By Gregory A. Weiss
Following up on the passing of Jules Bernard mentioned in our last issue, we have now received some further information. He was the grandson of a Frenchman who emigrated to the United States early in the 20th century and established a successful export-import business in New York City. Jules grew up in Berlin, Melbourne, and Washington (St. Alban’s) After Yale, he entered graduate school in English at UC Berkeley but soon switched to law school at Penn. He worked in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice before joining the FDIC for the remainder of his career. Jules and his wife Pat lived for many years in D.C. and the Virginia suburbs after which they moved to the family home on Casco Bay in Maine, then to Portland, Oregon, and finally to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
We do not normally note the passing of classmate wives. Just not enough room. There are exceptions, however, to every rule. When you read the following note from Deane Waldman you’ll understand why. “It is with profound sadness that I inform my classmates that my wife Mary succumbed to pancreatic cancer on Nov. 25, 2022. My redheaded bundle of energy had many more friends in our class than I did, given her warm, open, friendly personality. We met at a TD mixer on Sept. 26, 1964, when she was a three-day-old freshman and still jailbait (17 yrs old). I always remembered that date, even when I forgot our wedding anniversary in 1968, June I think. Just wanted you guys to know that a small light of goodness has gone out.” You will smile at Deane’s description of her ice-skating prowess: “She also had been a nationals level speedskater, and I won several bets with hockey-paying Yalies when I boasted my cute little girlfriend could beat them around the rink. Surprise! She left everybody behind who took my ‘silly’ bet.”
Ted Shen’s new musical opened in May in Minneapolis to very positive reviews: “A powerfully affecting work by composer Ted Shen…” Ted’s characteristically modest reaction to a suggestion by classmate Biff Folberth that we mention the reviews in these notes was “ I am always appreciative of Biff’s incomparable generosity and enthusiasm, but it would have to be a desperately slow day for these reviews to be class notes-worthy!” Sorry, Ted, we disagree.
Our class anthem writer Damon Baker has confirmed a small, kind change in the words of our class anthem, “Our Time, Our Yale.” The key phraseology in the original version read “Now the eyes are dimmer, and there’re lines on every face.” The revised language: “Now the eyes are dimmer, and time has touched each face.”
’66LIVE continues to roll. As of mid-May 2023, we have held 12 sessions subsequent to mid-September 2022. Thanks again to Michael Dalby and Jesse Lovejoy for all the work they have put into this project. It has been fun and educational for all. By the time this issue will have been published at least two more sessions will have taken place.
We are sad to report that Roy Durham died on April 6, 2023. Roy was born and raised in New York City and attended Andover. At Yale he was a member of the varsity squash team and DKE. He received his law degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and then joined a prestigious Wall Street law firm. This led to him setting up a private practice of law in Brussels and, ultimately, to the establishment of a biotech firm in England. For the last 20 years of his life Roy traveled extensively in China raising funds for different types of businesses.
Yet another passing, Marty Mosko died on February 13, 2023. At Yale, he switched his major from Spanish to physics to art, and began a Master’s degree in the study of languages because he wanted to read ancient Indian poetry. He once said, I may not be a great monk but I’m a pretty great gardener. He started Marpa Landscaping with his first wife using a wheelbarrow, some tools, and an old truck. Now his legacy of superbly-designed gardens scattered across Colorado, America, and elsewhere in the world have won him numerous awards.