Portsmouth Abbey School Winter 2021 Alumni Bulletin

P ORT S M O U T H A b b E Y

Winter ALUMNI BULLETIN 2021

BOARD OF REGENTS

Very Reverend Michael G. Brunner O.S.B. Prior-Administrator Portsmouth, RI Mr. W. Christopher Behnke ’81 P’12 ’15 ’19 Chairman Chicago, IL Mr. Christopher Abbate ’88 P’20 ’23 Newport, RI Ms. Abby Benson ’92 Boulder, CO Mr. John Bohan P’20 ‘22 Newport, RI Dom Joseph Byron O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI Mr. Creighton O. Condon ’74 P’07 ’10 Jamestown, RI Mrs. Kathleen Cunningham P’08 ‘09 ‘11 ‘14 Dedham, MA Mr. Gang (Jason) Ding P’18 Qingdao, China Dr. Debra Falvey P’18 ’20 Plaistow, NH Mrs. Frances Fisher P’15 San Francisco, CA Dr. Timothy P. Flanigan ’75 P’06 ’09 ’11 ’19 Tiverton, RI Mr. Patrick Gallagher ’81 P’15 Providence, RI Mrs. Meg S. Healey P’91 GP’19 ‘21 ‘24 New Vernon, NJ

Mr. William M. Keogh ’78 P’13 Jamestown, RI Dr. Mary Beth Klee P’04 Hanover, NH Ms. Anne-Marie Law P’19 ‘21 ‘24 Duxbury, MA Mr. and Mrs. David Lohuis P’10 ‘10 ‘21 Co-Chairs, Parents’ Association Morristown, NJ Father Edward Mazuski O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI Ms. Devin McShane P’09 ’11 Providence, RI Abbott Gregory Mohrman O.S.B. St. Louis, MO Mr. Philip V. Moyles, Jr. ’82 Annual Fund Chair Rye, NY Mr. Emmett O’Connell P’16 ’17 Stowe, VT Mr. Shane O’Neil ‘65 Bedford, MA Brother Sixtus Roslevich O.S.B. Portsmouth, RI Mr. Felipe Vicini ‘79 P’09 ‘12 ‘19 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Mr. William Winterer ’87 Boston, MA EMERITUS

Mr. Denis Hector ’70 Miami, FL

Mr. Peter M. Flanigan g ’41 P’75 ’83 GP’06 ’09 ’09 ’11 ’11 ’19 ’19 ’21 Purchase, NY

Dr. Gregory Hornig ’68 P’01 West Palm Beach, FL

Mr. Thomas Healey ’60 P’91 GP’19 ‘21 New Vernon, NJ

Mrs. Cara Gontarz Hume ’99 Hingham, MA

Mr. William Howenstein g ’52 P’87 GP’10 ’17 ’21 ’22 Grosse Pointe Farms, MI

Mr. Peter M. Kennedy III ’64 P’07 ’08 ’15 Big Horn, WY

Mr. Barnet Phillips, IV ’66 Greenwich, CT g Deceased

Cover: The serenity of the School Boathouse at the shoreline of Narragansett Bay during a mid-winter snowfall. Photo by Katie Blais

To the Portsmouth Abbey Community: At their meeting on December 4, 2020, the Board of Regents approved the School’s new Mission Statement. The culmination of a fifteen-month process, the new document features a shortened Mission Statement followed by a Vision Statement intended to bring the main lines of the mission to life. We feature it below, and you can look forward to an article in our Summer Bulletin 2021 reviewing the process and rationale for the new approach. For now, you can see that our core mission, though newly articulated, remains the same: helping students grow in knowledge and grace.

Portsmo ut h A bb e y S cho ol Mission Statement Portsmouth Abbey School helps young men and women grow in knowledge and grace. As a Benedictine boarding and day school, we embrace the Catholic faith while nurturing reverence for God and the human person, love of learning, and commitment to community life.

Vision Statement Catholic means universal, and we welcome students from all backgrounds, as Jesus was welcoming to all people. We affirm that each person is made in the image and likeness of God, and is endowed with inherent human dignity and infinite worth. We believe God is at the center of the human search for meaning, and the perennial questions asked by our students – who am I? what is goodness? how am I to live? – find their answers in God. We assist our students in their search for God as the foundation of their lives. We seek student growth in grace: the regenerative power of Christ that lifts hearts and transforms lives.

“Love of learning and the desire for God” are joined in the Benedictine tradition. Love of learning is grounded in wonder, undertaken in humility, and fueled by the hunger for truth.

Our students are called to a close reading of classic texts and critical engagement with the written word. Our research-driven science program enables students to be keen observers of the world around them. We foster engagement in fine arts and athletics as key dimensions of human excellence. Education in the Catholic intellectual tradition forms us in the things that matter: truth, goodness, and beauty.

Our shared life of study, prayer, and recreation sustains a community characterized by friendship and joy. Called to live in mutual service to each other, we seek the growth of our members as individuals, while advancing the common good. We nurture the talents of each of our students for energetic leadership and service in our own community and throughout the world.

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PLANNEd GIVING

It’s Amazing What You Can Do! Everyone who has attended the Portsmouth Abbey School has benefitted from the generosity of those who came before. We all have the ability to make a significant impact on the lives of current and future generations of Ravens by strategically planning our gifts.

For example, gifts can be made through an estate as an outright bequest or beneficiary designation; gifts of Required Minimum Distributions from Qualified Retirement Plans can reduce current income tax burdens; gifts through a Charitable Gift Annuity can provide lifetime income. There are many more strategies that you can employ to make a gift bigger and more impactful than you ever thought possible.

To learn more about these and other creative ways to support the Abbey, please contact the Office of Development & Alumni Affairs at 401-643-1269 or alumni@portsmouthabbey.org.

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P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Truth and Catholic Education

by Dom Aelred Graham, 1977

Reprinted from the Portsmouth Abbey School Fiftieth Anniversary Publication

Members of the monastic community in 1960: from left to right, Dom Anselm Hufstader, Dom Philip Wilson, Dom Peter Sidler, Dom Gregory McClure, Dom Ambrose Wolverton, Very Rev. Dom Aelred Graham, Brother Basil Cunningham, Dom Wilfrid Bayne, Dom Christopher Davis ’45, and Dom David Hurst.

Rather than yield at the outset to my besetting weakness for generalities and abstractions, it may be well to give some account of how I came to know and increasingly to love the Portsmouth community. On August 8, 1951 I landed from the Nieuw Amsterdam at Hoboken, to be met and warmly welcomed by Father Peter. The car assigned to be driven down to New York from the Priory (as it then was) had burned out its motor in transit. A satisfactory substitute was somehow found, but the initial mishap lingered for a little in my mind. Was it a portent of something to come --one did not quite know what? Misgivings were soon dispelled and within a few days I found myself settling into what were at that time decidedly primitive monastic quarters on Narragansett Bay. Looking back on those sixteen years (1951-1967) when I was not only resident in the United States (for the first time), but also virtually a member of an American Benedictine community, they appear to me now filled with pleasant memories. First in importance comes the slow influx into

the monastery of dedicated young men, several of whom now hold posts of key responsibility. They had been called to serve God through a life of prayer and liturgical worship, also to play their part in handing on to others the religious and cultural values they themselves had received. While getting to know the community one was also learning to know its friends, to become aware how strongly Portsmouth was supported by its alumni and by parents of present and past students in the school.

Things seemed to happen around one, through the insight and energies of the community, rather than by any marked direction from the top. The choice of a distinguished architect, for example, to design our new buildings, Pietro Belluschi, emerged by an inspired consensus. The fighting off of a menace from an oil refinery was chiefly due to the skill of our redoubtable attorney, the late Cornelius (Connie) C. Moore. Awareness of our needs and a generous readiness to help led to the raising of sufficient funds for our development program. Meanwhile the routine work of the school

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was carried on by a highly competent lay and monastic faculty; day-to-day general administration stemmed almost wholly from the offices of the headmaster and bursar.

Of course from time to time a Priorial initiative was called for. I knew a little of how to conceptualize and verbalize some principles of the spiritual life, and these talks were listened to patiently at our weekly monastic conferences, often rather more than patiently. In retrospect I think it was the community’s general appreciation of one’s efforts, their cooperation even encouragement in our various projects, the forbearance with one’s mistakes, which made the period of my priorship for me such a rewarding one. Occasional meetings with the boys, individually or in groups, and talking to them collectively in church each Monday evening remain among cherished memories.

But now what of the present and the future? A kindly providence has arranged that I should still be able to keep somewhat in touch with Portsmouth’s affairs. Each summer hospitable friends invite me for a lengthy visit to Cape Cod, where I find myself little more than an hour’s car ride from the Abbey. Despite my half-hearted protests that an old actor should not be seen hanging around the green room, I am warmly welcomed there annually by my former associates and, being now without any executive responsibilities, find the encounters increasingly congenial. Though Portsmouth has its problems, they are not different from or more complex than those besetting other monastic schools, particularly those of the English Benedictine Congregation. And here I have no inclination to advise, still less to prophesy. Concrete decisions are obviously to be made by the people on the spot, future planning left in the hands of those in close touch with the present situation. The best I can offer are a few reflections of a general kind, leaving it to others to decide how far, if at all, they are applicable in the case of Portsmouth.

Apart from the difficulties involved in providing what is necessarily an expensive education in the present state of the economy, we have to deal with the problem of operating a Catholic school when religion, itself, or at any rate institutional religion, is largely at a discount. But here we

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are faced with a challenge rather than grounds for dismay.

I take it as axiomatic that in our passage through life our one supreme task is to try to bring ourselves, and those influenced by us, nearer to the truth of things. That was how, when confronting Pilate, Jesus proclaimed his mission: What I was born for, what I came into the world for, is to bear witness of the truth” (John 18:37). These words, I have long believed, provide the basic inspiration for a Christian and Catholic education. The more so if we understand them at the deepest level: truth is not for or against anything, truth simply is. What follows?

Let us accept as a principle the familiar adage that religion is not as much taught as caught. One result of the controversies ensuing from Vatican II has been to weaken almost to the point of extinction long accepted methods of religious instruction. Indoctrination is out. The appeal must still be to the intelligence, but reason must be stirred through sensibility and imagination, perhaps by some process of meditative experience. Not therefore – “This is how it is,” but “Let us look at this together.” Here it is noteworthy that Catholicism can respond to this test with greater effectiveness than presentations of religion which often appear little more than a judicious mixture of scientific positivism and biblical fundamentalism. Evidence suggests that the Church, or rather its representatives, may have become neglectful of its own treasure. If young people are bored by a good deal they read in Scripture, by accounts of the Church’s history, by ecumenism and the trendy religious controversies surrounding such topics as abortion, contraception and divorce, the explanation is simple: they don’t see the relevance of these matters to the lives they have to live here and now.

Yet move to another series of questions: Why is it more important for me to know what wisdom is than just to have at one’s fingertips a lot of facts? What is wisdom anyway?

And what justice? Why is it wrong to be unfair to other people, or to be dishonest or to tell lies? What is the difference between foolhardiness and real bravery? Why is it said that the highest form of courage is simply to be patient?

And take sex: is there anything really wrong about it? What is the difference between being a puritan and a libertine?

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

The Zen Garden at Portsmouth, designed by Dom Aelred Graham, 1962.

Then alcohol and other drugs: are the people who urge restraint in these matters spoilsports and killjoys? Or do they have solid reasons for what they say? These questions, which touch vital issues for nearly everybody, young and old, are not picked out of the air. They merely state interrogatively an ethical tradition, which has come down to us from ancient Greece, accepted by the Church fathers and expanded in magisterial fashion, within a mediaeval context by St. Thomas Aquinas. They embody the four cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and moderation, upheld as norms of civilized conduct alike in Plato’s Republic and the Old Testament Wisdom of Solomon.

ligious and ecumenical concerns have shifted from strongly held doctrinal positions to the area of conduct, and more fundamentally, the attitude of mind and heart which inspires it. Here Catholicism and particularly the ethos of a Benedictine school are at no disadvantage; they may well be unique and irreplaceable. So the questions from our teenagers in class may rise to another level: What is love?

How can I become an understanding and loving person?

How can I be unselfish when I’m forced into competition with a lot of other people? Is love for God the same as or different from the love for others? How can Christ, who lived 2000 years ago, be meaningful in my life today?

The emphasis on a life based on natural virtue, the substructure for divine grace, is still very much a part of Catholic tradition, though it could have been somewhat lost sight of amid the liturgical and ecumenical clouds emanating from current ecclesiological discussions. At any rate, personal re-

These questions can all be fruitfully discussed, as they have long occupied the minds of religious thinkers, but they cannot be satisfactorily answered in words. They lead directly to the function of Catholic religious practice – liturgical, sacramental worship, crowned by the Mass, which de-

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The School at Mass, 1962.

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P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

mands in turn to be brought in the minds of the particilife, who “came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45). pants to the highest degree of conscious awareness. So it is The point is familiar enough and yet there are aspects of that the communion – which means being at one with each it which may be overlooked. Selfless service means literother – as a ceremonial symbol is actualized in every-day ally that we serve without regard to the self. No looking for life. In this way the often turbulent, competitive routine of any feed-back, therefore, in terms of recognition or praise. schoolboy existence can be chasThis may or may not come – as a bytened by the sense of a living com“A well-furnished, disciplined mind, product, perhaps, of enlightened selfmunity. After all, we are, each one interest – but is quite incidental to the able to transmit to others a knowlof us, our brother’s keeper. This, service itself, which should be wholly edge of the best that has been thought as I understand it, is the abiding for the benefit of those we serve. And and said and done by those who have sanction for a monastic school: not then the quality of the service – a matas a recruiting ground for monks, gone before us – this surely is what is ter worth pausing over in the context even though now and then a boy of a college preparatory school. “Acaowed to the young people under our may choose to take that path, but demic excellence” is a stock phrase, care at Portsmouth Abbey School.” as providing at least one model of but it represents one of the goals in how Christianity may be authentithe form of service to which a comcally lived. munity like Portsmouth is pledged. A well-furnished, disciplined mind, able to transmit to others a knowledge of At a time when the external life of Christ is in some disthe best that has been thought and said and done by those order the need is forced upon us to develop our personal who have gone before us – this surely is what is owed to the relationship with God. Let us examine briefly three areas in young people under our care at Portsmouth Abbey School. which this can satisfactorily be done. Within which of these our own inclination lies will chiefly be decided by temperaThe third area is that of what is commonly called religious ment and opportunity. First and most obvious is the area of experience. Here we are not just concerned with worship individual and communal worship. The challenge here is to as a duty, performed in the darkness of faith, or with servtransform what may have become an almost mechanical lip ing others because that is what God requires of us. At this service, if it has not been neglected altogether, into a genustage worship and service are enlivened by some kind of felt ine self-dedication to God in spirit and truth. Not only the awareness of that which is worshipped and served. “O taste Mass and the sacraments, prayer, meditation and spiritual and see that the Lord is good! Happy is the man who takes reading, but working and playing, feasting and conviviality, refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8). It is this element in religion can all be modes of worship. “So, whether you eat or drink, that is so in demand today; for the seeming lack of it the or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinroutine ministration of the Church are being widely disrethians 10:31) – not as preoccupied with self, therefore, not garded. Which brings us back inevitably to Christianity’s merely for pleasure’s sake. The word eucharist, it is helpful to central figure, Jesus himself. What are we to say of him, remind ourselves, means thanksgiving. Thus the mark of the pious rhetoric apart, to teenagers in our secular society? truly religious person is an unceasing sense of gratitude; We note, a little regretfully, that there is no record of what he or she never takes anything for granted. They appear he said and did when he himself was a teenager, no account grateful for everything, even for what they may rightfully of his state of mind when he was at an age comparable to claim is due. that of a Portsmouth schoolboy. All we know is that the subThe second area in which our relationship to God can be stance of his later teaching, which flowed from his personal developed and deepened is that of the selfless service to insight and experience, was the paramount importance of others. We know this to be the highest expression of Christloving God above everything else and our neighbor as our-

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selves. For him this was the sum total of religion – or in his own Judaic phraseology: “On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40) What is surely demanded of us today is to focus our attention on these evangelical simplicities. We are concerned, not with adoring a Christ who lived 2000 years ago, but with having as a present reality “this mind among yourselves, which you have in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). Love of God and our neighbor cannot be produced by an act of the human will; it is a response to the perceived realities of our situation. What can result is the kind of awareness that takes it consciously as accepted that “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), and empathy so deep that neighbor cannot basically be distinguished from oneself.

Too hopelessly idealistic, we may say, too out of this world.

Perhaps, but we cannot escape the challenge to move forward in thought and practice from religion about Jesus to the religion of Jesus himself. Being a Christian means more than worshipping Christ and trying to do His will, though it means both these things. What emerges from the gospels, especially St. John, is the invitation to stand in the same relation to the Father as Christ himself did – “that they may all be one; even as though, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us…that they may be one even as we are one” (John 17:21, 22). Paradoxical as it may sound, we are not here involved in a flight from the world but with living more realistically in it. A sharp distinction between nature and supernature has bedeviled Catholic theology for centuries. To love God as we should calls for enlightening grace, but it is not “supernatural”; it is according to nature, as St. Thomas Aquinas insisted. Similarly to love our neighbors as another self requires only the removal of the illusion by which we regard him as separate, not the pretense of seeing him as other than he is. Occasionally we come across the person who strikes us as genuinely holy; he or she seemingly has no hang-ups, no affectations, no social “persona”; there is no preparing “a face to meet the faces that you meet.” Unconcerned about their “image,” they are free from postures and attitudes, while their habitual consideration and compassion for others blend with spontaneity. How natural he (or she) is! – we hear people say, by

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Dom Aelred Graham O.S.B.

way of the highest compliment.

But let me conclude these wandering thoughts nearer to home. From friendly but close observation I have learned that today, by God’s grace, Portsmouth Abbey and its school are in well-qualified hands. The present administration, both in spiritual and temporal affairs, is fully equipped to decide what future developments should be. If some of the foregoing remarks appear a little too dogmatic, I believe that they raise no issues that the resident community has not been reviewing on its own. For all their necessary concern with seemingly worldly affairs, the monks, ably partnered by the lay faculty, are dedicated to the pursuit of something beyond conventional excellence – though there is much evidence of their success in this. Portsmouth represents faithfully St. Benedict’s “school of the Lord’s service,” where those in religious vows, and even schoolboys no less, at least initially and if they so desire, may “run with unspeakable sweetness of love in the way of God’s commandments.”

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

d

in this issue

Stay Connected To keep up with general news and information about Portsmouth Abbey School, we encourage you to bookmark the www.portsmouthabbey. org website. Check our listing of upcoming alumni events here on campus and around the country. And please remember to share news with our Office of Development & Alumni Affairs.

If you would like to receive our e-newsletter, Musings, please make sure we have your email address (send to: info@portsmouthabbey.org).

To submit class notes and photos (1-5 MB), please email: classnotes@portsmouthabbey.org or mail

to

Portsmouth

Abbey

Office

of

Development and Alumni Affairs, 285 Cory’s Lane, Portsmouth, Rhode Island 02871.

The Alumni Bulletin is published bi-annually for alumni, parents and friends by Portsmouth Abbey School, a Catholic Benedictine preparatory school for young men and women in Forms III-

Truth and Catholic Education by Dom Aelred Graham, 1977

3

Reunion 2021

10

Janice Brady, Leaving a Legacy of Inspiration and Dedication

by Director of Communications Kathy Heydt

12

J. Clifford Hobbins, A Legend in His Own Time

by Director of Communications Kathy Heydt

18

Alumnus Profiles: Education in the Face of Adversity

by Vincent Scanlan ’79 in an interview with Joseph Scanlan ’44

26

Dr. Milton Little ’99 by Lori Ferguson

32

Timothy McGuirk’11, The Pursuit of a Meaningful Life

by Director of Communications Kathy Heydt

36

Haney Fellow Augusta Ambrose ’21

40

From the Office of Development & Alumni Affairs: The William A. Crimmins ’48 Scholarship Fund

by Assistant Headmaster for Advancement Matt Walter and James P. MacGuire’70

42

Abbot’s Reception 2020 by Director of Special Events Carla Kenahan

48

Parents’ Pride: Alumni and their children reflect on their Abbey experience by the Offices of Admission & Parent Relations

50

VI (grades 9-12) in Portsmouth, RI. If you have opinions or comments on the articles contained in our Bulletin, please email: communications @ portsmouthabbey.org or write to the Office of Communications, Portsmouth Abbey School, 285 Cory’s Lane, Portsmouth, RI 02871 Please include your name and phone number.

The editors reserve the right to edit articles for content, length, grammar, magazine style, and suitability to the mission of Portsmouth Abbey School.

Headmaster: Daniel McDonough Assistant Headmaster for Advancement:

Portsmouth Institute for Faith and Culture: 2020-2021 Science and Spirituality Lecture Series on Creation and Contemplation

by Executive Director Christopher Fisher

52

Fall 2020 Athletics

54

20th Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament

57

Milestones: Births, Weddings, Necrology

58

Matthew Walter

In Memoriam

Editor: Kathy Heydt Contributing Editor: Megan Tady Art Director: Kathy Heydt Photography: Marianne Lee, Andrea Hansen, Louis Walker, Katie Blais, Kathy Heydt Individual photos seen in alumni profiles have

Reverend Dom Julian Stead O.S.B. ’43 Daniel T. “Bud” Kelly, Jr. ’39 Dr. Orpheus Joseph Bizzozero ’52 George Pendergast ’62 Thomas Shevlin ’64 Philip Coen

62 67

68 68 69 70

been supplied courtesy of the respective alumni.

Class Notes

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1950g1951g1955g1956g1960g1961g1965g1966g1970g1971g1975g1976g1980g1981g1985

SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding as we move forward with planning this milestone event.

Reunion 2021 will offer a unique opportunity to celebrate with classes ending in ‘0, ‘1, ‘5 and ‘6 – double the alumni, double the fun! We have been busy preparing for your arrival and hope you will take advantage of all we have in store.

Weekend highlights include class gatherings on Friday night, golf outings, a traditional New England Lobster and Clambake, and sunset cocktails followed by dinner under the reunion tent on Saturday evening.

Whether you volunteer, attend or make a class gift we encourage you to get involved to make your reunion memorable. We look forward to celebrating with all reunion classes and members of the Diman Club (those who have already celebrated their 50th reunion).

We look forward to welcoming you back to Cory’s Lane!

Please bookmark your reunion webpage and check back frequently for updated information.

www.portsmouthabbeyschool.org/reunion For more information please contact Director of Special Events Carla Kenahan at 401-643-1186 or rsvp@portsmouthabbey.org

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5g1986g 1 9 9 0 g 1 9 9 1 g 1 9 9 5 g 1 9 9 6 g 2 0 00 g 2 0 0 1 g 2 0 0 5 g 2 0 0 6 g 2 0 1 0 g 2 0 11 g 2015g 2016

PRELIMINARY REUNION WEEKEND SCHEDULE Friday, September 17 Reunion Registration at Alumni House, 252 Cory’s Lane Alumni Golf Outings, The Aquidneck Club Back to the Classroom Vespers, Church of St. Gregory the Great Class Dinners – off campus locations TBD Saturday, September 18 Buffet Breakfast, Stillman Dining Hall Daily Mass Reunion Registration continues at Alumni House, 252 Cory’s Lane Back to the Classroom Student Panel Q+A Conversation with the Headmaster Low Requiem Mass for Deceased Alumni New England Clambake Athletics Contests on Campus Vespers, Church of St. Gregory the Great Cocktail Party, Class Photos & Dinner Under Tent Sunday, September 19 Mass with the Portsmouth Abbey Community Brunch Accommodations Please visit www.portsmouhabbey.org/accommodations for a list of hotels in the local area with room blocks for Friday and Saturday evening of Reunion Weekend. We strongly recommend securing your reservation as soon as possible.

Friday Class Dinners Friday class dinners are coordinated by class and held off campus.

If you are interested in hosting or coordinating a dinner for your class, please contact Director of the Annual Fund, Alex Karppinen at 401-643-1204 or akarppinen@portsmouthabbey.org.

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Leaving a Legacy of Inspiration and Dedication After 32 years of service, Portsmouth Abbey bids a fond farewell to Janice Brady Science teacher Janice Brady has always been ahead of her time. Long before schools touted “experiential learning,” Janice was leading hands-on, experimental labs in her classroom.

Long before schools turned their attention to the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), Janice was infusing her classes with real-world applications, helping students understand why this knowledge was vital.

And not long before Portsmouth Abbey transitioned to coeducation in 1991, she joined the small group of female faculty members at the Abbey that included French teacher Nancy Brzys, Spanish teacher Kim Kalkus, Virginia Stone in the art department, and Reading and English Specialist Rosemary Fagan, paving the path for a strong female presence on campus.

Last spring, Janice retired after 32 years of devoted service to the Abbey, and throughout her tenure, she has been the embodiment of the School’s mission: “love of learning — grounded in wonder, undertaken in humility, and fueled by the hunger for truth.” Admired by generations of students and by her colleagues, former Headmaster Jim DeVecchi describes Janice as kind, calm, compassionate and caring, and he said that she “had a profound impact on the lives of so many at Portsmouth.”

Whether she was planning inventive science or chemistry lessons, working with students after hours to help them grasp the curriculum, or fueling her advisees with donuts and juice, Janice was a steadfast teacher who expected the best from herself and from her students. As the School community bids her farewell, it is with extreme gratitude for the mark she has left on the Abbey and on so many students’ lives.

Welcoming the Girls Janice moved into the third floor of Manor House in 1988, fresh from a teaching post at Bishop Feehan High

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School in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The apartment had not yet been renovated, and while it boasted magnificent views of Narragansett Bay, it also included the occasional visit from a field mouse.

Three years later, the School welcomed 22 female day students for the first time, and Janice was key in easing the transition. Initially, the first floor of Manor House, which had been the school library, became the first girls’ congregation space. The next fall, St. Mary’s House opened to accommodate the first boarding girls.

Then, in the third year of coeducation, Manor House opened as a girls’ residential House, and students were housed by Forms.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Janice became the houseparent to the Third Form girls in Manor House. Janice and Nancy, during those first years of coeducation, were invested in helping the girls succeeded academically and ensuring that they enjoyed

Concurrently, Janice also taught a summer chemistry course at Bristol Community College, where she met her husband, Brian Carlos, a professor of economics. Brian moved into Manor House and lived there with Janice until 2004. One night, the legend holds, a few boys sneaked into Manor House. The commotion awakened Brian and Janice. The plan was thwarted, and the boys were directed to call their parents, which resulted in some memorable discipline. After that episode, the maintenance crew planted a row of prickly bushes under the first-floor windows.

Janice’s Manor House apartment also saw its fair share of science experiments. She was so dedicated to teaching that when she sustained an ankle injury and couldn’t get to her classroom in the late 90s, she invited her students to the House for class and labs. Alyson Bates Lombard ’99 recollects, “A highlight of my high school years was a titration lab in Ms. Brady’s Manor House apartment.

Another of my fondest memories of the Abbey is AP Chemistry Lab finals, which were done on a Friday evening, and Ms. Brady played B101 on the radio while we did our labs. I still love chemistry.”

Think About It

Ms. Brady in her first year of teaching at Portsmouth Abbey

their experience at the Abbey. In order to facilitate bonding and cultivate school spirit among their small group of female students, the duo began to build new traditions that carry on to this day, like providing snacks to the students after study hall, or hanging brimming Christmas stockings from the common room mantle in Manor House. Another favorite, still eagerly anticipated each Christmas season, was the dorm trip to see “A Christmas Carol” enacted at Trinity Repertory Theater in Providence, the evening topped off with desserts from Gregg’s once back in the House. Nancy feels that she and Janice not only shared the love of teaching, but also the bond of working through hard times and lean budgets in those early years on campus.

In the classroom, students loved Janice as much as they loved the science experiments they conducted. Dr. Amara Murray Mulder ’99 recalls fondly, “I remember the excitement of doing experiments in honors chemistry and AP chemistry under her careful tutelage. Ms. Brady had an understated and dry sense of humor and a deep appreciation for the wonder of the world at its molecular and atomic level, which helped bring chemistry to life for us students. ‘And this is why God, in her infinite wisdom, made water the molecular basis of life...,’ she quipped as she taught us about hydrogen bonds.”

Dr. Mulder says Janice’s coursework was rigorous, and it gave her the confidence to pursue a degree in biochemistry in college, to work in several labs over the course of her undergraduate and graduate years, and to eventually pursue a career as a physician. “The challenging college coursework I undertook in inorganic and organic chemistry was not at all overwhelming, but just seemed a smooth continuation of what Ms. Brady had taught me already.”

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Ms. Brady was presented with a special gift on Prize Day1999, by Amara Murray Mulder ’99 and her classmates

Along with academic rigor, Janice also believed in making science fun, and her field trips to marshes and estuaries around Rhode Island to study and document marine life in its natural habitat were legendary (the stops at Gray’s Ice Cream stand on the way home making it all the more memorable).

In the first two years that the course was offered, students devised and implemented their own schemes of analysis to investigate specific lab problems. The course ultimately became so popular that it was added permanently to the science curriculum.

Each year, Janice hosted a forensics lab for her class, complete with crime-scene tape and a murder mystery to be solved by inquisitive students. On the 150th anniversary of the Periodic Table of Elements, her students held a party, recreating the Table with cupcakes and element symbols decorated on top.

Students looked as forward to her creative lessons as they did the snacks she provided.

“Ms. Brady was core to an amazing crew of science teachers at the Abbey who instilled in me a lifelong love of science, and an understanding of the workings of the natural world which has now endured for more than twenty years,” attests Lt. Col. John Heins, USAF ’01. “I am now, as best I can, passing that love and understanding along to my children, and I sincerely hope that they are fortunate enough to have teachers like I had to fan the flames of their scientific curiosity.”

In 2009, a small group of AP chemistry students who wanted to continue studying chemistry in their Sixth Form year suggested a Green Chemistry course as an option.

Janice happily responded, offering an independent study lab course that next year. The class sought to apply and integrate the principles of Green Chemistry—the use of chemical research to address the problems confronting society with minimal environmental impact and sustainability, while employing qualitative, quantitative and instrumental analysis.

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Janice noted, “The most rewarding aspect of the class is that it is truly a collaborative exchange of ideas and an active, inquirybased learning experience. The students constantly challenge and motivate each other. It is very gratifying, refreshing and a luxury to work with students who are genuinely excited about applying and broadening their knowledge of chemistry.”

Doug Lebo ’15, who is currently finishing up his Master of Public Health degree at the University of Vermont and continuing in medicine at Université de Montréal, relished his time in the Green Chemistry class, also dubbed “Chemistry Club.” “It was more or less an excuse to do some fun experiments with color and time, see what fun reagents (in bottles older than most of us, occasionally labelled in German) we could find in the stock room, and talk about what each of us loved about chemistry, putting us on different paths that all revolved around a shared love of the science,” he says. “Learning from Ms. Brady was an absolute pleasure – she sparked a love of chemistry in me that was beyond a doubt the reason I pursued (and had the drive and skills to complete) a BSc in biochemistry. She always let the science shine through to speak for itself to those of us who couldn’t get enough of it.”

Janice was fond of presenting her class with inquirybased labs where her students had to devise their own procedures, and many students appreciated that she

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didn’t readily supply them with answers, replying to their questions with her trademark quip: “Think about it!”

Kevin Legein ’12 said her approach made him a better student – both in her classroom and in life. “Ms. Brady imparted to me, above all, an attitude toward solving problems I emulate even now,” he says. “Her solutions were almost rudely elegant and simple next to the perplexing questions. When I fall short in life, my mind can always recur to the old science building – and to the easy competence she emanated and, when the situation seems dire, to her invariable injunction, ‘Think about it!’”

Above and Beyond It’s not just Janice’s students who respected and enjoyed her. Janice’s colleagues point to her kindness and dedication as a teacher, mentor and friend. Tough, but fair, no student was left behind.

Retired biology teacher Robert Sahms says, “I couldn’t have asked for a better colleague and friend in Janice Brady. When I arrived at my office at 7:30 a.m., Ms. Brady often, if not daily, was already in her chemistry classroom providing extra help to a student or students. Her dedication to and love of her students was unparalleled.”

Retired study skills specialist and colleague Christine Sahms adds, “Ms. Brady prioritized others before self.

Over the years of service to Portsmouth Abbey, Ms. Brady cared for her advisees, often going above and beyond. She readily met students at various times of the day to explain chemistry questions.

Ms. Brady also sought methods to help students grasp concepts that they did not comprehend in the regular classroom setting. She also served as a friend and mentor to many of the faculty.”

Dr. DeVecchi noted, “Janice’s qualities of character and commitment to the rigors of teaching chemistry created a wonderful and positive classroom environment for her students. If one were to pick a student of Janice’s at random and ask what he/she thought of Janice as a chemistry teacher, odds are that one would not know by the response if this student was one of her most highly successful AP students or a struggling Chem 1 student.

The message here being that Janice cared deeply about and was committed to the success of each and every one of her students – a commitment that was recognized and appreciated by essentially all of her students.”

As an advisor, Janice has scores of devoted former advisees who fondly remember the Entenmann’s Donuts and “mango tango juice” she supplied. Colleague Susan McCarthy remembers, “Every Tuesday morning last year, there would be a gallon of milk in the science faculty room refrigerator that Janice had brought to give to one of her advisees, so he wouldn’t have to go to the dining hall every time he wanted milk that week, and she always had a special treat for her advisees.”

In addition to teaching chemistry and marine science, Janice assisted Bob Rainwater in coaching club soccer, using the hockey rink parking lot for practice in her first years on campus, and she was the faculty advisor for the yearbook. Throughout her tenure at the Abbey, Janice was very dedicated to yearbook, Nancy Brzys recalls. “I remember her getting excited about making the yearbook just right each year; she devoted hours to it even in the summer after students had left for vacation.”

The past 30 years of yearbooks, produced by a hard-working crew of Abbey students, would not have made it to the bookshelf without Janice’s

Ms. Brady was renowned for encouraging students to“Think about it.”

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You taught chemistry with such fervor that you instilled in me at a young age that science matters and deserves to be celebrated. I remember your infectious excitement over Avogadro’s Mole Day and Pi Day. You left an imprint beyond the Abbey because I bring in pie to the office every year. You always made me feel welcomed and empowered as a female student. Thank you for your patience and kindness. – Monica Natasha Hidalgo ’09 It was a pleasure working with Ms. Brady on the yearbook my Sixth Form year. It wasn’t until working on the Gregorian did I realize the intricacies and craft that went into putting this great collection of memories together.

Having had her for Chemistry as a Fourth former it was great to reconnect.

– Sarah Sienkiewicz ’13 From my chemistry class to the snacks she shared in the science building, Ms. Brady is witty and ready with a sharp retort, but mostly full of love, care, and compassion for her students. It’s the mornings in the dining hall, late evenings at dinner, the moments stolen in the day between classes that make life at the Abbey so special. Ms. Brady was and will forever be an in-

Ms. Brady was known not only for her teaching excellence but also for her kindness and dedication to her students.

tegral part of my Abbey story. I thank her for staying in touch and the visits we have had as alumni. You will be missed, but never forgotten, always in the heart of our community. – Jamie Chapman ’13 Ms. Brady is such an excellent educator, and her chemistry class was one of the reasons I first became interested in science. She was really passionate about her subject and made learning about chemistry interesting. I’ll always remember making ice cream in her lab to learn about thermodynamics. I credit her and Mr. Sahms with fostering my love of science and research, which helped inspire me to pursue my current career as a dentist.

Thank you, Ms. Brady! – Margaret G. Ferrara, D.D.S. ‘08 Teaching Chemistry to a group of teenagers is a daunting task in itself. Ms. Brady conducted her classes with grace and kindness and I will forever remember this. – Kate Driscoll ‘20 Thank you for being such a great and caring teacher. Two years of chemistry with you really taught me how to think analytically which has helped me all throughout college. You have known me throughout my childhood and I cannot thank you enough for the positive impact on my life.

– Shane McCarthy, Jr. ’18 The whole advisory group misses you so much, the mango-tango juice and the donuts, and everything. I enjoy the time spent with you in all the Tues-

unwavering dedication to the project each year.

Regular afternoon and nightly meetings and long summers of cleaning up the loose ends resulted in the beautifully bound books that graduates keep close at hand even decades after moving on from the Abbey. Of these students and so many others that Janice taught and mentored over her career on Cory’s Lane, she has remained close to so many, staying in contact with them and lauding their successes.

Having lost her husband to cancer in 2013, Janice moved into the School’s solar-powered faculty residence. The self-sufficient home was built

by Rhode Island School of Design architecture students for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2005, and it was moved to campus as one of Portsmouth Abbey’s remarkable sustainability initiatives. Before retiring in the spring of 2020, Janice was able to teach in the newly built state-ofthe-art science building.

day advisory time (you said the advisory is the best part of the day) as well as Honors Chem. It has been really rewarding learning chemistry with you.

– Caroline Yao ’22 Thank you for making my transition to the Abbey so smooth. I couldn’t have asked for a better advisor to welcome me into the Abbey and help

Jonathan Susilo ‘19, now studying at Johns Hopkins University, says he despised chemistry before taking Ms. Brady’s class. “Having you as my teacher singlehandedly changed my perspective on the subject and set me on a different path for

guide me through my first year. – Charlie Baughan ‘22

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Since the first day of my Abbey experience, you had unwavering belief and confidence in me. Words cannot explain how much this belief helped me believe in myself in academics, socially, but especially in my tennis.

You told me to never give up, to keep pushing along, no matter how tough things had been. Advisory had always been the highlight of my Tuesday, the donuts and mango tango juice were always comforting (especially after having extended humanities the period before). Thank you for everything you have helped me overcome. – Flynn O’Connell ‘22 During my childhood, high school and beyond, you have inspired me!

From hanging out with you in the chemistry lab with my parents to being in your class for two years in a row, you helped me grow in my love and appreciation for science. AP Chemistry was the class that set me on the path I am on today, and I know that I will still think back to it as I start my medical school classes this year. Thank you for being such a kind and thoughtful teacher and mentor. – Meghan McCarthy ’15

Periodic Table birthday cupcakes

Though I was unable to last in honors chemistry my sophomore year you never held that against me as an advisee. Your unwavering belief

my future studies,” he writes in a letter to her. “I’ll never forget seeing the snacks you got us when class was especially hard (and how much you cared about which snacks we liked), or our last day where you gave us all small awards. Your attitude as a teacher truly goes above and beyond what is asked for, and as your student, I could see how much you cared about each and every person in our class and did everything you could to ensure our proper education.”

Perhaps Susilo best sums up the sentiments of decades of Janice’s students as he wishes her a happy retirement: “This retirement is one you truly deserve, but I can’t help but feel sorry for future Abbey students as they won’t have the opportunity to have you as their teacher,” he says. “I wish you all the best in whatever you choose to do next and hope you continue to inspire and change the people you meet, just as you have done for me.”

– Kathy Heydt

in me helped me tremendously during my time in high school. I will always cherish those advisory meetings watching Karl and Sam fight it out for the last donut. Congrats on your retirement! – Joe Breen ’18 I cannot thank you enough for all the help you’ve given me during my years at the Abbey. I’m incredibly grateful to have had such an understanding and selfless advisor/teacher. Although Chemistry was undoubtedly not my strongest subject, you always helped me to understand it to the best of my ability. I’ll miss looking forward to advisory with you every Tuesday and the donuts and mango-tango you brought. You’ve been such a prominent figure during my Abbey career and I’ll miss you incredibly. Stay in touch! – Hannah Best ’22 Your amazing knowledge, patience and encouragement helped me to find my passion in chemistry and land a career in an industry that I’m very passionate about, and for that I can’t thank you enough. Through your classes, completing AP lab reports and Green Chemistry helped me foster lifelong friendships with my some of my fellow chemistry classmates.

Thank you for bringing together a community of tight-knit nerds, and for supporting us in our Abbey years and beyond! – Hadley Matthews ’10 It’s teachers like you who make Portsmouth Abbey the special place that it is, and while I can’t say I was the best Chemistry student you ever had, I can say that I truly enjoyed your class! Thank you for your tutelage, leadership, and friendship over the past thirty-two years. The school will not be the same without you. – Pierce King ’08 You’re one of the people that I miss sincerely. I’m grateful for having had you as my teacher. May life smile on you forever. – Violet Wang ‘19

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A Legend in His Own Time Cliff Hobbins retires after 44 years of service.

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WITH HIS TELLTALE WIT, CHARISMA AND REVELATORY LECTURES, IT IS NOT AN UNDERSTATEMENT TO SAY J. CLIFFORD “BUCKS” HOBBINS CAPTIVATED FOUR GENERATIONS OF PORTSMOUTH ABBEY STUDENTS. SOME ALUMNI CLAIM THEIR LIVES AND CAREER CHOICES WERE FOREVER ALTERED AFTER TAKING HIS HISTORY AND HUMANITIES COURSES. OTHERS SAY HE INSTILLED IN THEM AN ENDURING LOVE OF LEARNING.

As Cliff begins his retirement this year after serving the School for 44 years, we reflect on the life and legacy of a man who held numerous official and unofficial posts: night watchman; house parent with an open-door policy; patient listener; animated and deeply knowledgeable teacher; and a caring friend and treasured mentor who upheld the values of the Benedictine tradition.

Former Headmaster Dr. Jim DeVecchi asserts Cliff was “born to teach” at the Abbey. “Over Cliff’s 44 years, our School enjoyed remarkable evolution and change; however, to the benefit of many, Cliff was constant and remained very much unchanged.

Cliff essentially remained Cliff, plain and simple. To the many St. Benet’s boys, the image of Cliff: door open to his ground-floor Benet’s apartment, sitting in his easy chair, reading (What a reader Cliff is!), surrounded by his dogs, and enjoying his pipe, is indelible in their minds.”

Christopher J. Sullivan ’79 attests, “His relentless curiosity of how individuals can shape history was infectious to me as a young Abbey student and made me look behind historical events as to not only when they took place, but why and who created them.”

Little did Cliff know that he himself was making history at the Abbey each and every day. But long before Cliff held court at the School, he was enjoying his own formative years with an upbringing steeped in politics, giving credence to Dr. DeVecchi’s remark. Cliff really was born to teach at the Abbey.

EARLY LIFE LESSONS Cliff grew up in Washington, D.C., where his childhood was infused with political discourse. Both his parents were in civil service– his father served

in the Department of Justice and his mother served as secretary to the army chief of public affairs at the Pentagon. Cliff’s uncle, who lived with the family, worked at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

When Cliff was eight years old, he remembers excitedly heading downstairs on Christmas morning only to find a stack of Signature books on U.S. history, rather than toys. Any second grader would have been disappointed, but Cliff scoured the texts, which sparked a fascination with history that has lasted to this day.

Voracious readers all, the Hobbins family peppered the nightly dinner table with fervent political discussion.

“The house was full of international relations and events of the day. It came with the territory,” Cliff recalls. “Harry Truman wanted mother as one of his secretaries in the White House, but she was too nervous. I was very put out with her for declining!”

Cliff’s own first contact with a major politician came in 1960, right after John Fitzgerald Kennedy won the Democratic presidential nomination. Cliff was visiting the Capitol Building. “I had a Kennedy button on; Kennedy was walking down a corridor, just the two of us, no one else around. He had on a PT-109 tie clasp, handed it to me and said, ‘Here, add this to your collection.’”

When Cliff was 11 years old, his father was transferred to Portland, ME. There, Cliff attended the Catholic Cheverus High School, where he developed a great admiration for his Jesuit teachers. He credits the Jesuits for some of the most important lessons he has learned in life. “When I was a sophomore in high school – this might surprise you, I know, it’s shocking – I had a smart mouth. One day a Jesuit grabbed me and said, ‘Remember one thing, Hobbins. You revolve

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around the world; the world does not revolve around you.’ I’ve never forgotten that. It’s probably helped me more than anything else. That came as a shock.”

Following Cheverus, Cliff attended Marquette University, where he was inspired to take up the teaching profession thanks to several esteemed professors in history, most notably, professors Father Francis Paul Prucha and Dr. Frank L. Klement. Becoming a teacher rather than a lawyer was at first much to his father’s dismay, but Cliff stuck to his calling.

A SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE After earning his master’s degree at Marquette, Cliff began his first teaching job at Fryeburg Academy in Maine. He began in the summer school and rolled right into the fall semester there until October of 1969, when he was drafted into the army “spending time in Southeast Asia for my favorite uncle, Uncle Sam.” For 13 months Cliff served in Viet Nam as a member of the 101st Airborne Division, the “Screaming Eagles,” an airmobile division of the U.S. Army specializing in air assault operations.

Cliff returned to Fryeburg for a time before moving on to Gould Academy, where he taught English and history, ultimately named dean and history department head.

Cliff also met his future wife, Nancy, while in Maine. First friends, they reunited years later in Newport, RI, and the rest is history.

Ever enthused about politics, Cliff lent a hand to several Maine legislature campaigns. Over the summer of 1976, he worked for Sen. Edmund Muskie’s (D-Maine) presidential campaign, running the Lewiston, ME, office and serving as the de facto chauffeur for Mrs. Muskie.

Since then, Cliff jokes that he’s taken a right turn politically. “Anyone who knows me knows that I have had a ‘certain transformation’ of my politics to the right, but at that time, it was very special to me,” he recalls.

Cliff’s political affinities shifted as he followed the economic and foreign policies of several U.S. presidents– and he didn’t like what he saw. In the late 70s and early 80s, Cliff turned to several definitive economics

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books: George Gilder’s Wealth & Poverty and William Simon’s A Time for Truth.

From the 1980s on, his basic conservativism was cemented.

In the classroom, he taught Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose and Robert Heilbroner’s The Worldly Philosophers, which is, in Cliff’s opinion, the greatest introductory book about commerce. Other favorites included Buchholz’s New Ideas from Dead Economists and Thomas Friedman’s The Lexus and the Olive Tree. His favorite book of all, he says, is “a little book that’s now out of print, Myles Connolly’s 1928 novel Mr. Blue. It shows the whole tragedy of the modern world in about 150 pages.”

Not generally interested in television, Cliff made an exception for a favorite pundit who appeared on Fox News. “One of my heroes – I think he was one of the smartest men in America – was Charles Krauthammer.

Whenever I could find Krauthammer, I was fixated for a half hour.” In 1987, Krauthammer won the Pulitzer Prize for his column in The Washington Post.

Nancy Hobbins notes, “Cliff grew up in a very strongly Catholic, Democrat environment. His early childhood in D.C. during WWII certainly left its stamp. While his father and uncle were deployed in the war, his mother and aunt lived together with his grandparents very nearby.

His mother worked at the Pentagon while his aunt ran the household. In general, that kind of commitment just doesn’t exist anymore. I suppose that’s why he looks so conservative now.... and why the Abbey felt like home.”

A PROFOUND IMPACT ON STUDENTS Since arriving on Cory’s Lane in 1976, Cliff has taken part in every aspect of the School’s life. In addition to teaching, he served as assistant housemaster in St. Aelred’s House from 1976 to 1985 and housemaster in St. Benet’s House from 1986 to 1996. He has taught history, economics and political science, as well as summer school classes in English and history. He has driven our Ravens

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Cliff with students from his Ecnomics class on a field trip to the NY Stock Exchange, 1987

to their co-curricular activities, led midnight security checks throughout campus, and hosted full-dress Santa Claus festivities for dozens of Abbey Christmas assemblies.

In 1977, Cliff’s second year teaching at the Abbey, eight Sixth-Form students approached him with the idea of teaching economics on the side. “I said, ‘How about Tuesday nights?’ They never skipped a night,” Cliff declares. “There were no books, they never took a test and they never got any credit – but they learned it all.”

Later that year, Cliff asked John Phelan ’80, whose father was vice president at Chase Manhattan Bank, if he could set up a visit for the students. Cliff and his students traveled to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), had lunch in the executive dining room with Theodore Roosevelt’s sons, as well as Harry Hagerty ’47 and Tom Healey ’60, then at Dean Witter Reynolds. To top off the experience Murray Teitelbaum, director of education at the NYSE, invited the group to watch the Stock Exchange from the Member’s Gallery. The trip became a yearly event for his economics students. “The most extraordinary people would come and talk to the kids; they all went out of their way every year,” Cliff recalls, who also expressed

gratitude to James Phelan P ’80 ’82 ’87, Peter Flanigan ’41 and NYSE Chairman David Shields ’57.

By the late 90s, Cliff found that his economic class had become mostly theoretical. “I was teaching about recession, depression and terrorism, and there was no recession, depression or political shenanigans,” he says.

But suddenly, his class realigned with reality. “A week after I talked about the stock exchange, bam! Four trillion dollars was wiped out,” Cliff recalls. “A week after I taught about the electoral college, we had the election of 2000. And then I started teaching about foreign affairs, and in a jocular way, I said, ‘Now I realize you all need Old Testament demonstrations, but foreign policy is very different – it can be dangerous.

People can get killed. Pay attention so that I don’t need to give you any demonstrations.’ And, bam! 9/11 occurred.” That afternoon, Cliff received a note in his mailbox from a student that read, “Why do your predictions come true?” From then on, his students seemed to double down on their concentration because reality was nipping at their heels.

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Cliff’s spellbinding lectures were renowned, as was his ability to engage students one-on-one. Many students viewed Cliff’s signature course—History 8 (Economics/ PoliSci/International Relations)—as a rite of passage, planning their Sixth Form year around the course. With 16 spots available, the class invariably swelled to more students thanks to Cliff’s philosophy: “The more, the merrier!”

“My teaching style remained unchanged over the years,” he says. “I’m not a follower of John Dewey and progressive education. I’ve always used the traditional method of teaching, but I’m very pragmatic. Anyone I’ve hired, I’ve told, ‘Do whatever works.’ I follow Deng Xiaoping’s adage: ‘I don’t care if the cat is white or black as long as it catches mice.’”

His approach in the classroom and beyond had a farranging impact on his students, many of whom credit him for igniting their passions and career paths. Writer, professor and investor Michael Mauboussin ’82, chief U.S. investment strategist for Credit Suisse First Boston, sent Cliff a signed copy of his first book on investment strategy, giving him credit and thanks for “turning me on to economics.”

In January 2012, the J. Clifford Hobbins Chair in History was established to honor the passion for history and American political and civic engagement embraced by Cliff, as well as his impact on generations of Portsmouth students.

Dr. DeVecchi calls Cliff a “legend in his own time,” and he recalls a meeting with a very successful alumnus and Cliff on one occasion.

“With much admiration and gratitude, this gentleman said that much of his success was due to the fact that he carried Cliff around with him like a little birdie on his shoulder.

Cliff proved to be quite enduring.”

REFLECTING BACK ON 44 YEARS Looking back over his years on Cory’s Lane, Cliff says the most fundamental change he’s witnessed has been the physical transformation of the campus.

“The Abbey was in tough shape when I came here,” he says. “Where the school building is now, there was an old Quonset hut that no one used. The Student Center was one

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classroom building that’s gone through enormous renovation. We used to teach in there, with very thin walls, and in one of the rooms, there was a little tree growing up. There was no art center, there was no squash center, no lower gym – nothing. No St. Mary’s, no St. Brigid’s, no St. Martin’s.”

When Cliff made his rounds on the midnight security walk between St. Brigid’s and St. Mary’s, he would gaze at the campus and think, “It looks like New York City’s West Side! The facilities do make the key difference.”

Cliff also recalls the monumental change that happened in 1991 when the school embraced coeducation. “There were two ways to go: to say that the Portsmouth Abbey would continue to be a boys’ school but with girls, or to have a real coeducation,” he says. “The beauty was that the headmaster was a very hard-working fellow from England who didn’t quite catch American culture or American education, and so he left it alone, and coeducation grew naturally here. No one tinkered with it. And within a year, it was as if the school had always had girls. It’s like when Fr. Peter would build a building, once the building was finished, it was as if it was always there. And the girls who came here were just fantastic, and have been.

They’ve added a great, great deal.”

One of Cliff’s own personal points of pride is how a Portsmouth Abbey education leads students to a life of public service. “Sometimes students go straight into such a life, and it’s not a surprise at all,” he once remarked. “Other times, it gets them interested, and they have ‘leader’ written all over them. I love to go to our Washington, D.C., reception; it’s like being back home again– to see Kate Snow, Sean Spicer, Kevin

Top right: Cliff with Charlie Day ’94 on campus; Middle right: Cliff meets up with former students at Reunion Bottom right: Cliff addresses the Portsmouth Abbey community at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day assembly

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Mr. Hobbins was my favorite. The number of colorful stories are too many to relate – but the one that stands out most in my mind was when he recreated an Indian raid on Canada during the French & Indian Wars by crawling on his belly (dressed snappily in his customary three-piece suit) across the floor of the classroom with a pen/dagger in his mouth. He then jumped up and proceeded to scalp the entire classroom. Classic. Made a huge impression on me, and history is still my favorite subject.

– Christopher A. Abbate ’88 (Summer 2007 Alumni Bulletin) Your passion for history, politics and debate was an inspiration to all of us who were lucky enough to have had you as a teacher. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to your students and to the Abbey.

– Former U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald ’78 I still think of your Economics, Political Science, and Foreign Relations class and how much of an impact you had on my academic journey and life. I pursued a Political Science degree at Bowdoin, and I am now pursuing my MBA at Duke, in part because of you and the foundation I received in your class. I’ve kept my notes from your class all these years. I revisit them from time to time, looking for pearls of wisdom and inspiration. ‘Plan your work, work your plan’ and ‘Luck rewards the prepared mind.’ I cherish these, and all of your lessons. – Pierce King ’08 I had the honor of being both a student of Mr. Hobbins and a resident at St. Benet’s when he was housemaster. His class lectures were outstanding, and even more remarkable were the conversations we would have in the hallways of the dorm and around campus. With his door open, several dogs roaming around his residence, and jazz music on, he would always have a funny and smart thing to say. With my parents living in Venezuela, having someone like Mr. Hobbins present and reinforcing daily the values of our faith and my family made me feel at home and kept me out of trouble (most of the time). I learned a great deal about leadership and responsibility, which helped me quite a bit later in life. – Alejandro Perez Duque ’94 Cliff Hobbins’s notion that the stirrup was a critical innovation in the path from the Dark Ages to Medieval times and ultimately modern history was very insightful and has stuck with me for 40 years. Whether or not it was his original idea, I don’t know.

But it demonstrates how well conceived lessons can stay with a student for a lifetime. – Patrick Ward ’81 I have few regrets as an alumnus of Portsmouth (’65). One

McMillan. It’s neat to be in the same room with these people. I feel a real sense of pride in them.”

When asked how he nurtured a community environment within the House, Cliff happily relates, “It was a three-ring circus, and I was the ringmaster!

I always respected the students, gave them a good deal of room, making sure each was confident in knowing that he could always come for help. My door was always open. We had a lot of laughs, and a lot of good conversation.”

A student’s experience in the House, he continued, “better prepares him or her for life after Portsmouth Abbey School. It gives him or her the sense of independence and responsibility that they will all need in their future.” And when reflecting on his most memorable moments, Cliff quips, “Let’s just say that living in a House is like going into a fun house – you know the gorilla will appear, you just don’t know when!”

Nancy Hobbins asked Cliff which three things about living and working at the Abbey made the greatest impact on him, he responded that he loved teaching students who wanted to learn. To this day he takes great pride in his former students and their achievements in the world. Secondly, he made

however is that I was too early to enjoy the good teaching and caring mentorship of the famous Mr. Hobbins! However, Cliff

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was instrumental to our son Ambrose (’86), possibly even pivotal to getting him through to graduation! The adjustment to Portsmouth from the free-wheeling life of private school in California was no easy transition. Cliff added the extra care and rapport of his rifle +shotgun club to his personal touch in teaching the lessons of history in class. Cliff Hobbins, for our family, is remembered in the Pantheon of the greatest housemasters and teachers and friends at Portsmouth. We cannot thank him enough for what he has done for our family. – John A. Fisher ’65 My grandchildren Fenton’15, John’17, Lucia’18 and Teresa Billings ’20, knew Mr. Hobbins as a very special teacher. Each Parents’ Day I would see this teacher in action in the abbreviated classroom sessions. At every turn, the students – all of them – would sit there enthralled with this man and how he taught them valuable lessons. For me every visit was the same: great knowledge being communicated, wry humor at work, and proud students in the room. He will be missed! – John Fenton

GREAT enduring friendships with faculty and monks, and last but not least, he lived the Catholic life.

Mr. Hobbins instilled in me a love of history, the progress of civilization and the triumph of the human spirit. His lectures,

Ambrose Fisher ’86 sums up the experience of many Abbey students, saying, “I was lucky enough to get four years with Mr. Hobbins. He introduced himself on my first day at St. Aelred’s (the then boys’ Third Form dorm) and was there on my last days at St. Benet’s. Bucks was a positive force for good at the Abbey. We all look back fondly and smile when we remember those days with him. Bucks was always there for us, whether it was as our teacher, dorm parent, advisor or mentor. He was good at each of these roles, too – always encouraging and supportive, but disciplined in his approach and guidance. He helped shape us in our formative years, and we will always be grateful.”

spontaneous travels down paths of political successes and

Fisher echoes many alumni sentiments when he concludes of Cliff: “You are one of the greats. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement.”

led with when your Nation called! – LTC Sean Coulter’ 93

That goes for all of us here at Portsmouth Abbey!

very vivid in my memory. – Brendan O’Higgins '93

tragedies at the same time always kept me focused on the curriculum like few other professors I have studied with in college or law school. What comes to mind are the trips he organized for students (senator/astronaut John Glenn @ the Newport Naval War College or to Wall Street to the NY Stock Exchange).

My son Christopher ’14 and my daughter Molly ’15 also were lucky to have him as an instructor. – Christopher J. Sullivan ’79) Not a day goes by that I don’t think back to or use a lesson you taught. I have also tried to recreate your educational-mentorship approach for my soldiers, cadets, students, and kids. Best of luck to you in your future endeavors and thank you for what you’ve dedicated your life to, not only your decades of students who sat in your classroom, but the soldiers you served with and

Many congratulations to Mr. Hobbins! He is a gifted, charismatic teacher; and his mannerisms and turns of phrase are still I will never forget your wise words. They have helped me

– Kathy Heydt

navigate some very difficult challenges in my life. I am forever grateful for all you have taught me. – Tom Rodgers ’96 “The Universe owes you nothing!”

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PAGE 25

Education in the Face of Adversity

by Vincent Scanlan ’79 When the novel corona virus spread across the globe in the spring of 2020, leaders around the world were quickly predicting the pandemic would be the most disruptive world event since World War II. Throughout its 95-year history Portsmouth has faced many external events that have challenged the operation of the school. For many in the current Portsmouth community, it is hard to imagine a more significant event that has touched almost every aspect of their educational experience than COVID-19. These include such inconveniences as virtual classrooms, quarantine, sports cancellations, temperature checks, travel disruptions, and countless numbers of pandemic protocols. To put this all of the recent events into perspective, I recently sat down with my father, Joe Scanlan ’46, to help compare the challenges faced by Portsmouth today compared with those of the 1940s that had a world war raging in the

PAGE 26

background while Portsmouth tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy for a small group of high school boys pursuing a secondary school education. As a former student and parent to five Portsmouth students (Thomas ’77, Vincent ’79, Brian ’80, Michael ’82, Daniel ’89), Joe was able to provide a unique viewpoint of the school through a lens that goes back nearly eighty years.

In the fall of 1942 Joe was a 14-year-old boy living in Danbury, Connecticut, preparing to enter high school. Joe was the youngest of four children being raised by his mother, having lost his father twelve years earlier. Joe’s mother maintained the educational philosophy that high school should be a two-part experience. The first two years of high school were to be spent in the public schools developing a network within the town.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

In the infirmary School Nurse Miss Mulrenan tends to Robert F. Glennon ’41 who was killed in the war in 1944.

The second two years were to be spent in a private secondary school preparing for college admissions. During the time that Joe spent at Danbury High School, the United States was unwillingly pulled into in World War II following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Joe enjoyed the time he spent at Danbury High School, but by the end of his sophomore year in the Spring of 1944 he was very much looking forward to attending an up-and-coming boarding school in Rhode Island that he knew little about except that Portsmouth Priory had come highly recommended to his mother by many friends and family. Joe spent much of the summer of 1944 preparing for his entry into the Priory that fall. The summer was filled with many positive developments on the war front that gave many in the United States room for optimism that the long war might be nearing an end. The most notable event was the Allied invasion of France in June of 1944 that would lead to the liberation of Paris by the end of summer. Unfortunately the hopes for the end of the war were dashed by the expansion of war activities in the Pacific theater.

When Joe arrived in Portsmouth after Labor Day, Rhode Island was dealing with another challenge: The Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944. Joe was welcomed on campus with the

extensive rain and wind damage left behind by an historic Category 4 Hurricane. The ninety-five mile per hour winds that whipped off of Narragansett Bay uprooted trees and damaged many buildings in its path. Damages to Aquidneck Island were estimated at $500,000. The storm left much recovery work for the new incoming students to undertake. Joe recalls the student work squads that were assigned cleanup tasks from the storm.

One of Joe’s cleanup assignments was the boathouse, which

St. Benet’s House in the 1940s

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PAGE 27

sustained extensive damage to the building and boats. It was this experience that began Joe’s love affair with boats, including his eventual service with the U.S. Navy after college. The mandatory work squads of 1944 represented the last year of their existence as they were replaced by calisthenics (for those lesser-skilled athletes) the following year by the incoming athletic director. Despite many challenges, the Priory achieved a significant enrollment goal that fall. Headmaster Father Gregory Borgstedt worked steadfastly to attain Priory enrollment of 119 in the fall of 1944, despite the fact that the school had decided to eliminate the First Form. In fact, the school found itself with so many applications that it was

Mr. and Mrs. Springer with the boys of St. Benet’s, 1942

forced to limit the number of applications that it could accept.

Between the Priory and St. George’s, down the way in Newport, both schools found a way to achieve their enrollment goals while the world war carried on in the background. This was the year that the rivalry between the Priory and St. George’s was in its infancy and began to emerge into the great rivalry that it is today. Tuition at the Priory for students that fall was $1,400 per student. The decision to send their sons to Portsmouth required many families to make the difficult decision between educating their sons and the other priorities competing with the ongoing war.

PAGE 28

While the enhanced enrollment was very much an asset for the school, finding enough housing for the new incoming students would present significant challenges for the administration. The challenges went beyond just building additional housing for the students. Since the war effort was the critical priority for the government, many of the critical supplies needed to build student housing were controlled by the U.S. War Production Board, which provided oversight in rationing the building supplies and many other critical materials. Portsmouth had the goal of completing renovations for The Barn for the incoming Fifth Formers in 1944. While the school was able to secure enough basic materials for The Barn renovations, it was very sparse accommodations by today’s standards. One of the most critical shortages was the iron used for making the radiators for heating. When the initial renovations to The Barn were completed for the fall of 1944, heating was only provided in the common areas and bathrooms on the second floor. The incoming students were instructed to bring extra blankets and warm pajamas since heating was very limited in the actual dorm rooms. The winter of 1945 was a cold one and the shortage of heat in The Barn took its toll on one student who came down with pneumonia. Housemaster Brother Aelred quickly shared his concerns with the headmaster about the dire living conditions. Shortly after that the War Production Board saw to it to allocate the necessary radiators to provide heat to the individual rooms in The Barn.

Student dining was also impacted during Joe’s first year. The food menu selections were very sparse, with limited amount of meat offerings. Amenities like butter, sugar, and bacon were rarely included with any meals, and always considered a luxury when available. Joe still recalls “after hour visits” to the Manor House kitchen to obtain those provisions that were always in short supply during regular dining hours.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Father Ansgar at Portsmouth Priory, later appointed Bishop of Sweden by Pope Pius XII

Life in the Barn was not without its share of high school boy antics either. Joe recalls the story of a displaced French citizen who had found his way to Portsmouth from France to escape the war. The young man was serving as the assistant housemaster in the Barn that year in addition to teaching French. This generous young man took it upon himself to gather unused clothing from the Fifth Formers so that he could ship them to needy families in France. One boy (who will forever remain nameless), told the young Frenchman about a “fur-lined undergarment” that Brother Aelred had and was willing to donate. When the unknowing humanitarian approached Brother Aelred about making a donation, laughter could be heard throughout The Barn amongst its residents. Joe noted that even during the tough days of the war, the students always found a way to laugh.

The beginning of Joe’s Sixth Form in the fall of 1945 was filled with optimism on many fronts. While Joe had spent the summer at home in Connecticut, significant events on the war front made the end of the war seem inevitable.

When Joe returned to campus in September there was much talk about “the new kind of bomb” that the Americans had used in Japan to force surrender. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August and the signing of the Instrument of Surrender in September

finally brought a formal conclusion to the long war. After four years of American involvement in the war there was an amazing amount of positive energy present on the Priory campus. Joe admitted how naive the students were in understanding the future implications of using atomic weapons and the impact on future wars. While everyone expected things to return to normal quickly, shortages of critical items like sugar, meat, and gas remained in scarce supply for the remainder of the school year.

As a senior Joe was assigned to The Red dorm. The Red was built in 1928 and was one of the four residences used for students. Danish exile Father Ansgar was the housemaster. Joe took an immediate liking to Father Ansgar who had travelled the world and was always willing to engage with the students in his dorm. Joe’s memories of life in The Red are still quite vivid. Joe recalls spending many nights talking with Father Ansgar about growing up with socialism in Denmark, his conversion to Catholicism from being Lutheran, and his coming to America and becoming a Benedictine monk. Father Ansgar provided Joe a perspective that was unique and was quite refreshing during the challenging war years.

Interestingly enough, Father Ansgar was appointed by Pope Pius to be the Bishop of Sweden shortly after Joe graduated Portsmouth.

In December of 1945 the Dramatics Club continued to make its postwar comeback

The Old Barn. After demolition the cupolas were restored and now adorn the roof of the McGuire Art Building.

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PAGE 29

Dom Hilary Martin with his beloved sheepdog, Lad, 1942

after being challenged by resource limitations from the war. While Joe never considered himself an actor, he very much enjoyed being part of the stage crew that produced a one night showing of three one-act plays. Joe recalls learning an appreciation for Irish drama with the production of “The Doctor from Dunmore.”

This was also Joe’s first time working with Assistant Headmaster Dr. Brady, whom he found to be one of the more caring and compassionate faculty members during his Portsmouth experience.

By the winter of 1946 Joe sensed an amazing level of energy and optimism in all aspects of the Portsmouth community, especially within the monastic community. While there were several monks forced into retirement due to failing health, there was also a significant number of young men who committed to the Priory and others who would be ordained by the end of the school year. It was through this level of enthusiasm within the community that served as the impetus for major fund-raising activities and facility improvement and expansion over the next two years.

While there was never a pandemic during Joe’s time at Portsmouth, he did recall a similar memory that occurred in April of 1946.

Right after the St. George’s boys returned to Newport after the Easter break (many of them from New York), there was a mild outbreak

of measles and chicken pox on the St. George’s campus. After the visiting Priory baseball team defeated St. George’s 4-3 with a ninth-inning rally, the team was quickly taken back to Portsmouth. The usual post game tea and refreshments were abruptly suspended. Apparently the St. George’s headmaster had mandated that all students self-isolate to mitigate the risk of any potential spread. During this brief time all the Priory boys were prohibited from going to movies and other public places in Newport. The short-term “lockdown” ended quickly in May with the resumption of the normal spring activities.

The final month at Portsmouth was a memorable one for Joe and his fellow Sixth Formers. On the second Saturday night in June, the five-year Prom tradition continued at the Manor House. While seeing girls on campus was always a rare sight back then, welcoming twenty-seven girls to the Priory dance was an especially refreshing change that year.

Memories of the music and dancing from The Ed Drew Orchestra for the gala event still bring a smile to Joe’s face. The following Monday, the Athletic Awards dinner was held to recognize the spring athletes, including Joe’s good friend Mike Corcoran, a Newport boy who was the standout Raven center fielder and

A wecome social visit from the girls of Elmhurst School, 1943

PAGE 30

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Three decades later, Dom Andrew Jenks stops on campus to chat with Joe’s son, Vince’s brother, Thomas Scanlan ’77 (right) and Anthony Bessenger ’77.

team captain. When graduation finally arrived on Tuesday the Sixth Formers were more than ready for prize day. Only one of the 15 graduates had endured the fourwar year experience at Portsmouth. While most of Joe’s classmates arrived in the fall of 1944, all of his classmates shared a unique bond as a result of the trials and tribulations that the war year experiences had brought them.

Commencement Day 1946 was an unforgettable day for the graduating seniors. Joe noted that there was added excitement to the ceremony that year since it marked the twentieth anniversary of the first eighteen students enrolling at Portsmouth in 1926. That Tuesday morning was a typical cloudy overcast Rhode Island day that began with a solemn high Mass celebrated by Father Gregory Borsteadt at six-thirty in the morning.

A tent was set up for parents and guests on St. Benet’s lawn (where St. Mary’s sits today). The honored guests at the commencement included Priory founder and headmaster emeritus Father Hugh Diman. The keynote speaker was longtime Priory benefactor Basil Harris, Chairman of the Board of United States Lines, the country’s largest passenger-freight steamship carrier. It was through Mr. Harris’ generous gift of $100,000 to Portsmouth in 1930 that the construction of St. Benet’s House became possible. Joe recalls a message from Mr. Harris that focused on the importance of supporting the advocacy for Catholic private school education.

The following fall Joe went on to enroll at Georgetown University and graduated four years later. While the experiences that Joe took with him from Portsmouth may be unique to the graduates that followed him, he felt that the resilient and positive approach that he took with the challenges that he faced could

benefit any student facing similar obstacles in the future. When asked about being a part of what is now known as the “greatest generation,” Joe will humbly state that everyone is part of the greatest generation. As Joe reflects on his upcoming seventy-fifth anniversary reunion this year he remains grateful for the experiences he shared during his time at Portsmouth during extraordinary times. When I asked Joe what he is most grateful for from his Portsmouth experience, he proudly tells me that having five sons and one grandson who got to share the same educational experience still provides him a great sense of happiness. His wife, Robin, went on to become the Portsmouth librarian who was instrumental in transitioning an outdated library into the current modern-day library up until her retirement in 1999. Joe and Robin have lived across the bay in Bristol since 1964 and still visit Portsmouth whenever possible.

d Vince Scanlan graduated from Portsmouth Abbey in 1979 and from Syracuse University with a B.A. in International Relations in 1983. Vince spent the majority of his professional career in consumer banking overseeing regulatory compliance activities for both large and midsized banks. Currently Vince consults with private equity businesses looking to provide banking products and services outside of the traditional banking environment. Additionally, Vince works as a freelance photographer creating both landscape and portrait images for the community in Bucks County Pennsylvania. His current projects include writing an historical perspective of his Irish American ancestry dating back to the early nineteenth century. Vince lives in Newtown, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Jacqueline, and son, Aidan.

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Dr. Milton Little ’99

It’s no exaggeration to suggest that Dr. Milton Little began preparing for a career as a caregiver while still a little boy. Now an orthopedic trauma surgeon, Little says the allure of medicine reaches back to childhood.

“My maternal grandfather, Dr. Thomas Bass, was one of

Both grandparents were active members of their com-

silanti, MI, and as a child, I lived with my grandparents

ment, Little continues. “My grandmother – a bilateral am-

the first black physicians to own his own practice in Ypfor a time,” he explains. “I met all the people my grandfather interacted with and saw firsthand his deep com-

mitment to his patients – he would see people regardless of their ability to pay and delivered hundreds of children in town.”

PAGE 32

munity and strong supporters of the Civil Rights move-

putee with her own health challenges – gave back to the community through years of service as a middle school teacher and Girl Scout leader,” he recalls proudly.

“Witnessing their commitment to others helped me see what’s possible and how you can impact the world.”

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Milton wins the hurdles in the New England Track & Field Championship

Today, Little is making a mark on his own

community as a staff surgeon, assistant pro-

fessor, and Director of the Orthopaedic Trauma Fellowship at Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. And he credits his time at

Portsmouth Abbey for helping him to achieve his goals.

Strive for excellence Looking back, Little says his arrival at Portsmouth Abbey was somewhat fortuitous. He first learned of the School while an honors student at Walter Reed Middle School in

North Hollywood, CA. “Our assistant principal

reached out to a group of students he viewed as good candidates for East Coast boarding schools and arranged for me to talk to the

Abbey’s then Director of Admissions Mick Ferrucci,” Lit-

tle recalls. Ferrucci invited him to visit Rhode Island and

this day. Those folks helped me realize that there was a place for me at the Abbey.”

after two days on campus, Little’s decision was made.

Little quickly settled into life on campus, expanding his

spent time with Brandon Respress ’98 and Jason Mill-

Lagman ’99 and others who continue to be close friends.

“During my visit, I roomed with Konah Duche ’99 and

circle to include Cara Gontarz ’99, Noah Duffey ’99, Ron

er ’99 – all people of color and some of my best friends to

He discovered a wellspring of support from faculty and staff as well. Mathematics Department Head and Track

& Field Coach Daniel McDonough, now Portsmouth Abbey’s headmaster, quickly became a trusted friend and advisor and remains so

even now. “Mr. McDonough held me to task

to live up to expectations and strive for excellence in all that I do,” he observes.

A gifted athlete, Little quickly emerged as a standout in football and basketball. But, he

admits, his performance in track in his Fourth Form year was lackluster. “I viewed track as an ‘also participate’ and didn’t really apply

myself. Mr. McDonough pointed out that my

track experience didn’t reflect the possibility Ready for Prom, from left:, Jason Miller ’99, Konah Duche ’99, Brian Doyle ’00, Brandon Respress ’98 and Milton

that my other sports did,” Little ruefully admits.

The words resonated, and Little subsequently

WINTER Alumni BULLETIN 2021

PAGE 33

ALUMNUS PROFILE

emerged as MVP of the track team his Fifth and Sixth

Little concedes he had no idea what to expect when

multiple New England titles while at the Abbey and grad-

tist – but says he was pleasantly surprised. “The monks

Form years as well as captain in the Sixth Form. He won uated holding two school records. He went on to excel

on the Track & Field team at Stanford University, named Pacific-10 long jump champion in 2002 and served as captain his junior and senior years there; he also par-

ticipated in the U.S. Olympics Trials in the long jump in

2004. “Mr. McDonough reminded me of my capabilities,” he says simply.

he enrolled in a Catholic school – he was raised Bap-

were very receptive to our personal interpretations of

the Bible,” he recalls. “I felt like I was able to synthesize information and question ideas without being viewed

as wrong. And the monks’ dedication to us as students

was amazing. I received a solid education that allowed me to pursue my goals.”

Pursue your objectives Asked what advice he would give to Abbey students or alumni of color interested in pursuing a career in

medicine, Little pauses. “As with everything else in life,

it’s important to find mentors who have been where you

want to go, some who share your experiences and some who are different,” he says finally. “It’s also essential to have mentors who will be honest with you, like Mr. McDonough was with me.”

Little fondly recalls other Abbey faculty who played

“As a black professional, I’m held to a higher standard. If you make a mistake, people notice more. You have to be twice as good to be considered an equal.”

seminal roles in his personal growth as well. Basketball coach Peter Mack taught him how to listen and get his

point across. Dorm leader Fr. Edmund modeled strong

There are many things in life that are subjective and that

noweth offered a touchpoint and someone to emulate.

ularly if you are a person of color. “As a black profession-

my entire time at the Abbey – it was important to have a

people notice more. You have to be twice as good to be

my perspective,” he notes. For this and many other rea-

are objective things that no one can take away, such as

was a family atmosphere at the school,” he observes.

you earn and that you can point to when you encounter

leadership. And mathematics teacher Clarence Che-

can lead people to put you in a box, he continues, partic-

“Mr. Chenoweth was the only faculty member of color

al, I’m held to a higher standard. If you make a mistake,

teacher who looked like me and could see things from

considered an equal.” Nevertheless, Little notes, there

sons, Little is grateful for his years at the Abbey. “There

grades, diplomas, and board scores. “Those are things

“We were learning and growing up with our best friends,

subjective dismissals of your qualifications or worth.”

and all those things shape you as a person.”

When applying for college, despite his strong academic and athletic record, he was unsure that he would be ac-

Above, from left: Old friends Brandon Respress ’98, Milton, Dean of Students and mathematics teacher Clarence Chenoweth, Konah Duche ’99, Ronald Lagman ’99, and Cara Gontarz Hume ’99 gather for Konah’s wedding in Narragansett, RI.

PAGE 34

cepted at the more competitive institutions to which he

was applying. He considered refocusing his attention on smaller, less competitive schools. Instead, Little’s par-

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Milton with his wife, Erica, and their children Joi Elise, Miles and Langston.

ents took on a more

home and family situation

his college applica-

was admitted to the Abbey,

Little was accepted to

their perceptions of me,”

institutions as well as

dents were commonplace

direct role in guiding

as well as the reasons I

tion process and

based on how I looked or

numerous Ivy League

he explains. “These inci-

Stanford.

and students of color dis-

cussed them often with one

Such lessons in per-

another, but rarely brought

severance and belief

these incidents to the at-

in one’s self are ones

tention of the faculty. Peo-

that Little strives to

ple like to call the events

impart to his children:

microaggressions, but it

nine-year-old daugh-

was just unrecognized rac-

ter Joi Elise, eight-

ism by the perpetrators.”

year-old son Miles

and four-year-old son

In order to grow, the Abbey

to make life better for

incidents occur, provide a

he says. And part of

and work to make sure

Langston. “My goal is

must recognize that these

myself and my kids,”

forum to bring them to light, everyone feels included,

that process involves

confronting racism, which sadly remains a fact of life for

Little argues. “Everyone, not just people of color, must

in the fourth grade just as a well I remember a patient of

themselves and come up with a plan to counter rac-

and I speak to our children honestly about the world in

residents to tackle medical problems, so he knows the

Rice, Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, and George Floyd,

ated a plan, and committed to taking action, you learn

Black Americans. “I remember being called the ‘n’ word

truly listen and admit that a problem exists, then educate

mine doing it to me in September,” says Little, “so my wife

ism when they see it.” This is the way Little teaches his

which they live. We talk to them about immigration, Tamir

approach works. “When you’ve done your research, cre-

whose death sparked the recent protests. We explain

more than if you’re just handed a solution,” he insists.

why – even though it is unfair – they don’t have room to

make simple adolescent mistakes and why they must try

to be perfect even in the face of the most trying situations.

And we ensure they are clear when they must reach out to us for help.”

Looking towards the future, Little is hopeful the Abbey

will work more diligently to become an anti-racist institution and increase diversity in all sectors of the commu-

nity, from students and faculty to staff and, most importantly, the Board of Regents. “The Abbey has to make

Little says the Abbey has a role to play combating rac-

sure that it’s a place where everyone – people of color,

among both faculty and students at the Abbey has of-

and valued within the community, just as I was.”

ism and improving its own diversity. The lack of diversity

LGBTQ students, international students – feels welcome

ten had a negative impact on the experiences of some

students of color at the institution. “Early in my career at

– Lori Ferguson

the Abbey, students would make assumptions about my

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PAGE 35

Timothy McGuirk ’11 The Pursuit of a Meaningful Life For nearly 365 days a year from the summer of 2018 until March 2020 Timothy McGuirk ’11 would emerge from the subway in Manhattan, cross a 16-acre plaza, and arrive at a place dedicated to remembering: the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. As the communications manager for the museum, Tim threw his “sense of duty and responsibility” into telling and preserving the stories of the 2,983 people who perished in the attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993, helping to make it an important gathering place for families and visitors who wanted to reflect, mourn and gather strength.

Among his many duties, Tim worked closely with family members to “try to understand how they wanted the story of their loved one told.” He quickly learned that family members felt strongly about depicting how their loved one lived, rather than died – what made him or her such a special person. “That was really the core of my work – trying to answer questions, help media professionals get it right, tell

Tim speaks with visitors to the National September 11

it accurately, and do well by the victims and their families.

Memorial & Museum

You want them to feel proud; you want them to feel that their loved ones are truly never forgotten.”

Tim says it’s thanks to his experience at Portsmouth Abbey that he’s drawn to a life – and a career – of purpose and meaning, and it’s where he learned the sensitivity and grace that allowed him to navigate such delicate topics

communications for the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS). The city was familiar to him – he grew up in Brighton, graduated from Boston University in 2015 and worked as a communications associate at the

with families and visitors.

Archdiocese of Boston. His role also invoked the same

“I had four incredible years of learning, of being formed,

sustained him in his previous work.

ingrained sense of duty to serve the community, which

of thinking about the kind of person I wanted to become as an adult,” he says. “My time at the Abbey was nothing short of extraordinary, and for me, it just changed the course of my life. It made me think differently about the

“It’s important to me that I’m doing something really meaningful because that helps me to wake up every day,” Tim says. “I think about first responders, and I’m not one

world and understand how to become a force for good.”

of them. I’ve not taken a badge, I’ve not taken an oath,

After two years at the museum, he has recently moved

do anything I can to help them accomplish their work in

back to Boston to take a post as the deputy director of

the service of our Commonwealth.”

PAGE 36

but I will do anything to support those people, and I will

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

really made a difference,” he says. “I also really loved in subsequent visits the sense of joy that everyone brought every single day to what they were doing. Portsmouth Abbey felt really special.”

In St. Aelred’s House, Tim lived with other students from all over the world, which he considers one of his most transformative experiences. “It was extraordinary; living in a community with those guys meant the world to me.”

Coming from an all-boys’ middle school to a coeducational environment, he also felt enriched by the women with whom he shared the Abbey experience. “They challenged me to think differently,” he says.

Tim is adamant that he wouldn’t have been able to attend the Abbey were it not for financial aid, which is why he feels strongly about giving back to the School. “My perspective at the Abbey was shaped by the realization that ‘I’m here through the generosity of others,’” he says.

Academically, Tim admits the Abbey was challenging, but worth the effort, and the time he spent honing his public speaking skills – giving recitations in English classes and readings in Mass – has paid off in his career. “Professionally, public speaking is important for me, especially at those sensitive and pivotal moments, whether with the museum, or now in public safety,” he says. “No better place prepared me for that than the Abbey.”

There are two monks in particular who impacted Tim’s life Tim arrived at Portsmouth Abbey School in 2007, straight

at the Abbey and beyond. One was his advisor for four

out of St. Paul’s Choir School in Cambridge, Massachusetts,

years, Father Ambrose Wolverton. Tim was incredibly

a rigorous four-year environment for boys. Boarding school

touched by the small ways Father Ambrose showed that

was not a tradition in his family, and it was a financial

he cared about his advisees, including sending each of

reach, but Tim’s parents wanted all doors open to their

them postcards from his summer travels. “He played such

children.

a pivotal role in helping me to grow during my time at the

“They were so generous with their resources and their time to give my sister and me the best opportunities,” Tim reflects. The family attended Open House in the fall of 2006 and was impressed by the Abbey’s tight-knit community and the school’s Catholic identity. “The Catholic faith is something that’s very important to me and to my family, and having the presence of the monks on the campus

Abbey, and he modeled the kind of gentleness that I aspire to,” Tim reflects. “Father Ambrose taught me a lot about how to care for people, showing what Christ asks us to do, to love one another in that constant, gentle way. I came back to campus after I graduated and had several lunches with him, a couple of coffees. It was so meaningful, as a young man, no longer a student, to really connect with him as a friend.”

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PAGE 37

Mementos at the reflecting pool

According to Tim, the best day of

Another monk who had a profound influence on Tim is

the year – albeit the hardest – was

Dom Joseph Byron, who invited

the 9/11 anniversary when the

him to join the Order of Malta

names of the 2,983 victims were

youth pilgrimage to Lourdes.

read. The list includes the six victims

As

Portsmouth

from the attack on February 26,

Abbey alumni, Tim continues

1993, as well as those who were

to travel to Lourdes each

killed on September 11, 2001,

summer to serve pilgrims. This

at the Pentagon, in the field near

past summer would have been

Shanksville, PA, where Flight 93

Tim’s 13th pilgrimage had the

crashed after being hijacked, and

pandemic not interfered.

at the World Trade Center. “That

do

many

number really sticks with me,” Tim

Tim took the lessons and

attests. “It makes a big difference

wisdom he learned at the

for family members to know that

Abbey and poured them into his job at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

As communications manager, his job was focused on the mission of commemoration, and he helped journalists, filmmakers and visitors understand and integrate this sacred site thoughtfully in their work. He was often tasked with approving filmmakers’ requests for access to the

you are consciously remembering each individual life that was taken that day. There’s such power in reading a name.” Although the anniversary is a closed ceremony, Tim was on site to manage the press.

“Most people will never experience the privilege I had, being on the Plaza,” Tim explains.

museum, which includes 16 acres of open space – a rare

Tim also cherishes his memories of his quiet moments on

phenomenon in dense Manhattan.

the Plaza. “You feel personally challenged to think about

Tim and his teammates had to make daily judgment decisions, i.e., Does this script align with our core mission to remember and honor the victims? He was also present on site to monitor filming staff and ensure the museum was properly respected. A team player, Tim worked hard to improve internal communications among the staff and bridge the gap between teams. “My boss did a lot of

what you’re doing,” he says. “No one else is around.

You’re not talking with anybody about it, but you just have these moments where you stand back and you look at the pools, and it affects you. It’s possible to become numb, when you are working there every single day, but there are certain things that draw that emotion out of you, and it’s so rewarding when that happens.”

coaching for me on values,” he notes, “always aligning our

Once the pandemic hit, Tim’s life was turned upside down,

work to mission. That’s how the Memorial shaped me.”

and he was furloughed from the museum. Fortunately, he

One aspect of the job that Tim found fascinating was the frequent appearance of world leaders, specifically when heads of state gathered in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. One memorable visit was from

quickly found his current position with EOPSS in Boston.

The move back to Boston also allowed him to once again live in the same city with his fiancé, Grace, who is now his wife.

the king and queen of Belgium. “It was very regal,” says

Tim’s post as deputy director of communications at

Tim. “These are the last Catholic monarchs in the world,

EOPSS supports 14 government agencies whose missions

so as a Catholic, that was a very memorable thing.”

were shaped by the attacks of September 11. His work

PAGE 38

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

developing external communications has renewed his

In addition to a finely-honed sense of order, another

appreciation for safety professional’s commitment to

Benedictine principle that Tim has carried with him from

information sharing, counterterrorism, and day-to-day

the Abbey is the notion of hospitality. “One of the things

community engagement. When a journalist submits an

that my wife and I have talked a lot about is having a

inquiry, it is up to Tim and his team to be responsive and

home that is very open to people, where people are always

transparent about how the agencies fulfill their unique

welcome to come,” he says. “I truly learned it from the

mandates.

monks. The monks always threw great parties; they really

“My

work

requires

an

interesting

balance,”

he

encouraged us to be festive and to be joyful.”

says, “because we work for an elected governor,

Still in his twenties, Tim is staying open to what the future

but we advocate from an apolitical perspective. As

holds for him. His advice to fellow Ravens striving for focus

communicators, our goal is really to be as supportive as

during troubling times: “Work hard. Listen. I know the

we can for those entrusted with public safety.”

Rule of St. Benedict opens with that word. Really listen to

Tim and Grace, back in Boston

Newly married in the midst of the COVID-19 quarantine,

people. Listen to their perspectives and their experiences.

Tim is thankful for the emphasis on routine and order that

And, finally, be thankful. Gratitude just transforms your

was imbued in him while living on the Abbey campus. “For

life; I have experienced that. I think of my parents, for

the first time in my life, I had that 24/7 comprehensive sense

whom I am very thankful. I feel grateful for the teachers

of routine,” he says. “I think that’s a huge Benedictine ideal,

that I had. That gratitude is the only thing getting me

right? From the moment you wake up to the end your day,

through this, because this has been really hard.”

your day is planned as a student, for better or worse.”

WINTER Alumni BULLETIN 2021

– Kathy Heydt

PAGE 39

Haney Fellow Augusta Ambrose ’21 The Haney Fellowship was established in

I was eleven when I heard Mrs. Helen Sperling speak about

1998 by William “Bill” Haney III ’80, in hon-

her experiences as a Jewish survivor of a Polish ghetto, Aus-

or of his father, the late William Haney, Jr., who lived and worked at Portsmouth Abbey

chwitz, and a death march. I sat in a wooden pew and listened, horrified and inspired, as she urged us “to not be a bystander” to not let the evil which she saw happen in the world happen

School from 1968 to 1991 as a chemistry

again. Mrs. Sperling recently passed away, but, thankfully, her

teacher, houseparent and golf coach. This

stories will live on as people recorded her public talks. But so

creative and generous fund was established

many other men and women from that rapidly disappearing

to provide Fifth Form students with a unique educational experience during the summer before their Sixth-Form year.

generation that lived through the Third Reich still have stories to tell.

Alexander and Kathleen von Graevenitz are a couple in their eighties, and my family has known them for over forty years.

Students submit proposals that include a

Kathleen, born in 1933, is the child of German immigrants

statement of purpose, a description of the

who settled in the Midwest. Alexander, born in 1932, grew

program that the applicant wishes to pur-

up in Leipzig and then Bad Reichenhall, Germany. He immi-

sue, and a documented estimate of costs.

Students focus their plans on a course of study or travel/work experience that sig-

grated to the United States in his twenties, where he married Kathleen, had three children, and ran a lab at Yale University.

They now live in Zurich, where I visited them in the summer of 2019. During a dinner that summer he mentioned his

nificantly furthers an existing academic interest or allows for the pursuit of a specialized opportunity. Awarded on the basis of their submitted proposals and interviews in the winter of the students’ Fifth-Form year, the Haney Fellows are chosen by Bill Haney ’80 and his mother, Irene, herself a longtime Portsmouth houseparent and valued community member.

This year COVID-19 thwarted the plans of our Haney Scholars in different ways. Augusta Ambrose ’21 describes the objectives of her fellowship and how she adapted to the pandemic challenges.

Augusta on a visit with Kathleen von Graevenitz in Zurich, Switzerland in 2012

PAGE 40

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

childhood

in

pre-war,

After I received my Haney Fellowship I looked into travel

and then war-torn, Ger-

plans for a three-week trip to Zurich, Switzerland, to in-

many. I was intrigued,

terview the von Graevenitzes, and then to Bad Reichen-

obviously, because here

hall, Germany to visit Dr. von Graevenitz’s childhood

was a real live person

home. These travel plans, originally intended for August

who had lived the story

of 2020, have been delayed until the summer of 2021.

that filled history books.

The summer of 2020 was spent doing research and com-

What

Germany

piling questions to ask when I make it to Europe. I think

like for a young teen-

was

it’s incredibly important to ask these questions in person.

ager during and after the

These questions are hard to think about, hard to answer

war? How did growing

and, I imagine, probably invoke memories of a time that

up in Nazi Germany af-

was very hard to live through and to remember. I look for-

fect him in America and

ward to finding out what it was like for Dr. von Graevenitz

as a father and husband? What did his childhood and ear-

growing up at the same time as Helen Sperling, but as a

ly adolescence look like? How does he remember those

German Christian in Hitler’s Reich and what it was like

years? And how does he think about the questions that

for Mrs. von Graevenitz growing up at the same time, but

plague many German people today: How should we re-

as a German-American in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Until

member and atone for the sins of a past generation? How does Dr. von Graevenitz remember and think about that time, the first 13 years of his life, under Hitler’s rule?

Mrs. von Graevenitz grew up in America during WWII, the daughter of German immigrants. How did she view the war from America? What did her parents and their

“I am so grateful to the Haneys and to Portsmouth Abbey for granting me this opportunity to ask these questions respectfully and thoroughly.”

German community think about the events that dominated the world in the 1930s and 1940s? then, I am reading and consulting professors at Hamilton The nature of my interview questions, how sensitive and

College, while I prepare my questions. I am so grateful

personal they are, make them difficult to ask. That’s why

to the Haneys and to Portsmouth Abbey for granting me

I chose to apply for the Haney Fellowship with the inten-

this opportunity to ask these questions respectfully and

tion of conducting oral interviews with Dr. and Mrs. von

thoroughly. I hope that I can record these stories so as to

Graevenitz. I wanted the opportunity to ask my questions

better understand the past, for us and future generations.

and I wanted to ask those questions in a professional and

And I am grateful to that late hero, Mrs. Sperling, for in-

respectful way. I did not want to ask them as a curious

spiring me and countless others. May we all try “to not be

and naive teenager who would ask uninformed and un-

a bystander.”

researched questions. Rather, I wanted to approach this

-Augusta Ambrose ‘21

professionally and respectfully, I wanted to do extensive research on the world they grew up in, and I wanted to conduct the interviews in person.

WINTER Alumni BULLETIN 2021

PAGE 41

OFFICE OF DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNI AFFAIRS PORTSMOUTH ABBEY SCHOOL IS FORTUNATE to enjoy philanthropic support from a broad range of constituents who share the common interest of ensuring that the School can fulfill its mission of helping young men and women grow in knowledge and grace. This support can take many forms, but it usually falls into one of three categories: 1) the Annual Fund, which provides current use dollars to help fund the School’s operating budget, including importantly financial aid, 2) capital giving, which typically supports the construction or renovation of a building or the grounds, and 3) endowment giving, which through a current or planned gift, provides ongoing support of the School through the interest earned from a permanent fund. While all three are important,

the Annual Fund remains paramount. But many donors choose to make gifts over and above the Annual Fund to one of the other two categories. The newly created William A. Crimmins ‘48 Scholarship Fund for Arts, Athletics, and Civilization is one example of endowment giving.

Established in the fall of 2020, the William A. Crimmins ’48 Scholarship Fund honors William “Bill” Crimmins for his many contributions to Portsmouth throughout his long association with the School as a student, teacher, coach, parent, and benefactor. The scholarship reflects Bill’s unwavering commitment to the well-being and success of students, particularly those in financial need, and his support of the Monastery and School over the course of many years.

Created by former students and faculty colleagues in recognition of Bill’s exceptional and enduring contributions to Portsmouth, the fund will be used to provide tuition, room and board, and a clothing/travel allowance for candidates who demonstrate the well-rounded character of the student-athlete with the desire and capability to contribute in their own unique way to the Portsmouth Abbey School community. A small travel allowance would include costs for exposure to arts/civilization travel within the School curriculum that recipients of the scholarship might not otherwise be able to afford.

Should the fund reach the $1 million mark, the School will award a single scholarship to a recipient who will be known as the Crimmins Scholar. The Crimmins Scholar would be expected to complete a project centered on some aspect of arts or civilization during his or her Fifth or Sixth Form that would then be shared with alumni and the rest of the School community.

We thank Jamie MacGuire ’70 for capturing Bill’s story in the following article and hope you enjoy learning more about his fascinating life and unique connection to the School. If you wish to contribute to the William A. Crimmins ’48 Scholarship Fund, please contact the Office of Development & Alumni Affairs at alumni@portsmouthabbey.org or 401-643-1291.

Bill Crimmins, left, coaching the basketball team in 1968, including Tim Tully, Paul Ferrarone, Marvin George and Gill Kerr, all from the Class of 1971

PAGE 42

Matthew P. Walter Assistant Headmaster for Advancement

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

The William A. Crimmins ’48 Scholarship Fund: A Legacy

of Kindness and Compassion

By James P. MacGuire ’70 The establishment by alumni, former faculty and friends of the William A. Crimmins ’48 Scholarship Fund is a signal event in the School’s history, connecting a precious link to the School’s founder, the upcoming celebration of the School’s Centenary, and our second century. Bill Crimmins has a unique history of contributing to the well-being of Portsmouth Abbey School through his support of the monastery, school, individual students, and even fellow faculty members.

Younger members of the Portsmouth Abbey family might well ask: Who is Bill Crimmins and how did he come to Portsmouth Priory? The answer is as colorful as William A. Crimmins himself.

Some History Bill Crimmins is descended from the Duke of Bedford, father of both Queen Victoria and Bill’s grandfather Arthur. Arthur wed Lady Chance of Dublin whose marriage produced Bill’s mother, Ethel.”Ethel studied medicine at Oxford and married Thomas Crimmins, an American who graduated from Harvard, studied at Brasenose College, Oxford, then worked as the European rep for the First National Bank of Boston in London, Paris, Munich and Rome. Strong-minded and strongwilled, Ethel brought her husband back to their country seat, outside Cobh in County Cork where she enjoyed fox hunting.

“The local hunt often started there,” Bill said of his mother.

“She raised poodles, had twelve of them, and they were more welcome in the drawing room than I. I grew up in the kitch-

Bill, left, catches up with E. J. Dionne ’69 at reunion.

ens, with what my mother called the peasants, whom I loved.

There was a Nana who was too old to handle me, so they gave me to a sixteen-year-old maid, Kathleen.”

“My father drowned when I was almost three. He was sailing off Cobh and the boat turned over. A doctor friend of his was on shore and saw him and ran to start his motor launch.

My father clambered up the upside-down hull and gave the all clear sign. But the plugs in the 8-cylinder motor were all wet and had to be dried, so when the doctor looked up again my father had disappeared. He had suffered a heart attack and drowned.”

“At the age of four I was sent off to London with Kathleen to be deposited at a boarding school in St. John’s Wood. It was cold and the food was miserable, and Kathleen wouldn’t leave me.

She called the one number she had been given in case of an emergency. It was Sir Charles Bell, an eminent London doctor and my mother’s cousin. He heard Kathleen’s story and said, ‘You bring that boy to me at once.’

“Bell got me into a school for children with learning disorders.

Mine was a kind of aphasia that required me to concentrate before taking action on exactly what I was going to do. He took me out every Sunday and later arranged for me to go to real schools.”

Kathleen later came with the Crimmins to America, and Bill took care of her until the end of her life.

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The William A. Crimmins ’48 Scholarship Fund Coming to Portsmouth At the Yale Club of New York dinner celebrating the creation of the Dom Andrew Jenks Chair in Mathematics on St. Andrew’s Night in 2011, Bill was the last speaker. His remarks, which tell of his coming to Portsmouth, resulted in a standing ovation and more than a few tears. Here are his own words from that night: “I have been asked to tell a story about an encounter I had with Andrew as a child. Many stories have been told about him: the hamburgers or pancakes he kept in his habit pockets, his brilliance, his volatility, and above all his thoughtfulness. My story deals with his compassion. However, I should set the stage.”

“I spent my early childhood living in Cobh in southern Ireland.

The house the family lived in was built upon an old fort at the edge of the sea.”

“When I was about three and a half, I started exhibiting a slightly irregular pattern of walking, most likely brought on by a fall my mother had while pregnant and the touch of cerebral palsy this resulted in for me. Unable to bear the sight of my ungainly movement, she sent me away to school in England.”

“The trip entailed crossing the Irish Sea from Cork to Swansea, Wales, by overnight steamer, thence the train from Cardiff to London: a four-hour ride, where I was met from someone from the school at the station. I was escorted for the first two years, but at five I was deemed old enough to make this trip by myself.”

“So, I crossed the sea with a tag attached to my lapel, ‘Deliver to Charring Cross Station.’” Thus, sent like a package, I rode in the baggage car.

This turned out to be a rather happy place – things went on and off at stops, and the Welsh workers liked to sing and so did I.”

PAGE 44

“I made the trip back and forth for five years until the war broke out and my American grandfather, who had made his fortune in the wool trade in Fitchburg and then gone into banking, insisted the family come here to his summer place in Camden, Maine, to protect us from the troubles in Europe. His plan was thwarted, however, when my brother Hugh, at the age of nineteen, joined the Canadian Air Force, and my other brother Tom joined the ROTC program at Princeton to become a Marine. I was put in Fessenden School where I sorely missed my brothers as they had been my anchors to windward in the choppy waters of my maternal sea.”

“A year or so later my mother decided I should have a Catholic education and I came to Portsmouth to interview, where I first met Andrew, then a brother, and attended a Conventual Mass.

Andrew was charming, but I found the Mass rather dull. I was used to more lively hymns which we frequently rewrote: ‘Hark the herald angels sing, Mrs. Simpson’s pinched our King.’ So, in spite of his charm I wanted to stay at Fessenden.”

“Dear Mama persisted, and Father Gregory Borgstedt opened up a First Form for me and seven other boys. Despite the fact my mind was often with my brothers, I fell in love with Portsmouth. Several exceptional men made this possible: Andrew, Hilary, and, of course, Father Hugh, for whom I often served his private Mass.”

“I was there for about two-and-a-half years before my brother, Hugh, was shot down on D-Day, 1944…my father, and now my brother were both gone. Less than a year later, on a dark, blustery April evening, Father Bede informed me that my eldest brother had been killed on Okinawa.”

“Overwhelmed with rage, I asked permission to go out. Once beyond the confines of the building, I

Bill at Peter Raho ’70 and his wife, Liz’s, wedding in Greene, RI circa 1982.

Kneeling are Joe Raho ’72, Jamie MacGuire ’70, Byron Grant ’70 and John Melia ’70. Standing are Jay Hector ’74, Noel King ’72, Peter Tovar ’72, Peter Buckley ’72, Nicholas Raho, Bill, Liz, Pete, Fr. Peter and, and Denis Hector ’70.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Christopher Buckley ’70, Bill Crimmins ’48 and Jamie MacGuire ’70

ties that were de rigeur for other faculty and students), taught ancient history and coached the middler football team. Crimmins had a pair of navy-blue Camaros and enjoyed racing whichever of them he was piloting down the long School driveway a few minutes late to his history classes.

began shouting at the gods. I strode up the alley of huge elms then along the side of the Manor House driveway. My voice dissolved into the heavens, muffled by the roar of the wind in the branches above.”

“Gradually I became aware that someone had been walking with me. Andrew’s quiet presence and loving concern eventually calmed me down, and I returned to St. Benet’s and he to the Manor House – having never said a word, but then none was necessary. Thomas A. Kempis once said, ‘I would rather feel compassion than know its definition.’ Andrew was the epitome of compassion and certainly knew its definition.”

After Portsmouth, Bill matriculated at Notre Dame followed by additional research in history at Washington University in St. Louis, after which he drifted for some years. As Father Hilary once described it to me, “He was spending all his time in Maine and Palm Beach. Finally, I met him one night in New York and said, ‘You can’t go on like this. You’re wasting your life.’ And he said, ‘Why not? The one thing I really want to do I can’t.’

And I said, ‘What’s that?’

“He said, ‘Teach at the School.’

“So, I told him I’d see what I could do, and that’s how he came here. It was the best thing that ever happened to him and to us.”

Faculty Member and Friend In our day at Portsmouth, Crimmins was a stylish lay master in his late 30s, who wore a Pierre Cardin doublebreasted blazer over his turtleneck (eschewing the neck

Sports were primitive at the Priory in those days. We practiced football on a severely sloping sheep meadow and basketball in the ancient carriage house of the original estate. Lad, Father Hilary’s sheep dog, would occasionally run loose and come down to herd us up into a circle. At the end of an undistinguished season Crimmins threw a party for us at his spacious house on Indian Avenue overlooking the Sakonnet River in Middletown.

Students loved him for the generosity of his spirit and his slightly mad nature. In his living room hung a quotation from Love’s Labour’s Lost: There is a gift that I have, simple, simple; A foolish extravagant spirit full of forms, Figures, shares, objects, ideas, Apprehensions, motions, revolutions: These are begot in the ventricle of memory, And delivered upon the mellowing of occasion.

But the gift is good in those whom it is acute, And I am thankful for it.

But Crimmins was crazy like a fox, and often figured out what we were thinking before we had put it into words ourselves.

Bill Crimmins taught ancient history exuberantly and enjoyed elucidating the difference between the Spartan concept of “Severitas” (imposed from without) and the Athenian virtue of “Disciplina” (cultivated from within). His course in Medieval History was more highspirited, focusing on battles from Constantine’s victory at the Milvian Bridge in 312 through the Crusades to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Crimmins also covered the rise of the religious orders and the growth and schisms of the Medieval Church; but with his own in-

WINTER Alumni BULLETIN 2021

PAGE 45

The William A. Crimmins ’48 Scholarship Fund nate humanism he would point out that the Council of pre-game training meal that day. His assistant, Happy Trent (1570) had declared: “Whoever does what within Boniface, looked stunned and drawn. Unusually, Bill him lies, God will not deny the necessities of salvation.”

Crimmins was on hand as well, and after we had eaten His excitement with History’s sweep was infectious and he stood up to speak. along the way “Uncle Billy” gave bonus points for victo“Coach Coen was looking forward to this game, but ries in athletics, which in our first year was problematic, he can’t be here today.” Crimmins took a deep breath. since we had a defeated two-game season in football. In “Coach Coen’s daughter was killed in a car crash last the last game Coach Crimmins stood on the sideline night. He has requested that the game go forward, wants saying, “Just one victory will save the whole season.” you to know he will be thinking of you, and asks that As the long afternoon waned Crimmins shifted to, “Just you go out and play the best game you can. Let’s stand one score…” Finally, he pleaded, “Just one sustained and say a prayer for Karen and all the Coen family.” drive….” It was not to be, but he never gave up hope. Nor did We did go out, and with “Uncle It was Father Hilary who once he ever hesitate to interrupt a Billy” as our bulwark on the practice or lecture when he saw described Bill as “the most personally sideline, battled a much bigger a student daydreaming. “Macgenerous man I have ever known,” team to a standstill in the first Guire! Are we thinking about half. St. George’s scored the first but then, with Gallic exasperation, touchdown of the game after football? Or is it Alice again?”

We thought he had an uncanny could not resist adding, “But he’s got a long drive late in the third ability to read minds. quarter. Our break came when

this Irish sense of time, and life just doesn’t work that way.”

To help get through the endless winter term Bill started a Sunday afternoon film club in the old Science Lecture Hall, he encouraged us to canvass for Eugene McCarthy in the 1968 primary election, and to participate in community service programs in Newport. Along the way he performed countless acts of charity with effortless elan. (When, for example, Lawrence Doyle ’71 realized he had been found out impersonating a naval officer with a stolen ID at the package store in Portsmouth, he lit out across the muddy fields back to Cory’s Lane ahead of the police and called Bill from The New, saying he was sure Father Philip would find his muddy clothes and kick him out for having been AWOL. Bill immediately got into his car and came to campus to collect Larry’s bundle, and by room inspection the next morning the clothes were neatly laundered and ironed back in his room.)

After serving as our middler football coach Bill reveled in our progress in later years and played a critical role in our 1969 championship year and its upset victory over St. George’s late in the season. I knew something was wrong when Coach Coen did not appear for the

PAGE 46

Bryan McShane ’71 forced a St. George’s fumble and recovered it at midfield with two minutes left. Mike Mooney ’70 threw for two quick first downs, and then we ran twice unproductively up the middle.

On third down at the twenty Mooney faked into the line and rolled out right. He found his flanker streaking for the end zone and threw a perfect spiral that hung forever in the air. At the last instant Robbie Rudd ’71 split his double coverage and made a circus catch for the touchdown. On the extra point we faked the kick and Mooney rolled out right again. Rudd again found daylight, caught the ball and clutched it close. We were up 8-7, and fifty seconds later had hung on to win, our first victory over St. George’s in seventeen years.

After the game the St. George’s captain, Tom Campbell, came into our changing room, shook our hands and said, “We hated to lose, but after we heard the news, if it had to happen, we’re glad it was today.” After Campbell left, at Bill Crimmins’s suggestion, we knelt to pray again. The following Monday Father Damian and “Uncle Billy” drove us in the beat-up bus of that era, the “Red Baron,” to Karen Coen’s funeral.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Along with Father Andrew, Bill was especially close to Father Hilary Martin and during a free period could often be found conversing over coffee or, before lunch, even a sherry in Hilary’s art-appointed St. Bede’s rooms.

They shared a love for art, architecture, and European civilization, so much so that Bill sometimes accompanied Hilary and his graduating Sixth Form boys’ Arts & Civilization summer tours to the Continent.

It was Father Hilary who once described Bill as “the most personally generous man I have ever known,” but then, with Gallic exasperation, could not resist adding, “But he’s got this Irish sense of time, and life just doesn’t work that way.” And yet it worked that way for Bill, and those on whom he lavished his infinitely patient and generous attention.

In January of 1981 I attended Father Hilary’s funeral Mass with Bill in the Abbey church. At the consecration, incense surrounded the altar and spiraled upward in slow swirls into the spun-gold wire sculpture of The Trinity by Richard Lippold. Afterwards, in the monastic cemetery, black-cassocked and cowled monks chanted the last prayers over snow-covered ground. I was reminded by these two images of the verse we often sang at Sunday Mass: “Sprinkle me O Lord with hyssop, and I will be purified. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.” The reading which came into Bill Crimmins’s mind was far more apposite: “I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of Thy house, and the place wherein Thy glory dwelleth.”

As “Uncle Billy” enters his 92nd year, the William A. Crimmins ’48 Scholarship Fund in Arts, Athletics and Civilization will serve as the most fitting link imaginable between the founding and development of Portsmouth Priory, some of its most memorable monks, and the bright future of Portsmouth Abbey School, enabling worthy young men and women to gain a first class education, personified by a beloved schoolmaster, coach, and philanthropist of rare learning and infinite time, kindness, concern and, yes, compassion for others.

Bill Crimmins’s generosity has been legendary. Here are a few examples: v He gave the double-faced cross above the altar in the church in memory of his two brothers killed in WWII; v When the church organ broke, Bill paid for a new organ out of his own pocket; v When in the 1960s Father Hilary told then-Headmaster, Father Leo van Winkle, he had to cut the science building further and Leo told Bill he couldn’t make it any smaller, Bill said he would fund the stone walls, thus preserving the building size Fr. Leo needed; v Bill paid tuition for students in need.

Many students who were in academic or other trouble were also supported

by Bill with active intervention on their behalf to keep them in the school. v In addition to his work and philanthropy on behalf of the School, Bill has also been active and generous in Newport, co-founding the Newport Music Festival with Katherine Warren and Ann Kinsolving, sponsoring the groundbreaking Monumenta contemporary sculpture show, producing a movie shot on Aquidneck Island and shown at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as supporting myriad local institutions such as the Newport Art Museum and Redwood Library and Athenaeum.

PAGE 47

Abbot’s Reception 2020 The internet was ringing with Christmas cheer with over 170 friends and members of the Portsmouth Abbey community connecting on Zoom. The Abbot’s Reception, one of the School’s longest-standing traditions, made history in 2020 by celebrating this famed event virtually for the first (and hopefully last) time on Thursday, December 10.

A warm welcome and Fall Term update was given by Headmaster Dan McDonough and a Christmas Blessing by Prior Administrator The Very Reverend Fr. Michael Brunner, O.S.B. Fr. Michael was pleased to report the monks remain healthy and continue to pray for our community. Assistant Headmaster for Advancement Matt Walter served as emcee sharing three video presentations. The first performance featured Sixth Form musicians, Cassiel Chen ’21, Christine Dong ’21 and Lily Sones ’21. Under the guidance of Jeff Kerr our director of

Soprano Lily Sones ’21 provided the vocals for “Silent Night, Holy Night.”

PAGE 48

music, they performed “Silent Night, Holy Night.” It wouldn’t be an Abbot’s Reception without the inimitable J. Clifford Hobbins, who delighted our community by reciting an AbbeyInspired reading of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Our audience was invited to join a sing-a-long to Nat King Cole’s “Deck the Halls” while enjoying spectacular winter images of our campus by the bay. Before the evening concluded, guests viewed pictures from past Abbot’s Receptions while listening to “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

A very special thank you to our Director of Communications Kathy Heydt for her excellent video work. Mark your calendar for Thursday, December 2, 2021. We will see you in New York!

Cliff Hobbins recited an Abbey-Inspired version of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Save the Date The Abbot’s Reception 2021 Thursday, December 2, 2021 The New York Yacht Club

WINTER Alumni BULLETIN 2021

PAGE 49

parents’

pride

Alumni and their children reflect on their Abbey experience By the Offices of Admission & Parent Relations

Portsmouth Abbey is a place where generations of students have come together to share in the experience of not just going to high school, but growing up. The bonds and memories created on this beautiful campus last a lifetime. While we all get to reminisce with classmates, several children of alumni enroll at Portsmouth Abbey each year and share this experience with their parents. We asked three current students and their alumni parent to tell us a little about their experiences at Portsmouth Abbey – how it was and how it is.

When asked to share their fondest memories of Portsmouth Abbey, these alumni parents and current students all reflected that the community is one of the most important aspects of the School. Charlene Mulcahy McKeating ’93 shared stories with her daughter Marina ’23 about being one of the first twenty-one girls enrolled in the School. They both experienced life in St. Mary’s House as a student, and Charlene recalls, “the memory that stands out the most is the lasting friendships and relationships that formed from living in a

The Abbate family, from left, Michael ’23, Catherine, future raven Benedict, Chris ’88 and Eloise ’20

close-knit community.” Marina says that as she got older and began to experience the life of the School, these stories started to make more sense to her. One of Marina’s own favorite memories of her time here so far is from a Raven Cup event. Last year as a third former, she was part of the St. Mary’s team that won the broomball competition.

Marina says, “Everyone is rooting for each other, but the competition during the event brings the whole dorm together.” Chris Abbate ’88 shared similar stories with his children Eloise ’20 and Michael ’23. According to Michael, the story that stands out the most is the one of the infamous “teddy bear bandit.” To Chris, it was important for his kids to realize that while “Portsmouth seems like such a serious, buttoned-up place – the students always find a way to make it fun.” Mi-

Marina McKeating ’23, front right, with the girls of St. Marys’ House at their Third Form Orientation in 2019

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Three generations of the Howenstein family, from left, Bill ’52, Bo , now in the Class of 2024, and Bing ’87

chael decided to attend the Abbey because he wanted to spend his high school career learning and living with his friends. A memory that stands out to him from this year is being a member of the varsity football team. He says that despite the restrictions due to COVID protocols, being around a group of guys for a few hours each day at practice made everything else seem more normal. That sense of community is an important part of Michael’s experience, “the team wants to compete, but more importantly they want to be with each other and are there for one another.” Bo Howenstein ’24 and his father Bing ’87 share a similar appreciation for dorm life. According to Bo, the best part of this year so far is simply being with his friends in between classes, and especially on the weekends hanging out on the quad between St. Martin’s and St. Brigid’s – houses that did not exist when Bing attended.

Our alumni parents reflected on traditions or aspects of Portsmouth Abbey that remain in place today for their children to experience. All commented on the vibrant love of learning that continues here on campus. The academic rigor, appreciation for literature & history, and the balance between all facets of life are an important part of this experience. The monastery is still a part of the Abbey experience – as the monks continue to live and teach at the school. Students see how they have given their lives to something greater than themselves, which inspires our students to treat each other with respect. Likewise, the attention to character development is still an important facet of a Portsmouth Abbey education. Charlene remarked that this experience “allowed me to grow as an individual and have some independence, while still being held accountable.”

As Bing noted, “I can plainly see that on Bo’s return home for Thanksgiving, he is developing into a formidable young man – much more mature than when he left. That says quite a lot to me; that the spirit and culture of the school that I remember is still very much alive and healthy.” All of this remains an important part of the shared experience between one generation

and the next – coupled with the Holy Lawn and morning lunch!

Of course, much has changed on Cory’s Lane over the past 30 years. Academically, our Humanities program is now the cornerstone to a student’s Fourth Form year and the addition of the science center added a facility and technology to the campus that rivals any in New England. Numerous upgrades to art and athletic facilities and two new dorms on campus have, according to Charlene “made what I thought was an already beautiful campus absolutely stunning.” To our current students, where they live and learn is important but being able to share this formative experience that their mother or father had years before means even more to them. As Michael mentioned, this “makes both of them (his father and sister) happy that he can share the same experience.” Marina continues that since “we both have this aspect of life we can relate to, it makes me feel closer to my mom.” It may be a bit counterintuitive that boarding school brings families closer together, but the sense of pride parents feel when their son or daughter chooses to follow in their footsteps is real. This sense of pride is not reserved only for parents. As Bo put it, when he walks around campus “I envision my father and grandfather walking down the same paths years ago, and it’s so cool to think about how my dad experienced similar things.”

Many aspects of high school life have changed considerably over the years, and the opportunities we provide our students continue to improve. Portsmouth Abbey is steadfast in our commitment to helping young men and women grow in knowledge and grace. This growth is not solely based on individual accomplishments. As a community, we feel a strong sense of belonging that enables us to learn, solve problems, be self-confident, and feel empowered by being a part of something greater. Many generations of Ravens have contributed to and shared in our special community, all while carefully walking around the Holy Lawn.

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Announcing the 2020-2021 Science and Spirituality Lecture Series on Creation and Contemplation We all know the argument: science and the spiritual life are at odds. Not only that, but in fact the former disproves the latter. In the world of science, spirituality has no place.

So the story goes.

Thanks to an anonymous grant facilitated by John Fortsmann ‘60, the Portsmouth Institute’s 2020-2021 Science and Spirituality Lecture Series on Creation and Contemplation is flipping the script. Rather than seeing science – the observation and analysis of the created order – as an obstacle to faith, we view it as an entrance point to the contemplation of God. The lecture series is an initiative of the Portsmouth Institute’s Center for Science and the Liberal Arts, whose mission is to inspire the knowledge of and a sense of wonder towards God and the created order. The Center is co-sponsored by the Department of Science at Portsmouth Abbey School.

To kick off the lecture series, we were proud to partner with the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame in offering encounters

with science and spirituality to students, faculty, alumni, and parents.

Noted author and professor of biology Daniel Kubler, Ph.D. presented on “Creation & Evolution, Chance & Purpose: A Catholic Perspective” to Portsmouth Abbey students. The program represents the aspiration of the Abbey to offer our students a chance to Chris Baglow, Ph.D. conduct research and investigation in the intersection between science and the liberal arts.

One student commented that “Before this lecture, I did not know anything about the church’s stance on evolution. I was surprised that the church was actually open to the exploration of the idea.” Another student shared that “I always enjoy hearing about the connections between what I learn in my science classes and my faith, and this lecture was really insightful.” It is opportunities like these which open students to the full breadth of the Catholic intellectual tradition and our commitment to truth, beauty and goodness.

Daniel Kubler, Ph.D.

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In addition to a student seminar, the Center hosted a seminar for Abbey faculty with University of Notre Dame professor Chris Baglow, Ph.D. on “The Pope and The Question: Divine Creation and The Problem of Evil.” An interdisciplinary cohort of faculty took part in the webinar as Dr. Baglow examined how to reconcile the classic problem of evil with an omnibenevolent God, and what that means for our study of God and creation.

Finally, Stephen Barr, Ph.D., a noted physicist, professor emeritus of the University of Delaware, founder of the Society of Catholic Scientists, and current fellow of the McGrath Institute, hosted a webinar for parents and alumni on “Science and Religion: The Myth of Conflict.” By incorporating science, philosophy, history and theology, Dr. Barr argues for a worldview that eschews “scientific materialism” for a richer and deeper understanding of the world within the Judeo-Christian framework understanding of the cosmos. In addition to many honors, in 2007 Barr was awarded the Benemerenti Medal by Pope Benedict XVI. Barr’s lecture did not disappoint. One parent in attendance shared her response: “In the recent Portsmouth Institute presentation on Science and Religion, Professor Stephen Barr of Notre Dame interestingly debunked the prevalent view that science and religion are in conflict in relation to creation and the universe. I learned that from early Christianity and throughout modern history, prominent scientists were not atheists or agnostic but shared a devout belief in God and Christianity. Their discoveries were rooted in an understanding of a Divinely created order…. Our Church has a glorious history of scientific discovery!”

The winter and spring terms will include additional opportunities for the Abbey community, including webinars with Br. Guy J. Consolmagno, SJ (Director, Vatican Observatory), Sr. Ilia Delio (Villanova University), and Fr. Robert Spitzer (Magis Center).

Through encounters with God and His creation, the 20202021 Science and Spirituality Lecture Series on Creation and Contemplation will be essential in enlivening the spiritual life of our community.

– Executive Director Christopher Fisher

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FALL 2020 ATHLETICS As the start of the school year approached, there was uncertainty about how the fall season would unfold. All aspects of life at Portsmouth Abbey had to be reimagined and revamped to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines.

Athletics, which plays such an integral part of the students’ experience at the Abbey, was no exception. Over the summer, when it became apparent that no league games would be played, Athletic Director Al Brown and Assistant Athletic Director Whitney Jones began the task of adjusting the format and schedule of the athletics program. In September 125 students arrived for preseason, eager to take part in the revamped fall program.

Once the season began student-athletes were offered a robust weekly schedule that included interscholastic practice days along with scrimmages and strength training. Every sport differed in its approach; golf, for example, was much easier to play while social distancing, whereas the football team had to get very creative in their practices. No matter the sport, coaches saw their players improve and build strength throughout the season within a well-planned structure and an added recreational aspect.

Coach Jones commented, “The students were really able to embrace the modifications that were made to their

Mary Adams ‘24 Lucia McLaughlin ‘21 and Kaely McCarthy ‘21 run Cross Country

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sports. They were grateful to be out in the field with their coaches, teammates, they were just glad to be playing the sport they love.”

Fall athletics culminated with a Raven vs. Raven Day where Abbey teams competed to close out the season.

“One of the best memories this year was the Raven vs.

Raven Day because it was a day filled with competition,” said Julia Sisk ‘21. “The volleyball team split into two teams and we played a full-on ‘five-setter’ with our head coach as the referee. Also, my team put together a senior day ceremony for me and the three other seniors on the team, so it was a great way to end the season!”

Throughout the term, there were also optional weekend clinics for spring and winter sports, providing students the opportunity to practice the sports they may have missed last spring during distance learning.

Lulu LePage, a Sixth-Form student-athlete said, “It was a great opportunity that we were able to mix up our sports. It definitely was something I looked forward to each week. It allowed for a change of pace and the ability to be around different groups of people depending on your sports. Personally, starting early allowed for the

Sean O’Hara ’21 on Boys’ Varsity Soccer

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teams I was on to get very close and the chemistry to form early. Getting on the ice early has definitely been a highlight of this year for me!”

Julia Sisk’21, Leah Eid ’21, and Tibiwa Zabasajja’21 on Volleyball Senior Day

Charlie Baughan ‘22 agreed, “Being able to mix things up on the weekends was great, and I thought it gave a nice break to a season that felt long due to no games/ matches. The change of scenery and tempo, along with people you are competing and playing with really helped.”

Coach Brown noted that one of the upsides of this challenge was that it afforded the opportunity to look at new approaches and creative ways to facilitate sports. “It wasn’t a loss of a season like back in the spring. Kids got better, but also the opportunity to be able to be outside, active, and practicing sportsmanship and being good teammates – all of the things we sometimes take for granted – happened. It was similar to what we usually do even without our typical schedule,” he concluded.

Ben Kendall ’21 goes for the ball in varsity football practice

Lulu LePage ’21 on Varsity Field Hockey

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LOUIS WALKER III www.louiswalkerphotography.com/Sports)

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Kylie Almeida ‘21

athletics awards The Portsmouth Abbey Raven Award is given to a member of each varsity and JV team who best demonstrates the spirit of Abbey Athletics. The award recipient demonstrates a positive attitude, leadership, respect, commitment, and makes the experience of their teammates a positive one.

Boys’ Varsity Cross-Country Raven Award: Payton Foley ‘22 Captains Elect: Payton Foley ‘22, Davis Lee ‘22 Boys JV Cross Country Raven Award: Ed Manning ‘24 Girls Varsity Cross Country Raven Award: Lucia McLaughlin ‘21 Captain Elect: Marron Gibbons ‘22

Boys JV Soccer Raven Award: Will Hurlbut ‘23 Girls Varsity Soccer Raven Award: Kylie Almeida ‘21 Captains Elect: Hannah Best ‘22, Lisie O’Hara ‘22, Martha Wilson ‘22

Girls JV Cross Country Raven Award: Marron Gibbons ‘22 Varsity Field Hockey Raven Award: Lulu LePage ‘21 Captains Elect: Brynna Courneen ‘22, Lillee Dougherty ‘22, Jacque Martin ‘22 JV Field Hockey Raven Award: Charlotte Capone ‘24 Varsity Football Raven Award: Diego Sanabria ‘21 Captains Elect: Jermaine Anson ‘22, Toby Oliveira ‘22, Parker Polgar ‘22, Frankie Sanchez ‘22 JV Football Raven Award: Harry Lunden ‘23 Boys Varsity Soccer Raven Award: Sean O’Hara ‘21 Captain Elect: Mason Holling ‘22

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Girls JV Soccer Raven Award: Mya Magriby ‘22 Boys Golf Raven Award: Joey Parella ‘21 Captain Elect: Charlie Baughan ‘22 Boys JV Golf Raven Award: Zachary Nyairo ‘23 Girls Varsity Volleyball Raven Award: Julia Sisk ‘21 Captains Elect: Gwen Bragan ‘22, Marissa Scartozzi ‘22 Girls JV Volleyball Raven Award: Merritt Coward ‘23

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Announcing Portsmouth Abbey School’s 20th Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament

SAVE THE DATE! Friday, June 4, 2021 The Aquidneck Club (formerly Carnegie Abbey Club)~ Portsmouth, Rhode Island 10:00 a.m. ~ Registration, Brunch and Practice Noon ~ Shotgun Start Cocktail Hour, Dinner Reception, Silent Auction and Awards Ceremony at Tournament Finish Please contact Director of Special Events Carla Kenahan to discuss sponsorship and auction donation opportunities at ckenahan@portsmouthabbey.org or 401.643.1186.

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MILESTONES

BIRTHS 2002 A boy, Caleb Knox, to Mike and Katherine “Kiki” (Glover) Knickerbocker July 3, 2020 A girl, Oona, to David Hoffman and Alexandra Macdonald July 15, 2020 2004/2005 A boy, Amos, to Nicholas Micheletti ’04 and Alassandra (DeSisto) Micheletti ’05 January 2, 2021 2004/2006 A girl, Callie Weaver, to Michael Weaver ’04 and Courtney Doran ’06 September 11, 2020 Newborn son, Caleb Knox, joins Mike and “Kiki” Glover Knickerbocker ’02’s family

2006 A boy, Theodore William, to Liam and Kate (Atkinson) Laird November 23, 2020 2007 A girl, Adele Kathleen, to Alex and Laura (Rich) Lavoie October 22, 2020 A boy, Sebastian Raul, to Hernan and Catherine (Lessard) Torres August 6, 2020 2010 A boy, Walker Anthony, to Alex and Pierce MacGuire August 11, 2020 Faculty/Staff A boy, Owen Charles, to Elizabeth and Elliott Moffie (math teacher) September 6, 2020 A girl, Jane Henrietta, to Blair and Jordan Saiz (Portsmouth Institute) September 21, 2020

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Pierce MacGuire ’10 (center) welcomed son, Walker Anthony, into the family along with his brother Patterson, proud grandfather Jamie ’70, and uncle Rhoads ’13.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

MILESTONES

Theodore William, son of Liam and Kate Atkinson Laird ’06

Math teacher Elliott Moffie with Elizabeth and Owen Charles

Amos Micheletti, son of Nick ’04 and Allie ’05, is welcomed by his three sisters.

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MILESTONES

WEDDINGS Christian Baird ’95 and Camilla Currin were married in May of 2020

1995 Christian Baird to Camilla Currin May 28, 2020 2005 Amanda McDonnell to Kyle Pratt October 18, 2020 2007 Matthew Kennedy to Erin O’Callaghan June 20, 2020 Alex Reinman to Zoe Wilson October 3, 2020 2010 John LeComte to Caitlyn Hope October 10, 2020 2011 Timothy McGuirk to Grace O’Donovan October 24, 2020.

2012 Britt Conklin to Chandler Thomason November 14, 2020 Jeffrey Heath, Jr. to Sara Beekman November 14, 2020

Matt Kennedy ’07 and Erin O’Callaghan were married in June of 2020

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MILESTONES NECROLOGY Alexander Altschuller Father of Nicholas G. Altschuller ’98 September 20, 2020

George Hogan Former Portsmouth Abbey School chef September 13, 2020

O. Joseph Bizzozero, Jr. ’52 Father of Gregory R. Bizzozero ’82 and brother of the late Robert C. Bizzozero ’55 November 30, 2020

Robert Holden Brother-in-law of John C. Power ’80 and uncle of Paulina Power ’16 February 2020

Robert L. Buckley Father of Kathleen M. Buckley ’11 November 29, 2020

R. Deering Howe ’62 December 2, 2020

Philip E. Coen Former Portsmouth Abbey football coach August 22, 2020

John G. Kavanagh ’56 August 28, 2020

James E. Connors II ’62 June 1, 2020 The Reverend Senter C. Crook II Mother of B. Cameron Taylor ’89 and sister of Dr. Jere L. Crook II (former faculty) October 12, 2020 Lisa A. Dugal Mother of Matthew R. Dugal ’15 and Sarah E. Dugal ’21 August 11, 2020 Edna S. English Mother of Edward C. English ’85 and Clayton F. English II ’89 and aunt of Robert F. Poirier, Jr. ’90 October 2, 2020 Aaron W. Godfrey Father of Aaron W. Godfrey ’78 April 7, 2020 Anne M. Griffith Mother of Stephen M. Griffith ’71, Joseph B. Griffith ’73, and John B. Griffith ’75 September 27, 2020 Barbara J. Hawes Mother of Heather S. Dwyer ’96 and Jillian C. Hawes ’99 August 11, 2020

Joseph Ierfino Grandfather of Jacob Ierfino ’22 November 26, 2020

Daniel T. “Bud” Kelly ’39 August 18, 2020 Joseph C. Kriner, Jr Brother of Portsmouth Abbey staff member Mitchell Kriner and uncle of Bryan Kriner ‘07 December 31, 2000 Brooks B. La Grua ‘57 November 10, 2020 Robert C. McKeating Father-in-law of Charlene M. McKeating ’93 and grandfather of Marina C. McKeating ’23 September 16, 2020

George A. Pendergast ’62 August 1, 2020 Mark L. Power ’55 August 23, 2020 Prudence S. Regan Mother of John M. Regan III ’68, Peter M. Regan ’71, R. Christopher Regan ’73, and grandmother of Caroline Regan Hessberg ’07 September 11, 2020 Diane Higginbotham Schroer Grandmother of Mary Madeline W. Kelly ’15 and William A. Kelly, Jr. ’24 November 30, 2020 Jane Theresa Sexton Mother of Durr H. Sexton ’76, Daniel W. Sexton ’80 and Thomas J. Sexton ’84 November 26, 2020 Thomas F. Shevlin ’64 Former member of Board of Consultants and Board of Regents Brother-in-law of the late Nino D. Scotti ’60, Ciro M. Scotti ’64, Francesco M. Scotti ’66, and Joseph H. Scotti ’72 August 13, 2020 Edward A. Skae ’64 Brother of John D. Skae ’70 December 24, 2020 Reverend Dom Julian Stead, O.S.B. ’43

Michael F. McLaughlin, Jr. ’11 Cousin of Lucia H. McLaughlin ’21 and Caroline R. McLaughlin ’23 October 25, 2020

Monk of Portsmouth Abbey

Robert W. Murphy Brother of Charles F. Murphy III ’85 September 24, 2020

Frederick M. Switzer III ’52 October 27, 2020

Jean A. O’Neill Grandmother of Ethan S. O’Neill ’16, Callan E. O’Neill ’17, and Rory G. O’Neill ‘19 December 28, 2020

December 23, 2020 William P. Sullivan ’73 September 10, 2020

Agnes P. Walsh Mother of J. Timothy Walsh ’79 and Kerry F. Walsh ’80 November 19, 2020

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IN MEMORIAM

REVEREND DOM JULIAN STEAD ’43

1918 to become an ordained priest in the Church of England, serving as an assistant chaplain in Florence, Italy, before returning to chaplaincy work in Oxford. He earned his Master of Arts in Theology at Queen’s College in 1925 and inhabited a heady intellectual world, notably receiving T.S. Eliot into the Anglican communion and baptizing him in 1927. Eliot later included two of the elder Stead’s poems in the 1936 edition he edited of The Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892-1935.

In addition to T.S. Eliot, Stead counted among his associates W.B. Yeats, C.S. Lewis, and later W.H. Auden, Tennessee Williams, and many others. His vocation, however, took a definitive turn in 1933, when he converted to Catholicism, following his wife, Anne Frances Goldsborough Stead, who had become a Catholic in 1929. William soon found himself alienated from Anglican society and resigned his position at Worcester College. This rich and, one might say, tumultuous intellectual and spiritual heritage no doubt impacted the young Peter Stead profoundly. In There Shines Forth Christ, he recollects, “My early childhood was spent around Worcester College, where my father was a fellow; but at Blackfriars on St. Giles, in August of 1933, he and I were received into the Roman Catholic Church by the Dominican Father Bede Jarrett.”

Reverend Dom Julian Stead O.S.B.’43, monk and priest of Portsmouth Abbey and alumnus of Portsmouth Priory School, died early on the morning of Dec 23, 2020 at St. Clare-Newport where he had been in residence for the past several years.

“Father Julian knew for weeks that this day was approaching,” said Prior Michael Brunner at Father Julian’s funeral Mass on December 30, 2020. “He deeply felt the call to move on. He really wanted to return to England and to be at Downside, but God was calling him to his true home. Jesus has finally extended this invitation to an exemplary monk, priest and teacher: ‘Come, you blessed by My Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’.”

Father Julian was born Peter Force Stead on 20 November 1926 in Oxford, England, of American parents who made their home in Oxford. His father, William Force Stead, had graduated from the University of Virginia in 1908, working for the United States State Department in Washington, D.C. He would serve as Vice Consul at the U.S. Consulates in Nottingham and later in Liverpool, England. William Stead left this career in

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Peter Stead attended Worth, the preparatory school for Downside Abbey, beginning in the summer term of 1935. He remembered his years at Worth as his happiest, writing in an autobiographical note to his poetry collection, “It was an earthly paradise, for me.” He formed a profound friendship with Dom Julian Stonor, the monk and mystic who was on the faculty there and later served heroically in World War II as chaplain to the Irish Guards, and from whom he would take his name in religion. In an interview with Miriam Matheson Desrosiers, Father Julian speaks of his father’s reaction to an initial encounter with Father Stonor: “He was proof of the existence of God himself.” Father Julian Stonor became the monastic namesake of Peter Stead, who never ceased to speak fondly, reverently, of the man as a saint. His schooling at Worth had been shaped by their encounter: “This young teacher, Julian Stonor, was most impressive. I had him as a teacher of French; we read great stories about adventure in glider planes and a great deal of poetry.

He took us out for long walks and tree climbing. We called him Brother Julian and we called ourselves ‘Julian’s Gang.’” Fr. Stonor remained in touch with Father Julian, who spoke often of his sanctity. The authenticity and vitality of his faith left its imprint on the young Peter Stead, who continued to seek out such qualities in Christian community life. This may be seen in Father Julian’s involvement in the Focolare movement, whose

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

Father Julian on the day of his ordination

name means “hearth” and whose faith life promotes a genuine and warm hospitality. His ongoing relationship with Focolare was sustaining for him, and he would often speak highly of this Apostolic group.

For the summer holidays of 1939, Peter’s father took him to visit his grandfather and other relatives in America, sailing from Liverpool on 12 August, to return to Worth for the Michaelmas Term in September.

However, Germany invaded Poland a week before they were to return, and citizens carrying an American passport were prohibited from travelling to the theatre of war thereby preventing the Steads’ return home. An Oxford friend recommended Portsmouth Priory School, where young Peter was admitted in January 1940; he entered the monastery later in September 1943. Fr. Julian reflected on his arrival at Portsmouth in the School’s 2019 Winter Bulletin: “When I came here as a student in January 1940, there was a war on. Only ninety boys were enrolled in the school, with sixteen of us displaced from English schools. In those days, students were being prepared primarily not for college but for death.”

Upon his Portsmouth Priory graduation Peter expressed an interest in joining the monastery, and was told to get a job for a year. After working on a farm in Maryland he entered the monastic community in September of 1943. He then studied at St. Anselmo in Rome and received his S.T.L. there. He also studied at Blackfriars in Oxford where he was ordained a priest. Fr. Julian recounts those years in his book of poetry, “In April 1952 I was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in the same Dominican church while studying theology at Blackfriars as a member of St. Benet’s Hall. In between St. Giles and Wal-

ton Street is ‘The Studio,’ a mews flat on Pusey Lane, where Jean and Sheldon Vanauken lived that year. I was studying at Blackfriars, and my friendship with them and the circle of Christians who used to meet in “The Studio’ made a mark on my subsequent life.’”

In the monastery Father Julian held a multitude of jobs. He taught philosophy and patristics to the young monks. He frequently served as guest master; he was novice master from 1973 to 1983 and again from 1993 to 1995.

In the School Fr. Julian taught Christian Doctrine and Latin.

He served as mentor to the Photography and Riflery Clubs and, for a time, worked in the Office of Admission. Teaching in the school was difficult for him, and he once remarked, “The only thing more boring than taking Latin I is teaching Latin I.” He loved the Fathers of the Church and taught a course in that subject at some point to some interested students. He also taught a course in patristics at Providence College from 1974 to 1976.

John Belt ’57 recollects, “Dom Julian and a few students started the Portsmouth Rifle Team in 1956. I was the captain in my Fifth and Sixth Form years (‘56 & ‘57). The range was in the basement of the gymnasium. The space for the range was an area excavated by students on detention. It took about three years to dig out a suitable area. The experience on the Portsmouth team allowed me to compete on the collegiate level at John’s Hopkins University’s ROTC Team. He was a great instructor and truly a credit to the Benedictine Order. Great memories and a wonderful man with a huge sense of humor.”

Dom Julian as a novice

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IN MEMORIAM Father Julian served as director of admission for a time.

the greatest Irish and English poets including T.S. Eliot, John Keats, and Percy Bysshe Shelley, now housed and available for study at the Beinecke Rare Book Library at Yale University.

Of Father Julian’s many friends, a good number of them looked to him for help and encouragement in leading the Christian life. He gave what he could simply and generously. Included in his life-long friendships were Tom Howard, Peter Kreeft, Tracy Kidder, Benedict Fitzgerald and a prodigious list of Catholic intellectuals and artists with whom he corresponded throughout his life.

Fr. Julian did possess a good sense of humor, and his jokes and humorous comments were memorable. When Jamie MacGuire ’70 entered the School in September of 1966, he was assigned to Father Julian’s section of Latin A. “I rather doubt I increased his pleasure in teaching by jumping out a classroom window in the old Barn with my friend Michael Gay while Julian was facing the blackboard one especially hot and airless September morning,” he recollects. “Father Julian’s comment on my report card at the end of that term was (truly, alas), ‘Only the occasional yawn would reassure me he had not fallen asleep altogether.’”

Phil English ’74 recalls those days as well, “I always relied on him as a witness. I knew if anyone ever accused me of Latin, DJ could cheerfully testify in any court to my innocence.”

Author Rosaria Munda ’10 was one of those alumni who was profoundly impacted by Father Julian and maintained a friendship beyond the Abbey. “I was fourteen when I first met Fr. Julian, a titanic figure with a soft British accent whom I’d press for stories after House Mass about his childhood, having tea with C.S. Lewis and T.S. Eliot,” she recalls.

“Fr. Julian was a kind man, a poet, an artist. He was a link to the gilded past of the Inklings and Oxford Catholicism, to the elusive idea of a faith that merged with poetry and found God in beauty. He didn’t just remember that world; he believed in it and had a gift for bringing it to life for others (or for me, at least). He told me once that he read the Narnia books meditatively, to pray by; sent me typed letters explaining intricate bits of theology woven in with anecdotes about Lewis; and

Another example of Fr. Julian’s drollery, Jamie MacGuire remembers, was when he was first given a tour of the old Farm after it had been leased by Peter de Savary and transformed into a high-priced, destination golf club. “Where do we go to take our vow of affluence?” Julian asked.

Father Julian produced several books: the translation of The Mystagogia of St. Maximus the Confessor; his book of poems, There Shines Forth Christ; and his book on the Benedictine Rule, St. Benedict, A Rule for Beginners. In addition, he co-wrote a selfhelp book called Love-Ability, with Madeline Pecora Nugent.

Father Julian also played a key role in making sure the literary papers and other ephemera of William Force Stead were properly collected and preserved. These include W.F. Stead’s own poetry as well as an important treasure trove of secondary material on the lives, art, and private doings of some of

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Father Julian’s watercolor of the Abbey church and fields

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IN MEMORIAM

we kept up correspondence as I studied at Worcester College, Oxford, where his father had chaplained. He sent me a painting of the bridge of Clifton Hampden, his childhood village, and I visited it. It was one of the most beautiful places I saw in England – flooded and at dusk.

“In our last conversation, when he no longer remembered me, Fr. Julian expressed frustration that he was in a nursing home rather than at his Abbey – where he had studied, and then lived as a monk, since he was fourteen. I hope he came to be at peace with his final home in late life, and that he died peacefully, happily, and glad to go with God. I am grateful for the years his life graced mine.”

Father Julian once told Jamie MacGuire ’70, “I was sent to boarding school at two-and-a-half years old. When I was 10, there was a monk at Worth named Father Nicholaus, whom we called “Nicko” behind his back. One day he said, “The Christian life is hard, I know, and if I could help just one of you to try to live a Christian life, then I would feel I had succeeded.

My spontaneous response was, ‘I want to be that one.’ And I have thought of that moment every day of my life since, and it I has sustained me, strange though it may seem. So you just never know.”

Adam Carter ’83, upon hearing of Father Julian’s passing, shared that Father Julian was one of the last surviving grandchildren of a Washington, D.C. architect named William Stead who left a bequest to the District that a playground for the children of D.C. be founded and named in honor of his late first wife, Mary Force Stead. Father Julian called Adam’s dad for help in untangling the City’s poor handling of the money and the bequest. With many years of work and perseverance and great help from alumni Outerbridge Horsey ’71 and Chris

Dorment ’63 and many others, the Friends of Stead Park was founded. Property that was being held in trust in a previously unheralded part of town was located. When sold, it turned out to be near the new Nationals Stadium, thus worth a lot more than it had been before baseball announced its return to D.C. The Stead Trust was suddenly imbued with substantial resources. The park located at P Street NW between 16th and 17th Streets, NW is now known as Stead Park and is due to have a $15 million upgrade over the next two years or so.

“This is a really great example of a public-private partnership and a net-zero indoor-outdoor space – for the benefit of the Children of the District of Columbia,” says Adam. The Stead name will live on in this most excellent way.”

Father Julian lived the final years of his life away from his monastery, in nursing homes in East Greenwich and Newport, Rhode Island. While he struggled with this separation from the Abbey, he nevertheless made himself fully available to these his penultimate communities. Tony Caputi ’74 would visit him there often, recently recalling: “He held court like he was the mayor and naturally settled into the role of cheering people up. He continued his passion for watercolors and had access to TV. Mostly EWTN, not Kardashians. And, of course, he could watch his beloved Baltimore Orioles instead of listening to a scratchy AM radio, while wearing his prized team jersey.” Dr. Blake Billings ’77 notes, “Remaining active in painting, bikeriding, reading, research, writing, and hospitality, and ever persevering in prayer, Father Julian absorbed and exuded the Benedictine spirit – and this, he himself taught, was nothing more than the spirit of the gospel.”

Father Julian’s Requiem Mass was celebrated in the Portsmouth Abbey Church on December 30th, and he was bur-

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IN MEMORIAM

Father Julian at St. Clare-Newport

“He enkindled in me a love of languages with two years of Greek in 1957-59. He was an excellent teacher and a most faithful Benedictine.” – R. Emmet Kennedy, Jr., ‘59 “He was a very talented artist (poet, painter, writer) from a family which included Chesterton, C.S. Lewis and Waugh amongst its social network. Julian was eccentric, shy, and caustic at times. He had a rich interior life which led to a deep union with the Lord.”

– Chris Dorment ’63 “I always appreciated him over the last few reunions because of his acute memory and non-judgmentalism...he and I always had a mutual understanding of the importance of meditation and contemplation in one’s life....he is free at last of this mortal body, may he soar mightily in the sacred dimensions of Spirit.”

– John Lamenzo ’63 “He was an enduring embodiment of peace and love. What a model human being.” – Rick Bevington ’71

ied in the monastic cemetery thereafter. His passing marks the last living monastic link to the founder of the Portsmouth community in 1919, Dom Leonard Sargent, and also to Dom Hugh Diman, the legendary founder and first headmaster of Portsmouth Priory, now Abbey, School.

Prior Brunner concluded the service with, “Today Father Julian’s absence among us should provoke thoughts of gratitude for the 94 years he lived among us. We must be thankful for all that he gave us in that time and for all that he allowed us to give to him…. But Jesus Christ himself reassures us: Blessed…Happy…are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. He also tells us: Happy are the merciful, for God will show them mercy. Happy are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. And those words apply to Father Julian. Father Julian prepared well for his passing from this world by living well, by living the Gospel which gave him a window into God’s wisdom he shared with us all. We have heard from many alumni of the school recounting his acts of kindness, his interest in their well-being and his impact as coach, teacher and priest on their lives.“ May he rest in the Light of Christ.

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“What a great soul and lasting friend in the many years since. A son of Maryland and an ardent Orioles fan to the end!”

– Outerbridge Horsey ’71 “Before he went into the nursing home, we would go have lunch on occasion. He told me his early life ambitions were to either be a Marine or a prize fighter. Yet, he became a monk. DJ would sneak a cigarette now and then, knowing he shouldn’t, and it reminded me of our adolescence, between class smoking klatches on the down low. Cracked me up. I have a suspicion that, if he hadn’t become a monk, he could have been quite a rascal. He wasn’t the type of guy that held his personal piety above others. He knew he was fully human, flaws and all. His compassion was pure. Amen.”

– Tony Caputi ’74 “He was a gentle and saintly man. Father Julian made an enormous contribution to the spiritual community at Portsmouth. I always relied on him as a witness. I knew if anyone ever accused me of Latin, DJ could cheerfully testify in any court to my innocence. “ – Philip English ’74 “Our beloved Dom Julian left our world for his well-deserved place in heaven… all of us were in his prayers and the beneficiaries of his love, faith and work.” – Carroll Carter, Jr.’77 “Father Julian was a warm and gentle presence whose smile endures in my memory.” – Ignatius MacLellan ’77

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

IN MEMORIAM DANIEL T. BUD KELLY, JR. ’39

“Bud” Kelly, Jr., a luminous man with a prodigious historical memory who was recognized as one of Santa Fe’s Living Treasures, passed away on August 18, 2020 at age 99. Bud was a native Santa Fean, born to an historically significant family, who in turn built upon that legacy and commitment to civic responsibility in his own right by not only serving his country in WWII and Korea but by returning to Santa Fe to help establish and grow many of the city’s newer institutions.

Bud was the son of Margaret Gross and Daniel T. Kelly, Sr., president of Gross, Kelly & Company, a pioneering wholesale and retail mercantile company synonymous with the development of the Southwest, which first arrived on the scene in Las Vegas, NM, in 1879. The company operated ranches throughout New Mexico, including a 40,000-acre cattle ranch straddling San Miguel and Guadalupe Counties. It was growing up in that country, accompanying his father on business trips, that Bud fell in love with New Mexico, meeting merchants and traders and learning to rope and ride from cowboys working the ranches. He would also, in due course, come to learn the business side of things, involved as Gross Kelly was with trading posts and the wool and timber industry.

Margaret was no less a formative presence in Bud’s life than was Daniel, as she ensured her children had proper religious training and cultural exposure. It was through gatherings at their home that Bud was first introduced to many local luminaries; Oliver LaFarge, Witter Bynner, Peggy Pond Church, John G. Meem, and Mable D. Luhan. This breadth of exposure were key ingredients to Bud’s unique character.

Schooling took Bud to Portsmouth Priory at age 13 for five years, and then on to Harvard where he graduated in 1943.

During WWII, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Field artillery and assigned to the Anti-submarine Command in Brittany, France, where he earned a Bronze Star.

After the war, Bud worked for General Mark Clark at the Quadripartite Council Meetings in Vienna, where he experienced the more glamorous side of military life; as an aide he often stood in for the generals during meetings and social events. Each filled him with stories he would tell across his lifetime: of losing most his unit to a torpedo when crossing the Channel, of collecting money and heading out across unsecured territory to chase

down liquor for his comrades, or dancing in glorious ballrooms in formal attire. Bud returned to the family business in Santa Fe in 1948 after earning his MBA at Harvard. But soon warfare in Korea erupted, and Bud was assigned to the I Corps Artillery as a captain, later promoted to major. Following the war Bud returned to Santa Fe, working as president of Gross Kelly until 1954. The liquidation of Gross Kelly coincided with his marriage to the beautiful and cultured Jeanne Wise from New York.

Bud and Jeanne raised two sons and two daughters.

Bud also engaged in a new business enterprise when he partnered with the Howell Ernest Insurance Company in 1957.

Acquiring full ownership in 1965, he would remain at the helm of the Kelly Agency until his retirement. His work brought him again into contact with local luminaries with whom he formed lasting friendships: Ernie Blake of Taos Ski Valley, John Crosby of the Santa Fe Opera, the painter Georgia O’Keefe, to name a few. Bud became an active member of the Santa Fe business community and a founding board member for St. John’s College, Santa Fe Prep, and the Santa Fe Opera.

He was also a director of the First National Bank and president of the School of American Research.

His love of the outdoors led to his passionate participation in the Pajarito Walking Group, Santa Fe Winter Ski Club, and his beloved Kiva Squash Club. Bud could also be found throughout the year tending to his 128-acre “sanctuary” in the Santa Fe National Forest. Bud was a man for all seasons, whom people in Santa Fe would recognize on the street with his Stetson Open Road, a Brooks Brothers tweed jacket, button down shirt accented by an ascot, wool slacks, cowboy boots, and in later years a cane.

He was the embodiment of the great sweep of New Mexico history and lore, a gentleman cowboy, and community builder. He was also simply and profoundly human: he had a passionate curiosity mixed with a fiery temper, he was a devout man and incessant flirt, he was a fastidious man who lacked attachments to material things.

It was that mix of those contradictions, which made him the fully formed character he was. Son to Daniel and Margaret, father to sons and daughters, husband to Jeanne, and spirit to friends and the generations that follow, Bud Kelly honored his family heritage and left a lasting legacy for all of Santa Fe. The Portmsouth Abbey community offers its prayers and deepest condolences to the Kelly family.

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IN MEMORIAM DR. ORPHEUS JOSEPH “PEPSI” BIZZOZERO, JR. ’52

GEORGE PENDERGAST ’62

Orpheus Joseph “Pepsi” Bizzozero M.D. M.A.C.P., 86, of Middlebury, died peacefully on November 30, 2020, at Waterbury Hospital. He was the beloved husband of Elaine (Tangel) Bizzozero for 58 years.

George A. Pendergast, 76, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family on Saturday, August 1, 2020.

Joe, “Pepsi” to his friends, was born in Waterbury, CT, on May 2, 1934, a son of the late Orpheus and Rena (Gianni) Bizzozero Sr. M.D. Joe attended Portsmouth Priory School and Yale University, where he played golf and baseball. As a young man, he won the Connecticut State Junior Amateur Golf Championship. He graduated medical school from S.U.N.Y downstate. From 1964 to 1968 he worked for the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission in Hiroshima, Japan, before coming back to Waterbury and spending the next 26 years taking care of the health and well-being of the people of Waterbury and the surrounding area. He also helped to train the next generation of health care workers as an assistant professor at Yale University.

Joe remained an avid golfer until the end. After his retirement from medical practice, he continued to work as a quality consultant for Alliance Medical Group until his death. He was a past recipient of the James P. Colangelo M.D. Achievement Award from the National Kidney Foundation of Connecticut, and a Laureate Award winner from the Connecticut chapter of the American College of Physicians. He was a member of the Country Club of Waterbury. He served as president of the board of St. Margaret’s-McTernan School, and was on the board of Brass Mills Charter School.

George was born in Portland, ME, son of the late Grace (McCarty) and John J. Pendergast II. He graduated from Portsmouth Priory School in 1962 and went on to earn his undergraduate degree in biology and his master’s degrees in both education and computer science from Fitchburg State College.

With lifelong passion for the ocean, boating, and sailing, George served our nation in the United States Navy and continued service with the U.S. Coast Guard AuxiliaryFirst District Northern Region for more than 40 years, achieving the rank of Commodore 1NR. A career educator, George taught at Tahanto Regional High School in various capacities throughout his prestigious career. Simultaneously, his adult life was devoted to community service and the Town of Berlin, proudly serving as deputy chief of the Berlin Fire Department, co-founder of the Berlin Rescue Squad and long-time EMT instructor.

George was the Berlin Cemetery Commissioner, former Chairman of the Berlin Council on Aging and active volunteer for 19 Carter. He was a man of faith and a parishioner of St. Joseph the Good Provider.

Prayers for the repose of George’s soul are offered by the Portsmouth Abbey community, and our sincere condolences are extended to George’s family.

Joe’s son Greg graduated with the Portsmouth Priory Class of 1982, and his late brother Robert graduated with the Portsmouth Priory Class of 1955.

The thoughts and prayers of the Portsmouth Priory community are with the Bizzozero family at this time.

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P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

IN MEMORIAM THOMAS FRANCIS SHEVLIN ’64 Tom Shevlin, formerly of Bronxville, N.Y. and Menlo Park, Calif., passed away on August 13th surrounded by family at his home in Jamestown, R.I. after a life well lived. He was a youthful 75.

Rather than enumerating his accomplishments, Tom asked specifically to emphasize his eternal and deepfelt gratitude to all those who made his life so rich with laughter, joy and faith.

Born on June 20, 1945 to the late Arthur and Regina (Gaffney) Shevlin, Tom will be remembered as a great raconteur with an incomparable joie de vivre.

A devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend, Tom grew up spending summers in Narragansett and the school year at Portsmouth Priory, from which he graduated class of 1964. He earned a business degree from the University of Rhode Island and made a career in finance in New York and San Francisco.

When he was just 14, he met the former Paula M. Scotti, to whom he was married for 50 blissful years. Together they raised five children - four daughters and a son. Perpetually - though happily - outnumbered by the women in his life, he welcomed the addition of each of his sons- and daughters -in-law and reveled in his growing family.

Known for his wispy blonde hair and tortoise shell glasses, Tom was a happy warrior, eternal optimist, and an easy traveler. Always quick with a smile, he had a keen ability to strike up a friendship at a moment’s notice, and was rarely without his camera to document time spent with friends and family.

Blessed with a self-effacing charm and irrepressible good nature, Tom was genuinely interested in people’s lives rarely missing an occasion to send well wishes or a note of thanks. A master of “Just Checking In,” his voice mails and incoming calls will be sorely missed.

more than his fair share of dancing shoes and treasured summer afternoons spent at the Dumplings dock.

While his professional achievements were notable, Tom considered his greatest legacy to be his family and friends.

For Tom, clients and coworkers inevitably became part of his life and he a part of theirs. He was especially grateful for the time he spent with the Scotti family, who welcomed him into the fold at a precociously early age, for the lifelong kinships forged at the Dunes Club, and for his campmates at the Bohemian Grove.

Above all, he left wanting to convey how grateful he was to have had a life filled with such good and lasting friendships.

Over the years, he was proud to have served on the boards of several organizations including the Portsmouth Abbey School, San Francisco Zoo, URI Alumni Association, and the Ram Fund.

Professionally, he cut his teeth at Bankers Trust and Citibank before joining J.P. Morgan in New York and later San Francisco. After a nearly 30-year career with J.P. Morgan, he successively brought his talents to U.S. Trust Company, Train, Smith Counsel, and Fiduciary Trust Company, where he served as a managing director. After unsuccessfully retiring in 2018, he joined Capital Counsel, where he ended his career on a high note only this past year.

He was a member of the University Club (New York), The Bohemian Club, Derelicts Camp, Dumplings Association, and the Conanicut Yacht Club.

The Portsmouth Abbey community send its heartfelt condolences and prayers to Tom’s family and friends.

In his younger years, he sailed aboard the S.S. France when crossings were still in fashion; he wore through

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IN MEMORIAM

PHILIP E. COEN

On August 22, 2020, Philip E. Coen, Jr. passed away of natural causes. He was 91 years old.

The son of Philip Coen and Edith (Brigham) Coen, Phil was born on January 22, 1929, in Newport, R.I. Phil loved Aquidneck Island and had a passion for sports, especially football. He grew up in Newport and attended Rogers High School, where he played football, basketball and golf. He entered Boston College in 1948, where he played football all four years. He was an All-American and a team captain. In 1950, Phil received the prestigious Scanlon Award for Best Student/Athlete.

Phil dedicated his adult life to education and to supporting the community in which he lived. His career as an educator began as a teacher at Mumford School in 1952. He transferred to Rogers High School in 1954, where he taught and became the assistant football coach under the legendary Ed Fitzgerald. Phil was the head football coach from 1955-1957.

In 1962, Phil became a guidance counselor and a coach of many sports in the Barrington Public Schools. Coaching the Barrington basketball team of 1963 was especially meaningful for him, establishing enduring relationships with many of his players. During the same time period, he coached many sports at Brown University, including football, tennis and wrestling.

Phil coached football at Portsmouth Abbey, taking over as head coach in 1969. That fall he led the Abbey football team in its last-minute, come-from-behind victory over St. George’s School and ultimately to their conference championship. Phil instilled a work ethic and sense of teamwork that enabled players to play up to and beyond their full potential. In the fall of 2009, more than 30 members of the 1969 championship team joined Phil on the Portsmouth Abbey campus to celebrate his legacy. In honor of Phil’s “leadership, personal example, absolute integrity, and grace,” the Coen Cup award was established by members of the Portsmouth Abbey football team from the classes of 1970-1973 and is awarded annually to the football team’s most improved player.

His love for Aquidneck Island drew Phil back in 1971 when he became principal of Middletown High School and, from 1975-1986, superintendent of Middletown Schools. Phil also served on the Middletown Town Council and as the Middletown town administrator. Upon retirement Phil spent his days continuing his lifetime pursuit of physical fitness. Second Beach and the Newport Athletic Club were favorite spots in which to spend his days.

The Portsmouth Abbey community extends its deepest sympathy to the Coen family.

Members of the Classes of 1970-73 joined Phil (front row, second from left) on the Portsmouth Abbey campus in the fall of 2009 to celebrate his legacy and to establish the Coen Cup.

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P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

51 I 70TH REUNION

SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Left: Matt Flynn ’65 and crew on the set of “Matt Flynn Direct”

Dan Donahoe writes from AZ, “Forty-four percent of our class have left us which, I’m told, is about average for a group of prep school graduates of Portsmouth’s size. Sad, but true, and I’ll always cherish the friendships made in the senior year I attended Portsmouth, especially David Bubser, Bill Ruckelshaus and Jack Siragusa.”

59 I

Below: Jon Gilloon ’66 at the canononization of St. John Newman in Rome, October 2019

66 I

Raul de Brigard shares, “For us older Ravens used to flying about to see our friends and relatives, ISOLATION has been the new thing to which we’ve had to become accustomed in these days of the pandemic. The days are filled with life at home, walking around the neighborhood, shaping up the yard, learning to work with others via Zoom, and enjoying our relatives via FaceTime. Can’t wait for it to be over!”

60 I Jay Curley and his wife, Annette, spent a couple of days in Menauhant, Cape Cod, with Rick Wilson, Cyr Ryan, and Bill Thomas and their wives. Bill, a college classmate of Jay’s, had served in the navy with Cyr.

65 I 55TH REUNION

SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Matt Flynn is the radio morning drive-time host on 92.7 FM in Madison, WI. His call-in talk radio show is called “Matt Flynn Direct,” which airs 6-8 AM weekdays. All ‘65 alums except for Bonner, McGuckin, Greene and Minor are welcome to call in your political observations to 844-967-2789.

55TH REUNION SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Jim Danaher is having great fun with his four grandchildren. Two are his and two are Carolyn McKeon’s. Also, his 98-yearold father, aka “Irish Jim,” (but not according to a DNA test - ha!) is going strong and is as sharp as a tack. This gives Jim much needed hope for his future. Jim’s goddaughter has challenged him to live to 120... Jon Gilloon writes, “It was my great pleasure to read this article on Newman’s influence and devotion to the Catholic resurgence. It was my particular honor, as an old Oratorian, to accompany that school’s delegation at the Canonization of Saint John Newman in Rome last October.” Jon, a native Iowan, also shares that classmate Paul Kennedy was right when Paul signed his first Portsmouth yearbook in 1963 when he said: “to a real farmer!“! Now that Jon has retired from the business world in Dallas, he is back on the farm, this time in Louisiana, and is loving the solitude From left, Jay Curley ’60, friend Bill Thomas, Rick Wilson ’60, and Cyr Ryan ’60, in Menauhant, Cape Cod

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CLASS NOTES

Assembled in Light features the work of Rob Barnes ’68 and Chris Coy ’69.

and clear night skies. He has been baling hay and raising chickens as a start to farm life. The 50 acres of property will accommodate a place for his daughter’s family to build.

David Black ’71 and his son Oliver, who was ordained to the priesthood of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church at Holy Transfiguration Church in McLean, VA

Tom Keeley ’74 with classmates Brian Dowling and Doug Grant aboard the “William T”

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68 I 69 The work of Robert Barnes ’68 and Christopher Coy ’69 and their Hamptonsbased firm, Barnes Coy Architects, is featured in a stunning book by Alastair Gordon, recently out from Rizzoli. According to the December 2020 review in Quest Magazine, Assembled in Light is a “gorgeously photographed panorama of modernism encompassing houses not only in the Hamptons, but on the Georgia coast, in Florida, St. Barts, the California desert, Vail, Colorado, and as far away as Costa Rica. In his preface Chris writes movingly of his lifelong friendship and twenty-five year partnership with the late Rob Barnes, who died in 2018: ‘We both believed that residential architecture is the true front line of modernism, and that a house can be so much more than the sum of its parts.

People live in these houses. They relax, work and raise families in these houses.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

CLASS NOTES

As Moshe Safdie said, ‘Seek Beauty and you will find only vanity. Seek Truth, and you will find Beauty.’” The Quest editors mention Rob and Chris’s exposure to post modern architecture while students at the Abbey, “Educated by English Benedictine monks at Portsmouth Abbey, where the modern campus designed by MIT Dean of Architecture Pietro Belluschi is frequently cited as a mid-20th century masterpiece, both Barnes and Coy have been industrious designers as well as spiritual seekers, listening to their clients’ needs and working to fulfill their clients’ dreams in a way that is both True and Beautiful. This book is a poignant testament to their triumphant success.”

70 I

50TH REUNION SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Terence Callery wrote a new book titled, The First Pilgrim – On the Camino de Santiago. This #1 New Release in History eBooks of Spain & Portugal can be ordered as a paperback or as a Kindle ebook on Amazon. See sidebar on page 75 for more information.... Jamie MacGuire was named managing editor US of The Catholic Herald, a UK publication founded in 1878 that is now expanding its footprint into North America. He has also been elected president of the board of the North American Friends of the Venerable English College (NAFVEC) in Rome. Established in 2020, NAFVEC promotes the awareness and history of the College whose mission has been to prepare men for Catholic priestly ministry in England & Wales since 1579. Best of all Jamie rejoiced at the latest addition to Pierce ‘10 and Alex MacGuire’s young family, Walker Anthony, born in August of 2020. See Milestones for a photo.

71 I 50TH REUNION

SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

David Black’s eldest son, Oliver, was ordained to the priesthood of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church at Holy Transfiguration Church in McLean, VA on August 16, 2020. He is serving as assistant pastor at St. Ann’s Melkite Catholic Church in Woodland Park, NJ. Fr. Boniface of St. Anselm’s Abbey attended.... Now that Tom Lonergan is retired, he and his wife, Dolores Grenier, have extended their summers in Narragansett, RI. Tom has a small daysailer moored a few minutes walk from his house. Tom encourages classmates to stop by and go for a sail or an afternoon at the beach. Tom expects to see all his classmates at their 50th reunion this year.

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Terence Callery ’70 published The First Pilgrim – On the Camino de Santiago. See sidebar on page 75 for more information.

Tom Keeley sailed aboard the “William T.” for nine days in late August while reminiscing with the ship’s captain, Doug Grant, and executive first mate, Brian Dowling, during a transit from CT to Lake Erie via the 35 locks of the Erie Canal. There were lots of yogurt, calamari and great meals on board and ashore. Doug and Brian continued west on the Great Lakes with alumni port of calls in Erie, Cleveland, Detroit and final destination Milwaukee. Yamas!

76 I Jeff Calnan would like to say hello to his classmates and fellow alumni. “Shea Farrell, Rob O’Donnell, and I are still very close after all these years and frequently use Zoom, which is perfect for middleaged guys who are kind of lazy. Interesting lookback is that we were all in the same class, but graduated at different times. Rob graduated in January 1976, Shea graduated

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CLASS NOTES

LATEST PUBLICATIONS BY OUR ALUMNI AUTHORS Erica Dretzka ’00 has published a new book of fiction for young adults, Don’t Judge the Day by the Dawn, through Christian Faith Publishing.

“My debut novel promotes positivity,” according to Erica. “Pre-readers from teenager to mid-eighties have said it is an enjoyable novel with layered storylines and complex characters, allowing each reader to connect with individuals in real-life small town society. The main character has a universal appeal as someone who dreams of escaping from her everyday life. After reading it, I want adults and young adults to feel positive towards the rest of their day. Maybe the reader won’t make a tangible change today, but that’s OK. We don’t have to change the whole world, sometimes just live inside our little part of it, to make a difference.”

Thomas A. Mullen ’92 has completed the third book in the Darktown series, Midnight Atlanta, and it is receiving terrific reviews. The Historical Novel Society lauds it as, “a revelatory historical novel that speaks directly to the language of today.” The review continues, “Throughout the novel Mullen keeps the pace quick, packed with suspense at the end of each chapter. He brings to life 1950s America with such intensity that you begin to feel like the characters do, and imagine yourself in their situations. Although Midnight Atlanta is primarily a crime story, it is enriched with the historical and cultural events of the era that play a part in the novel as well.” Mullen’s other novels include The Last Town on Earth (2006), The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers (2010), The Revisionists (2011), Darktown (2015) and Lightning Men (2017).

Hot off of the presses, Virtues Work: Soar at Work. Soar at Life. Here’s How, the new book by Alexander (Sandy) Cummings ’81, is available on Amazon.

Full of real-world anecdotes and practical tips, it explains in an engaging way what the virtues are, why they are the best way to a successful life, and how to use them in daily life. Alexander is looking forward to a book tour once virus-related travel restrictions are lifted. Virtues Work is also available at virtueswork.com. Receiving five-star reader reviews on Amazon.com,

PAGE 74

in the spring of 1976 with everyone else, and I graduated in 2012. I think that says it all.”... This past summer, Hank Schmitt pulled off a COVID-19-challenged, small fleet transport of three boats and 22 crew to St. Maarten, making it 23 years in a row from Newport to SXM. Hank and his wife, Cathy, are moving back to SXM after the new year and will be working remotely until his May return passage.

Hank has already contacted several fellow classmates to come shelter in place in a warmer climate. His 10 grandchildren have first dibs.

77 I Tim Seeley shares, “This has been the most difficult year I have had running a school. Between heightened awareness of issues of equity in schools and, of course, figuring out how to run a school during a pandemic, every day has brought challenges unlike any other. My school has done it as well as I think it can be done, but there is no instruction manual.

Jill and I are happy here in Blue Hill, a beautiful little town on the coast of Maine. She has opened a shop in town, and we are settled. Come visit!”

78 I Dr. Richard White was named the inaugural distinguished chair in surgical oncology at the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, NC, where he and his wife reside.

80 I 40TH REUNION

SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Andrew Hayes is the group general counsel for iBUILT Group, LLC, a leading off-site steel-frame construction company that is now offering digital design services

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

CLASS NOTES

for developers and property owners. Part of the “proptech” movement that applies digital technology to the construction industry, iBUILT is focused on reducing the construction cost by 20% with 50% faster construction time and eliminating inefficiencies at each point in the building lifecycle by using end-to-end technology and offsite manufacturing to create smarter and sustainable buildings.

81 I Alexander (Sandy) Cummings had a new book published in spring 2020. Virtues Work: Soar at Work. Soar at Life. Here’s How explains in an engaging way what the virtues are, why they are the best way to a successful life, and how to use them in daily life. Alexander is looking forward to a book tour once virus related travel restrictions are lifted. Virtues Work is available at Amazon or virtueswork.com. See sidebar for details....

Chris Keller has been working as a QA engineer for Roku, Inc. in San Jose, CA. He had been living in Mountain View, CA, for the past 20 years but successfully negotiated the ability to work remotely for Roku and has purchased a house and moved to Milwaukie, OR.

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25TH REUNION SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Christian Baird married Camilla Currin on May 28, 2020. It was a “COVID Ceremony” on St. Augustine Beach. The “large wedding of four” was celebrated on the beach because the parish was closed.

Christian’s father, former Portsmouth Abbey board member Dane Baird, and mother, Joella Baird, were in attendance. It was a happy day that showed something good could occur during the pandemic!

See photo in Milestones.

WINTER Alumni BULLETIN 2021

the site describes the book: “In this clear, concise volume, the author presents the virtues in a practical way.

It is full of entertaining, instructive anecdotes; clear, plain-English explanations; and concrete tips that will get you using the virtues today. This book will change your life.”

Young adult fantasy author Rosaria Munda ’10 has completed Flamefall, book two of her Aurelian Cycle Trilogy. Bestselling author Rachel Hartman described her experience, “Fireborne is everything I want in fantasy: deep world-building, fierce and vivid characters, heartbreaking choices, and dragons, dragons, dragons.” Read an excerpt and preorder a copy of Flamefall on Rosaria’s website, www.rosariamunda.com. Signed copies of Fireborne and Flamefall are available through semcoop.com Terence Callery ’70 has published The First Pilgrim – On the Camino de Santiago, the first historical novel written about the origins of the Camino de Santiago. Both the Kindle version and the paperback are now on the internet. The First Pilgrim follows Callery’s previous book about his experience on the historical route, Slow Camino, “a marvelous reflective meditation!” He chose the less travelled Portuguese route, hiking 400 miles in winter from Lisbon to the tomb of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. “He writes of the deep sense of place as he walks along Roman roads, sleeps in a 12th century monastery, visits massive Gothic cathedrals, and walks in the footsteps of Charlemagne, Dante, and Saint Francis of Assisi,” according to the review. “At a crossroads in his life the former Maine aquaculture executive and alpaca farmer describes the personal quest as ‘the most intensely spiritual seven weeks of my life.’”

The Art of Collaboration: An In-Depth Look at Creative Practices for Creative People, by Sydney Welch ’16, is now available on Amazon! “I was inspired to write this book after dedicating my senior year of college to researching Leonardo da Vinci,” she explains. “I became fascinated with the idea of renaissance and how to enter into one’s own. It occurred to me that what the world needed to embrace was collaboration. In this book, I hope to instill in you the same passion and excitement that I have for collaboration. I want you to see this book as a tool to help you collectively elevate your creations.

You will love this book if you identify as a creator, artist, innovator, entrepreneur, or creative-type.” Sydney is currently teaching special education students at a Mastery Charter School in Philadelphia.

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25TH REUNION SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Angus Davis is moving with his wife, Joanna, and their three boys, ages 4, 6, and 8, to Puerto Rico for the winter. “We will be living in the Dorado Beach area, and we look forward to hearing from and meeting any Portsmouth Abbey alums who may be on the Island this winter.“...

Kate Wallace currently lives in her hometown of Austin, TX with her five-year-old daughter, Ruby, and manages the Austin office of Lake|Flato Architects.

Whitney Connell ’04 graduated from Florida State University College of Law with a Juris Master’s degree.

Gus Gleason’07, on right, in surgery at Tufts Medical Center

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20TH REUNION SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Erica Dretzka published her new book, Don’t Judge the Day by the Dawn. It is a young adult fiction, coming-of-age book about finding strength and courage in adversity. See sidebar on page 76 for details.

04 I Whitney Connell graduated from Florida State University College of Law with a Juris Master’s degree concentrated in financial regulation and compliance, with Phi Kappa Phi honors.

06 I

15TH REUNION SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Alexander Harvey joined Deloitte & Touche this past November as a senior associate III in its commercial audit division. He was also licensed in the state of New York as a CPA in January 2020.... Julia Driscoll is in her fifth year working in development at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Austin, TX. “My husband and I just bought a house,” Julia tells us, “so it’s safe to say we’ll be in Austin for a while!”

Ross White ’07 runs Deli Fresh Design in Denver. His dad, Sean White ’71, was on hand to help make and donate masks during COVID-19.

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07 I Gus Gleason is now in his fourth year of general surgery residency at Tufts Medical Center where he is currently doing research in robotic surgery and surgical education. “Hope everyone is staying safe and wearing a mask! Here is a pic of me doing a pediatric liver operation. PPE appropriate.”.... Ross White runs Deli Fresh Design LLC (DFD), a Denver-based maker of simple, reliable outdoor gear, and is dedicated to sustainable manufacturing methods. Products are made in the USA from re-purposed sailcloth, climbing rope and other materials engineered for demanding outdoor applications. Ross started DFD soon after he moved to Colorado in 2015 and named the company after the iconic delicatessens he left behind in New York. He started making fly fishing packs for himself and then realized there was a market among the hikers, climbers, and campers he saw around him. Beer koozies made from re-purposed fishing waders are his best seller. During the COVID pandemic, DFD has been making and donating masks to local and national nonprofits. His father, Sean White ‘71, joined

Kate Wallace ’96 with her daughter, Ruby

The Kennedy family gathered to celebrate Matt ’07’s wedding last June. Abbey alumni included in the joyful event were father of the groom, Peter M. Kennedy III ’64, and sisters Catherine R. Kennedy ’08 and Mary C. Kennedy ’15.

Julia Driscoll ’06 and her husband just bought a house in Austin, TX.

WINTER Alumni BULLETIN 2021

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CLASS NOTES

Ross in 2018 to help manage operations. Check DFD out at www.delifreshdesign.com.

08 I

Madison Nunes ’08 moved to China for a job as an ELL coordinator and teacher at BASIS Bilingual School Shenzhen.

Madison Nunes writes from China, “Despite the strangeness and uncertainty of the world, I moved to Shenzhen, China, this November to begin a new job as an ELL coordinator and teacher at BASIS Bilingual School Shenzhen, a private bilingual elementary school located in the district of Futian, Shenzhen. I will be working with lower proficiency students in grades 1-3 to help them with their English language acquisition. I am excited for my new life in Asia!”... Bobby Ensign is living and working in the LA/Santa Barbara, CA area. He has been working on elections since 2016, including campaigns for Congress in AZ, CA, CT, FL, and RI. Bobby is also working on a Master’s Degree in Screenwriting at Pepperdine University.

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Liam O’Connor ’12 and Taryn Murphy ’12 are engaged and looking forward to getting married in Newport, RI in September.

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10TH REUNION SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Tim McGuirk shared, “On behalf of our Portsmouth Abbey School Class of 2011, I think I speak for everyone in expressing our condolences as well as saying what a great guy Mike McLaughlin was in our four years at the Abbey. A phenomenal athlete and natural leader. Mike’s humor and generosity of spirit personally impacted me. During our VI Form year, I lived across the hall from him and developed a wonderful friendship that I cherish to this day. Our conversations revealed so much of what this thriving young man wanted to accomplish at Boston College and beyond. His memory will stay with me, and I will pray for him and his family.”

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CLASS NOTES

Clockwise from upper left, Helen Nelson ’15, Lauryn Harper ’18, Kai Smith ’15, Patrick Wilks ’15, Sophia Diodati ’15, and Doug Lebo ’15 have been meeting virtually since June 2020 to discuss diversity at Portsmouth Abbey.

Philip Youngberg started his assignment as a Seamanship and Navigation Instructor and Course Coordinator in September at the U.S. Naval Academy. Additionally, he became the Officer-Representative for the Midshipman-run Yard Patrol (YP) Squadron, consisting of 20+ vessels used for Midshipmen training and professional development.

12 I Liam O’Connor and Taryn Murphy were engaged in September 2020. “We are looking forward to getting married in Newport, RI in September 2021, surrounded by friends, family, and many Abbey alumni!”

13 I Melanie Camacho lives in Lubbock, TX where she is a news reporter with KCBD Newschannel 11. “I’ve been here for nearly two years and I cover all sorts of news from medicine, breaking news, city council decisions, feature stories, and more. I’m

applying my fast-talking skills that I was known for at the Abbey to real life! I miss all of my Raven friends!”

15 I

5TH REUNION SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Sophia Diodati, Kai Smith, Lauryn Harper ’18, Doug Lebo, Helen Nelson, and Patrick Wilks have been meeting virtually since June 2020 to discuss diversity at Portsmouth Abbey, both past and present. Most recently they met with the Committee on Cultural Diversity at Portsmouth Abbey alongside alumni to suggest ways of changing community culture, diversifying curricula, and educating on the importance of representation within the faculty. In conjunction with the support and engagement of the young alumni community, this group is working to enact change at the Abbey – an institution they view both fondly and critically....

Sophia Diodati recently graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a double

Melanie Camacho ’13 lives in Lubbock, TX where she is a news reporter with KCBD Newschannel 11.

major in medicine, science & humanities and anthropology and a minor in theater arts. She is currently working with NYC and Vienna-based architecture firm Some Place Studio and is looking forward to pursuing her master’s in architecture....

Kai Smith is pursuing an Art Therapy Major and an LSW at Bluffton University in Bluffton, OH.... Doug Lebo is currently enrolled in medicine at Université de Montréal, will graduate in 2024, and is on track to do an internship with the Rhode Island Department of Health in March in order to finish a Master’s in Public Health from UVM. He is still baking to pass the time.... Since graduating from Franklin & Marshall College in 2019, Helen Nelson has been working as an English language assistant at a lycée in Calais, France.... Patrick Wilks is a ninth-grade English teacher at Uncommon Leadership Charter High School in Brooklyn, NY.

WINTER Alumni BULLETIN 2021

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CLASS NOTES

Nick Velcea ’17 received the 2020 President’s Award at Northeastern University, an honor given to the top 10 students by GPA in each graduating year.

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5TH REUNION SEPTEMBER 17-19, 2021

Sydney Welch officially published her book The Art of Collaboration: An In-Depth Look at Creative Practices for Creative People which is now available on Amazon via paperback or Kindle!

17 I Kelly Milliken took part in the United States Naval Academy’s service selection night this past November.

She selected the Naval Pilot community and will commence flight training upon graduation and commissioning in May 2021.... Nicholas Velcea received the 2020 President’s Award at Northeastern University, an honor given to the top 10 students by GPA in each graduating year. An Electrical and Computer Engineering major, Nick also had the privilege to study at Oxford University (Exeter College) for a summer semester. He is a founding member of the Formula SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Electric team (now named Northeastern Electric Racing). This team participates in an international design competition which pulls teams from around the world to design, build, and drive open wheeled race cars. Nick has been living in LA since July while interning as an Avionics Engineer

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Kelly Milliken’17 will commence flight training upon graduation and commissioning in May 2021.

at ABL Space Systems, a start-up company building the RS-1 which is a vehicle designed to send payloads of up to 1,350 kg to orbit.... William Ensign is a senior at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI, where he is majoring in business/marketing and is competing on the varsity lacrosse team.

18 I Lauryn Harper is currently completing her degree in theater and economics at Franklin & Marshall College.

19 I Tony Hooks was named a Dana Scholar at Bates College in recognition for his academic excellence and promise, his leadership potential, and service to the College and community. The Dana Award is the highest honor bestowed on a first-year student.

P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL

After adapting to the year’s challenges, it is clear that when we come together, we are stronger. Your support allows us to maintain the unique Abbey experience by providing resources for the programs, places, and most importantly, the people – our students, faculty, and monastic community who remain more committed than ever to our mission of helping young men and women grow in knowledge and grace.

Join us in support of our mission by making your Annual Fund gift today at www.portsmouthabbey. org/makeagift.

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