graduate news
Top: (left to right) Ted Burt ’60, Mike Sherman ’68 and Fred Richardson ’44 at Belmont Hill School Prize Day. Left: Franklin King IV, son of Nick King ’68, graduates from UMass Medical School.
taught 32 years of chemistry and is an exemplary schoolman. As for me, I finished my 41st year of teaching math, 25 of which were as chair of the department, and still am going strong.” Nick King reports that there is indeed a doctor in the King house. His elder son, Franklin King IV (see photo above) graduated in June from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He is doing his residency in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital. OK, then, let the psychiatrist jibes begin!
1969 Class Correspondent
Peter Pach 860-267-9701 pbp06456@sbcglobal.net
50 Nobles fall 2013
Peter Pach writes, “A spring trip to Chicago to visit my daughter at the University of Chicago reminded me that there are interesting places and things to do outside of New England. I revisited a few places I’d seen as a boy when we lived there for a few years, north of the city.” Wigs Frank reports, “I just returned from my 40th reunion at Yale, where I had a chance to catch up with Jeff Lawrence. It was great fun, but where were you, Wes Wellington? Jeff and I realized that next spring will be our Nobles 45th. Wouldn’t it be great if we all made an effort to show up in Dedham spring 2014?” Stew Young solidified his political career with his election to a second three-year term as a selectman in Gosnold, the smallest town in Massachusetts, which consists of the Elizabeth Islands off of Woods Hole. He reports, “There are lots of challenges—along with being on the Board of Health, and Planning Board, Water Commissioner and Police Commissioner
(still don’t have a badge)—but it’s an incredibly rewarding job. The sewer pipe into Vineyard Sound continues to plague me, although we are slowly but surely converting over to septic systems for individual houses. Climate change and rising sea levels are no abstract notion when you see the barrier beach that protects the harbor broken through by winter storms. Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management refuses to let us complete a revetment that would provide permanent protection, even though the Corps of Engineers says it’s the only way. Former Senator Kerry’s office has been very helpful, but the state CZM holds the power.” Stew offers a clue as to why voters re-elected him: “My first foray into town grant writing was a great success resulting in $2,100,000 from the USDA Rural Electrification program to install a photovoltaic system for Cuttyhunk Island. Last year, I spent all of August and September on Uncatena Island, at the east end of Gosnold, near Woods Hole. I survived Hurricane Sandy, but it got scary. At one point, I moved from the living room with a big plate glass window to the kitchen in the back of the house. Overall damage was minor (pictures on Facebook).” Steve Baker checked in from Cape Cod. “Alas, I have nothing to say, unless you want to talk about grass. I mean, real grass: the stuff you mow. We installed a septic system last December, leaving what seemed like a half acre of mud and sand. We were finally able to get the irrigation system fixed and got the sandy deserts reloamed, and as of May 31,
reseeded. Today’s rainstorm was so severe here that the entire area looks destroyed. More mud! Other than that, everything’s great.” Brad Wilkinson may have set the record for significant life events in a short time. He writes, “The last seven months have been very active for me. Although I have left my medical practice, I prefer to say that I am not retired but rather re-focusing my career. I work as a volunteer physician at a clinic in Hartford three days a week and travel on medical missions two or three times a year. All very rewarding. At home, the last six months saw the deaths of my mother and Mary’s stepmother, as well as one wedding and the births of two grandsons. I also flew to Thailand in early February to be with my 37-year-old son, who had been medevac’d to a Bangkok hospital from his home in Vietnam, where he came down with very high fevers. Long story short, turns out he had a fish bone in his pancreas, of all things, and had to be flown to Mass General for surgery. The whole thing took about a month. Wishing all my classmates the very best, and already looking forward to our 45th next year!” Peter Pach continues, “I often get news of Brad from my son who is volunteering as a Spanish translator in the health clinic in Hartford, where Brad provides medical care. In their downtime, Brad tells my son stories about our younger days in which my foibles seem to be highlighted. With our 45th on the horizon, it would be nice to hear from those of you who have been out of touch and, if you have changed emails, send along your new one.”