CLASS OF ’59 – May/June 2008
Five classmates attended the 103rd annual Mid-Winter Meeting of the Cornell Assn of Class Officers (CACO) in Philadelphia on February 8-9: Dave Dunlop, Barbara Hirsch Kaplan, Bill Day, and George and Bobbie Greig Schneider. Writes George: “All but Bill joined Barb and her husband Les at a favorite Italian restaurant, where we enjoyed a great meal and held a mini class meeting.” A major topic of conversation at CACO was our 50th reunion on June 4-7, 2009. Mark your calendars! Class officers are starting a list of folks who are planning to attend, or at least think they may come. Let us know; you can contact me at the address/email at the end of this column.
Gerald (Jerry) Schlutz, whose eye clinics have offices in Indio and Yucca Valley, CA, is also Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Loma Linda U. He continues to focus his studies on a hereditary anomaly called autosomal dominant cornea plana, or microcornea, a condition in which corneal size is substantially smaller in diameter than normal. Jerry and colleagues at the UCLA corneal genetics lab have so far been unsuccessful in efforts to isolate the gene causing this condition. Their recent work has been published in the June 2007 issue of Ophthalmic Genetics and has been presented at meetings of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and the International Congress of Ophthalmology. Jerry also included the subject in courses he chaired on ophthalmic genetics held in Hyderabad, India, and at a medical school in Bangkok, Thailand. Jerry’s work in India has included participation in cataract camps for the poor and demonstration surgery at meetings via closed television.
Radiologist Eddie Wind, who lives in a secluded woody area in West Hills, NY, “would enjoy hearing from those I knew in the past.” (Come to reunion, Eddie!) He continues to work full time at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, where he has practiced for more than 40 years. He welcomed his fourth grandchild on New Year’s Day. Proud mom, a former legal aid attorney, resides in Manhattan and devotes her non-parenting time to animal welfare and healthy school luncheons. Eddie’s son and daughter-in-law, parents of three, are physicians and live in Evanston, IL.
Barbara Specht Drewry of West Harrison, NY teaches at the Audubon Center in Greenwich, CT and works at her community’s historical center, where she creates displays that focus on local history. Martha (Chris) Drake Young writes that her husband Chapman (Chan) has been commuting to Italy, where he is completing mounting his rock-breaking invention on special machines that work in the Frejus railroad tunnel between Italy and France. His invention is called CFI, controlled foam injection. It breaks rock without explosions, gases or fly rock. He has received requests for information and demonstrations from South Africa, New Hampshire, and, closer to home, the Henderson Mine in Colorado. “So much for retirement!” says Chris. She continues to see clients in her private practice of psychology. She also volunteers on the Hayden Ambulance as an EMT, and during this past winter worked as a ski patroller at Howelsen Hill.
Thanks to Ron Demer for sending along several Christmas letters. Art Geoffrion, who lives in Santa Monica, writes that he and his wife “rendezvoused frequently with our daughters’ families” during the year and asks readers to imagine a beautiful scene: “500 goats of all colors grazing on unwanted Canada thistle weed in a lakeshore meadow, mountains and fluffy white clouds in the background, with several herding Border Collies keeping the goats on task. This is what we saw for several days from our condo windows in Frisco (near Breckenridge) during our usual summer month there. Organic weed control at its pastoral best!” Art “plods dutifully” through serious daily workouts but his main passions continue to run in non-physical directions, chiefly genealogy, service to certain professional organizations and schools, and reading. A 2007 highlight for him was his first trip to the National Archives and the Library of Congress in Washington to research family history—“the results were even more abundant than expected!”
Last summer Rochester residents Bert ’49 and Gail Freeman Warner enjoyed a 14-day river-boat cruise from Amsterdam to Vienna. The MS River Discovery, launched in early 2007, was “so superior to our previous river-boat experience in accommodations and layout,” writes Gail; “excellent food, crew and scenery!” Jim and Gwen Glenn finally moved into their new abode home in Taos, NM, designed by Gwen’s brother and built by Taos Indians on land the Glenns bought in 1971. They christened the house in March 2007 with a family reunion during which their four older grandkids skied for the first time—with help from their more proficient adult relatives. Kent Hewitt and his wife Myra Maloney Hart ’62 have moved to 98 Common St., Belmont, MA—a condominium within walking distance of daughter Holly and her family. They welcomed their 5th grandchild, Sean Ryan Russo , into the world on March 20, 2007.
• Jenny Tesar, 97A Chestnut Hill Village, Bethel, CT 06801; tel., (203) 792-8237; e-mail, jet24@cornell.edu.