April 2012 - Alumni News - Williams College

CLASS NOTES
wonderful time, replete with class
cocktail parties followed by dinner
on both Friday and Saturday
evenings, a football game in
chilly, overcast weather which
was offset by the Ephs’ triumph
over the Bantams of Tufts, several
scintillating lectures, meetings
of both the reunion planning
committee, ably chaired by the
visionary Bill Burnett, and the
reunion gift committee, chaired
by the ever-competent Lenny
Bernheimer. Both of the committees
made remarkable progress
in planning for our gala 50th
reunion celebration in June 2013
in Williamstown. I encourage you
all to place the reunion on your
calendars. Without question, it
will be a memorable weekend.
In attendance during the weekend
were Winston Wood, Roy
Weiner, John Bell, Gordy Prichett,
Lenny Bernheimer, Phil Kinnicutt,
Bill Burnett, Stu Jones, Rick Berry,
Clay Davenport, Rich Goodman,
Bill McDaniel, me and Bonnie
Knight, Woody’s widow. Most of
us brought our spouses, which
in contradistinction to our years
at Williams, brought richness,
warmth and gentility to the
gatherings.
I would be remiss if I didn’t
describe our class’s next planned
gathering. Williams creates a
fabulous week at Oxford a year
prior to our actual reunion. The
positive reviews from previous
classes have been extraordinary!
The Oxford week presents us
with a chance to re-create our
academic prowess among longtime
friends. A slew of classmates
have already indicated that they
are attending. I urge all to attend
this remarkable event, if possible.
After my promotional pleadings
for class events, in keeping with
my responsibilities as scribe, I
will update you on the doings of
several members of our class.
I received a touching note from
our former president, the illustrious
Dick Potsubay. Unfortunately
the Bay, who has been a class
stalwart, will be unable to attend
our 50th.
Recently, Bay had a deep vein
thrombosis of his ankles, which
was secondary to the removal of
a chondrosarcoma from his right
shoulder. Thus, he is unable to
travel but is otherwise in good
health. Dick wrote, “I spend
time listening to Hayden, Liszt
and Chopin with Ormie played
by a visiting pianist among other
entertainment coming regularly
to the grand lobby south at
Regency Oaks (in Florida). I
have finished acrylic/watercolor
34 | Williams PeoPle | aPril 2012
artwork and mounted a year’s
worth in a scrapbook, incorporating
a small portion of the art
in a private memoir for family
to spawn their writing of our
family tree.”
The Bay exercises regularly and
then meditates outside “in a comfortable
chair peering through
Spanish moss drooping from a
live oak tree to view bougainvillea
flowers in the distance.” He
further noted that one of his
children and their family (including
grandchildren and great
grandchild) would be with them
for Thanksgiving. Two other children
and their families celebrated
Thanksgiving in a cabin in North
Carolina. His sons Richard and
David live in Seattle and Las
Vegas, respectively.
Politically, he has moved to the
right, subscribing to a rightof-center
philosophy which he
claimed was “consistent with
most Americans.”
I should also note that Bay’s
relatives have cut a wide swath.
John Bell and his family have been
deeply involved with the Bay’s
sister, Susie Symons, who with
her husband John are renowned
ceramic artists. In addition,
Dick’s niece Amy Symons long
ago taught seventh-grade English
to my son Zach.
In re-reading the fall class notes,
I realized that there was an item
worthy of mention. At our class’s
recent San Francisco luncheon,
four (Stu Brown, Alan Schlosser,
Wood Lockhart and Bob Binder) of
the nine attendees were members
of Phi Beta Kappa. I ask you all
to ponder the implications of this
statement. How is that a disproportionate
number of academic
achievers settled in the Bay Area?
I await explanation from anyone
who is able to make sense of this
phenomenon. The most cogent
explanation will win the keys to
Goddard’s 6-year-old Saab for
our 50th reunion weekend.
And speaking of Schlosser, I
don’t know how many of you
read The New York Times
series about high school seniors
cheating on the SATs in order
to enhance their chances of
college admission. The reports
focused on Great Neck North
High School, which Alan, Frank
Simunek and I attended. The gist
of the articles revolved around
one student who was paid by
several others to take the exam.
The unfolding series of articles
has finally provided me with the
opportunity to reveal a secret
which I’ve kept under cover for
over 50 years. It may surprise
many of you, but it is now time
to set the record straight. I actually
took Alan Schlosser’s SAT
exams for him.
The next commentaries are
about three classmates: John
Davis, Bill Holmes and Steve
Thomas, who are all in the medical
profession.
John Davis, who lives in
Phoenix, retired from a private
practice in 2007, “driven out by
the escalating cost of regulations
and compliance.” He then
took a position with the Indian
Health Service, providing otolaryngologic
services to Native
Americans. He and two other
physicians are the “ultimate
referral source for the tribes of
Arizona and Southern Nevada.”
John and his wife Teri have
three married daughters:
Kathleen, Jeanne and Cassie.
Cassie, the youngest, who resides
in Connecticut, was married on
Sept. 4 in Newport. The older
daughters live in proximity to
John and Teri in Arizona. They
have three grandchildren—two
boys, Gavin and Thor, and one
girl, Mia. Gavin is a budding
horseman, which leads me to
John’s passion, his horse.
Until he was 67, John rode
competitively. Even now he
remains engaged in other riding
activities, primarily three- and
four-day horse camps and rides.
He also rides as a volunteer for
the Maricopa County Sheriff’s
Mounted Posse. “Arizona is a
beautiful state, but the best parts
are accessible only to hikers and
horsemen,” John exclaimed.
Financially, John has been hurt
by the Great Recession, but he
has not changed his lifestyle.
Politically he remains more conservative
than his cousin, Gordon
(really!). He mentioned that Teri
chides him by saying that she
wouldn’t have dated him if he
had been so conservative when
they met.
Bill Holmes wrote that he retired
from his private practice in suburban
Philadelphia some years
ago. He subsequently retired
from a corporate medical practice
in Kansas as well as the U.S.
Naval Reserves and the Mayo
Clinic. He is ] living in quasi-rural
Wyoming, where he and his wife
Mary Ann stay active in summer/
winter physical activities. He also
volunteers for the county health
department and does a little
cooking (a newfound hobby),
while serving as an elected official
for the county health department.
Mary Ann and Bill married
in 1979 and have raised