Paul Baerwald II passed away from complications of
Alzheimer's Disease at his home in Los Angeles, CA on May 20, 2024. Paul was
the quintessential New Yorker, born at Doctors’ Hospital in 1940, raised in
Manhattan, and graduated from New Lincoln School and Yale University. He loved
all that New York offered: theater, great food, close extended family, good
wickedly sharp wit, inquisitive intelligence, and basic kindness defined him.
Paul moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1977. Paul wrote a novel and
multiple screenplays, and produced several movies and the mini-series Around
the World in 80 Days. He was devoted to the Bel Air Country Club, its staff
and golf professionals, and his fellow players. He helped create a Caddy
Relief Fund, which provides medical help, education, and financial support to
the caddies and their families. Paul is survived by his wife of 55 years,
Susan (Grad), and his devoted sons, Joshua and Samuel.
Charles Day Dilks died on December 28, 2024 of cardiac
amyloidosis at his home in Chestnut Hill, PA. Charlie was a graduate of Yale
University, where he sang with the Yale Glee Club. He spent two years in the
Navy after college as a navigator on destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea and
Persian Gulf, and served in the Navy Reserve through 1970. Charlie was the
second person hired by the nascent University City Science Center in
Philadelphia, PA, and he spent the next 37 years helping the country’s first
urban research park become one of the nation’s most successful start-up
incubators. He was an expert in finance, building development, and property
management, and negotiated hundreds of business partnerships and joint ventures
for the Science Center. Eventually rising to the position of Executive Vice
President of the Science Center, Charlie also helped create the Ben Franklin
Technology Center for Southeastern Pennsylvania and the Kyoto Research Park in
Japan. In 2000 he established Dilks Consulting, Inc., and partnered with other
companies and colleges on university research park projects across the
country. Away from the office, Charlie liked to ski, hunt, fish, and sail. He
served on the boards of the Chestnut Hill Conservancy, the Pennsylvania
Environmental Council, Schuylkill Center, Friends of the Wissahickon, and other
environmental groups. One of his deepest Yale connections was formed years
after graduation when he and his wife Gene joined the Yale Alumni Chorus. They
traveled the world sharing the gift of song, bringing instruments to youth
orchestras, and raising money to help struggling communities in Africa, South
America, and Eastern Europe. Charlie is survived by his wife Gene; his
daughter Christina, and his sons Charles Jr. and Mark; and five grandchildren.
Bob Dickie writes: “Charlies was a complete gentleman,
always ready to let others take the credit, a listener as well as a doer, and
instinctively magnanimous as well as constructive.” Jay Rixse recalls:
“I first met Charlie in the NROTC Unit at Yale. He was one of the most
gentlemanly and personable people I ever knew. Over the years we had occasions
to reconnect around various class alumni events. Charlie was always there
whenever there was a get-together of classmates.” Guy Struve writes:
“Charlie gave generously of his time and talents to the Class of 1963. We
never called on him in vain. For many years Charlie served as a member of the
Class Council. At the Philadelphia Mini-Reunion in 2014, Charlie arranged an
exceptional suite of activities which shared the city he loved with his
classmates.”
Richard J. Kapsch passed away on April 8, 2023. Rich
attended Yale University on a Naval ROTC scholarship, receiving a B.A. degree
in History in 1963. He served four years on active duty in the U.S. Marine
Corps, including tours of duty in Guantanamo Bay in 1965, learning to speak
Vietnamese at the Defense Languages Institute in 1966, and 13 months with the
Third Marine Division in Vietnam in 1966 and 1967. Rich worked for IBM in New
York and attended NYU at night, receiving an M.B.A. degree in 1972. Rich then
moved to Illinois and spent the next 50 years in the futures industry,
including 11 years on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where he was a member of
the Board of Governors. He worked for a firm based in Dubai, where he provided
consulting services in international finance and trading. Rich taught
graduate-level course in international finance, economics, and financial
management at several graduate schools in the Chicago area. Rich is survived
by his wife of 60 years, Virginia (Jinny); his sons Richard Jr., Michael, and
Christopher; and nine grandchildren.
Troy Murray shares: “Rich was part of a close-knit group
in Saybrook, and my wife and I stayed in occasional touch with him and Jinny
over the years, including a dinner together in Chicago not long ago. Although
he had been in declining health, his ‘soldiering-on’ reflected the life-long
influence of his Marine Corps service.” Chris Reaske writes: “My wife
Mary K. and I remember Rich and Jinny well from our shared time as young
couples in Saybrook. We attended their wedding in June after graduation, and
then we ourselves got married the very next weekend! We remember Rich’s
‘military’ style and generally strong presence and good company.”
Robert Tulloch (“Rob”) Lacy peacefully passed away on
January 5, 2025 at his home in Hingham, MA. Rob attended Yale University on an
ROTC scholarship. He had planned to become an engineer, but after witnessing a
motorcycle accident that left him with a feeling of helplessness, he pursued a
medical degree at Cornell. A freshly minted Dr. Lacy then served two years in
the Air Force, uniquely known for his poker skills and persistent airsickness.
Following his ophthalmology residency at Mass Eye and Ear, Rob built a life and
career in the Boston suburbs. Rob joined a fledgling Eye Health Services in
1975, and contributed to the practice’s tremendous growth until his reluctant
retirement in 2016. While raising daughters Blair and Britt with his former
wife Julie in Hingham, Rob eagerly embraced every aspect of parenting.
Although Rob anticipated spending his “golden years” gainfully employed as an
eye surgeon, Parkinson’s disease altered his course. Buoyed by his wife Jen’s
tireless support, he approached the challenging diagnosis with intention and
his indefatigable positive outlook. Despite the relentlessness of the disease,
Rob remained active and enthusiastically participated in Rock Steady Boxing
classes at least twice each week. Rob is survived by his devoted wife,
Jennifer McCready; his daughters Blair Lacy (’00) and Britton Lacy (’03); his
stepsons Nicholas and Garrett McCready; and eight grandchildren.
Avi Nelson remembers: “In Senior Year Rob, Burke
Jackson, the late Bill Hone, and I were players on the JE touch
football team that won the Yale intramural championship. We played the Harvard
champion at the Yale-Harvard game in Cambridge. Rob caught a touchdown pass in
that game, which ended in a 20-20 tie. Such things were important in those
days. When we were in our late 20s, we became collaborators in songwriting.
Rob wrote great lyrics to some music I had composed. Rob was compassionate and
generous to others. He once loaned a classmate friend a substantial amount of
money so that the friend and his family could build a house. The friend
recently told me that that loan changed their lives. Rob had an expansive
spirit of adventure and loved the water. A few years ago, he bought a boat.
He and his wife Jen and a few friends navigated from Boston to Chicago. Then,
mission accomplished, he sold the boat. Unfortunately, in his late 60s he
contracted Parkinson’s Disease. Over the years Rob lost mobility, facility of
speech, and mental acuity. But through the long, relentless decline, Rob never
lost his positive outlook. Rob was a good and upright man, a person of
integrity, and possessed of a vital and indomitable spirit.” Burke
Jackson recalls: “Rob was part of a group of us at JE. Although we lived
far apart after graduation, we remained close friends and connected
occasionally in Utah, Boston, and during reunions. He was witty, had a great
sense of humor, and had a distinctive infectious laugh. For the past couple
years, we connected every few months on a truly global Zoom call. It was a
treat to share memories past, ailments current, family news, and
love.” Art Rettig adds: “Rob and I were roommates for four years at
Yale and three years at Cornell Medical School. We had great times at JE and
Phi Gamma Delta during our Yale years. During our first Finals Week in medical
school, at Rob’s suggestion we memorized the words to The Rolling Stones’ ‘19th
Nervous Breakdown’ to ease the tension. I guess it worked, as we both
graduated!”
Edward M. Peters, Jr. passed away on November 6, 2024 at
his home in Guilford, CT. Dr. Peters was a graduate of Yale University, from
which he held a B.A., an M.A., and the first Ph.D. awarded in Medieval
Studies. After a brief stint teaching at the University of California at San
Diego, Peters settled in at the University of Pennsylvania as the Henry Charles
Lea Professor of History and the curator of the Henry Charles Lea Library,
where he remained for 41 years. His studies spanned many wide-ranging topics,
including the Crusades, the Inquisition, Witchcraft in Europe, and niche topics
such as the medieval concept of Curiositas (roughly translated as “curiosity”)
and Torture. Peters has been called one of the greatest medievalists of his
generation. After retiring from teaching, Peters continued to research, write,
and edit scholarly work. He was an avid reader of thrillers and loved nothing
more than having a cocktail on the deck overlooking the beautiful salt marsh in
Guilford, followed by a well-cooked meal. He is survived by his children
Nicole Kane, Moira Pakulniewicz, and Edward M. Peters, III, and five
grandchildren.
Submitted by Guy Miller Struve, Secretary, 90 The Uplands
E-Mail: guy.struve@davispolk.com
Class Website: www.yale63.org