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Classmates and Wives/Widows--
We did not lose any classmates in March, but very sadly we lost three
widows/wives. The first was Mary
Ellen Bethmann who died 4 March 2019. She was the
long-time widow of Bob
H-1. Bob died 2 May 1972 after having been retired
medically on 19 Dec 1958 and subsequently discharged on 27 Nov 1963.
Here is email info from F-1 CCQ Bob
Rhodes: "I recall visiting Bob in the Fort Sill
Hospital in 1958 or 1959 after Bob was diagnosed with a leukemia-like
blood diseases. Then off to Germany etc. only to learn about Bob’s
death on 2 May 1972 while I was teaching at West Point (ESGS).
Once I learned of Bob’s passing I recall spending time with Mary Ellen
and their children (John - 1960, Julie - 1963, Mark - 1965) in White
Plains and joining the family for Bob’s service and burial at the West
Point Cemetery (Section VI, C, 141).
"I stayed in touch with Mary Ellen over the years but was unable to
encourage her to attend one of our company or class reunions. For years
she served as a school nurse in White Plains, New York and in 2010
developed a blood clot in one of her legs resulting in an amputation."
Sibert's notes reflect that Mary Ellen was a "June Lady." She is
to be buried with husband Bob at West Point. Contact Bob/Dusty
Rhodes for details. Bob Bethmann's memorial article was published
in May/Jun 1998.
Our next loss was Jackie
Mace on 16 March 2019. Jackie was the widow of our
classmate Art
Mace D-2, who died about a year earlier on 19 Feb 2018.
Jackie will be inurred in the columbarium at Fort Sam Houston National
Cemetery along with Art. Art met Jackie at Schofield Barracks in
Hawaii. Art attended Braden's Prep. Art's father, Ralph Mace
USMA 1929, was a general officer. May both Art and Jackie rest in
peace.
The third widow to depart us was Stephanie
Raign, the wife of Phil
Raign A-2. Steffie died 21 March 2019 and will be
buried at West Point on 26 April. Via an email from Phil: "She
died suddenly without pain and peacefully from a massive blood clot in
her lungs and heart. I was with her along with our daughter Resa and
daughter-in-law Kathy.
As many know, Steff was a survivor of two bouts
of lung cancer and struggling with Alzheimer’s, neither of which took
her down. She was conscious and aware of family being present, and
knew who we were." Phil, thanks for sharing your very sad
news. There will be a funeral at Most Holy Trinity Chapel at West
Point on 26 April at 1330 with a reception following at the Officers
Club. Contact Phil or Chuck Densford the A-2 CCQ for
further information.
We also lost a former cadet
classmate, Alan O Beck Company
B-1, about two years ago on 17 Feb 2016. His death
generated a great deal of email traffic, mostly on the Class Forum and
will not be repeated here because many of you received it. I just
sent Bob Rhodes an email asking for details about Alan
Beck.
And very sadly, I just received an
email informing us that we lost another of our June Ladies, Barbara
Hayden. She was the wife of Bob M-2.
She died on 13 March 2019. Now four wives/widows in this edition
of Class Notes and one former cadet. Many may remember, especially
M-2 files, that the Haydens were married by Chaplain Bean
on graduation day. Barbara was the mother of three, an
accomplished artist, active in the Episcopal Church. And Barbara
could out-shoot Bob in skeet. I do not recall where they were in
the wedding lottery, but they were certainly among the first married in
our class. I even have an old note in my Locator that their
service was at 1830. May Barbara rest in peace. I can tell
Bob that he will be lonely without her. Bob and I started out
together in the Corps of Engineers at Ft Belvoir, long ago and far
away...
Locator.
Absolutely do not know what I would do without this handy little book
and the notes I have written in it over the years since graduation.
Many, many thanks to Bin Barta, Frank Waskowicz
and Van Van Fleet for creating it. And their
dedication extended to distributing the book during our June Week 1958.
Truly a labor of love on their part. It has been invaluable to
this classmate and Scribe over many, many years. Thank you!
Ski
Reunions. Here
is a list of recent class Ski Reunions and organizers, 2010 through
2020. This info is provided thanks to great deal of help from
Karl Oelke.
Karl told
me that there were earlier Ski Reunions, dating back to 1997. We
had them annually and I can list them, but cannot provide organizers
other than the first. The first Ski Reunion was organized by
Palmer McGrew or else he classmated someone to do it.
Scribe cannot remember which. But, I do remember the conversation
with Palmer when he complained about the Class Mini in Winter Park in
the summertime with no snow and no skiing.
Sorry that I do not have the dates
for the 2020 Ski Reunion. Contact Jim Tilley for info or check-out
the class web page. For info on the website, contact Pete
Trainor. Again, I will trade information on contacting
Pete in exchange for information about yourself! I will trade
almost anything for news.
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1997,
Breckenridge, CO
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1998, Alta Vista,
UT
1999, Keystone/Breckenridge, CO
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2000, Austria organized by Bill Gillette, I
think...
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2001, Breckenridge, CO
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2002, Whistler, BC
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2003, Copper Mountian, CO
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2004, Park City, UT
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2005, Steamboat Springs, CO
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2006, Sun Valley, ID
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2007, Breckenridge, CO
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2008, Park City, UT
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2009, Heavenly Valley, somewhere out west in
the mountains.
And, I
think that is all our class Ski Reunions from 1997 through 2019...
Meanwhile,
the Winter Park Class Mini, with the aforementioned no snow, was
organized by Jack Crandall, 4-7 August
1994. I also remember running into Jack at the commissary at Ft
McNair sometime before Winter Park. I asked him how he could be
organizing a Colorado Class Mini while in DC. Jack replied that
his wife Linda had everything under control.
Therefor, we know the true organizer was Linda. Judy and I
attended the Winter Park Mini. It was a great Mini Reunion.
Palmer did not attend and has been sorry ever since about missing it.
I also remember that when Palmer
complained about the Winter Park Mini Reunion with no skiing, I
challenged him to organize Ski Reunions. I pointed out that many
classmates and wives do not ski which more than justified Winter Park in
summer. Plus, we had organizers in the persons of Jack & Linda
Crandall. Anyway, it took a few years for Palmer to organize the
first class Ski Reunion, but we have had them ever since 1997. The
number of classmates going to Ski Reunions is declining, however, the
group still gathers. Most recently thanks to Jim & Sally
Tilley. If you want or need more information, contact Jim
Tilley by phone or email.
You may call your friendly Scribe
(703-671-1415) or send an email to
gsibert@comcast.net to get contact information for Jim Tilley and/or
Palmer McGrew. I will trade my information for yours -- news about
yourself!
Class
Motto. Ours appears to
be '58 Is Great. We did not have a motto at graduation.
Class of 1960 appears to have restarted class mottos. I have been
exchanging emails with Fred Rice '60 on the subject of class mottos.
Frank Waskowicz, our first Scribe, and Jack
Bradshaw, our President for Life, have more or less confirmed
that we did not have a motto early on, but began using '58 Is Great
sometime during the past 60 years since graduation. The 1990 and
2000 Registers both our class motto as '58 Sure Is Great. Not at
all clear when it came about. Later the motto was shortened to '58
Is Great, at least by the 2010 Register. Not sure when that
happened either. The 2015 Register reflects '58 is Great.
The difference being the capital "I" in the 2010 Register which became
lower case "i" in 2015 Register. Your Scribe prefers upper case
"I" as in '58 Is Great. Who knows? Who cares?
Can anyone shed any light on this subject? You may have noticed
that I have avoided putting the motto in quotes -- because of the
apostrophe before our class numerals 58. "'58 Is Great" is truly
awkward. At least it is on my computer.
Today is 11 April. Past time
to lauch this edition for April and begin the one for May. Let me
hear from YOU, classmate, wife, widow or children. Another plea
for CCQs: please send to your company-mates who do not receive
class emails on the unrestricted senders list. This list is a bit
shorter than the one used by Jack Downing for
notifications of class deaths. Anyway, this is it for April.
I should get the May notes out earlier. Good time for a reminder:
come to the Memorial Service for classmates who died in Vietnam on 19
May at the Vietnam Wall followed by lunch at Army-Navy Country Club.
Till then,
George Sibert, Class Scribe
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