Fall/Winter 2010 - Pingry School

Chris Hoffman ’65, an independent
organization development consultant
for companies that are working
toward sustainability, recently
launched “Earth-Dashboard”
(www.earth-dashboard.org), a
resource for everyone who is concerned
about the Earth. The site is
designed to offer a global overview
of sustainability issues in an accessible
format—hence the metaphor of a dashboard. Its features
include a renewable energy fuel gauge, a population odometer,
and links to sources and action opportunities.
He was inspired to create the site during a trip to Belize,
where he visited a reef ecosystem for the first time and was
captivated by its beauty. “Seeing the reef firsthand brought
home the horror of reefs that are dying and dissolving
because of ocean acidification. It was vividly clear how the
combination of vanished reefs and rising sea levels caused
by global warming would devastate the land,” Chris says.
This web site expands on Chris’ sustainability efforts
because he believes the situation is urgent. “Sustainability
means managing our lives and our economy so that our
children and grandchildren inherit a tomorrow that is at
least as good as today, preferably better. Businesses that
are managed for sustainability generally outperform comparison
companies. As individuals, we can’t be fully whole
or healthy unless we have a reciprocal, respectful relationship
with the natural world,” he says.
Chris has also published a book of poetry, Cairns, and a book
about ecopsychology, The Hoop and the Tree. “Pingry gave
me a fabulous education and I’m very grateful. I’m hoping to
make a positive contribution to the world,” he says.
by the Senate as a United
States District Judge for the
Western District of Michigan
in July 2007. Previous career
stops include the local
Prosecuting Attorney’s Office,
the last eight years as the
elected Prosecutor, and the
United States Department of
Justice in D.C. during Bush
41. Marie and I have been
married for 38 years; our three
children are scattered in Texas
and Pennsylvania. My kids
graduated from Notre Dame,
Lehigh (my alma mater), and
Villanova in that order. Our
older daughter has blessed us
with three grandsons. I confess
that I have not set foot on the
Martinsville Campus. Since
our travels will take us east
more frequently, perhaps I can
make a reunion.”
Terry Morgart, who lost his
class ring about 40 years ago
and doesn’t remember ever
wearing it, is grateful to
Andrew Tubbs of Boiling
Springs, Pennsylvania for
finding the ring while metal
detecting at Biddle Mission
Park in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
—it was lodged between two
tree roots with a third root
growing right through the
ring. Terry lives in Flagstaff,
Arizona and works as a legal
researcher for the Hopi Tribe
in the Hopi Cultural
Preservation Office.
The class ring
belonging to
Terry Morgart
’68.
Don Wiss attended Pingry’s
Cornell University Send-Off
party and also reconnected
with other Pingry alumni at
the Jersey Shore Party.
1969
Jim Hodge writes: “It was
great to see Miller Bugliari ’52
again [at the Alumni Soccer
Game this past September]
and his involvement with the
school and the boys.”
The Reverend Bruce Smith
writes: “In late November,
Susan and I enjoyed a brief
overnight in New York City
followed by a 10-day journey
to the Caribbean on board the
RMS Queen Mary 2. Great
trip. On February 12, 2010,
our newest grandchild was
born: Rebecca Valles
Oquendo. Rebecca lives with
her 5-year-old sister Elizabeth
and her parents Emily (Susan’s
younger daughter) and Robert
Oquendo here in Columbus.
In June, we had lunch with
Fred Bartenstein ’68 in
Yellow Springs, Ohio, following
a visit to Frank Lloyd
Wright’s Westcott House in
Springfield, Ohio. It was great
to catch up with Fred, a fellow
Glee Clubber and Buttondown
during the Tony duBourg era.
Fred is still singing! Life as a
parish priest in the Episcopal
Church continues to be challenging
and rewarding.”
Jay Winslow has moved to
Rosendale, New York, in the
Hudson Valley. He and
Margaret have a large garden
and grow much of their food—
that is, as much as they can
keep from the voles, bugs,
woodchucks, deer, and a bear
who decided honey from their
beehive would make a good
dessert. Jay continues to do
graphic design work from home.
1970
Dr. Alan Berkower writes: “I
enjoyed renewing friendships
with Pingry classmates at both
the official and follow-up 40th
Reunions. My wife and I live
on Long Island with our two
middle school-aged daughters.
My two older daughters work
in the New York City Parks
Department as a city planner
and as a teacher. I have three
grandchildren. Besides my
career as an otolaryngologist/
head and neck surgeon (I am
an associate professor at New
York Medical College and
operate at Montefiore Medical
Center in the Bronx), I try to
keep up with my girls’ ice skating
competitions, music recitals,
and school functions. In
my free time, I also ice skate,
swim, and bike ride. If more
free time appears, I may even
try fencing again!”
Richard Lowish writes: “After
having met many of my ’70
classmates at our recent unofficial
reunion and having
learned of their sumless successes
and towering triumphs,
I decided hastily to call it a
day. How could I ever compete
for honors with the likes
of Myke ‘Blazing Saddles’
Connell, et al Doctors, lawyers,
captains of industry, and
Obama’s social secretary—they
all have truly and deservedly
brought home glittering prizes.
Therefore, upon my return to
the U.K., and after 27 years of
hawking platinum group metals
in London (I had to travel
afar to find someone silly
enough to hire me), I felt
compelled to retire. Then, in
order to assuage my wife’s
debilitating anxieties concerning
the probability of my permanent
presence at home,
I sauntered off to the local
offices of the Foreign Legion.
However, that august and
illustrious organization studied
assiduously the relevant actuarial
tables and recent mortality
rates and decidedly—and
rather impolitely—suggested
that I should ‘Fous le
camp!’ Now as I have never
medicated, litigated, or fabricated
(at least in the literal
sense), and thus can never
find gainful employment, I
have come to the conclusion
that I should go back to my
roots and travel around the
States for a bit.
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fall/winter 2010