Members of the Ho Family – Mui Ho ’62, B.Arch. ’66; Hau Wong Ho ’55, Christine Ma Ho ’61, Jet K.S. Ho ’91 – were honored at the 2022 Pan-Asian Celebration on January 29, 2022, sponsored by the Cornell Asian Alumni Association (CAAA). The virtual event was attended by fellow Cornellians, friends, and family world-wide celebrating the accomplishments of the Ho Family and the Year of the Tiger. Festivities included cultural performances from students, global alumni performers, and remarks by the Ho Family and University representatives. Ticket sales and a silent auction raised money for CAAA Tradition Fellowships, endowed CAAA undergraduate scholarship program and the Asian American Center. Mui Ho, an architect, and retired U. of Cal (Berkeley) educator, funded the Mui Ho Fine Arts Library in Rand Hall – one of the finest circulating collections of fine arts and design materials in the country. See for yourself, check it out here.
In Mid-2021, Brad Olson and his wife Lila ’63 paid heed to family pleas to move back to Southern California to be closer to them all (2 families and 3 grands). “We left Ithaca after 22 years there—many mixed emotions and lots of hard work. Family were great helpers, and we are now situated at our former vacation home at Lake Arrowhead, CA (P.O. Box 1823 Blue Jay, CA). It’s a beautiful mountain setting about 5000’ above sea level and within easy striking distance of immediate family and my brother and his spouse. Snow is less than Ithaca but comes in big bunches when it does. Right now (12/18) we’re in a cold snap! Glad to see rain last week and again next—the drought has been bad here and will take more years to recover.
Many happy Cornell memories—we met and married there right after graduation in ’63. Our son Eric was graduated from there 30 years later (’92) so we have some family memories to share together. The chance to move back, teach and administer in the Graduate Baker Program in Real Estate beginning in ’99 was a gift—a chance to bring a 30+ year career in real estate out west to a conclusion—gathering together lessons learned along the way to share with up-and-coming new talent from around thew world. At the same time, we met old and new friends and developed a dedicated following of CU hockey and basketball—trips to see the sweet 16 basketball team and to watch hockey ascend to #1 in the USA for both men and women’s teams was a great thrill. We were all set to attend ECAC championships and (hopefully) the Frozen Four when COVID struck. Huge disappointment for all, but the team (men’s hockey) has bounced right back and looks to do great things again this year. Watch for them and basketball on ESPN+!
Physical mobility challenges for me make reunion attendance suspect but we have time to find ways there! Meanwhile, we wish the best to all classmates and a Happy #60 to all who, like us, will celebrate a June 11 anniversary!”
Philip I. Abrams writes, “In thinking about the upcoming Reunion, I looked at the Class of ’62 website and the list of classmates who have passed away. In scanning it, I noted that my close friend and outstanding and highly recognized scientist, Joel Bernstein, was not listed. Joel passed away at his home in Tel Aviv on Jan. 2, 2019. By good fortune, my wife and I visited him in Israel in March 2018 and before that we all met up at the 50th reunion in Ithaca in 2012. In looking at our class website Reunions/50th Reunion, I discovered that the first photo shows, from left, Buzz Rukin and wife, Joel and his wife, Tzipi, and I’m next with my wife Lynn, plus others in the photo.
Most of Joel’s academic career was spent at Ben-Gurion University. After retirement, he wrote highly acclaimed technical books and lectured on pharmaceutical chemistry all over the world. Our paths crossed many times because he always seemed to be on sabbatical or giving a course at many locations in various parts of the world where I was traveling for engineering business.
We were roommates for three years at Beta Sigma Rho, after which he went to Yale and then on to Israel. We met again in the 1970s when we were both working in Israel; he was at the Weizmann, and I worked in aircraft/aerospace. My wife and I returned to the US after six years and Joel stayed, building an illustrious career at BGU.
His outgoing, friendly, and erudite personality will be missed by so many. Joel is a credit to our Cornell class and loved the University—he even had a sabbatical in Ithaca!”
From: Mike Matthews: “I turned 80 two months ago. I still work full time at Electro-Harmonix, a company I founded in 1968.The largest part of our business is the development, production, and international marketing of a line of sound effects for musicians. In fact, there is a display of our gear in Philips Hall. We are doing great with these products, even though we have been fighting the digital IC crisis. The second largest part of our business is vacuum tubes, those electronic parts that started going out of business with the inventions of the transistor and integrated circuits. However, there remains a very strong niche market for vacuum tubes because guitar amplifiers with vacuum tubes sound better than solid state guitar amplifiers. The same thing holds true for hi-fi amplifiers. We own 100% of one of only three remaining factories in the world that still make audio vacuum tubes. Sales are booming. However, we are concerned about the ‘Ukraine Crisis,’ and what can happen shortly to this business if this escalates.”
David Lloyd has been retired for some 12 years. As a lawyer admitted to the NY and NJ Bars, he was a lobbyist in New Jersey for 25 years, then 20 more years doing lobbying in states all over the country from Washington, DC!! “Married a wonderful DC woman, Andrea Wollock, in 1989; very sadly, she passed away this past August. 32 wonderful years. Visited all seven Continents and about 60 countries overall. (Antarctica twice, Australia four times!!)” David has a son, Andrew ‘93, in Los Angeles, and a daughter, Karen — also a lawyer — with two grandsons who live about 5 minutes away from him in Bethesda, MD. He has many, many fond memories of his time at Cornell!!! In particular, his two years playing trombone with the Cornell Big Red Marching Band that performed at home — and some away! — football games! Only regret: it was, back then, a “male only” marching band!
Anna Fang Wu writes, “Since my retirement from my internal medicine practice in 2010, I had the freedom of travel before the pandemic, seeing my grandchildren and friends, etc. Since the pandemic my husband has retired from teaching at Northwestern U. after 50 years. We are essentially staying at our apt in downtown Chicago with minimal social activities. We are eagerly awaiting the abatement of the Covid virus!”
Eric Walther has sent along a brief personal history and two anecdotes. History: Cornell provided me with such an excellent education, starting in Mechanical Engineering and finishing up in Engineering Physics, that graduate school for my MS and PhD in atmospheric science at SUNYA was relatively easy. Finishing up my PhD with a focus on air pollution close to the original Earth Day (April 22, 1970) was fortunate timing to start my 50-year career, first as a research scientist and later as a consultant, in air pollution and environmental permitting of power plants and other industrial facilities. After graduate school in Albany, I and my wife, Pam, who I met on Lake George in the Adirondacks, moved to jobs in Flagstaff (AZ), Dayton (OH), Boulder City/Las Vegas, Columbia (MD), southern California and finally Sacramento, CA. Our two children and five grandchildren have ended up mostly in Virginia and Sacramento. Anecdote 1: The only time I got myself into behavior trouble with Cornell social regulations was around1960 when I kept a Cornell co-ed out late from her Cornell dormitory on my first date, for which I had to appear before the Men’s Judiciary Council to explain myself. Anecdote 2: As proof of my young belief that I was immortal, I climbed the wall in Triphammer Gorge at a popular swimming hole to perform a death-defying swan dive that fortunately did not break my neck.
Stephen Ploscowe says, “I plan on attending our 60th Reunion. I am currently at my home in Boca Raton, Florida (November thru May) where I play lots of golf and otherwise try to stay busy reading and going on outings with my wife Wendie Malkin’65. I retired last March after practicing management labor/employment law for 55 years. In fact, both Cornell and Princeton University were clients of mine for many years. Wendie and I still have a home in Fairfield, NJ—close to my kids and grandkids, and where we spend June thru October when we are not traveling. My granddaughter Sydney is a 3rd generation Cornellian and loving it. I look forward to seeing many of our classmates in June at our reunion.”
Margery Donk Beeler, writes, “The only classmate with whom I’ve always kept in touch is Frances Li. I even saw her in person shortly before Covid entered our lives. She arranged a get-together with Bayla White and Karen Nelson during my visit to the DC area in October 2019 and it was lovely seeing them again. This is a snapshot of my life: I retired after 25 years with the Schenectady County Public Library at the end of 1997 and moved to Florida. My husband and I had developed an interest in birding over the years and the spectacular birds of Florida were the big draw to the south. Volunteer work with Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, C.R.O.W. (the Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife) and 6-Mile Cypress Slough kept me busy and entertained. When my husband and I separated in 2002 I moved to Olympia, WA mainly to be near my daughter Susan and my grandchildren and I have been here ever since. My major volunteer activities have remained bird-centered (our local Audubon chapter and the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge). Traveling has been my lifelong interest and I’ve been lucky to visit Europe many times over the years. I completed visiting all 50 states a few years back. In January 2019 one of my best trips ever took me to Egypt. Since Covid, what travel I’ve been able to do has been confined to Washington State but there is an endless supply of beautiful country here. I’ve also been lucky that Susan is close by, now on beautiful Vashon Island, and Wendy, my younger daughter, has been able to fly here several times from her home in beautiful Bar Harbor, Maine. I have good memories of many things at Cornell, especially the academics and the government honors program. My favorite professors were Hacker and Muller, Walter LaFeber, and William Merritt Sale. I do not expect to attend the 60th Reunion so I will look forward to your reporting.”
From Wayne Kelder: “Update on me. Enjoying retirement. Have three children (all graduated from Cornell). Have six grandchildren. When people ask how I am doing I relate to running an old piece of equipment – take it to the repair shop often, but as long as it can be fixed you are pleased. That is the way it is with my wife Elizabeth and me. We go to doctors, but they send us home fixed up. Will not be attending the 60th reunion. Hope a good time will be had by all. Take care and stay healthy.”
Tony Hitchcock writes, “I remain busy in retirement…working almost as much as before…just not getting paid for it! I am the treasurer of three non-profit charities – a local independent school, an advocacy organization serving the Latinx community of Eastern Long Island, and a national equine ambulance. I also am active helping a Farmers Market in upstate New York and a new and growing Pet Loss Grief Counseling service (Animal Talks, Inc.) based in Boston. When not doing financial guidance work, my wife Jean Lindgren and I love to travel (plans this year include exploring the Hudson Valley area, New Orleans, France [Paris and the Dordogne], and our annual 3-weeks in mid-coast and northern Maine.
I recently participated in a fun Zoom meeting with many graduates spanning many years, all of whom, like me, lived at one time or another at Watermargin. We look forward to spending two+ days in Ithaca for the Class of ’62’s reunion in June.
Judith Shulman Weis writes that she and husband Pete (’60) are in NYC “where the theaters. museums, opera, concerts etc. have resumed operations. This fall we slowly got back to them, having gone to the Metropolitan Opera a few times (audiences smaller than usual), theater (The Lehmann Trilogy), movies (Belfast and West Side Story). My chorus resumed and we gave a wonderful concert in early Dec. before omicron raised its ugly head. Everything requires proof of vaccine and mask wearing. We took our son Eric and 11-year-old granddaughter Violet (who live in Providence RI) to Washington DC to see the museums and monuments during her Christmas break. Everyone had a great time.
Usual activities include final reviews for a book that will soon be out on the topic of microfibers from clothes – the most abundant type of microplastic pollution, and a couple of lengthy papers. Pete and I are both involved with Quest, a “life-long-learning” organization that is now operating in hybrid fashion, thanks to the tech committee that Pete is on. (Last school year it was totally remote). Teaching classes to fellow seniors is great fun – no exams, no term papers, no students whining about their grades. The first class I’ll be teaching in a few weeks is about Pop Music in the ’50s (with videos), and it’s really fun preparing it!”
Terry Koken writes, “All in all, I spent 6-1/2 years at Cornell, all but one as staff, and didn’t graduate. Got my living as a computer programmer and computer fixer, and have been retired for seventeen years now, much of which has been spent working on the design, patenting, and documenting of an optical tester. I’m looking seriously at appearing at the 60th — wondering whether anyone I know will be there besides Don Juran. Happily married for about the last thirty years, on the fourth try (never lost faith in the institution). Looking forward to my 80th birthday just before the reunion.”
Peter A Wadsworth writes, “Still alive and kicking thanks in part to Medtronics. Moved to Boston in 2016 and have been writing about healthcare. One book, Finding the Best Healthcare You Can Afford (Amazon.com) and ten articles. Helped organize a health policy group of all-stars that include the former head of Kaiser-Permanente HMO, a former head of Medicare and Medicaid, two distinguished professors at UC-Berkley, and more. Recently gave a talk on the voice as musical instrument based on 15 years of choral singing and some fun research.”
From David Green: “Arlene Goldstrom Gehring ’64 and I have now been married 19 years. Between us we have four married children and six grandchildren so far. We live in Toronto, where of course we have Medicare for All, and keep in touch with several old friends from Cornell Savoyards days. I am also Visiting Professor of History at Cornell, where I still teach a regular Summer Session course entitled, “Words As Weapons: Political Vocabulary, Mass Media, and the Evolution of Political Consciousness.” It’s about how politicians manipulate language to manipulate people. Best to all classmates and we hope everybody is well and safe”.
Herbert Mathewson says, “I just got a blast from the past from Jack Astbury via an essay he had written about our 1960 ‘Western Adventure.’ His daughter had asked him to submit a memory to “Storyworthy,” and he picked our summer cross-country trip from Delta Upsilon to California and back in his 1949 Ford. (No, his daughter is not in middle school, she is 47 young.) He asked me to add to it. After getting over the amazement of how we each remembered WAY different events, and after confirming that he was not really asking for something to hang on the poster boards at his future wake, I did. I enjoy writing (Hubs List of medical fun facts – a data based biweekly newsletter) and probably added more than he wanted. The world is awaiting the final version.”
Gail Colin Leibovich writes, “Well, we are still here in Ithaca and have been since my 1962 graduation! In November of that year, I married a Cornell PhD student, Sidney Leibovich. In 1965 Sid completed his PhD while I worked at Cornell. We then moved to London for a year where Sid did a post doc. In 1966 Sid took an offer from Cornell to join the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department and is now Emeritus Professor. So, except for sabbaticals abroad and here in the U.S., here we are.
I worked in the Cornell Law Library from 1962 until 1965. When we returned from London, I took a job at Ithaca College as Catalog Librarian and worked there until our second son was born in 1970. After 5 years as a stay-at-home mom, I returned to Cornell to get an MBA from the Johnson School.
After five years as a V. P. banker, I became an entrepreneur and opened a furniture store which thrived until I retired in 2003 so that I would be free to spend more time with my, sadly, non-local grandchildren.
At first, I was very unhappy to be returning to Ithaca and not going to one of the other “more interesting” places that Sid could have taken a job but over the years I have come to love living here. Ithaca is a wonderful place to raise children.”
Helen Chuckrow sends word from Ossining, NY that “before the pandemic I was driving to students’ homes to prepare them for their bar and bat mitzvahs. Once the plague hit, I navigated to online tutoring – a welcome transition and one that permits me to have students from all over, such as NJ, NYC, and FL.
In addition to tutoring, I was reading Torah professionally at a couple of synagogues in the area, which was no longer feasible once the pandemic took over. As of now, I have published a small book(let): a prequel to my “regular size” book on biblical interpretation, which is about half finished. The book(let), Memoirs (Mafseek Publications), can be obtained by contacting me.
I’ve been keeping in touch with friends from Cornell: Judy Adnepos, Herb Goldman, and Paula Friedman. Then there’s my daughter, Ann Tappert, BA ‘93, who lives nearby, and, very occasionally, my son, who chooses to live far, far away in the depths of Florida. I live with a great guy, Rick, who has taught me all I know of hockey, football, and baseball, and stays with me only because I was once dragged to a Dodger game at Ebbets Field by a friend in the 1950s.”