A Walk in the Woods

whatever they said had thought behind it.”Goudsmit was an economics major atSwarthmore, who received a master’s inbusiness administration from Harvard.“Phil says that I am a private person, andthat is probably true. But there are peoplewith whom I intuitively connect and feelcomfortable,” he said. “In this type of relationship,years and distance are irrelevant:the friendship will stay constant.”As part of Swarthmore’s Quaker matchbox,Don married Jane Ann Jones ’48, andPhil committed himself to Alice Higley ’48.In 1950, Si returned to Holland and marriedDona Carrington ’50. “Soon Alice andPhil paid a visit toAmsterdam, one of themany European tripsthat they took over thenext 50 years,” Si said.On one trip, theywere walking throughone of the massiveflower shows that are“regular fare in theNetherlands,”Goudsmit said. “Inoticed that every time Iwas thinking of makinga turn, right or left, Ifound Si taking thatturn,” Gilbert said.Recently, the Goudsmitswere able to visit theGilberts, still sharingtheir interest in finegardens.Reflecting on thePHIL GILBERT ’48,HALCYONSI GOUDSMIT ’48,AND DON SMITH ’47(TOP TO BOTTOM)HAVE MAINTAINEDA LIFELONG LINK.strength of the trio’slasting friendship,Gilbert added: “Mostimportant, there hasbeen nothing to comebetween us. We are threemen, each married tothe same women for 50-plus years, each rathersuccessful in our careers, and none puttingunreasonable demands on the others.”R o u n d R o b i n K e e p sC Ii r c l e C o n n e c t e dn November 1944, in the waning days ofWorld War II, 15 members of the Classof 1948 formed a lifelong group. They startedout as freshmen together on ParrishSecond East, when the class had only 10“My Swarthmore friends are my oldest and best.”men plus a shipload of Navy V12 sailors inWharton. Sticking together as they movedto other floors—most to Third East assophomores—they scattered during thenext two, with about half rooming nearby.As seniors, many were reunited in Worth.“We spent a lot of time with eachother,” said Lois Ledwith Frost, the RoundRobin organizer. “We shared meals andlate-night gab sessions, agonizing overexams and papers and visiting in eachother’s homes over the holidays.”Now hailing from North Carolina toCalifornia and beyond, the same patterncontinues—with the diverse group reconnectingduring five-year reunions, minigatherings,and Round Robin letters. Frostsends a note to the group members, eachresponds to her, and then the entirepackage is circulated.Winnie Muir Martinek, anotherRobin in Connecticut, said she eagerlyanticipates the package. “When theRound Robin arrives each year, I dropeverything to sit down and read!”Before their 40th reunion in 1988,they decided to meet privately first—without husbands or children. The groupwas still hungry for more time together, somembers met again for field trips to theBarnes Foundation in Merion, Pa., during1990 and the Gardner Museum in Bostonduring 1992.“A memorable [gathering] was in 1996,”said Frost, “when all 15 of us met at theMedia Inn for a weekend, chartered a busto go to the Cézanne Exhibit, and had awonderful time.” Martinek also has vividmemories of the gathering, when theyexchanged photos and reviewed their lives.“It was like being back on Second East, sittingaround in our pj’s, reminiscing aboutold times,” she said.As genuine friends who share joy as wellas sorrow, they support each other unconditionally.“We have a telephone tree whentragedy strikes. Although we’ve been prettyfortunate, we have lost two husbands and agrown son—and there have been manydivorces, both ours and our children’s, toweather. In earlier days, we went to eachother’s weddings, which were always happytimes,” Frost said. Of the 15, 10 originallymarried Swarthmore men.Nancy Burnholz Rawson—anothermember in Massachusetts, was a recipientof the group’s strength on both ends of thespectrum. “When my husband, Ed ’48, diedin 1986, the Robins provided incrediblesupport. Of course, they had all known Edas long as I had. They shared our courtship,so somehow it lives on in a way itwouldn’t otherwise. A couple of them hadABOVE: SOME OF THE ROUND ROBINS—PATTYINGLESBY THOMAS, ISABEL BROWN GALLIGAN,MAGGIE CLOUGH SCHWERTNER, GERALDINE FINKWASSERMAN, LOIS LEDWITH FROST, AND PAT PLANKDICKINSON (LEFT TO RIGHT)—APPEAR AT THECOLLEGE IN 1945. LEFT: THE ROBINS WEREREUNITED AT A 1996 MINI-REUNION.even dated him before I did! We all have along history. In happy times, we share eachother’s joys,” she said.Martinek also received help from fellowmember and accomplished potter SusieMcEldowney Dean, who lives in Fairbanks,Alaska. When the stepson of Martinek’sdaughter, Barbara, was in a car accident inDenali Park and flown to a hospital in Fairbanks,“Susie and her husband helped.... Itwas an act of kindness on Susie’s part thatI am most grateful for,” she said.The Round Robins—from a psychiatristto an avid gardener to an Antarctic traveler—thriveon their varied interests. “We’rea diverse bunch, with a lot of differentinterests, which is why it’s such fun to gettogether,” Frost said. TM A R C H 2 0 0 1