Category Archives: Class Decades

Janet Wolfe ’32

Janet Wolfe passed away peacefully November 30 at home surrounded by her loving family. She was 101 years old.

Born in NYC in 1914, Janet attended Dalton, Ethical Culture, and the Northampton School for Girls.

During WWII, she served in the American Red Cross in Rome. After the war, she worked with Roberto Rosselini on Paisan, toured with Orson Welles’ Mercury Theater, and taught the rhumba to Arthur Murray.

She married composer Sandy Matlovsky in 1952 and had two daughters, Alisa and Deborah.

Throughout the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, Janet was the inspiration for a series of short stories in the New Yorker’s Talk of The Town. In 1971, she founded the NYCHA Symphony Orchestra, giving opportunity and visibility to classical musicians of color. She served as its executive director for over 40 years.

Janet is survived by her two adoring daughters and two beloved grandsons, Jake and Sam.

Alice Newton Childs Smith ’32

Alice Newton Childs Smith, 100, who for more than half a century actively and tirelessly supported many community organizations in Holyoke, died Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015, at Loomis Village in South Hadley.

Born Jan. 20, 1915, in Holyoke, Mrs. Smith was the daughter of Katharine (Ware) and Herbert B. Newton. Her father was a well-known paper manufacturer and the president of Newton Paper Co. Her parents had a summer home on Lake Raponda in Wilmington, Vermont, which Mrs. Smith continued to maintain until her death.

After a year at Northampton School for Girls, where she won the school-wide math prize, Mrs. Smith attended Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, graduating in 1932. At Vassar College (Class of 1936) she majored in French and afterwards worked in Northampton and later Boston for several years.

Continue reading

Dr. John G. Daley ’47

daleyJohn G. “Jack” Daley, MD, passed away Sunday, March 29, 2015 in Georgia.

From 1977 to 1993 he served as Assistant Director of the UNC OB/GYN residency program affiliated with New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

He was born in Easthampton, Massachusetts in 1926 into a working class family. He used his GI Bill from service as an Army clerk at the end of World War II to become the first in his family to attend college. He continued to Yale Medical School, graduating in 1955, and completed his residency at Yale Hospital in 1960. Before coming to Wilmington, he served 22 years active duty in the U.S. Air Force.

In 2007 he lost his beloved wife Pat and son Stephen, and moved to Alpharetta, Georgia to be close to remaining family. He is survived by his son John, daughter-in-law Marta, grandchildren Kevin and Laura, of Milton Georgia, and sister Mary Pat Daley of Kennebunk, Maine.

Jeremy Schriber ’97

SchribnerJeremy J. Schriber, 36, of Shelburne Falls, died peacefully Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, at the home of his mother with both his mother and his father by his side.

Born Sept. 3, 1979, in Northampton, Jeremy went on to graduate from the Williston Northampton School in 1997 and from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2001 with a bachelor of arts degree in English and Philosophy.

He presently worked as the manager and steward of Burnt Hill Farm in Heath, where, in addition to caring for and harvesting 75 acres of native blueberries, Jeremy spent countless hours exploring and mapping the property and caring for animal habitats.

Jeremy was an accomplished guitarist and song writer/composer as well as an avid rock and crystal collector and a self-taught naturalist.

He is survived by his mother and father, Susan A. (Lampron) and Peter E. Schriber of Shelburne Falls, and Heath; his half-brother David P. Schriber of Portland, Oregon; his half-sister Susan C. Klaus of St. Augustine, Florida; several aunts and uncles; and many friends. Jeremy was also the cherished grandson of the late Paul and Dorothy Lampron of Northampton.

Elizabeth Cahill ’49

CahillElizabeth, M. “Betty” Cahill, age 84, of Braintree, formerly of Brockton, passed away peacefully on April 16, 2015.

She was the daughter of the late John and Mary (Sheridan) Cahill of Brockton.

She had a long career as a financial officer at several Boston area establishments, including Harvard Business School, The Children’s Museum and King’s Chapel.

She was the loving sister of Patricia Barnett of Philadelphia, Carol Walsh and and her husband Frank of Weymouth, John Cahill of Pocasset and the late Robert Cahill. Dear sister-in-law of the late Edwin Barnett. She was the proud aunt of 11 nieces and nephews and enjoyed many happy times at the family home at New Silver Beach on the Cape.

Henry C. Meagher ’44

Henry MeagherHenry Meagher, of Hyde Park, New York and Vero Beach, Florida passed away on Saturday, October 17th. He was 89 yrs old.

Henry was born on December 17, 1925 in Saranac Lake, NY to Florence and Raymond Meagher. He was a husband of 59 yrs to his loving wife Janice Crimmins Meagher and father to Debbie Stanley, Janice Trojan and Jennifer Convery. Henry served in the Navy during World War II in the South Pacific. He graduated from Williston Academy and then Williams College where he was a member of Chi Psi fraternity and made many life-long friends. Following Williams, he returned to Poughkeepsie, NY where he founded the Mechanical Construction Corporation while attending NYU Business School. Henry married Janice Crimmins in 1956 and they raised their three children in Hyde Park, New York.

Continue reading

James Walles ’52

James WallesJames Alton Walles (Jim), 82, passed away peacefully on September 24, 2015, at the Rockingham County Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Brentwood, New Hampshire.

Jim is predeceased by his parents, Harry Alton and Josephine Walles; his loving wife of 46 years, Betsey Walles and his brother, David Vaughn Walles. Jim is survived by his wife, Carole Walles.

Jim and Carole married in Exeter, N.H. on August 5, 2005. Their romance rekindled when Jim tracked Carole down in 2004. They were just as happy together these last ten years as when they were teenage prom king and queen. Jim was very proud of his children, Jane Walles Hall (Steve) of Fort Mill, South Carolina, Robert Alton Walles (Jennifer) of Wen-ham, Massachusetts and Elizabeth Walles Duda (Aaron) of Tega Cay, South Carolina. He also delighted in his grandchildren, Gretchen and James Hall of Fort Mill, South Carolina, Mackenzie and Zackery Walles of Wenham, Massachusetts and Charles, Harry and Josephine Duda of Tega Cay, S.C. His family admired Jim for his intelligence, morals and love for his family.

Continue reading

Mary Cary Rea ’35

Mary Cary ReaMary Cary Rea, 98, died peacefully at the Holbrook Health Center, Piper Shores Retirement Community, Scarborough, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015.
She was born on Dec. 30, 1916 in Ridgewood, NJ, the daughter of Charles Austin Cary and Frances Campbell Cary. Although Mary lived in several different states as a child, moving with every promotion her father earned with the DuPont Company, summers were spent in Maine with family in Cherryfield, Machias, Pond Island, and finally on her beloved Trafton Island which she and her brother purchased in 1947.

Continue reading

H. Clark Island ’51

150x172-3710025Clark Island, 82, of Hobe Sound, Florida passed away peacefully on September 17, 2015 at Amore Dementia Care in Stuart, Florida surrounded by his loving family.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Joanne, his sons, David and his wife Tracy , Curt and his wife Erin, his daughter Lynn Shouse and her husband David; and his grandchildren , Kristen, Steven, Emily, Bobby, Matthew, Olivia, Jack and Phoebe. He was Uncle Clark to three nieces and a nephew.

Clark was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He attended Williston Academy and Meriden High School and he is a graduate of General Motors Institute (now known as Kettering University) with a mechanical engineering degree. Lieutenant Island served in the US Navy as a Navigator on P2V’s. Following his military service he worked as a sales representative in the ball bearing and stamped metal parts industries in Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York and ultimately Connecticut.

Clark began a second career in selling long term care insurance that covered a span of 20 years and moved to Florida in 2001.

Clark has served in the M.W. Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Connecticut for 50 years. Additionally, he served with the Acacia Lodge in Stuart Florida for the past 14 years and was active in the Republican Party.

Without a doubt, Clark’s deepest passion was singing. He participated over most of his lifetime in school choirs, church choirs, the Society of Barbershop Singing in America (via the Big Apple Chorus in NY) and more recently the Treasure Coast Community Singers in Stuart, Florida.