By John D. Hatch III
YAM@Yale62.org
From Tim Hall: “I was home doing an e-mail earlier this morning, when I heard a knock on the front door. I opened it, and standing in front of me was Michael Fulenwider, a classmate from both Yale ’62 and MIT Sloan School MBA! We hadn’t seen each other since we left the Sloan School in the mid 1960s. My main memory of him was from MIT, and I had forgotten that he was also in our Yale class. I think he graduated with the class of ’63, but he said he was at our 60th last spring, and he raved about the panel on living in our 80s.
“He couldn’t stay long, but he came in and sat down, and we had a quick catch-up. We plan to have a longer visit soon. The small world strikes again! I think for a lot of us, at this point in our lives, we have a strong interest in reconnecting with old friends. I’m grateful to have all the opportunities we have with the class website, coffee hours, and alumni magazine to be in such close contact with so many folks in Y62!”
Phil Proctor shares the array of his medical providers, a story not unfamiliar to many of us, I suspect: “Although I’m losing my eyesight to macular degeneration, like too many of us, my retinologist, Dr. Hanscom, is ‘keeping an eye on it’ and slowing its progression; Dr. Geoffrey Grant is also monitoring my overall health; Dr. Cho is keeping track of my heart; Dr. Van Osdel, my teeth and gums; and thanks to my neurologist, Dr. Lisa Cook, I’ve regained my mobility, thanks to the non-addictive painkiller Lyrica. And thus ends my ‘organ recital’ for 2022!”
In mid-February, 18 classmates gathered on Zoom to share the insights they had developed while writing their own obituaries. They had responded to an offering, from the Y’62 communications team before Christmas, and more specifically from Gary Richardson’s wife, Diane Ronayne, to assist the process with guidance materials, responses to individual drafts, and editing. The online Zoom gathering provided a chance to raise questions, hear others’ insights, and receive final suggestions and encouragements for completing the obituaries from Diane. The intrepid were Roger Lauer, Charles Flinn, Ed Rowan, Charlie Grant, Peter Clark, John Stewart, Pearce Hurley, Tim Hall, Gary Richardson, Bob Stokstad, Ken Campbell, Herrick Jackson, Joe Young, Peter Sipple, Charlie Valier, Bob Breault, and Jay Hatch. Too many insightful comments and suggestions were made to share here, but a comment by Gary set the tone: “I’ll try to pull together a résumé of my careering vocations, an outline of my lifelong inability to narrow my focus. I’ll blame Directed Studies! I often think of my series of employment adventures as living my novel. Others might see it as an inability to hold down a steady job.”
If you’re interested in writing your own obit, you can find the recording of the Zoom gathering at our website, Yale62.org, where you will also find the list of resources Diane provided.
Changed careers during your life? Vocations? Why and how? What was the connecting arc across them? These and other questions were answered in part via presentations by Roscoe Sandlin, Rod Quainton, Bud Baker, Tom Triplett, and Gary Richardson at the Y’62 March Coffee Hour. Bud conceived and organized the session, with the assistance of Tim Hall. Audience sharing of their own experiences and questions followed. The lively session can be found at Yale62.org, where you can also add in your two bits.
Have an idea of a Coffee Hour session or topic? Please do let us know. You won’t have to develop and present it unless you want to, but your communications team will be glad to receive the concept from you.
Finally, we regret the passing of classmates Roman Weil, Christopher ‘Kit’ Kincade, Ken Tuggle, Lew Spratlan,and Toby Berger. Obituaries are now present on the website for all but Toby, and his may be posted by the time you read this. We are thankful for their lives and all of the many contributions they made.