IN MEMORIAM
JOHN MURRAY CUDDIHY ’39
FRANCIS G. DWYER ’41
John Murray Cuddihy ’39 died on April 18, 2011. Jack was born in 1922 in New York City, one of seven children of H. Lester Cuddihy, chairman of Funk and Wagnalls publishing company, and Julia Murray Cuddihy. The Cuddihy family was written about in Real Lace, Stephen Birmingham’s book on the so-called First Irish Families.
Francis G. “Gerry” Dwyer ‘41, of Middletown, RI, and Jupiter, FL, died on November 11, 2011. Gerry entered Georgetown University after graduation from Portsmouth and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943. He served first during WWII in the 4th and 6th Marine Divisions and again during the Korean War, and was released from active duty in 1952 with the rank of Captain. He graduated from Georgetown in 1947. Gerry was active in local and state civic and government affairs, serving from 1954-58 in the R.I. House of Representatives. From 1959-62, he was chairman of the R.I. Turnpike and Bridge Authority and then was campaign manager for John Chafee’s successful 1962 and 1964 runs for Governor. He also worked on Chafee’s U.S. Senate campaigns. Gerry worked for many years with his father in the family real estate and insurance business, Gustave J.S. White, serving as president from 1975 until he sold the business in the 1990s. He leaves his wife, Jane (Harlow) Dwyer, stepchildren Allen and Andrew OBrion, and their families.
After graduating from the Priory, where he played tennis and wrote for The Raven, Jack went to Georgetown University. He received three master’s degrees: two from Columbia University and a third from the New School for Social Research in New York City. He completed a Ph.D. in Sociology at Rutgers University and taught at Vassar College, Columbia University, and the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry before taking a position in the Sociology Department at Hunter College. He was also a senior fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a member of the doctoral faculty at the Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York. Jack’s fascination with Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell in the 1950s resulted in five scrapbooks of his, including exhibition catalogues, and hundreds of newspaper and magazine clippings, being part of the permanent collection at MOMA. Jack married Heidi DeHaven in 1961. They were at the epicenter of a colorful and often contentious group of Greenwich Village intellectuals. Jeffrey Hart wrote of Jack in his memoir of National Review: “An imaginative sociologist who taught at Hunter College, he later wrote the minor classic, The Ordeal of Civility: Marx, Freud, and Levi-Strauss and the Jewish Struggle with Modernity. This book became a kind of underground scandal, though also prestigious. Jack had a good sense of humor. For example one day I asked him how come Ernest van den Haag was so successful with women. The correct answer, I supposed, was his continental charm, and his André Malraux combination of man-of-thought and man-of-action. But Jack said, ‘The women are just curious. They want to see if he’s as funnylooking with his clothes off as he is with them on.’” Heidi predeceased Jack by five months. Their three children – Heidi, Julia and John – survive Jack. Three of Jack’s brothers also came to Portsmouth— Robert ’42, Thomas ’45 and Michael ’49. The Portsmouth Abbey community offers its sympathies to the Cuddihy family.
GEORGE C. MOORE ’49 George C., 81, of New York and Watch Hill, RI, died on October 19, 2011, after suffering from complications due to a bicycle accident. After graduation from Portsmouth, he attended Bowdoin College and served as a private in the U. S. Army, stationed in Germany during the post-World War II occupation, in special service entertaining troops. For four decades, George worked for the George C. Moore Co., most recently as executive vice president, a familyowned elastic-manufacturing business. For decades George was a blood bank volunteer and did “sing-alongs” for nursing home patients in New York and Florida. A gifted pianist, musicologist and daily swimmer, he brought great joy to others over the years by performing and singing. George leaves his wife of 50 years, Audrey Connell Moore; his sons, George and Nicholas ‘83; and their families. Family members who attended Portsmouth include his brother, Geoffrey ’44, a cousin, Charlie ’55, and brothers-in-law Gordon McShane ’41 and George Connell ’53.
BARRIE GARTRELL FITZSIMONS P ’84,’86 Barrie Gartrell FitzSimons, wife of David K. FitzSimons ’56 and mother of David ’84 and William ’86, died December 4, 2011. A resident of Grosse Pointe Farms and Harbor Springs, MI, as well as Vero Beach, FL, Barrie was a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and later received an honorary doctorate degree from Siena Heights College in Michigan. She was an accomplished interior designer and a dedicated volunteer, active in a number of community and civic organizations. Barrie held the position of president of the Sigma Gamma Association; was a trustee of the Detroit Institute of Children and the University Liggett School; and was a director of the Wequetonsing Golf Club. She was an active member of the Garden Club of Michigan, the Grosse Pointe Garden Club, and the John’s Island Garden Club. In addition, Barrie was a docent for the Detroit Institute of Arts and a member of the Junior League of Detroit. In addition to her husband and sons, she is survived by her daughters, Kerry Wilson and Allison LaFramboise, and 10 grandchildren.
WINTER BULLETIN 2012
PAGE 63