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CLASS NOTES
George Koplinka Favorable replies are being received by the steering committee concerning its selection of Columbia's Arden House as the site for our 50th anniversary reunion in the year 2001. The dates, September 7-9, have been heralded as perfect for enjoying Arden House's beautiful facilities and magnificent surroundings in the Ramapo Mountains of New York State, conveniently located near the Columbia campus and the metropolitan area. To paraphrase a recent Arden House advertisement, Unmatched hospitality, extraordinary service, response to needs and attention to detail...these are all the kinds of compliments which Arden House receives from its guests. So, arouse your interest further about the 50th reunion by visiting the Arden House Website at www.ardenhouse.com. Within a short period of time the Alumni Office will be sending out details of the 50th year reunion package. We are fortunate to have as our Alumni Office representative Grissel Seijo '93. She may be reached at (212) 870-2746 or by e-mail at gb73@columbia.edu for reunion information. NROTC members of the class should contact her for details about the special pre-reunion package at Arden House. What can you do to insure the success of the 50th reunion? First, mark your calendar now and plan to attend. Then, call your classmates and encourage them to make plans to attend, too. Update your personal information and e-mail address by phoning (212) 870-2288 or get on the Web at www.college.columbia.edu/alumni/contact/address.html. Best of all, participate as a member of the reunion planning committee. Class president Bob Snyder is recruiting for the program and activities sub-committee. Mark Kaplan is organizing a team to raise funds for the '51 class gift to the College. Vice president Sam Haines is updating the class mailing list. Our reunion zone leaders, working in six geographical regions of the United States, will be contacting classmates to keep everybody up to speed about reunion activities. Hal White (our southern states leader) and his wife, Carolyn, are planning to attend the reunion. Along with the other zone leaders, he will be receiving mailing lists and phone numbers to insure no classmates fall through the cracks. Engineering graduates from 1951 have been invited to participate in the reunion planning. Ted Borri (732) 548-0574 heads up this group and will be assisted by Joe McCormick. Joe was one of several graduates who received both B.A. and B.S. degrees from Columbia. Needless to say, we are looking forward to having their group with us. In conclusion, a special note of thanks to Mario Palmieri, secretary of the Class of 1950. He graciously passed along to us his notes, suggestions, literature and reunion annual for our guidance in preparing '51's 50th reunion materials. If class members have ideas and suggestions, graphics and printing experience and marketing expertise, your class correspondent would like to hear from you soon. Phone me at (914) 592-9023.
Robert Kandel In the last issue I said it never rains but it pours...well this time I guess there was a drought (or you people went on a summer vacation, but you didn't tell me about it). Art Leb has finally learned how to send e-mail. He still goes to the office most days, but says his principal focus is finding companions for lunch. He uses a cane when walking because of his back (apparently surgery did not help) but is "reasonably well." He is looking forward to our 50th reunion in 2002! Gene Manfrini and Mary Anne are still pleased that they are back living in Manhattan. But Gene had had a rough time with pain from his bone condition and is hopeful that the latest medication will make life more enjoyable and livable. It has been five years since Eileen and Dick Pittenger retired to Cape Cod, and they enjoy it more and more. They keep busy with pleasure trips to various European countries and around the northeast. Because you haven't written, you will now have to hear about me! Evelyn and I have been enjoying retirement and a lot of traveling. We spent a couple of weeks in the UK, visited friends in Alabama and did some sightseeing in New Orleans-visited Arlene and Jim Hoebel in Virginia-went to Evelyn's 50th high school reunion at a camp in the Adirondacks-etc., etc., etc.
Lew Robins Richard Crew: Frank Walwer '52 called with sad news. Following a short illness, Dick Crew passed away on October 3 after an unusual and wonderful life. During the Korean War, Dick served in the Pacific as a Lt. JG. After serving three years in the Navy, Dick returned to New York and became a popular interior designer. Several years later, he abandoned his successful business career to enter a Trappist monastery. For five years, he lived in a "contemplative community" in Snowmass, Colo. At the monastery, Dick worked on a ranch where he spent time in prayer and meditation. Subsequently, he left the monastery and studied for the priesthood. However, while studying for the priesthood, Dick had a change of heart and decided to return to secular life. Mary Ann Walwer (Frank's wife) suggested Dick visit an organization in Washington that was conducting job counseling seminars for former priests and nuns. As Dick entered, he saw Eileen (a former nun) on the other side of the room. It was love at first sight. Dick and Eileen met in September and they were married the following June. For the past 30 years, they have been living in Florida. For many years, Dick was active in the Kairos Prison Ministry in Florida and was among a team of men who, twice a year, spent Thursday thru Sunday at a men's maximum security prison where they tried to motivate the men to leading a spiritual life. The program was quite successful in reversing an alarming statistic. Ordinarily, 80 percent of prisoners return to prison. However, 80 percent of the prisoners who participated in the Kairos Prison Ministry program never returned to prison. Eileen reports that she is doing remarkably well. During Dick's short illness, both Eileen and Dick were touched by the outpouring of love and prayer from people who wrote and phoned. Dick was loved by many classmates. His unusual warmth and friendship will be missed. Peter Lewis: Sadly, Peter Lewis passed away on August 18 after a short illness. After graduating from the College, Peter earned a degree from the Business School. After working in the private sector, Peter got a law degree from Maryland and practiced law in Baltimore in his own firm. He served in the Navy in the Baltimore area as an enlisted man. Peter is survived by two brothers, Frank Lewis '51 and David Lewis '47. Richard Lempert: Dick is rapidly recuperating from successful surgery and is ready to return to the tennis courts. Dick spends half his time as a 'retired' partner in his law firm. Robert Walzer: Bob has had a most unusual career. After practicing medicine for 25 years, Bob felt he was burning out and decided to concentrate on his second love, the law. Following his graduation from the Bridgeport Law School, he started his own law practice. Subsequently, he was asked to become head of the health care section of a large law firm. Recently, a friend died and named him "sole executor" of her substantial estate. Bob used the funds to establish a foundation that is dedicated to helping universities that have small art museums fill important holes in their collections. Bob told me by phone that the foundation dispenses about $1 million a year with the object of enabling universities to integrate the art collections into their curricula. Bob and Ann have been married for 32 years. Ann practices medicine in New Milford, Conn. They have two sons. One works at Goldman Sachs; the other is a fourth-year student at Georgia Tech. Irwin Kline: Irwin and Tilde are happily retired and spend their time traveling and visiting their 11 grandchildren. Until recently, both Irwin and Tilde practiced pathology in Pennsylvania. Gus Falk: Gus is still having fun working for Morgan Stanley as a financial consultant in Little Rock, Ark. He and his wife, Anne, were married in 1954. Gus was originally from Little Rock and he remembers hitchhiking as an undergraduate 13 times from Little Rock to Morningside Heights and back again. Needless to say, after 13 trips like that, Gus found it easy to hitchhike from Columbia to Vassar to see Anne. They now have four children and one grandchild. Even though he was never on the Columbia track team, Gus now runs two or three miles every day. Joel Danziger: Joel is still practicing law in White Plains at his law firm of 40 years, Danziger & Markhoff. Joel and Joan celebrated their 42nd anniversary last summer and are living on a horse farm in Bedford, N.Y., 45 minutes from Lincoln Center. They have three children and four grandchildren. The couple is currently taking a course at Columbia with Professor Kenneth Jackson on the history of New York. They highly recommend the course despite the lengthy reading assignments. Lawrence Harte: Larry has been re-nominated by Governor Christine Whitman and voted on by the senate to serve a third term on the State of New Jersey Public Health Council. Larry is one of a handful of dentists in the world who have served as chairman of the council. Stanley Maratos: Stan recently retired as the chairman of the aviation management department of St. Francis College in Brooklyn. During the Vietnam War, Stan was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force and flew 10 dozen combat missions. Recently, he was inducted into the prestigious Distinguished Flying Cross Society at its headquarters in California. Stan is currently living in Treasure Island, Fla. and has a 28-foot carver boat named Zeusbolt that sleeps six.
Howard Falberg It seems that high school 50th reunions are bringing some of our classmates back as we hope they will to our own College 50th. George Fadok, coming from Arizona, met Charles Ehren from Indiana at the Curtis High School (Staten Island) reunion. Herb Wittow continues to work hard in Denver, while at the same time Herb and Sandra are raising grandchildren. His only concession to age is that he is not skiing the Olympic trails as often as he used to. Alan Fendrick continues to "snowbird" between Sarasota, Fla., and Massachusetts. He and Bev have moved into a townhouse in Lenox, Mass. Sheldon Licht became the assistant commissioner of buildings in New York City in early August. His career as an architect/urban planner has also enabled him to be a national leader in the area of energy conservation. Larry Kastriner has "finally retired" after 40 years in the patent field. For the last 10 years, Larry was chief intellectual property counsel for Praxair, Inc. He also retired from Pace Law School where he taught patent law for the past 20 years. Larry and his wife, Mary, continue to enjoy living in Westport, Conn., where they are enjoying retirement. Reporting from our nation's capital, David Bardin has retired from active membership in the Arent Fox law firm where he is now "of counsel." In keeping with the Columbia tradition of community involvement, David serves as chair of his Advisory Neighborhood Commission. He is also a member of the mayor's committee on adoption law reform as well as a group charged with developing a long term control plan for combined sewer operations. I understand that a member of our class is the proud father of a baby girl. Another indication of the strength and ability of the members of "The Class of Destiny." One last and sad note for this issue. The correct order of things is for children to outlive their parents. George Fadok's daughter, Andrea, died at the age of 35 as a result of an auto accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with George and his family.
Gerald Sherwin What a sight! First-year student orientation was magnificent. It was very different from four or even 49 years ago. There was a tremendous show of Columbia spirit by the Class of 2004 as they marched through the gates at 116th Street and Broadway (see photo). It was called "Class Act" and it looks like a tradition has been started as we move further into the 21st century. The orientation included a boat ride around Manhattan Island, tours, visits to the deep, dark recesses of New York, and a show featuring the "oldies but goodies" from past Varsity Shows. (Sorry guys, no Pony Ballet). It is sad to report that there was no Soph-Frosh Rush with the greased pole extravaganza or the huge medicine ball contest on South Field. However, the first-years were indoctrinated into the Columbia regimen by being asked to read a good portion of the Iliad before arriving on campus. In addition to these highly successful events, there has been other activity on or near the campus. The new residence hall on 113th Street and Broadway officially opened to very positive responses by upper-class students. Much progress was being made on the upgrade of Hamilton Hall. The design and floor plans for the new faculty residence on 110th Street and Broadway are well underway. This building will also include a Columbia-affiliated school (K-8) for faculty/staff children and community kids. Most importantly, the highlight of the past couple of months was the celebration of Dean Austin Quigley's Fifth Anniversary as Dean of the College. How fast the time goes when you're having fun! There has been lots of post-reunion news about our classmates around the country and beyond. Starting out west, Jeff Broido from La Jolla and his wife spent several weeks snorkeling in French Polynesia. We heard from Al Ginepra (John Nelson's linemate), living in Santa Monica, that he was becoming a grandfather; his son and Paul Zimmerman's daughter. Paul, who resides in New Jersey, also played a little football before moving on to his journalism exploits at Sports Illustrated, where he is known as Dr. Z. Lee Rodgers called from Los Angeles to chat and re-hash some of the highlights of the 45th. From London, Donn Coffee, who was a major player in the fund aspect of the reunion, reports that he has been doing a lot of communicating with alums from various classes on the War Memorial project. John Crocker let us know from Virginia that he is celebrating his ninth wedding anniversary and that he retired from TRW this past year. Now John can get to all those things he wanted to do but couldn't. A couple of mini-reunions were held recently. Marv Winell and Dick Kuhn made it across the bridge to join Hal Rosenthal from Long Island and Barry Pariser from Newburgh at the Terrace restaurant. Those guys haven't changed since the reunion. (By the way, Jerry Rosenthal asked for a "rain check.") Jack Freeman hosted an athletic kind of get-together for John Naley, Ron McPhee and Tom Brennan (Tony Palladino, Walt Deptula and Rollie Rourke couldn't make it). A classmate who may have the most frequent-flyer miles is Richard Bloomenstein from New Jersey, who shuttles every two to three months to Prescott, Ariz. to visit his talented grandson. (Aren't all grandchildren talented?) Another New Jerseyan, Dave Befeler, told us that his son has entered Columbia as a member of the 250th anniversary class. Steve Bernstein has informed us that he has a lot of room in his house on Long Island, so if you're driving to Montauk and want to visit an old classmate, Steve is listed in the Nassau County Directory. Ivan Leigh, who attends Dean's Day every year, had some very incisive comments about the classrooms at Havemeyer. They're working on it, Ivan. Our class not only turns out a plethora of books, manuscripts and papers, but they are always interesting and provocative. This is the case with Martin Gottfried's new venture. Marty is currently writing the book he considers the most important of his career-a critical study of the life and work of playwright Arthur Miller. Two of Marty's earlier works have recently been released in paperback-Balancing Act (Angela Lansbury) and All That Jazz (Bob Fosse). We must mention Stan Lubman's new book: Bird in a Cage: Legal Reform in China After Mao, which received excellent reviews. For those looking for Chuck Solomon, he was espied on Manhattan's fashionable Upper East Side "hanging out" with some old friends, looking as spry as ever. Gentlemen. Start your engines. Begin training for the 50th. Take long walks. Drink lots of liquids. Watch your diet. Do fun things. Avoid stressful situations. Most of all...just be you. Love to all!!! Everywhere!!!
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