Category Archives: 1930s

Robert W. Searles ’38

Robert Wallace Searles passed away on Monday morning, April 26, 2021 surrounded by his family. He was one hundred and one years old. Born September 4, 1919, he grew up in Pomfret, Connecticut and resided in Brooklyn, Connecticut for most of his life. Mr. Searles was a graduate of Williston Academy, class of ’38 and received a BS degree in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytech Institute in 1942. He served in the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant J.G. during WWII and he was a serving member of the Mystic Flotilla Coast Guard Auxiliary for over 55 years. Active as a patrol coxswain early on, Bob was also an instructor, teaching boating safety classes for many years. He was honored in 2019 by the Auxiliary District Commodore celebrating his many years of service. He founded and operated Searles Ready Mix Concrete in Wauregan, Connecticut until retiring in 1983. Bob was an avid boater and boat builder. He spent every summer cruising Long Island Sound with Audrey, his wife of 56 years. Bob was predeceased by Audrey in 2007. He leaves a son, John Searles with wife Lynne and grandson Jonathan; daughter Janet Gill with husband Jeremiah; and daughter Judith Baker with husband Ralph, grandson Robert Baker, granddaughter Megina Baker with husband Johannes Mark, and great grandchildren Tova and Carl Mark. He lived a very long and active life. In lieu of flowers, donations in Bob’s memory may be made to The Coast Guard Foundation at coastguardfoundation.org. A private memorial service for family members will be held at a later date.

Sally Hitchcock Pullman ’37

Sally Hitchcock Pullman passed away peacefully of natural causes on August 5, 2020 in Lafayette Hill, PA. She was 101 years old, born on April 20, 1919 in Bristol, CT to the late Arthur Cornwall and Ruth Harriet (Thayer) Hitchcock.

Mrs. Pullman lived a wonderfully long and storied life, including her service during WWll as a US Army Nurse in the south Pacific, achieving her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree, teaching nursing for a number of years and being the wife to John S. Pullman, Jr., and the mother of their three children.

Sally married John on May 22, 1948 in Brattleboro, Vermont. Their first child John H. was born in 1952. They moved to Wyoming in 1953 where her two younger children Sally and David were born. In 1955 they returned to Connecticut where husband John received his Masters in Public Health from Yale University leading to an job with the Connecticut State Health Department. The family moved to Granby, Connecticut in 1959. The house at 10 Wells Road was her beloved home for close to 60 years until she took up residence in the Sunrise assisted living facility in Lafayette, PA.

Early on she taught pottery classes to 4Hers, ran a Brownie troop, canned and froze the bounty of her and John’s gardens, she enjoyed her horses, geology and all things having to do with earth sciences, healthcare, teaching, knitting, drawing, telling stories, and mowing her lawn at top speed on her tractor. She was an avid reader and got particular enjoyment from history books. She wrote and published a book “Letters Home” now for sale on Amazon about her experiences caring for the wounded in the hospital tents on New Guinea after the return of McArthur. After their retirement John and Sally traveled extensively making new friends from around the world.

She is survived by her daughter, Sally Pullman-Mooar, son-in-law Pekka Antero Mooar; sons: John H. Pullman, daughter-in-law Laura Elise McGhee Pullman, and David L. Pullman; grandchildren Lakin Caldwell Pullman, Jaime Marie Pullman Beaulieu, Ethan Pullman Mooar, Rebecca Hitchcock Mooar Kelleher, Sarah Kasanen Mooar and Dana McGhee Malone-White and six great-grandchildren: Sally, Netta, Lakin, David, Shea, and Ragnar, plus many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, John S. Pullman, Jr. who passed away in 1995, and brother, John Thayer Hitchcock.

Due to the distance and the Covid-19 pandemic, virtual services will be announced at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mrs. Pullman’s honor to: Yale School of Nursing, (nursing.yale.org) First Congregational Church, (firstchurchgranby.org) Vermont Land Trust, (vlt.org).

Margaret Ould Bell Craig ’36


Mrs. Margaret Ould Bell Craig, died April 24, 2019 in Middletown R.I. at the age of 99. She graduated from Northampton School for Girls in 1936, and from Wellesley College in 1940. After raising four daughters with her husband Frederick E. Craig in N.J. they enjoyed many happy retirement years in Rhode Island near the ocean. She is survived by four daughters, three grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren.

Edward J. Craig II ’39

Edward J. Craig II, died on July 18, 2018 in his 98th year in Newport, RI. Edward was born in New York City on August 18, 1920 and moved to Santiago, Chile as a young boy where he spent 6 years.
After he attended the Williston Academy in Easthampton, MA and the Scarborough School-on Hudson, NY, Edward attended the Musical institute of Art and then matriculated at Columbia University in 1939 and also acted in at least one Broadway production. His studies were interrupted by the start of WW2 and he joined the US Marines in 1941 as 1st Lieutenant Marine Infantry (1st Battalion) and lead one of the first platoons to land on the beaches of Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942 where he was wounded and received a Purple Heart. Edward was later promoted to Captain and became aide-de-camp for the Commanding General of the USMC in the Pacific in Melbourne, Australia until 1945 when he was decommissioned.
Edward then started working in a antiquated book and manuscript business in NYC and graduated from Columbia University in 1948. He completed graduate courses at Brown University and earned an MA degree in English and Spanish literature from URI.
He then embarked on a teaching career at the Portsmouth Priory, Brown University, the Newport Naval College in Newport, as well as a number of public schools including Thompson Junior High School in Newport. Edward taught Spanish, French, Latin and English Literature over the years in different capacities.
Edward created an antiquities business from home from 1969 – 2003 and was an avid amateur artist of painting and music.
Edward is survived by his wife, Valentine Vernon Craig and nine of his ten children Grenville, Vernon, Valentine, Guy, Diana, Gloria, Franklin, Francesca and Marion. His second son Edward J Craig III died in 1976.

Alan A. Roberts ’37

Alan A. Roberts, of Chatham, NJ, passed away April 19, 2018.  He is survived by his sons, Jeffrey ’68 and Christopher ’69.

Jeff writes, “Thursday night Alan Roberts went to another place. After more than 98 years, death was caused by an infection, a brief but difficult illness. You may remember Dad who grew up in Medford MA, was a 1937 graduate of Williston Academy where he lived in the then new Ford Hall. Personally I remember him as an advertising guy commuting on the train to Chicago’s Loop or New York’s Madison Ave, telling stories and quizzing the three of us about the names behind BBD&O. (Batten Barton Dursten and Osborne). But looking at the time line, Dad was a numbers guy building algorithms, like a carpenter needs lumber, Alan needed numbers and industrial scale agriculture has lots of numbers. That’s what he did, an ag numbers guy. Away from work it was local politics, the Bruins, travel, bridge and travel. On the first count, he had a regular place in the local newspapers letters to the editor section and took pleasure in the feedback.”

Charlotte Drea Adams Rising ’39

Charlotte Adams Rising, 95, passed away March 21, 2018 in Medford, Oregon. The only child of Dr. William Francis Drea and Rhoda Smith Drea, Charlotte was born July 25, 1922, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She graduated from the Northampton School for Girls in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1939 and then spent three years at Stanford University before her marriage to 2nd Lt. Waldemar H. (Bud) Adams in 1942. After World War II, they made their home in the Detroit area, where they raised their four children.
After Bud’s death in 1964, Charlotte became the Registrar for the Merrill Palmer Institute in Detroit, completed her undergraduate degree at Wayne State University, and graduated from the University of Michigan Graduate School of Library Science. She married the Rev. Richard L. Rising in 1969, moved with him to Rochester, New York, and pursued her career as librarian until their move to Dolores, Colorado. They both retired while in Colorado and subsequently moved to Sonoma, California. But Oregon beckoned, and in 1991 they moved to Ashland, where Richard died in 1998. Beginning in the spring of 2000, Charlotte shared her life with Theodore F. Carter and moved with him to Rogue Valley Manor in 2005.
During her years in Oregon, Charlotte was a reader, Lay Eucharistic Minister, and vestry member at Ashland’s Trinity Episcopal Church, a board member of the Tudor Guild and Ashland’s AAUW, a member of Chapter FO, P.E.O., and a respite volunteer for the Providence Hospital Hospice.
She is survived by her children, Natalie Riley, William Adams, Charles Adams, and Michael Adams; her step children, John Rising, Cynthia Rising, Caroline Maxey, Stephen Rising, Catherine Rising, and William Rising; eight grandchildren; eight step grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

R. Craig Campbell ’36

R. Craig Campbell, age 100 years, of Plymouth, MA, died at his home on Tuesday, April 10, 2017. He was the husband of the late Margaret “Margi” Campbell for 72 years, and the son of the late Robert Newton and Vivian (Zeal (Savini) Campbell. Born in East Providence, Rhode Island, Craig lived in Canandaiqua, New York for many years before moving to Plymouth in recent years. He had an extensive career in different businesses, retiring as CEO from the Welch’s Food Company. Craig volunteered to the Army Draft Program in 1940 at the rank of Private. During his time overseas during World War II in the South Pacific war zone, he was awarded an Officer’s Commission as a 2nd Lt retiring in 1945 at the rank of 1st Lt. He was a member of the American Legion Post #40, the American Management Association, the Rotary Club and the Union League Club of Chicago, Ill. Most important to Craig, was his family. He has touched many lives. He is survived by his children, Bruce Carter Campbell of Canandaiqua, NY, Scott Fletcher Campbell of Martha’s Vineyard, Glenn McLeod Campbell of Saratoga Springs, NY and Dausha Cherie Campbell of Plymouth, 17 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren, his sisters Vivian Stoll and Barbara King and 4 nieces. He was the father of the late R. Craig Campbell II (’63)  and Colin Whipple Campbell (’65).

Vicary Gratton Clark ’38

vicaryMatriarch of the Clark Family, age 96, of Falmouth, Massachusetts, and long-time resident of Glens Falls, New York, died March 15th, 2017, surrounded by her family. She was raised in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, daughter of the Reverend John Gratton and Esther Stone Gratton. Graduating from Simmons College in 1942, she worked for General Electric, and served in government intelligence in Washington, DC during World War II. She moved to Boston and worked for MIT where she met her husband, William T. Clark who was attending Harvard Business School. After several years on the North Shore of Boston, they moved to Glens Falls in 1953. Her husband, William, ultimately became chairman and CEO of the First National Bank. Vicary devoted herself to raising and nurturing her five children. She was active in the First Presbyterian Church and the Glens Falls Hospital Guild. She had an active and inquisitive mind and a sharp wit. She was a voracious reader and an aficionado of cross word puzzles and Jeopardy. She loved spending summer months on the coast of Maine and at Lake George. In 1988 she moved to Falmouth, Massachusetts, which became the location of the family gatherings – especially the annual Thanksgiving celebrations. She loved paddle tennis, golf, romantic classic movies, schmaltzy music, sunshine, chocolate, and tuna fish sandwiches on Bowermans Beach on Cape Cod. But most of all, she was fiercely devoted to her family, which included: Children -Vicary Clark Thomas (Peter Thomas), Caroline Clark Ceglarski, Christine Clark Edwards (Thomas Edwards), William Merritt Clark (Kendall Clark), and Cynthia Clark Lipsky (Howard Lipsky); Grandchildren – William Thomas, Carter Thomas, Sarah Ceglarski, Ted Edwards, Abra Edwards, Kelsey Clark, William Clark (Coco Zephir), Mimi Clark, Anna Georges, Elizabeth Kelley (Sean Kelley), and Jamie Lipsky Myers (Jason Myers).

Margaret Lovett Doyle ’35

doyleOn Wednesday, January 4, 2017, surrounded by those she loved, Margaret “Meg” Doyle, Matriarch of Clan Doyle, passed peacefully from this world to the next. There, she’ll get to spend eternity in the loving arms of her God and her husband “Bun”, who predeceased her. Margaret (MOM) was the loving heart of our family which spans four generations. She and Bun had five children: Frank, Pete, Mike, Joe and Margaret. Her children blessed her with eight grandchildren: Michele, Veronica, David, Katy, Chris, Frank, Joe and Shawna. More recently came eight great grandchildren: Justin, Keelin, Joe, Tim, Julia, Molly, Bryce and Madison. Also included in the clan are many nephews and nieces, particularly Liz, whose lives have been touched by the beautiful person who, to us, was MOM. Mom was energetic in civic and church programs and activities, giving care and assistance to all whenever the need was there. One of her greatest pleasures was seeing those she loved succeed in life’s challenges and opportunities. She was always quick with recognition and praise for all her family. Mom was a fifty-year-plus member of the Cursillo Community and an active participant in Opus Dei where, up to the end, she kept many friends close to her heart. Mom’s passing has left a void in the hearts and lives of everyone she touched.

George E. Bria ’34

bria

George E. Bria died March 18, 2017.  He was 101.

He is survived by his second wife, Arlette Philippous Brauer, son John Bria of Pound Ridge, NY, daughter Judy Storey of Columbia, MD, two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

To read about George’s life and his career as an Associated Press newsman, please visit:

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/03/18/us/ap-us-obit-bria.html