Class of 1963 Alumni Notes September-October 2024
Charlie Dilks was honored by The Chestnut Hill Conservancy at its Spring Gala on June 8, 2024. The Conservancy noted that Charlie has served in leadership positions not only at the Conservancy, but also at the Natural Lands Trust, the Schuylkill Center, the Friends of Philadelphia Parks (now the Fairmount Park Conservancy), Friends of the Wissahickon, and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. It has been particularly important to Charlie to preserve open space through conservation easements, including at their family home in Mt. Airy and their farm in Maryland.
In April 2024, Annick and John Impert visited Sheryl and Mike Smith and Mary Frances and Tom Bailey in Tulsa, OK. In 1959-1960, John, Mike, and Tom were roommates in Vanderbilt 1, the lowest numbered box in the Yale post office. The first time since Freshman Year that they met again was at our Class’s May 2023 Reunion, and over dinner they resolved to gather together again in 2024 in Tulsa, where Mike has always lived, and where Tom moved back a few years ago. They drove to Bentonville, AR, to visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the newly built and well-funded creation of one of the Walmart heirs.
At the May 2024 Annual Meeting of The American Law Institute, Guy Struve marked his 50th year as an ALI member, and presented a 124-page draft on statutes of limitations which was approved by the ALI membership for inclusion in the ALI’s Restatement Third of Torts. (Other ALI members from our Class include Dale Hershey, Jon Rose, and the late Ridge Hall.) On a less positive note, the timely warnings from Bob Myers and Sam Francis ’64 about the dangers of falling reminded Guy that last Fall he tripped on his own shoelace and did a face plant on the sidewalk, which fortunately only inflicted surface cuts requiring five stitches. Guy has promised his family to be more careful in the future.
Elissa Arons, the widow of our late classmate Dan Arons, writes: “Ten years now since Daniel’s death. The children pull us forward, growing and developing, no matter how we wish to hold time slowly. I am fine, retired three years ago from my office practice and teaching of Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis. I have time to thrive in other activities, without the schedule, worries, or responsibilities for patients. I miss some of the people but not the tensions. My family is terrific, three married daughters, five grandchildren, now entering college (Cornell, Wesleyan). I have a lovely companion, also widowed after a long good marriage, an architect, retired, with three well-married kids and seven grandchildren. We are still traveling and enjoying this unexpected loving chapter two. Thanks to all of you for the good memories connected with ’63.”
Duncan Adrian Girard Footman passed away peacefully in his home in St. Helena, CA on April 8, 2024. Duncan hit a turning point while attending Yale when he spent his Junior Year in Madrid, learning Spanish and studying literature and art. After graduating from Yale, he attended the University of Chicago Law School and spent three years in the Peace Corps in Venezuela. Duncan then worked in Chicago for three years as a lawyer for Legal Aid. In 1972 he began working at the Legal Aid outpost in Napa, CA. A few years later he formed a two-man office in St. Helena, and later became a partner with Coombs and Dunlap. He was a gifted trial attorney, creative, reliable, and concerned about his clients’ outcomes. While working in Napa, he met the love of his life, Ana Vigil, who later became the proprietor of Ana’s Cantina in St. Helena. Ana was his devoted wife and supportive companion. Duncan was a father to Ana’s children, Roxana and Michael Rallis and Catalina and Vanessa Gonzalez, and they loved him back. The highlight of his days was to have the whole family gathered to savor Ana’s cooking and regale them with tales of his adventures. Despite his ailments requiring his wife Ana’s near-constant attendance, Duncan retained his engaging, positive demeanor until his earthly departure, which occurred peacefully during an extended nap. Duncan is survived by his wonderful wife Ana; his children Louisa and Alex Footman; Roxana and Michael Rallis; Catalina and Vanessa Gonzalez; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
John Tuteur remembers: “Duncan and I were both from the San Francisco Bay Area and traveled occasionally to and from Yale. In 1972 Duncan moved to the Napa Valley and we kept in touch over the past 45 years. Duncan was quiet but determined and used his attorney skills on behalf of the disadvantaged in our community. At one point Duncan joined a movement that had him wearing long, flowing white robes. He was certainly a hit when he wore those to our rather conservative courtrooms.”
Douglas Moore Graybill died on April 2, 2024 at his home in Vero Beach, FL. He was surrounded by his family and passed peacefully. Doug received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Yale University. From there his career took him to IBM for 30 years and then to a consulting company he cofounded. Throughout his life, Doug was fun-loving, kind, and generous. He loved the outdoors, all animals, and the water. His thousands of pictures are reflective of this. He was a strong supporter of the Indian River Trust, the Environmental Learning Center, and Quail Charities. He was an extraordinary husband, a devoted father and grandfather, and a loyal friend. Doug is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Lesia; his daughters Susan Totten and Dawn Sirras; his son Steven; and five grandchildren.
Bill Couchman writes: “Doug was my roommate at Yale for three years. We both majored in Electrical Engineering and had many classes together. Much of what we did together was in simply bullshitting in our rooms while drinking Budweiser. Doug did much of his ‘philosophizing’ sitting cross-legged on top of the refrigerator. One time we had a contest to see who could give the most blood in a semester. The winner got to ‘keep’ the goldfish we had been growing. When Doug won, he decided that the winner should actually drink the goldfish, which he promptly did. I last visited Doug on March 14, 2024. At the time, he seemed in good spirits and little pain. But Lesia told me later that he was a good actor, and probably had a lot of pain and was quite pessimistic about living for long. We had both shared having lymphoma for ten years or so. Mine had expanded to include leukemia, but I had been successful in finding treatment that put me in remission (now five years). Unfortunately, Doug’s expanded into cancer of the bladder and liver, which seemed untreatable.” Chuck Hellar recalls: “Doug Graybill was always a joyful and friendly person from the first time I met him at Lawrenceville until the time he passed away. After college, we did not see much of each other, except for reunions at both schools, until I started going to Vero Beach, FL for three months in the winter starting about ten years ago. And there he was, a permanent resident of Vero. We played golf, took excursions, and saw each other often. He had not changed over that time, always being joyful and friendly. Over the last few years, when he was fighting cancer, he began sending emails to his friends, five or six at a time two times a week. They were political, comical, jokes, and about everything else he found interesting. I will always remember Doug by his personality and those emails.”
Carl Vitez Ormandy died on January 11, 2024. Carl was born in Hungary, and escaped to the West by himself in 1957 by traveling to East Berlin and taking the subway to West Berlin. After graduating from Yale, Carl attended graduate school at Columbia University, and taught at Wilbraham and Pingry. In 1967 Carl became an agent with Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance. In our 50th Reunion Class Book, Carl wrote: “Access to the intimate personal, family and business affairs of my policyholders has been an awesome privilege and responsibility, and this kept me in business through the bad times as well as the good.” Carl is survived by his partner, Lorna Ganit, and their daughter Lea.
Tom Bailey remembers Carl as follows: “When I think of Carl it is with deep admiration for the courage it took for him as a teenager to escape Hungary and forge a life and career in America on his own. He walked to the beat of a different drummer, suffered no fools, was quick to smile, was firm in his opinions, was a fierce competitor on the Yale swimming team, and was one of the most self-confident fellows I met at Yale. He may not always have been right, but he was never in doubt. And it was Carl who got me a job as night watchman at the Jewish Home for the Aged in New Haven when I desperately needed a job!”
Heber C. Pierce passed away on December 28, 2023 in Mercy Walworth Hospital, Lake Geneva, WI. In our 50th Reunion Class Book, Heber wrote that the 50 years since graduation had passed like a blur: “Leaving New Haven, joining a [Navy] ship, sailing half way around the world, losing friends and family in Vietnam, going to work in the real estate business in Chicago, and surviving the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s seemed like a movie in fast forward.” More recently, Heber retired to Williams Bay, WI, and enjoyed renovating his new house after living in a Chicago apartment all his adult life. Heber is survived by his wife, Suzanne C. “Gigi” Pierce; his children Amanda and Charles; and one grandchild.
Paul Field writes: “Heber and I were close since our undergraduate days. He was in my wedding in New York and I was in his in Chicago. With the blessing of texts we stayed very close, even living half a country apart. He was smart, caring, funny, and a very good friend.”
Charles Edwards “Chad” Snee III passed away on November 28, 2023, surrounded by his wife and children, following a difficult battle with Parkinson’s Disease. Chad earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from Yale University in 1964. Chad then served four years in the United States Navy, achieving the rank of Lieutenant. In 1972, he earned a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law School. Chad and his first wife, Karolen Bacon Linderman, were married in 1965 and had two sons, Charles Edwards Snee IV and Peter Clark Snee. Chad met his second wife, Janet Celeste Cox, when they were both working at the U.S. Patent Office in 1971. Their marriage of 50 years began on September 1, 1973, and they had two children, Henry “Mackie” Thom McClelland LeFevre-Snee and Julia “Beth” Elizabeth Sanchez. After graduating from law school, Chad worked as an intellectual property lawyer at the U.S. Patent Office and in private practice in Washington, DC. In 1985 Chad moved with his family to Lebanon, NH, where he worked as an in-house attorney for AMCA International. From 1989 to 2005, Chad was an in-house attorney for Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, NY, retiring as General Counsel. Chad was a voracious reader and avid jogger, and enjoyed riding his motorcycle on the Blue Ridge Parkway during his retirement in Lynchburg, VA. Chad is survived by his wife, Janet; his children Charles and Peter Snee, Mackie LeFevre-Snee, and Beth Sanchez; and ten grandchildren.
Guy Miller Struve, Secretary
90 The Uplands
Berkeley, CA 94705
E-Mail: guy.struve@davispolk.com
Class Website: www.yale63.org