AndoverMagSpring2015

www.andover.edu/intouchthere with her mother, father [Ruth’s son Karl],and brother Zakk. Zoe finished first in one raceand third in another and now ranks sixth in theworld. My other good news is that my son Peterbecame a captain with United Airlines. So I hopemy classmates, when they fly United, will look forCaptain Fleischmann and say hello!”Audrey Taylor MacLean admits, “I’ve beenlax with news lately so I’ll try to fill you in withhappenings in 2014. The most exciting event was afamily trip to the Galapagos Islands in July. We tooka land tour instead of a cruise, due to the ages of thegrandchildren—four who were 4 to 7 years old andone who was 22. We stayed on three of the islandsand were able to see most of the exotic animals. Weswam, snorkeled, kayaked, and hiked, seeing sealions, marine iguanas, penguins, tortoises, and manykinds of birds, including, of course, the blue-footedbooby. I think even the 4-year-old will remembersomething from the trip. It was a wonderful way toinclude all the ages, the parents and the kids.“Our children and grands live all over, notclose to us, so we spent some time traveling to seethem and then four months at our place in NewHampshire. Now we are enjoying being in Houstonfor the winter, especially when we see the weatheryou are having.”I’m sorry to report that Nancy Bailey Riegel’shusband, Bill, has passed away. Nancy writes, “Ilost my husband of 44 years last July and havebeen learning to navigate on my own since then.Not much fun but necessary. Will be spending thewinter months in our tiny place in Scottsdale. If anyclassmates find themselves out there, I hope they’llcall.” I know I speak for all of us in extending oursympathy and best wishes to Nancy.PHILLIPSBill Joseph225 W. 83rd St., Apt. 5QNew York NY 10024347-907-4647 (cell)wjoseph80@hotmail.comJohn Ratté writes, “My successor’s successor atLoomis—I left the headship in 1996—askedme a few years ago to help lead the centennialplanning, and one result was an institutionalhistory and an anthology of writing publishedlast September. ... Copies, alas, are not availableat Amazon. The centennial day was for me verymoving, but the great event of the past fewyears was a week [wife] Lou and I spent in SanAnselmo, Calif., with Katherine and John Poppy.Employment, retirement, schools, colleges, nationalcrises, global warming, tyranny and terror, summerand winter, married grandchildren, they all comeand go: Poppy endures.”Fred Fenton and wife Billie sent me a Christmascard with a summary of the past year’s highlights.Fred reported that 2014 witnessed his and Billie’s60th wedding anniversary, a 10-day trip to Japanwith son Mark and daughter-in-law Sanae, andgranddaughter Perry’s graduation from highschool. Fred was anticipating a visit around NewYear’s from son James, daughter-in-law Tanya, andgranddaughters Sophia and Stella. Son David andhis wife, Cathy, live close to Fred, in Berkeley, Calif.Fred reports that he and Billie and their Tibetanspaniels, Bailey and Brandy, are doing their best toage gracefully.In December, Neal Robinson’s Facebook pageincluded photos of Joe Mesics and Hank Riggs.Flor Kist e-mailed to report he had stoppedreceiving this magazine and missed it. This willbe remedied.Bill Kaufmann reports that Fred Guggenheimis planning to move from Providence, R.I., toDenver later this year. Bill and wife Paulette visitedson Fred ’94 and his wife, Danielle, in Florida beforeNew Year’s. The young couple has developed a lineof gourmet sausages they are marketing.Otis Smith and wife Gay are enjoying retirementon Marco Island, Fla. Their daughter has a horsefarm in North Carolina. Tom Springall taughtcomputer operation for 15 years at a senior learningcenter, of which he was the president. He is stayingin shape by riding his stationary bike. Al Stearnsis enjoying retirement playing golf weekly, visitingwith his three grandchildren, and traveling with wifeJudy, most recently for 10 days in Germany.Bob Strode operates a 120-acre organic farmin upstate New York. Previously, he was a medicalsystems analyst for Glens Falls (N.Y.) Hospital andthen a consultant in that field. He has been activelocally as a town councilman, town judge, memberof the historical society, and supporter of a chambermusic society.Eliot Vestner writes that 2014 was “aninteresting year. Our home in Kittery, Maine,had been on the market; end of March 2014 wereceived a good offer and took it. With a May 12closing date, we immediately flew North to cleanout all we had accumulated over the years. Wedownsized from 3,800 square feet to 800 squarefeet in a rental cottage that we were lucky to findon Badger’s Island, Kittery. We no longer have theexpense of owning, we got rid of a lot of stuff, andwe can walk across the bridge into Portsmouth,N.H., which we do every night. ... But we do missour old spacious quarters—we were spoiled—andwe miss some of the stuff we got rid of, especiallybooks. For those of you thinking of ‘downsizing,’you’d better tackle it while you still have the energy.It is 24/7 and exhausting! In September, we wentWest to see children and friends. Our children andgrandchildren are all in good shape: Charlie, MG,Violet (4 years), and newborn Grayson (3 months)in Burlingame, Calif.; Chip, Au, and Alba (18months) in Howard, Colo. Both Violet and Alba arein school and thriving. Lila Ackley, our 12-year-oldgranddaughter from Barrington, R.I., came to visitin our ‘cozy’ cottage. Lila is an artist and studied atRhode Island School of Design during the summer.“End of September, we spent three weeks inEurope: flew to Madrid, drove to Lisbon and back,took the fast train to Paris, and spent a couple ofnights in London. The purpose: to visit withold friends. Everybody was kind, gracious, andgenerous, and tried their best to make us feelat home. But it was exhausting. We left KitteryNov. 6 and arrived Boca Grande, Fla., Nov. 11. Wehave a ways to go before we are really settled downhere, but we’re in good health, still on speakingterms, and still in love.”Bill Walworth, like Otis Smith, is retired onMarco Island but spends summers in Michigan.He lost his wife of 56 years in 2011 but reports thathe is blessed with four attentive daughters whohave provided him with six grandchildren andtwo great-grandchildren. “Life is good,” he says.Bill Wiegand reported on his grandchildren:His eldest granddaughter, an attorney, celebratedher first wedding anniversary two days before hee-mailed me; one grandson is getting marriedin June; his youngest grandson is going back toschool at the University of Southern Mississippi;his oldest grandson is a brewmaster and operatesa pub in old downtown Durham, N.C.; hisyoungest granddaughter has been admitted to theUniversity of Alabama Birmingham’s law school;one grandson is a professional bass fisherman;and the seventh grandchild has graduated fromLSU. Bill plans to retire at the end of 2015. He’sgoing to need the spare time to keep up with allthese grandkids.Herb Young has been married for 54 years.Herb has four children, four grandchildren, andgood health. Who could ask for anything more?He sees Zeus Stevens a lot, as their wives aregym friends.J. Laurence “Larry” Higgins passed away onNov. 24, 2014. He is survived by, among others,four children, five grandchildren, and threesiblings. Larry lived in Andover for most of hislife and worked for Camp Dresser & McKee, anengineering, consulting, and construction firm,for 30 years.Ray Lamontagne remembers Larry fromjunior year. Larry was a great athlete, finishing firstin a class run around Rabbit Pond. Though heattended for only a year, he made many friends.Our sympathies and condolences go out to hisfamily and friends.1954ABBOTNancy Donnelly Bliss31 Cluf Bay RoadBrunswick ME 04011-9349207-725-0951It is very gratifying to be able to be in contact withmany from our class by letter, e-mail, phone calls,or in person. Jane Munro Barrett wrote that, aftera busy summer of 2014, she was back to workand enjoying being able to go to the office. Janecontinues to speak to groups about her passionfor bike riding and the benefit of exercise for folksAndover | Spring 201575