Janet Bishop Butler
It seems like such a long time since I last sat down to produce my column. However, I do have a little information, which I can pass on to you.
Ron Sheay and 60 UMaine alums and guests attended the Maine-Princeton hockey game at the Hobey Baker Rink in Princeton in December 2018.
It is always a treat for me to read letters that the recipients of our Class of 1955 Scholarship Fund send. The 2018-19 scholarship was awarded to Michael Dunning ’19 from Orrington, ME. Also receiving a scholarship is Kelsey Brooks ’21, whose grandmother, Sally Gillchrest Brooks, was a member of the Class of 1955. Kelsey’s twin sister is a student at the University of New England and the assistance that Kelsey got from our class was very much appreciated. It is also interesting that Kelsey’s grandparents, father, aunt, and two sisters all graduated from the University of Maine.
I received a letter from Shirley Bostrom Hargreaves, in which she informed me of the death of her oldest son in January followed by her husband’s death in June. What a tragedy for Shirley and her family, and I want to extend our sincere sympathy to her. Shirley’s youngest son has moved to Amelia, FL, to live, work, and help her.
Dick Vaux passed away very suddenly in July of 2019. There was an article in the Boston Globe about Dick’s terrifying retrieval of a TWA plane from Beirut. His book, Dirty Work, was published in June 2019. It is this story of the secret mission in 1985 when Dick was a TWA pilot and was told to retrieve a TWA aircraft that was hijacked and abandoned at Beirut’s airport. I would strongly suggest that you purchase this book. Paul and I are going to get it.
Bill Leitch wishes to establish a Class of 1955 Honors College Enrichment Fund with $5,000 from our class fund to this Class of 1955 Honors College Enrichment Fund, which Bill will match in memory of Betsy Pullen Leitch. Also Mary Atkinson Johnson, our class agent, recommended that a transfer of $10,000 be made from our class fund to our 1955 scholarship fund to make it possible for more students to receive help. Mary contacted our 1955 class officers, and they were in agreement. She worked very hard with the University of Maine Foundation in accomplishing this project. Thank you, Mary, for all of the effort that you put forth in this project.
We had a wonderful visit from Donna and Mert Robinson. They were headed to Brunswick to visit Mert’s sister and then to Lewiston for Mert’s high school reunion. We had a great time reminiscing and trying to remember dates and places. It was really fun.
As you will notice from the above heading, Paul and I have moved from Cape Elizabeth, ME, to Falmouth, ME. We are in a retirement community, Ocean View, and are still unpacking. It was a difficult decision moving from our 45 years in Cape Elizabeth, but we are very happy that we did. We moved in July when the first heat wave of 92 degrees was around. We had a lot of help from our family and friends, but three days of heat was not welcome. Carol and Bill Butler ’55 and their daughter Melissa visited us in our new surroundings, and we were so glad to see them They had been visiting in Cape Cod with their son’s family from Sweden, who were vacationing there for a couple of weeks.
Please note the above information for our new address and new telephone number, and send me a note, email, call, or better yet, stop by and say hello.