ND Class of 1968 Contact: Tom Figel, tel. 312-223-9536 x 301
February 1, 2012 tfigel@lake-effect.com
Tragedy Averted
By the narrowest of margins, a mere whisker of four decades and some years in the timeline of human existence, our class and western civilization itself, escaped the calamity that befell a favorite South Bend address last December 5th. On that night, the original Corby’s, vacant and unprotected, fell victim to a careening pickup truck in a reported hit-and-run crash. What if this had occurred in the 1960s time when the flower of Catholic youth, male and female, was accustomed to moments of conviviality and relaxation there? Imagine the leadership vacuum today in South Bend if Fred Ferlic, maybe in the company of eminent physician Steve Anderson and the late Iowa legal luminary Bob Kohorst, had been in the destructive path. Not only would we lack Fred’s presence on the South Bend Council but the second member of the bloc, son Gavin Ferlic ‘04, would be absent, too. And what if Senior Class President Michael Minton had stopped by at that very time for a quick moment of companionship with some other student leaders, with head of the Hall President’s Council Jay Schwartz, Observer Editor Pat Collins, and St. Mary’s Student Body President Therese Ambrusko? By means of a wormhole entered in early 21st century Rochester, NY, Jim Hutchinson, younger than the legal age during our years, has been able to insert himself in groups that some remember hanging out at the old Corby’s. What if Jim, along with Neil Rogers and Richie Rogers, Dr. Pat DeMar, Bob Santalocci and Pat Furey had chosen that very moment for a study break, a decision that would have deprived us all of law enforcement talent, medical and legal talent? What if future Class President Tom Weyer, in a celebratory mood after a rugby club victory, had led future New Jersey State Senator Bill Gormley, future Philadelphia surgeon Brien Murphy and innocent Tom Gibbs into the path of tragedy? When the damaged shrine was torn down by city authorities in following days, the outrage was quick. Tom Condon, who had praised Corby’s for its “tolerance and convenience” during a brief tenure as the Observer Cuisine & Corkage columnist in 1967, fairly shouted in an email: “No landmark preservation office? What’s up that one-horse burg?” Amid the debris at the scene, officials found some Tiger Jim Schaefer identification showing that he is now 69 years old, and still looking younger than his years.
Tom (Madison) McKenna interrupted the indolence of his retirement for a chance to argue and to be pictured in a New York Times article against Indiana right-to-work legislation. A few weeks later, Tom and Mary Ann were in West Hartford, CT as babysitters for three grandchildren and dinner companions of Tom Condon and Anne.
Amid the letters that came from John Schmelzer in Falls Church, VA, Larry Forness in Granger, IN, and others was a remarkable football play Jim Hutchinson unsuccessfully recommended to Coach Brian Kelly for bowl game use. See http://www.dump.com/2011/02/22/end-zone-angle-of-the-final-football-play-of-trinity-vs-millsaps-video/. Mike Helmer called from Napa, CA, where he keeps in touch with Fresno lawyer Al Berryman and Hawaii pizza chain owner Mike Trombetta. Mike Helmer included visits to Shiloh, Corinth and Vicksburg Civil War sites and a Tucson stay with Dana Hart and Mary Ellen Flynn in a sweeping loop home from helping his daughter Mary’s family relocate to the Midwest. Bryan Dunigan hopes to play golf with Naples, FL winter residents Roger Guerin and Bob Ptak in mid-March , then go to Tampa with Jerry Goetz, Joe Kernan, and Tom Cuggino for the former players’ team “Spring Training”. Bryan says that Joe Kernan will receive the Moose Krause Award at the time of the Blue-Gold game.
Brian Sullivan is recovering from knee surgery in Miami. Ed Walker, recently retired from the practice of law and still thinking fondly of Professors Richard Otter, John Derwent and Darwin Meade, is thinking of making his home in Paris. Ed and his wife Janet Eyler went to Italy for a month, then to Paris for another three.
Dia and John Walsh enjoyed dinner in New Orleans with John Flemming while taking a break from the 2d birthday celebrations for their granddaughter, Lucia Walsh. Flemming, a renowned leather mask maker, leather sculptor, and proprietor of Flemming Studio in New Olreans, was observing Carnival season, preparing for Mardi Gras, and celebrating the birth of his third grandson, Rex. The Walshes also caught up briefly with Eddie Kurtz, who was busy promoting three of his novels that were published last year: Sex & Gravity, August in New Orleans, and My Casanova. (See full announcement, including link to publisher, in a separate “This Just In” note.)
In September, Bryan Dunigan, Tom Gibbs, Tom Weyer and his son John, Skip Strzelecki, Fran Mentone, Paul Dunn, Tom ‘Rock’ McKenna, Tom ‘Cuz’ McKenna, and John Walsh joined Rocky Bleier at a dinner in Chicago marking his induction into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame as the 2011 recipient of the George Connor Lifetime Achievement Award.
The fathers of Mick McKeon and Mike Ryan have passed away. Please remember them and our classmates in your prayers. Jerome Ryan ’41 was a WW II pilot, a father of 11, who often flew his own plane to games.
Please note a new address for our class blog: www.lake-effect.com/ndclass1968. Send news to: Tom Figel, 1054 West North Shore, Apt. 3-E, Chicago, IL 60626, tel. 312-881-7391.