1/1 - eCommons@Cornell - Cornell University

I 1 1 Here in late March the snow is
I ^^ gradually melting and the worst
w m t e r m m
I \J y several years' expe-
^ ^^ rience of New England weather
has finally given way to spring. Which
prompts me to once more emerge from my
"retirement" and express the hope that our
famous class will be represented at our 75th
Reunion this month. Regretfully, I must admit
that my physical limitations prohibit my
attendance. Except for our 5th, when I was
busy at a new job, and our 10th, in 1929,
when I was vacationing in Europe, I've attended
every Reunion. As class prexy I
worked with the alumni office in organizing
and promoting the programs and attendance
at our 50th through 70th.
Our roster has been severely depleted in
recent years and of the "six hardy souls" who
attended our 70th, only Hilda Greenawalt
Way and I have survived. Hilda celebrated her
97th birthday last December (see my April issue
column) and I hope she may be able to
attend our 75th with the help of her famous
daughters Jean Way Schoonover '41 and
Barbara Way Hunter '49. They are members
of a famous dynasty of Cornellians.
One other item of interest. Over the
past two years the only classmate with
whom I've been communicating is Lt. Col.
Charles Baskerville, internationally famous
artist and hero of both world wars,
concerning whom I've devoted several past
columns. Charley has given up his studio
on W. 57th St. and has an apartment at 220
E. 72nd St., NYC, to which he is pretty well
confined and under nursing care. We exchange
phone calls periodically, to reminisce
and commiserate on our limitations. Charley's
97th birthday was April 16. • C. F.
Hendrie, 67 Cannon Ridge Dr., Artillery
Hill, Watertown, CT 06795.
m 11 Greetings, dear classmates, to all
# UM of you who were not able to get
#i Γ back to campus for our 70th Re-
^" Ά. union. Some 24 of us are to assemble
at the luxurious Statler Hotel—each
doing his or her bit of recounting, reminiscing,
revisiting of favorite haunts of the 1920s,
and thoroughly enjoying the many-faceted
programs arranged for us by Don Wickham,
Mary Yinger, and the university. As
the oldest reuning class, we are getting special
attention and treatment, surely enjoying
every minute of it. We just wish that
more of you could be on hand to share these
memorable moments.
Among those who will be absent—and
missed—is Gwen Miller Dodge, women's
class correspondent, whose column has been
appearing on these pages since she took
over for Dorothy Lamont in the September
1987 issue. Gwen passed away in mid-
Class Notes
JUNE 1994
43
March at her home in Charlestown, RI. The
wife of classmate S. W. "Web" Dodge, she
was a grand person, a loving parent, a loyal
alumna, and a very competent, conscientious
class correspondent.
If further proof is needed (and it really
isn't) that Gwen Dodge was a very loyal
devoted alumna and classmate, let me quote
from a letter her daughter Kathleen wrote
to me, right after the church services: "The
minister of the church my parents went to
mentioned placing a small display of photos
and mementos meaningful to my mom in
the vestibule, and the first thing I thought
of was the T-shirt she had been sent by Cornell
Magazine. Although she never wore the
shirt, she thought it was wonderful and
showed it to everyone who came to the
house. Also included were the graduation
pictures of both mom and daddy and the
Class of '24 15th Reunion picture, taken in
1939. Even this last week, Mom showed her
yearbook to the visiting nurse." [As this June
issue goes to press we have learned that
Gwen's husband, Web, died soon after she did,
on April 2.—Ed.]
There's not much news from classmates
around the country, but here are a
few tidbits. Norm Miller is still living in
his long-time home in Pittsburgh. He's not
very happy about what's going on politically
in Washington and fears for the future of
our country. He is disturbed by its trilliondollar
deficit, scandals, and controversies
that are continually surfacing.
John Cheney is very happy in his retirement
home on the St. Lawrence River
at Ogdensburg, NY—pleased with the beautiful
views, good meals, and congenial fellow-retirees.
He is one of only two living
graduates of our class with degrees in veterinary
medicine. John Treble, who has had
his own business in Detroit for many years,
still calls the Motor City his "home town."
Another '24 nonagenarian, he is now in his
92nd year.
John Wood reports from Thomasville,
GA, "Last year's highlight was our family reunion
in October to celebrate my 90th birthday.
We gathered at an old resort hotel, Balsam
Mountain Inn, near the Great Smokies
National Park. The nearby mountains of
western North Carolina were brilliant with
their fall foliage. From the enclosed picture
of the assembled 18 you can see that I have
a wonderful family." • Max Schmitt, RR5,
Box 2498, Brunswick, ME 04011.
Lucille Severance Nettleship
writes from The Homestead in
Woodstock, VT. She moved to
this "home for lonely people" to
be near her son, after her husband's
recent death. Reflecting
the experience of so many of us, she says:
"It is quite a period of adjustment and I do
not like being alone." Hers is one of the few
notes received in the last year or so that