in New Hampshire. The gentleman was of course Bill Brewster, headmaster of the school. Bob joined the Class of 1940, and when my turn came, I joined the Class of 1943. During my brother’s time my parents would drive up to visit and I would tag along. They would stay at the Moody Hotel, and I stayed in Bob’s room, which was quite exciting for a 12-year-old. To this day I’m still impressed with the win-loss record of the football team, coached by Fred Carver. They won every game and were never scored on. Unheard of! Years later, when my son, Jack, attended KUA, I came to know Tony Wishinski, who captained the team and then went on to attend Middlebury. In the hurricane of 1938, the top of the old gum was blown off. With New England frugality, the school used the boards to repair the hockey rink behind Chellis Hall. Fortunately, all the students were housed in the dining room at the bottom of DR, where I worked as a part of the waitstaff. Chef Albert allowed us to have a second scoop of ice cream. He endeared himself to all of us. It snowed a lot in those days, and clearing the ice fell to members of the hockey team, using shovels only. 40
KIMBALL UNION MAGAZINE
And then came December 7, 1941. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, and we were at war. Mr. Collins, our hockey coach, as well as many students were drafted. Eventually Baxter was taken over by the Navy for flight training. But our sports teams, including hockey, lived on. Looking back almost 80 years, I still have great memories of my time spent at KUA. It warms my heart to see a small prep school with no endowment survive and achieve the status it enjoys today.
1948
Don Spear (207) 518-9093 • ponderingpundit@gmail. com
I missed the spring issue—a first for me since taking on this task for the class. I’m sorry, but I was in the hospital and a rehab facility recovering from congestive heart failure. I’m feeling much better but that sure has slowed me down some (and I wasn’t known as “Speedy” to begin with). If my late wife, Ellie, were still here, she’d say I had finally achieved it: being able to fall asleep on my feet! I have one death to report, that of Robert Charles Kelly. Bob spent one year at KUA, entering as a senior in the fall of 1947. He was a key player on the varsity football, basketball, and baseball teams. He was also active in the Glee Club, the Debate Club, and Dramatics. Bob was 91 and living in Concord, New Hampshire, when he died on September 4, 2020. He was born on October 9, 1929, in Teaneck, New Jersey. He was one of 17 of our classmates who went on to Dartmouth College, Class of 1952. In 1956,
he was commissioned a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, served aboard the aircraft carrier Boxer, and was stationed in San Diego, California. That’s where he met and courted his future wife, Ann (Feeney), who predeceased him. They were married in New Jersey and settled in Park Ridge. Bob worked for Chase Manhattan Bank in Manhattan. He always loved the outdoors and soon moved his young family to Hanover, New Hampshire, and began working for Dartmouth National Bank. He introduced his family to skiing, hiking, and watching Dartmouth football games. He had been a member of its football team when he was a student, so rooting for the Big Green was a family must. Bob ended his career working for the Small Business Administration in Concord, New Hampshire. Bob was predeceased by Ann and children Eileen and Shaun. He was survived by children Brian and Maureen and grandchildren Lathrop, Rachael, Stephen, Andrew, Addison, and Quinton. A private family service was held for him on September 17, 2020, at Christ the King Parish in Concord. I survived getting political in the fall 2020 issue of this magazine, but for the first time in my life I am feeling my age. This has caused me to ponder the inevitable more. I have been doing a lot of reading on mediation and Zen, which I wish I had done long ago. I saw a quote in a Dear Abby column from November 2010 that I put in the files I keep for preparing these columns. It’s still there, so I’m assuming I haven’t passed it along yet: “Dwelling on what you’re missing instead of what you’ve got is a prescription for misery.” What was I
doing reading Dear Abby? During the early years of my general practice, I handled divorce cases. (I also read her sister’s column.) I was encouraged by a delightful email from Ted Branch, son of our deceased classmate, Jim Branch, commenting on the mention of his father in my last column. I sent him a couple of stories and memories about his dad, who was probably my closest friend at KUA—perhaps in part because he was only an inch or so taller than me. He was a daredevil and possessed more courage per square inch than anyone else in our class, save perhaps Chuck Massey or Gene Teevens. I realize that I must have been the shortest member of our class. That stirred up another memory from my wonderful 58-year marriage to Ellie until her death three years ago. Her great mind and wit kept my bulging ego somewhat under control. One time when I was trying to explain some particular behavior of mine by saying “it was my Napoleonic aura,” she rejoined, “More likely, it was just a continuing expression of your runt complex.” Until the next issue: Be of good cheer, do good works, stay healthy, and keep on keeping on.
1953
Stanford B. Vincent
(508) 457-6473 • stan@vincentcurtis.com Pete Bowser reports from California
that now that the COVID situation has begun to ease, he’s finishing up another season of bocce and once again enjoying lunching with his pals. He and Sue are looking forward to resuming in-person concerts of their local main symphony.
