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CLASS NOTES COLUMBIA COLLEGE TODAY
have three sons, Mike, Steve and
Paul, and three grandchildren,
Chris, Kaylee and Ryan.”
Our 60th Alumni Reunion Weekend
is scheduled for Thursday,
May 31–Sunday, June 3. Take a look
at the reunion website (reunion.
college.columbia.edu) and mark
your calendars now. More information
will start to arrive during the
spring, so be sure Columbia has
your correct postal and email addresses.
Your reporter thanks you for your
contributions and wishes you good
health.
53
Lew Robins
1221 Stratfield Rd.
Fairfield, CT 06825
lewrobins@aol.com
Our exuberant, musically enthusiastic
and talented classmate Howard
Pettebone passed away at his home
on July 28 surrounded by his wife,
Barbara, and his health aide and
friend, Sam Agebese, after an 18year
battle with transverse myelitis
and Lewy body dementia.
After graduating from the College,
Howard served three years in
the Navy as a supply corps officer
and then became a C.P.A. at Arthur
Young & Co. In 1959, Howard joined
the First National Bank of Central
Jersey as an installment loan officer.
In 1966, he was named v.p. He
retired as the president of Bank of
America in 1991.
Howard and Barbara had been
married since 1955 and their family
includes Elaine Ford and her husband,
Edwin; Charles Pettebone; and
Bonnie Carden and her husband,
Tom. They have six grandchildren.
At our 55th reunion in 2008, our
classmates were thrilled to hear a
recording of Howard’s blowing his
trumpet at the class dinner under a
tent and the stars in Van Am Quad.
His triumphant sound recalled
happy memories of football games
at Baker Field.
One of Howard’s many friends,
Jim Higginbottom, sent me the
following email about our special
classmate.
“Howard’s service was well attended
by friends from all stages of
his life, including from Columbia.
As you might have guessed, he
occupied a huge space in the lives
of all who knew him, and his
trumpet will resound in our ears as
long as we are alive. My wife, Patti,
and I and our family were tightly
bound to him and his family all of
our lives, and we all were there to
be with them. I visited Howard a
month before and all he wanted
to do was sing Columbia and SAE
songs. We should be glad he came
to our 55th via telephone and gave
us a memory we can carry to how-
ever many reunions we have left.
We know he will be there in spirit.”
Howard’s vibrancy and enthusiasm
will be sorely missed at our
60th reunion in 2013.
I’m terribly sorry to also report
that at the age of 80 one of our
distinguished, and highly articulate,
classmates, Rolon W. Reed, passed
away on September 18 near his
home in Lake County, Fla. Rolon
was always famous for his oneliners,
and he is reported to have
said that he wanted the following
carved on his gravestone: “I had a
ball.”
Quite a few years ago, Rolon retired
as a partner in the prominent
Manhattan law firm of Simpson
Thacher & Bartlett. For nearly 10
years in the 1970s and early 1980s,
he also served as the mayor and
trustee of the Hudson River village
of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., until New
York Gov. Mario Cuomo appointed
him as a Westchester County Court
judge.
Rolon will always be remembered
as the crusading, hard-working,
dedicated classmate we knew
as undergraduates. Who could
forget that as the managing editor
of Spectator, Rolon participated in
the controversial editorial decision
to endorse Adlai Stevenson against
Dwight Eisenhower in the 1952
presidential election? Those of us
who were members of Phi Gamma
Delta will never forget his superb
intellect, quick wit, passion and
creative thinking. He told us then
and throughout the years, “There
are two types of people in government:
those who want to do good,
and those who want to do well.”
Even as an undergraduate, Rolon
showed signs of becoming a “charismatic
contrarian” who thrived on
crusading and controversy.
As the mayor of Dobbs Ferry,
Rolon set out to fight corruption
and championed reasonable
development and the preservation
of open space. Never losing
his endearing sense of humor,
townspeople fondly remember
Rolon presiding over board meetings
wearing a navy blue T-shirt
that said “Irate Taxpayer” in large
white letters. Voters appreciated
his courage and far-sighted leadership
by overwhelmingly reelecting
him to two additional terms.
Following his court service, in
1989, Rolon and his wife, Diana, relocated
to their country home in the
Lake Jem area outside Mount Dora.
Rolon is survived by Diana and
by his children from his previous
marriage to Ann, Rolon A. III of
Athens, Greece; Hillary Yeo of
Cary, N.C.; and Jennifer Simon of
Camden, Maine; by sister Marilyn
Mellor of Flowery Branch, Ga.; by
grandchildren Samuel Reed, Jordan
and Molly Yeo; and Ella Simon; and
by his beloved dog, Jesse.
I’m certain we’ll remember Rolon
as a towering, talented, exciting
classmate. Life was always alive
when he was in the room!
If you have stories about Howard
or Rolon, would you take a
moment to email your anecdotes?
I’ll be delighted to insert them into
the next column.
54
WINTER 2011–12
60
Howard Falberg
13710 Paseo Bonita
Poway, CA 92064
westmontgr@aol.com
I have been so pleased to hear from a
good number of our classmates, who
responded to a survey I sent out.
Bob Schaefer went on to P&S
and then interned at Stanford Hospital
& Clinics. After completing
military service, he went to Switzerland
and “while there got married
Ed Cowan ’54 and his wife have completed their
campaign to see a baseball game in each of the 30
major league ballparks.
to my wife of 49 years, Doris.” After
military service, Bob did advanced
medical work in both California
and later in the state of Washington.
He was on the faculty of the
University of Washington for seven
years and then went into the private
practice of radiology in Bellevue,
Wash. Bob retired in 1994. He has
been involved with volunteer work
with the Seattle Opera. His fond
memories at Columbia are “some
really excellent professors — Jack
Stein (German) and Douglas Moore
(music) and laughing my head off
in geology class while listening to
Saul Turteltaub.”
David Williams retired in 1998
and is professor emeritus at the
University of Memphis. He wrote
a book that was published in 2007,
and he collects information on the
history of music theory (his specialty).
David wrote, “I have many fond
memories of Columbia, but I have
drifted apart from my roommates:
Larry Gartner, Mike Naver, Brian
Tansey and Dan Wakefield ’55.”
I know that David would love to
hear from those four.
Speaking of Saul Turteltaub,
he recently had his second knee
replacement, and things are going
well. “I guess I am retired, not having
a series to write or produce after
50 years, but I am still writing freelance
— a novel and memoirs. Send
my best wishes to all classmates.
Can’t think of one I didn’t like.”
Ed Cowan and his wife, Ann
Louise, have completed their campaign
(which began in 2000) to see
a baseball game in each of the 30
Major League ballparks. They are
both great fans of the sport and
as Ed says, “The collateral benefit
was that we took in a great deal
of America on side trips, such as
Minneapolis and Lake Superior,
Houston and the Texas Hill Country,
Atlanta and a stunning museum
display of quilts from southern
Alabama.”
Ed adds that they enjoy summering
in northern New Hampshire.
While back in Washington, he plans
to continue his occasional pro bono
writing about D.C. government
as well as editing. “In D.C. I see
several classmates — chiefly, David
Bardin, Don Crabill and Herb
Hagerty. I am pleased to note that
the youngest of our three children,
Rachel Cowan Jacobs ’90, writes her
class’ Class Notes for this magazine.”
I was pleased to hear from Norma
Dallal, wife of George Dallal.
George had a fall and broke his
left hip. He has been active in the
Albuquerque community, interviewing
applicants for the College
and serving as board member of
the Albuquerque International
Association and the New Mexico
Symphony Orchestra. Norma
writes, “On his behalf I send
regards to all his classmates of the
Class of ’54. Our daughter, Melissa,
is a member of the Class of ’93.”
Get well soon, George!
Jack Bloom responded beautifully
to my request for fond memories
of his experiences at Columbia.
“My freshman year, I was walking
with Nick Poulos, who was only
at Columbia for his freshman year,
along 116th Street toward Morningside
Drive and we were both
wearing our freshman beanies when
who should come by but Dwight D.
Eisenhower, at that time the president
of Columbia, who upon seeing
our beanies stopped and solicitously
inquired of us how we were doing,
and so on. The whole thing took
only a few minutes and ended with
his wishing us well … this event has
stuck in my mind all these years. I
was never bored at Columbia. Who
could be with teachers like Fritz
Stern ’46, ’53 GSAS, Charles Frankel
’37, ’46 GSAS, Jacques Barzun ’27,
’32 GSAS, Andrew Chiappe ’33, ’39
GSAS and Douglas Moore, among
others? It has been a good path.
Thank you, Columbia.”
Hank Buchwald continues to
work “full time as professor of sur-