at which he was a perfectionist. Due to being colorblind, he was unable to fly airplanes in World War II, so he trained as an aviation mechanic and served in the Army. Mr. Howson was predeceased by his beloved wife, Joan Rodemann Howson, in 2004 after 56 years of marriage. He is survived by his five children: Arthur L. Howson, Jr. and wife, Anne, of Greenville, SC, Timothy E. Howson and wife, Abby, of Westboro, MA, Richard H. Howson and wife, Tamar, of Princeton, NJ, Meredith Howson Tifft and husband, Douglas, of Elmira, NY, and Anne R. Howson of Boston, MA; nine grandchildren; and two brothers, Richard Howson of Lagos, Portugal, and Robert D. Howson of Eugene, OR.
until his death, he served as the president of the beach club, and as member of the Sailfish Club and the Yacht Club in Palm Beach FL. Mr. Brekus is survived by his wife of 59 years, Trudy Brennan Brekus; one son, Richard, and his wife Sheryne, of Allendale, NJ; two daughters, Carol Watson of Madison, CT, and Catherine Sontheimer of Kenilworth, IL; and six grandchildren.
John W. Clark Jr. ’47 died September 25, 2011. He was born March 19, 1929, the son of John and Betty Clark of Darien, CT. He attended South Kent School and graduated from Yale University in 1952. A teacher of English at Mount Hermon School for 37 years, he retired in 1992 and relocated to Brunswick, ME, and Tuftonboro, NH. John was preceded in death by his first wife, Ann; sisters Louise and Gay.
Kenneth Tummel ’54 passed
Gordon L. Brekus ’47, 80, of Palm Beach FL and Guilford, CT, died on Sunday, July 3, 2011, after a short illness. Mr. Brekus was born on July 15, 1930, in New Jersey and graduated from South Kent School in South Kent, CT, and Harvard University. During the Korean War, he was stationed in Germany as a U.S. Army sergeant. Mr. Brekus worked as a management consultant, a partner and an executive committee member for the Alexander Proudfoot Co. for more than 30 years. From 2009
away June 16, after a courageous battle with small cell lung cancer. Born March 21, 1935, in New York City, he was a proud alumnus of the South Kent School and Wesleyan University. He is survived by his beloved wife, Julie and by 3 children, Jeanne (Robert DeTillio) Tummel of Columbus, OH, Franz Tummel (Kim Fitch) of Danville, IL and Andrea (Steve) Scheit of Woodbury, MN. He is also survived by 5 grandchildren: Carson, Sam, Karl, Henry and Ella. He was preceded in death by first wife, Mary Jean Truman.
Chris Pocock ’72 died of natural causes at his home outside Goldendale, WA on Memorial Day 2011. Born in 1953 in Renton, Washington, Chris came to live with his adoptive parents, Lois and Stanley Pocock, in Seattle at age twenty-eight months. Upon reaching second grade in
elementary school, he was found to be afflicted with dyslexia. The Seattle school system at the time did not believe that such a condition existed, but a tutor taught him to read. While still in middle school he started a model rocketry club, and the young members spent much of their spare time building and shooting off their rockets. When he was fifteen, his parents sent him to South Kent School. During summer vacations he worked at the Seattle Tennis Club helping with their sculling program. Each year, after accumulating the necessary money, he would quit and travel to one or another of the annual international model rocketry meets, including one held behind the Iron Curtain. As a graduation present, he was given a motorcycle, and he spent the next sixteen months touring the United States. On his return, he went to work for his father helping build racing shells. Next, he traveled to Alaska. There, he helped the native tribes in their efforts at combatting alcoholism. After a few years he returned to Seattle and again worked at the boat-building shop. Through a program directed by adoptive organizations, he was reunited with his blood brother, Terry, who had grown up in Illinois, and was moving to Goldendale with his family. Chris quit the shop, liquidated his interests in Seattle and bought a few acres near Terry’s property; he helped build their house. Though Terry left, Chris decided to stay in the Goldendale area, and he spent the rest of his life caring for the property of a good friend and working on many of his artistic projects in several fields including painting, carving, furniture making, playing the guitar, and most recently in the design and making of stringed musical instruments.
The Reverend Canon Peter Chase, 90, of Providence and Little Compton, died November 9 at Hallworth House. Born in Boston January 22, 1921, he was the adopted son of Helen G. Chase, and grew up in Providence. He leaves his wife, Virginia H. (Zimmerman), three children, Cynthia H. Cook of Pacifica, CA, Michael Chase of Bradford, MA, Chase S. Hunter, of Northampton MA, and four grandchildren. Enlisting in the Coast Guard in 1942, he was commissioned an officer in 1943. He participated in the Normandy invasion on D-Day with the British and Canadians on Juno Beach. When the USS Turner exploded off New York Harbor in 1944, he rescued 45 Navy sailors and was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal. He remained in the US Coast Guard Reserves, retiring as a captain in 1981. Canon Chase graduated from Deerfield Academy, Brown University, and the General Theological Seminary. Ordained in 1951, in 1955 he became chaplain at South Kent School in CT. From 1960 to 1973 he was a Canon of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. He became rector of St. James’ Church, Greenfield MA, and was made a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Springfield, MA. Retiring in 1986, he and his wife moved to Providence, where he assisted as priest or organist in various RI parishes.
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