Spring 2013

Pat Moran (now deceased):

Hi, '52ers!  Your correspondent is getting stronger—feeling better and about 80-90 percent of normal.  Thanks to all the well-wishers.

Daz and I ventured back to Bethlehem in October to be with Wally Field, our gracious host, and saw the Fordham and Columbia football games.  At the Columbia game I spoke to Cass Camarda (deceased), Bob McCann (deceased), Dan Kaplan (deceased), Chick Kuss and Bob Hoyt.  Speaking of Cas, his wife, Lockie, sent a great card wishing me well and noting that they were closing in on 60 years of marriage and that Cas was still gainfully employed in commercial real estate.  While east, Daz and I drove up to Vermont and became "leaf peepers," local term for those viewing the gorgeous fall foliage.

A very poignant and from the heart letter was received from Laurel Johnson, daughter of Neil Fisher.  Neil has been in a health care facility with Alzheimer's since 2010.  Upon graduation, Neil married Joyce Belk, his college sweetheart.  They settled in western New York, where Neil worked for Westinghouse as an electrical engineer and they raised five children.  In the early 1970s, Neil became increasingly dissatisfied with suburban life and the "keeping up with the Joneses," so he went back to school and earned a master's degree in teaching from SUNY Buffalo.  Call it a shift in direction or a midlife crisis.  Neil then moved his family of seven to a 35-acre working farm in Cambria, N.Y., and took a teaching post at Erie County Community College.  Neil taught electrical technology at E.C.C.C. until retirement in 1993.  He loved the farming life and enjoyed the diversity of his first farm, where he raised beef cattle, chickens and every imaginable fruit.  Although there was plenty of work involved with the farm, his family also loved the rural life.  In 1974 Neil bought a 135-acre farm near Lake Ontario, where he continued to raise beef cattle and hay.  Neil was always slightly ahead of his time, and he marched to the tune of a different drummer.  He designed and installed on his farm one of the first wind turbines in New York State and also designed co-generation systems in several commercial buildings in downtown Buffalo.  He worked with food banks and anti-hunger organizations, donating surplus produce from the farm.  Neil and Joyce were married for 57 years until her death in 2009.  With medication and his extraordinary number of brain cells, he was able to stave off the most debilitating effects of the Alzheimer's until 2010.  He is well taken care of hospital administration and community and still enjoys his love of music and good food.  Please keep Neil in your thoughts and prayers.

Guy Ailing writes that he found himself on the class's "lost list."  That is probably because he was abroad for 25 years with The United Church Board of World Ministries, the overseas arm of the Church of Christ, where he worked in hospital administration and community health outreach in Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, India and Papua New Guinea.  Guy is retired and living on Pawley's Island, S.C.  Thanks, Guy, for this most interesting story.

Thanks, '52ers, for all your input. Many letters and e-mails tell me that the class likes the news I provide.  You send it—I'll print it!  God bless.

Deceased

Pat (now deceased)