Col. William B. DeGraf
November 2002
It has been a long hot summer, but that is about at an end. Still, life for the class has been very busy. As most of you know, your Board of Governors met to get the planning for the 55th Reunion underway, although we already had our hotel reserved. In the meantime a number of us will enjoy the HI cruise this Sept.
Win Skelton represented the Class at the Class Leaders Conference at West Point. AOG is really trying to improve the communication with the alumni.
We have a couple of newcomers to the Class. John McClearydropped me a line, telling me that he had married MarciaJacolson on 13 April in Scottsdale, AZ. They will be spending summers in cool Monterey, CA and winters in warm Scottsdale.
Shortly after that came a wedding announcement from Vern Quarstein, saying that he had married Priscilla Ann Hill on 3 August in South Dartmouth, MA. Congratulations to both couples.
Down in Norfolk, VA Lyman Hammond is still very active with the MacArthur Foundation. Recently it held a symposium on the Korean War, which was attended not only by Lyman but also byJim Tormey, Ed Pierce, and Mark Hanna. Mark brought along his son Mark ‘73, who recently retired from the Army. Time does fly by.
Last December Dick & Carol Steuart held a Golden Anniversary party in Melbourne, FL. Included in the celebrants were Andy & Doris Byers, Bob & Carolyn Hughes, Ben & Malvene Lewis, and Pete & Carolyn Todsen. A month later Dick returned to war-torn Sudan for 3 months working with the Under the Treesprogram he started in 2000. The picture shows Dick with one of his classes in Panthou. The program has some 900 students enrolled.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ben & Malvene Lewis, their children had a surprise brunch for them in early June at the Army/Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA. To start it off they rented a stretch limo for the day including a show at the Kennedy Center after the brunch. While the Lewises were in VA, they visited Sam & Tillie Smithers. They were joined there by Sandy Oliver up from TX for a granddaughter’s graduation from McLean HS.
In August Wendy & Joy Phillips celebrated their 60thanniversary; 60th month, that is. They held it in the same room at Lake-of-the-Woods, VA as their wedding reception and once again filled it with friends and family from all over, including many classmates, wives, and widows.
An e-mail from Jane Fox reported that she has returned home to Ewing, NJ from TN, where she had been doing research on the Fox family history. Once again she will be at her post in the local hospital as a volunteer twice a week, as she has been for 22 years.
For the past seven years Hank Strickland has run the Service Academy candidate selection for Rep. Tom Davis of VA. A total of 156 men and women have been offered appointments under Hank’s guidance with many more than his share actually entering. The picture shows 14 of the current group of 21 nominees. That is Hank on the right. Tom Davis is 4th from the left.
A postcard from Fran Pick Dillard told of river cruising in Holland and Belgium. They enjoyed side trips to The Hague, Delft, and Floriade and several days in Amsterdam.
A merry reunion was held in San Antonio, TX at the home of Bob & Troy Chambers, when Tom & “Sam” Strider came by for a visit. Bill Mastoris joined them, entertaining the group with his mandolin.
Al & Bettie Crawford hosted their “clan” of 22 for a week in Maui in late June, returning to find that the Rodeo-Cewdeski forest fire was headed their way. The fire came within five miles of their place on Rainbow Lake, CO.
We also have a number of items concerning Class offspring.
At the Board meeting Ty Tandler gave me a card about the book his son Rich has written “Redskins A to Z.” Any of you who are dyed in the wool fans can go to www.redskinsatoz.com to get more information on it. Seems it has all the past games and stats.
The Governor of CT has as part of his state militia an organized Horse Guard. Command of the Second Company recently was given to Major Janis Arena, the daughter of our own Bill Eichorn. She is the first woman to ever hold the job of commandant in the 225 year history of the guard.
Clark & Barbara Martin sent in a picture of their granddaughter Barbara Antis ‘02, showing her at graduation in full dress. She is Suzi’s daughter. The Martins had had Thayer Hotel reservations since her plebe year, but unfortunately Clark was hospitalized and they missed the excitement. Luckily he has recovered nicely.
Army C/S Gen. Shinseki just announced that Volney & Janice Warner’s son Volney ‘76, who has been selected for BG, is being assigned as Chief, Office of Military Cooperation, Afghanistan.
Also Dick & Ruth Newton’s son Richard III, also a new BG but in the USAF, will be the Director, Military Personnel Data Systems Program Office in the Pentagon.
A rather interesting item comes from ex-classmate Bob Glascock. Kathy Anne, daughter of Bob & Dottie will represent AZ as a swimmer in the Special Olympics in Ireland this Fall. The Glascocks have three other children: Karen in Durango, CO, Douglas in Harrison, AR, and Bob in Riverside, CA.
In July Morris & Faith Herbert took two granddaughters, Allison Lewis and Emily Kleinberg, to Juneau and Glacier Bay, AK. They had a grand, if exhausting, time including flights over the glaciers and whale watching. Keeping up with two teenagers takes a lot of energy.
I am saddened to report the death of Ed Boyle on 15 July after a long illness with brain cancer. Although he died in PA, he was buried at Arlington with many of the class present. He is survived by his wife Jean; two sons, George and Bob; and a daughter Susan; and two step-children, Michael and Sharon Galloway. Jean’s address is 419 Chandlee Dr., Berwyn, PA 19312.
Our sympathy goes to the whole family.
Lou Genuario reports that as of Eddie Boyle's death on 15 July we have 209 deceased, 127 obituaries published, 82 due less 6 widows declined, 6 to be published in the next few months leaving 70 to go. Of the 70 we have 32 committed writers who are working on the problem. We will soon be in touch with those 32 and will identify others for the remaining. If you have already committed to prepare an obituary please try to complete your work as soon as possible. We will be in touch with each of you to see where we can be of help.
That’s thirty for this issue. Here’s to a great Army football season.