1950s
Henry Courtenay Fenn, Jr. '50
Henry Courtenay Fenn, Jr. '50, a certified public accountant with a taste for adventure, was born in Beijing into a family of Presbyterian missionary educators in China on April 22, 1926. His grandfather, the Rev. Dr. Courtenay H. Fenn, Class of 1887, served as dean of the North China Union Theological College and president of the Union Bible Institute, both in Beijing. His father, Henry Courtenay Fenn '16, a noted authority on the Chinese spoken language, was president of the College of Chinese Studies in Beijing until the Communists took over the country, and his mother, the former Constance Sargent, was also a missionary educator. Engaged as well in the educational field in China was his uncle, William P. Fenn '23.
Brought to the United States as a child in 1928, young Courtenay Fenn attended several schools on both coasts prior to his graduation in 1944 from the Taft School in Connecticut. Drafted into military service that year, he served with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific theater and was discharged in 1946, after World War II's end. He entered Hamilton that fall and joined the Emerson Literary Society, but withdrew from the College after two years in 1948 and returned to China. Soon driven back to this country by the Communist takeover, he resumed his college studies and earned a B.S. degree in accounting in 1951 from the University of Connecticut at Storrs. Along the way he somehow found time, according to his newspaper obituary, for such unusual activities as packing tomatoes in the San Joaquin Valley, panning for gold in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and serving as a union organizer for lumber mill workers, also in California.
The College has little information on H. Courtenay Fenn's later career except that he was variously employed and ultimately engaged in private practice and with businesses as a certified public accountant. In addition, he was the proud possessor of a private pilot's license. He died at a hospice in Auburn, ME, on December 30, 2007. Previously married, in 1954, to Mary G. Rossman, he is survived by his wife of 37 years, Constance Fenn, nine children, and his three younger brothers, including Robert S. Fenn '50.
Samuel Barrett Hickman '51
Samuel Barrett Hickman '51, a longtime New York State Supreme Court justice who gained national attention when presiding over the Tawana Brawley defamation trial, was born on October 3, 1929, in Danbury, CT. His parents were Samuel J. and Bernice Mosgrove Hickman. "Barry" Hickman grew up in Carmel, NY, in Putnam County near the Connecticut border, where his father operated a general store. He was graduated in 1947 from Carmel High School as third in his class of 34, and, aided by a state scholarship, came to Hamilton that year. He joined Tau Kappa Epsilon and played intramural sports, but above all enjoyed singing and was a member and soloist with the Choir and Glee Club. With a future in the law in mind, he majored in history and political science.
Not many months after his graduation in the midst of the Korean conflict in 1951, Barry Hickman enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He served for four years and became a member of the Singing Sergeants of the Air Force Band. After his discharge as a staff sergeant in 1956, he entered Cornell Law School, where he obtained his LL.B. degree in 1959. He then became associated with the law firm of Kent, Hazzard, Jaeger & Wilson in White Plains, NY. Named a partner in 1969, he continued to practice law with the firm for 18 years.
While residing in Brewster and later Mahopac, NY, Barrett Hickman took part in community affairs, serving on the executive board of the Washington Irving Council, Boy Scouts of America, as a trustee of the Mahopac Public Library and the Mount Carmel Baptist Church, and on the board of the Putnam Community Hospital. He was also a past president of the American Lung Association of Hudson Valley.
In 1966, Barrett Hickman, a Republican, began his long career in public service when elected justice of the peace of the Town of Carmel. After serving as town justice for a decade, he was elected district attorney of Putnam County in 1976. Three years later, he was nominated for a county judgeship and again achieved election. In 1985, he sought and won a 14-year term on the New York State Supreme Court for the 9th Judicial District, which covers the five counties north of New York City. Reelected in 1999, he continued on the bench in the historic Putnam County Courthouse in Carmel until his retirement.
During his years as a judge, Barrett Hickman presided over innumerable civil cases, many of them mundane lawsuits, such as that of a woman who sued her neighbor because the neighbor's dog chased her cat. However, in 1997, the modest and mild-mannered justice found himself in the public glare when the notorious Tawana Brawley case, which had captured headlines for a decade, finally came to trial in a defamation suit. Stemming from the alleged 1987 abduction and rape by a group of white men of a black teenager, Tawana Brawley, the suit was brought against three of her advisors, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Alton H. Maddux, and C. Vernon Mason, by Steven A. Pagonis, a Dutchess County prosecutor whom they had accused of participating in the attack. After a grand jury had exonerated him and called the story of the kidnapping and rape a fabrication, Mr. Pagonis sued his accusers.
The trial lasted eight long months in a circus-like atmosphere that at times turned the courtroom into a theater of the judicially absurd. Amidst shouting matches and contempt-of-court threats, Justice Hickman, who became the target of much unwarranted media criticism, summoned all his considerable patience and endurance to see it through while carefully avoiding an ever-threatening mistrial. When the verdict was finally rendered by the jury in 1998, the defendants were found guilty of defamation. It was the end to a marathon nightmare for the dignified and always gentlemanly justice.
Barrett Hickman, who revered the law and was scrupulous in administering it fairly and impartially to all, found great satisfaction in serving on the bench. He succeeded in obtaining two two-year extensions beyond the state-mandated retirement of judges at age 70. When denied a third extension, he was compelled to retire at the end of 2003. Known for always having a stash of Hershey bars with almonds handy and for his ever-present Labrador dog Yvette, he liked to fish on Lake Mahopac, but especially enjoyed world travel, and many souvenirs of his trips to exotic places decorated his chambers. Left a widower with the death in 1987 of his wife, the former Ruth Hewitt, whom he had wed on September 7, 1952, in their hometown of Carmel, he remarried in 1992. He and his second wife, Valerie Stanley Hickman, Putnam County's tourism director, traveled extensively. They had only recently returned from a trip to Dubai and were planning one to Aruba when Justice Hickman suffered a fatal heart attack.
S. Barrett Hickman died in Carmel on November 16, 2007. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two daughters and two sons from his first marriage, Diane MacKnight, Deborah Santini, and J. Barrett '78 and S. Bruce Hickman. Also surviving are five grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
Herbert Albin Leonhardt '51
Herbert Albin Leonhardt '51, an orthopaedic surgeon who had long practiced in New Jersey, was born on January 30, 1926, in Brooklyn, NY. A son of Herbert H., a physician, and Anna Vonderschmidt Leonhardt, he entered the U.S. Navy following his graduation in 1943 from Adelphia Academy and served for four years through the end of World War II. Discharged as an ensign in 1947, he came to Hamilton from Lynbrook, NY, in the spring of 1948, intending to prepare for a future career in medicine. His brother Charles was already on the Hill as a premedical student.
Described by The Hamiltonian as "able and conscientious," and "a good-natured, congenial skipper [who] helped steer the Squires Club to the lee-side," Al Leonhardt was married on June 17, 1950, to Arlene Bassler in Baldwin, NY. During his senior year, the couple set up housekeeping in a North Village apartment where, as he later recalled, "the walls were so thin that if you drove a nail in the wall to hang up a picture, your neighbor could also hang one on the other end of the nail."
Al Leonhardt went on to the University of Buffalo School of Medicine following his graduation in 1951. Awarded his M.D. degree in 1955, he served his residency at Overlook Hospital in Summit, NJ, after an internship at Erie County Hospital in Buffalo. In 1957, he established his general practice in Florham Park, NJ, and maintained it until 1965, when he became the full-time director of the emergency room at Overlook. Having decided to specialize in orthopaedics, he left the hospital in 1969 for a four-year residency in that field at Jersey City Medical Center.
In 1973, Dr. Leonhardt set up his practice in Westfield, NJ, in association with the Westfield Orthopaedic Group. A board-certified orthopaedic surgeon, he continued to practice in the Westfield-Summit area while residing in Florham Park until 1994, when he retired to rural life in Honesdale, located in northeast Pennsylvania.
The proud possessor of a private pilot's license who liked to take to the skies in his earlier years, Al Leonhardt found more time in retirement for such favorite pastimes as fishing, golf, bowling, and bridge. As an old Navy man, he also enjoyed working with ship models.
H. Albin Leonhardt died at his home in Honesdale on November 7, 2007. In addition to his wife of 57 years, he is survived by a son, Kent A. Leonhardt; three daughters, Kim Ann Thomlinson, Kristin Grennan, and Karin Nucci; seven grandchildren and a great-grandchild; and his brother, Charles G. Leonhardt '48.
Rushmore Rowley Valentine, Jr. '51
Rushmore Rowley Valentine, Jr. '51, a former geologist, was born on February 12, 1927, to Rushmore R. '19, an accountant, and Adelaide Jones Valentine, in Brooklyn, NY. He was a nephew of Harvey H. '25 and Joseph C. Valentine '25. Young Rushmore grew up on Long Island, where he was graduated from Friends Academy in Locust Valley. He followed his father and uncles to College Hill in 1947, after serving in the U.S. Army Air Force during the final months and aftermath of World War II. He joined their fraternity, Delta Upsilon, before leaving the Hill after three semesters at the end of 1948.
Rushmore Valentine, who later attended Columbia University, "traveled the world in his early career as a geologist," according to his newspaper obituary. He was with Cities Service Petroleum Co. in Bogota, Colombia, when the College heard from him in 1956. He later settled in the Rochester, NY, area, where he was employed for 25 years by Rochester Products, manufacturers of containers and fuel injection systems, until his retirement in 1992.
The College has only recently learned of Rushmore R. Valentine, Jr.'s death on December 30, 2005. Predeceased by his wife, Nancy B. Valentine, he was survived by two daughters, Beth Quattrociocchi and Susan Schultz, and three grandchildren and a sister.
Roderick MacLean Gander '52, LL.D. (Hon.) '89
Roderick MacLean Gander '52, LL.D. (Hon.) '89, whose noteworthy career encompassed journalism, a college presidency, and elective politics, was born on December 26, 1930, in Bronxville, NY. The youngest son of MacLean Gander, a Wall Street investment banker and Foundation executive, and the former Helen Hadley, a committed Quaker, "Rod" Gander prepared for college at Phillips Andover Academy and came to Hamilton from Wilton, CT, in 1948. He joined Sigma Phi and went out for ice hockey, becoming the varsity team's goalie whose netminding was said to verge on perfection. When not "eating pucks" during the hockey season, he played tennis and served as associate editor of the Continental and on the Student Council. Elected to D.T. and Pentagon, the self-described "underachiever," at least in academic terms, was graduated in 1952.
Rod Gander gravitated to New York City, where in 1954, after a false start or two (banking and even playwriting with Hamilton friend Tom Meehan '51 while living in Greenwich Village), he found himself in the field of journalism. Beginning with a $27.50-a-week job on the clip desk at Newsweek, he became a reporter, writer, and assistant to the editor. Promoted to news editor for the magazine, he capped his career at Newsweek as chief of correspondents, a post he held for 15 years. In that position he was in charge of a network of 68 reporters based in 25 bureaus throughout the world. In addition, he was the magazine's principal labor negotiator and "all-around troubleshooter," and influenced Newsweek's direction through membership on its budgetary and planning committees.
Called its "solid and muscular right arm," Rod Gander helped steer the weekly publication through a particularly notable era for news gathering and reporting, including the civil rights movement, the Kennedy assassination (he spearheaded Newsweek's outstanding coverage of that tragic event), Vietnam, and Watergate. He recruited and gave encouragement to young, energetic, talented, and frequently "off-beat" reporters, and took on arch-rival Time magazine in head-to-head competition. With Rod Gander in charge of the news-gathering team, Newsweek flourished during that turbulent era. He also supported the opening of Newsweek's executive ranks to women and was instrumental in promoting integration efforts, hiring African-Americans for the newsroom and as reporters for the first time.
By 1980, Rod Gander, then assistant managing editor, was looking around for new and fresh challenges after 26 years at Newsweek. The following year, a tiny struggling college, founded after World War II on a former dairy farm in southern Vermont, provided an unexpected opportunity. Offered the presidency of Marlboro College, a near bankrupt institution of 200 students originally established to offer higher education to veterans on the G.I. Bill, he quickly took charge of its faltering fortunes. Unencumbered by graduate degrees or prior experience in academic administration, he was certainly no garden-variety college president. But then, Marlboro was far from a garden-variety college. It prided itself on highly individualized instruction through tutorials and had a town-meeting type of governance. However, chronic fiscal crises and declining enrollments had placed its survival in serious jeopardy.
With a whole-hearted commitment to Marlboro's salvation. Rod Gander launched its first capital campaign and introduced new development programs and aggressive recruitment strategies. His leadership, marked by a relaxed, personal administrative style, quickly reversed the downward trend, and within a few years Marlboro was financially healthy, its enrollments were growing, and it began to earn a national reputation as a liberal arts institution of unique quality. When he retired after 15 years as president in 1996, his departure was much regretted at Marlboro. Praised as "a man of character, commitment, compassion," he was credited with piloting the college "through narrow straits and rough waters" without ever losing sight of what he himself called "the human side of higher education." Universally known at the college as "Rod," and always highly approachable, he would be remembered by Marlboro alumni for his rumpled tweed jackets, but above all for his warm personal interest in each of them as students.
After his retirement, Rod Gander continued in typical fashion to concern himself with social betterment as a trustee of two non-profit organizations, a homeless shelter and an innovative photography program for "at risk" high school students. He also enjoyed fishing and "keeping technology at bay by typing on my old Remington." By 2002, again ready for a new challenge at the age of 72, he decided to enter elective politics and successfully ran for the Vermont State Senate. As a Democrat representing Windham County, he served until 2006, when failing health compelled him to retire. He left behind a legacy for integrity as "the conscience of the Senate" and as a champion of liberal causes.
Roderick M. Gander, an ever loyal alumnus, died at his home in Brattleboro, VT, on September 24, 2007, after a four-year battle with lung cancer. He is survived by his wife, the former Isabelle Salamone, whom he had married on December 20, 1954, in Westfield, NY. Also surviving are two sons, MacLean C. and James T. Gander; a daughter, Elizabeth Pierce; and five grandchildren. As the Brattleboro Reformer noted at his passing, Rod Gander's "entire life was animated by his passion for social justice, his instinctive impulse to mentor and support those he worked with, and his deep, abiding love for his wife and family."
Robert Samuel Thompson '53
Robert Samuel Thompson '53, a lawyer and former municipal judge, was born on November 2, 1930, in Cleveland, OH. His parents were Wayne C., also a lawyer, who died when Bob Thompson was 7 years old, and Cornelia Anderson Thompson Baker. With his maternal grandmother as guardian, he grew up in Warren, OH, and attended Valley Forge Military Academy in Pennsylvania. He entered Hamilton following his graduation from Valley Forge in 1949 with a future career as an engineer in mind, and joined Delta Kappa Epsilon as well as the Charlatans acting troupe. Interested in photography since his youth, he also became an active member of the Camera Club. Known for his "five-gallon hat" and his "sleek Oldsmobile convertible," he was admired by Dean Winton Tolles for his earnestness, sincerity, and industriousness. He majored in physics and left the Hill with his A.B. degree in 1953.
However, instead of going on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as he had originally intended, Bob Thompson went to law school at the University of Michigan, where he obtained his LL.B. degree in 1956. He began his career in the law as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, DC, but soon entered the U.S. Air Force as a lawyer in its Judge Advocate General's Corps. A graduate of the Air Command and Staff College, he remained in the Air Force for 20 years until 1977, serving as a staff judge advocate at various air bases from Michigan, Oregon, and Alaska to Morocco, Japan, and Vietnam. While in Vietnam with the rank of major in 1970, he was chief of civil law and military affairs for the 7th Air Force.
In 1977, following his retirement from the Air Force, Bob Thompson settled in McMinnville, OR, southwest of Portland, and there established his private practice. He also served for many years as a municipal judge. A past president of the Oregon Municipal Judges Association as well as the Oregon Society of Sons of the American Revolution, he retired in 2003. His spare time was devoted to such pursuits as boating, traveling, and camping, and he maintained his interest in photography.
Robert S. Thompson died in McMinnville, of pneumonia, on January 30, 2007. Surviving him is his wife, (Dorothy) Joanne Courtney Thompson, whom he had married on December 20, 1958. He is also survived by two sons, Robert D. and Richard W. Thompson.
Herbert Jefferson Farr III '54
Herbert Jefferson Farr III '54, a former businessman who contributed to the advancement of Alzheimer's research and treatment while combating the disease himself, was born on June 30, 1932, in Cleveland, OH. The son of Herbert J., Jr., and Margery Frost Farr, he was a grandson of the Rev. Cuthbert C. Frost, Class of 1897, and nephew of Bruce L. Frost '24. Herb Farr grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights and came to College Hill in 1950 from Shaker Heights High School. He joined Delta Upsilon, played soccer, and sang in the Glee Club and Choir. Hailed by The Hamiltonian for his "quiet efficiency" and as one who could always be counted on when there was a tough job to do, he was graduated in 1954.
With the intention of carving out a career as a lawyer, Herb Farr went on to the University of Michigan's law school. After a year, however, he decided that law was not for him, and he left Michigan to enter the U.S. Army. His two-year term of enlistment included service in the Army's Counter Intelligence Corps in Europe, which permanently whetted his appetite for travel. He returned to Cleveland in 1957 and joined his family's business, Pioneer Electronics Supply Co. (previously Pioneer Radio Supply, now part of Agylisis Inc.). He became advertising and sales promotion manager for the company and remained with it until it was sold in 1971. A former president of the Tri-State Chapter of the National Electronics Distributors Association, he was subsequently employed as a trust representative by Bank One in Cleveland until 1988, when Alzheimer's disease began to interfere with his ability to work with numbers, compelling his retirement.
Despite the disease, which was not diagnosed until 1994, Herb Farr continued for many years to lead a full and meaningful life with the help and encouragement of his devoted wife, Janet Musson Farr, whom he had wed "after a whirlwind romance" in December 1978. He was also aided by his service dog Edith, a treasured companion who guided him home from his regular long walks. He continued to enjoy extensive travel and often returned to College Hill for class reunions. In addition to Hamilton, he was devoted to the sport of curling, both in his younger days as a player (which took him throughout the U.S., including Utica, as well as Canada and even Europe) and as a spectator. He also enjoyed music, a legacy of his days singing in John Baldwin's Choir, and was devoted to the Cleveland Orchestra, whose concerts he attended until the very end of his life.
In retirement, Herb Farr was a volunteer at the Holden Arboretum, guiding children through its many trails. He and Janet were also active in the Cleveland International Program, hosting many visitors from various countries in their home. However, what he rightly believed to be the greatest achievement of his later years was his contribution to the combating of Alzheimer's. When given the opportunity to participate in drug intervention research, he readily and enthusiastically became involved. Working with the research registry at the University Memory and Aging Center and the Benjamin Rose Institute in Cleveland, he took part in more than 30 research studies over a period of 13 years. Utterly committed to furthering those research efforts, he hoped that they would lead to lifting the burden on future generations in dealing with the ravages of dementia.
Herbert J. Farr III, a faithful and generously supportive alumnus, long a resident of suburban Chagrin Falls, OH, died on November 8, 2007. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two daughters and a son, Jennifer Jackson, Alison Carletta, and Herbert J. Farr IV, born of his first marriage, in 1959, to Marian L. Melcher. Also surviving are four stepsons, Mark, Eric, Brian, and Ross Loughmiller, and 13 grandchildren, a great-grandchild, and a sister, as well as his dog Edith.
Edmund Granville Hamann '55
Edmund Granville Hamann '55, for 23 years the director of Suffolk University's library, was born on April 25, 1933, in New York City. A son of Edmund H., a chemist recognized in his day as one of the country's leading authorities on essence oils, and Mary Foss Hamann, he grew up in Riverside, CT, prepared for college at Vermont Academy, and came to Hamilton in 1951. Ted Hamann joined the Emerson Literary Society and lettered in soccer in his senior year. Amidst "a pall of blue pipe smoke and wails of Louis Armstrong," according to The Hamiltonian, he "serenely applied himself to studies" and was graduated as a history and biology major in 1955.
Having chosen librarianship as his future career, Ted Hamann obtained an M.A. degree in library science from the University of Michigan in 1956. He stayed on at Michigan as a catalog librarian until 1959, the year in which he acquired a second M.A., in history, from the University. Thereafter, he spent two years as a librarian at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where he met Barbara J. Scudder. They were married in Auckland on February 13, 1961.
In 1966, after five years as a serials librarian at the University of New Hampshire, Ted Hamann became an order librarian at Cornell University. He remained in Ithaca until 1973, when he settled in the Boston area. He was at Harvard University for a year before his appointment as college librarian of Suffolk University on Beacon Hill in Boston. In charge of the University's Mildred F. Sawyer Library until his retirement in 1998, he early embraced computerization and led his staff in computerizing the Library's catalog. In addition, he worked diligently to organize the Fenway Library Consortium, which included such area colleges as Simmons and Emerson.
In addition to finding great satisfaction in his work at Suffolk, Ted Hamann was devoted to reading, especially about World War II. Above all, he was passionate about bicycling and twice bicycled 3,500 miles across the country from the West Coast back to Massachusetts. He became New England regional director of the League of American Wheelmen (later Bicyclists) and, while serving on the Cambridge Bicycle Committee, was also an ardent advocate for safer and better bicycling. A champion of transportation reform to address the needs of bicyclists as well as pedestrians in the Boston area, he customarily commuted by bicycle from his suburban home to Beacon Hill.
Ted Hamann, who resided in West Newton and later Cambridge before moving to Falmouth on Cape Cod in 2004, also organized a Cape Cod chapter of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition and served on the Falmouth Bikeways Committee. Despite having suffered a major stroke in 2006, leaving him severely disabled, he continued to enjoy riding around the neighborhood on his recumbent tricycle.
Edmund G. Hamann, a faithful Hamiltonian, died in Falmouth on November 13, 2007. He is survived by his wife, Christine Weisiger, whom he had wed in 1994; a daughter, Philippa H. Comfort, and a son, Jeremy F. Hamann, from his first 30-year marriage to Barbara Scudder, who also survives him; and three grandchildren, a brother, three sisters, and nieces and nephews, including Charles F. Hamann.'88.
Stephen Alonzo Powell '55
Stephen Alonzo Powell '55, a bookshop owner and proprietor, was born on July 21, 1933, in Summit, NJ. The only son of Bryan B. and Elizabeth Baker Powell, he grew up with his five sisters in that city and was graduated from Summit High School in 1951. He came to College Hill that year and joined the Emerson Literary Society. Although not athletic himself, Steve Powell had a great interest in sports (he had managed his high school's basketball team as well as serving as sports editor of its student newspaper). On the Hill he became manager of the track and cross-country teams and a member of the Outing Club. Credited by The Hamiltonian with "great common sense and modesty," he kept the ELS house in "physical and moral repair" as its house manager.
Not long after his graduation in 1955, Steve Powell entered the U.S. Army to put in his then required two years of military service. Following his discharge in 1957 and various employment, he decided on a career in librarianship. He obtained his M.S. degree in library science from Rutgers University in 1962 and began his career at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. Subsequently employed at the University of New Hampshire and as a circulation librarian at the University of Colorado, he also managed historical manuscript archives for several state and local libraries and an environmental group.
By the early 1970s, Steve Powell had gravitated into bookselling. He became owner of used book stores, first in Connecticut and later in Pennsylvania. He relocated his book business, which specialized in modern literary first editions, to Doylestown, PA, in the early 1990s, and there entered into partnership with a longtime friend, Janet Green, as owners of Bucks County Bookshop.
Stephen Powell, who had lived and worked in numerous places before settling down in Doylestown, was fond of travel and did so extensively both in the U.S.A. and abroad. He especially enjoyed driving and made at least one cross-country trip every year. Committed to the cause of social justice, he was devoted to "the inquiring life," and his interests were wide-ranging. They encompassed music, literature, and history as well as NBA basketball. His day invariably began with the morning newspaper along with his coffee, followed by further stimulation through lively conversation.
Stephen A. Powell died in Doylestown on September 18, 2007. In addition to his business partner and good friend "Jan" Green and many other friends, he is survived by three sisters, Alice Savage, Ellen Bell, and Jean Warnock, and numerous nieces and nephews.
William Edwin Hall '57
William Edwin Hall '57, for many years a sales representative in the fragrance and cosmetic industry, was born on July 20, 1935, in Pittsburgh, PA. His parents were Ernest Edwin Hall, a sales manager, and the former Jane Guynn. Bill Hall came to Hamilton in 1953 from Ridgewood, NJ, where he was graduated from Ridgewood High School. He joined Sigma Phi, majored in history, and became a member of Nous Onze.
Bill Hall donned a U.S. Marine Corps uniform immediately after his graduation in 1957 and served in the enlisted ranks for two years. On July 6, 1958, while in the Marines, he was married to Inta Z. Eglavs in Asbury Park, NJ. Following his discharge and while back in the Garden State, he found employment as a salesman for Lincoln Warehouse Corp., located in Manhattan. In 1959, he obtained a sales position with Colgate Palmolive Co. and five years later became a sales representative for Lanvin-Charles of the Ritz, also headquartered in New York City. By that time, he had taken up residence in Massachusetts.
William E. Hall, a resident of Hingham, MA, for the past 40 years and a past president of the New England Cosmetics Association, died on December 4, 2007, while hospitalized in Weymouth, MA. In addition to his wife of 49 years, he is survived by a son, Gregory G. Hall; a daughter, Gwendolyn I. Baldry; and two grandsons. He was predeceased by his elder son, William E. Hall, Jr.
Lloyd Hay Bremer '58
Lloyd Hay Bremer '58, a physician and surgeon, was born on March 17, 1936, in Orange, NJ. The only son of Lloyd Paul Bremer '29, a building contractor and one-time mayor of Morris Township, NJ, and the former Helen H. Taylor, he was a nephew of Kenneth M. '33 and Lewis Paul Bremer, Jr. '35. Lloyd Bremer, also known as "Pat," grew up in the Garden State and entered Hamilton from Morristown High School in 1954. He joined Chi Psi, later becoming its house steward, served on the Student Curriculum Committee, and was a founder and president of the campus Young Republican Club. He majored in biochemistry in preparation for medical school and was graduated in 1958.
Pat Bremer went on to Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia, where he earned his M.D. degree in 1962. An internship and residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit was followed by a surgical residency in Worcester, MA. In 1968, he became an emergency physician at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, which has one of the busiest emergency departments in Massachusetts, and he held that position for many years. He was also a partner in the Mid Cape Medical Center and the first medical director of the Cape and Islands Emergency Medical Services System, both in Hyannis. Because of his pioneering contributions, the System established a leadership award in his name and honor.
In 1995, Lloyd H. Bremer retired with his wife Nina to Arizona and took up residence in Sedona. He was residing in the village of Oak Creek, AZ, when he died on July 26, 2007. In addition to his wife, whom he had married in 1971, he is survived by their sons, Christopher H. '95 and Robert Bremer. Also surviving are a son and daughter, Paul T. and Ann Elizabeth Bremer, from his first marriage, in 1959, to Barbara Thompson, and two grandchildren and three sisters.
