Read the Summer 2012 issue - the University of Maine Alumni ...

Classnotes
Senior Alumni
Jayne Hanson Bartley ’49
9 Alumni Drive, Apt 120 P
Orono, ME 04473
(207) 866-4723
It is wonderful to come back on campus during
Reunion and experience nostalgia and recall the
places so important to us way back then. Today
it is an awesome experience to see all the new
class buildings, dormitories, athletic facilities,
and research center where unbelievable things
are being done, things we never even heard of
“in our day!” Freshmen don’t wear beanies anymore
and the Maine “hello” isn’t heard much,
but the wildly clad students are eager and accomplish
so much. Yes, it’s a whole new generation!
As Senior Alumni, we have the chance to
impact this generation through the Donald Taverner
schoalrships that we present to deserving
nontraditional students. Through the generosity
of the alumni who have passed their 50th
Reunion, we are able to help make it possible
for these deserving, more mature students to
realize their educational dreams. Many have incredible
stories to tell about what brought them
back to UMaine to pursue higher education after
raising families or serving in the military, or
whatever other diversion kept them from going
straight from high school to college. Last year
we presented over $58,000 in scholoarship assistance
to 34 students. These students are so
appreciate of our support.
The Senior Alumni association was created
to keep in touch with all of us and to give us a
special role to play in the future of the University
of Maine. When you meet the incredible Taverner
Scholars at the Senior Alumni luncheon,
and hear their stories, I can’t think of any more
important thing we can do than to provide a
sholarship that could be the difference between
being able to continue or not with their UMaine
education.
I like to think of our time as payback time.
We’ve had good lives due to our education and
preparation for life’s challenges, and now it’s
our turn to support others who have the same
dreams we once had.
I’m often kidded about my being such a loyal
alum. I chose to move back to Orono to finish
my life. It’s so great to volunteer at the Alumni
House and attend sports events, concerts, and
plays. I hope that each of you will choose to
become involved in some way with “the college
of our hearts always.” supporting our Taverner
Scholarship fund is just one way to make a difference.
Reception before hockey game
with student scholarship
recipients—October 19.
1939
Edna Louise “Squeeze” Harrison Dempsey
2526 Carrollton Road
Annapolis, MD 21403-4203
(410) 268-1888
eldempsey@comcast.net
I recently came across a photo of our great 55 th
Reunion in Orono. We all had a wonderful time
in those memorable days. Going back in time
can be very special. BUT then we must come
back to today. Which brings up the subject of
sending me an old memory or picture of yours,
classmate—from 1939 or more recently.
Please send a memory, photo, or simply a
greeting.
ELD
1940
Ginny Pease Dogherty
Granite Hill Estates
16 Walnut Drive
Augusta, ME 04330
ginnypd@roadrunner.com
Greetings, classmates. I hope everyone is
having a good summer. I’d love to hear your
news and report it for everyone to read. Please
drop me a line, call, or send me an email so I
can include you in the magazine. There must be
something to share for the Class of ’40. Enjoy
the warm temperatures!
1941
Agnes Ann Walsh
15 Piper Road K322
Scarborough, ME 04074
(207) 885-1414
A Maine Hello to all ’41ers wherever you are! I
had hoped that someone who didn’t attend our
70 th Reunion in June 2011 might have written
a note to say you were “alive and well.” Yet I
came up with an empty mailbox! After a slow
start, the U of Maine ice hockey team rose to
the occasion and made the Hockey East semifinals
and the first round of the NCAA playoffs.
We, the viewers, had three weekends of
outstanding hockey by our Black Bears. One
of our players, Spencer Abbott, was honored
as Hockey East Player of the Year and runnerup
for the national Hobey Baker Award. The
University of Maine Symphonic Band performed
at Merrill Auditorium in Portland this spring with
the Westbrook High School Wind Ensemble
as special guest. There was a reception by
invitation only before this event and we met
the new president, Paul Ferguson, and his wife,
Grace. (His inauguration was in mid-April.)
President Ferguson, in his welcome, spoke
about how impressed he was with the pride
and loyalty of alumni and students of the
University of Maine; he said it was evident by
the representation of the Class of 1941 on down
to a student from the Class of 2013. It made my
heart beat faster to hear those words Class of
1941.
Jean Peirce passed away in January 2011.
Jean was a home economics and education
major who later earned a M.A. in nutrition from
UNH. She worked as a dietician at hospitals
and schools before serving as director of food
services for St. George’s School in Newport,
RI, for many years. She also enjoyed oil and
watercolor painting, bridge, and traveling with
her sister, the late Charlotte Peirce ’43. Jean left
a very generous contribution to the University.
We extend our condolences to her family.
Karla Edmunds Christensen ’70 sent me
the obituary for her father, John J. Edmunds,
who died in Towaco, NJ, in December 2011.
John served in the US Navy and was sent to
MIT to work on a new technology—special
equipment to detect and destroy enemy
ships—all of this was top secret. After the war
Professor Clarence Bennett invited John to join
the faculty of the University where he stayed for
five years. Then he moved to New Jersey where
he worked as an engineer for DuPont and later
became a contractor/builder of elegant custom
built homes. Many thanks to Karla for being
so thoughtful to send this information. Our
deepest sympathy to Karla, her siblings, and
their families.
Paul Townsend phoned in April as he was
visiting his sons in New York state and looking
forward to his return to Blue Hill, his Maine home.
He reported that his Theta Chi fraternity brother
Robert McDonald died in March. Bob was
married to the late Edith McIntire McDonald.
Classmate Harold “Haddie” Ham, a Phi Delta
Gamma member who resided in Lucerne for
many years, passed away in April. We extend
our sympathy to his wife, Alice Noyes Hamm
’51, and their children.
We were saddened to learn of the death of
Barbara Young Pullen ’60G in March. Barbara
had an outstanding career in education.
She studied at MIT, Boston University, Heed
University in Florida, and also in England,
earning her master’s and doctorate degrees.
She taught elementary and secondary schools
in Gardiner, Monmouth, and Waterville and also
at both college undergraduate and graduate
levels. In 1970 she co-founded with her son,
Charles A. Peirce III, and became president of
the American Institute for Creative Education,
an in-service teacher training institute. For 30
years she developed hundreds of seminars,
workshops, and graduate courses held in New
England, mid-Atlantic states, as well as abroad.
She served on Governor’s Advisory Boards
of Education and Mental Health and was a
member of Who’s Who of Women Executives.
Our sympathy to Barbara’s son and daughter,
whom we fondly remember from reunions.
GO BLUE!
Summer 2012 29