UNH Magazine Winter 2014

WINTER 2014

7| New Marine School 16| Meeting MLK 34| Whoop Snively, 50 Years Later 39| Alice McDermott’s Someone

lights,

camera,

ALUMNI!Pa g e 24

giving.unh.eduThe UNH Fund

If anyone ever tells you that the gifts you make to

The UNH Fund don’t really change lives, just have

them talk to me.”

—Joe Tumber ’15

Because of the generosity of UNH

alumni, I will be a research scientist.

Maybe I’ll change the world a little—

or a lot. All because you changed my world. I

can’t thank you enough. No way I’m even on

this campus without the scholarship support

I’ve received. My late father came from India,

my mom is a retired schoolteacher from

Puerto Rico. I fell in love with UNH, but my

dream was bigger than our bank account. So

my hometown helped get me started, then

UNH alumni helped me keep going. As a

junior, I’m working in the UNH Stable Isotopes

Lab and the Terrestrial Ecosystems Analysis

Lab and working on publishing my research.

Your gifts to UNH and The UNH Fund made

that possible.

Keep believing—keep giving.”

“

THE NEXUS FOR N.H. BUSINESS

PETER T. PAUL COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

paulcollege.unh.edu

Where education is more than a matter of degree

2 • U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w Ha m p s h i r e Ma g a z i n e • S p r i n g 2013

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4 | Letters

5 | View from T-Hall

6 | Campus Currents Student volunteers, new marine school, a record-making football season, and more.

13 | Get Puzzled

14 | Inquiring Minds Squid symbiosis, bees in crisis, tracking humpbacks.

39 | Book Reviews Someone by Alice McDermott ’78G and Personal Intelligence by John D. Mayer.

40 | Alumni News

42 | Class Notes ProfilesofLaurent’43andAnn’46Morin,LaurieFolkes’70, KateyStone’89,andEmilyKing’06andCoreySmith’08.

61 | In Memoriam

64 | On Ben’s Farm

Contents

CREATIVE SPARK: Kayla Granoff ’14 wields an arc welder to build a better bicycle rack: one that is beautiful, functional—and green. One of three to be installed around campus this spring, the rack was designed and fabricated from reclaimed materials by students in associate professor of art Ben Cariens' metal sculpture workshop.

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16 | I Met MLKA spring break trip 55 years ago yielded a lesson in civil rights—and a lifelong passion for justice.

By the Rev. Richard Fernandez ’60 with Jane Harrigan

34 | A Builder of MenFamed coach A. Barr “Whoop” Snively died too soon, but his lessons live on.

By Jennifer Latson ’13G

24 | Lights, Camera . . . Alumni!“Frozen” director Jennifer Lee ’92 is Disney's new princess—

and just one of many UNH grads making magic in Hollywood.

By Katharine Webster

20 | Pushing the LimitsFrom circus freaks to an Arctic tragedy, the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies gives students room to explore.

By Virginia Stuart ’75, ’80G

4 • U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w Ha m p s h i r e Ma g a z i n e • W i n te r 2014

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Fall KudosThe Fall 2013 UNH Magazine was a real gem among all the political and unsolicited ads! I found each article so enlightening. I was led to believe not all the world is materi-alistic and greedy: care for others does exist, and I am proud to be a fellow alumna of those portrayed in this magazine.

I loved the article about Professor Fred-Jervis ’44, ’49G [“Insight”], which reminded me of my admiration of him, walking our great campus back in the 50s! I still regret not enrolling in one of his classes.

Thanks for another great publication. Keep up the good work.

Sara Dumdey Koziol ’60Vernon, Conn.

I wanted to take this opportunity to congrat-ulate you on the Fall 2013 issue of UNH Magazine. The maga-zine exhibits a true pro-fessionalism worthy of the university it repre-sents. I would also like to express my humble thanks for presenting my profile within. As is often true in life, my accomplishments are not solely my own.

Let t he r e cord show that I owe all to my wife, who I picked out of a crowd at a UNH dining hall and persuaded to join the UNH crew team as a coxswain. I knew that, due to the rigorous schedule of UNH crew, this was the only way that I was ever going to see her again. In those early years, her late-night sandwich deliveries to the UNH woodshop literally fueled my passion for fur-niture making. Thank you, LeeAnn Scully Puksta ’84.

Fred Puksta ’81Keene, N.H.

Pod SquadYou certainly brought back memories with the “Pod Squad” story in the Fall 2013 issue!

I remember in 1944 being in the fourth grade at the one-room school in Pelham Cen-ter, the present Legion Hall, and collecting milkweed pods in old burlap grain bags. It was quite a job stuffing all the bags in my dad’s ’36 Chevy to take them to the school!

John Lyon ’59, ’61GPelham, N.H.

The “Pod Squad” piece that appears in the Fall 2013 issue of UNH Magazine jogged some faint memories. I recall belonging to the Boston Junior Salvage Army in the early years of World War II. I was five years old,

and I guess we collected paper, tin, and other materials necessary for the war effort. I don’t remember much about my contribution then, but I like to think my 22 years and two- war direct involvement with Naval Special Warfare since then some-what compensates.

Bruce Bacon ’65, ’89G, USN (Ret.)

Rochester, N.H.

National Champions?First of all, let me say that I love UNH Magazine; you do a great job of com-municating the excellence of UNH and its family of students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

I believe that the Fall 2013 “Sports Shorts” story about the wom-en’s lacrosse program contains an error: “The only UNH sports team to ever win a national title, women’s lacrosse….” Not to take anything

away from women’s lacrosse, but as an ar-dent women’s ice hockey fan, I must call to your attention the 1989 National Champions banner hanging in the Whitt. As I recall, there were also highway signs posted at the entrances to Durham for several years.

Dave Pease ’74, ’83GDurham, N.H.

Letters to the Editor

Continued on Page 12

Volume 16, #2, Winter 2014◆

EditorKristin Waterfield duisberg

Associate EditorssuKi Casanave ’86g and

virginia stuart ’75, ’80g

Designervalerie lester

Class Notes Editorelaine isherWood ’79

◆

Editorial officE

15 strafford ave., durham, nh 03824

telephone: (603) 862-2040

advertising: (603) 862-1239

email: [email protected]

Website: www.unhmagazine.unh.edu◆

Publication board of dirEctors

marK W. huddleston President, University of New Hampshire

debbie dutton

Vice President, Advancement

Joel seligman

Chief Communications Officer andAssociate Vice President, Communications and

Marketing

steve donovan

Associate Vice President, Advancement/ Alumni Association

shelagh neWton miChaud ’95President, UNH Alumni Association

sarah aldag ’10pExecutive Director, Editorial and Creative Services

Kim billings ’81Director, Advancement Communications

◆

◆

On the Coverfront: Composition by lisa nugent,

photography by bruCe Cramer, armando gallo, and david ZaitZ

baCK: photo by Jonathan baChman/ap

University of New Hampshire Magazine is published in the fall, winter, and spring by the

University of New Hampshire Office of University Communications and Marketing

and the Office of the President. © 2014, University of New Hampshire.

Readers may send address changes, letters, news items, and email address changes to

University of New Hampshire Magazine, 15 Strafford Ave., Durham, NH 03824

or email [email protected].

Fred ’81 and LeeAnn ’84 Puksta.

E arlier this month, I gave my annual State of the Univer-sity address—a couple months deeper into the academic calendar than usual, but with the added perspective that

the end of a calendar year can bring. We have much good news to recognize as we settle into 2014: the partial restoration of our state fiscal appropriation, which was so dramatically slashed in 2011; an in-state tuition freeze that will extend through the 2014-15 academic year; record philanthropy and a fine running start on our long-term capital campaign. The State of the Uni-versity is an opportunity to take our institution’s temperature, if you will, and notwithstanding the very February-in-New-Hampshire thermometer readings outside, our temperature is a healthy one, indeed.

I am pleased to report that this issue of UNH Magazine highlights some of the same terrific recent hap-penings we recognized in my ad-dress: the arrival of Arnold Garron ’84 and Mike Hickey ’73 as interim deans for Paul College and our Manchester campus, respectively; well-deserved honors for faculty members Jeffrey Bolster and Yitang “Tom” Zhang; the opening of our new interdisciplinary school of Ma-rine Science and Ocean Engineer-ing; a $1 million gift from Mike ’84 and Yvonne Tuberty ’84 Pilot; even our new university logo, which was rolled out to much fanfare at a men’s ice hockey game on Decem-ber 7, and a record-making football season, which took our Wildcats all the way to North Dakota and a first-ever FCS playoff semifinal game.

One of the central messages of my State of the University address was this: While we have much to celebrate, our work is far from done. We must continue to evolve, adapt, and innovate to thrive in the dynamic, rapidly changing landscape that will continue to define our environment. This, too, is a theme I see articulated throughout this UNH Magazine.

There’s a story about former women’s ice hockey standout Katey Stone ’89, whose creative, successful coaching career has earned her a trip to Sochi at the helm of the women’s Olympic hockey squad. There’s also story about another coaching great, the legendary “Whoop” Snively, whose unorthodox and innovative tactics led a decade of UNH teams to unlikely victories.

But perhaps no story in this issue speaks to what it takes to thrive in a dynamic and ever-evolving environment more than the feature about UNH alumni in Hollywood. You may have heard of a little Disney movie called “Frozen,” and you may have even heard that it was written and co-directed by a UNH alumna, Jen-nifer Lee ’92, the first woman to ever direct an animated Disney

feature film. From the names that are probably familiar—like those of Lee, Mike O’Malley ’88, and Marcy Carsey ’66—to those that probably aren’t, there’s a common thread that runs through the nine profiles here of Hollywood alums. An indefatigable energy, a willing-ness to get up again, to try some-thing different, to never take no for an answer. A flexibility and adapt-ability that time and time again had its proving ground at UNH.

True, not all UNH alumni go on to be Olympians and Academy Award nominees. But what they do go on to do is take the deeply human experience of being a UNH stu-dent—the lifelong friendships, the core values, the 360-degree experi-ence of living and working, studying and volunteering and competing in a community of peers—and take that in their own way out into the world. Whether it’s solving global problems, helping those in need, or

simply building better mousetraps, I truly believe that the future contributions today’s students will make will be shaped and informed by their time at UNH. And if that isn’t something to celebrate, then I don’t know what is. ~

W i n te r 2014 • U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w Ha m p s h i r e Ma g a z i n e • 5

Laurels, But No RestBy President Mark W. Huddleston

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Many HandsNew Residential Life program lets students pitch in, give back.

Glossy buckthorn, an ornamental plant native to Europe and Asia, has been choking out the native

vegetation around the Oyster River Res-ervoir in College Woods for decades. But when a group of 50 UNH students armed with work gloves and Weed Wrenches descended on College Woods on a warm Saturday morning in November, the inva-sive plant didn’t stand a chance.

In groups of two and three, their work punctuated by laughter and shouts of tri-umph, the volunteers began yanking tall stalks of buckthorn from the ground. “It’s amazing how quickly people get into it,” said Steve Eisenhaure ’93, ’04, ’06G, who manages the university’s 3,500 acres of woodlands and natural areas.

The project was part of Residential Life’s first Day of Service, when more than 200 student volunteers traveled to 20 sites in Durham, Dover, Portsmouth, and Lee to rake leaves, make blankets, collect food, and more.

In College Woods, Samantha Bromley ’17, Alison Deyett ’17, and Ben Gallo ’17 struggled with one buckthorn that towered above them, and finally yanked it out of the ground together. The work was its own reward, said Bromley. “We’re all pretty outdoorsy. It’s nice to be out here.”

At Growing Places, a nonprofit preschool and childcare center in Lee, Gilly Barbato ’10 oversaw a team of 20 volunteers who were getting the school in shape for an open house. “The greatest thing is we’re making a huge impact in a short amount of time,” said Barbato, a residence hall director in the Upper Quad and one of the organizers of the volunteer day.

Outside, students raked leaves and heaved the piles over a playground fence. Volunteers inside the school sanded and stained wooden cubbies and painted walls. “It’s a good bonding oppor-tunity,” said Jimmy Black ’16, a resident assistant in Hitchcock Hall. “And it’s important to give back to the community.”

As for the places where they volunteered? Families in Transition in Dover estimates the students’ painting work saved the nonprofit a critical $1,300 that will go instead toward housing and food assistance for clients. And in College Woods, Eisenhaure says the native hardwoods and pine trees are breathing a little easier after the students’ buckthorn blitz.

—Larry Clow ’12G

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TWIN PRIZES: The accolades keep rolling in for mathematics lecturer Yitang “Tom” Zhang, who was featured in the Fall 2013 UNH Magazine. Following the publication of his ground-breaking work on the Twin Prime Conjecture, Zhang was awarded two of the mathematics world’s most prestigious honors: the 2014 Frank Nelson Cole Prize in

Number Theory and the 2013 Ostrowski Prize. Presented every three years, the Cole Prize recognizes an

outstanding research paper in number theory that has appeared in the preceding six years. The Ostrowski Prize, which is presented every other year, recognizes outstanding

achievements in pure mathematics.

MORE AWARDS: History professor W. Jeffrey Bolster capped a prize-winning year with a pair of honors

for his 2012 book The Mortal Sea. A history of the human impact on the ocean, the book was honored with the

American Historical Association’s 2013 Albert J. Beveridge Prize and the 2013 James Rawley Prize in Atlantic History. Both prizes were awarded in early January. The Mortal Sea had previously received Columbia University’s 2013 Bancroft Prize, as well as the North American Society for Oceanic History’s John Lyman Book Award.

TEAM PLAYER: Last fall, Arnold Garron ’84 was appointed interim dean of the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics. A standout football player and track athlete at UNH, Garron has maintained strong ties to his alma mater, serving as a member of the Foundation board and as a mentor to UNH students and staff. The former defensive back for the Washington Redskins and New England Patriots is also the founder and executive director of APG Organizational Consulting in Bedford, N.H. Garron will serve a one-year term while the university conducts a national search to replace the former dean, Dan Innis.

HANDS ON: In January, J. Michael Hickey ’73 became interim dean at UNH’s Manchester campus. Hickey, a veteran telecom execu-tive who served as president of Verizon, New Hampshire for seven years, has extensive ties in the New Hampshire business community and is well known

for his hands-on experience developing the state’s workforce. He served for eight years on the UNH Alumni

Association Board of Directors, including two years as presi-dent, and has been recognized as Citizen of the Year by the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and as N.H. Business Leader of the Year by Business N.H. Magazine. —Ed.

NEW LOOK: An extra dose of blue and white was on display during the Dec. 7 men’s ice hockey game, when UNH’s new logo was officially unveiled to a sell-out crowd of students, parents, alumni, and friends. The new symbol was displayed on the doors and the floor of the Whittemore Center—and on some 5,000 T-shirts that were distributed to the crowd by dozens of volunteers. The design, selected by an advisory panel of students, alumni, faculty, and staff, is the work of Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv, the New York firm that created the logos for Mobil, PBS, and National Geographic, among others. The new emblem replaces the image of the T-Hall tower that has served as the university’s logo for the past 15 years. It will be used by the Manchester and Concord campuses as well.

CHANGE OF FACE: Rarely seen outside of China, the ancient art of “face changing”—in which a dancer magically changes masks with the flourish of a cape or nod of the head—was a highlight of this year’s Chinese New Year gala at Johnson Theater on Jan. 29 and 30. The two events, sponsored by the Confucius Institute at UNH, featured dancers, singers, musicians, and martial artists from some of China’s top cultural institutions. The Confucius Institute, a partnership between UNH and China’s Chengdu University, offers Chinese language and culture courses at UNH.


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Happy Campers

From athletics to engineering, Chinese to cello, academic enrichment for low-income

teens to emotional support for children of deployed soldiers—UNH and UNH Manchester offer a wide variety of summer programs for youth, both on campus and off. Last year, more than 9,000 kids ages 5 to 18 participated in 20 different types of programs. For information on this year’s offerings, visit http://www.unh.edu/youth-programs/

In the ocean, everything is connected, from water columns and currents to geological formations and marine life. At UNH’s new School of Marine Sci-

ence and Ocean Engineering, that interconnectedness will serve as a model for the way in which graduate stu-dents take on problems ranging from oil spill mitigation to rising sea levels to the decline in fishing stocks. “The ocean is a multidisciplinary space,” says Larry Mayer, an oceanographer and director of the new program, “so the way we study it must be as well.”

Launched in September, the school will integrate existing marine-related research, graduate study, and outreach activities under one umbrella, and draw on fac-ulty from every other college in the university. The school will be home to doctoral programs in ocean engineering, oceanography, and marine biology, and will offer gradu-ate certificate programs that address timely subjects such as coastal planning and adaptation to climate change.

“The kind of thorny problems we are grappling with transcend single-discipline answers,” Mayer explains. “We need to provide marine knowledge that brings to-gether biology, chemistry, engineering, economics, policy, and other disciplines with oceanography to solve them.”

Marine-related research brings in $25 million an-nually, comprising nearly a quarter of the university’s research portfolio. Currently, nearly 70 faculty members from 14 departments in three colleges teach marine and ocean-engineering courses to hundreds of students. Mayer expects the new school will give UNH a “more public face” when it comes to its marine research and outreach activities. “Though we are a top-10 program for marine science and ocean engineering by a variety of metrics, we haven’t, to this point, been recognized as a marine school,” he notes. “By providing a focal point for all our marine efforts here, we will be better able to promote our work to the outside world.”

Outreach efforts will include collaborations with local fishermen, facility tours for school-aged children and community members, and distribution of the school’s webcast seminars on a range of marine subjects. Up next is likely a joint project with the UNH Carsey Institute to develop a ma-rine policy program. Mayer also hopes to expand the university’s estuarine research beyond Great Bay, generating information that could be beneficial locally, nationally, and even around the globe.

—Crystal Ward Kent ’78

SOCIAL VISIT: He’s traveled to Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize and to Washington, D.C., to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal of Honor, but in late September, Durham was the destination for Muhammad Yunus. Widely considered the pioneer of the microfinance industry, which gives small-scale loans to low-income entrepreneurs, Yunus was the keynote speaker for the New Hampshire Social Business and Microfinance Forum, and he presented the awards for the university’s Social Business Innovation Challenge. Yunus’ own awards stem from his work to foster social businesses, which develop creative solutions to difficult problems such as poverty and climate change.

Ocean InterconnectionsNew school brings UNH’s marine excellence to the forefront.


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FIELD WORK: Three ath-letic-training students from Dublin, Ireland, got more than clinical experience during their fall semester at UNH: they also got a taste of American sports. In most other countries, including Ireland, athletic trainers only see athletes when they visit a clinic. During their stint at UNH, Orlaith Munnelly, Rachael Yorke, and Mairead Power were front-and-center for both football—the American kind— and ice hockey, a sport that’s all but unheard of in the United Kingdom. They taped ankles, applied ultrasound, and worked with experienced UNH

trainers to treat athletes in—and sometimes on—the field. The trio returned to Dublin City University in December, but not without leaving their own stamp on UNH: in addition to sharing some of their own training techniques with their Durham peers, they introduced some of their classmates to such Irish sports as Gaelic football and hurling.

AMERICA EAST CHAMPS: In November, the women’s volleyball team capped one of its stron-gest seasons in recent history with an America East championship, its first title since 2003.

Playing at home, where the team enjoyed a 12-1 season, the Wildcats ral-lied past the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, to win in five sets. The victory earned the team an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I tournament, where the Wildcats fell to nationally ranked USC Women of Troy on December 5. The loss marked the team’s fourth NCAA tourney appearance and closed out head coach Jill Hirschinger’s seventh 20-win season with UNH.

The field hockey team also claimed an America East championship title in November, securing

a 3-2 victory over the University of Albany on November 9. Paced by a two-goal effort from Hannah Richard ’14, the victory completed a six-game winning streak and marked the squad’s second tourney title in three years. Though it fell to Duke University in the first round of the NCAA Division I playoffs, the team closed out a perfect season of 5-0 in America East confer-ence play.

Women’s cross country made it a trio of America East titles for women’s fall athletics teams, the squad’s second ever

and first since 2003. The team’s victory comes after finishing second in the conference championships for the prior three consecutive seasons. Earlier in the season, the harriers also secured the New England Championships crown. Elinor Purrier ’17 paced the Wildcats in

both efforts, though head coach Rob

Hoppler describes both victories

as a complete team effort. “I

couldn’t be hap-pier with how hard the whole

group worked this year,” he says.

Hats OffDot Sheehan ’71 watches Operation Hat Trick grow and grow.

Back in 2007, when Dot Sheehan ’71 came up with the idea for Operation Hat Trick, she never

imagined it would take off the way it has.The program began simply enough:

UNH baseball caps for veterans. Bearing the UNH athletics logo on the front and ‘OHT’ on the back, the caps offered a way to help injured veterans cover their head wounds, but, as one vet explained it, they also did a little something to help them feel normal again. Playing on the hockey term for a when a player scores three goals in a single game, the business model for the program was straightforward, donating one hat to a veteran for every two that were sold at UNH.

Today, Operation Hat Trick has ex-panded to include 220 colleges and uni-versities and 60 minor league baseball teams. The OHT logo will soon share space on Boston Bruins caps and will be

featured on the PGA tour. As many as 65 New Hampshire high school baseball teams will include the logo on their caps this spring, creating a model that could be replicated in schools across the country.

Sheehan, the university’s senior associ-ate athletics director for external relations, says she never expected Operation Hat Trick to get so big so quickly. But those who know the former marketing consultant for professional athletes aren’t surprised in the least. They say she has brought the same tenacity to Operation Hat Trick that she has to all of her efforts to support UNH athletics since she was hired to help sell skyboxes at the new Whittemore Center in 1996.

“She’s got energy, creativity, and loy-alty,” President Mark Huddleston says of Sheehan, who was named the university’s 2013 Innovator of the Year. “It’s just a killer combination.”

Loyalty inspired Sheehan to dedicate Operation Hat Trick to Nate Hardy and Mike Koch, Navy SEALs and friends who were killed in Iraq in February 2008, not long after the program launched. Hardy was part of the UNH family, his father, Steve, a kinesiology professor and his mother, Donna, an administrative assistant. The two men are buried side by side at Arlington National Cemetery. Each hat bears a tag with their photo and a note about their story.

For the first few years, Sheehan, Hud-dleston, the Hardys, and others from the university made regular trips to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to distribute the hats that were donated with the proceeds from purchased hats. They soon realized that they could do more by using revenue from hat sales to meet veterans’ immediate needs, however, and today, about 10 percent of the profit


At the end of the fourth quarter, the score-board might have shown the bigger num-ber next to the other team’s name, but the

UNH football team’s Dec. 20 matchup with North Dakota State University was a huge triumph for the Wildcats nonetheless. The team’s 52-14 loss capped a 10-5 season that took the Wildcats farther than any football team in UNH program history, all the way to a NCAA Football Championship Subdivision semifinal game.

“I am immensely proud of how we played that game, and played the entire season,” says head foot-ball coach Sean McDonnell ’78. Noting that North Dakota, which went on to win its third straight FCS championship, boasts a winning streak that stretches back to 2011, McDonnell says his team acquitted itself admirably. “We played a hard, physical football game right to the end. I couldn’t be prouder of our team and especially our senior class.”

The Wildcat squad was making history even before squaring off in the Fargodome against the first-ranked North Dakota squad. The team’s selection to the FCS

playoffs at the end of a 7-4 regular season marked its 10th straight postseason appearance, a national record. UNH hosted Lafayette College at Cowell Stadium to prevail in the playoff opener and went on to away-game victories over perennial conference rival UMaine and then 7th-ranked Southeastern Louisana University. —Kristin Waterfield Duisberg

from hat sales goes directly to veterans programs. Operation Hat Trick has con-tributed to employment-support programs for veterans with post-traumatic stress and

helped a veteran pay about $2,000 in out-of-pocket costs for adopting a service dog. Through a partnership with Easter Seals, the program provides emergency financial

assistance to veterans struggling to pay their rent or fuels costs. Hat sales helped build a cabin accessible to people with disabilities at the Veterans Family Camp in Belgrade, Maine, which welcomed its first families last year, and will donate to an annual scholarship there, Sheehan says. The program benefits UNH, too, with another 10 percent of sales profit coming back to the school as a licensing fee for other institutions’ use of the OHT logo.

For the Hardys, who were featured in the Fall 2009 UNH Magazine, the program has become part of the legacy of their youngest son, a scrappy former la-crosse player. Nate’s oldest brother, Josh, died of brain cancer when Nate was in eighth grade, and Stephen Hardy credits athletics with helping Nate to channel emotions around his brother’s death. Be-coming a Navy SEAL gave him a goal. Operation Hat Trick has connected the family to people all across the country who bought a hat and were touched by Nate’s story, growing a little idea into a program with a big impact.

—Chelsea Conaboy ’04

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WILD LEAP: Wide receiver R.J. Harris ’15 leaps for a pass just out of reach during the second half of the Wildcats’ NCAA FCS championship quarterfinal game against Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 14, 2013. UNH defeated the Lions 20-17, earning a trip to the semifinals in North Dakota on Dec. 10.


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Letters to the EditorContinued from Page 4

It is always a pleasure to receive UNH Magazine. Because I no longer live in the East, its informative and well-written articles have become the primary means by which I am able to keep current with UNH and the people associated with the school (including, of course, my class-mates).

I wish to congratulate the women’s la-crosse team for their very successful sea-son, as described in the Campus Currents “Sports Shorts” in the Fall 2013 issue. I was surprised, however, by the comment in that article stating that they were “the only UNH sports team to ever win a na-tional title.” Without knowing the crite-rion for making that claim, I would like to point out that the 1955 men’s lacrosse team also received a similar honor. I had the privilege of playing on that “Whoop” Snively-coached team and have enclosed a copy of a newspaper clipping describing our season.

Again, thanks for an excellent maga-zine. I truly enjoy reading it.

Roger Parker ’55Nogal, N.M.

Ed.: It appears our error was in failing to specify that women’s lacrosse secured the university’s only NCAA-sponsored championship. Women’s ice hockey did indeed win a national title—in 1998— but the women’s national championship in that sport wasn’t an NCAA champion-ship until 2000. And be sure to read this issue’s story about famed coach A. Barr “Whoop” Snively (p. 34), which includes information about the 1955 men’s lacrosse team that claimed the Roy Taylor Class C national title.

CorrectionThe “In Memoriam” tribute to Robert “Bobby” Cann ’09 in the Fall 2013 issue included an inaccurate quotation. The corrected version of the story is available online at unhmagazine.unh.edu/f13/bobby-cann.html. Our sincerest apolo-gies for the error.

Call today for more information603-524-5600 • www.TaylorCommunity.org

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ACROSS 1 Apple picker?

4 Brownies grp.

7 Bone in an archaeological dig

10 The “bad” cholesterol: Abbr.

13 Spanish island

15 React to fireworks

16 Treasure sought by conquistadors

17 Actor Michael who appeared in “Slap Shot” (Class of ’70)

18 Xochi who assistant directed “Terminator 2” (Class of ’84)

20 Noted New York restaurateur

22 Compelled

23 Judicial org.

26 Clinched

29 Essayist Lamb

30 “That ‘70s Show” producer Marcy (Class of ’66)

32 “Old School” author Court (Class of ’87)

34 Fabric worker

35 State one’s case

36 Channing who plays Dot Campbell on “Mad Men” (Class of ’61)

38 Jennifer who co-directed “Frozen” (Class of ’92)

39 “Roseanne” producer Barbara (Class of ’74)

44 “Oops! I made a mistake”

46 SSS status

47 Tinseltown output

51 “Charlie & Me” writer Karen (Class of ’81)

53 USC rival

54 Covers

56 That vessel

57 Ardent

59 Abu ___

61 Tinseltown output

64 Mike who plays Burt Hummel on “Glee” (Class of ’88)

68 UNH winter hrs.

69 Put in position, as bricks

70 Did some fixing, as models

71 Sots’ symptoms

72 One with a significant udder?

73 Brian of ambient music fame

74 Also sends to, as an email

DOWN 1 Like one wearing guyliner

2 Beaujolais, e.g.

3 Otolaryngology M.D.

4 Laundry challenge

5 Chilling: Var.

6 Hires rival

7 Paycheck source

8 Gmail alternative

9 “___ you do it?”

10 Jesuit founder

11 Austin Powers foe

12 Cosmetics giant

14 Consents

19 Wilbur Post’s pal

21 Grew larger

23 Band with a juiced-up name?

24 Former Sen. Evan of Indiana

25 Length multiplied by width

27 Goaded

28 NBA star Gasol

31 GRE takers: Abbr.

33 Initials on some video games

35 “Tiny Alice” penner

37 Six-toed Aussie

40 High rocky hill

41 Major burden

42 Peace Prize Nobelist Walesa

43 Superior, e.g.

45 Sch. levels

47 Made like the big bad wolf

48 Least gregarious

49 Runners’ aids

50 Causing a pucker

51 It’s got the anther

52 It goes with Trinidad

55 “Take Me to the River” director Martin (Class of ’82)

58 Carol time

60 Harmful, as effects

62 Data descriptor

63 Consider visually

65 Jean-___ Picard (Enterprise captain)

66 It was established with the Treaty of Rome: Abbr.

67 QB’s gains

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20 21 22

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34 35

36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

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47 48 49 50 51 52

53 54 55 56

57 58 59 60

61 62 63 64 65 66 67

68 69 70

71 72 73 74

Get Puzzled!

Brendan Emmett Quigley ’96

is a professional puzzlemaker whose work appears regularly in The New York Times. Among other outlets, Quigley’s

puzzles also run in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Sun, Tribune Media Services, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post—and now UNH Magazine! Beginning with this issue, we will regularly feature a puzzle by Quigley, made especially for the magazine and incorporating the theme of one or more of our stories among the clues. You’ll be able to find the puzzle solution online; this issue’s answers are at unhmagazine.unh.edu/w14/puzzle.

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Odd CoupleSquid symbiosis gives bacteria a good name.

Cheryl Whistler is enchanted by her research subject, the Hawaiian bob-

tail squid. When she describes the petite sea creature, it’s easy to see why. About the size of a walnut, the squid can adjust tiny organs in its skin to change color. The squid are freckled, with big eyeballs, and small flaps of skin that look like wings.

“They really are charismatic,” says Whistler, associate professor of microbi-ology and genetics.

But perhaps the most enchanting fea-ture can’t be claimed by the squid alone.

Bioluminescent bacteria known as vibrio fischeri live in an organ on the

squid’s underside. These bacteria feed off nutrients provided by the squid and, in turn, protect it. The light they emit acts as camouflage, hiding the squid’s silhouette so that predators trolling the depths below can’t see the squid when they look toward the surface of the water. Instead of a delec-table morsel, all they see is moonlight.

Whistler and colleague Vaughn Cooper have won a three-year, $716,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to further research the sym-biotic relationship between the bobtail squid and V. fischeri. While this symbiotic coupling has been well studied,Whistler and Cooper will build on the current body

of work to determine how nonsymbiotic strains of the bacterium develop the abil-ity to colonize juvenile squid to create the optimal host-microbe relationship, even if they never have lived with squid before.

“None of [the bacteria] have gotten new genetic material,” Whistler says.

“They’re just playing with what they’ve got and making adjustments.”

Although most people think only of the microbes that cause disease, Whistler notes that “beneficial bacteria are the foundation of health of all plants and ani-mals, including humans.” Because most research has focused on disease-causing bacteria, these beneficial associations aren’t well understood. Whistler notes that researchers and the general public are beginning to appreciate the benefits of certain microbes. The squid is a good ambassador of that message.

Whistler thinks the squid research will add to the broader understanding of how microbes adapt to their host. “The vast majority of microbes out there are not causing any harm and probably doing a lot of good, without any credit,” she says.

—Chelsea Conaboy ’04

Ancient BuzzA modern model for prehistoric bees.

When the dinosaurs died off 65 mil-lion years ago, they left clues behind,

their fossils scattered around the world in bits and pieces and, sometimes, entire skeletons. From the same period, there are few fossilized bees that scientists can use to deduce how the insects lived and died. Working with colleagues in Australia, Sandra Rehan, an assistant professor of biological sciences, has used DNA sequencing of modern species to model how bees evolved near the end of the Cretaceous period. In a study published in

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October by the Public Library of Science journal, PLoS ONE, Rehan and her colleagues examined four lineages of car-penter bees and found that each indicated a fate similar to that of dinosaur contem-poraries: mass extinction.

Today, bees are incredibly diverse. In September, scientists identified the 20,000th distinct species. But about 66 million years ago, there was a “genetic bottleneck” due to die off, Rehan says.

“Up to 90 percent of diversity was lost, and we don’t have the fossils to determin what species went extinct at that time,” she

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says. “All we have is the living species that we can study now.”

Rehan began charting the genetic makeup of species and how they are related to one another to develop a kind of bee family tree, a practice called molecular phylogenetics. She and co-authors Remko Leys and Michael Schwarz of Flinders University of South Australia used fos-silized bees that have been found—most much younger than 66 million years—as a sort of “calibration point,” to under-stand the pace of evolution that led to modern species. They followed the

model backward in time and found that the pattern of extinction held for all four bee groups. “The data told us something major was happening in four different groups of bees at the same time,” Rehan says. “And it happened to be the same time as the dinosaurs went extinct.”

The idea that bees died en masse dur-ing this period—a time scientists had already documented as coinciding with the extinction of the flowering plants on which they would have depended—seems intuitive. But, Rehan says, this study pro-vided the first evidence.

Today, bee colonies are struggling. It’s not clear why, though insecticides and pathogens likely play a role. The picture Rehan and her colleagues paint from tens of millions of years ago may not provide any clarity about the cause. But, the authors write, it might shed light on how bees could evolve today to cope with widespread species collapse.

“Understanding extinctions and the effects of declines in the past can help us understand the global crisis in pollinators today, ” Rehan says. —C. C.

Highlights from UNH research


DEEP DATA: It may look like a roller coaster or a video game, but the 3-D map behind Colin Ware, director of data visualization research at UNH’s Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, is serious business. In the fall, Ware published research tracking the movements of humpback whales in the southern Gulf of Maine that illustrated the animals’ heretofore unknown preference for bottom feeding. Because entanglement with fishing gear is a major threat to humpbacks, Ware’s findings have implications for “bottom-set” techniques—such as those used in lobstering—in the region. Ware and his collaborators affixed suction-cupped recording tags to the whales’ backs to gather the data, which revealed not only feeding behaviors but also the animals’ highly acrobatic aquatic travels.

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When my spring break teachers included a trucker and Dr. Martin Luther King.

By the Rev. Richard Fernandez ’60 with Jane Harrigan

Thump, thump, thump. The sound wove harmlessly through my dreams until a

loud voice roused me: “Mr. Fernandez, open this door!” I sat up as my brain kept fumbling. Where was I?

The answer came in pieces. YMCA. Montgomery, Alabama. Spring 1959. Junior year at UNH. Still, the summons made no sense. I knew no one in Montgomery, so who could be knocking?

At the door, two men in suits barked names I quickly forgot while f lashing badges I’d always remember. We’re from the FBI, they said, and we have questions. Who are you? Where do you come from? Why are you in Montgomery?

The more questions they asked, the more nervous I grew. Though I’d never been arrested, I had no doubt this was an inter-rogation. Finally one agent asked the big one: “Are you a member of the Communist Party, do you work for the NAACP, or do you write for The New York Times?”

I’d soon learn that these three groups were inextricably linked in the minds of many Southerners who opposed integration. That night, however, all I could say was no. Finally,

the agents turned to leave. “I wouldn’t stay in Montgomery very long,” one of them warned.

My heart raced as I crawled back into bed. I was 24 years old, an Army veteran working on a research paper for a course at UNH. I’d attended a few small civil rights rallies in New Hampshire and a Yale conference at which liberal lawyer Allard Lowenstein described the 1950s South as a police state. Really? In America? I was skeptical.

For my government course, I’d decided to explore the aftermath of the 1956 Montgomery bus boycott. But weeks of research had con-vinced me that working from Durham, I’d never fully understand. So with that blend of optimism and naïveté reserved for the young, I used letters and phone calls to arrange inter-views with a dozen key civil rights figures. Then I started hitchhiking to Alabama and Atlanta for spring break.

Even before the FBI banged on my door, the trip had become a series of wake-up calls. Like a study-abroad program in my own coun-try, it upended my assumptions and pushed me toward new ways of thinking. My teachers for this on-the-road education ranged from pass-ing drivers to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

THE ROAD I’VE TRAVELED

essons in ivil ights

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“What You Believe Is What You Should Do”

First came the well-dressed gentleman in the gray Cadillac who picked me up outside Washington, D.C. He had a phone in his car—in 1959! After chatting pleasantly, he suddenly began throwing around the N-word, talking about how “they” wanted to “use our libraries, swim in our pools, and get in bed with our women.”

For thirty minutes, I sat in stunned silence as he ranted. Only when he let me out in front of a diner in southern Virginia was I able to breathe again. I wished I could have told him off. But closed into a car on unfamiliar roads with a hostile stranger, I thought it wise to keep quiet and stay safe.

My next ride was a long one, from Danville, Va., almost to Birmingham in a 18-wheel cotton truck empty of its load. When the friendly driver mentioned that he came from Pulaski, Tenn., I winced, knowing Pulaski was the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan.

Then the trucker surprised me. Paying for two school systems, one for whites and one for “coloreds,” was a waste of money, he said. “Hell, I don’t care if they go to school with my daughters as long as they don’t take our jobs.”

At 4 a.m. on a pitch-black rural road somewhere in northern Alabama, I stepped down from that truck wondering whether I understood a single thing about race relations. In class it had been easy to believe the theories of sociologist Gunnar Myrdal, who said that among opponents of integration, the wealthy fear job loss while the poor fear intermarriage. Out here on the road, the drivers of a Caddy and a 18-wheeler had instantly stood that

idea on its head.

I was getting smarter—sort of. When the desk clerk at the Montgomery YMCA asked too many questions as I checked in, I said only that I was “doing research.” Then I blew it by asking around town for help finding Clifford Durr, a white lawyer who took civil rights cases.

That night the FBI came calling. Nevertheless, I spent the next two days interviewing Alabama Gov. John Patterson, news-paper editor Grover Hall, and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, one of the organizers of the bus boycott. As we shared sandwiches in his home, the blinds closed for security, Abernathy told me, “Protecting against hate all the time is no way to raise a family.”

From Fred Gray, a black lawyer, I learned that movements have life cycles. The intense activity of the boycott had been replaced by a period of quiet reflection, he said, especially for people who had sacrificed for the cause. He believed that many whites would go to their graves still hating the “uppity Negroes” who had forced integration.

But my biggest lesson from Gray ran along more practical lines. I’d been waiting for some money my parents had wired. Each day the YMCA clerk said he hadn’t seen it, and he said the same that evening when I came in from my interviews. One of the FBI agents who’d come to my door was standing at the desk, so I quickly headed to my room.

Halfway up the stairs I spotted a Western Union envelope lying on a step. It had been opened. Inside was my $75 money order. I went to bed feeling scared but still planning to do more interviews in Montgomery, stay one more night, and then leave

Dick Fernandez ’60 has spent his life working for social justice. He became a promi-nent antiwar activist during the Vietnam period. Over the years he has directed three advocacy groups and served on the boards of many nonprofits, including several with which he remains active. A widower with three sons and eight grandchildren, he lives in Philadelphia and often spends time at Squam Lake in New Hampshire. Fernandez talked with writer Jane Harrigan about the road he’s taken since leaving UNH—including stops in Paris, Hanoi, and a North Carolina jail.

Q: You started at UNH twice. What’s the story?

I was president of my freshman class (in 1953) and played on

the basketball team, and I had a lot of fun being involved in cam-pus activities. By the time my grades came in, I had sure proof that I had enjoyed my social life.

The dean said I could either go on probation and pull my grades up—but not play basket-ball—or I could drop out, take a couple courses close to home, and reapply in the fall. It took me about 10 seconds to say, “I think I’ll leave.” That was me saying out loud something deep inside that I’d been unaware of: I really didn’t know what I was doing at UNH.

A couple weeks later, on the prompting of a high school buddy, I volunteered for the draft, a two-year commitment. My parents

got upset; my friends couldn’t understand. Only my pastor said, “Well, you might enjoy two years in the service.” What he meant was, “You might even grow up.”

Q: So you were in the Army, mostly in Japan, and came back wanting to be a minister?

In the Army I became a very conser v ati ve ev angelic al

Christian. When I returned to Durham, I rented a room from G.R. Johnson, a history professor who had been an evangelical earlier in his life and had moved away from it. He opened up a whole new world of religious thinking and social responsibility to me. By the time I left UNH, I knew that what-ever my ministry was, I wanted to continue to be engaged in issues of peace and justice.

Q: You’ve worked in multiple places on multiple issues. Tell

us about some of them.

My f r i e n d a n d te a c h e r Har vey C ox and I and

some others were asked by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to go down and sup-port the protests in Williamston, N.C., to help the local African A m e r i c a n r e s i d e n t s . T h a t became a 2½-year commit-ment. I spent time in jail, and my car was hit by a Molotov cock-tail—with me in it. Eventually our efforts led to integration of the local library and swimming pool.

My first job after seminary was director of the Christian Association of the University of Pennsylvania, a gr oup of nine campus ministries. We got involved in avant-garde theater and draf t counseling , and in 1965 we held a silent vigil about V ietnam outside the college

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“What You Believe Is What You Should Do”president’s house. Our small band of protesters got beaten up by some other students, and it made the papers. Six of us resigned when the board was being unreasonable, about that and other things.

Q: After Penn you were often in the news for your activities in the Vietnam protest movement. How did that come about?

My friend William Sloane Coffin, chaplain at Yale,

helped me land a job with a new group, Clergy and Laity Concerned. We grew as the war expanded. One aspect was my involvement with the Committee of Liaison in New York, which pro-vided letter exchanges between POWs and their families. On two trips, I carried hundreds of let-ters to Paris and Hanoi from fami-lies, and returned with several

hundred letters for the families from the POWs. As we carried on what I’d describe as a lovers’ quarrel with our leaders about American policy in Vietnam, I found the work at once painful and important.

Q: Later you spent three years trying to help Ohio steelworkers buy a closed mill, and then 21 years run-ning the Northwest Interfaith Movement in Philadelphia. You’ve also worked on early-childhood education, lifetime care for seniors, and many other issues. What thread con-nects all those efforts?

Going back to the Army and the friends I made through

the Bible study group, the way they lived their lives, I realized that what you believe, if you have any integrity, is what you should

do. I would not have been in the peace movement if I hadn’t first been a fundamentalist. You have to do what you say you believe. Prayers need feet; faith needs traction.

Through my anti-war work with Clergy Concerned, I realized that it’s often easier to work for social justice along interfaith lines than to depend solely on one congregation. That’s partic-ularly true if you’re doing advo-cacy work. There are many more people willing to provide services to the poor and the marginalized than there are people willing to advocate for better public poli-cies. It’s easier to give a loaf of bread than confront a politician. And a loaf of bread is good—but if we don’t change policy, you’re going to be handing out bread for the rest of your life. ~


for Atlanta for my appointment with Dr. King.When I told Fred Gray the next morning what had been hap-

pening at the Y, he calmly suggested it might be best to leave right away. He didn’t have to tell me twice; I got on the bus.

I checked into the Atlanta YMCA and, what do you know, at midnight heard a knock on my door. Two police officers, sounding apologetic, said the FBI had called them from Montgomery and they were required to follow up. Come with us, they said, and we’ll show you something interest-ing. Somehow I didn’t feel threatened, even in the cruiser.

In the cafeteria of the main police station, they shared food and urged me to look around. Black and white offi-cers were sitting together at nearby tables, talking and laughing. “Atlanta is a lot different from Montgomery, and we’re proud of it,” one of the officers said.

As I wandered the city the next morning, I saw more evidence of integration, though I did notice that many black passengers still sat in the back of the bus. I asked Dr. King about that later in the day, when we met in his office at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where his father was pastor.

“Change for any of us comes slowly” was his response. Words of wisdom, definitely. But as my teacher that day, Dr. King instructed less through what he said than how he said it. This champion of social justice, whose face I’d seen on the cover of Time, asked about my life and acted as if he had no commitment more important than talking to a college student who nervously clutched a yellow legal pad.

Curiosity and inclusiveness, I learned, characterized his leadership. When questioned, he acknowledged the personal cost of his role in the movement. But he rarely used the word “I”; far more common were “we” and “us.”

At one point as we talked, I offhandedly referred to opponents of civil rights as “rednecks.” Dr. King let the conversation continue awhile before quietly challenging

me. “Dick, when we use words like redneck, that’s a way of objectifying the other person or group. We cut off the possibility of conversation with them, of eventually winning them to our side.”

That simple word “we” transformed his com-ment from criticism to a guide for my life and even-

tual ministry. I would encounter Dr. King several more times—before his 1967 speech at Riverside Church in New York, condemning the Vietnam war, and later when he became co-chair of an organiza-tion I directed.

But my enduring image of him comes from our time in his office in Atlanta, just the two of us, at the end of that long-ago spring break when so much had happened. I hear his voice prodding me gently, and

I remember his lesson, which I interpreted this way: Respect the people you’re arguing with—because if you’re ruthless about trying to get what you want, even

victory won’t wind up tasting very sweet. I’ve tried to live by those words ever since. ~

What Road Have You Traveled?Some of life’s milestone moments seem important even as they’re happening; others take decades to reveal their significance. They’re the experiences that change your outlook and reset your inner GPS. They’re the stories that make you … you.

Here’s your chance to tell your story to a wider audience. This piece by Dick Fernandez ’60 is the first in a series called “The Road I’ve Traveled,” which will feature first-person accounts by UNH alumni of their milestone experiences. To learn more, visit unhmaga-zine.unh.edu/road-traveled or submit your proposal to [email protected].

Some of the most interesting subjects know no bounds.

BEYOND BORDERS

When Adolphus Greely arrived in Portsmouth, N.H., in August

1884, he got a hero’s welcome, complete with a parade and 20,000 spectators. He and the five men with him were the only survivors—out of a crew of 26—of a har-rowing three-year Army expedition to the high Arctic. Just over a week later, however, a New York Times story revealed rumors of cannibalism and a government cover-up. The grisly reports were confirmed by an autopsy. In a century of imperialism, says Geoffrey “Jeff” Clark, M.D., ’11G,

Americans viewed themselves as superior to “savages” in other cultures and thus had to judge this act of desperation as a sign of moral depravity. As a result, says Clark, the man who was taunted as “Eat ’Em Alive” Greely has never received his due for his heroism and achievements.

Clark first visited the ruins of the expe-dition’s Arctic camp 26 years ago. Since then he’s devoted much of his own time, energy, and money—as well as his mas-ter’s thesis in liberal studies—to the goal of bringing Greely’s story to light. His

Geoffrey “Jeff” Clark, M.D., ’11G signed up for a UNH phi-losophy class just for fun

toward the end of his career as a gastroenterologist. He had no idea it would lead to a master’s thesis on a little-known Arctic expedition. Emma Baillargeon ’09, on the other hand, knew at 22 exactly what she wanted to study: the performers in 19th-century freak shows. She also knew it wouldn’t fit within the bounds of a single academic department. The Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program enabled both Clark and Baillargeon to design their own interdisciplinary degrees. Established in 1996 under found-ing director Paul Brockelman, a philosophy professor, the MALS pro-gram isn’t for everyone. It requires a certain maturity, at any age, to chart one’s own path through the academic maze. But students say the journey—whether undertaken on the way to a doctorate or just for pure enrichment—is well worth the effort. Clark’s and Baillargeon’s projects—as well as those of Kelly LaBrecque ’08G and Andrew Bills ’09

—are highlighted here.

AbAndoned in the Arctic



efforts culminated in a 2007 documentary film that he produced, “Abandoned in the Arctic,” in which Greely’s great-great-grandson retraces the explorers’ steps.

Greely and his team of explorers, based 500 miles from the North Pole, were charged with gathering scientific data and encouraged to set a new record for “farthest north.” They succeeded on both counts, managing to take climate measurements several hundred times a day, around the clock, despite brutal con-ditions. (This data, ignored for more than

100 years, is now being used for research on climate change.) After Army ships failed to reach the explorers for two years, Greely led his team to a prearranged ren-dezvous 250 miles south. But no one was there to meet them, and the men had to endure a third Arctic winter with virtu-ally no supplies or shelter. When rescuers arrived in June 1884, they found the few survivors barely conscious and near death in a collapsed tent.

For his master’s thesis, Clark tracked down more than 100 photographs from

the expedition as well as many of the crew-men’s diaries. He is the first, since Greely, to have catalogued the photos, which had been taken with the then-new dry plate technology.

Clark still gets choked up when he speaks of Greely’s ordeal. And it’s easy to see why. To watch the film, or even just to flip through the photos in Clark’s thesis, is to be haunted—perhaps for a long time—by the sacrifices, accomplishments, and suffering of 26 men trapped in the cold and dark at the top of the world in 1884. ~

Geoffrey “Jeff” Clark, M.D., ’11G

Thesis: “Arctic Ambitions”

Fields: History, American Studies,

Photography Current job: Retired

Gastroenterologist Trips to the Arctic: 3

Goal: Another project on the Greely

expedition

TRIUMPH TO TRAGEDY: An Arctic expedition led by Adolphus Greely in 1881 achieved “farthest north” and gathered thousands of scientific measurements. Rescuers, however, failed to arrive until 1884, when they found only a handful of survivors, near death, in a tent. E

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Andrew Bills ’09Thesis: “Uploading

Catholicism”Fields:

Communication, Religion, History

Current job: Staffing Coordinator and

Substitute TeacherGoal: Teaching,

perhaps at the college level

VAticAn 2.0

One of the big stories of 2013 was Pope Francis’ breakout success in the digital realm. In August, he made headlines with the first papal “selfie” photo. In No-

vember, the number of people following him on Twitter surpassed 10 million, placing him slightly below Kanye West and above The New York Times in popularity. But the Vatican hasn’t always embraced the Internet. As with the introduction of radio and tele-vision in previous genera-tions, says Andrew Bills ’09, the Vatican initially cautioned Catholics about its dangers. His master’s thesis in liberal studies will analyze the Vatican’s use of the Internet to market the church to a younger, more global audience. “Here we have one of the most ancient institutions still standing, 2,000 years old, with more than a bil-lion adherents,” says Bills. “I think it’s fascinating to see how they make sense of, and leverage, new tech-nologies that they once feared.” ~

PAPAL PIC: Pope Francis thrills a group of teenagers at St. Peter’s Basilica in August 2013 when he poses with them for a “selfie” photo, which subsequently went viral online.

the AristocrAts

Charles B. Tripp, who was born with-out arms, managed to support his

mother and sister by doing carpentry with his feet, until he joined P.T. Barnum’s circus in 1872. “You could get a job if you were a freak back then,” says Emma Baillargeon ’09, “but you could make more money by being a freak.” Between 1840 and 1930, many people with notice-able anatomical differences gravitated toward the museums, circuses, and car-nivals where the freak show—the focus of Baillargeon’s master’s thesis in liberal studies—was considered a popular and legitimate form of entertainment. Some, including Tripp, who became known as the Armless Wonder, spent their entire lives performing. Others made a pile of money and settled down, like the con-joined twins Chang and Eng Bunker, from Siam (now Thailand), who bought


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land in North Carolina, married two sis-ters, and raised 21 children.

Baillargeon has found that freak show performers reaped more than just financial benefits. They found solidarity not only among their fellow freaks, but also within the tight circle of circus workers, who had their own lingo and code of behavior for dealing with outsiders, or “rubes.” Shout-ing “Hey, Rube!” would immediately bring the entire crew to the defense of any co-worker who felt threatened.

In high school, Baillargeon got a taste of what it’s like be ostracized. She didn’t fit in because she liked punk rock, but she made new friends at weekend concerts. “I found that I was marginal,” she says, “but I found solidarity in that marginal-ity.” Her art teacher, Annette Blake ’93, introduced her to the controversial work of

Diane Arbus, who photographed “devi-ant and marginal” people. “Most people go through life dreading they’ll have a traumatic experience,” Arbus once wrote. “Freaks were born with their trauma. They’ve already passed their test in life. They’re aristocrats.”

It’s a reality of the human condition, notes Baillargeon, that our bodies, and hence our social identities, are fragile. “At any moment we could easily become maimed and in turn, become a freak or disabled person, ourselves,” she says, and part of what attracts us is seeing how others have “passed the test.”

The stage name “Armless Wonder” captures both the loss of normalcy inher-ent in deformity and the triumph of suc-ceeding not just in spite of—but because of—that loss. “Charles Tripp could do ev-erything with his feet,” says Baillargeon. “Thread a needle, drink a cup of tea. To me, that’s what a ‘freak’ is—someone who conquers life.” ~

Poster As ProPAgAndA

In 1917, Uncle Sam needed to sell the American public on going to war with the Germans, and fast.

He didn’t have TV. He didn’t even have radio. But he did have more than 300 artists and illustrators—in-cluding Edward Hopper and N.C. Wyeth—who had volunteered to work without pay for the Committee on Political Information. The result, in the form of hun-dreds of thousands of propaganda posters, was “pos-sibly one of the most successful advertising campaigns to have ever been launched,” writes Kelly LaBrecque ’08G, who has a bachelor’s degree in political science and a certificate in graphic design. In her master’s thesis, she evaluates the posters through the lens of graphic design. Some, she notes, are so heavy with text in dif-ferent colors and fonts that they are confusing to the eye—and incomprehensible to the many Americans who couldn’t read. A much more visual approach in “Destroy This Mad Brute” (left) effectively plays on fears of a German invasion, showing a blood-thirsty-brute-as-German-Kaiser heading straight for the United States, with a devastated France in his wake. This poster, which became very well known, may have helped inspire the 1933 movie “King Kong.” But it was a different World War I

poster—with its clarion call to action: “I Want You for U.S. Army”—that became known as the most famous poster in the world. That one belongs to Uncle Sam. ~

Kelly LaBrecque ’08G

Thesis: “Persuasion by Design”

Fields: Political Science, Art, Graphic

DesignCurrent Job: Administrative

CoordinatorDream: To open a

bakery

Emma Baillargeon ’09

Thesis: “Freaks: An examination of marginalized

aristocrats”Fields:

Communication, Sociology, History

Current Job: Licensing Operations

SpecialistGoal: Teaching at the

college level

BRUTAL: Columbia, the female personification of America, is in the grip of a blood-thirsty brute representing the German Kaiser in this World War I propaganda poster designed to convince Americans to enlist.

IN TANDEM: Charles Tripp, left, and Eli Bowen, spent their entire careers performing in circus sideshows.


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HOLLYWOODU N H ◆ G O E S ◆ T O

By Katharine Webster

A CINDERELLA STORY: Jennifer (Rebecchi) Lee ’92 has enjoyed a rise in the Magic Kingdom as rapid as that of a commoner who marries a prince, thanks in part to a series of opportunities that she was smart enough to jump on—and talented enough to deliver on. The first was a collaboration with screenwriter Phil Johnston, whom she met on her first day at Columbia’s Master of Fine Arts in film program in 2002 and with whom she had

remained close friends. In 2011, he tapped Lee to handle the ongoing revisions on his screenplay for Disney’s “Wreck-It Ralph.” She moved from New York to Los Angeles in a week, and ultimately earned a co-screenwriting credit, an Os-car nomination, and an offer to adapt the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale “The Snow Queen.”

Disney had been trying to adapt the story for decades, but it was too abstract

and ethereal a tale—until someone sug-gested that the Snow Queen and the girl who breaks her spell should be sisters. Lee instantly knew that was the right approach and set to work with Buck to hammer out a basic story line. It wasn’t long before John Lasseter, Disney’s chief creative officer of animation, gave them the green light.

Lee’s next big break came when Dis-ney decided to cut the production time-table for “Frozen” from the standard four

Screenwriter and director Jennifer (Rebecchi) Lee ’92 is living like a princess—the kind of hard-working, modern Disney princess she writes

about. In the fall, Lee became the first woman ever to direct a Disney animated feature:

“Frozen,” one of the biggest box office hits of 2013. With the movie’s success, she suddenly became the face of a worldwide Disney publicity blitz, jetting off to the Dubai Film Festival, Mexico City, and Japan, among other places, with co-director Chris Buck. So far,

“Frozen” has collected Golden Globe and Critic’s Choice awards for best animated feature, five Annie Awards—including best director and best feature—and a nomination for that holiest of all Hollywood grails, an Academy Award. All the hoopla has left Lee exhausted, but giddy. “I don’t know what to make of it,” she says, “except to have moments of ‘Wow—is this really happening?’”

Lee is just the latest UNH grad to make a splash in Hollywood, joining Emmy nominees

Mike O’Malley ’88 and Channing Chase ’61; hockey-player heartthrob Michael Ontkean

’70, best known as a TV cop on “Rookie” and “Twin Peaks” and for his movie debut opposite Paul Newman in the hockey sendup “Slap Shot”; and hit producer Marcy Peterson Carsey ’66. Other UNH alums are working behind the scenes to make Hollywood magic as directors, screenwriters, producers, music producers, and special effects artists.

O’Malley and Ontkean both majored in theater, while a number of the others featured here were English majors. A few majored in disciplines that had nothing to do with movie-making, but turned out to be useful, including nursing, business, math, and computer science. What all these alums have in common is persistence, the ability to withstand repeated rejection, and excellent networking skills. That’s what it takes to make a career in Hollywood, where 100 projects flop for every one that succeeds, last year’s celebrity is this year’s has-been, and everyone is trying to figure out the next big thing.


HOLLYWOODyears to three. She got bumped up from screenwriter to co-director so she could sign off on script changes, while Buck, a former animator and story artist, worked on the visual environment.

In a twist on the classic formula of a princess saved by a chivalrous prince,

“Frozen” features a young princess, Anna, whose love for her queenly sister, Elsa, thaws two frozen hearts. Lee, who fol-lowed her own older sister, Amy Rebecchi

Kaier ’90, from Rhode Island to UNH, says she identifies most closely with Anna.

“Elsa is larger than life, like my big sister,” Lee says. Anna “makes a lot of mistakes, puts her foot in her mouth, she’s not the most polished girl, she’s average in every way, and yet I like that she does something extraordinary.”

“Extraordinary” is a pretty good de-scription of Lee’s career so far. Fans have made “Frozen” a box office hit, and critics

give it a strong chance to win the Academy Award for best animated feature. As for Lee herself, Variety recently named the former English major one of its Top 10 screenwriters to watch.

MIDLIFE ENTERTAINMENT: Screenwriter Court Crandall ’87 just wants to have fun—and he wants his char-acters to have fun, too. Crandall drew on his Phi Kappa Theta memories for the

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first script he sold: “Old School,” a raun-chy 2003 comedy starring Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Luke Wilson as three men in midlife crisis who decide to start a fraternity near their alma mater. “‘Old School’ is about getting to a point in life where you say, ‘Huh? Where’d the fun go?’” Crandall says.

Unlike his characters, Crandall seems to have had fun at every stage of his life. He came to UNH because, when he vis-ited on a warm April day, he saw lots of students outside throwing Frisbees and thought, “these people know how to have

fun!” As an English major, he toyed with sports writing and broadcasting, journal-ism, and fiction. But when he needed a job after graduation, he opted to follow his dad into advertising. “I thought, ‘You get paid money just to make up funny stuff?’ So I put together a portfolio and was lucky enough to get a job,” he says.

After a successful advertising career in Boston and New York, he got an offer from an LA ad firm, moved his family to Manhattan Beach, and began writing screenplays for comedies. And while he made his name by focusing on fun, Cran-

dall’s most recent work shows off a more serious side. He wrote, directed, and shot the 2013 film “Free Throw”—a docu-mentary about basketball-playing students at Compton (Calif.) High School— in the space of two weeks.

Crandall’s oldest son had played bas-ketball for years with kids from Comp-ton, a city known for gang violence and gangsta rap. “I just thought what sweet young kids they were, and they defied any notions you might have of what kids from Compton might be like,” he says. The film—framed by a free throw contest

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In “Take Me to the River,” a feature-length documentary

directed by Martin Shore ’82, legendary Memphis musicians team up with younger rap artists to create original music. There’s William Bell and Snoop Dogg. There’s Otis Clay and L’il P-Nut, a rap prodigy who’s in middle school. Historic clips of Martin Luther King and Otis Redding stand alongside shots of present day Memphis and live-recorded studio sessions. Narrated by actor-musician Terrence Howard, the scenes—a passing of the torch from one musical generation to the next—crackle with creative spirit, funky energy, and genuine love.

“What America gave the world is popular music. We built that foundation,” Shore says. “I wanted the international spotlight to shine back on the place of ori-gin, and what better way to do that than to pair legacy musicians with stars of today?”

A professional drummer, Shore segued into directing by producing albums, making music

videos, and produc ing

films. But he first got bitten

by the mov ie bug as a teen-ager back in 1977, when he

helped his older brother, a film ma-jor at New York University, make “Punking Out.” They filmed the Ramones, the Dead Boys, and Richard Hell live at famed New York club CBGB, and Shore got to hang out with the musicians during breaks. “It put the fire in me,” he says. “I always felt mov-ies were the ultimate art that was inclusive of everything, from music to art to photography.”

When he got to UNH, Shore majored in business, figuring it would help his career. After graduation, he toured for 10 years as a drummer for Bo Did-dley, Bluesman Willie, and Al-bert Collins, among others. He sees his evolution from musician to music producer to director as a natural progression: One re-quires a discerning ear, the other a critical eye, and both depend on an unerring sense of rhythm. “A producer for a record is really like a director for a film,” he says.

In 1985, Shore began a brief but lucrative detour into real estate, buying a four-unit apart-ment building with his former exchange-program roommate at San Diego State. The company grew to include some 35,000 rental units before he left. In 2002, he started Social Capital Entertainment, which produces films, music, and interactive en-

tertainment technology. He now divides his time between Hol-lywood and the San Francisco Bay Area, where he lives. “Hol-lywood has its own heartbeat,” he says. “I love LA and southern California, but I think it’s refresh-ing not to have to be there every day. It would drive me nuts to be in

the heart of it all the time.”Shore may soon be spending

more time in Hollywood, though. Early screenings of “Take Me to the River” have earned rave reviews, and the movie will have its U.S. debut at the South by Southwest Festival (SXSW 2014) in early March.

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Nurse!

Karen Lagasse Struck ’81 writes about two kinds of

hearts: the kind that feels love and the kind that needs bypass surgery.

Struck’s love of writing be-gan in high school, but she chose a more practical career path, earning her degree in nursing at UNH while working in the Lawrence General Hospital ICU. Marriage took her to the Los Angeles area, where she transitioned into medical risk management, but when her com-pany began sending her to San Diego to meet with clients, she decided to use her train commute

Crandall created in which one of eight seniors wins a $40,000 college scholar-ship—shows the difficulties facing these students, from poverty to violence to preg-nancy, and how hard they have worked to qualify for a college education.

Next up for Crandall are a documen-tary about a man wrongfully imprisoned for 19 years, a comedy set in Maine, and a pilot for a Fox sitcom—supervised by Mike O’Malley ’88. “I’m going to keep writing,” he says. “I don’t know how to do anything else.”

MORE THAN A FUNNY FACE: Mike O’Malley ’88 and Court Cran-dall ’87 first met in Hunter Hall, where they bonded over their mutual hatred of Sammy Hagar’s song, “I Can’t Drive 55”—which O’Malley’s roommated liked to play at top volume. O’Malley started spending time in Crandall’s room, and the upperclassman quickly came to appreci-ate the freshman’s wit. “Mike always had something to say,” Crandall recalls. “It didn’t matter the subject—he always got me laughing so hard that whatever I was drinking would come out my nose.”

The pair became good friends and af-ter graduation followed each other’s rising careers. They reconnected when Crandall was working on a big ad campaign for ESPN and persuaded the director to

audition O’Malley for the role of “The Rick,” a rabid Boston sports fan who lives over his parents’ garage. “Mike came in and just crushed it,” Crandall says.

Best known for his portrayal of comic characters, O’Malley starred in “Yes, Dear” for six seasons and got a 2010 Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Burt Hummel, the father of a gay stu-dent on the popular Fox musical comedy

“Glee.” But O’Malley is more than just a funny face. He has authored three stage plays, a screenplay, and several episodes of the Showtime series “Shameless.” A die-hard Boston sports fan, he’s now working with Red Sox chairman Tom Werner and LeBron James on a TV movie about two NBA players from a tough neighborhood.

Typically confined to roles as “a mid-dle-aged dad somewhere in America” when he acts, O’Malley loves writing because he can’t be typecast. “I get a lot of my creative satisfaction by stretching and doing things that are different,” he says. “You’re able to have more flexibility when you’re a writer.”

O’Malley recently starred in another NBC comedy, “Welcome to the Family,” where the professional “family” included producer Barbara Stoll ’74 and first as-sistant director Xochi Blymyer ’84. The show premiered last fall in the Thurs-day-night lineup, but NBC cancelled it

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to start writing again. She bought a bunch of how-to books on dif-ferent genres, and when she read one on screenwriting, thought, “That’s me!”

Struck wrote her first screen-play, “Charlie & Me,” on the t ra in. The stor y involves a 12-year-old girl whose grandfa-ther has a heart attack and even-tually dies. Two key scenes take place on a train, and all the med-ical details are precise. It took Struck two years, 25 revisions, and a white knight—long-time television executive Tom Wert-heimer—before she finally sold the script to the Hallmark Chan-nel. Ironically, just before the cast and crew flew to Toronto to

film, Wertheimer had emergency bypass surgery. Recovering at home, he invited Struck to visit him and watch the daily “rushes,” or raw footage.

“A lot of writers say they’re not included, and this was the opposite of that,” she says. “It was an ideal experience. They knew it was my first film and a new sec-ond career, and they never forgot how amazing that was.”

“Charlie & Me” aired in 2008 and was nominated for a Humanitas Award. Struck sold two other projects to Hallmark, and then Wertheimer helped her take the next big step—into television— by passing along her “spec script” for a TV medical

drama to Emmy Award-winning writer-producer David E. Kelley. Kelley offered her a staff writing job on “Monday Mornings,” a 2013 TNT series based on Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s novel about the peer review meetings among sur-geons at a major hospital.

Drawing on her years of medi-cal experience, Struck crafted scenarios that would tr igger legal dilemmas, conflicts, and ethical choices for the charac-ters—including an episode in which a pair of surgeons question whether a man believed to have attempted suicide deserves an organ transplant. That episode netted Struck and Kelley another Humanitas nomination, but the

series was not renewed. Still, she calls the show “the experience of a lifetime.”

Struck has several pilots and new scripts in the pipeline, in-cluding a movie about a 10-year-old girl, a K-9 officer, and his bloodhound that UP TV will film this year, and a TV series that has nothing to do with medicine. She says the key to a successful career is unwavering commitment, not only to improv-ing your writing, but to promoting your work to agents, producers, and studio executives.

“You have to love it that much, because there’s somebody else who will do all those things. And you get punched down a lot.”

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The Brahmin

It’s easy to see why Channing Chase ’61 gets typecast as a

blueblood: the sleek blonde bob, the high cheekbones, and the air

of cool elegance she radiates. But Chase is hardly a Boston Brah-min. Raised by Polish-American parents in Nashua, N.H., she was Valerie Waraska until early in her stage career, when she took

to heart film critic Pauline Kael’s opinion that an actor’s name is his or her trademark and found her new moniker in a friend’s Bennett College yearbook.

“Everybody falls into a type,” she explains, “and it’s very wise to find your type when you first come to LA, because people just don’t know what you’re about, so you have to tell them.”

Since 2007, Chase has par-layed her “type” into a recurring role as Dorothy “Dot” Dyke-man Campbell, the high-society mother of Pete Campbell, on the award-winning AMC series “Mad Men.” In the 2013 season, Dorothy went missing at sea, possibly pushed overboard by her caretaker. Chase has no idea whether Dorothy has drowned or will reappear in the final season, which is being filmed now.

“My pet theory is that Don Draper takes up sailing to combat his alcoholism, and he just hap-pens to be sailing by when I fall off the cruise ship, and we sail off into the sunset,” Chase says with a laugh.

Planning to become a teacher, Chase majored in English at UNH—there was no acting ma-jor at the time—but joined Mask & Dagger and acted every chance she got. Two UNH grads who hired her for the Keene (N.H.)

Summer Theater told her she couldn’t become a teacher; she was too good an actress. After the summer was over, she enrolled in acting workshops—and landed roles—in Boston and New York.

A theater tour took her to Los Angeles, and she decided to relocate to pursue television roles. She got her first bit part on “The Bob Newhart Show” and went on to play numerous character parts in movies and on TV, including “ER,” “Home Improvement,” “Family Matters,” and “Cold Case.” She also continued acting in a wide variety of roles onstage in California and New York, co-founding the Pacific Resident Theater. “Give me any role on stage,” she says, “because no one can interrupt you and say, ‘Cut!’”

Chase was nominated for a 2013 Emmy for her work on “Mad Men.” Still, if the script calls for her to come back on set, she’ll be lucky to get more than a week’s notice. In the meantime, she’s left guessing—like everyone else—about Dorothy’s fate.

after only three episodes when it failed to garner good ratings or kudos from crit-ics. O’Malley is philosophical about the cancellation, but it was still hard to say good-bye to the cast and crew. “After the show is over, you’ll mostly likely never see them again,” he says. “It’s like the collegiate experience over and over again: short bursts of intensity, and then it’s over.”

MOXIE AND CONNECTIONS: Barbara Stoll ’74 didn’t wait to be discovered. She was majoring in child development at UNH with a minor in communications when she had a brain-storm about how to combine her two pas-

sions. On impulse, she called Children’s Television Workshop, the producers of “Sesame Street,” to see if they had summer jobs. To her astonishment, they offered her an internship, and she spent a summer in New York showing newly developed segments of the show to children in Head Start programs in Harlem. The experi-ence cemented her ambition to go into television. “I think all of us out here [in Hollywood] are driven,” she says. “We decide what we want and then we go for it.”

In Stoll’s case, “going for it” included moving to Los Angeles and enrolling in the Master of Fine Arts in film program at UCLA, where her moxie once again

landed her a job. “The night before my graduation, I met a woman at a party who said, ‘What are you doing?’ I told her, and she said, ‘I have an opening for a unit manager position—are you interested?’”

Stoll jumped at the chance to work at MetroMedia’s television production studios. But if moxie opened the first few doors, relationships opened many more. A producer she met at MetroMedia offered her a job on the ABC show “Amanda’s by the Sea.” Later, she met “Roseanne” pro-ducer Al Lowenstein, under whose men-torship she rose from associate producer to co-producer to line producer over eight seasons. Most recently, she was thrilled to

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be part of Mike O’Malley’s latest sitcom, “Welcome to the Family,” and calls the show’s cancellation tough. “It was a really terrific working situation,” she says.

She’s already moved on, though. In January, she produced a pilot for CBS called “The McCarthys,” and she’s work-ing on another, “Fifth Wheel,” for NBC.

A FAMILY AFFAIR: Xochi Blymyer ’84 never thought her college math major would help her land a Hollywood job, but when the assistant director on the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Red Heat needed someone who could figure out the first generation of computerized scheduling software, Blymyer—and her computer skills—were just what he was after.

Now a first assistant director herself,

Blymyer says her math background is still a central part of her work. Her role is essentially that of a general contractor, figuring out each day’s shooting schedule based on actor availability, crew overtime, location availability, equipment, weather, and a million other details. On the set, she translates the director’s instructions into tasks for the actors and crew. “Math helps when you’re trying to solve problems or put pieces together,” she says. “It’s a good background for what I have to do.”

Blymyer grew up in the movie industry, skipping from one school on an Indian reservation to another in the Bahamas because her parents—her dad was a gaf-fer and her mother was a hairdresser to the stars—were on location. When they bought an inn in the White Mountains,

she decided to go to UNH and major in math, “simply because I was good at it.” The math didn’t work out for her parents, however, who discovered that running a an inn was not a money-making proposi-tion and soon returned to show biz.

After “Welcome to the Family” ended, Blymyer was welcomed back at “The Fos-ters,” where she had worked previously. She loves her job, but, like her parents, she isn’t crazy about having to go out and hustle the next gig, over and over again.

“You never get used to a job ending and not knowing where your next one is coming from,” she says. “I don’t think my parents ever got used to it. My dad always swore that each job was his last and no one was ever going to call him again—and he’s worked for 45 years.” ~

She’s known as one of the university’s most successful

entrepreneurs and leading phi-lanthropists. But Marcy Peterson Carsey ’66 credits her working-class background—her father was a Massachusetts shipyard worker and her mother a bank secretary who left to start a fam-ily—for much of her success. As co-founder of the production com-pany behind hit sitcoms like “The Cosby Show” and “Roseanne,” Carsey wanted to create TV shows that reflected the concerns of real-life families—families that looked a good deal like her own.

“A lot of what we did was about couples, relationships, par-enting, kids, how life is lived day to day,” Carsey says of her part-nership with Tom Werner, with whom she co-founded Carsey-Werner Productions. “You want to get into family dynamics in as realistic a way as possible.”

Family has always been at the center of Carsey’s work. Her career took off in 1974, when Mi-chael Eisner hired her at ABC. She warned him she was preg-nant with her first child, but all he wanted to know was whether

she planned to come back. “It was a very welcoming period for women,” she says. “ABC was realizing that more women than men watch television and sitcoms, so they’d better damn well have some women making those pro-gramming decisions.”

Carsey rose to senior vice president of prime-time pro-gramming before leaving ABC in 1980. She lured Werner away from the company two years later, and the duo went on to rack up a slew of hits, from “Roseanne” and “The Cosby Show” to “That ’70s Show,” “Cybill,” and “3rd Rock from the Sun.”

Widely regarded as one of the most powerful women in show business, Carsey, who majored in English at UNH, has used her success to help others—in large part through gifts to her alma mater. In 2002, she gave the uni-versity $7.5 million to establish the Carsey Institute, which con-ducts research on vulnerable chil-dren and families. Last year, she pledged an additional $20 million to support the foundation of the Carsey School of Public Policy at the university. For Carsey, it all

comes back to her roots: “Being raised in a blue-collar situation makes you not afraid of getting money or losing money,” she says,

“because money is just for a roof over your head and food on the table—and for giving to others who need help.”

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“SEE?” Whether it was to provide encour-agement or critique, Snively almost always put his hands on his players’ shoulders to emphasize a point. “He would say, ‘Now this is what I want you to do, see?’” recalls Jere Lundholm ’53. “And you would do it.”


TOUGHLOVEBy Jennifer Latson ’13G

As coach and mentor, Whoop Snively inspired his players to play well and live well.

Even half a century ago, A. Barr “Whoop” Snively was consid-ered an old-school coach. His physical size alone lent him an air of toughness. Former players remember his hands in epic terms: as big as baseball gloves, as strong as vise grips. Then there was his guttural voice, and his way of spitting words out the side of his mouth, like a film-noir detective, ending most sentences with “see?”

As a football line coach and the head coach of varsity lacrosse and, eventu-

ally, ice hockey, Snively spent 11 years at UNH leading his teams to victory over opponents with better records and greater numbers. (For part of a season, for ex-ample, his ice hockey team had only eight players.) But when he died of a heart at-tack at a Durham gas station on April 15, 1964, his teams lost more than the man who developed complex game-day strat-egies and notorious conditioning drills. And even now, 50 years later, his former players remember him above all as a father figure whose mentorship enriched their lives well beyond the field and rink.

“Yes, he was a coach, but more impor-tant, a builder of men,” says William Nel-son ’58, a lacrosse captain under Snively.

“He was like a second father to me and many others.”

Hired by UNH in 1953 as head coach for varsity lacrosse and as a football line coach, Snively brought with him years of experience as a coach and as an athlete. Having come into his own as an athlete and an individual during his own college

days, he knew firsthand the struggles his players were facing on and off the field. Raised in a family of doctors, he had enrolled at Princeton with the intention of following suit. As a starting football player for the Tigers, however, Snively played a key role in the success of the 1922

“Team of Destiny,” a scrappy squad that finished its season undefeated against higher-ranked opponents. He was voted the team’s captain at the end of that season, after earning a reputation as the best forward passer in the East as well as a nickname that stuck for the rest of his life: “Whoop,” or sometimes

“Whoops.” Deciding that his heart was in athletics, he also abandoned his plans for med school. He went on to earn a master’s in education at Columbia, and was later hired by Brown University as a lacrosse coach and football line coach before going on to coach football, lacrosse, and hockey at Williams College for 16 years.

The same spirit and work ethic that characterized Snively’s underdog suc-cess at Princeton also helped him lead

THE RIGHT RX: Snively broke family tradition by not going into medicine. But he carried his father’s leather doctor bag (above)—filled with game plans and information about his players—to every practice and game.

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UNH to success—especially on the lacrosse field. Few of his players had ever picked up a stick before coming to UNH, and they regularly faced off against other New England teams who drew their rosters from the elite prep school circuit. But in his first season as coach, the lacrosse team won six games and lost two. In his third season, in 1955, the team was undefeated and won both the Boston Division championship and the Roy Taylor National Championship. His career record at UNH for the sport was 85 wins and 47 losses, with one national championship and five New England divisional championships.

The UNH athletic director who hired Snively, Carl Lund-holm ’21, once said of him, “He’s the kind of coach who never had the best material, but could beat those who did.” According to his former players, the secret to Snively’s success lay in a com-bination of strict rule-making and genuine caring that inspired them to give their all.

“Whenever you came off the field during a game, he would put his arm around you with his big hand on your opposite shoulder, and say, ‘Now this is what I want you to do, see?’ and you would do it,” recalls Jere Lundholm ’53, who played lacrosse for Snively and happens to be Carl Lundholm’s son. “He was a disciplinar-ian, but he had a warm heart and a soft touch.”

That didn’t mean playing for Snively was easy. His prac-tices were often grueling—it wasn’t uncommon for the lacrosse team to spend hours clearing the field of snow before practice

“officially” began, and pre-season conditioning drills included running through College Woods in drifts up to two feet deep. He spelled out his expectations for his players in no uncertain terms: Even if you couldn’t play, you were still expected to attend practice. If you couldn’t at-tend practice, it was because you were at Hood House, the university’s infirmary, under a physician’s care. If you missed practice and were anywhere else, you were off the team. One of his favorite sayings—or “Whoopsisms”

—was “It doesn’t help until it hurts.”

Snively applied the same dedication to his coaching that he demanded of his play-ers. He was an overachiever in every way, constantly studying up on plays and techniques, and keeping close tabs on the competition. In his first football season at UNH, he was asked to scout St. Lawrence before a big

game. He did, and wrote up a 21-page report that included “everything except what the players ate the night before the game,” according to John “Doc” Enos, who profiled Snively in a 1962 piece for The New Hampshire Alumnus. The Wildcats went on to beat St. Lawrence by a whopping 34 points, though the teams had been ranked as evenly matched, and afterward the players presented Snively with the game ball, crediting his diligence with securing their victory.

That dedication came in particularly handy in 1962, when Snively was asked to take over as head coach for the men’s hockey team: not only had he never played the sport (despite having served as freshman coach at UNH and Williams), he’d never so much as learned how to skate. Instead, he had studied hockey by watching the Boston Bruins practice and taking copious notes. He instructed his players on skating methods in meticulous detail while he himself shuffled around the rink in oversized galoshes.

“He certainly knew more about it than any of his players did by the time he was coaching us,” says Dick Lamontagne ’63.

“We were all wondering how he came to know the sport so well.” He also put his own mark on the sport, incorporating football

and lacrosse tactics into plays that caught other teams by surprise. Lamontagne remembers one as an adaptation of a football punt play in which a player in trouble would flip the puck high into the air; one of the offensive wings would then rush to pick it up.

“It didn’t work every time, but it’s a play you don’t usually see,”

Snively’s lessons live on in the many players whose lives he touched. Many credit him with helping shape them

into the adults they became. He cared about them not just as players, they say, but as people.

“Whoops always checked in on what was going on in each of his players’ lives,” says Dick Lamontagne ’63, who played hockey for Snively. “It really wasn’t all about hockey—it was about all of us as individuals.”

Lamontagne credits Snively with teaching him most of what he knows about leadership. Now retired, he spent part of his career as a labor relations director for Verizon, a posi-tion that required him to work closely with people who saw the world differently from him.

“What I learned from Whoops was that if someone is really interested in you as a

person, you tend to establish a good relationship,” he says.

“One of the first things I did was try to learn as much as I could about the people I was working with, to make it more of a personal relationship than strictly a business relationship. It made my job a lot easier, and I enjoyed it more.

“I think I learned more about life—forget about hockey—from him than anybody else.”

Snively valued hard work and spirit above raw ability, on and off the field. Writing in the New Hampshire Alumnus, John “Doc” Enos described a time when a player was having trouble grasping a maneuver at practice. Snively ran the play himself to illustrate it, saying,

“You move to here, see?This guy cuts around you and then you move to here. Their defenseman has to move over to cover him and you spin like this, see? Our guy passes to

WHOOP’S

LEGACY:

Strong

Leadership,

Hard

Work, and

Genuine

Caring



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you and you score.” The player took six tries to get it right, but each time Snively paused to patiently explain it again.

Enos wrote about another player, a natural athlete, who won national attention for his success in a game. The follow-ing day, he skipped practice, so Snively barred him from playing in the team’s next game, explaining that the rules about missing practice applied to everyone equally.

Tim Churchard ’65 ’84G had his own taste of Snively’s tough love. When Churchard returned to UNH after flunking out, his coach gave him not only a place to live but also a job, hiring him to hand out and collect the equipment for intramural sports—and promptly firing him after he didn’t show up to work one drizzly evening. When Churchard reported for duty the next day, a new student

already had his position. Stunned, he went to ask Sniv-ely for a second chance, but the coach was firm. “He told me, ‘Your job was to take care of the equipment,’ Churchard recalls. “‘I replaced you, see?’”

Sam Paul ’60, who played football for Snively, still trea-sures the many “Whoopsisms” he picked up from his coach and mentor. One in particular , which he learned while help-ing Snively chop wood for his fireplace, stands out.

“He turned to me and said, ‘Sammy, remember, if you cut your own wood you get warm twice,’ ” Paul says. “I have used that quote many times over the years, especially with my sons.”

After graduating, Paul made a point to visit Snively whenever he was in Durham, since the coach and his wife al-ways wanted updates on his life. During one visit, he revealed

that his wife had just had their first child, named Sammy, after his father. “Two weeks later, I received a call from the Durham bank informing me that a savings account had been opened by Whoops in young Sammy’s name,” Paul recalls. “I cried!”

Snively had two children of his own, but considered scores of former players to be surrogate sons. He was hard on them, but he loved them, and he was never prouder than when they played well. Dave Eastman ’65, who was the football team manager, still recalls how happy it made Snively to see them win.

“While we were beating UMass for the Yankee Confer-ence Championship at the end of the 1962 football season, he was strutting behind the bench, saying, ‘I’m walking proud, see? Because those are my boys out there!’ ”

BY THE BOOK: He never learned to skate, but that didn’t keep Snively from being a masterful hockey coach. He learned the sport by studying the Boston Bruins, and his former players-say he came to understand its ins and outs better than they did.

Lamontagne explains. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done before or since.”

Although Snively diverged from his family’s tradition of pursuing medicine, he brought his father’s brown leather doctor’s bag—filled with piles of notes and paperwork—to every practice and game. It’s not hard to see a symbolic connection between his coaching and the practice of medicine. Each season he handed each player his “Rules for Lacrosse,” a 15-page document that was part sports strategy, part philosophical treatise. The players called it “Whoop’s Bible,” and they were expected to memorize it and follow it to the letter. In a section devoted to time manage-ment, Snively advised student athletes to prioritize their studies and keep their grades up, emphasizing that this was the best way to guarantee a bright future. He checked up on his players to be sure they stayed on track, and arranged tutors for those who fell behind. Those who still couldn’t keep up with their schoolwork

— including some of his best players—were kicked off the team.Snively was especially committed to helping students who

were having trouble adjusting to college life, and several credit him with having turned their lives around. He had a guesthouse on his Durham Point Road property where he’d let some students stay, rent free. He and his wife, Eva, served as surrogate parents to these “problem kids,” as Tim Churchard ’65, ’84G only half-jokingly calls them. Churchard would know. Today he’s a lecturer in education and sports psychology coach for the UNH hockey

team, but he was once a “Snively problem kid.”A Saugus, Mass., native who played football and hockey dur-

ing Whoop’s tenure, Churchard was so miserable his freshman year that he deliberately flunked out, with a 1.2 GPA. Thinking college wasn’t for him, he got a job in construction and withstood a brisk winter of manual labor outdoors. But while everyone he knew tried to push him back into school, Snively was the only one who didn’t try to force him to return.

“All he said was, ‘If you do come back, you can stay here. I know your parents don’t have any money,’” Churchard recalls. He did go back, and stayed in Snively’s guesthouse with another student whose life had gone off track. Snively helped them both find their way back.

“If it weren’t for him,” says Churchard, “I wouldn’t be here. I would never have graduated.”

In his office at UNH, Churchard still keeps a copy of “Whoop’s Bible” inside a weathered blue, three-ring binder of memorabilia held together by an elastic band. The faded pages give off a musty smell, but the lessons they contain are still as fresh as they were fifty years ago. Keep a cool head and play fair. If you run with the right guys, you will never get in trouble. Win by the book; it means more. Churchard often channels his mentor, especially when he encounters homesick freshmen who remind him of himself when Snively helped him.

Churchard also draws on the words Snively left for him,



specifically. Every year, the coach wrote a personal note to each of his former players to check in with him and see where his life was taking him. Though that list grew ever longer, Churchard says, Snively never let anyone slip out of his reach.

Indeed, it was the coach himself who suddenly slipped out of reach, dying unexpectedly as he stopped at the Durham gas station to fill his car on an April evening in 1964—only hours after the university had announced plans to build the indoor ice arena he had championed for several seasons. The UNH community as a whole, and Snively’s players in particular, reeled at the loss. There were no answers to be had in Whoop’s Bible, its preliminary rosters and 1964-65 season game plans a poignant reminder of what was missing. Churchard was so devastated he left the hockey team.

But the coach’s legacy endured. In February 1965, the new ice arena was finished, and named in his memory. Players like Churchard and Lundholm, Nelson and Lamontagne honored him by living their lives by the same high standards he had always held them to. In the Field House, visitors still can find a small plaque commissioned in honor of Snively’s 100th collegiate lacrosse coaching victory. Presented to him by his 1956 team, the plaque is inscribed to Snively: “friend, philosopher, respected advisor, and our esteemed coach.” A quiet memorial for an unassuming man with big hands and an even bigger heart. ~

ON ICE: Snively stepped into the role of varsity hockey coach in 1962 after nine seasons with the freshman squad. Many of the players on the 1959–60 freshman team, pictured here, went on to play on Snively’s first varsity team. ALL AMERICAN (right): A standout athlete before he became a standout coach, Snively was hailed as “the best forward-passer in the East” at Princeton, where he was a central figure on the 1922 “Team of Destiny.”

WEB EXTRA: When UNH Magazine solicited “Whoop memories” for this story, the outpouring was tremendous. Be sure to go online at unhmagazine.unh.edu/w14/whoop-memories to read more reminiscences from Whoop’s former football, lacrosse, and ice hockey players.


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B o o k R e v i e w s

W i n te r 2014 • U n i v e r s i t y o f N e w Ha m p s h i r e Ma g a z i n e • 3 9

Of Note

Hoosh: Roast Penguin, Scurvy Day, and Other Stories of Antarctic Cuisine by Jason C. Anthony ’93G, University of Nebraska Press, 2012.

The Bees are Waiting by Karina Borowicz ’09G, Marick Press, 2012.

The Fresh Honey Cookbook: 84 Recipes from a Beekeeper's Kitchen by Laurey Masterton ’76, Storey Publishing, LLC, 2013.

Web Extra For more books by alumni and faculty members, see unhmagazine.unh.edu.

All of us are detectives when it comes to understanding other people. We

continually search “for clues that reveal an individual’s intentions,” says psychol-ogy professor John D. Mayer in Personal Intelligence: The Power of Personality and How It Shapes Our Lives (Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014). But research suggests that not all of us are equally skilled at decoding the signals. Or, as Mayer puts it, “Some people can pick up clues to personality that others miss.”

Why do some of us seem to excel at what Mayer calls “reading people”? And can others cultivate that skill? Mayer’s new book looks beyond emotional intelligence—a term coined in the groundbreaking article he co-wrote with Peter Salovey (now the president of Yale University) in 1990—to argue that “as important as emotions are, they have little to say about people’s intentions, traits, motives, or

life stories.” More helpful to understanding all of those is what he calls “personal intel-ligence,” which is broader than emotional intelligence and includes such skills as the ability to read facial expressions, to antici-pate how others will react, and to make good decisions for ourselves accordingly.

Mayer makes his case for personal intelli-gence by synthesizing decades of scholarship, supporting it with examples of high achievers

from Ludwig van Beethoven to the late Washington Post owner Katharine Graham, and suggesting how people can improve their own personal intelligence. One story involves a New York police detective whose personal intelligence helped him make an unusually peaceful arrest of a violent suspect. Even if we don’t wear badges, Mayer suggests, we can get better at seeing and understanding clues that may help us solve the mysteries not just of others’ person-alities, but of our own, as well. ~ —J.H.

Personal IntelligenceSome of us read people better than others.

G ood fortune has followed Alice McDermott ’78G ever since The

New York Times praised her first novel, The Bigamist’s Daughter, as the work of a “a very tough-minded and talented young writer.” Her subsequent books have included the National Book Award winner Charming Billy and three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. And her new novel Someone (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013) has brought more acclaim. Long-listed for the National Book Award and short-listed for the National Book Critics Circle Award, it has appeared on many best-novel lists for 2013.

McDermott seems to have rejected from the start the idea that the way to achieve literary renown is to write about alienated young hipsters who make a religion of consumerism. Instead, says book critic Susan Farrell, she has won a reputation as “the pre-mier chronicler of the ordinary lives of Irish Catholic New Yorkers in the twentieth century.”

SomeoneAn ordinary life, observed.

Someone begins in Brooklyn, but not the newly fashionable Brooklyn that has a shop devoted solely to artisanal mayonnaise. Instead, a modest daughter of working-class Irish Catholic immigrants tells the story of her life from her childhood during Prohibition to the brink of old age.

Marie Commeford has always worn glasses, and they are a metaphor for her effort to see the reasons for often unfathom-

able experiences, including her out-of the-blue jilting by a suitor, her job as a greeter in a funeral home, her marriage and the arrival of her four children, and her adored brother’s decision to leave the priesthood for reasons he never fully reveals.

McDermott has described this plot as the story of an “unremarkable woman.” But one of her gifts is her ability to infuse familiar events with layers of meaning, and Someone is full of characters with physical or emotional wounds whose lives indirectly pose the question: What does it mean to live with a disability? McDermott never moralizes but rather lets her answers unfold slowly, as a critic wrote in The Washington Post, “through small moments of beauty and vividness.” —Janice Harayda ’70

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Tell me about a lesson you learned at UNH.

I think the most memorable thing I learned was to not make a snap

judgment. I didn’t want to come to UNH. I lived in Portsmouth, and we called it University Near Home. But I came because I couldn’t fathom having loans or taking all the family’s college sav-ings, and once I was on campus, I didn’t ever feel like I was too close to home. I got a fantastic education and did amazing things I probably couldn’t have done anywhere else. I got involved with student government and worked with the [USNH] board of trust-ees, I worked for the Clinton cam-

A l u m n i N e w s

in litigation, and also the ethics of social media and its use in liti-gation. I speak about e-discovery and social media at conferences and meetings. I’ve written about both, as well.

Does your knowledge in that area affect how you use social media?I think twice before I post anything. I don’t typically “friend” people from work. I have very intricate pri-vacy settings and friend lists so that I can control who sees what, and I just generally try to think about my audience. One of the most im-portant things is being aware of the default properties. Facebook defaults to making posts visible to friends of friends you’ve tagged, for example, if you don’t click that off. I would never want someone to be hurt. And I don’t want to post things that might embarrass my children some day.

What are your top priorities as president of the Alumni Association board?My focus has always been on engagement and relationships. Building relationships within the board, with the staff, and with alumni. The university has unified the Alumni Association, the UNH Foundation, and University Communications and Marketing under one umbrella, as Advancement. And the board

wants to support our side, the alumni side, under that umbrella but then also make sure that the umbrella is as bright and color-ful as it can be with all the parties working together. That way we can build one organization to help advance the university.

What is your message to UNH alumni?I would encourage everyone to come back and remember what UNH meant to you and to re- engage, whether it’s with your fraternity or student govern-ment or your major or UNH’s efforts toward sustainability on campus. For my husband, Mike Michaud ’96, it’s been the New Hampshire Gentlemen. We’ve attended reunions and met dif-ferent generations of singers and their wives that have evolved into lifelong friendships. A good place to reconnect is on the alumni on-line community, UNH Connect (unhconnect.unh.edu). You can become a career mentor through the Pathways program, go to an Executive Forum in Boston or a chapter program in California.

We need our alumni to stay engaged and perhaps lend us their time and expertise. We hope they’ll give us money if they can, but I think really it’s just being in-volved. It’s really enjoyable to be involved with something that gave so much to us. ~

paign, and as student body vice president I spoke at graduation. I took every political science course I could with professors Kaiser, Trout, and Craig. Coming to UNH was one of the best deci-sions I’ve made, ever.

Tell me about a memorable experience you had as a student here.At the end of my sophomore year we built a beautiful volleyball court in the courtyard at Congreve. It was a huge community effort to do something with this area that was essentially just dirt. We did all this research and brought in sand and put pavers to the doors and made sure it was regulation. We played some volleyball and even had mud wrestling there during the construction. It quickly became a mud spa.

Is it accurate to say you’re an expert on “e-discovery”?Well, lawyers aren’t supposed to say they’re experts in anything. (laughs) Our ethics rules pre-clude it. I would say my niche is e-discovery, which is the use of electronically stored information

On Mud Wrestling, Social Media, and Keeping in TouchShelagh Newton Michaud ’95 is the new UNH Alumni Association board president.



PL A N TO AT T E N D . . .☛ Alumni career webinar series, first Wednesday of every month, online

☛ Alumni speed networking, third Wednesday of ev-ery month, online

☛ UNH Executive Forum with former Governor John Lynch ’74, ’05H, March 7, Boston

☛ Poetry reading with Noha Elmo-hands ’13, March 13, Boston

☛ Sea Hagg Distillery Tour and Tasting, March 29, N. Hampton, NH

☛ D.C. Chapter spring cocktail, April 7, Washington

☛ Alumni recep-tion, April 10, Concord, NH

☛ Lakes Chapter Reception, May 8, Wolfeboro, NH

☛ Boston Chapter Red Sox games, May 31 and June 14, Boston

☛ Reunion Week-end, June 13–15, Durham

☛ Hamptons fam-ily summer bash, June 21, Quogue, NY

☛ Alumni Asso-ciation 38th annual golf tournament, June 30, Somer-sworth, NH

Write [email protected] to receive email notice of events.

Dream BuilderMike ’84 and Yvonne ’84 Pilot give students a hand, so they can do the same for others.

In 2006, when Mike Pilot ’84 became head of ad sales at Universal NBC, his new staff welcomed him with a signed

photo from Alec Baldwin, star of the popu-lar television sitcom “30 Rock.” Like Bald-win’s character, Pilot was a GE executive who had suddenly become a TV executive.

“I’m looking forward to playing the real-life counterpart to the character that Alec Baldwin plays,” Pilot joked during an interview at the time. It was a life-imitating-art plot twist that everyone took in good fun, including GE, which owns NBC.

Now chief commercial officer of GE Capital, Pilot credits UNH with helping to launch him on a successful career path.

“UNH was a turning point for me in every way,” says the Keene, N.H., native. “I stepped out of small-town life and into a much bigger realm of opportunities.”

The first in his family to graduate from a four-year college, Pilot says his accomplishment was a dream come true for his parents. “Without the dedication and commitment of my parents and the generosity of many people I never had a chance to meet, I would not have had the opportunity to receive such a high-quality education.”

Pilot, who switched from chemistry to business administration and management after his freshman year, recalls professors with an “amazing willingness to personalize my education, professors who would go out of their way to help.” One of Pilot’s favorite classes, Entrepreneurial Studies, included a series of guest speakers. “I found it incredibly inspiring,” he says, “to meet and connect with people who were living their dreams.”

Inspiring others is exactly what Pilot had in mind when he and his wife, Yvonne Tuberty Pilot ’84, re-cently established a scholarship fund. The $1 million endowed fund provides support each year to as many as 20 students from New Hampshire, reflecting the Pilots’ commitment to making sure deserving students get to attend college—just as Mike himself did. “This gift is my chance to pay it forward,” he says.

Pilot has supported UNH in other ways, too. He has served on the UNH Foundation board and in 2011 was the business school’s keynote speaker during homecoming weekend. The Pilots also contributed $250,000 to the new Paul College of Business and Economics. “With their new scholarship fund, the Pilots have made a significant leadership statement,” says Debbie Dutton, vice president of advancement and president of the UNH Foundation. Their gen-erosity, she notes, has already inspired other donors.

This is good news for Pilot, who wants to do all he can to expand the circle of giving he sees as critical to the future of the university—and its students. “UNH has a special commitment to New Hampshire stu-dents,” he says. “Supporting these students and their dreams is one of the best investments we can make in the future of our communities and in the Granite State.” Pilot and his wife look forward to meeting scholarship recipients in the years ahead, to watch-ing them grow and embark on careers that, someday, may allow them to give back, too. Meanwhile, notes Pilot—sounding a lot like his parents—each one who graduates will make him proud.

—Suki Casanave ’86G

In the Spotlight


C L A S S N O T E S

1930 Ed’s Note: If you have news for the Class of ’30 or any of the classes

not shown here, please send it to Class Notes Editor, UNH Magazine, 15 Strafford Ave., Durham, NH 03824 or [email protected].

1940 I spent a happy summer at my beach house on Long Beach Island

at the Jersey Shore, and am sorry I’m not going to spend this winter in Florida as I have done for the past 10 years. I’ll miss my visit to the SW Florida Alumni lunch in February and will miss seeing my Theta Chi fraternity friends. I have been in touch with Marion James, who lives in the Mark Wentworth Home in Portsmouth, NH. I have also talked to Kaye Myhre Bullard in Stratham, NH. I did hear from Nelson Bennett this past Christmas, living in Yakima, WA. Also my freshman roommate Edward Stafford’s family wrote me that Ed is doing OK and living in Anoka, MN. I had lunch with Ralph Blaine, now living in Dover, NH. He was at UNH for two years before entering the U.S. Naval Academy. I had hoped toget out to the UNH sailing club location this summer at Mendum’s Pond to see my donated sailboat, “Sweety Pie,” which replaced one of the boats lost in the fire a few years ago, but never made it. I’m sorry to report the following deaths: Alfred Fernald died Sept. 6, 2013, in Bedford, MA. He earned an electrical engineering degree and a master’s in industrial management from MIT. He served as a radar instructor during World War II, and earned the rank of Captain. He began a long career at AT&T and resided in Winchester, MA, for 50 years. He was active in the Boy Scouts and the First Congregational Church. He is survived by his three children, grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. Rita O’Shea Abbott died Sept. 27, 2013, in New London, NH. She was happily mar-ried to James Abbott for 67 years and worked at various Massachusetts public libraries after earning an MS degree at Simmons College in 1958. She later specialized in medical librarian-ship, building the Framingham Union Hospital library to support the hospital’s famous heart study. She was active in the Episcopal Church and is survived by two sons and a grandson.

—Dan Sweet, 275 Piscassic Rd., Newfields, NH 03856; [email protected]

1941 Dear Classmates: I’m sorry to write of the passing of two of our

classmates. Leon W. Bills passed away in June 2013. He taught school in Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York, and volunteered in Boy Scouts and Outward Bound. He loved the mountains, hiking, and camping, and learned to ski at age 58. After retiring, Leon lived in Ger-many, where he enjoyed cooking, bicycling, and teaching English. He is survived by his wife, Eva, a son, daughter, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. John A. Parodi died on August 4, 2013, in Whitefish, MT. He earned his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Northwest-ern University and worked for General Electric Company for 35 years. In his retirement, John enjoyed gardening, birdwatching, and computer programming. He is predeceased by his wife, Janet, and is survived by three daughters and three grandchildren. I was pleased to hear from a couple of our classmates. Guy E. Alexander called to thank me for writing this news column. Guy reports that he’s retired from his family business of manufacturing wooden rakes and crutches; he’s in good health and lives in Suna-pee, NH. Roger S. Leighton’s daughter, Martha V. Leighton ’74, wrote that her dad gave a well-attended talk on the history of Strafford, NH, at the town library in June. Roger has lived all of his life in Strafford and recently helped update the town’s history, which his mother, Lena Waldron Leighton ’15, originally co-wrote in the 1970s. My news is that my 1936 Towle High School field hockey championship team, of which I was cap-tain, was inducted into the Newport, NH, Athletic Hall of Fame in September. I was joined by two other teammates at the ceremony; we all spoke and I declared the induction to be “a thrill and an honor and about time!” Please send me your news— thank you in advance!

—Eleanor “Lonnie” Gould Bryant,60 Middle Rd., Apt. 221C, Dover, NH 03820, (603) 742-2430

1942 Greetings from Concord, where we await the joys of the holiday

season, and we send best wishes to you. We regret to report the loss of our classmate Mary Ann Wheeler Franklin, who died July 22, 2013. When she arrived at Congreve Hall in September,

1938, she was the only black person on campus and one of only two women in her class who was pre-med. Mary Ann treasured her years in Dur-ham and always attended reunions, including our 70th last year. She graduated with a degree in zoology. Her hopes for medical school were de-feated because of WWII, but she worked as a civil-ian scientist in the Navy. After the war Mary Ann earned her master’s degree in science education. She later earned her Ph.D. in higher education administration. In her marriage to Carl Franklin there was a shared love of education, science, and music, and pioneering in civil rights. She taught at and was affiliated with many colleges and universities. She and Carl were avid travelers and twice traveled around the world. They were on a cruise in Iceland when Hurricane Katrina struck their New Orleans home in 2005, destroy-ing all their possessions. They later returned to Baltimore, where they renewed old friendships and enjoyed many cultural opportunities. Mary Ann lived a well-rounded generous life, and for that she was highly respected and deeply loved. Surviving is her daughter, Dr. Evangeline Frank-lin. I shall miss Mary Ann’s letters, always replete with happenings in the federal government, and thoughtful concerns on how life could be made better for all, particularly in health care. Keep in touch. Be of good cheer.

—Mary Louise Hancock, 33 Washington St., Concord, NH 03301; [email protected]

1943 There is an “In Memoriam” obitu-ary for Cornelia Constable Kit-

field on p. 61 in this issue. Please send news. —Dorothy Kimball Kraft, 2 Lilac Ln., Wolfeboro, NH

03894; [email protected]

7 0 T H R E U N I O N

1944 Please join fellow classmates in Durham on June 14 for a luncheon

to celebrate our 70th Reunion.Look for informa-tion in the mail or stay informed online at unhcon-nect.unh.edu/reunion. And send your news to [email protected].

1945 A lovely note from Grace Murphy Farwell and husband Lloyd ’48:

“We are both in reasonably good health and have been living in a beautiful retirement home in Thousand Oaks, CA, for over four years. We were transferred to L.A. in 1969 by way of Chicago, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Connecticut, Buffalo, and Greenfield, MA. Lloyd retired from Hilton Hotels as a senior vice president in ’89. He founded and ran the franchise development company for his last 23 years. We were especially interested in the news about Bob Chase. Saw Bob and wife Ann ’46 out here a couple of times some years ago. Also Anne Hale Dodd and her husband, Sam. Anne had the room next to me in Congreve North

Send Us Your News! Share your adventures, accomplishments, updates, and more! Here’s how to reach us: Email your class secretary (listed at the end of each column) or [email protected]. Post a class note on UNH Connect (unhconnect.unh.edu), our new online alumni community. Or send a note through the mail: UNH Magazine, 15 Strafford Ave., Durham, NH 03824. The deadline for the spring issue is April 1.

W I N T E R 2 0 1 4


W hen Laurent ’43 and Ann Miller ’46 Morin arrived in Algiers for their first posting with the Foreign Service in 1948, the captain of their ship had only one request: “When we were coming into port, he said, ‘Will you please take

down the diaper line?’” Laurent recalls.The Morins and their infant daughter had spent 30 days aboard a Norwegian tramp

steamer, living in the ship’s sick bay and using salt water to wash their clothes and their daughter’s diapers. “That gave us a very good introduction to the Foreign Service,” Ann says. “After that it couldn’t be anything but up.”

For the next 50 years, the Morins traveled the world, with postings at U.S. embassies in France, Japan, and Iraq, along with stints in Washington, D.C. The couple, who met at UNH and married at the end of Ann’s freshman year, were on the front lines of American diplomacy as Europe recovered from World War II, upheaval rocked the Middle East, and the United States prepared for the Cold War to turn hot. “He promised me he would take me to see the world, and so he did,” Ann says.

Laurent held various embassy posts while Ann worked as a teacher and principal at embassy schools, but embassy living was not easy. In Algiers, they lived in a hotel for three months while searching for housing, able to afford only one meal a day from room service, which they split. But they also attended opulent state dinners, a sharp

contrast to their daily routines. “It was really rather schizophrenic,” Ann says. “On the outside, it was glam-orous ... but the living was so tough that very few people would choose such a life overseas.”

When the Morins arrived in Baghdad in 1960, the country was in upheaval. Then-Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim had seized power in 1958, but his grip on the country was tenuous. The Morins lived through uprisings and bombardments; tanks were stationed at each end of their street, and Ann remembers walking under the turrets on her way home. When Qasim was deposed in 1963, their daughter Ann Morin Levine ’72, then a teenager, was stranded outside Baghdad until a taxi driver shepherded her through the city and across the Tigris River to safety.

Changes on the international stage had repercus-sions at home. In 1970, Laurent moved to the Office of Emergency Preparedness, where he helped shape national policy on disasters small and large, from fuel shortages to nuclear war. Instead of touring embassies, he visited top-secret hideaways in the mountains of Virginia where federal and military personnel would gather in the event of nuclear war.

“I was one of the ones who had a designated place that I was supposed to go (to),” he says. “If the bombs were going off in Washington, I was supposed to leave my family and go to Virginia. It was horrible stuff we used to worry about in those days.”

Ann played her own role in shaping American di-plomacy. In the 1980s, she began work on an oral history of the three dozen women who served as U.S. ambassadors between the Roosevelt and Reagan administrations. For 10 years, she compiled informa-tion and conducted interviews with the ambassadors, including Shirley Temple Black.

“I built up this big dossier on all these women—what they did, what they were like,” Ann says. The book, Her Excellency, became a part of the State Department’s ambassador-training curriculum and served as a foun-dation for the Association of Diplomatic Studies and Training’s oral history project.

There are few places the Morins and their family have not been—including outer space. Their son, Lee Morin ’74, was selected by NASA to become an astronaut in 1996. Ann and Laurent watched from home in 2002 as Lee completed two spacewalks totaling 14 hours at the International Space Station. In his own way, the younger Morin was carrying on the family tradition: traveling boldly into uncertain territory and leaving on it his own indelible mark.

—Larry Clow ’12G

JE

SS

ICA

MIL

LIG

AN


World ViewLaurent ’43 and Ann Miller ’46 Morin look back on half a century in the Foreign Service.


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in ’41 – both of us from New Jersey, and I ran into her, almost 60 years ago, at a meeting in Newington, CT, quite by accident—both of us liv-ing in the same small town! Lloyd and I have two sons, both in the hotel business. Our eldest is with Intercontinental in Jackson, MI, and the younger is general manager of the Hyatt on Maui. All of us, and their wives, spent 10 days together out in Hawaii in September. Guess that’s all for now – we do so enjoy all the class news.” Thanks for sharing your news, Grace and Lloyd!

1946 Please send news. —Jeanne Steacie Harriman,

14 Old Mill Dr., P.O. Box 670, Wolfeboro, NH 03894

1947 Doris Dropkin Hoffman died on-June 22, 2013, in Boynton, Beach,

FL. Her husband of 66 years, Meyer “Mickey” Hoffman ’50, says, “she loved her time at UNH.”

1948 Homecoming 2013 was celebrated to a Harry Potter theme: “The Wiz-

arding World of Wildcats.” For most alumni, the main focus was Saturday’s football game at Cow-ell Stadium. UNH beat Rhode Island with a 59-19 thumping before a roaring homecoming crowd of 18,412. Cheerleaders cheered, majorettes twirled batons, flagbearers danced, and the band played magnificently on! Unfortunately, only obituar-ies remain to be reported. Our sympathy goes to families of those who grace our lives no longer.

—Betty MacAskill Shea, P.O. Box 1975, Exeter, NH 03833; [email protected]

1949 He’s a Red Sox superfan, a cross-word puzzle whiz, and a ’49er, who

celebrated his 90th birthday on Sept. 30, 2013, with a party with family and friends in Keene, NH. Lawrence “Larry” Kapiloff met his wife, Dorothy, on a blind date at a baseball game in Vermont. They raised their five children in Swanzey and Keene. They now have 11 grandchildren, five step grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and one step great-grandchild. Two daughters, Sharon, and Sandy, live nearby. Sandy is a program associate for the UNH Cooperative Extension Nutrition-Con-nections program for Sullivan County. Daughter Linda came to the party from her home in Califor-nia and son Gerald was able to join in via Skype. Son Glenn, who lives in Maine, retired as a Lt. Colonel, was there, too. Larry joined the U.S. Army Air Force on Dec. 23, 1941, and was an airplane mechanic for three and a half years in the South Pacific. He kept many a plane flying during World War II. After graduating from UNH, Larry ran a poultry farm marketing business with his father and brother be-fore working for a life insurance company. Pauline “Polly” Kropp Feuerstein has had another great tragedy. Last September her 60-year-old daughter, Jocelyn “Jocie” Feuerstein-Allsup, died suddenly in Winter Park, FL. In 2003 Jocie’s 19-year-old daughter was struck by a car and killed while jog-ging near her FL home. Polly, lives in Franklin, NH. Don Lamson, ’48, turned 90 on Nov. 17 and had a

family party at Pine Rock Manor with some of our six married children, 13 grandchildren and one great-grandson. Don’s brother, Dick, and fraternity brother Don Bent ’48, were there too.

—Joan Boodey Lamson, 51 Lamson Ln., New London, NH 03257; (603) 526-6648

1950 Midge Holmes Dow has moved from her beautiful home in Tufton-

boro, NH, where she and her late husband, Al, spent many years in the antique business. I was privileged to be a guest in her home last summer as we celebrated her interesting past as well as her move in late October to Riverwoods in Exeter, NH. Joining in the warmth of great friendships were Betty Ahern Lamphier, Annie Cotter ’51, Betty Greene Herrin ’51, and Lee Currier Fortes-cue. Lee, as well as Barbara Newall and Phyllis Killam Abell, also reside at Riverwoods. Phyllis Blais Bansavich of Newington, CT, continues to enjoy family and trips to RI beaches. Hearing from alums is important to her as well. Last summer, my freshman year roommate Bea Drolet Bou-dette and I were fortunate to reunite after many years, when I visited her at Emeritus in Durham. It was a very special time for both of us. Glad to hear from Phyllis Kovner Shiro, who checks in with us from beautiful Waterville, ME. It is always a pleasure to chat with our beloved “class clown,” Frank Robie. He still keeps quite busy and will celebrate his 90th birthday in April. We all send best wishes to you and your family, Frank. Thanks to our generous commitment to the Class of 1950 Scholarship Fund, we continue to support deserv-ing UNH students. This year’s recipients from the class of 2014 are: Steven Palumbo from Kingston, NH, and Arjuna Ramgopal from Derry, NH. We wish them well. Let’s continue to support this worthwhile program by adding to the fund while mailing our dues. Once again, another reminder to let us hear from you. Share a trip with us, or a proud moment with your grandchild, or even a special moment from the past in Durham.

—Anne Marie Flanagan Long, 2601 Newcomb Ct., Sun City, FL 33573; [email protected]

1951 ‘Twas fun opening an envelope from Jan Anderson a while back

with pictures of the 40th Reunion — my, what a difference 23 years makes — but it was the pic-tures of dear friends who aren’t with us anymore that really got to me! And that statement leads

to a letter from Ruth Chaffee Levy ’50 about her sister, Joan Simpson, who died this past summer. Jo majored in chemistry and was one of the first three women hired by Dow Chemical Company, where she worked in Michigan until she retired. Joan also was the first female to operate their nuclear reactor and was featured in Charm maga-zine as being as a pioneer in the advancement of women in the chemistry field. Clarence “Tiny” Grant passed away Oct. 13, 2013. He grew up in Dover (NH)and earned his bachelor’s in chemistry with our class and his master’s in ’56. He went to Rutgers for his Ph. D. and then returned to the UNH campus, where he spent the remainder of his professional career, teachingchemistry for 36 years and ultimately serving as chair of that department. His love for UNH resulted in the establishment of an endowment that supports research opportunities for current students. He was a mentor to thousands of students and a be-loved member of the UNH community. He leaves his wife, Helen; three sons, Philip ’77, Stephen, and David; and five grandchildren. Bev Lessard Hoover, I will challenge you as one who has the most chaotic desk! Don Gregoire sent a picture beside his specially equipped mini-van, which knows the way occasionally to the Seminole Ca-sino in Tampa!And Jan Anderson managed to get to Provincetown with her family for a week in June. Henry Enos, Gulf Breeze, FL, completed his Ph.D. in biochemistry at Penn State, which took him to the EPA in DC, then division director, and finally to Florida as a director of a research lab. Now he is just a husband of 63 years! Bruce Bar-ber is still in the antique business in Georgetown, TX, keeping up with children, grands, and “more demanding dogs!” Emile Chagnon, who lives in Merrimack, NH, claims three great-grandchildren; Ken Marshall, Boscawen, NH, spent two months in the sunny South but would rather be garden-ing!; Frank Penney, in Atkinson,NH, still makes light of his disabilities in his “live-in” room; Ray Grady sends his regards to his classmates from Napa, CA. He didn’t make it back East this year but I hope he’s planning two years ahead to our next big Reunion, as he made our 60th! Bob Young , of Colebrook, NH, is the director of Pioneer Farm Edu-cation Center, a charitable foundation he founded in 2008. He can teach you about farm techniques for free and a family farm trust which will preserve the land. My conversation with Bob included some great laughs, and of course, Bob Shaw’s name came up, which always brings a warm smile to my face!

—Anne Schultz Cotter, P.O. Box 33, Intervale, NH 03854; [email protected]

1952 Hi Mates: I would like to clarify an expression I used in our last is-

sue. I mentioned I was the “part-time treasurer.” Charlie Daunt is still our class treasurer and an excellent one. His many years in banking have made him a perfectionist. Our class dues/class notes are sent to me. I send the dues onto Charlie. My heart and tender thoughts go out to the loved

MILESTONE: Larry Kapiloff ’49 and family celebrate his 90th birthday on Sept. 30, 2013, in Keene, N.H.


C L A S S N O T E S

ones of the following alums who have died: Jack Bowes,on June 16, 2013, William Manson on Aug. 1, 2013, and Lee Sarty, on Sept. 1 , 2013. I received a clever collage from Cindy ’54 and Lou Kochanek with all sorts of fun pictures of their children and family events.Pat and Ed Douglas wrote,”We sold both our homes and moved to a retirement home in Dublin, OH. We are so pleased that we no longer have to worry about our homes and are enjoying our new life.” William P. Adams wrote “Louise and I are still alive and kicking but no more RVing, mountain climbing, and such. We enjoyed a cruise to Alaska and would like to get East one more time.” John Sheridan is still skiing with “my new knees, while most of my friends have died or hung up their their boards. Matur-ing has been a great ride!” Patricia Calef Cope and husband Donald have taken a river cruise in France and “hiked at lease 1,000 old steps, ALL UP, to see the sights!” Herbert Holmes’s wife, Lois ’53, died from Alzheimer’s in 2009. He remarried in 2010. He and his wife are in good health and active in church and enjoy traveling in their RV. Peggy Ann Leavitt Reid wrote that she thought our 60th Reunion was fantastic. “Everything was perfectly planned. Very enjoyable!” My precious hubby, Dan Maynard, suffered a heart attack on Thanksgiving night. Fortunately, it was a mild at-tack and he came home quickly from his hospital stay. May God bless you all and America.

—Ruth Goldthwait Maynard, 723 Bent Ln., Newark, DE 19711; (302) 731-5563;

[email protected]

1953 A note from Huck reports the death of Bob “Fats” Houley of Jupiter,

FL. Bob was a loyal supporter of the class and was instrumental in raising a considerable amount of money for our 50th Reunion gift to the university. While at UNH he was president of Theta Kappa Phi, was active in several organiza-tions, and played hockey and lacrosse. There is an “In Memoriam” on p. 61 of this issue. Dave Marquis, Ret. Col. USAF, calls Des Moines, IA, home. Mildred Spofford Radford died June 12, 2013. At UNH she majored in chemistry, was a Phi Mu, and met her husband-to-be, Harrison E. Radford ’54. Later in her life she pursued her love of painting, producing large abstract oils. She spent several years in Puerto Rico where she worked for the U.S. government until retirement. Barbara N. Gilderdale, 91, who completed her undergraduate degree in history at UNH, died July 12, 2013. She had been on the staff of the New Canaan, CT, library for 28 years, retiring in 1982. Forestry major and former president of Alpha Gamma Rho, Robert “Bob” Bolton of Madras, OR, died June 17, 2013, of complica-tions from prostate cancer. His forestry career extended from the northeast to the northwest in private and government work, and he spent 23 years at the Warm Springs Reservation, retiring in 1990 from the Eastern Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Arlington, VA. .

—Ann Merrow Burghardt, 411 Wentworth Hill Rd., Center Sandwich, NH 03227;

[email protected]


1954 Charlotte Anderson Marsh was among the 75 voices that sang in

the chorus of Handel’s “Messiah” in San Diego in December 2013. Hallelujah! Dave Cohen was so awed by the prospect of our 60th reunion (June 13–15, 2014) that he turned to poetry: “Three-score years, how can that be? / I can’t believe it happened to me!” (There’s more, which I quoted in full in my email update. If you have an email address and don’t get this quarterly bulletin, send me a note and I’ll fix that.) Shantih (peace) to Benjamin Kuo of Champaign IL, a native of China who earned his doctoral degree at the University of Illinois and taught there for 31 years while writing more than a dozen books in the field of digital control, died June 12, 2012; to William Varkas of Manchester NH, a World War II veteran, teacher, and principal in Manchester schools and New Hampshire state legislator, who died July 2, 2013; to Donald Jamieson of Waterbury Center and Burlington VT, a teacher, principal, and supervisor of schools in Vermont who died Aug. 13, 2013; and to John DesJardins of Henderson NV, an Air Force pilot who flew 100 missions over Vietnam, earning the Silver Star and retiring as a lieutenant colonel, and later served as a vice president at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, who died Sept. 23, 2013.

—Daniel Ford, 433 Bay Rd., Durham, NH 03824; [email protected]

REUNION

Join Us!June 13–15, 2014

Class of 1944 ✰ 1954 ✰ 1964 ✰ 1974 ✰ 1979 www.unhconnect.unh.edu/reunion • (603) 862-2040 • email: [email protected]


C L A S S N O T E S

CRUISE THE CARIBBEAN …and visit the Panama Canal in its Centennial Year!

November 19–30, 2014

For a complete list of UNH Travel Tours in 2014, visit: unhconnect.unh.edu/travel

To learn more, call (800) 891-1195 or (603) 862-3764. Or email: [email protected]

Traverse the storied Panama

Canal, now 100 years old.

Marvel at the idyllic landscapes

that line its banks and the

locks that raise and lower your

ship like a toy. Revel in warm

Caribbean breezes and blue

skies as you cruise and explore

seven ports of call from Key

West to Costa Rica.

1955 It is with a deep sense of loss and sadness that our class reports the

passing of our loyal and beloved Evelyn “Evie” Suutari Baker on January 7, 2014. While many only knew Evie in name as our class correspon-dent, she was to many others the anchor of our class activities, whether it was just a planning meeting for an upcoming reunion or organizing a get-together at a campus event. From gradua-tion to our almost 60th reunion, she was always available, contributing and keeping us connected as a class. Evie’s major responsibility had been to compile class notes and to submit them on a timely basis. According to the university, she was unfailing in her effort. Faithful to family, our class, and to UNH, she will be sorely missed by all who knew her and worked with her. She was a quiet unassuming leader, gracious and loved by all. Future news should be sent to Bill and Marge Johnston at the address below.

—Bill and Marge Johnston, 40502 Lenox Park Dr., Novi, MI 48377; [email protected]

1956 Snowy greetings to one and all. Yesterday UNH football won in the

third round of the FCS post season; a record for them. We again enjoyed season tickets; our team was undefeated at home! Often saw classmates Jane Bradley Harrington and Anne Seidler Rus-sell at the games. Recently attended the annual alumni Christmas party at Wentworth by-the Sea in New Castle, NH. There were more than350 of us there, although very few alums of our vintage.

While sorting through seasonal items, I found a year-old note from Bev Jones Abt (sorry!) She has been a widow for nearly nine years and has occupied the family home in Southport, CT, for 45 years. She enjoys an active lifestyle — walking, golf, and bridge. It was great to hear from Shirley “Gibby” Gibson Geoffrion, already at her winter home in Venice, FL. She and Geoff ’55 divide their year evenly between Florida and Yarmouth, ME. They enjoy boating along the Maine coast. In the winter, Gibby takes part in sunfish racing. An ideal situation for them; one daughter is in Maine and the other in Florida. There are two obituaries to report. In July, David Rosi died in East Greenbush, NY. He received a master’s in ’56, and for 32 years was a research biochemist with Sterling Drug Corporation. In August, we lost Edward Rogers of Holderness, NH. Ed served in the Army for four years before joining our class. He spent his entire career with NH Insurance/AIG and in retirement, summered at Squam Lake and wintered at Myrtle Beach, SC. Our travels this year included a tour of the Baltic States—a fascinating journey through former Soviet bloc countries, each unique and enjoying their independence and relative prosper-ity. Hoping to have more news next time; let’s hear from you, classmates!

—Joan Zing Holroyd, 5 Timber Ln., Apt. 213, Exeter, NH 03833; [email protected]

1957 Happy New Year! Escaping the northern snows, both Jim Yakova-

kis and wife Dotte, and Fritz Armstrong and wife

Lois Jesseman ’58, are enjoying the warmth of Venice, FL. Meg Hutchinson and husband Paul Goyette in Belmont, NH, have been busy visiting their children in Alaska, Colorado, and Minnesota. Don Holroyd and wife Joan Zing ’56, have settled into a busy life at Riverwoods in Exeter, NH. Nancy Jillson Glowacki is full of energy, writing mu-sic and singing at her church plus helping with political activities in Hendersonville, NC. Janice Gardella Gilroy lives in Bradford, MA, and loves being with her large family, including great grand-children. John Hagen cheers for the Red Sox and the Wildcats from Mooresville, NC. Donald Mullen lives in Dover, NH and enjoys “classes” with the Active Retirement Association. In June, Dean A Hutchinson, West Lebanon, NH, passed away. He had worked as a highway technician for the state of New Hampshire. He was very active in his com-munity church and Masonic Lodge. Sandra Brown Ryan died in June in North Conway, NH. Sandra loved to travel and volunteered at the Community Center and the Conway Scenic Railroad. Debra Leahy passed away in August in Naples, FL. She had enjoyed being an elementary school teacher and was very active in her church. Our 1957 class secretary, Ann Garside Perkins, is taking a brief respite from many decades of writing class notes. Carly Rushmore and husband Jim Hellen will be “guest” secretaries for now. They look forward to hearing from you! For updates on UNH, check out [email protected].

—Carly and Jim Hellen, 20 Fitts Farm Drive,. Durham, NH 03824; [email protected]


C L A S S N O T E S

1958 Many of our classmates will be planning their 60th high school

reunions for 2014. This should provide an op-portunity for some of us to catch up on the ac-tivities of high school classmates who also went on to graduate in our UNH class. Please forward any information for the next issues of our class news. Four of our classmates are no longer with us: Priscilla J. Gillespie Culver of Nahant, MA, Paul R. Moore of New London, NH, James Stone of Dunbarton, NH, and Richard M. Wheeler of Jefferson, NH. Priscilla had an interesting ca-reer, teaching English, being a reporter for a local newspaper and then earning a law degree at the age of 55, which led to being a court-appointed attorney for Child Protective Services in Malden and Cambridge, MA. Paul spent most of his career serving as director of food services at different educational institutions, first at Juniata College in Huntington, PA, for four years; then at Dartmouth College for 24 years; and finally at St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH. James was a lifetime resident of Dunbarton, where he continued the family tradi-tion of farming, transforming the small family farm to a modern dairy herd of more than 150 cattle. After he sold the herd in 2006, he continued to do logging operations on the farm and was involved in many volunteer activities in the Dun-barton area. After graduating from UNH, Richard worked for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service in New Hampshire and Montana, returning to UNH to receive a master’s degree in chemistry. He then taught chemistry in high schools in New

York and New Hampshire before his retirement. We offer condolences to the family members of our departed classmates.

—Peggy Ann Shea, 100 Tennyson Ave., Nashua, NH 03062;

[email protected]

1959 Pat Lovell Schulze emailed me with the following: “Met up with three

sorority sisters this summer. Three of us meet every year for lunch in Portsmouth, NH: Bianca “Bia” Reznak Perra ’60, Phyllis “Chickie” Zioze, and this year we added Nancy Osborne Fortuna. What a great time we had. Nancy goes to Rome every year to visit her sister-in-law and I come over to the States every year and meet up with Bia. We hope to do this again next year. Pat lives in London and has a six year old grandchild who speaks both English and German. The follow-ing is about Martha “Marty” Williams Dachos, a close and personal friend of mine and Diane Howe Lenters, who sent me the following: “Marty married John Dachos in 1963 and thus began her many moves around the world. Along with receiving a Fulbright scholarship, she completed a master’s degree in education from Harvard. Her knowledge of Russian and her Harvard pedigree piqued the interest of “the company” (FBI), who recruited her as an analyst in Washington D.C. But it was teaching that she loved the most. Her husband passed away in 1998 and she moved to New York to live with her daughter as she adapted to the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease, to which

she succumbed in March 2013. Should anyone wish to honor Martha’s memory, donations can be made in her name to: The Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at University of Wisconsin (www.investigatinghealthyminds.org) .

—Carole Vitagliano Carlson, 15 Thatcher Rd., Gloucester, MA 01930;

[email protected]

1960 In April 2013, Peggy Champney Robertson of Nellysford, VA, and

her husband took a trip to China. Ellen Dukat Jacobson of Centennial, CO, had a mini- reunion with Bia Reznak Perra and Lisa Backstrom Ke-nyon in Dana Point, CA. In addition to gardening and skiing, Ellen travels as often as possible, including a trip to South Africa with its excellent culture and game viewing. In November, Richard “Mike” Mikszenas and wife Terri attended the UNH Florida SW Coast Alumni outing in Sarasota. Lester and Barbara Pettigrew of Broadway, VA, celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary in February 2013. Walter Read and wife Joanne of Bedford, NH, were on a 10-night luxury cruise on the Baltic Treasures in June. Still living among 30 acres of wildlife-filled woods and continuing her connections with a 4-H French family she has known since 1960, Liz Robertson works with the historical society in her hometown of Antrim. David and Alma Wright Woods of Evanston, IL, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in the fall. They have two sons and six grandchildren. Dave is active in church, Masonic, and community

Signature Gifts

We’ve got you covered!

Big blue umbrellafrom the Alumni Marketplace

unh.edu/shop/marketplace800.891.1195


C L A S S N O T E S

activities, and he still wears his blue and white UNH t-shirt weekly! Alma continues working as a home health occupational therapist. Anne Omand Smith “lives the retired life” in Strafford, NH. On the other hand, Gene Wilbur of Cambridge, ME, says that retirement is a myth. He enjoys working in his woodlots, participating in church activities, and entertaining at local retirement homes. As for myself, although I do miss family and friends in New Hampshire, my husband and I are adjusting well in New Jersey. Being so close to children and grandchildren has certainly helped in the transition. This move generated a lovely note from Harriet Vergas Vandis,who said that she and her husband also left New Hampshire in 2012 to be closer to grandchildren in Westport, CT.

—Estelle “Stella” Belanger Landry, 315 Chickory Trail., Mullica Hill, NJ 08062;

(603) 494-2161; [email protected]

1961 Please send news. —Pat Gagne Coolidge, 80 River Rd.,

Rollinsford, NH 03869;[email protected]

1962 Barbara L Klein, Rochester, MA, recently got back in touch by mail

with her freshman roommate, Beth McCarty Wol-lard, and cannot wait to meet up with her. They haven’t seen each other since the mid 60s. Nancie V Senet, Allenhurst, NJ, and husband Philippe had a wonderful time at Reunion. They thank all class-mates for the effort that went into such a great weekend. Bruce W Smith, Strafford, NH, is still on campus as a marine biologist with the Region # 3 Marine Division of NH Fish and Game Dept. John C Stevens, Henderson, NV, still enjoys retirement life in the Nevada desert. Jim and Susan Ellis ’64 Swasey, Chadds Ford, PA, are enjoying their two new grandchildren along with their other three. Steve Taylor, Meriden, NH, enjoyed our 50th Re-union and greatly appreciates the leadership of Ginny Theo-Steelman and Nancy McIntire for our very successful gift campaign. Doug Tremblay, Las Vegas, NV, greatly enjoyed seeing all the class-mates at our 50th Reunion. Cynthia Z Turncliff, Worcester, MA, felt our Reunion was great and is looking forward to the next one. She enjoys retire-ment, spending time with her children and grand-children and traveling. Rosie Wilson White, Lovell, ME, says of Reunion, “The whole weekend was wonderful!” Susan Freeman Orluk, Thomaston, ME, is also very glad she attended Reunion! She is enjoying her retirement on the coast of Maine and keeping active volunteering and traveling to Connecticut to visit her three grandsons. Casey Call, Sequin, WA, and wife “Mike” celebrated their 40th anniversary and their first grandchild. They enjoy traveling, and Kaua’i is their favorite place. Lorna Pervier Fuller, Spring Hill, FL, sold some commissioned art work, which inspired her to keep at her art. It brings her great joy. She enjoys traveling to see her children and grandchildren. May Reed is still working on data entry for Rapid Record Retrieval, a criminal background check company. She joined a quilting group this year and

is very inspired by creative ideas. She and George have been together 11 years.

—Judy Dawkins Kennedy, 34 Timber Ridge Rd., Alton Bay, NH 03810; (603) 875-5979;

[email protected]

1963 Having received no news since our 50th Reunion in June, I went

sleuthing, trying to reach a few classmates who had not attended. Suzanne Butterworth Coleman of West Haven, CT, wishes she could have been there, particularly to enjoy The Shaw Brothers once again. She continues her creative work, bringing a variety of art to sell at crafts shows. Elaine Laverdiere Cole, who is in Marco Island, FL, half the year and in Palermo, ME, the other half, was sad to have missed the 50th. She is an active volunteer, spending about 35 hours a week with-Habitat for America, her church, and a women’s shelter. She has two children and three grand-children. Robert Chase of Old Saybrook, CT, is officially retired from his 47-year law practice, but definitely not idle. Besides enjoying eight grand-children, he’s been a certified flying instructor (and still flies) and had to miss our 50th because he was busy at the U.S. Pro “Over 70” tennis tour-nament, where he placed 14th in New England in singles. He is a certified tennis pro, and would welcome visits from classmates. Brenda Israel Altschul loves where she lives in Sudbury, MA, an “over 55” community where she is introducing herself to opera. She attends theatre simulcasts of Metropolitan Opera Company productions with a Sudbury opera lovers’ organization.

—Alice Miller Batchelor, 37 Rydal Mount Dr., Falmouth, MA 02540; (508) 548-2221;

[email protected]


1964 . . . and the NEXT time you’ll be hearing about classmates is when

you greet them in person on June 13–15, 2014! Needless to say, none of us can begin to believe how very quickly the years have evaporated, leaving but wonderful recollections of good times had at you- know- where. There are “landmarks” in life that warrant particular attention and a 50th class Reunion is indeed one of them. On behalf of the ’64 Reunion committee, I wish you all a beautiful new year in 2014. We ask that you highlight our 50th Reunion on your brand new calendar and plan to come to Durham from far and wide. Should you be unable to visit in June, please complete the “Golden Granite” question-naire by visiting unhconnect.unh.edu/reunion. Not only will the information you provide be of interest to our classmates, it will give you the opportunity to see “right before your eyes” all that has transpired after your college years until this very date in time. (Family members will find it valuable as well!) And do remember to support The Class of 1964 Endowed Scholarship Fund. It is SO very difficult for college-bound students to finance their education. We can provide financial

assistance as it once was, in many instances, made possible to us. Be grateful for your educa-tion, honor your university, recall the good times you had at UNH, and remember your dear friends who want to see YOU in June! Blessings to all!

—Polly Ashton Daniels, 3190 N. Hwy 89-A, Sedona, AZ 86336; [email protected]

1965 As I write this column I realize that our 50th Reunion is less than two

years away. The committee is busy planning a great weekend. Most of what you read in this col-umn comes from Ralph Young’s conversations with lost alums that are now found! We are sad to report that Allan McLeod passed away last December. His career was in the magazine print publishing business, including Hearst magazines and Newsweek in New York City. He and his wife retired to the mountains of North Carolina. Susan Pimental Meyers lived in Scott Hall, was president of the home economic house at UNH, and majored in occupational therapy. She is now operating her own OT business in Weston, VT. Deanna Perkins Rush served six years in the NH House of Repre-sentatives and is also a retired educator, having worked in early childhood education. She also served four years as state committeewoman for Charlotte County, FL, where she and husband Ron are retired. Robert Lord spent 45 years working for the Army in the area of education. Kathleen Frances Oliver majored in zoology and lived in Dover while she attended UNH. She teaches for the Fairfax County, VA, public schools. Thomas Sawyer was a physics major, a member of Phi Kappa Alpha, and spent several years in the Air Force with the Air Defense Command. He enjoyed his career developing embedded software for companies including Digital and Data General. He lives in Nashua, NH. Herb Shaw was a member of TKE, served as a naval officer for 23 years, includ-ing on ships off Vietnam. He went to grad school and has been an electrical engineer since 1973. Herb was a member of the UNH A Cappella Choir. Another TKE brother, Jack Prescott, taught high school biology in Chelmsford, MA, for 35 years. He retired to Orlando, FL. Because Bill Hull joined the National Guard in January 1965, his graduation was delayed when his unit was activated and sent to Vietnam, where he served for a year in the sig-nal corps. He majored in forestry and minored in economics and finance. His business, Hull Forest Products, is now being run by his three children near Pomfret Center, CT. Jim Royer was a busi-ness major. He lived in Alexander Hall, then lived off-campus. He works in the printing business. He was a Theta Chi brother, played football, ran track, and is also a hockey player. He loves boating on Long Island at Shelter Island. Dr. Gilbert Ellis is an associate professor of biology in Miami, FL. After 22 years in the Rhode Island State Senate, Rhoda Emerson Perry retired but still teaches ESL part-time and is a board member of Rhode Island’s ACLU affiliate. She has a farm in Sunapee, NH. Chuck Douglas of Bow has just had the 5th edition of his book on N.H. evidence in the courts published.

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Laurie Folkes ’70 knew he was taking a risk when he decided to move from computer sales to acting during the country’s worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. But if he had qualms,

they vanished when, on the first day of his new career, he found himself on a movie set with Al Pacino.

The film was the HBO drama “You Don’t Know Jack,” a biography of the physician-assisted suicide advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Folkes had shown up after a talent agent had urged him to rush from his home in New Jersey to Brooklyn, N.Y., where a movie in production might have a small but paid nonspeaking part for him. Following an industry practice intended to keep production details from leaking, the agent had refused to say anything about the film. When Folkes arrived, he was thrilled to learn that he would sit next to Susan Sarandon in a movie-set courtroom as Pacino played Kevorkian on the witness stand.

“I thought, ‘Wow.’ This is my first acting job?” Folkes recalls.Folkes has since landed scores of film, television, and print-advertis-

ing jobs that have brought him steadily larger roles. In his first speaking part for television, he worked with Tom Selleck on the CBS police series

“Blue Bloods,” playing a homeless man who asked a passerby, “Hey, buddy, got any change?” For other jobs, he donned a black tie and tuxedo for a promotional spot for the reality show “Bridezillas” (he played the father of a bride going berserk) and the regal robes of a visiting African dignitary for one of his several appearances on “The Good Wife” with Julianna Margulies. Perhaps his most prestigious assignment was a supporting role in “Moving Stories,” a short film that had its premiere at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

“One of the most fun roles I’ve had—and one of the most outrageous— was in the baseball movie “Reunion 108,” Folkes says. Scheduled for

release in 2014, the bawdy indie comedy is based on the minor-league experiences of ballplayer Billy Sample and features Folkes in a leading role as the star’s best friend.

None of this might have happened if not for the recession. Growing up in East Orange, N.J., Folkes had loved performing in talent shows and school productions. But his father, a child of the Great Depression, urged him to accept a football scholarship and attend UNH so he could get a

“real” job. While majoring in biochemistry and playing football, Folkes took as many performing arts electives as he could and sang with the R&B band Satin Soul. But after graduation, he put performing on the back burner as he and his wife, Jane, raised a daughter and he worked as a sales and marketing executive in the computer industry.

In 2009, when his then-employer eliminated his division, Folkes returned to performing, joining the baritone section of the North Jersey Philharmonic Glee Club, one of the oldest all-male African-American choruses in the Mid-Atlantic region. One day he heard a fellow chorister say he was going to a location shoot. Folkes asked about the work, and the man put him in touch with the agent who sent him to “You Don’t Know Jack.”

Folkes hopes someday to land a leading role in a major film or a regular spot on a TV series. In the meantime, he supplements his acting income by working part time at a company that gives him time off when he has an audition. And he has an answer for anyone who reminds him that, even as he is pursuing new goals, many of his UNH classmates have retired. “Retirement,” Folkes says with a smile, “has never been a goal of mine.” Or, in the language of Hollywood, he hopes it will be a long time before anyone says of his second career, “That’s a wrap.”

—Janice Harayda ’70

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Act TwoAfter his employer downsized, Laurie Folkes ’70 found a new career in film and television.


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Chuck served on the Superior and the Supreme Court of New Hampshire for more than a decade. He served in Congress and is a trial lawyer with the Concord law firm of Douglas, Leonard & Garvey.His 600 page Evidence Manual is published by Lexis Nexis Publishing of New York.

—Jacqueline Flynn Thompson, P.O. Box 302, Wilmot, NH 03287; [email protected]

1966 In November, many alums enjoyed the UNH Florida Southwest Coast

Alumni Chapter (FSWCAC) outing on a LeBarge Cruise around Sarasota Bay. We enjoyed seeing not only the beautiful homes along the shore-line and also numerous dolphins. March 26 we will be attending a Red Sox training game vs. the Baltimore Orioles in Ft. Myers. If you like getting together with alums and enjoy baseball, come on down! Elizabeth Johnson Beaverstock and her husband Eric ’67G have been enjoying visits back to campus with their season tickets for both foot-ball and hockey. Betty and Eric also enjoy follow-ing NASCAR and visiting Cape Cod and Ogunquit, ME, and recently took an anniversary trip to NYC. SAVE THE DATE! Remember June 3–5, 2016; we will be celebrating our 50th Reunion. In addition UNH will be celebrating 150 years. If you are inter-ested in helping the Reunion Planning Committee, please contact Gina Damiano in the alumni office at [email protected] or (603)862-2499. Most of all, keep in touch!

—Lynda Brearey, 2 Roundabout Lane, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107; [email protected]

1967 We had a mini UNH reunion in Au-gust, when the Cheshire (CT) High

School Class of 1963 held its 50th reunion! I was joined by CT residents Doris Bens and Sharyn MacLelland, as well as John Hoffman from IL. We reminisced about our years in Durham and recalled the traumatic events of Nov 22, 1963, the fall of our freshman year, and the memorial service at the Community Church that night.The following day we carpooled when parents came up to take us home for an unexpected extended Thanksgiving break. Doris, a Lord Hall resident, wants to be included in our Jessie Doe reunion since she spent so much time next door in our dorm! Stayed tuned for details. Kathryn “Tinka” Darling Finley has continued her acting career after Johnson Theatre. She is a mainstay of the Garrison Players in Dover, NH, and this summer starred in “On Golden Pond” at Hackmatack sum-mer theatre in Berwick, ME. With sadness, we report the October passing of Doris Anderson Stidsen of Tolland, CT. Born in Worcester, class salutatorian at Classical high school, Doris ma-jored in elementary education and minored in Spanish before graduating magna cum laude at UNH. She married her high school sweetheart, Carlton, and after Carlton’s Air Force duties, they settled in CT where Doris pursued a career in bank-ing. Our sympathies to Carlton and family. Our graduate school classmate Ellen Fuller Forbes passed away recently in Portsmouth, NH. Ellen spent many years as a psychotherapist and high school guidance counselor in the Seacoast area.

We extend our sympathies to her four children. With so many classmates moving to the sunny warm south, we invite you to participate in the many activities of our Southwest Florida chapter! —Diane Deering, 921 Deerwander Rd., Hollis Center,

ME 04042; [email protected]

1968 Since I last wrote, around 80 of our classmates enjoyed a won-

derful evening together at our 45th Reunion in Durham. Our reunion was highlighted by Dick Ray and the Spectras playing our favorite songs all night long on Saturday! We are already plan-ning for the 50th Reunion and will need all of you to participate and give us any ideas you may have. We are again looking forward to a spec-tacular weekend in five years.If you are looking for Alan Laraway and his wife, you will find them in the “Villages,” a golf retirement community in central Florida. It is a beautiful area with lots of golf, restaurants, and shops. Cheryl-Lee Howe Howard continues working at Johns Hopkins University, and is planning her retirement after another year. Great idea! Those are my plans also, one more year of teaching! Jay Boynton’s law office is still open in Andover, NH, and he asks all of us to stop in and say, “Hi” if we are in the area. Richard Shmishkiss missed the reunion this year but is planning on the 50th, as I hope many of you are. Richard still runs the UNH Night at the Boston Pops. Mike Corbett sends his regards to us all from Needham, MA. where he continues his medical practice. Likewise, David Rowden,

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Coming back to UNH as a graduate student was the best thing I ever did to take my career to the next level.

‘‘More than 90 doctoral, master’s, and certifi cate programs on campus and online.UNH Grad School grad.school.unh.edu

Mark Bingham ’00, ’04 M.Ed.Prospect Mountain High School N.H. History Teacher of the Year

”


C L A S S N O T E Sis a physician in Springvale, ME, and sends his best to all his friends. Richard “Dick” Pastor has retired from Mount Wachusett Community Col-lege and relocated in nearby Ponce Inlet, FL. He will most likely welcome anyone who would like to canoe or kayak on the beautiful inlet waters or spend the afternoon at the Ponce Inlet Harbor Inn restaurant! More retirement news, this time from Rhonda Wesolowski, who has just retired from the NEA-NH and is enjoying the company of her granddaughters in southern California. Four UNH grads rediscovered their friendship last September on a Slovakia Heritage Tour after Joyce Wehren Hatch reconnected with Allen’66 and Jill Feldman Brandt at Joyce and Jill’s 45th Reunion in June. The three hadn’t been in touch much over the years, but Jill and Allen decided to sign up for the Slovakia tour when they heard about Joyce’s plan to discover her Ukrainian roots on the trip. The Slovakia Heritage Tour is organized by Judith Northup-Bennett, who started offering the small-group tours four years ago as a way for Slovak-Americans to explore the culture and history of Slovakia. (More info at: www.slova-kiaheritage.com.) I will need some more news from you all as I have currently read the last one. News is welcome at any time. Condolences to the families of our classmates who have recently passed: Carol LaPlante Eldrige, John Wooley III, Stephen Geary, Linda Nelson, Alfred Emery, Jr, Harold Eckman, Judy Shagoury Kane, Michael J. Smith, Darrell Reeves, and Dorothy V. Farland.

—Angela M. Piper, 1349 S. Prairie Cir., Deltona, FL 32725; [email protected]

1969 Please send news. —Jim DesRochers,

1433 S 19th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85009; [email protected]

1970 Laurie Folkes found himself on a movie set with Al Pacino and Su-

san Sarandon in his first day on the job in his new career as an actor. How did he do it? Find out in the profile of Laurie on p. 49 in this issue. Award-winning poet Linda Aldrich serves on the board of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance and has a new poetry collection to her credit: March & Mad Women (Cherry Grove). Sara Tuck Gillens wrote the book Bravo for Bravo: First Dog to Winter Over at the South Pole (Northshire Bookstore) after retiring from a career in medi-cal technology. As she explains, Bravo was a malamute mix born at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica in 1956 at the beginning of the International Geophysical Year, and her book “tells of the challenging work done in the harsh climate, the science programs established and the camaraderie of 18 men and Bravo during that cold year.” Gary Philippy writes that he and Claire spend winters in Bend, OR, and the rest of the year in Laconia, NH. He has played golf in all states except Alaska and Hawaii and would love to hear from classmates, so get in touch if you need tips on fairways in the Lower 48. Finally, good news from the Windy City. Eric Halvorson writes: “I attended a great reception for Presi-dent Mark Huddleston here on October 21. The ranks of the UNH Chicago Alumni Club are swell-

ing! I met some very interesting recent grads working in the area, and a presentation by a cur-rent UNH student was positively inspirational.” Let’s keep that momentum going in Chicago!

—Jan Harayda, 41 Watchung Plz. #99, Montclair, NJ 07042; [email protected]

1971 D.Roscoe Mann has changed his name to Rocky D. Mann. Rocky

is a studio potter and has a gallery in Bar Har-bor, ME. See his work at: www.rockymann.com. Charles “Charlie” Daniels, wrote recently and reminisced about the seventh floor of Stoke Hall, which was new at the time. Charlie spent some time after graduation pursuing his music career, first with the group he started, Spice, then with a project called Django. He met and married his wife, Jeannie, and performed as a duo with her all over the northeast. He trained as a pilot and spent three years with Bar Harbor Airlines, then was hired by Northwest in 1989. He retired in 2007 as a captain. These days he keeps busy as a motor coach operator and splits his time between Greenland, NH and Naples, FL. Charlie would love to hear from some of his former ‘co-horts’ at [email protected]. Daniel Marias-chin received the Distinguished Humanitarian Award from the B’nai B’rith International Board of Governors last April in Washington DC. Dan is the public face of the organization, meeting with world leaders to advance human rights. The award is one of many Dan has received for his tireless work. Among others, he has received state decorations from the presidents of Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania among other notable achievements and awards. Dan’s wife, Michal, is also being honored with him. Deborah Ber-trand McNally passed away in April 2013 after a sudden illness. Her forever friends Mary Gobbi Noucas, Kathy Gaidmore Maddock, Linda Hill Porter, and Brenda Albert Lapoint shared birth-day celebrations and get-togethers with Deb over many years. Deb also leaves behind her husband, Thomas Phyllides ’74, her daughter Marissa, her grandson, her mother, many family members and many friends. She was a dedicated teacher and taught in Nashua and Hopkinton schools until her retirement in 2009. To honor her love of the ocean, her FF will take long walks on the beach together!

—Debbi Martin Fuller, 276 River St., Langdon, NH 03602; (603) 835-6753;

[email protected]

1972 Jane Niebling was a fine arts major and also a flute player at UNH. She

is now the director of a chamber music festival in Newburyport, MA, featuring a weeklong festival in the summer and concerts in the fall and spring: www.newburyportchambermusic.org/

—Paul Bergeron, 15 Stanstead Pl., Nashua, NH 03063; [email protected]

1973 Brian Doherty writes that he is enjoying the western lifestyle liv-

ing in Anthem, AZ. Dana Dunnan and Judy Roy celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in May.They live in Walden, VT, in a log cabin they built themselves in 1987. Dana just published

two books on teaching, Notes to a New Teacher and Chalkdust Memories. While Dana left the classroom in 2000, Judy continues to help chil-dren as a speech pathologist in Danville, VT. David Lachance and his wife,Lucille Tamm, have been petroleum geologists with the federal govern-ment for the past 38 years. David deployed with his Army Reserve Unit to Saudi Arabia before the Gulf War started. After the war ended, David wrote short stories and poetry, published in Taiwan, the U.S. and Japan. He had several stage plays produced in the U.S., including “An End to War An End to Peace,” based on his insight while reading Homer’s “The Odyssey.”One of his stage plays has been produced in Iran, and a screenplay is being represented to the Chinese film industry. Please continue sending me your updates.

—Joyce Dube Stephens, 33 Spruce Ln., Dover, NH 03820;

[email protected]


1974 Save the date for our 40th Reunion, June 13–15, 2014! You can find out

more at UNH Connect (unhconnect.unh.edu) and look for updates in the mail. Mary Ann Harty of Barrington, a classmate who began serving in the Peace Corps as a business education and commu-nity development volunteer in Armenia at the age of 60, has extended her service twice. There is an obituary of Edward Weilbacher on p. 63.

—Jean Marston-Dockstader, 51 Londonderry Rd., Windham, NH 03807; [email protected]

1975 K u d o s t o Steve Cox who has published his first novel, No Shirt,

No Shoes, No Service, available at Amazon.com. —Kim Lampson Reiff, 7540 S. E. 71st St.,

Mercer Island, WA 98040-5317;[email protected]

1976 Julie Mitchell Capaldi and husband Jim live in Pickens, SC ,where Julie

is president of United Way of Pickens County. Her degree is in animal science and she writes, “I have a farm and horses to this day.” Julie is a representative for Specialized Saddles, a line of trail and endurance saddles, from Texas. She loves investing in her community and helping horse owners. Julie can be contacted through www.mysaddlefits.com. Matthew F. Caldwell graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. He died in Manila, Phillipines, August 15, 2013. Matthew’s sister Mary Caldwell ’78, ’80G writes, “Matthew was the Far East director of operations for Allegro Microsystems. It was his first profes-sional job after college and he stayed with them his whole career. Pretty unusual in this day and age. He will be deeply missed.” I would love to hear from classmates. Are you working? Are you transitioning into retirement? Send your news!

—Susan Ackles Alimi, 48 Fairview Dr., Fryeburg, ME 04037;

(207) 935-4065; [email protected]

1977 Brian LaFontaine, president of Lehan Chemical Company, has

been named president of the Jefferson-Madison


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Regional Library’s board of trustees. Brian is also the past president of the Chamber of Commerce of Scottsville, VA. Please send me your updates or log on to UNH Connect (unhconnect.unh.edu)and post a class note online.

—Gary Pheasant, 1099 Lanier Blvd., Atlanta, GA 30306; [email protected]

1978 Glenn Wallace is senior govern-ment relations advisor at Rath,

Young and Pignatelli. Prior to joining the firm in 2011, Glenn was a journalist and state of-ficial with a wide range of experience in NH state government. He also serves on the Town of Merrimack Highway Safety Commission and has been a coach for the Merrimack Youth As-sociation. Sara Kittridge Montgomery passed away August 3, 2013, at her home in Lincolnville, ME, surrounded by her family and friends. Sara started her career with The Hartford Insurance Company. She later worked with her father at The Allen Agency Insurance where she became executive vice president. In May 2012, Sara was honored as the Community Person of the Year by the Penobscot Bay Chamber of Commerce for her work in many organization and charities. Please send your news. We would love to know what you have been doing.

—Carol Scagnelli Edmonds, 75 Wire Rd., Merrimack, NH 03054;

[email protected]


1979 From Jim Howard, on behalf of the reunion committee: This is

a special year for ’79 as we celebrate our 35th Reunion! Please join classmates and friends for an exciting, fun and interesting weekend, June 13–15. Details are being sent out from the alumni

office. Reconnect with friends, revisit campus (it looks beautiful), meet President Huddleston, and see firsthand how his leadership is moving UNH forward. Every bit of our support and engagement with UNH helps to make our alma mater stronger, and Reunion is a great way to participate. We hope you will join us!

—Chris Engel, 268 Washington Ave., Chatham, NJ 07928;

[email protected]

1980 Doug Kilmister is the new prin-cipal of the elementary school in

Milton, NH. He previously held the same position in Pittsfield, NH,for five years. After receiving his degree at UNH, Doug received his master’s de-gree in education from Harvard Graduate School in education. Catherine R. Dawson has been named the assistant branch manager at Optima Bank & Trust at the Pease International Tradeport. Catherine has more than 30 years of experience in retail banking and management.

—Anne M. Getchell, P.O. Box 2211, Conway, NH 03818-2211; [email protected]

1981 H a p py New Year! A new year, a resolution: send news to class

secretary. You can find Keith Jones at Compass Marina, which is located at the mouth of the East River in the quaint village of Mobjack on Mobjack Bay, Mathews County, VA. You can reach Keith at [email protected]. James M. Hurley of Hampton, NH, died on September 27. Jim was an entrepreneur in the printing field and owned Printplace, Print New Hampshire, and LifeSize Wraps. He spent summers in Wyoming, where he enjoyed horseback riding, fishing, hunting, and the outdoors with his family. He is survived by his wife, Lynn Howard Hurley ’80, his three sons, Michael, Daniel, and Travis, his mother, seven sib-

lings, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. We send condolences to Jim’s entire family.

—Caroline McKee Anderson, 8626 Fauntlee Crest SW, Seattle, WA 98136;

[email protected]

1982 Class of ’82 and friends won the 2013 Homecoming competition!

(see photo above) Gather your friends and take on our team at the 2014 Homecoming tailgating cook-off competition scheduled for October 11, 2014. Meanwhile, please send your news!

—Julie Lake Butterfield, 44 Earle Dr., Lee, NH 03861; [email protected]

1983 Thylias Moss has published 10 books since shecompleted her

graduate studies at UNH in 1983. She’s won nu-merous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellow-ship, Whiting Writer’s Award, two nominations for the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Dewar’s Profile Performance Award, and a MacArthur Fel-lowship. She is now professor of English and professor of Art and Design at the University of Michigan. She lives in Ann Arbor.

—Ilene H. Segal, DVM, 245 Warren Dr., Norfolk, MA 02056; [email protected]

1984 Capt. Richard “Rick” Gelting was named the 2013 Federal Engineer

of the Year by the National Society of Professional Engineers for his success working alongside national and international officials to improve drinking water safety. Rick is a team leader and senior environmental engineer with the U.S. De-partment of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was a hy-drology major at UNH and received a master’s and Ph.D. at Stanford. Elizabeth “Beth” Howley Bye is in her second term as a state senator in Con-necticut. She is in her 33rd year working in early childhood education— work that began at the Durham Infant Center as a work-study job. Beth is chairperson of the higher education committee and vice chair of the education committee. She continues to be very active working on issues of

IN DURHAM FOR HOMECOMING 2013, Charlie ’66 and Miriam Ross ’68 Nelson and family gather at the Durham Cemetery at the Pettee family plot. Front row L-R: Charlie Greenberg, David Greenberg ’89, Will Dalrymple, Ben Greenberg, Miriam Ross Nelson ’68, Amy Nelson Greenberg ’93; Back row: Cathleen Nelson Wardley ’82, T. Wardley ’82, Katie Dalrymple ’17, Charles Nelson ’66, Sarah Dalrymple, Bill Dalrymple. Charlie is the great-grandson of the late Dean Charles Pettee.

COOK-OFF CHAMPS: The Class of ’82 and friends won the 2013 Homecoming cook-off. Front row (left to right): Stacy Thaler Martin ’82, Julie Butterfield ’82, Maggie Kerkhoff, Jill Granucci ’12, Meat House Judge Greg Kretschmar ’84 from WGIR-FM. Back row: James Cooney ’82, Michael Butterfield ’83, Dana Rosengard ’82, David Kerkhoff ’84, Bert Freedman ’83, Meat House Judge Cary Tober ’08G.

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C onversations with Katey Stone ’89 about her job—head coach for Harvard women’s ice hockey on hiatus to coach the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team—are

sprinkled with words like “fun,” “joy,” “excitement.” But make no mistake: Stone is all business. At Harvard since 1993, she has amassed more wins than any other coach in Division I women’s hockey. She’s coached nine former Olympians and six winners of the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, the highest honor in women’s college hockey. Now, she’s set her sights squarely on gold at Sochi. It’s an obvious goal, but also a lofty one—if she succeeds, her team will be the first to stand atop the podium since the 1998 squad prevailed in Nagano, Japan.

Stone’s Olympic journey began in 2012, when she was named the first-ever female coach of the U.S. women’s hockey team. It took her first to Lake Placid, where in June 2013 the U.S. national team of 44 became the Olympic team of 25, through months of training in Bedford, Mass., and on to a winter schedule that saw the team ping-ponging across the nation’s northern border for multiple games against its Canadian counterpart. Earlier this month, Stone and her ultimate team of 21 players boarded a plane for Russia for their final push for the gold.

“To be a part of the Olympics, representing your country, it’s an incredible honor,” she says. “I’m humbled by the opportunity.”

Stone’s coaching philosophy, while ever evolving, stems from her time at UNH, when she skated for coach Russ McCurdy. “He stressed doing the little things well because they were the most important,” she says. Coaching the Olympic team— a group that includes former Wildcat Kacey Bellamy ’08—bears more simi-

larities than differences to coaching a college team, Stone says, although the stakes are, of course, far higher. There’s also the challenge of “coaching through the egos” to achieve cohesion among players who have always been stars.

And yet the core motivation Stone aims to instill in her Olympi-ans is the same she stresses to her Harvard skaters: that they’re capable of far more than they believe. “I love when the light goes on and they realize they can do so much more,” she says.

Coaching is in Stone’s blood. She grew up in Watertown, Conn., in the shadow of the Taft School, where her father coached and was athletic director for decades. Her brother Mike is head base-ball coach at the University of Massachusetts, and sister Kelly

’79 and brother Jim are athletic directors at independent schools.Katey followed Kelly to UNH, where she majored in physi-

cal education and was a standout player in both hockey and lacrosse. So positive was her own experience of athletic double-dipping—more common in the 1980s than today, but never widely accepted at Division I schools—that she allows her Har-vard athletes to pursue a second sport. She expresses guarded dismay that hockey, like many sports, has grown to demand year-round, narrow-focused effort. “There’s not a female hockey player or lacrosse player who’s going to make a million dollars playing the sport,” she says, “so I say do what you want for as long as you can.”

Stone says that it’s the fun, as much as the skills and drills and team dynamics, that could put Team USA back on the Olympic podium. “If kids love what they’re doing,” she says, “they’re going to play their best.” —Beth Potier


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Golden OpportunityIt’s the journey and the destination for U.S women’s Olympic hockey coach Katey Stone ’89.


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gun safety and improved mental health services in Connecticut.

—Susan L.S. Choquette, 15 Silver Birch Ln., Haverhill, MA 01832; [email protected]

1985 Happy 2014! It’s hard to believe that we’re “29” again....29 years

out of UNH....wow! Consuelo Congreve Carver emailed in June 2013 that she and her husband, David, now live and work in Boston, where he works for the Department of Commerce and she for the Department of Justice. I received a sad note from Maureen Noonan Vaillancourt ’86, who wrote: My husband, Joseph Vaillancourt, chemical engineering major, died on Oct. 28, 2013, in Idaho after a short battle with cancer.” We all send our sincere condolences, Maureen. Tammi Truax, columnist for the Portsmouth Her-ald, recently completed a residency at AROHO, a retreat for women writers on Georgia O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. While there she was working on a historical novel and a poetry/video collaboration. Her debut novel, Broken Buckets, has just been released as an eBook. While at home in Portsmouth, NH, Tammi works as a museum teacher at Strawbery Banke. More about her work can be found at www.aintiawriter.

blogspot.com. Please do consider dropping me a quick email. I prefer to write notes that come directly from you, so please share your news!

—Julie Colligan Spak, 116 Longfields Way, Downingtown, PA 19335;

[email protected]

1986 Happy New Year to all! Congratula-tions to James Wheeler, who was

recently named city manager in Berlin, NH. A na-tive of the city, he had previously served as city engineer. Most recently he was vice president of strategic management and human resources of the Androscoggin Valley Hospital, also in Ber-lin. It was great to hear from Sara Miller, who celebrated 20 years with CH2M Hill, a global environmental engineering/consulting firm. In her role as senior graphic designer and manager she is based in Sacramento, but travels across the globe. She has worked on several interesting projects, including London Tideway improve-ments, Panama Canal expansion, and Rocky Flats nuclear waste cleanup. Harry Nelson ’86G was promoted to vice president, aquatic mar-kets, at Fluid Imaging Technologies in Yarmouth, ME. Kelly Blackburn joined aTyr Pharma as vice president, clinical affairs. The San Diego-based

company has developed an extensive pipeline of future therapeutic products based on physi-ocrine biology. And on a sadder note, Maureen Noonan Vaillancourt shared news of the death of her husband, Joseph Vaillancourt ’85. He passed away on October 28 after a short battle with cancer, in Idaho.

—Stephanie Creane King, 92 Channing Rd., Belmont, MA 02478;

[email protected]

1987 Charlene Donna Cloney lives in North Andover, MA, with her hus-

band and son. Charlene is a reading specialist and is employed as a language-based classroom teacher in Peabody, MA. She is in touch with Susan Shain Austin, who is the owner of Lucky Clover Stables in Sanford, ME. Susan is also the associ-ate superintendent of the Sanford Public Schools, in Sanford, ME. Charles Collins is the executive director of Husson University’s southern Maine campus. Previously, Charles was the state direc-tor for the Maine Community College System (MCCS). His entire career has been devoted to helping higher education organizations thrive and grow. Stephen Zakszewski writes, “It took 10 or so years to do it, but last year I finally finished

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—Katie Dalrymple ’172013 recipient

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—Abby Martinen ’172013 recipient

Find out if your student is eligible to apply for this four-year, merit-based scholarship off ered by the UNH Alumni Association.


C L A S S N O T E S

writing my first novel, American Loser, and it’s now available on Amazon.com, iTunes, Smash-words, and a variety of other online sites.” Lastly, I am sad to report that Leanne Donovan, 48, of Stratham, NH, passed away on November 20. Leanne waged a courageous four year battle with breast cancer. She was a talented and compas-sionate veterinarian who loved caring for animals from childhood. Thanks for your news, everyone. Please continue to send me updates!

—Tina Napolitano Savoia, 5 Samuel Path, Natick, MA 01760;

[email protected]

1988 Great to see many of you at our 25th Reunion at Homecoming.

Deb Brooks Dargie launched SnackRock Baking Company in January 2013. SnackRock makes all-natural, preservative-free granola bars that can be found at retail locations in southern Maine and New Hampshire, as well as online at www.snackrockbaking.com. Deb lives in York, ME, with her husband and two daughters. Karl Leinsing is president of ATech Designs in Dover, NH. Karl now has 19 patents granted with more pending.He is also working on two new mitral valve repair technologies and he received his pilot license. Kathleen Rice completed a workshop in Bagua Animal Qi Gong and Golden Lotus Qi Gong with re-spected tai chi practitioner Master Wei Lun Huang of Miami., FL. Kathleen is a student at United Tai Chi in Exton, PA and also assists with marketing/public relations, social media, and newletters for the group.Please send your updates!

—Beth D. Simpson-Robie, P.O. Box 434, Kennebunk, ME 04043;

[email protected]

1989 Save the date for our 25th Reunion, which will take place in Durham at

Homecoming Oct. 10–12, 2014.—David L. Gray, 131 Holmes Ave.,

Darien, CT 06820; [email protected]

1990 At a ceremony in January, Col. Alex Berger was retired from active duty

after serving almost 23 years in the US Air Force. Alex, an intelligence officer, served in 12 different assignments, including tours in Germany, Israel, Turkey, and Qatar. He and his family are settling in the Washington DC area, where Alex will continue to serve as a Department of Defense civilian in the senior executive service. Alex was commis-sioned through the UNH AFROTC program. Heather Carr Reiter has joined the staff of the Carr Funeral Home, Whitinsville, MA, as a licensed funeral direc-tor and embalmer. Heather represents the sixth generation of her family in funeral service, and joins her father, Doug ’66, operating the family-owned firm, which is the oldest continuously op-erating business in the community. Heather and husband Tim ’89 have four children.

—Amy French, 2709 44th Ave., SW, Seattle, WA 98116; [email protected]

Contact us today to learn more.

� ere’s a reason alumni come back to get married.

Phone: (603) 862-1900 | Email: [email protected]

www.conferences.unh.edu

Actually, there are many.With more than 20 years of experience in planning and hosting

weddings and special celebrations of all varieties and sizes, University of New Hampshire Conferences and Catering

has earned its reputation for excellence and professionalism.


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1991 Please send news. —Christina Ayers Quinlan,

2316 Beauport Dr., Naperville, IL 60564; [email protected]

1992 Matt Combs lives in Montreal with his wife, Leanne, and works as a

technical writer at a global software develop-ment company.David Young and his wife, Amy

Crisp Young ’91, vacationed in Bermuda recently and while they were dining at the Swizzle Inn with David Aponovich they noticed that someone had placed a UNH sticker on one of the windows of the restaurant (see photo above). Was it you?

—Missy Langbein, 744 Johns Rd., Blue Bell, PA 19422;

[email protected]

1993 Pat O’Connor, ex-cross country and track captain for the Wildcats,

is a marketing/sales consultant for running spe-cialty retail stores. He is also the owner and head coach of LunchTimeRunner, a company geared towards training busy adults. Pat has coached high school xc/track athletes for the past 20 years, mentoring a combined 21 state, New Eng-land, and national champions.Kristin Taylor is vice president of worldwide Analyst Relations and head of marketing communications for MediaTek. She was previously with Qualcomm. She lives be-tween Rancho Santa Fe, CA, and San Jose. When not working, she is busy with her seven year old daughter and their horses, and can be reached at [email protected] Proulx directs “365Days: A Year in Happy Valley,” a film about Penn State, State College, PA, and the crimes of Jerry Sandusky. The film premiered at The State Theatre on December 27, 2013. Berkshire Eagle managing editor Kevin Moran is regional vice president of news for New England Newspapers. Kevin was the Eagle’s managing editor since Oc-tober 2005 and a top editor at other newsrooms in the Berkshires and Southern Vermont. Kevin and his wife, Melanie, and their daughter, Reese (2), live in Pittsfield, MA. Erin Whitten Hamlen is the head coach of the Merrimack College women’s ice hockey program. Erin was a goaltender at UNH and a member of the U.S. Women’s National Ice Hockey Team from 1992–97, and rejoined the team in both 1999 and 2001.

—Caryn Crotty Eldridge, 2 Steele Rd.,Chiswick, London, W4 5AF, UK;

[email protected]

1994 Dan Adams is the chief operating officer of Maponics, a supplier of

geographic data. He holds 17 years of experience in the geospatial data creation industry, including several executive positions at TomTom.

—Mike Opal, 26 Rockwood Heights Rd., Manchester, MA 01944;

[email protected]

1995 Greetings from snowy Massachu-setts! I am pleased to be the new

1995 class notes writer. For those who don’t know me, I lived in Congreve Hall for three years and at the Davis Court apartments my senior year. I worked as a copy editor for The New Hampshire, served on Student Senate for a semester, and frequently participated in theatre sports. After earning my bachelor’s degree in English/Jour-nalism, I spent a year as a newspaper reporter at The Derry News. For the next few years, I worked in the publishing and high-tech industries while earning a master’s degree in English at Salem State University. In 2002, I changed careers and became a high school English teacher. It was the hardest job I’ve ever had and, in many ways, the most rewarding, but after nine years, I was ready to move on. I now work at EBSCO in Ipswich, MA., where I write support documentation, customer case studies, and marketing copy. In my spare time, I write short fiction and run “Merry Mutts,” a meetup.com social group for dogs and their owners. We hike dog-friendly venues north of Boston and enjoy fresh air, hearty exercise, and good conversation. Please send me your news!

—Tammy Ross, 22 Saint Ann’s Ave., Peabody, MA 01960 ;

[email protected]

1996 Dean Kennedy is the director of housing and residential life at

Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. Dean has worked in the field of residential life for about 16 years at eight institutions across the U.S., including New Hampshire, Colorado, North Caro-lina, California, and Texas. Dean and his wife, Elyssia, reside in Boise. Stephen Zarubaiko is an immigration attorney in the Boston area and a member of Boston, Massachusetts, and New York State Bar Associations. Ivan Dors and Jes-sica Menegoni Dors ’04 welcomed a son, Henry, on February 8, 2013.

—Michael Walsh, 607 Atwood Dr., Downingtown, PA 19335;

[email protected]

1997 Hello Class of 1997! I am Mike Milbury and I look for ward to

taking on the role of writing the class notes. After graduation, I earned a master’s of edu-cation at UNH in 2002. Currently, I am a math instructor at the Culver Academies, a boarding school in northern Indiana. In my time here, I have coached softball and wrestling, as well as participated in many club advisory roles on campus. My wife, Stephanie, and I have a two-

year old daughter, Sheridan, and a six-month old son, Corbin. Tanya Mehta, president & CEO of Transverse Leadership (http://transverse-leadership.com/)is a leadership coach and consultant, specializing in executive develop-ment. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband and daughter. Christopher Murphy has recently written and published a novel, Nashua, a murder-mystery that draws on Christopher’s previous experience as a po-lice officer. He has also been on active duty in the United States Marine Corps for the last 14 years. He lives in North Carolina with his wife, Donna, and their six daughters. Murphy recently returned from Afghanistan after serv-ing as camp commandant of Camp Dwyer in Helmand Province, and is a veteran of Iraq. Please send me your updates and be sure to check out the alumni website UNH Connect at www.unhconnect.unh.edu. It also works with Facebook and LinkedIn. Alums can post class notes there as well.

—Michael Milbury, 518 South Plymouth St., Culver, IN 46511; [email protected]

1998 Wendy Pichette Hastings is the principal of Mountain View Middle

School in Goffstown, NH. She was previously the assistant principal at Londonderry (NH)Middle School and brings with her 13 years of middle school experience.

—Emily Rines, 23 Tarratine Dr., Brunswick, ME 04011; [email protected]

1999 Kash Kapadia is worldwide vice president for the energy, manu-

facturing, and distribution industries at Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto, CA. Kash has stayed close to UNH over the years and since graduating he has partnered with the InterOperability Lab on campus and served on the Industrial Advisory Board of the computer science department. Erik Lavallee married Erika Liss at the Lilac Inn in Brandon, VT, on September 29, 2013. Groomsman Evan Greenberg and brother of the bride Stephen Liss were in attendance. Erik is a supervisory border patrol agent with the US Border Patrol in Newport, VT, and Erika is a senior trooper with the Vermont State Police at the Derby, VT bar-racks. Tammie Garcia writes: “I moved to Alberta, Canada, in 2012 for a new job, and in March 2013 signed up to ride in the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer. Along the way I blogged (gurlandbike.blogspot.com) about my life, training, biking, and the ride. At 220 km, the ride was one of the most difficult events that I have participated in during my lifetime. And in 2014, I’m going to do it all over again!” Save the date for a 15th Reunion at Homecoming Oct. 10–12!

—Jaimie Russo Zahoruiko, P.O. Box 287, Haverhill, MA 01831; [email protected]

2000 Rachel Olszewski married Rob-ert O’Reilly in October 2013 in St.

James, Long Island. Rachel works as a fundraiser


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at a hospital in Manhattan and Robert owns a plumbing business in Long Island. The couple lives in Bayside, NY.

—Becky Roman Hardie, 3715 N. 4th St., Harrisburg, PA 17110;

[email protected]

2001 Gretchen Grappone ’08G is the 2013 recipient of a Rainbow

Award, honoring champions for mental health, from Riverbend Community Mental Health Center in Concord, NH. Gretchen trains and consults with organizations to address issues of stigma and ease barriers to treatment for those needing help. Kendra Krauss married James Hewitt on April 20, 2013. Kendra earned a master’s in sports management and works at Fidelity in Merrimack, NH. The couple lives in Manchester, NH.

—Elizabeth Merrill Tewksbury, P.O. Box 621, Cornish, ME 04020; [email protected]

2002 Our fellow ’02 Wildcats have been making great strides in their ca-

reers. Kelly Blizzard Pearson and husband Matt have embarked on a new business venture in Hooksett, NH. Cowabunga’s is New England’s largest inflatable playground for both kids and adults alike. Not only does the venue offer drop-in play for kids, but it also sponsors team-building and company nights. Chris Prine who has been producing sketch comedy, short films and an award-winning web series in New York City since 2005, debuted his first full-length feature film, “Twenty Million People”at the Music

Hall Loft in Portsmouth, NH, this past October. The film, “a comedy about relationships, finding love, losing love, and having the guts to go after you want,” has been accepted to 18 festivals in four countries and has already won five awards. After UNH, Matthew Beauregard earned both his master’s and Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of Arizona. He then worked as a postdoctoral associate professor in math-ematics at Baylor University and as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Arizona. Matthew is now assistant professor of math-ematics at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY. Congratulations to all!

—Abby Severance Gillis, 19 Chase St., Woburn, MA, 01801; [email protected]

2003 Renee Bazinet Nelson is the director of adolescent intensive

outpatient programs at Walden Behavioral Care in Waltham, MA. Renee studied counseling psy-chology at Framingham State College, earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from the Mas-sachusetts School of Professional Psychology, and completed post-doc training at the Cam-bridge Eating Disorder Center. Renée Gilberti is the program coordinator of the McNair Scholars Program at the University of Connecticut. This program is designed to help undergraduates from underprivileged family backgrounds and under-represented ethnic groups prepare for Ph.D. graduate programs in the science, technol-ogy, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. Renée recently completed a Ph.D. in cell biology

at U Conn and a post-doctoral research fellowship in biochemistry. Jeffrey Visco married Nicole Roy on May 25, 2013, in Boston. Jeffrey is a quality assurance engineer at EnerNOC in Boston, and Ni-cole works at the WERS radio station at Emerson College. They live in Brookline, MA. Daniel Crocker married Anna Padget on September 14, 2013, in Edisto Island, SC. Daniel is a water resource specialist for the Chester County Water Resource Authority in West Chester, PA. The couple lives in Paoli, PA. Geoff and Meg Snyder Sparrow cele-brated the first birthday of their daughter, Rosetta Dunmore, on October 31, 2013. Geoff is director of engineering at ReVision Energyand Meg stays at home raising Etta. They live in Maine with their dog, Lizzie. Please send your news!

—Shannan Goff Welsh, 77 Hooksett Rd., Auburn, NH 03032; [email protected]

2004 Julie Munson is the head field hockey coach for Southern New

Hampshire Unveristy (SNHU).A native of Dover, NH, Munson has spent the past three seasons as an assistant field hockey coach at Harvard University. Ashley Standbridge Keiser and hus-band Dave welcomed their first child, son River, at the end of 2012.Jessica Menegoni Dors and Ivan Dors ’96 welcomed a son, Henry, on Febru-ary 8, 2013. There is an “In Memoriam” for Karin Dubreuil Diamond on p.63. Save the date for a 10th Reunion at Homecoming October 10–12!

—Victoria Macgowan Reed, 5 Twilight Dr., Scarborough, ME 04074;

[email protected]

Learn more! www.unhconnect.unh.edu/reunion • (603) 862-2040 • email: [email protected]

HomecomingWeekend

Oct. 10–12, 2014REUNION

Classes of ’89, ’99, ’04, ’09, & ’13 • Save the Date!


C L A S S N O T E S

2005 Congratulations to Melissa Christy, who wed Jorge Maidana

on June 29, 2013. The wedding took place at The Fells in Newbury, NH. The couple honeymooned in Martha’s Vineyard. Melissa is a certified chef through the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts and works as an executive pastry chef at Pure Food and Wine in New York City, where Jorge is also employed as a restaurant manager. Congratulations to Lisa Czekanski and Nicholas Plante, who wed in August 2013. Congratulations to Stephanie Balcom and Jona-than Dickey, who were married September 7 at Marginal Way in Ogunquit, ME. Stephanie works as an estate manager with the Office of Public Guardian in Concord, NH. The couple lives in Cen-ter Barnstead. Andrew Cunningham returned to UNH last year as a guest speaker at the The UNH Center for International Education. Andrew works for Volkswagen Group of America as a manager of integrated and electric vehicle safety. Kristen Lamb is the director at the Center for Wildlife in York, ME. Kristen began as a “Baby Bird Room Volunteer” back in 2002 while still studying at UNH. Throughout the years, Kristen has been instrumental in growing the Center for Wildlife’s internship program and expanding the Center’s educational programs. Great work, Kristen! Sadly, Kimberly Ann Roberts passed away on May 28, 2013. Kimberly was the wife of Duncan M. Clark ’03 and was an acute care nurse practitioner, as well as a teacher at the MGH Institute of Health Professions. Congrats to my close friends Sarah Connor and Ben Huntington, who were married on September 21 at the Wolfeboro Inn on Lake Winnepesaukee, NH, with many UNH alums in attendance(see photo). Sarah and Ben live in Newmarket, NH. Sarah works at Bauer in Exeter, NH. Ben is the yard manager at The Pick Up Yard at Pleasant View in Pembroke.

—Megan Stevener, 58 Douglas Drive, Candia, NH 03034; [email protected]

2006 Fitzpatrick Tallon married Cara Reichenbach in June 2013. Fitz-

patrick went to the French Culinary Institute and is the executive chef at Manzo Ristorante in Manhattan.

—Becca Cyr, [email protected]

2007 Robert Grammatico earned an M.D. degree from New York Medi-

cal College in Valhalla, NY, last May. He is a resi-dent in the emergency medicine department at Tampa General Hospital in Florida. Breanna McLean and Justin Farrell were married in York, ME, in September. More than 30 UNH alums at-tended! (see photo online at unhconnect.unh.edu/class-notes) Alison Smith married Dan Schultz in Essex, VT, in September. UNH alums in attendance included Kim Cook, Julia Broyer, Sara Funkhouser, Nicole Gallant, Emily Maki, Elise Mansfield, Karen Gilmore, Jeff Sacca, and Melissa McCarthy ’08, ’12G. Dan and Alison live in Lancaster, MA. Jennifer Nieves married Andrew

Brooks in May, at the Ring of Kerry in Sneem, Ireland. Jennifer got a master’s in physician as-sistant degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and is an ENT (otolaryngology) physician assistant at New England ENT and Facial Plastic Surgery. Andrew is an account manager at State Street Bank. They live in Tewksbury, MA. Ashley Snedeker married Kevin Swenson in July at the Granite Rose Event Center in Hampstead, NH. Ashley is an elemen-tary school teacher in Lawrence, MA; Kevin is a youth counselor at The Youth Development Center in Manchester, NH. Ashley and Kevin live in Londonderry, NH. Eric Oleson married Sarah Streisand in June at the Gibbet Hill Barn in Groton, MA. Eric and Sarah work for Cubist Pharmaceu-ticals in Lexington, MA and live in Medford, MA.

—Michael Patrick Antosh, 3476 Post Rd., Wakefield, RI 02879; [email protected]

2008 Hello Class of 2008! It’s been pretty quiet on the alumni front

lately, so whether by mail, email, or carrier pigeon, send me some news and we’ll include you in our updates. Chelsea Irwin and Natalie Mackey are your one-stop-shop for uber chic and awesomely vintage hats. The duo started HatCovet (www.hatcovet.com)an“online boutique of vintage hats and accessories.” They specialize in one-of-a-kind vintage creations from Oscar De La Renta, Halston, Christian Dior, and more. Awesome, la-dies! Zachary Kelton joined Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton in their Winston-Salem office as an associate on the software and electrical engi-neering team. Sarah Guyett and John Robertson exchanged vows on April 19. The couple spent their honeymoon in St. Lucia. Again, please send your news!

—Alexandra Covucci, [email protected]

2009 Happy new year everyone! Erica Courtney started The After Notes

a cappella group, which consists of former mem-bers of The Notables, UNH’s a cappella group. They perform shows all across the Seacoast and you can find them on Facebook. Carolyn Johnson married Gergely Orosz on August 10 in Budapest, Hungary. She is a business analyst at the Finan-cial Times Group. Heather Timins manages the winter programs at Bolton Valley ski area and summer programs in northern Vermont, including the Burlington waterfront and bike path. Gabriela Tirado is working for Xerox in her home country of Guatemala and operates a food cart selling organic food on the weekends. Douglas Voss was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. He is also the Chief of Reserve Response at the USCG Sector Boston, where he oversees 30 Coast Guard employees. Our condolences go to the family of Kayla Davis, who passed away on September 18. Save the date for a 5th Reunion at Homecoming October 10–12. Stay in touch by logging on to UNH Con-nect (unhconnect.unh.edu).

—Jenelle DeVits, 187 Woodpoint Rd., Apt. 4, Brooklyn, NY 11211; [email protected]

2010 In August, Spencer Kenyon re-turned safely from Afghanistan,

where he served with the Marine Corps. We are glad to see you home safely, Spencer! Justin Schubert is a European market analyst, mainly covering the German-speaking market, for Prop-erty and Portfolio Research in Boston. Congratu-lations to Alisha DiMasi and David Etlinger, who married on September 28. They both work at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation and recently bought a house in Lyndeborough, NH. Kaitlin Lounsbury and Ryan Colby married on June 8.

WILDCAT WEDDING: Sarah Connor ’05 and Ben Huntington are surrounded by family and UNH friends at their wedding on Sept. 21, 2013. Top row, from left: Henry Huntington ’80, Sarah Papachristos ’11, Meagan Maloy Coons ’04, Steven Connor ’87. Row beneath: Lee Rudolf Manning ’05, Megan Stevener ’05, Meghan McLean ’06, Eugene Connor ’79, Charles Knuth ’05, Matt Mittelmark ’04. Row beneath: Matthew Glance ’93, Kerry Glance ’04, Caitlyn Galletta Kirk ’05, Melissa Itzkowitz ’05, Carrie Mahon Mittelmark ’05, Kathleen Donovan Iverson ’05, Kevin Korn ’05. Row beneath: Sarah Connor Huntington ’05, Ben Huntington, Sarah Martin Trudel ’05, Julie Lane Korn ’05, Jessica Peabody ’05, Jennifer Grieco McDonald ’05, Jeffrey Huntington ’76, Kristin O’Keefe Selvitella ’05.

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The couple, who worked together as kayak guides and then bonded over their love of surfing and travel, say that a sense of teamwork is key: They agree that you can’t hold grudges when you live in such a small space; you just have to let things go. Some lessons of the road have been discouraging—the amount of waste they’ve encountered, the extremes of wealth and poverty. “But it’s made me a more compassionate person,” says King. “And helped me think about what is truly necessary to survive in this country.” It’s also strengthened their resolve to live lightly, using less and needing less.

“The thing that’s surprised me most, though,” says Smith, “is how awesome people in America are. It’s a story that needs to be told—it’s not what’s portrayed in the media at all.” He pauses for a minute and consid-ers the stats: “One bad mechanic. That’s it. One difficult person in 12 months.”

Meanwhile, the pair can’t begin to count the number of friends they’ve made and people who have helped them out. Like the guy on Instagram in Oregon, who responded, well, instantly and offered to store their van while Smith recovered from a broken collarbone. Or the local mechanic who went out of his way to help them after a serious breakdown in Arizona. No power steer-ing. No brakes. On a hill. “It was scary,” says Smith, “but it wound up being a ‘Sedona moment’—what people there call ‘synchronicity.’ Everything came together.” The travelers stayed seven weeks, made new friends, and created a website for the campground that hosted them. And then there was the girl with the handmade hats, the one who was following their adventure online and just showed up one day with warm gifts for their journey.

Van life is like that—full of surprises. King and Smith say they’ll keep at it as long as it’s fun. They’ll keep passing along what they learn, too. “Not a week goes by that we don’t receive an email from a follower on the verge of a daring leap into van life,” writes King. Thanks to the duo’s online storytelling, those who aren’t quite ready to head off into the sunset in their own Vanagon can always hitch a virtual ride.

—Suki Casanave ’86G


E very time Emily King ’06 looks up from her work and gazes out the window, it hits her: she’s got the best office in America—or at least the best view from her office window, which happens to be the windshield of a 1987 Volkswagen

Vanagon. It is, in fact, an ever-changing view—of America itself. A lone saguaro cactus, for example, backlit by the rising sun. Or a wash of deep blue surf curving along the Pacific coast. A cluster of snow-covered peaks. Or a grove of sky-high redwoods. King and her officemate, Corey Smith ’08, have been recording all their travels on their blog, “Where’s My Office Now?”

“We’re living the dream, and we want to share it with others,” says Smith, who’s usually in the driver’s seat, steering the office-on-wheels to its next destination.

King says it all started as an ex-periment to combine a nomadic lifestyle with 9-to-5 careers. A web-site developer, she had the perfect job to work remotely, and Smith’s work managing accounts for her business was equally portable. And so last January, the pair loaded their van, a Craigslist find, with several thousand pounds of gear and left New Hampshire in a snowstorm on a quest for simplicity and adventure.

A year and more than 10,000 miles later, the duo has nearly 7,000 van-life enthu-siasts tracking their progress, peppering them with questions: How do you store your food? How do you work on the road? How do you keep from killing each other? “Every-body has a dream of hopping in their van and driving off into the sunset,” says Smith. The fact is, he notes, that van life has its share of downs as well as ups.

For one thing, it turns out that living simply—in precisely 75 square feet—can be pretty complicated. Mornings start with pumping water for cold showers, followed by a complex routine that involves transforming the bed back into a couch, just to make enough room to stand up, turn around, and cook breakfast on the two-burner stove. There’s food buying and itinerary planning and, of course, van maintenance. Smith has tackled everything from replacing the fuel lines to updating the moldy plumbing pipes—and then explained it all step-by-step on their blog.

The pair also writes about the challenges of working on the road. When the wireless connection is good, King types while Smith drives. Other times they settle in at the nearest café with wireless access. King estimates she puts in about 15 to 30 hours a week, pulling in more than enough to cover their expenses. Smith, meanwhile, is so busy with trip logistics that he puts in only minimal paid hours. But the equation works: a low cost of living means they can spend fewer hours at their “desks” and still save money to help pay off student loans.

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On a RollEmily King ’06 and Corey Smith ’08 unpack the secrets of van life.


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Unfortunately, we have sad news as well. Zach-ary Hauser passed away suddenly on May 6 in Vallejo, CA. After graduating from UNH with a bachelor’s in biology, Zach was in medical school in California for osteopathic medicine.

—Caitlin LeMay, 18–22 Essex St., Apt 17 Haverhill, MA 01832; [email protected]

2011 US Army First Lieutenant Ryan Grochmal returned in early Sep-

tember from a nine-month deployment to Af-ghanistan. Ryan served as the 2nd platoon leader and convoy commander within the 359th Inland Cargo Transfer Company. He earned the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service for provid-ing effective communication, coordination, and leadership while responding to an improvised explosive device (IED) attack on his convoy. Ryan is stationed at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in New-port News, VA, and wants to thank the USO, UNH, his family, and many friends who provided him and his platoon with support and care packages to make the time away easier.

—Kristina Looney, 117 Central St., Apt #2, Auburn, MA 01524; [email protected]

2012 Marlene Matatics is in a four-year program at the University of Illinois

College of Veterinary Medicine in Urbana. Theresa

Lewis is serving in the Peace Corps as an environ-ment volunteer in the Phillipines.

—Bria Oneglia, 436 Winchester Rd., Winsted, CT 06098; [email protected]

2013 Benjamin Gardell is a sales rep at R&D, a New England reseller of

Stratys3D printing systems in North Kingstown, RI. To post your note online log on to UNH Connect (unhconnect.unh.edu) and share news with your classmates!

Study where you want, online or on campus.

unh.edu/summersession

SUMMER 2014advance your degree F career changeinstitutes F professional certification

PRIDE: Members of the N.H. National Guard’s C Company, 3rd Battalion, 238th Aviation Medevac Unit show their Wildcat pride while in Afghanistan. From left: 1st Sgt. and UNH hockey season ticket holder Brian McKay; Staff Sgt. Henry Farrin; Staff Sgt. Steve Couture ’98, ’12G; Spc. Trevor Milbury (son of Holly Cook ’77 and William Milbury ’74); and Sgt. John R. Cooney ’09.

The Estate of Jeannette S. and G. Cedric Ruiter ’31 established a scholarship fund to provide aid to worthy and needy students from Concord, NH, who attend UNH.Shirley Laurhammer Gagnon ’54 endowed The Laurhammer Family Scholarship Fund to provide scholarship support to UNH students who are graduates of Groveton (N.H.) High School.Robert F. Sylvia ’59 recently made a generous gift to The Wildcat

THE UNH FOUNDATION would like to recognize the following alumni and friends, whose leadership gifts of $1,000 or more are among the many generous contributions made since September 2013 that will help support the aspirations of our students, student-athletes, faculty, and coaches. Thank you for believing in UNH!

David Hajjar ’77G, ’78G recently established the Samuel C. Smith Visiting Lectureship in Molecular Medicine. The lectureship will feature visiting scientists who are experts in the field of molecular medicine.Mark Avondoglio ’78 made a generous gift to the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics.Ralph Cox ’79 recently made a gift to The Wildcat Fund in support of the men’s ice hockey program.Kevin Fitzgerald ’79 and Marie Gross ’79 established a merit-based endowed scholarship to support academic excellence and student-athletes studying in the College of Health and Human Services.Edwinna Vanderzanden ’80 made generous gifts to The UNH Fund and to The Rudman Center at UNH Law.

Susan Kline ’85 made a generous gift to the department of Occupational Therapy. Jay Dewitt ’86 recently made a leadership gift in support of the UNH Fund.Scott MacDonald ’90 and Patricia MacDonald ’90 made a generous gift to the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics.Anthony D’Amato ’92 made leadership gifts to the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics.Katie Stringham Bouton ’96 of Koya Leadership Partners recently made a generous gift in support of the UNH Swimming and Diving Program.Ross Sandler ’98 and Kate Sandler ’00 have established the Katherine Duffy Sandler ’00 and Ross Sandler ’98 Athletic Scholarship to provide merit scholarships to members of the field hockey team.

Fund, in support of the Friends of Football (’Cat Club).Edward F. Mullen ’62 and Gail Faribault Mullen ’62 recently made a generous gift to The Wildcat Fund in support of the Athletic Director’s Priorities Fund.Mike Hickey ’73 and Marilyn McLaughlin Hickey ’73 made a generous gift to UNH Athletics that will help fund the establishment of a new Student-Athlete Center for Excellence.

I n M e m o r i a m

Cornelia “Connie” Constable Kitfield ’43, ’61G, ’70GShe taught math and traveled the world.

Cornelia Constable and Edward Kitfield ’41 passed each other on a Durham sidewalk and both turned around for an-

other look. “It was love at first sight,” says their daughter Meredith Kitfield ’74. A year after graduating from UNH at 19, Cornelia

married Edward, a Ma-rine who was deployed to the South Pacific shortly after their wedding. She learned early on to be self-sufficient, holding down a wartime position as a test engineer for Wright Aero-nautical in New Jersey.

Cornelia lost her job when soldiers returned to the workforce after World War II and the couple came back to Durham. At the same time, they were

raising a young family and money was tight, says Meredith. To make ends meet, the couple started the “Kit Shop” in the family van. Cornelia prepared all the food and Edward sold her sand-wiches around the UNH campus.

After obtaining a master’s degree in education in 1961, Cor-nelia began a teaching career. Though she had studied English, she became a popular math teacher in the Oyster River school system, and she taught herself to ski after students asked her to chaperone the ski club. She retired from teaching in 1986.

Enthusiastic travelers and skilled mountain climbers, the Kitfields went birding in the Galapagos Islands and hiking the Grand Canyon. They made the climb to Machu Picchu and explored New Zealand and the Arctic. Closer to home, Cornelia earned membership in the the Appalachian Mountain Club's White Mountains 4,000 Footer Club by climbing every New Hampshire peak over 4,000 feet.

The couple’s travels continued even after Edward became ill.

Dr. Linda G. Sprague, professor emerita of operations management

Mrs. Agnes Buxton Barker ’33Mr. Edward V Rinalducci ’36Dr. William D. Crandall ’36Mr. Richard D. Prescott ’36Mrs. Anne Corson Hathaway ’37Dr. Roland G. Tremblay ’38Dr. Avard C. Long ’38Mrs. Rita O’Shea Abbott ’40Mr. Alfred E. Fernald ’40Mr. Raymond H. O'Connor ’40

Dr. John A. Parodi ’41Mrs. Cornelia Constable Kitfield ’42,

’61G, ’70GDr. Mary Ann Wheeler Franklin ’42Mr. Everett L. Thompson ’42Mr. David R. Crockett ’42Mrs. Marjorie Farwell Crawford ’43Mr. Paul A. Sawyer ’43Mr. Edward S. Morrow ’43Mrs. Elizabeth Donovan Adams ’44HMrs. Esther Doyle Keough ’44Mr. Karl S. Adams ’44

Ms. Florence L. Eaton ’44Mrs. Beatrice Christian Fenn ’45Mrs. Sylvia Steele Torrey ’45Mrs. Diana Sherman Ricketson ’46Mrs. A. Jane Sylvestre Jaffe ’46Mr. Carl F. Graesser Jr. ’46Mrs. Leona Buxton Thibodeau ’47Mrs. Doris Dropkin Hoffman ’47Ms. Roberta Horne Gove ’47Ms. Sylvia Woodward Shafer ’47Mr. Charles M. Gozonsky ’47Dr. John F. Ollom ’47

Mr. George T. Farrow ’47Mrs. Evelyn Brown Eilers ’48Ms. Mary Wadleigh Austin ’48Dr. Eliot K Easterbrook ’48, ’50GMr. William L. Richardson ’48Mr. Rodney R. Adams ’48Mr. Joseph J. Swekla ’48Mr. Edwin J. Aron ’48Mrs. Lois Plummer Seymour ’49Mr. Wesley F. Brett ’49GMr. Paul C. Magoon ’49Mr. Allen J. Thornton ’49

Dr. Robert H. Benson ’49Mr. Richard A. Nichols ’49Mr. Ralph S. Mosher ’49Mr. Abraham D. Gosman ’49Col. Roland E. Sabourin Ret. ’50Dr. Theofelos A. Aliapoulios ’50Mr. Walter A. Stiles ’50Mr. Alphee E. Tanguay ’50, ’51GMr. Roland E. Harwood ’50Mr. Roy R. W. Hill ’50Mr. Harry L. Bryant Jr. ’50Mr. William L. Foster Jr. ’50

by Karen Tongue Hammond ’64 For more obituaries, and to post comments:

unhmagazine.unh.edu


Cornelia planned long car trips across the United States and arranged lengthy European cruises. After a trip to Ireland for a grandson’s wedding, Cornelia decided to take herself and her husband on a trip around the country, despite limited experience driving on the left. When they returned, Cornelia cheerfully reported that she had “only lost two side mirrors.”

In her later years, Cornelia owned several apartment build-ings. Tenants quickly became friends, says her daughter, and at the holidays Cornelia always remembered them with gifts. Alongside former students and teaching colleagues, they were among the many who reached out after Cornelia’s passing, eager to share memories of her friendship and largesse.

Robert “Bob” Houley ’53He was a natural athlete — and a teller of tall tales.

Bob Houley had never laced on a pair of skates. But when the UNH hockey coach asked if Houley played hockey, he

said yes—goalie. “He knew he’d have to learn to skate almost overnight,” says his daughter, Kathleen Houley Vita, “and he figured a goalie didn’t do much skating.” It was quick thinking that paid off. He became the varsity hockey team’s goalie and

captain. After learning to wield a lacrosse stick, he became cap-tain of that team as well.

A natural athlete who had played high school basketball, football, and baseball in Berlin, N.H., Houley would be the first to admit that he was not a scholar, says Vita. But determi-nation and hard work saw him through four years at UNH, ser-vice in the Marine Corps, and a long career as a top salesman with L.G. Balfour Co.

His work ethic developed early. At age 14, Houley was helping to support his family by

In the late 1980s Fisher helped restore an old ranger station in Missoula, Montana, that became the National Museum of Forest Service History. He also helped restore a lookout tower for the 2005 Smithsonian Folklife Festival commemorating the U.S. Forest Service’s 100th anniversary.

For five years after they retired, Fisher, Daniels, and another colleague traveled to New Mexico with the Forest Service’s Passport in Time project, a volunteer archaeology and historic preservation program. They surveyed ancient Native American sites—and ate gourmet meals that Fisher prepared. Competition for positions in the program was fierce, but the men were always invited back. “We became known as ‘the boys from Montana,’” says Daniels. “Three old men arriving in a pickup.”

Life took Fisher far from his New Hampshire roots, but he remained a modest New Englander, says his wife. Near Lolo, Mont., he watched national experts struggle to determine the exact location of the Lewis and Clark expedition’s campsite. He then quietly pointed out what, to him, seemed the only logical spot. The team soon unearthed artifacts that proved him right.

Fisher was honored with historic preservation plaques from Missoula County and from the state of Montana. It was typi-cal of Jack, says Jeri, that he tucked a photo of himself with the Montana lieutenant governor behind one of the plaques where no one would see it.

The Fishers were married for 46 years. Jack slipped away quietly on June 23, 2013, at the age of 76. “I think,” says Jeri,

“that he had just decided it was time to go.”

Edward “Ed” Weilbacher ’74A Coast Guard hero, he rescued lost souls and stray cats.

Retired Lt. Cmdr. Ed Weilbacher made more than one career out of rescuing others from various predicaments. In his first

career, as a pilot with the Coast Guard, he saved numerous lives. In a particularly dramatic incident in 1973, he and the crew of his C-130 aircraft saved a Norwegian sailor who had been clinging to a life raft for three days after escaping from a sinking ship off the coast of New Jersey during a storm. The daring rescue, in which two men parachuted 1,000 feet from the airplane into the ocean, made national and international news, and the Norwegian government hailed the men’s bravery.

Weilbacher retired from the Coast Guard in 1976 and began his second career, earning a law degree from Washington and Lee University in 1979. He first turned his attention to the poor, serving as head of the legal aid office in Lexington, Va., for 10

working at a Berlin paper mill,using a sharp pike to snag floating logs and push them into the debarking machine. He also pos-sessed a strong moral compass, says his daughter, which served him well throughout his life. He met Helen Daly, his wife of 56 years, when he was in his 20s and working a summer hotel job in addition to his work at Balfour. “He thought she was gorgeous,” says Vita. But upon learning that Helen was just 17, he waited until the following summer to ask for a date.

After moving to Vernon, Conn., in 1962, Houley became interested in politics, working his way up from town council mem-ber to four-term state senator; later he became a lobbyist. Active in community life, he helped found a local youth hockey league. He coached his son James’ team and in later years found himself back in goal again, playing with the New Britain Frontenacs.

Houley, who died of prostate cancer on October 2, 2013, was a great teller of stories—including a few mischievous tall tales, says Vita. At one point he told his young grandchildren that he alone had created the shiny gold dome atop the Connecticut Capitol building. “He was so convincing,” she says, “that they believed it until they were teenagers.”

John Clark “Jack” Fisher ’58His love of the forests became his life’s work.

Working as a summer tour guide at northern New Hamp-shire’s Lost River, Jack Fisher realized that his future lay

in the solitude of woods and mountains. After graduating with a degree in forestry and serving in the Army, he headed Northwest and began a 36-year career with the U.S. Forest Service.

A Forest Service colleague, Orville Daniels, says that Fish-er’s Yankee work ethic made him the service’s go-to guy for important jobs. In the 1970s, Fisher managed construction of the Bonneville power line stretching from Montana to Or-egon. His success in completing a major undertaking while pro-tecting the environment became a model for future projects.

He was a perfectionist at home as well. Twenty-one years after assuring his wife, Jeri, that he could build the family a new home in six months, he was still putting the final touches on it. “He told me, ‘I didn’t say which six months,’” she recalls.

Mr. Stanley W. Caywood Jr. ’51GMr. Chester R. Smith ’51Lt. Col. Paul J. Routhier Ret. ’51,

’64GDr. Clarence L. Grant ’51, ’56GMr. Allan B. Detscher ’51Mrs. Elizabeth Stone Hux ’52Mrs. Virginia Wright Hancock ’52Mr. Lee W. Sarty Jr. ’52Mr. William E. Manson ’52Mr. Richard E. Keane ’52Mr. K. Stewart Gibson ’53GMr. Philip S. Gardner ’53Mr. Robert D. Houley ’53

Mrs. Claire Williams Morgan ’54Mr. Ferdinand G. Gaukstern ’54Mr. Benjamin C. Kuo ’54Mr. Donald E. Jamieson ’54Lt. Col. John R. DesJardins Ret. ’54Mr. William M. Fisk ’55Mr. Frederick R. Herrick ’55Mrs. Jacklyn Chapman Delaney ’56Mr. Richard A. Warnke ’56Col. Marcel A. Couture Ret. ’56Mr. Edward L. Rogers ’56Ms. Debra Low Leahy ’57Mrs. Priscilla Gillespie Culver ’58Mrs. Grace Gilson Jackson ’58

Mrs. Nancy Mager Deschenes ’58Mr. Richard M. Wheeler ’58, ’68GMr. James F. Stone ’58Mr. Ronald P. Leblond ’58Ms. Bettina Jones Geoffrion ’59,

’77GMs. A. Virginia Reed Tomasi ’59Mrs. Nancy Reilly Roemer ’59Mrs. Martha Williams Dachos ’59Dr. Kevork V. Nahabedian ’59GMr. Howard C. Nowell Jr. ’59Mr. Alden W. Eaton ’59Ms. Jane L. Milette ’59Mr. Conrad E. Klock ’60

Dr. Verne R. Brown ’60Mrs. Karol Karr Bottinger ’61Mrs. Anne Wheeler Dexter ’61Mr. Robert H. Hoag ’61GMr. William J. Barry III ’61Mr. Paul E. Kelly ’61Mr. Robert Buttny ’61Mrs. Carolyn Pease Shimer ’62Ms. Mary P. Perreault ’62Mr. Robert R. Fournier ’62Dr. Edward G. Corbett ’62GMr. Peter G. Burleigh ’62Mr. Freeman C. Hughes ’63Dr. Lawrence W. Menapace ’64G

Mr. Milton L. Page ’64Mrs. Audrey Gilroy Cunha ’65Col. James L. Hughes Ret. ’65Major Joseph H. Hagan ’65Mr. Daniel B. Kinney ’65Mr. Samuel M. Smith ’65Mrs. Carol Balkus O’Leary ’66Mrs. Sandra Houle Scott ’66Mrs. Sue Schmucker Thorn ’66Mr. Donald L. Ellison ’66GBGen. Richard H. Dunwoody

Ret. ’66Ms. Mary T. Lavoie ’66GMr. Charles C. Cantwell ’66


An English/Journalism major, Diamond worked in corpo-rate communications at Hartford Hospital and freelanced for the Huffington Post. She started her blog, eyespeeledalways.com, before her diagnosis, as a 20-something’s musings on suburban life. In the four and a half years she fought her disease, she tallied 700,000 page views, captivating readers worldwide with her roller coaster ride of hope, frustration, and ultimate ac-ceptance. “Writing was therapeutic,” says her husband, noting that whenever doctors delivered devastating news, Diamond coped by focusing on sensory details that would help her share the moment with her readers. “Her writing wasn’t about being sick. It was more about wellness, life, and love.”

The progression of her disease from potentially curable to chronic to terminal never dampened Diamond’s will. The couple traveled widely for her medical treatments and she re-searched something fun to do in every city. In Manhattan it was museums, Broadway plays, and restaurants. In Houston, Texas, at the same time the UConn men’s basketball team was vying for a national cham-pionship there, she joined her husband in cheering his alma mater on to victory. Despite mul-tiple chemotherapies, radiation treatments, surgery, and three stem cell transplants, she attended a writer’s conference in Cali-fornia, hiked in Maine’s Acadia National Park, and enjoyed a Caribbean cruise.

Diamond’s close friend and college roommate Frankie Or-bacz ’04 remembers that the two bonded over mutual interests that included the Outing Club, Christmas, and Michael Jackson. But it was Diamond’s kindness that her friend will remember most. Orbacz went through a difficult patch in her own life when her friend was in the middle of her cancer treatments. “She had so much to deal with that I didn’t want to burden her with any-thing,” Orbacz says. “She assured me that just because she was sick didn’t mean she wasn’t able to be there to support others.”

As for that wish to learn to surf? Thanks to a nonprofit that of-fers outdoor adventure experiences to young adult cancer survivors, in the midst of more chemotherapy in 2012, Diamond conquered the waves at North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

years. He also taught law at Washington and Lee, and eventually became the city attorney for Poconoke, Md.

Weilbacher, who died at age 75 on September 6, 2013, fol-lowing a brief illness, was married twice. He had two sons, Mi-

chael and Nathan, with his first wife, the late Mary Alice Sayler, and he had a daughter, Elektra Weilbacher Etebari, with Lind-sey Stringfellow Weilbacher, his wife of 46 years. At home, he tended gardens overflowing with flowers and vegetables, grew grapes, and made wines, including an award-winning riesling.

Etebari fondly recalls a time when her father wove some ad-

vice about persistence into a story about a failed airplane engine. “First you try plan A,” he told her. “If A doesn’t work, you try B. If B doesn’t work you try C, and you keep going down the list until you either fix the problem or crash!” A standard lecture about never giving up would have had little impact, says Etebari, a teenager at the time. But her father’s tale of danger and action, tempered with humor, delivered the message in a memorable way.

Weilbacher’s rescue efforts didn’t end when he retired, and they weren’t limited to humans, Etebari notes. He helped es-tablish an animal sanctuary in Maryland, for example, and just recently he’d saved the life of a kitten he named Lucky. After seeing the kitten injured in a hit and run, he scooped up the bloodied animal and headed for the nearest vet. Lucky made a full recovery, says Etebari, and, since her father’s death, has been a source of comfort to the family.

Karin Dubreuil Diamond ’04She blogged about her cancer fight with candor and humor.

Writing, kayaking, skiing, compiling a to-do list that included learning to surf —Karin Dubreuil Diamond was living life

to the fullest when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma at 26. “For Karin, it was always about pushing herself to do more, to be more, to connect more, to learn more,” says her husband, Craig Diamond. Married in 2007, the couple had been high school sweethearts.

Mrs. Doris Anderson Stidsen ’67Mr. Richard T. Yelle ’67GMr. John R. Loughlin ’68GMrs. Artemis Coucouvitis Apostle ’69Ms. Jane Sheehan Maddox ’69Ms. Jane L. Peterman ’69Mr. Donald E. Forand ’69Mr. Raymond M. Smith ’71Mr. Donald E. Tiernan ’71Mr. Richard D'Agostino ’71Mr. Wade A. Scribner ’71Mr. Wilson R. Flight ’72GMr. Peter H. Beane ’72GMr. Arthur V. Tallman ’72

Mr. Joseph W. Blatz ’72GMrs. Elizabeth Currie Mousseau ’73Sister Madeline C. MacDougall ’73GMrs. Clare Byrd Ott ’74, ’82GMrs. Bernice Gray Hanhisalo ’74Mr. Gary L. Kerr ’74GMr. Edward L. Weilbacher ’74Ms. Edith S. Roylos ’75Mr. Stephen F. Pulling ’75Col. Michael J. Wersosky Ret. ’75Mrs. Marla Ginsberg Segal ’76Ms. Susan Tarantino Moesch ’76Mr. Matthew F. Caldwell ’76Mr. Daniel D. Tuden ’77G

Mr. Dean N. Peterson ’77GMs. Sara K. Montgomery ’78Mrs. Nancy Sullivan Farhadi ’79Mr. William O. Ross ’79Mr. Scot L. Jones ’79Mrs. Jean E. Arsenault ’80GMr. Kenneth P. Brewer ’80Mr. John Patskan ’80Mrs. Barbara Beales Provencher ’81Ms. Suzanne Leclair Jordan ’81Mr. James M. Hurley ’81Mrs. Carol Olson Rindfleisch ’82Mrs. Jane L. Bird ’82Mr. Howard C. Weeks ’83

Mr. Christopher M. Moritz ’83Mr. Michael S. Bilson ’83Mr. Charles E. Rand Jr. ’84Mr. Louis A. Bergeron ’84Mrs. Michelle Carrier McDermott

’85, ’92GDr. Joseph L. Vaillancourt ’85Mrs. Robin Ford Adams ’86Mr. Donald R. Forcier ’86Dr. Leanne K. Donovan ’87Ms. Mary Leipziger Killian ’89Mr. James L. Saucier ’92Mr. Edwin C. Gurnee ’94GMr. David A. Shaw ’95

Mr. Daryl J. Robertson ’96Ms. Susanne M. Hebert ’98 ’01GDr. John A. Niesse ’98GMr. Justin J. Bouchard ’98Ms. Jennifer J. Kaloust-Hall ’99Mrs. Joanne D. Drouin ’02Mrs. Karin Dubreuil Diamond ’04Ms. Heather L. Baures ’07GMr. David D. Henderson ’09GMs. Kayla J. Davis ’09Mr. Kevin Duane Birk ’14Ms. Olivia N. Rotondo ’15Mr. Jonathan D. Zygmont ’17



S u b h e a d

Machine shop janitor Augustus Stevens was in Hewitt Hall, finishing preparations for the biennial visit of the

state Legislature, when he heard it: the high-speed rumble of an approaching train.

The frequent trains that ran through campus usually went un-noticed. But on the morning of January 20, 1905, the sound of the St. John’s Express, thundering along the tracks en route from Canada to Boston at almost 50 miles per hour, caused Stevens to glance out the window—just in time to see the last car rocket into the air, pulling three other cars into a stone culvert along with it.

Stevens rushed to the accident site, joined within minutes by what seemed like the entire student body. Under the direction of A. E. Nesbit, a professor in the electrical engineering department, students went to work immediately to help rescue the train’s 85 passengers, most of whom were riding in the derailed cars. Some of the students prepared sleighs to transport the most seriously injured to the Durham home of physician Albert Grant or to the Zeta fraternity house, which became a temporary infirmary. Thanks in large part to the swift action of the student rescue crew, even the most seriously injured survived.

Despite the accident, the day’s legislative program went forward, with some 150 trustees and state representatives gathering in Mor-rill Hall to learn more about the state of the young New Hampshire College and the most pressing needs of its students and faculty. One critical issue was the need for a building that would provide facilities for military drills and physical education classes, which were currently being held on the third floor of Thompson Hall.

A new gymnasium had been under consideration since 1894, and in 1903 a committee was finally formed to raise funds for the new building. At the time of the wreck, some two years later, $2,500 had been collected. A few days after the accident, Presi-dent William Gibbs received a letter from Lucius Tuttle, presi-dent of the Boston and Maine Railroad, expressing his gratitude to UNH, and the student body in particular, for its lifesaving assistance. As a tangible display of that gratitude, Tuttle had included a check for $1,000 to go toward student needs.

Grappling with the ethics of accepting payment for the rescue effort, Gibbs held a meeting to which 128 staff members and stu-dents showed up. The discussion was heated, with some arguing that to accept a reward would be amoral, while others suggested that refusing the check would come across as an insult. Given the urgent need for new athletics facilities, one student went so far as to say he hoped that if the university rejected the gift, the Legislature would appropriate state funds not for a gymnasium, but for a campus insane asylum, instead.

Ultimately, Gibbs met with Tuttle, who suggested the money be allocated directly to the gymnasium fund. Gibbs accepted, and three months later, the Legislature passed an appropriation bill providing $25,000 for a gymnasium and armory. The new gym, described in The New Hampshire College Monthly as equipped

“as well, if not better, than any other like building in the state,” was opened in New Hampshire Hall on January 26, 1906—almost exactly a year to the day after the Boston and Maine crash. ~

—Mylinda Woodward ’97

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Train WreckAn averted tragedy helped put the university’s first gym on track.

Expand your network, learn new skills, �nd new opportunities.

Non-profit org.U.S. postage paid

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15 Strafford AveDurham, New Hampshire 03824

VICTORY!A win against Southeastern Louisiana State on Dec. 14 sends the Wildcats to the Division I FCS semifinals for the first time in UNH football program history. See page 11.

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UNH Magazine Winter 2014