The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/599295
5 2 w p i j o u r n a l wpi.edu/+journal | fall 2015 [ Cl assnotes ] in Sydney for a year. Like my daughter, she is also an American from Buffalo, N.Y. After our family's Sydney wedding, they decided to get married in Buffalo the weekend after our Dallas event. Since all their family and friends were going to the U.S. anyway, why not piggy-back another event?" 1965 Class members shared their insights and experiences for a 50th Reunion memory booklet. Below are extracts from their entries. Nick Barone lives in Milford, Conn. He and his wife, Kathryn, have three children and two grandchildren. "I love sailing in Long Island Sound on my cat boat and growing fresh vegetables in my garden," he writes. Nick's favorite memories include Fiji Island parties at Phi Gamma Delta, and being tapped for Skull. Ken Brown retired from General Electric Co. His work history includes Raytheon, Compugraphic (bought by Agfa Gevaert), Raytheon again, a start-up in Tennessee called Analogic, some contracting, Kaye Instruments (bought by General Electric). "But I now have three pensions," he writes from his home in Naples, Fla., "and don't shovel snow!" Ken and his wife, Muriel, have two daughters, and two grandchildren. "Travel while you can," he advises. "You never know when you can't." Don Carlson and his wife, Thirzalyn, live in Camano Island, Wash. He is retired from Ingersoll Rand Co. Product Engineering, where he worked in QC, HR, and marketing. Pete Collette spent 33 years at Con Edison in New York City and eight as chairman of the Northeast Power Coordinating Council before retiring. He and his wife, Sylvia, live in West Caldwell, N.J. Charlie Durkin shares, "I have had the most interesting and rewarding career, including aerospace, automation, and, for the last 20+ years, medical device technology. As a cancer survivor, the most important thing I have learned is to appreciate and get the most out of every day of my life. I am fortunate to have a close family and wonderful friends." He lives in Sarasota, Fla., where his pastimes include designing and building custom furniture, riding with the Charles River Wheelmen, and competitive age group running. An active Unitarian Universalist, he volunteers at the Concord Prison, where he gives guitar lessons, and works with mentally handicapped people at the Restoration Project. "I always vote, but not for anyone who does not acknowledge global warming and man's contribution to it. Human rights are very important to me," he says. Dick Fortier retains fond memories of the late professor K. G. Merriam (dynamics) swinging from the classroom door to illustrate concepts. Dick is retired from TDC Medical as chief technology offcer and lives in Concord, Mass. He and his wife, Anne, have four children and eight grandchildren. Joe Gracia went on from WPI to Niagara Mohawk Power in Buffalo, but left after a year to enroll in Offcer Candidate School in Newport, R.I. ("Thanks, Bob Cahill, for visiting me in Buffalo and taking me along to the exam for OCS, thus sidestepping the draft. Also, I roomed with Jim Cocci '66 at OCS.") Joe's military career included two years aboard the USS Damato, duty cruises in Vietnam and South America, and a year in charge of an electronic maintenance team at Newport. Next came employment with Cornell Dubilier Electronics (capacitor manufacturer) in New Bedford, Mass., where he worked until 2008, retiring as general manager of the New Bedford Division. "I have been working part-time from home, or wherever I happened to be traveling, as product manager for the company's mica capacitors. It has worked out well—I spent two months at Hutchinson Island, Fla., this past winter, working from there." Joe lives in Mattapoisett, Mass., with his wife, Beverly. Ronald Greene reports, "Happily retired on Cape Cod since 2008. I keep active with local Newcomers Club and Retired Men's Club activities, play bridge twice a week, and sing in various groups here, mostly all male, the latest a Welsh choir. I have become an avid birdwatcher and bird/nature photogra- pher, and I have been traveling extensively in recent years, mostly river cruises in Europe, and auto trips in New England and the Canadian Maritimes. Linda and I took our family, who live in the Seattle area, on an Alaskan Cruise for our 40th anniversary last year. I see Jake Jacobson often, and Bradley Gale '64." Mordecai Gutman recently downsized to a 55+ community in Southbury, Conn. "Don't miss the shoveling snow at all," he reveals. "I was in the USAF as a B-52 navigator instructor-navigator and bombardier to help win the Cold War, including a tour in Vietnam (65 missions), in support of our troops. I'm now retired from 12 years as a public safety dispatcher. I've found that I was happiest working in public service. I did get an MBA, but never really loved the business world. Not a politician." He served some 25 years as a volunteer frefghter (honored once as Firefghter of the Year) and many years as an EMT, in paid and volunteer positions. "Now I would like to spend time fy fshing and creating stained glass, and getting healthy enough to get back into the air in light planes." Don Kerr's best WPI experiences were classes with professors Shipman and Wagner. "I remember Dr. Shipman for challenging us with real-world projects and Prof. Wagner for the enthusiasm he put into teaching and the personal interest he took in us, his students." From Webster, N.Y., Don writes, "Following WPI, I earned graduate degrees in ChE at U of Delaware. In late 1969, I started a 29-year career in the Kodak Research Labs, where I worked on the development of various commercial B&W; products for the printing and medical felds. I was awarded 13 patents along the way. I've been retired since 1999. Unfortunately, my frst wife, Grace, passed away in 2002 after a two-year battle with ovarian cancer, so retirement didn't start out as planned. Carole and I married in 2004, and we have enjoyed traveling as well as local activities such as book groups, gardening for Carole, and golf for me—once the snow melts!" Don has also volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and an inner-city community center. He and Carole spent a week in New Orleans, working with a church team to repair damage from Hurricane Katrina in the 9th ward. Sid Klein recaps his life since WPI. "Elaine and I got married three weeks after graduation and two weeks after I started my career as a nuclear electrical engineer at Electric Boat, General Dynamics. I spent the next 11 years in New Haven with IBM, frst as a systems engineer and then as a marketing representative. Both positions gave me ample opportunities to visit many corporations, and in addition to doing my job, I became a spectator of what was happening in today's offces. Desks were becoming cubicles, workstations were being customized to the needs of an individual's task, departments were being located as a result of adjacency studies, etc. "I joined the largest local offce interiors frm and became a consultant to architects and interior designers, giving seminars that covered topics such as acoustics, energy distribution, eliminating distractions, privacy, energy conservation, and task- versus ambient lighting. Eventually I left to form my own company, Facility Planning Group. I retired in 2011 for a little over a year and then I joined a manufacturer's rep frm on a part-time basis and now cover Connecticut and Rhode Island."