Fall 2009
1960
50th Reunion
Reunion Weekend
April 23-25, 2010
Secretary: Gordon Spaugh, 365 Roslyn Rd., Winston-Salem, NC 27104; 336-722-9130; gspaugh@juno.com
Save the dates of April 23-25, 2010, for our 50th Reunion! Please set up an account with Alenda Links, if you have not already. (www.davidson.edu/AlendaLinks).
Jim Owens and his wife of nearly 47 years, Kathy Case Owens, live on the Isle of Palms, S.C. Jim retired in 2000 after 37 years with IBM. They recently enjoyed a visit with their daughter and her family in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. They made side trips to Jeddah (to snorkel in the Red Sea); Doha, Qatar (to see the Persian Gulf coast of the Arabian Peninsula); and to Jordan, where they visited Amman, Jerash, Madaba, Petra (which Jim said is an amazing place), and Mt. Nebo, site of the Memorial of Moses.
Dr. Sung Kyu Kim enjoys teaching physics at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., so much that he has continued to teach while many of his classmates have retired. During the summer he runs an eight-week summer physics institute for pre-health science students, where he has students coming from some 25 colleges and universities. He has had two Davidson pre-med students in the past several years. He said he and his wife, Sherry, particularly enjoy having two of their four children living close enough that they get to see a lot of their four grandsons.
Richmond Rucker said he missed the ski season in Argentina this year because he needs two knee replacements. He expects to return to Colorado for the ski season this winter.
Mario Acuña, 68, died March 5 at his home in Bowie, Md. In 1969, he began working with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, where he remained for the next 40 years as an astrophysicist. His scientific instruments have flown on more than 30 NASA missions to every planet in the solar system, including the sun. Mario was principal investigator for NASA's Mars Observer Magnetic Field Investigation and also participated in the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, which collected weather data for the military. His laboratory was recognized worldwide for its development of instruments that measure geophysical magnetic fields, plasmas, electromagnetic waves, gamma rays, and X-rays. See his obituary on the college's Web site to read more about Mario's many accomplishments. Our condolences go to his wife of 42 years, Barbara Acuña, and their children, James Acuña of Tallinn, Estonia; Andrew Acuña of Ellicott City; Daniel Acuña of Owings Mills, and Marta Aebischer of Exton, Pa.
Ed Spivey, Ph.D., 71, passed away on May 22 in Asheville, N.C. He was born in Sanford, N.C., and raised in Mt. Gilead, N.C. During graduate studies at Duke University, Ed taught at N.C. Central University. While serving as a captain in the U.S. Army 1966-68, he taught at the U.S. Army Institute of Administration. Ed began teaching literature at Colorado College in1968 and earned a master's in counseling from UCCS. He served as a youth services counselor and later as supervisor in research and development at the City of Colorado Springs Police Department, while continuing to teach part-time. He retired in 2003 and returned to N.C., where he continued to serve as a consultant. Ed had a passion for literature, music, education, art, politics, humor, and serving the needs of others. Our sympathy goes to his wife, LaVonne Bonnie Spivey, of Candler, N.C., and children, Siobhan (Paul) Brown of Seattle, Wash., Theresa Vineyard of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Greg Vineyard of Candler, N.C.
1961
Secretary: W. Marshall LaFar, 2562 Pinewood Rd., Gastonia, NC 28054; 704-861-8585 (w); fax, 704-865-3415; lafar@carolina.rr.com
Bob Sargent writes, "Through a couple of coincidences, on the same day, I came into surprising contact with Davidson. I retired from full-time teaching at Hofstra University on Long Island in 2005, but have continued to teach literature courses on a part-time basis. At the same time I joined the organization for retired faculty. Last Wednesday, Professor Ellen Parker and her husband introduced themselves because their son is teaching creative writing at Davidson. They were eager to share their recent visit to the campus, and among other things, the weather was 74 there, while it was in the 40s here.
"On the evening of the same day, at an event of the Roslyn Landmark Society, I'm the president, I met again Eugene (Gene) Neely '62. Gene is a professor and the university archivist at nearby Adelphi University. Not only did we renew our friendship, but we discovered we share interests, specifically, trying to keep Nassau County from closing Cedarmere, the home of America's first poet, William Cullen Bryant. Bryant was an important civic figure, an early supporter of Lincoln, and the major force behind building Central Park."
Tom Colvin writes, "For over two years, I've been writing a blog for writers, "Becoming A Writer - Seriously", which now attracts about 5,500 unique visitors a month, who make over 17,000 page views. I'm rather startled over its success-but I was the first to address issues about productivity for writers, and I guess that struck a chord.
"I have several major history research projects ongoing, which may yield several books somewhere down the line. My research into the first world-spanning public health campaign (1803-1807) has taken me to England, Spain, Canary Islands, Mexico, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Macau, Cambodia, and even the Davidson College Library-and with several more ports yet to visit. I've already had several research articles published with two more in the pipeline and have spoken at a number of international conferences. I have made a lot of new friends along the way. I still do music, now on harmonica. I have a lot of performances online with Filipino blues band Lampano Alley on YouTube. Also have my personal Web site.... Hey, wait a minute... I suddenly realized that I'm too busy for a 70-year-old!"
Butch Rogers writes, "I have an interesting project going-I have been asked to write a play about Paul, based on the Book of Acts! Acts contains some wonderful stories, with wide gaps left for the imagination and contemplation. This is fun... and it is keeping me off the streets!"
1962
Secretary: John Goodman, 108 N. Robeson St., Elizabethtown, NC 28337; 910-862-3730; davidson1962@gmail.com; presbypicker2@gmail.com; davidson62.wordpress.com
By early summer Graham Showalter had received 64 positive responses on his proposal for our class to reunite in 2010. "All indications are that more than 100 classmates, wives, and friends are going to let the good times roll next spring for three days and two nights at Wild Dunes Resort near Charleston," he said. "The Phi Gam band will once again entertain as it did at Daufuskie." In addition to spearheading the reunion effort, Graham was president of the Union County, Pa., Veterans Fourth of July Parade.
George Trask is founder, editor, and publisher of The Beaufort Tribune, an online newspaper in lower South Carolina.
Alumni Association Board President Linton Wray is an ex-officio member of Davidson's Board of Trustees, serving with Wyche Fowler and Paul Leonard. "These are exciting days with a new college president, strategic planning, Elite Eight, and now financial meltdown," wrote Linton in June. "I can assure you the leadership at Davidson is up to the challenges of these difficult times."
Phil Patrick, asleep early May 28 in a fifth-floor hotel room in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, was jolted awake, but unscathed, by an earthquake 80 miles away that registered 7.1 on the Richter scale.
Jim Pressly, an orthopedic surgeon in Matthews, and some surgeons in Europe are helping build a 60-bed hospital near Nairobi, Kenya. The land has been acquired, and efforts are under way to raise funds and obtain equipment.
A Leg to Stand On is a 230-page book written by Dr. Michelle Foltz and published in March. It is the story of Surgical Implant Generation Network (SIGN), the charity Lew Zirkle founded to provide fracture care in developing countries. The epilogue, "The Ultimate Humanitarian," noted that in 2007 Lew was honored with the President's Call to Service Award given by Orthopaedics Overseas, a division of Health Volunteers Overseas, and also the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' eighth annual humanitarian award.
Sam Jackson produces his patented Green Clean microbial enzymatic cleaner at a manufacturing facility in Spring Hope in Nash County.
Last December Tom Finley received a patent for inventing a positioning and calibration system for use in calibrating sensitive instruments.
Kerry Maulden has been married for 45 years, has nine grandchildren, and has worked 43 years with Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. In October he'll visit Siberia for the fifth time.
Anne and John Wilson's son, Fletcher, and Catherine Alexander wed April 25 in Raleigh.
Harriet and DG Martin's fourth grandchild, and second grandson, David Wall Bryan, was born May 28 in Chapel Hill.
Graham Allison continues at Harvard professing, researching, publishing, advising colleagues in the Obama administration, and identifying initiatives to contain nuclear dangers. Graham's 2004 book, Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe, was highly acclaimed.
For many years Bob Phillips and Price Caldwell taught English at Mississippi State University in Starkville. Upon retirement both went to Tokyo to teach at Meisei University. After three years Bob and Lucy returned to Starkville. Price and Alice Carol remain in Japan.
Russ Ferrell died in 2006, and his widow, Peggy, died Oct. 6, 2008, in Kingsport, Tenn.
Margaret and Floyd "Buck" Walters, retired in the Texas hill country, enjoy their two horses, two dogs, and good neighbors. Earlier this year they celebrated their 45th anniversary. Buck's lymphoma, diagnosed in 2000, remains in remission.
Joe Robinson teaches oboe at N.C. School of the Arts in Winston-Salem and at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla.
In May, Cummins and Andy Sherrill hosted Sarah and Worth Williamson, Susan and P.G. Arnold, Carolyn and Ed Hines, and Cathie and Bob Hartness at their fishing lodge in Ashe County for a few days of fishing, hiking, and good food.
1963
Secretary: W. Hal Todd, P.O. Box 159, Montreat, NC 28757; hmntodd1617@netzero.net
I received an interesting letter from Jamie Long. He writes, "I am ‘mostly retired' as I spend nine to 10 months a year in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and only two to three months a year in Roxboro, N.C. It is a good life with my partner, Bob Conrow, with whom I have lived for the past 11 years.
"Bob and I have traveled in Central America for several years, and we set up a small charity in Guatemala, working with my Rotary Club, to help children in a very poor village outside Antigua, Guatemala, stay in school at least through the sixth grade. In Mexico I am involved with a charity that provides scholarships to young girls from the countryside with the purpose of enabling them to obtain at least a high school education and possibly go on to college.
My daughter, Sophia Fox-Long, continues to be a wonderful presence in my life. We have just returned to Mexico after her wedding in Salem, Mass. I am grateful for having been able to live in various places, from Taiwan to New York City to London to Roxboro to Mexico."
Some Davidsonians got together at the Kendrick family reunion in Charlotte, June 6. Barbara and Ed Crutchfield hosted the gathering at their lovely Quail Hollow home. All present were descendants of Richard Green Kendrick. Those present were Ed, Kenneth Owen '59, Towner Blackstock '94, and Elliott Crutchfield '91. Ed and Kenneth are third cousins. Kenneth is Towner's uncle. Elliott is Ed's son. (Somewhere, Chalmers Davidson '28 is keeping track of all that!)
1964
Secretary: Carlton Cole, 1009 Hardee Rd., Coral Gables, FL 33146-3329; fax, 305-667-9757; 305-667-7710 (b); carlton842@aol.com
By the time you read this, I hope to have seen many of you at the cluster reunion with the Classes of '63 and '65, at Davidson on September 11 and 12. Bill Mills was chairman for our class.
George Auman writes that he has recently retired and guesses that most in the class have also done that. (Ahem, this one has not!)
Terry Holland accepted George's invitation last March to give the keynote speech at a fundraiser for Loaves and Fishes, a non-profit in Raleigh that provides for needy children and their families there. Along with George, Davidson alumni in the audience included Tom Harris '62, Allen Millar '62, and Art Ross '65.
John Spratt gave the commencement address on May 9 to the Class of 2009 Corps of Cadets at The Citadel, which awarded John an honorary doctor of public administration degree. John is the second-ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee and a member of three subcommittees, Oversight and Investigations, Strategic Forces, and Air and Land Forces.
Keep those letters and e-mails coming.
1965
Secretary: John S. Curry, Box 2091, Asheville, NC 28802; 828-215-4512; john@johncurryattorney.com
Jack Stegman and his wife continue their activities in the music realm. He recently accompanied her to Carnegie Hall, where she sang in a 300-voice choir. Jack plays trombone in the Front Royal, Va., Community Band, which played summer concerts with the 29th Army Band and the Front Royal Oratorio.
For 25 years Jim Beasley has been listed in Best Lawyers, the oldest peer-review publication in the legal profession. He reports he has no intention of slowing down in his capacity as senior shareholder in the West Palm Beach firm of Beasley, Hauser, Kramer, Leonard, & Galardi, P.A., where his practice is focused on complex business litigation. Knowing the Madoff scandal impacted his hometown, I asked him if any of his cases involved that situation. His firm response: "No way!"
y call caught Pete Coggeshall arriving home from a round of golf, which he explained has become a frequent activity for him since retirement. While travel may be a pastime for many in his situation, he says he got enough time on airplanes and in hotels during his long career at Sonoco Products Company. The recreation activities afforded around Hartsville suit him just fine.
Utilizing his Ph.D. in history from Mississippi State University, Will Davis reports spending most of his career working in the State Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, focusing on the development of historic state parks. Since retirement 13 years ago, he has been teaching world history classes at a community college near his home in Brandon, Miss., just east of Jackson. Following in dad's scholarly footsteps, his son is also a Ph.D., but in English rather than history, and teaches at the University of Tennessee.
We all knew Steve Ramsburgh was committed to a career in medicine, so it comes as no surprise that he spent his first two professional decades as a general surgeon and then decided to develop a specialty in pathology. Since the mid-1990s, he has served on the faculty at the University of Michigan Medical School training students in the latter subject. He and his wife, Ellen, a South Carolina native, have been residents of Ann Arbor since 1972 and raised their family there.
His favorite Father's Day gift ever was a set of Davidson Wildcat golf club covers from his Class of '88 daughter, according to Jay Rogers. He assesses himself as still being "pretty much a regular old down-the-middle guy," still actively engaged in his career in sales and management at a company involved in petroleum storage and pumping equipment based in his home of Norfolk, Va.
Following a 35-year legal career in Colorado, Jim Downey pulled up stakes and accompanied his Queens grad wife, Eleanor, to her new employment in the department of social work at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. Their home looks out on the Snake River, affording lots of opportunities for fishing and other outdoor pastimes.
1966
Secretary: James J. Terry, 1103 Hardage Cir., Colleyville, TX 76034-6055; 817-421-8685; JJTerry@netbsa.org
Randy McKnight has recently retired from teaching 40 years at H.B. Woodlawn High School in Arlington, Va. Annually the school has been rated by Newsweek magazine as high as third best in the nation and most every year in the top 10. Randy assisted in the founding of the school and has served as the chair of the English department and as a college counselor. His wife, Judy, is an administrator at the same school. He looks forward to mentoring teachers but also to spending more time with family, especially the grandchildren.
It's a long way from St. George, Utah, to Salzburg, Austria, but Pete Bondanella recently made that trip. He was elected for membership in the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. Based in Salzburg, the academy is an interdisciplinary network of scholars from various fields who focus on scientific, social, cultural, and ethical issues concerning the region. Pete, who retired in 2007 after 35 years of service to Indiana University, is the first IU faculty member elected to the academy. Pete is widely known in the field of Italian studies, including Renaissance thinkers, the understanding of Italian literature, collaboration on numerous translations, and Italian cinema as well as Italian Americans in Hollywood films.
Tom Craig has written a new book based on the Civil War and the role the "Upcountry" (as opposed to the "Lowcountry") played. The book, Upcountry South Carolina Goes to War: Letters of the Anderson, Brockman, and Moore Families, 1853-1865, is published by the University of South Carolina Press and became available this past April. Tom is a descendant of the Moores.
Jeff Frank, the longtime tennis coach at Davidson, passed away May 30 in Mooresville after a brief illness. He was 64. While at Davidson, he played on the tennis team under Coach Harry Fogleman. After receiving his law degree at the University of Florida, Jeff returned to Davidson as the head tennis coach and became the winningest coach of any sport in the college's history. His record over his 33 years as coach was 536-309-1.
Davidson Athletic Director Jim Murphy '78 called Jeff an icon. "Coach Frank was the face of Davidson tennis for 34 years and touched the lives of hundreds of students. Throughout his career, Jeff helped mold the Davidson athletics culture we're so proud of today, and he will be sorely missed." Jeff was the founder of the Wildcat Tennis Camp, which is still in operation, and is a member of the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame.
Contributions in Jeff Frank's name to the Davidson Athletic Foundation will be used to continue his tennis legacy. Send checks to Davidson Athletic Foundation, Box 7172, Davidson, NC 28035-7172.
1967
Secretary: Bryant Hinnant, 8 Bittersweet Trail, Norwalk, CT 06853; 203-299-3231 (b); 203-855-9871 (h); 203-912-4861 (c); fax, 203-299-1355; bhinnant@att.net
Reagan Endowed Chair of Broadcasting and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research for the College of Communication and Information Sciences at The University of Alabama Dr. Jennings Bryant was awarded the Burnum Distinguished Faculty Award April 7. Jennings arrived at UA in 1987 to teach in the department of telecommunication and film. In 1989 he founded the Institute for Communication Research and served as director for more than 15 years. He has published 25 scholarly books and more than 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals; written more than 75 chapters published in edited scholarly books; and delivered more than 250 papers at national and international professional association conventions. He has served on the editorial boards of 15 scholarly journals, currently holding editorial board appointments on 11, and was founding co-editor of the journal Media Psychology. Jennings has received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Broadcast Education Association, the leading national scholarly association for broadcasting and telecommunications. He also has served as president and been elected a fellow of the preeminent international scholarly society in his field, the International Communication Association. Along the way it's rumored he actually managed to work in some classroom teaching.
Amazing who you can find on Facebook. Jim Timmons used it to send me an update. He's been the quintessential small town country doc in Kershaw, S.C., since 1976. While he claims to have slowed down and abandoned OB, hospital work, night calls, and weekends, efforts that obviously helped him see the value in slowing down, he still makes occasional house calls. Jim's still happily married to Beverly (39 years and counting), with three grown children (including daughter Julie '98 who married Karl Ruch '98) and eight grandkids. He enjoys anything outside and woodworking inside. More recently he enjoyed a small Beta reunion at the Davidson-Wofford basketball game with Mac Otts and Andy Beard '68.
Please keep Doris Tyler, wife of Don Tyler, in your thoughts. She's undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma, and is facing several months of strenuous treatment. You can reach Don and Doris at DTyler@tcjps.com.
If you're on Facebook, send me a link and an update. E-mail is welcome too.
1968
Secretary: Bruce Weihe, 1100 SE 6th St., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301; 954-568-7000 (w); fax, 954-568-2152; bweihe@sszrlaw.com
From the Alumni Office:
Our condolences to Steve Sands on the death of his brother, David Keith Sands, from cancer on April 6.
1969
Secretary: R. Anthony Orsbon, 2819 Rothwood Dr., Charlotte, NC 28211; 704-556-9600 (b); fax, 704-556-9601; torsbon@oandflaw.com
The sun never sets on the British Empire or the Class of '69....
Though not our class, I should note that our friend, Lester Strong '72, has been chosen as the chief executive officer of Experience Corps, a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C., whose aim is to be a signature program of civic ventures, a think tank on boomers, work, and social purpose. The program has made significant strides already in its reading program with young children.
Our dear classmate, Barry MacLean, died on May 27. Although I have no particulars at this writing, we send our heartfelt sympathy and collective good wishes to Barry's family.
Bob Reid was honored at Reunion Weekend with the Distinguished Alumnus Award, as well as being selected as the keynote speaker for the annual meeting of the Alumni Association. Bob, as you recall, is the bureau chief for the Iraq office of the Associated Press. As I suspected, Bob does not really intend to retire, and has recently reported to Kabul, Afghanistan, for further assignment, perhaps as propaganda chief for President Karzai.
Our own Cader Howard was a recipient of the Alumni Service Award at Reunion Weekend. Seeking a quote for this edition, I was told that Cader was "humbled," and that he is sure that the college administration is dipping low in the barrel to find honorees. Cader, we beg to disagree and express our high admiration of you as a '69er.
We had a good turnout for Reunion. Joe Gardner sent his regrets, but he was tending to the sad needs of settling things up after the recent deaths of both of his parents. We send our sorrow to Joe and look forward to the next reunion event with him. His son, Curtis, is moving to Africa to run a grassroots soccer program there.
Sam Aycock is riding Harleys quite often these days, with hard-drinking, leather-clad Laura behind him in the control seat, and at reunion they were headed to Montana to explore the wilds of Glacier National Park. "The Road and The Sky" will not be the same hereafter.
Karen Stevens was there to report on Nashville and the non-profit sector. She says she is very much a non-profit entity and needs our financial support for the good of youth in the City of Opry. Karen is fine and sends her best to all the class.
Richard Bagby is now finding the "light" in the use and development of solar panels for all types of energy uses.
Rusty Lacy is still a tilapia magnate, with one of the largest fish ranches in the nation. His favorite film of all time, of course, is The Little Mermaid.
Samuel Johnson is working in Greensboro with a kind and generous heart in the legal aid of abused and deprived children.
John Benbow avows that he will never retire from his medical practice, not only because he loves it so much, but there is always a chance that Julia Roberts will retire to Concord and need a good doctor.
Respectfully submitted, Your Humble Servant
From the Alumni Office:
Congratulation to K.D. Weeks on the birth of his grandson, Hobson Whitney Mulford (Class of 2031 he tells us!), to his daughter, Katherine Weeks Mulford '97, and her husband, David.
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