More often than not these days, it seems that when I contact a classmate I hear that someone close to us from our UMO days has passed away. Sadly, that was the case when I phoned Carolyn Skolfield early in December 2023. I had gotten a shock when I opened our Boothbay Register and saw Janet Malcolm Buck’s photo and obituary. Janet passed away on November 13, 2023. Carolyn told me that Janet and her husband, Robert Buck, had moved from their home in Brunswick to a veteran’s home in Scarborough. Since then, Bob has also passed away. While at the university, Janet was a Sophomore Eagle, a recipient of a Danforth Fellowship, and a Chi Omega. She taught at Brunswick High School and in summers worked at the family-owned business, Logan’s Marina on Bailey Island, ME. She traveled extensively during her adult life. For 22 years, Janet worked for H&R Block as a supervisor, tax instructor, and senior tax preparer.
Carolyn was planning to go to Freeport the day after we talked to visit her son John and her grandson Jack, who is in the merchant marine and would be shipping out the next day as third mate on an extended voyage. John works from home in Falmouth managing their family’s properties in Maine and Washington.
Our esteemed president, Jiggs Cecchini, sent me a copy of our class’ fund held at the UMaine Foundation. The bottom line is that the principal value as of December 31, 2023 was $43,952. This figure represents the total of gifts that have been made to the fund excluding any market appreciation or depreciation. The beginning market value as of January 1, 2023 was $49,123 and the ending market value as of December 31, 2023 was $64,737.
An email from Wesley English reported that he and LuWayne Arnold attended the last Senior Alumni Reunion. There was only one other member of the Class of ’57 there, Sally Bransford Irons. Wes said Jim Varner wasn’t there, but he knows he’s alive and well because he sees him on the video calls that they are both involved with when the Senior Alumni scholarship committee meets. You can see his video about the construction at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pTVYq2W663rSmPrWeQMl4F7jsOPU3M7y/view.
An update on the barn: Wes received the certificate of occupancy in the middle of January and by the time you read this perhaps you’ll have already visited Wes and LuWayne and shared in some marvelous music! The building of the barn has been quite an undertaking. Wes had the vision and then involved family and many Maine craftsmen and artisans in the project. If you want to share in this amazing story, you can find the link on our class’ website.
It’s always good to have an update from classmates who keep in touch. Dottie Richards Marshall keeps busy with trips, family and church activities. I jokingly referred to wintah when I wrote to her, and she responded, “I liked your spelling of wintah. No matter how many years it has been since I lived in Maine, I still have my Maine accent!” My dad, who was born and brought up on Swan Island (across from Richmond), still had his wonderful Maine accent after living in the South for about 50 years. I think It’s too bad that the Maine accent is being “diluted.”
Elva Brackett Alden’s unique Christmas newsletter written on beautiful holiday stationery featured a gratitude list which included licking Covid, a preemie great-grandson (now thriving), loving and caring adult kids who keep track of her, visits from family members, news of four grandchildren, and a trip to New England which included watching a granddaughter play collegiate tennis at her college in NH and eating Maine lobster.
Sarah Kappas Dyer wrote: “Since retiring from being vice president of Rinehart, I have settled in a quiet little town in the Quabbin district of Massachusetts. The peacefulness of the area has allowed me to enjoy the wildlife on my acreage as the area is a sanctuary for the animals. I have also pursued a lifelong desire to become a watercolorist. Thus I have used the skill to teach watercolor painting in the Roads Scholar Program for 15 years. I am fortunate to have these extra years to follow desires when I was too busy with family and work. I have two daughters, two sons-in- law, and three young adult grandchildren.”
Sally Cosseboom Webster wrote that after 20 years of being Florida snowbirds, they are selling their Florida house and moving into a new house they have built in Ellsworth. She said that from now on summers will be spent at Green Lake.
To my delight I finally connected with our classmate, Mary Jane Kilpatrick Hussey. Here’s what she wrote: “It has been a few years since I managed to join with my U of Maine friends for reunion gatherings. I beg forgiveness and do want to connect with you. The pandemic really did a number on all of us. For me it hastened a return to living in the USA after living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for 38 years. When Gorham died in December of 2018, I took a year to decide how best to walk the next path of life. Being unable to see my family in the USA for two years motivated me to move. I began planning a year ago and carried out my move to Seattle in May of 2023. It was not an easy move. My son Brian came from New York to drive with me in a very loaded car to Seattle. The moving company, Allied Vans, provided the worst move I have ever experienced. They managed to lose my passport in the flurry of packing and loading and then managed to lose an entire dish pack with all of my eating dishes! Allied Vans took no responsibility for the losses. My birth certificate got me across the border. Border police said I had to bring a letter of compliance for my 2015 Subaru. It then took six weeks to pry the letter of compliance from Subaru Canada. When I returned to the border with the required letter in hand the border officials said my car did not have tire pressure gauges. Therefore, my Subaru could never be registered in the USA. I must go back to Canada and sell my vehicle. Happily, I was successful as a salesperson and did find a buyer with help from good friends in Canada. I finished the move into a lovely apartment in a senior’s independent housing development called the Kenney. The building dates back to 1907 and has lovely grounds and a beautiful seaside park very nearby. Being so close to the park brings me great pleasure. My family in Seattle and Los Angeles pitched in with help in unpacking, hanging pictures and set up of electronics. I love being close physically to my family of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Just as the month of October got started Winky, Peter’s wife, and my daughter-in-law, went on a biking trip to Slovenia with longtime friends. Peter stayed at home because his Parkinson’s Disease has progressed to a stage where biking a long day was not enjoyable. We received news that Winky had a massive heart attack while biking. She died suddenly with no warning or pain. We were devastated. The family planned a loving celebration of her life that was carried out in early December. Life always mixes joy and sadness.”
Dear classmates, may you find the best rhythms for your life.