CLASS NOTES SUNY-Binghamton in New York. Early in his scholarly career, he got a Fulbright grant to Greece. He thinks his grant award was helped by a recommendation letter from Bill’s father, Carl Compton, president of Anatolia College in Thessaloniki. As I’ve mentioned before, Dr. Carl, who aided refugee Armenians after WWI, also taught history at Hermon while we all were still there. Bill, in South Hadley, Mass., and his late wife, Mary Lighthall Compton, were together in Northfield, as Bill ran the summer school for 16 years in the middle of the last century. Their daughter, Betsy Compton ’72, has been an NMH trustee. There’s a Compton Athletic Field on today’s campus, below Forslund Gym. And there’s a new faculty house named for Mary, in the meadow north of Crossley Hall. • Let me hear from you!
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Northfield Arlene Finch Reynolds arlenerey@aol.com Jackie Snyder Johnson, Irma Klein Schachter, Gratia Prince Graves, Fran Perry Leonard, Helen Hinman Bardwell, and
I spent three wonderful days reuniting as the class of 1945. Many welcoming alumni and staff cared for our every need. The food was delicious and plentiful. Many memories were brought back as the students drove us around the campus on golf carts (except Fran, who walked!). We enjoyed hearing the future plans for the school and had a rousing hymn and school sing—and an inspiring worship and remembrance service. All of us went down to the sundial, where we remembered our 11 classmates we lost in the past five years. Sadly, we toured our beloved Northfield campus. Jackie wrote the sentiments of us all: “The reunion was great but not long enough—it was so great talking and reminiscing with the old guys and gals!” • Irma came with her dear Joe. She received a rousing applause when it was announced that our class had given the largest amount, after the class of ’65! Thanks to her hard work, we have just two to go to reach 100 percent participation. • Due to her health and the need to be on oxygen, Helen could only come Saturday night for the dinner. Her grandsons often come to help her at home and she has a full-time caregiver. • I humbly received an Alumni Award for Community Service for 30 years of coordinating Bethlehem on Broad Street, volunteering for Church Women United, Habitat for Humanity, and Refugee Resettlement. I gave the $500 award to the newly formed Endowment Fund for Diversity and Social Justice at the school. My son, who accompanied me on the trip from Columbus, was there to help me celebrate, as well as my brothers, Carleton Finch ’41 and Ed Finch ’46, and their families. • Other classmates expressed their regrets that they were not able to join us for the reunion—Irene Eldredge Derby and Patricia Browning Paige. • Ann “Mickey” Miller Dean and husband Bob celebrated their 64th anniversary in April. At 87 and 92, they still sing in their
choir. They moved to Indianapolis three years ago to be near their children and grandchildren. • Grace Megirian Brewer has lived in Washington State for 10 years after moving from Massachusetts. Her daughter lives nearby. Grace sends a hello to everyone, especially those from East Hall. • Until her retirement, Eleanor “Ele” Cox Lawrie worked as a missionary, teacher, and school founder while raising three daughters. Ele and her daughter Cindi are writing a book about their experiences on their Christian faith journeys in mission life. Her work took her many places, including the Inspirational Tapes Library in Phoenix, and the Elim Bible Institute in Lima, N.Y., following which she founded a girls’ school in Kenya. She also worked with Cindi in college counseling at the Youth With A Mission organization in the United Nations. They lived and worked in Hawaii and Sweden for 22 years. Ele left the mission field after 50 years of service and lives in a retirement center in Concord, Mass. • After graduation, Carol Bengston Steuart became a nurse and married Dick. As a West Point wife, she lived in numerous places in the U.S., in Germany (1957–58), and then Okinawa, Japan. During this time, she and Dick had three sons and two daughters (Julianne Steuart Johnston ’71 and Suzanne Steuart Thoburn ’73). She continued using her nursing skills and, upon retirement from the Army, the Steuarts became farmers while Carol was the town librarian. In 1979, Carol and Dick joined the Wycliffe Bible Translators, learned French in Switzerland, and sailed with their two youngest children to Cameroon, where Carol worked in nursing with a tribe in the jungle for two years. They later moved to Mali and worked in food distribution with the United Nations. They have retired to a village in Viera, Fla., where they recently celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary! • Arden Fish Pierce lives in California and relays that her husband, Hiram, has health issues. Four of their eight granddaughters have been married this year, two of them in Texas and two in California. One bride’s mother is her daughter, Virginia Cordray Harrington ’71. One of the marriages had two large ceremonies in India. Arden also has family living in Hershey, Penn., where her grandson-in-law works in pediatric rheumatology. She says that she and Hiram mostly spend
Northfield’s class of ’45 at their 70th reunion
quiet days at home, are visited by family and friends, attend the senior lunch program; they hope to resume international folk dancing when Hiram’s health improves. • Norma Salley Lundquist writes, “My dearest friend and Northfield roommate, Marilyn Crafter Kiscaden, passed peacefully on 5/18/15. She leaves four children.”
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Mount Hermon Pete Devenis ingadevenis@aol.com
At our 70th reunion, we had seven Mt. Hermon and six Northfield classmates return to enjoy the school’s hospitality, various activities, and, most of all, the friendship of classmates and their families. My admiration goes especially to those in wheelchairs, with walkers, and on oxygen who made the effort to be there. • The returnees were Paul Carver and son Randy; Ted Covel with daughters Laurel, Linda, Shaun, and son Todd; Peter Devenis with wife Inga; Ed Humphrey with daughter Sharon, son-in-law Ray, and granddaughter Cristina; Don Krueger with wife Anneliese; and Cal Swan with daughter Diane and son-in-law Chris. • We had also expected Bill Bahnson from nearby Greenfield, who, for health reasons, declined to attend; and Richard Kessler, whose wife had recent medical procedures and did not feel well enough to travel. • You may be wondering why some of the previous recent reunion attendees were not there. On the way to Florida in March, Inga and I stopped at Annapolis to have dinner with Judy and Carnot Evans. We have kept in touch with Colin Selley’s friend, Sallie Thoma, who lives nearby. She is in touch with Colin’s daughter, who reports that Colin is now assisted by a caretaker and would have trouble traveling. His daughter, Linda Down, writes, “He gets mail from people and others stop by to visit, and he has no clue who they are, so to go through a major upheaval to get him there, only for him not to know anyone, doesn’t make sense either.” Howard “Buzz” Spellman’s wife, Mollie, passed away in 2012. Buzz writes, “I’m in an assisted-living facility called Arcadia Gardens, Calif. Would love to attend with my grandson, but circumstances will not permit. Have several salutes to yourselves with my favorite: cold martinis with two big green olives.” Dick Unsworth’s wife, Joy Merritt Unsworth, passed away in April 2014. Dick has moved to Arlington, Mass. He doesn’t drive anymore and did not feel well enough to go to reunion on his own. Robert Dorr was not able to attend because his wife, Dorothy, has health problems, and the journey from Kingsport, Tenn., would have been difficult. Ed Hampson’s wife, Anna, reported that Ed suffered a stroke recently and would not be able to attend. • For me, one of the highlights of the reunion was to receive an Alumni Citation, presented by Awards Committee Chair David Hickernell ’68 and the head of school at Memorial Chapel. My citation was “in recognition of both his extraordinary career
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