The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/599295
5 0 w p i j o u r n a l wpi.edu/+journal | fall 2015 1947 The family of George Broughton shared the news of his passing on June 5, 2015. His daughter, Ruth Broughton Mattson, writes, "My father's gradua- tion from WPI was his greatest achievement. He came from a family of eight children who grew up on a farm in rural Brookfeld, Mass. His parents took him out of high school to work, which was customary in the late 1930s after the Great Depression. My father managed to work full-time and complete his senior year at Worcester's Classical High School, living in a single room at the YMCA and getting around on a bicycle with a big basket for his schoolbooks. After classes and work, he would stay awake after midnight to complete his homework. "It was my father's dream to attend WPI. When he approached the owner of Norton Company and asked for a scholarship, the owner was amazed by my father's 'moxie' and agreed to a full company scholarship, with the stipulation that my father would continue working second shift throughout his entire college career. My father chose to tackle chemical engineering as his major because he had heard it was the most diffcult subject. The rest is history. All of my father's fve children have gone on to colleges. Our father's graduation from WPI in 1947 was the pebble in the pond that created the ripple effect for all we've achieved. We've all been inspired by him, a proud member of the WPI Class of 1947 who chased his dreams with unfailing passion and courage." 1948 Arthur Pike's family informs us that he died peacefully at home in Provincetown, Mass., on July 7, 2015, with family surrounding him. "Arthur spoke fondly of 'Whoopie Tech' his entire life," she writes. Condolences may be sent to his daughter, Katherine Pike, at 6 Abernathy Road, Lexington, MA 02420. 1954 Milton Meckler writes, "After having authored numerous professional books for McGraw-Hill, Fairmont Press, Prentiss Hall, ASPE Press, and Van Nostrand Reinhold during my prior professional engineering and construction management career, I retired in 2012 and decided to try my hand at publishing non-fction e-books. These are now available on Amazon's Create Space and Kindle platforms under my pen name, Mel Meckler. My work covers areas of personal interest, augmented by extensive overseas travel experiences and cited research; it includes Betrayal in Budapest, Sight Beyond Light, Ancient Egypt and Judea, Lincoln's Other Emancipation, Hitler's Physicians, Winning Game Metrics, Defance at Terezin, Battle at Belleau Wood, and A Golden Age: 711-1066 CE." Henry Strage writes, "Alberta and I are here in Wengen, Switzerland, where, alas, the weather after a great summer has become cloudy, cold and damp. But the mountains are still here and the air is still CO 2 free." 1958 Robert Weinberg says, "I am honored to have been selected as Corporate Livewire's 2015 'Most Outstanding M&A; Specialist for Mid-Market Businesses' in the USA. This award and others, received and pending, recognize the successful closing of more than $150 million in merger and acquisition transactions in the past 12 months by my mortgage and advisory frm, First Boca Associates Inc. FBA specializes in the confdential representation of private businesses seeking sale or recapitalization. I have been fortunate to have leveraged the fundamentals of my WPI BSEE degree from engineering to multi-business ownership and M&A; advisory services." 1959 Win Wassenar '60 (MS CE) writes, "I'm still living in Williamstown, Mass., and Venice, Fla., in the winter. Vanessa and I took a two-week trip to Switzerland and the Italian Alps in September, ending at Lake Como. Still golfng; call if you're in Florida and we'll play at Venice Golf and Country Club. We now have two grandchildren in college in Boston, and one who graduated from U of St. Andrews in Scotland last June and is about to start his career in Istanbul, Turkey. That's a visit in the making! We see the grandkids in Boston when we go to the BSO. Life is good. If I live long enough, I may score my age in golf." 1960 At age 77, Richard Brewster has been called out of retirement to assume the position of project engineer for the M/V Atlantic Mercy, a 37,000-ton hospital ship under construction in Tianjin, China. He and his wife, Susan, will live there and monitor construction for the international Christian charity Mercy Ships. When completed in 2017, the Atlantic Mercy will have 12 decks, two of which will house a hospital with six operating rooms and 154 beds. As the [ classnotes ] s u b m i t y o u r c l a s s n o t e s t o c l a s s n ot e s @ w p i . e d u '47 " Our father's graduation from WPI in 1947 was the pebble in the pond that created the ripple effect for all we've achieved. " — Ruth Broughton Mattson