1947 Meg Bernier Boyd classnews1947@alum.colby.edu The Cambridge Senior Volunteer Clearinghouse in Cambridge, Mass., awarded the Beverly Benner Cassara Award in June to Judy Norris of the Women’s Center in Cambridge. Established in 2008 and named after Beverly, the award recognizes a senior volunteer who “embodies Beverly’s unique and long-term commitment to the ideals of productive aging, lifelong learning, and the understanding that volunteering is an enduring resource for the entire community.” Beverly received the first award in 2008 and remains active with the organization. Y Dana and Harriet Nourse Robinson moved to Concord, N.H., six years ago to a continuing-care facility called HavenwoodHeritage Heights. It’s a special place with numerous activities. They found a single story home across the street from Harriet’s sister, Fran Nourse Johnston ’49, and her husband. The move worked out well, as one son in Portland and another in Middlebury visit more frequently than when the couple lived in Florida. When they made their last trip to China, in 2002, Dana and Harriet attended the opening of their oldest son’s law firm. He arranged a major 80th birthday party for Dana, which was attended by their Chinese friends whom they met during the 1993-97 period when they lived in Beijing. Sadly, Harriet died Aug. 15 and Dana died Sept. 17. They submitted this news before they both passed.
1948 David and Dorothy Marson classnews1948@alum.colby.edu Mike and Kay Weisman Jaffe recently traveled to Finland and Norway and even were above the Arctic Circle and on the border of Russia. Northern Finland is famous for reindeer, and Mike and Kay saw some big and little ones. There are images of Santa Claus all year round and some beautiful lake country, too. In Norway they spent five days going through the fjords on what was called a ferry, but it had fine accommodations and great food, though the rooms were smaller than a cruise ship. It stopped at many big and small ports and, when it stayed long enough, they could visit some charming and interesting towns. They were in Bergen for Norway’s National Day and saw a parade. They had every organization and school with separate sections and lots of bands and children’s groups, most in costumes. From Bergen to Oslo they went via ferry and old-fashioned train through the mountains and then a modern train into Oslo. They now have seven great-grandchildren (one
couple has four)—so many that Kay doesn’t always remember to send birthday cards on time. As someone said to her, I don’t have a memory, I have a “forgetery.” Kay wrote, “at least I remembered to send this and hope you are both well.” Kay wanted us to tell all the Class of 1948, “Thank you for your support of the College.” Y Janet Gay Hawkins doesn’t have much going on but she’ll have more to report after her trip to France in September. We look forward to hearing about it. Y David received a letter from Bobo Folino in response to his letter of condolence regarding Buddy (Fran Folino). She lives in Vermont. She sent a long letter as well as the program for Buddy’s memorial service. The cover of the program was a reproduction of the May 1948 Colby Alumnus with a picture of Bobo and Buddy titled “Seniors.” It was a very appropriate tribute! Y We attended this year’s commencement at Colby, the 190th, to see our grandson, Mark McNulty ’11, graduate. Our daughter, Deborah (Marson ’75), and David marched in the baccalaureate and commencement processions and the combined Marson, Moller, and McNulty clans totaled nine attendees. Although it rained a little on Saturday, the sun came out on Sunday and, as usual, commencement was a wonderful event held outdoors.
1949 Anne Hagar Eustis classnews1949@alum.colby.edu Time for a bit of news from the ’49ers. Jean Desper Thurston reports that in mid-June four former residents of Mower House had a mini-reunion. Elizabeth (Betsy) Brown Gordon, Elaine Noyes Cella, and Janet (Peanut) Pride Davis gathered at Jean’s home in Nobleboro, Maine. They caught up on lives, reminisced, and had a great tour of the Colby art museum, making a stop to view the old site behind the former Foss Hall. Unfortunately Kathryn Garrick Alex and Jean (Jeb) Bonnell Day were unable to attend as planned and were missed. Hopefully next time! Janet adds that they went to Moody’s Diner for breakfast. Having seen Mower House today, she now knows “why my father was not very impressed with our quarters.” Heat and humidity notwithstanding, Peanut enjoyed the summer with her children, their wives and husbands, and her grandchildren, the eldest of which “graduated from Northeastern in June and is employed!” Three others are seniors in college—at Towson in Maryland, and Endicott and Gordon in Mass. The last two are a junior and a senior in high school. Peanut thinks of our Colby years often. Y I recived an e-mail from James Pearl, who
reports the “old” news that 16 years ago he started a new business manufacturing fireplace mantels. These mantels are built by two furniture factories in China, and his company distributes them to building supply companies, hearth shops, and Internet companies, all of which keeps him busy and out of trouble. His best news is that due to “a wayward daughter who gave us a grandson, Carter, three years ago, and because of circumstances, we have had custody for almost the entire three years. What a blessing!” Thank you Jean and Jim for responding to my blast e-mail. Y Hope (Toby) Harvey Graf and I went to reunion as we usually do. ’49ers were scarce—only seven were on the registration list and all those were Mainers. We visited with Ruth Endicott Freeman, who was there with her daughter, and spied Kay and Walter Borucki at the lobster bake. Y That does it for now. In three months I’ll send out another e-mail requesting news and will hope to hear from some of the rest of you.
1950 Betsy (Dudie) Jennings Maley classnews1950@alum.colby.edu Joan Seekins Golden McDermott had lunch with Nancy Ardiff Boulter, Ginny Davis Pearce, Barbara Starr Wolf, Gloria Gordon Goldman, and Connie Foxcroft Perrigo recently. She told them about her trip to France for the 67th reunion of the 1944 crash of a B24 on which Paul Golden ’49 flew as a navigator during World War II. Paul was Joan’s first husband, who died in 1974 of a sudden heart attack. Joan traveled to the Cote d’Azur and Maritime Alps with her oldest son, Kevin Golden, and her husband of 25 years, Frank McDermott. The story of the crash begins May 27, 1944, when the B24 Liberator 252399, The Flak Finder, flew from Toretto Field, south of
Foggia, Cerignola, Italy, on its 23rd mission. The pilot was Lt. Gerald Maroney and the navigator Paul Golden ’49. The target was the airdrome at Salon De Provence, France. A nest of Ju-88 aircraft had been raiding shipping in the Mediterranean. The group was greeted by heavy flak at the French coast near Nice. The Flak Finder was hit in the wing and tail and left the formation, turned toward land, hoping to fly to Switzerland. The engine caught fire and Paul informed the pilot that they were losing altitude and couldn’t clear the mountains. Ten men parachuted and the plane crashed into the Pic de l’Aigle east of Thorens near Le Mas, 30 kilometers north of Grasse. The plane burned for three days and the airmen were scattered over an area of 20 miles. The Germans captured four of the airmen but the other six were hidden by the French Resistance and given food, clothing, and some shelter for three months. All 10 safely returned to the U.S. after the war. Fast forward to the present, when Paul’s grandson found an account of a memorial and anniversary celebration of this rescue in a French newspaper and also a PBS personal oral account by O.B. Streepers, the tail gunner and only living crew member. Joan’s son, Kevin, met in Illinois with Streepers and his daughter, who knew the granddaughter of Edouard Parmelin, the Frenchman who hid Paul, Streepers, and the radio operator. A trip to France was planned, and Joan, Frank, and Kevin were guests of Parmelin’s extended family. They visited the remains of bunkers along the Mediterranean coast that delivered the flak, the American landing site near San Raphael, and then spent five nights in Le Mas, a town on the mountainside at the site of castle ruins with only 30 year-round residents. Parmelin bought the monastery in Le Mas after the war and his granddaughter now owns it. Joan’s family climbed and
30s/40s newsmakers Mary Palmer Mills ’33 turned 100 Oct. 28. A resident of Palo Alto, Calif., for more than 50 years, Mills was born in Hinckley, Maine, where, the story goes, a doctor surgically removed a rib from the 5-year-old pneumonic Mills on the kitchen table to ease her breathing. Mills now practices yoga and solves difficult crossword puzzles. She fondly remembers Colby’s old campus yet has never visited Mayflower Hill. F Norfolk State University (NSU) awarded William T. Mason Jr. ’47 an honorary degree May 7. Mason earned William T. Mason Jr. ’47 his law degree from Howard University in 1950 and became the first African-American assistant U.S. attorney for Virginia’s Eastern District. The longest-serving member of the NSU Foundation board, Mason, still a practicing lawyer, has provided leadership and support to NSU, including establishing a scholarship fund in his name.
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