In Memoriam
1935 Duncan H. Baird, 95, of Sunfish Lake, Minn., died on February 7, 2013. Duncan was born in New Jersey but moved at a young age to Minnesota. He was a graduate of St. Paul Academy and of Yale University in 1939, where he majored in history. His law school years at the University of Michigan were interrupted by World War II. Duncan was commissioned in the Navy; after training he commanded a subchaser in the North Atlantic for the rest of the war. After the war he resumed his pursuit of a law degree at the University of Michigan. Duncan practiced for a few years with Dougherty, Rumble and Butler. He received a doctorate in political science from the University of Minnesota in 1961. He taught political science and pre-law at Macalester College and jurisprudence at William Mitchell College of Law. Duncan had three daughters, Ann, Jane, and Betty, with his first wife, Jean Baird. They divorced in 1961. He married Mary Shryer in 1966 and stayed with her until her death in 2007. Duncan had been on the DARTS board of directors, mayor of Sunfish Lake and a long-time supporter of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He was preceded in death by his parents, Julian and Helen, his wife Mary, his sister, Jane Baird Evans ’48, and his daughter, Jane. He is survived by his brother John ’43, and his daughters Ann Sweeney (George) and Betty Baird Newburgh ’72 (Conrad) and granddaughters Laura Newburgh, Kate Newburgh ’03 and Maggie Newburgh, step-children Molly Boast, Alice Southwick, Betsy Boyle, and Davis Shryer, step-grandchildren, and a step-great-grandson.
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SPA | Spring | Summer 2013
1937 Constance “Connie” Shepard Otis was born on June 23, 1919, and died on January 28, 2013. Connie grew up in St. Paul, the daughter of Roger B. and Katherine K. Shepard. As a young girl, she attended Summit School and continued her education at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y. In January 1942, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Connie married Henry Gaylord Dillingham of Honolulu. In July 1945, as a commander of a squadron of B-29 bombers over Japan, his plane was lost to anti-aircraft fire. Connie returned to St. Paul to live with her parents. She became interested in local politics, and was a Minnesota delegate to the 1956 Republican National Convention which nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower for a second term. Later she became closely involved in the 1960 gubernatorial campaign of Elmer L. Andersen, and from January 1961 to December 1962 Connie served as the Minnesota State Chairwoman of the Republican Party. She maintained a lifelong involvement in programs designed to increase the role of women in politics. In 1972, Connie married Minnesota State Supreme Court Justice James C. Otis. They enjoyed a very happy life together until his death in 1993. Throughout her life she provided generous support, and served on the boards of a wide range of social service, arts, and educational organizations. Connie was preceded in death by her brothers, Roger B. Shepard, Jr. ’31 and Blake Shepard ’32. She is survived by her brother, Stanley Shepard ’47, and his wife, Lucy; step-children Emily Otis Wurtz ’58, J. Duncan Otis ’61, and Todd H. Otis ’63. Connie is also survived by 12 devoted nieces and nephews and by a large group of extended family members and friends.
Jean “Babby” Stringer Pierson, age 93, of Darien, Conn., and Delray Beach, Fla., formerly of Westport, Conn., and St. Paul, died peacefully on August 22, 2012, in Redding, Conn. Born on June 12, 1919, and raised in St. Paul, she was the daughter of McNeil Seymour and Louise Warren Stringer. She attended Summit School and graduated from Central High School in 1937. Babby then attended Pine Manor Junior College in Wellesley, Mass., before moving back to St. Paul where she held a variety of jobs including telephone operator at the Minnesota Federal Savings and Loan. In the late 1950s, she was reintroduced to John Pierson, an old family friend, and they were married on May 21, 1960. Shortly after their wedding, Babby started her own interior decorating business with a partner in St. Paul, Jean-Alexandra’s. This business proved to be very successful and Babby continued to decorate with her usual flair and love of bright colors well into her late 70s. She is survived by her two children, John Pierson, Jr. ’67 (Jennifer) and Julia Pierson Mombello ’79 (Michael); her five grandchildren; her four great grandchildren; and her sister, Anne Warren Stringer Smith. She was predeceased by her two brothers, McNeil Seymour Stringer, Jr. ’32 and Warren Stringer ’35.
1939 Lorle Ahern Cumming (1921-2013) passed away in Naples, Fla., on Jan. 29, 2013. Lorle graduated from Summit High School and attended Wellesley College before earning an English literature degree from the University of Minnesota in 1944. She married Arthur David Cumming on Sept. 2, 1944, and they raised their family on the shores of Lake Minnetonka, Minn. They moved to Naples, Fla., in the early 1970s, spending their summers in Northern Minnesota. Lorle is survived by two brothers, John ’41 and Walter Ahern ’45; and five children, Laura Mattsson, Carol Schwender, Sara Phillips, Susan