AndoverMagSpring2015

www.andover.edu/intouchOn the occasion of her 80th birthday, Lydia Eccles Page (left) hostedSusan Kimball Sugar (center) and Penny Whittall Hoadley, all AbbotClass of ’51, at her home in Gaithersburg, Md.In February, Bill Drayton, Peter Huvelle, and Jim Sprague, all Class of ’61, metfor brunch and then visited the United States Marine Corps War Memorial(Iwo Jima Memorial) in Arlington, Va.our most senior classmate, enjoyed exploringhis surroundings around Plymouth, Mass., withcamera at the ready, searching for “nature’s gloriouscreations” and tucking prints of the photos he tookinto notecards to share with family and friends.Recently, hindered by mobility problems and toldby doctors to stop driving, Manny wrote that hewas reaching into his personal photo archives formore prints so he could at least keep making andsharing his “photo cards.”Farther afield, in Alaska, John Havelock waskeeping busy turning out thoughtful news columnscommenting on current state and nationalissues such as responsible vs. irresponsible freespeech, legalizing marijuana (but not marketingit), and “big money” influence on political campaignadvertising.Pim Epler, heading back to Florida at the startof the new year after a family visit in Texas, wrotethat he was looking forward to racing a Sonarsailboat on the St. Lucie River with friends and theEplers’ older daughter, Gail. Pim said that Gail waslooking around Florida for a place to retire. “How’sthat?” he mused. “A retired daughter!” Makes youask, Are we all getting a little older or what?Sadly, I must report that Gil Murray diedJan. 9, 2015 and Don Harris on Jan. 3, 2015; pleasesee their obituaries in the In Memoriam section.1951ABBOTConnie Hall DeNault37 Green St.Marblehead MA 01945781-631-9233dkdenault@comcast.netPenny Whittall Hoadley attended Lydia EcclesPage’s 80th birthday party! Penny saw Lydiaperform on the Friday night, “singing about birdsand birding.” The birthday party was the next night.Since Penny’s husband, Dave, has retired, they havedone a lot of traveling and cruising. They went toNew Zealand for their 50th anniversary and traveledlast year to Singapore, Hong Kong, Scotland,and Ireland. She and Dave are both well. They have10 grandchildren, four of them out of college.Penny keeps busy with her garden and local theatregroup and plays duplicate bridge three times aweek. She has had a knee replacement, which sheclaims is her only concession to old age. Thanks somuch for writing, Penny!PHILLIPSGeorge S.K. Rider22 Curiosity LaneEssex CT 06426860-581-8199ridercrawford@gmail.comBy the time you read these notes, the book launchdate for The Rogue’s Road To Retirement, Jan. 6, willhave come and gone. As I write this, one weekbefore Christmas, with lots of shopping left todo and arranging dates and sites for several booksignings and the arrival of advance copies from mypublisher, this aging scribe is addled or, as somewould say, in a bit of a dither. Each step on the longjourney from signing the publishing agreementon Aug. 8, 2013, to now has been a revelation. Theprocess is grueling, but the reward is in knowingthat the end is in sight and that somehow I’ve beenable to get my work published, with a huge assistfrom daughter Jenny ’86, Skyhorse Publishing,and my agent and editors. Bob Segal ’48 observedrecently that the two people in the world mostsurprised at my achievement would have beenG. G. Benedict and John Kemper. High praise,and enough to make my work on the sequel movealong quicker. Somewhere in heaven, Bill Brownwill be smiling and Walter Gierasch is muttering,“Oh my God, can you believe that?”On Nov. 6, 2014, General Barry McCaffrey ’60delivered a stirring keynote address at the fifthannual Veterans Day dinner. Cochair SethMoulton ’97 of our Andover and the Militaryaffinity group, Marine Corps captain and now thenewly elected representative from Massachusetts’sSixth Congressional District, along with alumnicouncil president Tom Beaton ’73, deliveredopening remarks in a packed Paresky Commonsdining room.This was the second major 2014 event of Andoverand the Military (A/M), following the April eventscommemorating Lt. Cmdr. Erik Kristensen ’91,killed in Afghanistan in 2005.Forty-five PA alumni are now serving on activeduty, including A/M members Navy Captain RobPatrick ’88, Tom Barron ’04, and Karl Novick ’07.Other highlights of A/M: Our database of Abbotand Andover military veterans now exceeds 900.This summer saw the graduation from SummerSession of the first student to receive fundingfrom a scholarship established in Erik’s honor;the scholarship is awarded to a child of a militaryveteran. Students now participate in the Adopt aPlatoon program, in which they correspond withand support a deployed platoon.Co-chairman Army Lt. Col. Charles Dean ’79,editor of A/M’s newsletter, the Blue Guidon,conceived the idea, design, manufacture, anddistribution of a lapel pin featuring Andover’s sealand the word “veteran,” to be awarded to and wornby each Andover veteran. The first pin was awardedto Rear Adm. Kristensen, Erik’s dad, at the dinnerprior to the showing of Lone Survivor last April.Since then, 250-plus veterans have been “pinned.”JoAnne and Bill Duffy headed down toLawrenceville School in January to attend atrustees’ retirement dinner in honor of theirAndover | Spring 201573