CLASS AGENT BY BETSY MCCOMB P’04, ’06
Greg Putnam ’69 When Greg Putnam was in the ninth grade at Eaglebrook, his soccer team came to Suffield to play the Lightweights (now called Tiger A). “As I put on my soccer cleats just outside the main door to the Field House, I looked around and I knew that this was the place for me. This was exactly what I had always envisioned a prep school would look like. Now I had seen other prep schools—Deerfield, Choate, Northfield Mount Hermon, Williston—but nothing compared to Suffield.” Greg’s experience at Suffield was “a class act from the beginning. It all fit together—faculty, academics, social life, athletics, challenges, and opportunities—all mixed up with a big helping of compassion, caring, and concern. Faculty for students, students for faculty, students for students.” The faculty members who influenced Greg the most were Paul Sanderson, Gordy Glover, and Ap Seaverns. Paul Sanderson, director of admissions at the time, was Greg’s varsity soccer coach.“He was also a supporter and a confidant, always available for counseling and encouragement. Remember that soccer game between Eaglebrook and Suffield? Well, Mr. Sanderson saw me play, and when I applied to Suffield, he felt I could make a contribution to Suffield on and off the soccer field. We won the WNEPSSA Soccer Cup that fall.” Gordy Glover was Greg’s English teacher, track coach, and advisor. “Gordy kept me focused. He was a shoulder to lean on and a giver of wisdom who never gave up on me. He helped me develop my English writing skills, inspired my brief yet fun-packed acting career with the Cue & Curtain, and he pushed me to higher levels of achievement on the track. I think of him often.” Ap Seaverns and Greg shared stories about Greg’s hometown of Santa Barbara, California. “I’ll never forget his concern for my welfare and his faith in my abilities, many of which I didn’t know I had. But he did.” After Suffield, Greg “reluctantly strode” into the working world. “I learned that hard work does bring reward. I learned that if you want something bad enough, you have a pretty darn good chance of getting it.” Eventually Greg started his own business, acquired several retail locations, and had a family. After 16 years of hard work and long hours, he sold his retail stores and went to college. In 1990, Greg earned his bachelor of arts from Westmont College in Santa Barbara. Since then, he has “experienced more diversified opportunities.” Today Greg works and lives with his wife Mimi in Carpinteria, California. Greg is very grateful for how Suffield has helped shape his life, adding, “Suffield gave me courage, faith, and trust in myself. I colored outside the lines and thought outside the box. The challenges, the defeats, the successes all contributed to shaping my life. The quality and caliber of my teachers and the strength of friendship with my classmates only enhanced that achievement. Suffield had a job to do and it did it for me. One of the most positive residuals of my time at Suffield was when I graduated because then I could use and actually see all the benefits and all the rewards of my Suffield education. I left Suffield a welleducated person.” His advice to current students: “Treat people as you want to be treated, be comfortable in your skin, always be grateful for your blessings, do more than you were asked, and leave it better than how you found it.” Since 2006, Greg has been the Class Agent for the Class of 1969. He wanted to “give something back” to a place that gave so much to him. “Suffield is an exceptional learning environment and deserves to be supported and promoted.” Greg enjoys being able to stay in touch with lifelong friends, to reminisce, and to be current with their lives. “I have reunited with a bunch of classmates and have gotten to know other classmates on a whole new level. It’s the joy I feel at what my classmates can and have achieved in their generosity to Suffield that keeps me coming back. They haven’t forgotten Suffield. They believe in the cause, the purpose, and the mission. We are the Class of 1969, a literal cornucopia of unique talents and personalities, a class diverse yet genuinely united. These guys make my job easy. It’s an honor, a privilege, and a great pleasure to be their Class Agent.”
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