USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > History of the class of nineteen hundred thirty-six, Yale College, fifteen-year record > Part 11
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cliffe with a master's degree in public administration from Syracuse. No children as yet, although one is expected shortly.
H. LOUIS DAVIDSON; 20 Foster Drive, Des Moines, Iowa.
The summer of 1951 finds me well ensconced in the capital city in the fair State of Iowa, very happy with my lot and residence West of the Mississippi, with ambition of some year finding myself a gentle- man cattle rancher in Arizona.
Mickey, who arrived in February five years ago, now has two little sisters, Janice Anne, aged two and one-half, and Barbara Sue, who is eight months old.
Living in the corn-hog state, though not filled with one round of theatre after another or symphony, is just as scintillating and just as busy. It seems that shortly after graduating from school one of the civic boards talked me into just a little work on this budget and this chairmanship, or State Air Mail week. Since that time I have found myself a "sucker" for civic and charitable enterprises. The list of associations reached its peak a year ago, and is now diminishing. These are: Home for the Aged, T. B. Association, Conference of Christians and Jews, Retail Merchants Bureau Board, Chamber of Commerce activities, Trustee and Treasurer of the Temple Board, etc.
The foregoing includes various substantial business, spread through three communities in Iowa, and one in Oklahoma. However, this still does not preclude plenty of time to spend with the young children, and we find that Blue Gills are just as much fun to catch as big Northern Wall Eye when we are in Canada, or Guper, Marlin, Yellow Tail, etc., when we are in Guymas.
All the foregoing adds up to a current and ardent desire for a switch to Liberal Republicanism.
HORACE W. DAVIS, II; Long Hill Road, Woodbridge, Conn.
Having continued to work in New Haven and live in Woodbridge as in 1946, having the dubious pleasure of dunning my classmates for dues each year, and possibly having seen twice as many people as anyone else at the Fifteenth Reunion, it doesn't seem to me that I can be far enough out of touch to call for much of an autobiography.
The pattern of life of our family has not changed a great deal --- we bought a home in 1948 and we still number three, Jean, Stephenie, and myself, plus two dogs. We continue to enjoy puttering around the house, which is where I get most of my exercise, and each Spring we sally forth after trout with an undying enthusiasm. In the Fall our spirits rise and fall with Herman's, and we don't miss many unless they go too far.
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Job is Assistant Trust Officer which I enjoy and, extracurricularly, it is now the United Fund, etc., instead of the Community Chest, etc. While I won't be voting for Dewey next year, it is certainly not going to be for Harry.
WARREN SPRINGER DAVIS; Wyndon Apartments, Wynnewood, Pa.
Life since leaving Yale on graduation has been divided roughly into four phases. Additional educational work at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; secured a Master's degree in Business Administration. First lasting job after this was with the newly- established Philadelphia operation of the United Parcel Service sys- tem, where two and a half years were spent in learning the various internal accounting activities.
A reserve commission garnered after leaving Yale caused us to be retained in the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, for a period of almost six years. During this period there was duty in various assignments concerning troop supply, including requirements planning, supply depots, port of embarkation, and overseas command. Training in- cluded tours at the Army Industrial College and the Command and General Staff School.
After one false start back in the civilian world, existence settled down to continued work in Philadelphia with Sharp and Dohme, Incorporated, one of the leading manufacturers of medicinal products. Several different assignments within the Financial Division produced gradually increasing duties and responsibilities. At the present time the scope of work includes the overall company budget program, sys- tems and procedures program, IBM tabulating machine operations, and office services. This work is gathered under the title Manager of Administrative Services, one of the three men reporting to the com- pany comptroller.
This is the occupational picture. There has not been a step into matrimony with the many pleasures and problems associated there- with. Extracurricularly, some of the time is taken up with activities in the Y.M.C.A., the Society for Advancement of Management, and very recently membership in the Union League of Philadelphia.
It is difficult indeed to think back a little over fifteen years when we of 1936 were at graduation time standing on the threshold of a great unknown-our respective careers. We were brimming with our knowledge, hopes, and fears-ready to take places in the world of business, commerce, or a chosen profession. There were ideas as to what in our formal training had been important, and what unim- portant.
As the years went along, these evaluations certainly changed. In
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my case, it became evident that the more valuable courses had been those devoted to building up a general background or pattern of thought. Specifically, I can refer to Dr. H. L. Seward's Industrial Management or Mr. E. D. Smith's Industrial Psychology. Also to some of the general background lectures and problems up the street in the Chemistry and Physics labs. Also the continuous expressions of thought and evaluations of the current situation by Mr. H. B. Hastings. In other courses where we learned much specific data, the basic principles and approaches to problems had the lasting benefits, rather than the problems themselves.
The most important things learned since college have been perhaps the many, many ramifications of getting along well with business associates, superiors, subordinates-everyone. How many one can see making progress slowly or not at all who are intellectually well qualified but who can't make a go of the occupational environment. In retrospect, I think this field is one that should receive much more attention-and I believe that current curricula do focus much thought on this subject.
Nationally, the increasing dominance of the welfare state causes concern-overshadowed at present by the international chess game being played by the men of the Kremlin. The stakes are tremendously high in this match and I am hopeful that we will be able to make the proper selection of leaders and have men capable of evaluating the rapidly changing world situation, and of making moves that will let us continue with the ideals established before 1800, when the U.S.A. was new.
HAROLD C. DAWSON; 8 Echo Place, San Rafael, Calif.
I am a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Air Corps, and my job is base comptroller for Hamilton Air Base, Hamilton Field, San Fran- cisco, Calif. I entered the service in 1941-served with the 414th Night Fighter Squadron in Africa, Italy, Sardinia. After that I was stationed two and a half years in Wakayama, Japan, with occupation forces. I am married and have a son three years old.
JOHN V. B. DEAN; Cedar Swamp Road, Glen Head, N.Y.
Since the end of World War II, I have been forced to earn a living, and now find myself a suburban specialist in internal medicine. My wife and three boys join me in a trip once a week to Jones' Beach, and in the time between I see a few patients, mow the lawn, and follow the Dodgers avidly by TV. Beinecke and Schultz join me once a year in a reunion at the Dartmouth game, but I don't hold it against them. That all makes a full schedule and a full life.
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JOHN KERSHAW DEASY; 313 Braybarton Road, Steubenville, Ohio.
The approach to the "dangerous age" of man has been made since 1946 in a reasonably stagnant manner. My original wife is still wash- ing the same number of dishes as of last report, and we have donated all baby garments, cribs and sundry appointments to youthful and deserving neighbors.
Backwash from our Fifteenth Class Reunion appeared in the form of Oscar T. Lawler, west coat banker, whom we were proud to escort through the various plants of one of America's shining examples of free enterprise in action-the Weirton Steel Company, Weirton, West Virginia.
If any of you guys who are enjoying intellectual jitters in Ivy Towers every time Mr. Truman and assorted stooges mention the awesome Russian Bear for the purpose of scaring Americans into acceptance of Socialistic policies, would like to personally observe the type of solid industrial production which might restore your faith in the strength of America and offer you hope for the future, come visit us in Weirton and we'll give you the same treatment we gave Mr. Lawler.
WARNER F. DEFOE; 381 Fourth Avenue, New York 16, N.Y.
Briefly, I am still employed by the General Power Plant Corpora- tion in this city, who are manufacturers of electrical instruments and controllers for different industries. I still reside at Nutmeg Lane in Westport, Conn., and my family now numbers four-three girls and a boy. Like almost everyone else, my interests outside of my business and family are centered around the political situation in this country and commitments abroad. I am looking forward with great interest to the coming election and hope that there is something that can be done to effect a change in the administration. It seems to me that any administration is bound to develop problems, which are evident by the headlines appearing almost daily in our newspapers, after being in power as long as the present one.
ROBERT B. DEFORD, JR .; Hyde, Md.
I have been farming for the past ten years, except for an interrup- tion caused by the war. I spent three years in the Army (Combat Engineers). The principal farm crop seems to be boys-as of now, Yale Classes of '68, '72, and '74.
ARCHIBALD S. DEMING; 173 Sedgwick Road, West Hartford 7, Conn.
I'm now off to a good start with a family of two boys and two
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girls and continue in the practice of internal medicine in metropolitan Hartford. I graduated from the Harvard Medical School in 1940, spent four years in the Navy-two of which were with the Fleet Marine Force. I didn't happen to meet John Hersey at Guadalcanal. Had more training in medicine after the war and then went into practice. Since then have done occasional skiing and sailing, but am mostly trying to make a living and liking it.
EDWARD G. DEMING; 15 Bainbridge Road, West Hartford, Conn.
I am single, and my shingle hangs out at 85 Jefferson Street, in Hartford-specializing in plastic and reconstructive surgery. My hobbies are photography, metal work, and bronze casting, and my avocation is sculpture.
VICTOR R. DESPARD, JR .; R.D. 5, Lancaster, Pa.
1. Married Louise Eshelman (Herb Eshelman's sister) in 1938.
2. Three stalwart sons, aged ten and a half, seven and a half and five and a half, named V. R. 3rd, William R., and Thomas E., re- spectively.
3. Worked for Armstrong Cork Co. from 1937 to 1946 in various capacities, starting as a peddler, working through the war by organiz- ing an aircraft department that made airframes and sub-assemblies, and ended up as a commodity manager. Resigned for a quicker op- portunity at more money.
4. From 1946 to the present with the New Holland Machine Co., a division of the Sperry Corporation. N. H. manufactures a specialty line of farm machinery, the principal one of which is a wonderful hay baler. Was Vice-President and General Manager of a subsidiary which we sold to a competitor. Still retain that title and do trouble shooting for the company in many fields.
5. Belong to the Lancaster Country Club (Pres.), Hamilton Club, Yale Club of N.Y.C.
6. Play golf week ends. Bowl in the winter at a local men's club.
7. Have done a great deal of traveling after College and in my work. Went around the world with Pete Pond and Ed Pillsbury in 1936. Have since been to Europe once on business. See classmates occasionally during my travels.
8. Built a house in 1947. Know what they mean by inflation after that experience.
WILSON K. DICKERMAN; 6511 79th Place, Middle Village, N.Y. From Mrs. Dickerman:
I have sent your recent reminder for an autobiography for the 1936
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Class Record to my husband, Wilson K. Dickerman, who is now in Japan. However, in case the Record must go to press before that time, here is a brief resume of his activities since graduation.
My husband has been on active duty in the Army since 1938 and is now serving as Comptroller of the Yokahoma Engineer Depot. In addition to acquiring a wife in 1942 and three children (Carol, eight, Dwight, four, and Janet, three) his activities have included tours of duty in the Military Science Department at Yale, in Brazil, in Italy with the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, and at Harvard Business School.
JOEL B. DIRLAM; Box 107 B, R.D. 1, North Stonington, Conn.
For the time being I have a job as instructor in the Economics Department of the University of Connecticut. I'm married and have three daughters. Getting my two-hundred-year-old house in shape and doing some forestry keep me pretty busy, and in what limited spare time I can find, I have been trying to get a $40,000 loan for a small defense plant through the D.P.A .- with no success as yet. Probably don't know the right people.
VINCENT DANIEL DONAHUE; 253 Windsor Avenue, Haddon- field, N.J.
I work as comptroller of the Kieckhefer Container Company, Camden, N.J. I was married in 1940 and have three children- Patricia, eight, Peggy Ann, five, and Vincent, Jr., who was born in January, 1951.
RICHARD A. DONALDSON, 4th; 24 Adams Street, East Islip, N.Y.
I have the most beautiful wife and children in the Class of 1936- wife, Helen; daughter, Barbara, nine and a half; sons, Richard A., 5th, six and a half, and William Rummell, eighteen months. I am with the Simtex Textile Division of the Simmons Company as assistant sales manager. My pet peeve-"me-too" Republicans Dewey, Eisenhower, New York Herald Tribune, etc., Henry Luce, Acheson.
JOHN F. DONOHUE; 641 Park Avenue, Syracuse, N.Y.
I am office manager here for the Aetna Casualty and Surety Com- pany. I am married and have one child.
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1936 FIFTEEN-YEAR RECORD
BENJAMIN SHELDON DOWNS; 19 Picture Lane, Hicksville, L.I., N.Y.
As in 1946, my family still consists of a young and attractive wife, and a husky eleven-year-old son.
Work entails sales for Reynolds Metals Co., Industrial Division. Exercise is hobby #1, with resultant visceral enlargement. Hobby #2: trying to prove that Harry is more capable than General Harry -- someone said he was.
ROBERT C. DRAKE; 780 Forest Avenue, Buffalo 9, N.Y.
Married to Ruth H. Rammacher in 1939, I now have one girl, Diana Lynn, six, and a boy, Jeffrey R., three. I am currently work- ing in mechanical construction as president of George N. Drake, Inc.
ROBERT C. DUANE; 2800 Mckinley Place, N.W., Washington 15, D.C.
A year after I left the Navy, which was in 1945, I was married, and now I have a son, Robert Livingston, born in 1950. Since the war I have worked as a Federal employee, first with GHQ SCAP in Tokyo, and then with ECA (now MSA) in Washington.
GEORGE A. DUDLEY; 238 West 256th Street, New York 71, N.Y.
I am President of the Ibec Housing Corporation and Vice Presi- dent of the Ibec Technical Services Corporation, both established by Nelson Rockefeller. My wife and I have three children: George, nine, Sally, seven, and John, five. I'm sorry not to have a more com- plete statement, but I've been out of the country most of the fall and have had no time to prepare a proper report.
RUSSELL S. DWIGHT, JR .; 3512 Springview Drive, Cincinnati 26, Ohio.
The main event for the Dwights since last reporting in '45 was the addition of Margo, thus bringing the total to three girls and one boy -ages ranging from three to fourteen years. After her arrival the novelty of sleeping in the car every night soon wore off and a home was built which more nearly resembled the size of the family.
After years of labor on the part of the government in an effort to hold the price of cotton up they have now decided to add to the sport and have another agency working to force it down. So there is no monotony in our department even after fifteen years with the same concern. Every now and then a change is contemplated, but to date The Gillette Co. has not shown the proper enthusiasm and say that they have done enough for the class of Yale '36.
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The local Republican Club, Yale Club, church duties, and the children add up to a full agenda. There are always ball games, swim- ming, and winter sports that some parts of the family is interested in, so exercise is no issue. You can add to that the ever-present fast track between the laundry and the dishwasher, should the occasion arise.
Reading the list of those attending the 15th makes one even more disgusted that a way to be there could not be worked out somehow, and certainly puts the 20th on top of all the "musts."
JAMES EDMONDS EATON; 67-50 B 188th Street, Flushing, N.Y.
The academic life, with its simple chores, long vacations, and ample time for idle contemplation, was a tempting lure to me in 1936. I remained in New Haven for three more years, playing bridge in the Hall of Graduate Studies and qualifying for the usual license for college teaching. The following fall, Polly and I, still shedding rice, set up apartment keeping in Hempstead, Long Island, where I taught mathematics at Hofstra College. My rise and fall in the ivy world was rapid. In two short years, I rose from instructor to associate pro- fessor and department head and sank back to instructor again, this time at Queens College of the City of New York. I am happy to report that I recently was dragged back to an assistant professorship again.
The war years found us at the Radiation Laboratory of M. I. T., where I learned a little about radar antennas. It was there that Jimmie was born and acquired the proper distaste for all things Cantabrigian. We moved to Washington for a year while Jimmie superimposed a Southern drawl on his Boston accent and I continued antenna work at Naval Research Laboratory. I returned to Queens College in 1947, though I still "summer" in Washington as a con- sultant at the laboratory.
I regard with a jaundiced eye some of the touted joys of college teaching. I have had but one summer vacation in twelve years and am allergic to red pencils, the tools of my trade. It is an interesting life, however, and a pleasant one. I enjoy it.
GEORGE S. EBBERT, JR .; Oliver Building, Pittsburgh 22, Pa.
I was married in 1941 to Lowrie Childs Wurts of Pittsburgh. Since that date our family has grown to three girls-Kay, Genevieve and Lowrie Childs (Elsie, for short).
My business association is president of Ebbert, Grant & Kakel, Inc., insurance advisors and brokers for industrial and commercial organizations.
My activities in respect to Yale University entail active member- ship in the Scholarship and Enrollment Committee of this district and the Yale Club of Pittsburgh.
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1936 FIFTEEN-YEAR RECORD
JOHN RAYMOND EDWARDS; 172 Cedarbrook Road, Ardmore, Pa.
Reflection on fifteen years of graduate life leaves me with a distinct impression that the Edwards's are an average American family. One house, two children-a girl ten and a boy seven-one job, and plenty of bills pretty well qualify us, I think.
A week after graduation in 1936 I started to work with the Southern New England Telephone Company in New Haven ringing door bells to convince people that they needed telephone service. This led to other types of sales work and from there to the business office and management of the Bridgeport office. A major switch took place then-to a substantial extent because of my interest in Elliott Dunlap Smith's course in human relations in industry and some experience negotiating union contracts from the labor side. The job switch was to the position of personnel supervisor in the company's offices in New Haven.
About three years later, I changed jobs to become personnel director for Supplee-Sealtest, the National Dairy milk and ice cream company in the Philadelphia area. Two years of staff work in this job, and I switched back again to an operating assignment as assistant vice president, with the responsibility for relations with our 2700 farmers, operation of country receiving and manufacturing plants, milk and cream brokerage activities, and relations with state and Federal regulatory bodies. While I never would have guessed it at the time I came from New Haven, I find the "staid old milk industry" to be extremely varied in the types of problems that pop up. We never have two days alike! Anybody want to buy a tank truck of milk?
In February, 1938, one Christina Harvey Forsyth of Milford, Connecticut, in a weak moment became Mrs. Edwards. I am sure it would seem to her that her life since then has been primarily a matter of running a household, trying to balance a budget, and raising children. At one time (before marriage) she expressed a desire to have six children, but I don't hear anything about that any more.
Now that the youngsters are approaching a more human age, hobbying is somewhat a family affair, with home a focal point. Gardening, swimming, and golf are the primary activities, with occasional time out to help the young man fly model airplanes. Sail- ing, which was Chris' and my favorite sport when we were in New England, has rather gone by the board, but we have hopes of getting back to it now that the children are older.
Typical of Philadelphia, most entertaining takes place either in our own or in friends' homes. We regularly attend Orpheus Club concerts at the Academy, though, and never miss one of the informal appearances of the group at private clubs either, if we can help it. Orpheus probably rates #1 for winter fun.
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Looking back over these 500 or so words, the fifteen years seem pretty short, pretty simple, and quite typical; but looking back to college days, there are a couple of sharply etched impressions which have been formed-not without some pain . .
How many really important decisions are made emotionally and how few logically !
How much the old world stands to gain from the application of that logical, honest thinking which so many profs tried to give us as undergrads!
How clearly (regardless of what they represent) men stand out when they do think and act that way!
JOSEPH ROBINSON EGGERT, JR .; Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.
In August, 1947, I married Hester Reed. We have three children -two girls and a boy. I'm working for the National Sugar Refining Company.
RALPH E. ELLIS; 237 E. Delaware Place, Chicago 11, Ill.
I am employed by the Leo Burnett Co., an advertising agency in Chicago, as account executive. My previous record since college: six years with the Dennison Mfg. Co., Farmingham, Mass., progressing from sales correspondent to assistant merchandise manager, in charge of trying to make dollar presents look like five dollar presents under the Christmas tree, with bigger and better wrappings; then three years with the U.S. Government in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, Ill., from personnel officer to administrative officer in charge of the mid-west office of the Office of Defense Transportation; then five years with Grant Advertising, Inc., in Chicago, from office manager to account executive; then a year and a half with Leo Burnett Co. as the account executive for the Mars Candy account. My advertising development during the last years has gone from helping to bring the American public Dr. I.Q. ("I have a lady in the balcony, Doctor") to Howdy Doody and commercializing Howdy Doody's "Peanut Gallery."
I was married on June 3, 1939, to Dorothea Nicholson of Moores- town, N.J. Mrs. Ellis is professionally "Nicky Ellis," Chicago's most successful photographic model. We have currently three daughters, whose accomplishments to date are:
Judy, ten-athletic, poor student, likes dances, good prom material, but never from Vassar. Bonnie, nine-also athletic, a champion swim- mer; a student who could make the grade at college, we think. Wisty, three-strings beads better than anyone in the block; also good at drawing on wallpaper with crayons.
My extra-curricular activities and hobbies are tennis, golf, model
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train building, miscellaneous charities, and club activities. I am Vice President of the Chicago Tennis Association and Vice President of the Saddle and Cycle Club, Chicago. I own a cooperative apartment in a building on Chicago's north side.
ROBERT B. ENGLISH, JR .;
In 1940, we rejuvenated an old house overlooking the water in the small and congenial town of Essex, Conn., and have every intention of remaining here if circumstances permit. (I have been accused of secretly belonging to the Essex Chamber of Commerce.) My wife, Jo, and I have been married for fourteen years. The result of this union is two future Yale men, aged twelve and five respectively and a daughter, seven, who may well attend a few proms and football games. (There is also a black Labrador retreiver, frequently referred to as my favorite child by my spouse.)
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