ClassNotes July August 2025 (YAM) Posted April 24, 2025
Walter (“Woo”) Alton has published Chasing Vice, a crime story set in New York City in the mid-Eighties. Woo writes: “The book highlights the tenor of the times through art, fashion, food, and friendship, the ins and outs of what made New York City vibrant in the 80’s – the art, modeling, police, legal scenes as you’ve never seen them. You feel as though you are there down to the day’s fashions to recipes you can use to dazzle your own dinner guests. You meet characters who are engaging; their rapport makes you feel like one of the gang as their relationships develop. The suspense grows to an unexpected climax.”
Gates Gill has published How Starbucks Saved My Life—And My Surprising New Life! Gates explains: “In my new book the surprise is how happy I am today with a whole new life of love I never imagined. And I also reveal in a new, more truthful way what a shock Yale was for me, and what a hard time I had just surviving without dying our undergraduate years. Many classmates enjoyed my previous Starbucks book because it showed that even with a Yale education you could end up cleaning toilets and sweeping floors – and being happy to have that job! The primary truth of my new book is that no matter the inevitable tragedies we all go through, there is still time at ANY AGE to create a life you love!”
Molly and Jim Little have ended a 34-year Florida Snowbird lifestyle. Jim reports: “Having spent 5-6 cold weather months a year in a wonderful community, Harbour Ridge Yacht and Country Club, Palm City, FL, we have sold our condo there to stay closer to our doctors and family back in our primary residence in Edgewater, MD. Just before we headed north, we enjoyed a lovely lunch at a waterside restaurant with classmates and wives: Louisa and Nelson Levy and Susan and Rees Jones, whom we have seen regularly in Florida over the years.”
Bill Nordhaus has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, making him one of only eight economists who are members of the AAAS. This is the latest in a long line of honors that Bill has received, including the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics.
Phil Stevens reports: “In Albuquerque NM, for a conference in February, I had a great reunion with Sam Deloria and his wife Vivian. Sam started Yale with our class, dropped out for a year in 1962, and finished in 1964. But he and I kept in touch. Both of them are aging well, and have been active in various Indian causes. They attended one of my presentations, and we had a delightful dinner together.”
David Lyle Boren died on February 20, 2025 at his home in Norman, OK. After graduating from Yale in 1963, David studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and then returned to Oklahoma, where he served as a state legislator from 1966 to 1974 before being elected as the Nation’s youngest Governor in 1974. In 1978 David was elected to the United States Senate, where he remained until 1994, carving out a position at a moderate centrist. David served as Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1987 to 1993, and helped to secure the release of Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990. In 1994 David became President of the University of Oklahoma, where he increased enrollments and scholarships, introduced new academic and research programs, expanded student housing, and added classrooms. David retired from his position at the University of Oklahoma in 2018, having completed more than 40 years of public service. David served Yale for many years as a member of the Yale Corporation. David is survived by his wife, Molly Shi Boren; his daughter Carrie Headington and his son Dan Boren; and two grandchildren.
Gates Gill recalls: “At our last Class Reunion, David Boren’s daughter Carrie was there celebrating her Class Reunion. We took a picture of us together and sent it to her father. Almost immediately I heard back from David. He said how much he missed being at our Reunion. He never missed one! But now severe medical challenges kept him away. Some of us organized a Zoom call with David. You will not be surprised that when his face first appeared on screen, he was smiling. So happy to be there with our Class again. We had a conversation full of love and laughter. David's smiling spirit will never leave us.” Arthur Laffer writes: “David Boren made a difference to the country.” Jon Rose remembers: “David and I met early Junior year when David wanted to publish a letter in the Yale Daily News urging President Griswold to fire Bill Coffin for importing politics into the pulpit. That venture ended in a far better place with Coffin and David becoming friends. Throughout his life, David was a visionary. His congenial personality coupled with a surpassing intellect and ready sense of humor allowed him to put together bipartisan coalitions of immense importance.” Peter Rousselot writes: “I first met David through the Yale Political Union. There, he was a leader of the Conservative Party, while I was a leader of the Liberal Party. Though our political leanings diverged, our friendship blossomed. Among his many extraordinary talents, David was a great listener and a uniter not a divider. As we moved closer to graduation, I began to investigate summer job prospects in Washington, DC. I had few contacts there, but David had many. With empathy and skill, David took me under his wing and personally introduced me around the Capitol.” Guy Struve remembers: “I knew David Boren in many contexts – as a fellow member of the Yale Political Union; during the Iran/Contra investigation; during our Reunions; and as a friend over a period of many decades. In all of these contexts, David was exactly the same: extremely intelligent, but modest and open-minded; sensitive to the feelings of others, and slow to believe ill of anyone; but also able to make difficult decisions and follow through on them.”
David Magie Childs died on March 26, 2025 in Pelham, NY from Lewy body dementia. After graduating from Yale College in 1963, David earned a master’s degree in architecture at Yale in 1967, served as Design Director of the Pennsylvania Avenue Commission, and joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrell, architects (SOM) in Washington, DC in 1971. David moved to New York in 1984, and served as Chairman of SOM from 1991 to 1993 and again from 1998 to 2000, the only partner ever to hold that title twice. He was a consulting partner of SOM until his retirement in 2022. David’s completed projects in Washington include the 1976 Washington Mall master plan and Constitution Gardens, and headquarters buildings for the National Geographic and U.S. News and World Report. David was the designer of One World Trade Center (also called Freedom Tower), the tallest building in the Americas, erected in place of the twin towers destroyed on 9/11. Among his other completed projects in New York City are 1 Worldwide Plaza, the New York Mercantile Exchange, the JFK International Arrivals Building, 7 World Trade Center, and the Deutsche Bank Center on Columbus Circle. David is survived by his wife, Annie; his children Joshua, Nicholas, and Jocelyn; and six grandchildren. Joe Alpert recalls: “David and I sat next to each other during Freshman first year French. He was a meticulous student who always knew the correct words for the conjugation of the verb être. That skill set helped to make him such an extraordinary success post-Yale.” Phil Stevens remembers: “I knew David far better at Deerfield. In our senior year he was manager of the swimming team and I was captain. I remember him as friendly and cheerful but quiet and self-confident, admirable traits in the competitive prep-school milieu of the time. At Yale he always expressed delight at our occasional meetings. We went very different ways, but I will cherish one piece of Yale legacy we shared: life-changing insights in lectures by architectural historian Vincent Scully!”
Wolf Clement Dietrich passed away on February 7, 2025 in Woodridge, IL. Wolf was the Captain of the Yale Freshman Football Team in 1959. He was one of three Sophomore lettermen on the undefeated 1960 Yale Football Team. He lettered in 1961 and 1962, and was the Most Valuable Player in 1962. Wolf graduated from UCLA Law School in 1970, and was admitted to the California State Bar in 1971. He was the President of Dietrich Construction Co. in Woodridge, IL. Wolf wrote in our 50th Reunion Class Book: “The friendships formed in that athletbic atmosphere, tempered by the searing heat of the competitive spirit, formed an underlying bond among teammates that only we, intuitively and implicitly, comprehendb.” Wolf is survived by his wife, J. Hannah Dietrich. Chuck Hellar writes: “Wolf was a one-of-a-kind person – fun, funny, tough, hard worker, great roomie.” Erik Jensen shares: “I always thought of Wolf and Pappas as prehistoric creatures in a real world drama. There was always a wild animal demeanor to their football field behavior. It was sometimes frightening to me as a teammate. I can only imagine how it looked to our opponents. I am truly sorry that life turned out to be very difficult for him. He deserved better than that.” Bill Kay recalls: “Wolf was a great competitor. From the first day of Freshman Football, through our 1960 championship year, and during our final two years, Wolf competed for playing time with an amazing group of guards. It was difficult to match Wolf’s fierce mental and physical strength.” Ian Robertson remembers: “In 1970 I asked Wolf if he wanted to come to Illinois and learn the housing business. One of our projects was a planned community called Woodridge Center. In 1979 a dispute between DuPage County and the EPA threatened to shut us down. Wolf worked around the clock helping us determine how many people relied on our company for all or part of their income. We asked the EPA if they wanted to deprive nearly 2,000 people of their livelihood. The EPA urged us to fly to Champaign, IL, where we quietly signed an agreement preserving all of the jobs.”
Steven Samuel Hall passed away on March 27, 2024 at Newton- Wellesley Hospital in Newton, MA. At 16 Steven entered the Engineering School at Yale University, where he earned his degree in Civil Engineering. He received an M.B.A. from the University of New Hampshire in 1974. Steven spent three years in the U.S. Army, stationed in Milan, Italy. He specialized in procurement for large projects, especially during the years he worked for Bechtel Corporation. Steven lived in 42 states and 37 countries during his life. He was a lifelong enthusiast of railroads and locomotives. Steven wrote in our 50th Reunion Class Book: “For the most part, my life has been spent building things, making people’s lives better. Without Yale, it would never have happened.” Steven is survived by his wife, Fang Fang, and his sons Samuel and Marc.
Frank Vinicor, M.D. peacefully passed away in Atlanta, GA on March 12, 2025. Frank graduated from Yale University and Washington University Medical School in St. Louis. He started residency at Indiana University and quickly volunteered for the U.S. Army, discharging as a Major. Frank became a Professor of Medicine at Indiana University and the Veteran’s Administration hospitals in Indianapolis. In 1989 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recruited him as the Director of Diabetes Translation. Frank served as the President of the American Diabetes Association in 1995-1996. He traveled the world as an advocate of public health and in pursuit of medical diplomacy. Within one day, he might converse with a diabetes patient and then with the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, showing respect and empathy to both while cracking a self- effacing joke or two. Echoing former U.S. Representative John Lewis, Frank would say, “Get in good trouble.” We will forever hear him whispering, “Do it now.” Survivors include his long-time partner, Julie Will; his daughters Rachel Rodman Driscoll, Sarah Mason Wren, and Kirsten Lawhon Gibson; his ex- wife Susan Vinicor; and multiple grandchildren. Jim Anderson remembers: “Frank was an irrepressible hockey fan who practiced his slap shot into our fireplace in Branford. Entering the room when Frank was intensely committed to perfecting that shot was a dangerous thing. It never quite got to where he wanted it; what he lacked in accuracy he made up for in zeal. Having the only car among the four of us made him the portal to our social life, mostly at Smith. His early generosity to us spread over his career extending to the world of diabetes. Frank loved being an academic physician and cared for his patients and the field with the same intensity as his slap shot.”
Guy Miller Struve, Secretary 1280 Fifth Avenue, Apt. 14-EF New York, NY 10029 E-Mail: guy.struve@davispolk.com Class Website: www.yale63.org