1950s
Richard Cargill Cole ’50
Richard Cargill Cole ’50, professor of English emeritus at Davidson College and a distinguished literary scholar, was born on April 16, 1926, in Kansas City, KS. He was the elder son of Horace R. Cole, a postal supervisor, and the former Iris V. Cargill. “Dick” Cole grew up in Kansas City, where he was graduated in 1944 from Wyandotte High School. World War II was then still raging, and he immediately went on active duty with the U.S. Army Air Forces. He served as a cartographer attached to the First Tactical Air Force during the Rhineland and Central European campaigns.
Dick Cole was with the Twelfth Tactical Air Command in occupied Germany when discharged as a 20-year-old staff sergeant in 1946. He entered Hamilton, along with many other veterans of the Armed Forces, that fall. Described by The Hamiltonian as “sober, imperturbable” and one who “saw things as they were,” he concentrated on his studies, in which he excelled. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, he received his diploma in 1950 with honors in history and philosophy. By that time, influenced by the academic life at Hamilton and by greatly admired and respected professors such as Edgar B. Graves and George L. Nesbitt, he decided to “follow in their footsteps” and become a college teacher.
Dick Cole went on to Yale University, where he obtained his M.A. degree in English in 1951. He began his teaching career at Manlius School, outside of Syracuse, NY, but after a year, he returned to graduate study at Yale and earned his Ph.D. in 1955. The previous year he had joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin as an instructor in English. He left Texas in 1957 to become an associate professor of Radford College (now University) in Virginia, where he was promoted to full professor. In 1961, he began his long tenure as a full professor at Davidson College in North Carolina, which he liked to call “the Hamilton of the South.”
An authority on 18th-century English literature and culture, Professor Cole was the author or editor of six books as well as numerous articles in professional journals. His first book, Irish Booksellers and English Writers, 1740-1800, published in 1986, was hailed as “an important contribution to the history of eighteenth-century publishing.” In 1993, the year he retired from Davidson after 32 years of teaching there, his Thomas Mante: Writer, Soldier, Adventurer was published. It was the first full-scale biography of the 18th-century English military historian. Also published that year was the first volume of his most significant work, The General Correspondence of James Boswell, 1766-1767, of which he was principal editor. The second volume of the correspondence, covering 1768-69, appeared in 1997. Both part of the magnificent Yale University research edition of the personal papers of Samuel Johnson’s famed amanuensis, Boswell, it provides rich source material for scholars of 18th-century Britain.
After his retirement, Professor Cole continued to reside in Davidson, NC. Active in the Davidson College Presbyterian Church, where he sang second tenor in its choir for 30 years, he was also a classical pianist who gave many local recitals. Over the years he had traveled extensively in Europe, especially England and Ireland, and he did considerable hiking and cycling. In retirement, he continued to pursue his scholarly research as well as his interest in genealogy. He remained a faithfully devoted Hamiltonian throughout his life.
Richard C. Cole died at his home in a retirement community in Davidson on March 23, 2013. He had been married on June 27, 1956, in Warren, OH, to Florence A. Mason, whose death in 2009 left him a widower. Surviving are a daughter, Celia Shaw; a son, Paul R. Cole; and four grandchildren.
Murray Drabkin ’50
Murray Drabkin ’50, a prominent Washington, DC, attorney and influential supporter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, was born on Aug. 3, 1928, in New York City. The son of Max and Minnie Masin Drabkin, he grew up in Port Chester, NY, and came to College Hill on scholarships in 1946 from Port Chester High School. On the Hill, he excelled in debate as well as academics. He won the Head Prize Oration and was elected to the forensic honor society Delta Sigma Rho. Also the winner of the Golding Essay Prize, he was graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with honors in political science, history and public speaking in 1950. Intending to pursue a career in the law, he was given a head start by Professor Edgar B. Graves, who introduced him to the history and development of English common law by way of a private tutorial.
Murray Drabkin enrolled at Harvard Law School, where he acquired his LL.B. degree in 1953. Thereafter he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served for four years on active duty, including sea duty aboard an aircraft carrier. He attained the reserve rank of lieutenant commander. Released in 1957, he settled in Washington and became counsel to the committee on the judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives. During his eight years on Capitol Hill, he worked on major civil rights and federal courts legislation, and directed a nationwide study of state taxation of interstate commerce.
In 1965, Murray Drabkin was appointed special assistant to New York City’s Mayor John V. Lindsay. In that post for three years, he directed the 1966 revision of the city’s tax laws, becoming the architect of a reorganized tax structure, one more equitable for companies doing business in New York. He subsequently established his private practice in New York and Washington, specializing in tax law. As an advisor to state and local governments on fiscal matters, he served as director of a Connecticut State Revenue Task Force and as a member of the Tax Revision Commission for the District of Columbia.
In time, Murray Drabkin developed an expertise in corporate bankruptcy and financial restructuring. He was a resident partner in the Washington office of Webster & Sheffield in 1980 when appointed by the Federal Government as the trustee in reorganization of the Auto-Train Corp., which carried passengers and their automobiles by rail from Washington to Florida. He took responsibility for directing the railroad’s operations while developing a plan for its reorganization. In another nationally known corporate bankruptcy case, that of the pharmaceutical company A.H. Robins, he was the lead lawyer for some 300,000 women who were injured by the Dalkon Shield, an intrauterine birth control device that Robins had marketed. Then a partner with the Washington – New York law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, whose financial restructuring practice he had founded, Murray Drabkin led a team that achieved a $2.835 billion settlement for the victims of the Dalkon Shield after almost three years of litigation. It was believed to be the largest product liability settlement up to that time. In 2004, in recognition of his extensive work in bankruptcy restructuring and the overhaul of bankruptcy laws, the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges awarded him honorary membership in its organization.
Murray Drabkin, who retired in 1992 as a senior partner of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, was later a partner and of counsel with the Washington firm of Hopkins & Sutter until his retirement in 2000. A former president of the Harvard Club of Washington and a member of the nominating committee of the Harvard University Board of Overseers, he was also a member of the Board of Governors of Washington College in Maryland. However, his later years were primarily devoted to the Phi Beta Kappa Society as president since 2001 of its Fellows affiliate. Totally committed to Phi Beta Kappa, the honorary society dedicated to the promotion of education in the liberal arts, he participated in the work of the Phi Beta Kappa Senate and the Phi Beta Kappa Foundation as a member of its investment committee. Above all, as president of the Fellows of Phi Beta Kappa (one of his predecessors in that office was a fellow Hamiltonian, the late Richard W. Couper ’44), he brokered connections between the society and persons of national influence, adding to the society’s visibility and prestige as well as its financial support.
Wed in 1971 to Mary Elizabeth Hooper Ferris, Murray Drabkin spent many happy days sailing with his wife on Chesapeake Bay and in Maine. Known to friends as a man who “loved a good joke and any discussion about sailing,” he maintained a second home on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, an 1835 house that he had restored.
Murray Drabkin died unexpectedly on Feb. 3, 2013. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a sister, Charlotte Garrell, as well as a niece and two nephews.
Harold Lockwood Ferris, Jr. ’52
Harold Lockwood Ferris, Jr. ’52, employed for 30 years in the insurance field, grew up in Auburn, NY, where he was born on Dec. 15, 1930. The son of Harold L., Class of 1906, a business executive, and Ethel Hodgman Ferris, he prepared for college at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts and followed his father to the Hill in 1948. “Hal” Ferris joined his father’s fraternity, Chi Psi, and was later in charge of keeping its lodge, with great success, in “good physical shape.” A talented athlete credited by The Hamiltonian for giving his all in both the swimming pool and on the lacrosse field (he lettered in both sports), he majored in history and geology, and was graduated in 1952.
A month later, Hal Ferris was clad in a U.S. Navy uniform. He entered the Navy at the time of the Korean War and served for four years, primarily doing work related to meteorology. Discharged in 1956, he settled in Florida, where he took courses at the University of Florida in preparation for a career in the insurance field. By the time of his wedding in Gainesville on Oct. 17, 1959, to Mary E. Wade, a librarian at the university, he was working for the Automobile Mutual Insurance Co. of America (AMICA) in Tampa as an underwriter.
Hal Ferris took up permanent residence in St. Petersburg, FL, where he served as branch manager for AMICA. He remained with the company as an underwriter until his retirement in 1986. He subsequently enjoyed extensive travel and, above all, participation in masters swimming meets. Intensely dedicated to competitive swimming, he was president and meet director of the local masters club and chaired the 1,300-member Florida Association of Master Swimmers. He continued to compete, and quite credibly, in U.S. Masters Championships well into his 70s. At home in St. Petersburg, he was an active member of Optimist International and onetime president of its local club.
Hal Ferris, a steadfast and generously supportive alumnus, assisted the College with its fundraising efforts for many years. He was a faithful attendant at alumni gatherings, both in Florida and on the Hill, and an ever ready and eager volunteer on Hamilton’s behalf.
Harold L. Ferris, Jr. died on Feb. 27, 2013, at a hospice in Pinellas Park, FL. Predeceased by his wife of 50 years in 2009, he is survived by a daughter, Susan Booth; a son, Wade L. Ferris; and three grandsons.
Edward Norman Draffin ’54
Edward Norman Draffin ’54, a retired director of the Suffolk County (NY) Probation Department and organizational leader in the field of probation and parole, grew up in Brooklyn, where he was born on Dec. 15, 1931. The son of Thomas B., an engineer and utilities company inspector, and Dorothy Ebbets Draffin, a school teacher, he prepared for college at Trinity-Pawling School and arrived on the Hill in 1950. The highly personable “Ed” Draffin, who also came to be known as “Ghost,” proved himself to be an enthusiastic participant in campus life. He joined Chi Psi, later serving as the lodge’s social chairman, and, according to The Hamiltonian, “added much to Chi Psi in the way of song and sarcasm.” Blessed with a fine tenor voice, he sang in John Baldwin’s Choir for four years and was one of the eight charter members of the now venerable singing ensemble, the Buffers. He was also a member, and president in his senior year, of that group dedicated to social conviviality, Nous Onze.
Ed Draffin, who majored in political science and psychology, left the Hill with his diploma in 1954. Kept out of military service by an ulcer, he took business courses at Columbia University and was employed for a time by Household Finance. In 1957, he began his long and noteworthy career with Suffolk County as a probation officer. Civil service exams quickly brought promotion to supervisor and eventually to commissioner. He found great satisfaction in a career that combined law enforcement with social work, and he “loved most every minute of it,” as he once remarked in retrospect.
By the time he was named Suffolk County’s probation director in 1985, Ed Draffin had gained wide recognition in the field of protective services. He had been twice selected, in 1969 and 1978, as the New York State Probation and Parole Officers’ “Man of the Year.” Also active in professional organizations, he took a leading role in forming the New York State Probation and Parole Officers Association as well as the American Probation and Parole Association on the national level. He served as president of the New York State Council of Probation Administrators and as a member of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, and was the reorganizer of the Middle Atlantic States Conference on Corrections. Locally, he was president of the Suffolk County Police Association.
Ed Draffin, who retired as county probation and parole commissioner in 1990, was also active as an officer in Masonic organizations. Ardently devoted to Hamilton as well as to Chi Psi, he remained a staunch supporter of fraternities as a part of college life.
Wed on Jan. 16, 1960, to Mary C. Doyle in Garden City, NY, Ed Draffin was left a widower upon her death in 1990. Two years later, he and Christine Katibah were married. They enjoyed spending time at their second home in Arlington, VT, and winter sojourns in Tucson, AZ. They also traveled extensively, and wherever they went, Ed would be in touch with Hamilton friends. Ed, who continued to hunt and fish with pleasure in retirement, also dabbled in an antique business on the side, with old cut glass as his specialty.
Edward N. Draffin, long a resident of Bayport and Medford on Long Island, was residing in Vermont when he died on March 13, 2013. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his son, Robert E. Draffin ’82, and two grand-children. His daughter, Laurie, predeceased him in 2003.
Donald Joseph Benza ’55
Donald Joseph Benza ’55, who retired as a high school principal after 33 years of teaching and administration, was born on July 25, 1933, in Liberty, NY, in the southeastern corner of the state, near the Pennsylvania border. His parents were Joseph C., a barber, and Irene Moutoux Benza. He arrived on College Hill in 1951 from Liberty High School, where he had been president of the Student Council. Don Benza, also known on the Hill as “Benz,” became a member of Psi Upsilon and participated in junior varsity baseball and basketball. A member of the Intramural Council, he gained recognition on campus as “a genuinely good guy,” so much so that “his fraternity brothers got free rides from him just about every time they needed one.” He majored in English and history, and in his sophomore year he was encouraged by Professor J. Franklin Hunt to turn his thoughts to a future career in education. That marked “the turning point of my life,” as he recalled many years later.
Following his graduation in 1955, Don Benza pursued study for a year at Albany State Teachers College before entering the U.S. Army. Soon thereafter, on Dec. 23, 1956, he and Margiana E. Tompkins were married in Liberty. He served as a special agent in the Army Counter Intelligence Corps and was stationed in Germany. Discharged as a sergeant in 1959, he soon joined the faculty of the Chenango Valley Central Schools in Binghamton, NY. He would remain on its high school faculty for 23 years as a history and English teacher, and an additional 10 years as vice principal and principal. For a time he also chaired its social studies department.
Don Benza, who added to his credentials by earning an M.A. degree in social studies in 1965 from the State University of New York at Albany, gained a following among his students for his contagious love of history and for his kindness and concern. As one former student recalled, he was “a wonderful man with a fantastic smile and wonderfully friendly way about him.” And when it came to their choosing a college, he always encouraged his students to consider Hamilton.
Donald J. Benza, whose retirement years encompassed travel and golf, had long been residing in the Albany, NY, suburb of Delmar. He was still residing there when he died on May 23, 2013. He leaves his wife of 56 years as well as a daughter, Debra Feinberg; two sons, Donald J., Jr. and Scott I. Benza; and seven grandchildren.
George Leonhard Boveroux, Jr. ’56
George Leonhard Boveroux, Jr. ’56, a retired bank vice president, was born on Dec. 1, 1933, in New York City. A son of G. Leonhard Boveroux, an investment banker, and the former Sylvia Sayre, he was the eldest of three brothers, all graduates of Hamilton. George Boveroux grew up in Essex Fells, NJ, and came to College Hill in 1952 as a graduate of Montclair High School. Personable and socially active, he became a dedicated member of Sigma Phi as well as manager for two years of the swimming team and business manager of the Charlatans in his senior year. He majored in history and was graduated in 1956.
In the fall of that year, George Boveroux began a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy. Commissioned as an ensign, he served as chief engineer on the destroyer escort U.S.S. Roberts. Released from active duty as a lieutenant (j.g.) in 1960, he would continue in the Naval Reserve until his retirement with the rank of commander in 1982.
In 1961, after a year as a management trainee with the Kendall Co., fiber products manufacturers in Walpole, MA, George Boveroux concluded that production management was not his field. He turned instead to banking as a junior administrator with Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. in New York City. Beginning in the bank’s corporate trust division, he remained with Morgan Guaranty for almost 27 years, retiring as a vice president in its private banking division in 1988.
Long a resident of Upper Montclair, NJ, George Boveroux took a leading role in community charitable fund drives. He also served as president of Hamilton’s New Jersey Alumni Association. He and his wife, the former Elinor W. Thorndike, who were married on May 24, 1958, in Dedham, MA, reared their three sons in Upper Montclair.
Divorced from his wife in 1983, George Boveroux was wed to (Sheila) Jean Brisbane, a Canadian, in 1988. A week later, he retired from Morgan Guaranty and the couple took up residence in Montreal, Quebec. After four years in Canada, they relocated to North Haverhill, NH, a small farming community north of Hanover. There, George served as deacon and treasurer of the First Congregational Church.
George L. Boveroux, Jr., long afflicted with emphysema, died on May 12, 2013, at Northeast Vermont Regional Hospital. He is survived by his wife and his three sons, G. Leonhard III, Benjamin A.G., and Richard W. Boveroux, as well as a stepson, John A.D. Lumsden. Also surviving are six grandchildren, a sister, Elizabeth S. Boveroux, and his brothers, Brooks ’65 and F. Kent Boveroux ’71. Among his nephews is Christopher S. Boveroux ’08.
Robert Ralph Clobridge ’56
Robert Ralph Clobridge ’56, an attorney-at-law, grew up in Watertown, NY, where he was born on Sept. 27, 1934. His parents were Robert E. Clobridge, a contractor, and the former Christine Digate. “Bob” Clobridge arrived on College Hill in 1952 from Watertown High School and joined Lambda Chi Alpha. He left Hamilton after three years to enter the Syracuse University College of Law.
Not long after acquiring his LL.B. degree in 1958 and admission to the New York State Bar, Bob Clobridge settled in Binghamton, where he became a partner in the firm of Willsey, Hummer, Buckley & Clobridge. Later, as a solo practitioner, he specialized in real property and family law. He also served at various times as a Broome County assistant attorney as well as deputy corporation counsel for the City of Binghamton.
Devoted to hunting, fishing and boating since his youth, Bob Clobridge had a particular passion for hunting waterfowl. With duck hunting companions, he traveled extensively in the United States and Canada in pursuit of that sport.
Robert R. Clobridge was still residing in Binghamton when he died on April 7, 2013. He is survived by a son, Robert R. Clobridge ’81, and two grandchildren. Also surviving is his former wife and the mother of his children, Gail Grilla Clobridge, whom he had married in 1957. He was predeceased by another son, Kurt D. Clobridge.
Martin Lawrence Sorger, Salutatorian ’56
Martin Lawrence Sorger, Salutatorian ’56, an orthopaedic surgeon who practiced medicine in his native New Jersey for more than 30 years, was born in Newark on Oct. 6, 1934. A son of David Sorger, a lawyer and certified public accountant, and the former Fanny Kirschner, “Marty” Sorger grew up in Newark and attended that city’s Weequahic High School, where he was elected president of the Student Council. He enrolled at Hamilton following his graduation in 1952, already determined upon preparing for a future career in medicine. Combining a gregarious nature with seriousness of purpose, he found time away from his pre-medical studies to contribute to The Spectator and Hamiltonian as well as participate actively in debate. A member of the Emerson Literary Society and president of the Biology Club, he was graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with high honor, including honors in biology and public speaking, in 1956.
Marty Sorger went on to Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he obtained his M.D. degree in 1960. Two years later, after an internship at Presbyterian Hospital and a surgical residency at St. Luke’s Hospital, both in New York City, he went on active duty with the U.S. Army Medical Corps. Discharged with the rank of captain in 1964, he established his practice in Montclair, NJ, in 1966, after completing his orthopaedic residency at New York Orthopaedic Hospital.
Long a partner and later president of the Montclair Orthopaedic Group in Glen Ridge, NJ, Dr. Sorger also served as an assistant clinical professor of orthopaedic surgery at both Columbia University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, where he took pleasure in sharing his knowledge and passionate commitment to medicine with his students. Known to his patients for his personal consideration as well as his professional skill, he was a recipient of the New Jersey Orthopaedic Society’s Outstanding Physician Award.
Dr. Sorger, a former president of the New Jersey Orthopaedic Society, also served on several boards of directors, including those of the Mountainside Hospital Foundation and Montclair Kimberley Academy. He was a faithful and generous supporter of his alma mater.
Martin L. Sorger, long a resident of Montclair, died on May 5, 2013. He is survived by his wife, the former Susan Weil, to whom he was married on Dec. 29, 1968, in Akron, OH. Also surviving are their sons, Andrew M. and John L. Sorger, as well as a daughter, Marissa Tracey, born of his previous marriage, in 1961, to Barbara Bellin, and six grandchildren.
Henry Davis Nadig, Jr. ’57
Henry Davis Nadig, Jr. ’57, who wove teaching, writing, music and business entrepreneurship into his varied career, was born on Oct. 17, 1935, in Keene, NH. A son of Henry D. Nadig, operator of a small public relations firm in New York City, and the former Mildred L. Avison, he grew up in Norwalk, CT, where, as a teenager, he played solo trumpet in the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra as well as the Norwalk High School Band. “Hank” Nadig came to Hamilton following his graduation from Norwalk High in 1953 and joined Theta Delta Chi. Between working on campus to finance his way through college and studying, he found time to write for The Spectator and manage and lead for three years the College Marching Band (sometimes through the mud, in its effort to lift Continental spirits at home football games, as he recalled decades later). His academic striving (he was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa Prize for distinctive improvement in scholastic achievement) earned the admiration of Dean Winton Tolles, who would later nominate him, unsuccessfully, for a Rhodes Scholarship. Highly personable, he also formed many friendships among fraternity brothers and classmates that would endure for life.
By the time of his graduation in 1957 with honors in English, Hank Nadig had made two firm commitments, to pacifism and to teaching. Already as a sophomore, he had determined to register with Selective Service as a conscientious objector. And his experiences at Hamilton, including challenging and inspiring teachers such as Robert Barnes Rudd and Dwight Lindley, as well as bull sessions with fellow students, convinced him to pursue the life of the mind through teaching.
Hank Nadig fulfilled his military obligation with two years of alternative service, teaching at Westtown School, a Quaker school in Pennsylvania. Having obtained a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, he went on in 1960 to graduate study at the Johns Hopkins University, where he acquired an M.A. degree in English a year later. For two years thereafter, he taught at Sandy Spring Friends School in Maryland, where he was also dean of boys and chaired the English department, followed by two more back at Westtown as dean of boys while teaching English.
From 1965 to 1971, Hank Nadig taught English and chaired the department at Rye Country Day School in Rye, NY, where he also directed summer sessions and inaugurated the summer creative arts workshop. Teaching stints in Lenox, MA, followed until 1974, when he joined Albany Academy in Albany, NY, as chief development officer as well as chairman of the English department. After five years there and an additional year as director of development admissions and alumni affairs at Oakwood, another Quaker school, in Poughkeepsie, NY, he decided in 1979 to “leave boarding school responsibilities, move back to the country, and start my own consulting business.”
Having settled back in Lenox, in the Berkshires, Hank Nadig established an advertising consulting agency, Nadig Communications. He also became an adjunct instructor, teaching English composition at Berkshire Community College for some 20 years, and served as development director of the Berkshire Public Theatre in Pittsfield. On the side he led the Royal Garden Jazz Band, a Dixieland–New Orleans style group, which performed locally for many years and featured Hank as its trumpet player. He also tutored a few trumpet students. Any spare time was devoted to writing occasional columns for The Berkshire Eagle, and serving as advertising director and staff writer for Berkshire Magazine.
Hank Nadig, “a dedicated and grateful friend of Bill W. and Dr. Bob for 28 years,” enjoyed fly fishing and cross-country skiing, as well as life in the woods in general. In later years he resided in Canaan and, most recently in New Lebanon, NY, both near the Massachusetts border.
Henry D. Nadig died on Feb. 11, 2013, at a nursing home in Lee, MA. He leaves his longtime companion, Patricia A. Wallender. Also surviving are his daughter and son, Sandra (Sandy) Cleary and Henry D. Nadig III, both born of his first marriage, in 1962, to Mary Govane Evans, which had ended in divorce, and four grandchildren and a brother.
Thomas Sumner Oliver, Jr. ’57
Thomas Sumner Oliver, Jr. ’57, a professor of English who taught at the University of the District of Columbia for 40 years, was born on Feb. 5, 1935, in Denver. The son of Thomas S., an electrical engineer, and Ruth Ann Tanguy Oliver, an English teacher, he lived in California until he was 16, when the family moved to the East Coast. Tom Oliver prepared for college at Westtown School in Pennsylvania and entered Hamilton from New York City in 1953. Also known on the Hill as “Ollie,” he joined Theta Delta Chi and played soccer, in which he lettered. He served as production manager of the Charlatans and was elected to the theater honor society Alpha Psi Omega. Complimented in The Hamiltonian for “his pleasant manner and his amazing skill at Bridge,” he majored in English and was graduated in 1957.
Inducted into the U.S. Army four months later, Tom Oliver served his two-year hitch, stationed primarily in Panama, followed by graduate study at Columbia University’s Teachers College, where he earned an M.A. degree in English education in 1960. He had already begun teaching at Nutley High School in Nutley, NJ, when his Army Reserve unit was activated during the Berlin crisis, and he was recalled for another 10 months of military service in 1961-62. He taught high school English again for a time in Nutley before enrolling in the Ph.D. program at the University of Texas, Austin.
Tom Oliver obtained his doctorate in English education from Texas in 1967. After teaching for two years at New Mexico Highlands University, he began his long tenure at the University of the District of Columbia (then Federal City College). During that tenure he chaired the English department and served as assistant dean of the liberal and fine arts college. In addition, he taught English to prisoners at the old Lorton Reformatory for more than 20 years in conjunction with UDC’s prison college program. He retired in 2009.
For the past 12 years, Tom Oliver, a resident of Burke, VA, combined his love of teaching with his passion for motorcycles (he had been riding one since 1970) by providing instruction in motorcycle safety through Northern Virginia Community College and Apex Cycle Education, a motor safety school. For several years he also trained motorcycle license examiners for the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. With his wife, he enjoyed motorcycle trips that took them to many countries in Europe as well as Canada. In addition, Tom edited books and newsletters, and was a play reader for the Theater of the First Amendment at George Mason University.
Thomas S. Oliver, Jr., a loyally supportive alumnus, died on March 12, 2013, while hospitalized in Falls Church, VA, of septic shock. He is survived by his wife, “Jinx,” the former Frances Murray, whom he had wed on May 1, 1971. Also surviving are a son, Thomas S. Oliver III; a daughter, Katherine Oliver; and a sister.
Howard Hirsh Pomeranz ’57
Howard Hirsh Pomeranz ’57, an endodontist and dental educator who contributed to the advancement of root canal therapy, was born on Sept. 13, 1935, in Newark, NJ. The son of Otto Saul Pomeranz, a hat manufacturer, and the former Sarah Peskoe, he grew up in nearby Maplewood, where he was graduated in 1953 from Columbia High School. Howard Pomeranz enrolled at Hamilton that fall, went out for swimming and played lacrosse, and served on the staff of The Spectator. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, he concentrated in biology and chemistry as a premedical major, and left the Hill with his diploma in 1957.
Following a six-month stint in the U.S. Army, Howard Pomeranz entered the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he achieved high scholastic honor. After acquiring his D.D.S. degree in 1962 and a year of internship at New York Polyclinic Hospital in New York City, he established his private practice in his home area of New Jersey. He maintained the practice, primarily in Millburn, until 1994. He was a professor of endodontics at New Jersey Dental School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, from 1969 until his death, and served as director of postgraduate endodontics at the school from 2001 to 2003.
Dr. Pomeranz, a diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics, also served from 1995 to 1998 as a clinical professor and co-director of postgraduate endodontics at Columbia University. The author of numerous articles in professional journals, he also lectured widely on his specialty, including presentations in such far-distant places as Estonia, Brazil and Australia. He earned the high regard of colleagues for his research and writing, which contributed to improvements in the way endodontics is practiced.
Howard H. Pomeranz, for almost 50 years a resident of East Orange, NJ, and an avid New York Giants fan, died on Jan. 27, 2013, of a massive coronary while in the emergency room of a Livingston, NJ, hospital. Unmarried, he is survived by two sisters, Avis Kniffin and Ellen Sax, as well as two nieces.
Douglas George Chapman ’58
Douglas George Chapman ’58, a lawyer and leading environmental advocate in his native Canada, was born in London, Ontario, to George and Lila Sinclair Chapman, on April 8, 1936. He enrolled at Hamilton from Toronto High School in 1954 and joined Theta Delta Chi. Not surprisingly, Doug Chapman went out for hockey, and, as an “indefatigable defenseman,” he played for Coach Greg Batt’s Continentals for four years. With his dazzling stick handling, he played long and well, racking up goals in virtually every game. He captained the team in his senior year and captured the Sellers Most Valuable Player Award. Known as a bit of a roisterer off the ice, he was, of course, welcomed into the ranks of Nous Onze. Having majored in English literature, he was graduated in 1958.
After a year of working in sales for Procter & Gamble, Doug Chapman entered law school at the University of Toronto. On July 4, 1959, he was wed in Toronto to Irene Tchernoussoff. The marriage would end in divorce. After earning his LL.B. degree in 1962, he established his law practice in Kitchener, Ontario.
Doug Chapman became a criminal law defense attorney but later earned a well merited reputation as a determined prosecutor of polluters. In 1986, he was employed by the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General and assigned to the Ministry of the Environment as a government environmental prosecutor. One of his landmark cases resulted in the first jail sentence for a polluter in Canada. In 1993, he began his association with the Sierra Legal Defense Fund (now Ecojustice Canada), working in Vancouver and Toronto as an environmental investigator and private prosecutor. He subsequently directed the gathering of evidence and the preparation of briefs for 14 private environmental prosecutions in British Columbia and Ontario.
In later years, while continuing his pioneering prosecutorial work, Doug Chapman became the Fraser Riverkeeper for the New York-based Waterkeeper Alliance, founded in 1999 by environmental attorney and activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. As a full-time Riverkeeper, Doug Chapman was charged with protecting British Columbia’s Fraser River from polluters. He patrolled the river by boat, monitoring water quality by taking samples while looking for polluted areas in response to citizen complaints. He then built cases against persons, corporations and even governments for violating anti-pollution laws.
Doug Chapman, a seasoned sailor and boatman who could seldom resist the lure of the water, left criminal law practice for a time in the 1970s to take up sailing. He occasionally served as captain or navigator on sailing and motor vessels that traversed the Great Lakes on their passages to destinations abroad. Those passages included two trans-Atlantic crossings by small boat. In addition, he worked for four years as a commercial salmon fisherman, captaining a 37-foot wooden salmon trawler along British Columbia’s Pacific coast.
When Doug Chapman was not on the water, he was working for its benefit. His passionate dedication to the environment, along with his determination to do battle for the underdog, even in seemingly lost causes, made him “the most effective environmental lawyer in Canada.” It is said that “everyone who ever pulled a fish from a river or lake” in Canada owed a great debt of gratitude to Doug Chapman for his achievements as a champion of clean water.
Douglas G. Chapman, widely known and revered among Canadian environmentalists as the Fraser Riverkeeper, died on April 4, 2012, at his home in Vancouver, British Columbia, of lung cancer. Alumni may remember his last visit to College Hill for his 50th reunion in 2008, when he gave a talk on “Protecting the Environment.” He is survived by “the love of his life,” Carol McDonald, as well as his children, Lynn, Michael and Paul Chapman. Also surviving are four grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and a sister.
Louis Anthony Mantrom, Jr. ’58
Louis Anthony Mantrom, Jr. ’58, a retired systems engineer, was born on Oct. 15, 1937, in Newark, NJ. A son of Louis A., a master mechanic and maintenance foreman, and Laura Nazarewicz Mantrom, he grew up in the Garden State and was graduated in 1954 from North Hunterdon Regional High School in Annandale, where he had been president of the senior class. He entered Hamilton from Glen Gardner that fall, joined Tau Kappa Epsilon and became manager of the lacrosse team. A member of the Newman Club, “Lou” Mantrom was an eager participant in interfraternity bowling and served on the Intramural Council. He was known to college friends and especially his fraternity brothers for his spirit of generosity and helpfulness. Having majored in mathematics, he earned his A.B. degree in 1958.
Lou Mantrom returned to New Jersey, where he went to work as an electronic systems analyst for the Prudential Insurance Co. of America in Newark. Transferred from Newark to Phoenix, in 1968, he left Prudential the following year to join Electronic Data Systems in Dallas, as a systems engineer. His work involved actuarial consulting, marketing and data processing system development. A chartered life underwriter since 1980, he retired from EDS in 1996 but continued active as a systems consultant for a few years thereafter.
Lou Mantrom, who enjoyed sports, especially bowling and golf, also became involved for a time in masters swimming, not as a participant (he was not a swimmer) but as an administrator. He chaired the Southwestern Association of U.S. Masters Swimming, Inc., of which he was also a director. In addition, he found pleasure in travel, reading, doing crossword puzzles “and most of all, his wife’s gourmet cooking and spending time with his family.”
Louis A. Mantrom, Jr., long a resident of Dallas, died in that city on June 11, 2013. A faithful alumnus, he is survived by his wife, the former Eleanor Newman, whom he had wed on July 29, 1961, in Mountain Lakes, NJ. Also surviving are a daughter, Karin Smith; a son, Charles N. Mantrom; and four granddaughters, two brothers and a sister.
Richard Everhart Davis ’59
Richard Everhart Davis ’59, employed in the insurance industry for 40 years, was born on Oct. 1, 1937, in Philadelphia. The son of Russell A., a cashier, and Mary Everhart Davis, he grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, where he was graduated in 1955 from Abington High School. “Dick” Davis arrived on College Hill from Jenkintown that fall and joined Chi Psi as well as the staff of The Spectator, for which he wrote. He majored in economics and earned his A.B. degree in 1959.
“Proving the old adage that college doesn’t have to interfere with education,” in the words of The Hamiltonian, Dick Davis was accepted by the Wharton Graduate School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. After acquiring his M.B.A. degree in 1961, he began his long career in the insurance field, becoming an underwriting manager for the American Mutual Liability Insurance Co. in Bryn Mawr, PA.
In 1973, Dick Davis joined the Reliance Insurance Companies in Philadelphia as special accounts manager for one of its subsidiaries, Reliance Special Risk, Inc. Later appointed special risks casualty manager for that company, he was also elected as its secretary in 1981 and assistant vice president in 1983. Later a vice president, he was employed, beginning in 1987, by American International Group (AIG) as a regional casualty manager. He retired in 2002.
Dick Davis’s leisure time was devoted to reading, especially Civil War history, and he greatly enjoyed vacationing with his family at the New Jersey Shore. He was also extremely fond of animals and a lifelong activist on their behalf.
Richard E. Davis, a resident of Richboro, PA, for 40 years, had been residing for a year in New Hope when he died on Nov. 19, 2012, while hospitalized in Abington. He was predeceased three months earlier by his wife, the former Gladys E. Deubel, whom he had wed on June 15, 1968, in Hatboro, PA. He is survived by two sons, Richard E., Jr. and Scott R. Davis, as well as six grandchildren.
