We lost Hugh on June 27, 2022.  He had contributed the following to our Class Book:

Before our 25^th reunion, thoughts of a midlife crisis or retirement before age 70 or even 75 had not crossed my mind. With the failed Clinton initiative, the evolution of healthcare stalled, changing my mind. After a year promoting computing and information technology in radiology as a fellow of our national society, I spent four years in a night school master’s program to discover where medicine is and should be going and whether I should go with it. The answers were that medicine must, can, and will change and that I should stay in it. Spurred by a strong economy and an obvious need for change at the turn-of-the-century, our country, with its democratic principles, political willpower, and economic and medical resources, could and would create the best healthcare system in the world.

I stayed with radiology but left the the University where the Department had lost its direction, sacrificing education and research for service. My family preferred to stay in Cincinnati, so I went into private practice. I joined a newly forming, more collegial imaging group in Middletown, a smaller city between Cincinnati and Dayton. I happily practiced breast imaging and general radiology for the final eleven years of my career and continued my premed aide program. Thirteen of the last seventeen were Ephs.

At age 65, five years short of my target, I was pushed into retirement by a spine tumor that required major surgery, four months of limited activity (pre-quarantine training), and a year for complete recovery. I admit to having earlier thoughts of retirement, including ideations of more agreeable climes, more time with family, and more color with less grayscale, all of which were realized: winters in Florida (another surprise), summers in Maine with one daughter’s family, spring and fall in Cincinnati with the other’s.

All good? Not quite. Post-surgery television covered a mass shooting (Umpqua College, Oregon). Then, a racist was elected president, followed by the catastrophic pandemic response, all in the wake of an authoritarian response to 9/11, endless and corrupt wars — no lesson learned from Vietnam, denigration of knowledge and science, and a healthcare solution severely limited by shameful politics. So much for my rosy prediction! Solution: read; bolster my Division II Social Studies so that I might “recognize, analyze, and evaluate human structures to understand better the social world in which we live (Williams College Course Directory).”

Am I less optimistic about the future than I was 50 years ago? I am not as naïve, but my optimism is tempered by new understandings. Progress is often one step forward, one step back. Mobility disrupts families and neighborhoods. My friend technology displaces finance from small towns to big ones, gutting local control. I am grateful for the positives, but the negatives weigh heavily. The speed of life is out of control. Power trumps logic. So, what am I going to do? Keep on reading, doing projects, talking with friends, enjoying family, and maintaining hope. It has worked, so far, at least for me.

Poppy and Hugh, 1971 – 2021		Daughter Abby with husband Joe and daughters Kaitlyn and Cece; Portland, Maine		Daughter Emily with husband Chris, daughters Teagan and Elcie, and son Grady; Cincinnati

The following obituary appeared in the Covenant Funeral Home site:

John McNeal Wilson, 70, of Chattanooga, passed away on Wednesday, January 25, 2017.

He graduated from McCallie School and the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. John was a Vietnam Veteran and a member of Trinity Lutheran Church.

He was preceded in death by his parents Mark K. Wilson, Jr. and Lois Wilson, and his sister, Mary Anne.

He is survived by his daughter, Alicia and son-in-law, Titus Yao, of Washington D.C.; brother, Mark K. Wilson III. of Honolulu, Hawaii; and one niece and one nephew.

Steve Brown informed us of Tom’s passing:

I am writing with  the unfortunate news that our classmate, Tom Jones,  passed away last Thursday, March 17 2022 after an extended battle with ALS. Many of you may recall seeing Tom last on our class Zoom on Sept. 27, 2021 in which he told us about his path to a career practicing law in China and his love of Chinese art.  I am sure that all of our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and 2 daughters.

From Tom’s daughter, Kailin:

I just wanted to send a brief note and update from the Thomas Jones family. As many of you already know, my father passed away yesterday afternoon. My mom, Kairei and I were by his side holding his hand during his last breaths. On the night of the 16th, we were all together along with my Dad’s dear friend, Lennart, visiting from Sweden, dancing around his bedside listening to a mix of Nina Simone, Bach, the Beatles (“Drive My Car”) and Bob Marley, drinking rum and cola (“Rum and Cola” Andrew Sisters)–he had a few bites of cold sesame noodles with shredded chicken and cucumber that my mom cooked and he and I shared a mini magnum ice cream bar. 

I have compiled a website and some photographs at https://www.myfarewelling.com/memorial/thomasejones#gallery.

From Kent Rude:

Tom knew he had ALS when he penned this statement for our 50^th reunion book below, but he chose not to mention it along with ALS being the reason he was spending more time in Boston than in his beloved home in China. Tom died of this dreaded disease on March 17, 2022 at 72 years of age. He leaves his wife, Liping, and two children, Kailin and Kairei. Kailin is a graduate student and Kairei is a high school sophomore. A middle son, Kaiwan, died at age 3. Tom plans to join him in the Mt. Auburn Cemetery’s Story Chapel Columbarium, a mausoleum, in Cambridge. Tom was drawn to this site because of its bucolic and reflective character and its resemblance to the Planting Fields Arboretum on Long Island where Tom’s father was the director and Tom spent a great deal of time as a boy.

He had a remarkable life and will be missed.

Tom’s personal statement in our 50th Reunion Book:

Like many of our classmates when I arrived at Williams, I began to question how I happened to be admitted—was it by mistake?  This sense of insecurity stayed with me throughout the next four years.  Further, unlike many of you, in my senior year, I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do after graduation—I had always wanted to live overseas, and running out of time as a senior, I applied in the Spring for the Williams-in-HK program. Bill Briggeman and I were selected. Little did I know that in August after graduation, I would wake up in a YMCA in Kowloon and look out at the crowded apartments next door (HK is one of the most densely populated places in the world) and the HK Harbor.  The then British Colony was about as far removed and different from Williamstown as I could imagine.

After teaching for a year there and in Taiwan and pursuing two master’s degrees and a JD, I was fortunate to land my first legal job back in HK with one of the first foreign firms to set up there.  It was 1980, and China, a very undeveloped nation, was just opening its doors after the Cultural Revolution to foreign investment.  By chance, I just happened to be there at the beginning and rode the wave of investment for the following 40 plus years. From 1980 to today, per capita income in China has gone from $195 to $8,840 per capita, increasing 43 times. As an early participant, I had the good fortune to work on many deals, which were the first of their kind in China.  The first listing of a Chinese company on NYSE,  first Coca-Cola,  McDonald’s restaurant and GM joint ventures, and so on, played a role in developing the legal infrastructure for foreign investment.

Coincidentally, as China opened for business, antiquities and other works of art began to flow into Hong Kong to be purchased by collectors and dealers from all over the world. I spent my Saturdays looking for treasures and meeting dealers and collectors en route forming close relations with many of them.

I moved to Beijing in 1989 right after Tiananmen (June 4^th) and saw the bullet holes in the walls of the apartments and tank marks on the square, and soldiers with rifles standing on every street corner.  I also met my wife that year and married two years later. My wife and I shared a passion for Chinese art and formed collections of Chinese furniture, paintings, and export silver over the years.  I am finishing a book about our furniture collection, which the Forbidden City Press may publish in Beijing.  I also established a Chinese Art Fund with Bill Strong, which was one of the first of its kind and was probably one of the least successful investments that Bill has ever made —although we didn’t lose money, and it was fun.

After working at one American firm, and two English firms, I am now a senior consultant with a leading Chinese law firm, having gone full circle.  Without Williams, I wouldn’t have been able to have done any of this, and I know many of you feel the same way. Nor would I have made so many lasting friendships which I treasure to this day. I hope to catch up with you all at our 50th Reunion next August! I have been spending a considerable amount of time in Boston recently, so; please look me up if you are passing by.

Tom’s Statement for our 25^th Reunion Book:

My first port of call after Williams was Hong Kong, where Bill Briggeman and I were the class of ‘71s participants in the Williams-in-Hong Kong program, teaching English at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. This was to change my life forever.  I recall that a group of us applied to visit China, but our application was rejected, as the Cultural Revolution was in full swing and foreigners were verboten in the “ Middle Kingdom. “ I would come back in 1980 ( after having taught in Taiwan for two years and  having obtained a masters degree from the Harvard University Graduation School of Education,  a masters in Asian Studies from Berkeley and finally  a J.D.  from Boalt Hall at Berkeley). I have remained here since then, apart from a 2 1/2 year stint in Beijing (1989–91 ) where I met my wife Zhang Liping. Our daughter, Kaitlin, was born in 1994 and loves to spend time in Beijing with her grandparents who adore her and who are very similar to how I remember my grandparents except for the fact that they are members of the Communist Party.

 I am  now a partner at the English law firm Freshfields , a firm established in London over 250 years ago. Eph  Williams may of heard of the firm, although it would’ve been extremely unlikely that he would’ve use them to prepare his will! I spend my time( and Gene Bauer kind attest to this) advising foreign companies on how to invest in China without losing their shirts, exact of course in legal fees! I look forward to seeing you all at our reunion. 

Jack passed away on March 18, 2021. His obituary reads:

	Jack Richtsmeier, age 72 passed away at St Anthony’s North Hospital on the morning of March 18, 2021 after a battle with lung cancer. He was born January 16th 1949 to the late Ervin and Betty Richtsmeier. He was survived by his daughter Elizabeth, and sister Susan. Jack was born in Colorado Springs and raised in Denver, CO. He graduated from Lincoln HS in 1967, Williams College in 1971, and Virginia Law School in 1974. He went on to practice law for 15 years. He worked in several companies to connect Native Americans to modern technology, and then went back into law work in a lesser capacity until his passing.
	Jack was an avid lover of sports and history. He was in recovery for 31 years. He has been described by friends as the smartest man they have ever met, and, in the words of one, “Once you stopped being intimidated by Jack he was one of the best friends you could have.”

He shared the following for our 25th Reunion:

	Spent the first fifteen years out of Williams raising hell, the next five living there and the last five making amends and building a new life.  Law school at University of Virginia, 1974; then returned to Colorado with a wife, a dog and a job with the largest law firm in Colorado.  Marriage went in 1977.  Litigator with large firm or own practice until 1989.  Lawyer by day, maniac by night:  Chasing skirts, barroom brawls, shady deals, cocaine, leg disabled in a midnight car crash, bankruptcy, always living on the edge. Finally had enough in 1989.  Surrendered law license.  Got clean and sober.  Grew up?  Married and a daughter (Elizabeth) in 1991.  Wife had mental breakdown in 1992, in and out of institutions and committed suicide in 1994.  Have been Elizabeth’s sole available parent since she was 18 months old; now 4 years.  Involved in several small businesses; working on reinstatement of law license.
	Only conclusions are you keep getting chances until you get it right and I’m damn lucky and grateful to have gotten another chance in this lifetime.  Irony of my being solely responsible for raising a girl not lost on me.  Not much money; not much of a resume but have the important things.  Trying to walk without leaving footprints.  Need a Williams ’12 shirt for my daughter.

From the Buffalo News:

BLUM – Craig E., M.D.  August 4, 2021. Beloved husband of Elizabeth (nee Rittling); adored father of Justin (Courtney), Gretchan, Travis (Katie) and Kristan Blum; loving grandfather of Brooks, Scarlett, Tucker and Banks; survived by extended family. Craig humbly dedicated his life to serving others.

In his note to us, Steve Brown relayed some memories:

Rob Farnham shared the following recollection of his Fitch housemate and football teammate: “I will remember Craig with his understated demeanor, not easily impressed with other’s self aggrandizement and a good, solid sense of humor. He was very  thoughtful of others.” Fellow Buffalo surgeon Mike Rade remembered Craig as “a great husband and father. I always enjoyed our dinners together. He was quiet but a lot of fun to be around. I respected his medical acumen and his patients loved him. As a doc he really CARED and did a great job. “

Steve joined our Class after completing his service in the military.

Jim Stearns has provided this obituary, which appeared on Facebook:

The family of Steve O’Grady regrets to announce that he died on Monday morning due to a cardiac event. The ending, at least, was quick and he died at home next to his wife Sheila. 

This account will be memorialized shortly; the following is the obituary that will run in newspapers in New Jersey and Maine. 

The support and kindness he received during his struggle with cancer was overwhelming and his family will never forget it. 

===

Having survived cancer twice, an infantry combat deployment once and – just in 2020 alone – five surgeries, two separate heart conditions, one shattered leg and an advanced case of mesothelioma, Stephen Gilman O’Grady Sr, “Steve,” was finally felled the morning of January 25th due to another cardiac condition. The last year of his life was, in his words, “pretty sucky,” but like everything else in his life, he endured it willingly to the very end.

As one of his lifetime habits was meticulously extracting the entire life history of virtually everyone he ever encountered, from taxi drivers to waiters, it seems only appropriate to document his life, in brief, here.

Born March 7, 1946 in Ithaca, NY, Steve’s family moved often in his early years when his father, an Episcopal minister, was called from one church to another. While more than capable in the classroom, as his education attests, his standout trait was his athletic ability. After a childhood spent roaming venues from the campus of Trinity College in Hartford to the International School in Geneva, Steve landed in Michigan for his high school years.

Just prior to his final tennis season at the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, MI he broke his right wrist and seemed destined to miss the season. Instead, with the help of his mother, a gifted athlete herself, he taught himself to play left-handed and managed to reach the state quarter-finals.

From Cranbrook he went on to Williams College in Williamstown, MA, where he eventually graduated in 1971. Originally scheduled to be a graduate of the class of 1968, Steve took three years off in between his sophomore and junior years to enlist in the United States Army, in which he served as a Second then First Lieutenant after graduating from Officer’s Candidate School in Fort Benning, GA and marrying the love of his life. He returned to Williams following his discharge, where together Steve and his wife Sheila ran the ABC House in Williamstown, part of a lifelong commitment to supporting and advancing the cause of minorities and women.

After graduating from Williams, Steve attended Harvard Business School, graduating with the class of 1973. It was during business school that he had his first bout with cancer. He attended classes in between his radiation treatments, though in one case he had to appeal to a dean because one lecturer would not seat him nearer the aisle to make it easier to get to the bathroom to be sick. Upon graduation, he and Sheila left New England for New York City to work “for a few years,” an estimate that ended up proving overly optimistic as he spent almost the next

forty years working on Wall Street. After rising up through the ranks at institutions like Banker’s Trust, Chemical Bank, LaBranche and the New York Stock Exchange, he went independent and founded his own options firm. Being self-employed gave him the latitude to devote time to coaching his sons’ youth sports teams after moving out of New York City to Mountain Lakes, NJ. Later in his career, he moved into the exchange traded fund business, starting divisions at two separate firms.

His business success aside, he is best known to the people of Mountain Lakes for his long career coaching youth sports. While his athletic prowess and experience gave him credibility, what he enjoyed most about coaching was the opportunity to pass on to his players life lessons about sportsmanship, hard work and the importance of the team as well as a master class in sarcasm and giving his players the business. As one of his former players put it, “he was a great coach and I will always remember him goofing on us and caring about each of us and treating us as if we were his own sons.”

Steve was a devoted father, and delighted equally in taking the blame when his eldest son drove a golf cart into a ditch with his own mother in it and teaching his sons to be “tough”by swimming with them in the near freezing water off Rockport, MA with them on Memorial Day. He always sought to broaden their educational horizons, most notably by letting one of his sons and a friend watch ’Jaws’ at the age of five.

After his sons had graduated from college, Steve and Sheila bought a property in Georgetown, ME, where he resided until his death. In Maine, he remained quite active, sitting on the boards of several financial service companies and serving as a mentor and career counselor for local high school students and many of his former employees. He also became a volunteer fireman for the town of Georgetown, served on the town’s Board of Appeals and was active in the town’s Democratic party committee.

Retirement was, inarguably, the one thing he failed at in his life.

Late in 2019, Steve was diagnosed with mesothelioma. It is a rare cancer that most likely was the result of going back to work in the immediate vicinity of the Twin Towers in the aftermath of 9/11. It is also a cancer with a grim prognosis. The treatments are debilitating enough that most patients never make it past three or four sessions; Steve had endured a whopping 22, and was days away from his 23rd when he died. He approached mesothelioma as he approached every other challenge he faced: with a clear eyed, frank resolve and a focus on goals.

Steve’s greatest joy in life, apart from his sons, was doting on his five grandchildren, and of course subjecting them to the same incessant teasing he gave to all those he loved. Nothing gave him more pleasure than jumping off the dock with them in the summer or taking them down to swim at Reid State park.

Steve is survived by Sheila Hanabury O’Grady, his wife of fifty-three years; two sons, Stephen Gilman O’Grady Jr (Katherine Lynch) and Nicholas Lydon O’Grady (Erin Hargrave); his five grandchildren; his brother Gerald Burnett O’Grady III and his sisters Louise Young and Margaret Young. He was predeceased by his parents, Rev. Gerald Burnett O’Grady, Jr. and Ann Gilman Nichols O’Grady. If desired, donations may be made in his name to Williams College or the Fire Department and Working Leagues of Georgetown, ME. His family will be gathering in Maine to celebrate his life as soon as the pandemic allows that to be done safely.

John Hubbell passed away on Sunday, January 17, 2021, after a year-long battle with cancer.  His obituary is available here.  You can also watch the video of his memorial service, held on February 7, 2021.

In December of 2020 he submitted the following as his personal statement for our 50th Reunion Class Book.  The profile he wrote for our 25th Reunion book follows.

Living with Death

Dramatic – yes. Attention getting – I hope so. True – Absolutely.

What a way to begin a bio of 50 years since graduation. Yet to begin otherwise seems silly, trite, maybe boring and impossible to do; or at least undesirable to do.

A week and a half ago my oncologist said to me, prior to the beginning of a new clinical trial: “I am worried, very worried about you…….If you were receiving your treatment in a community hospital, they would be referring you to palliative and hospice care……Plan for the worst and hope for the best.” While this may seem harsh and blunt, he spoke in the most gentle and caring manner. He was touching my knee as he said all this and looking directly at me. Because of COVID-19, I was alone with him as Kathleen, my wife, is not allowed to come in for appointments.

One year ago I was diagnosed with cancer – totally out of the blue. A few weeks later, I was specifically diagnosed as having diffuse, large B-cell lymphoma. Highly treatable and with a good prognosis. Over the last 11 months I have received three different types of chemotherapy, one round of CAR-T cell immunotherapy and now a brand new clinical trial that is combining two cancer drugs that have never been used together. I am the first patient in the clinical trial. While the various treatments have initially been promising, they have all “petered out”, so that the cancer continues to grow in my body.

So I literally am living with death; I have been at the edge and there is no certainty as to how long I will be on the edge. Nobody knows and there are no immediate markers to help know.

So 50 years since graduation. A long time; a life time and a very full life time. But I was not, am not ready to go yet. I was going to live into my 90s, as both my mother and father did. Prior to the diagnosis I had planned to attend the 50th reunion; I had attended the 25th, so why not attend the 50th. No big expectations, but some small wonderings and curiosity. Since the diagnosis, I have given much thought to these 50 years and who I was at Williams, who I am now and what impact did Williams have on me.

To me, Williams was a very intimidating and overwhelming place to be, even though I had been groomed to go there – both by my private school education and 4-5 generations of relatives having gone there. I was lonely, I was unsure of myself, I was nowhere near as smart as many others, I was nowhere near as good athletically as others, and I did not really know how to grab onto the freedom that existed there. My voice was in a minor cord and I had trouble finding it. However, what did stand out was the intellectual challenge that continually presented itself and the encouragement of asking questions. I frequently found myself challenged by the spirit of Professor Gaudino, even if I was not in the main circle that gathered around him. He was always curious, he always wanted to know what you thought and why.

I had to leave Williams to find myself. I have spent the last 50 years in that search and I imagine returning in a profoundly different place. I know all who have made it to this marker, have had hardships, difficulties, and unexpected events in their life. One cannot live these 50 years without difficult times. Life is hard.

Living with death is such an unusual and unexpected place to be. There is a kind of exhilaration that focuses on taking in whatever is happening in the moment. I have come to love sitting in bed in the morning with a cup of hot tea as Kathleen and I discuss…..whatever. I never sat in bed; I had to get up and get going. Projects to do. Living with death is terrifying. What is next?? Living with death is flashing on all those unfinished projects and ideas that I have to get to. Living with death is full of sadness at the prospect of not seeing my children and grandchildren grow into whom they are becoming. I want to see Carver play basketball; I want to see……..Living with death is so frustrating as I can barely do physically what I use to. When flushing the toilet is painful, I wonder what will happen next. Yet I am also grateful because I am in this state and am able to think, feel and talk about it. I am still able to connect with people and look forward to this continuing to happen.

I don’t know if I will make it to the reunion. I don’t even know if I will make it to my youngest daughter’s wedding on Memorial Weekend 2021. However, if I do, I look forward to the connections that can happen. If I don’t, you who are there will know that I am there in spirit.

For our 25th Reunion, John submitted the following:

I love the place and I hate the place.  I have been “back” — through it many different times, never for a reunion.  I don’t know if I will be back for the twenty-fifth.  Garry Hammond and I would talk of returning for a reunion but never reached the point of “Let’s do it.”  We each had our own ambivalences.  Unfortunately, he and I cannot have that conversation, because he died four years ago from AIDS.  I last saw him two months before he died.  But I was last with him a year later when a few of his friends gathered in Williamstown.  I led them up the hill behind the Clark Art Institute, and we remembered Garry with a few words, a song, and some silence.  We then released some of his ashes.  This was a favorite spot of his.  He and I often walked it; he loved to see it from the Fort.  If Garry were still alive, he would be encouraging us to go back for the twenty-fifth.

I love the place.  Some special moments while there:

• Skiing Berlin Mountain under the full moon with two or three inches of new powder.  Tony Goodwin, myself and four or five others did this around midnight.  I have always dreamed of repeating it.
• First meeting of a classmate:  Tony Goodwin.  The June before we started, I was up skiing Tuckerman’s Ravine for the first time and I ran into Tony.  Skiing Tuckerman’s remains a yearly spring tradition.
• Mr. Gaudino.  Most prominent are evenings at his house.  Being challenged by him to think, to look at myself and at my experiences.  I remain inspired and indebted to him.
• Late-night study sessions, working on papers with Court Walters in Van Rensselaer House.
• Skiing the Thunderbolt trail on Mount Greylock with Court.  Frequent hikes to the top and skiing down through wonderful snow that would become increasingly treacherous as we lost elevation.  Court always being the madman, skiing out of control.
• The steam tunnels and all-night heart games freshman year.
• Courses in the religion department with Little, VanOulkirk (sic), Peterson, and Eusden.
• The traveling play Wind in the Willows that I was part of senior year.
• Senior year applying to five law schools and getting turned down.  Lucky for me.

When I reflect on the hate, it runs in two veins.  One is the way accomplishments and successes are the focus,, the criteria for valuing people.  The other, which is more important and has the intense feelings with it, is related to the state I was in back then.  I was lonely a lot of the time, never totally comfortable with myself and social interactions, and very confused as to what I wanted for myself and my life.  I was able to find only a few people that I felt I could be honest and open with.  Thus there is a deep sadness that if I do come back for the twenty-fifth, I will not be able to enjoy it and hate it with my two closest friends from that time period — Garry and Court.

Since Williams.  My draft number was low, I was being drafted, and I knew that I could not be in the military.  I was granted a conscientious objector status.  I moved to Chicago and did my alternative service at a runaway center.  I lived and worked with eleven other people.  I did a lot of antiwar work and loved the two and a half years I spent there.

I met my future wife in Chicago.  She and I moved to Troy, New York, and then to Minneapolis as she pursued a career in nurse-midwifery.  I worked in various social service agencies.  We moved back to the East when I got into the Social Work School at Smith College.  Being at Smith was wonderful, and for me it had few of the ambivalances and loneliness that I had felt at Williams.  I graduated with my M.S.W. in 1981.  There are few of us with social work degrees — Rick Beinecke being one — and even fewer having gone to both Williams and Smith.

Since then we have lived in the Boston area, the last ten years have been here in Cambridge.  We have three daughters, ages 12, 9, and 7.  I continue to do clinical work in a private group practice in Cambridge.  I work part-time, so I am home with my daughters half of the time.

The future is pretty hard to grasp.  I feel little long-term security because of all the changes in the health care field.  Money is a huge issue.  There seems to be not nearly enough when looking ahead, yet I have way more than what I had and expected twenty-five years ago.

So maybe June will fine me with my family trying to take it in and remember all the faces and all the things I have forgotten about.

From left to right: Craig, Debbie Stein, Ben Thompson ’01, Elizabeth Lindeke, Jeff and Adam Stein, Karen and John Ackroff, outside Agard House at our 35th Reunion in 2006.		Jeff Stein, Bill Lindeke ’01, and Craig, June 2006.		Elizabeth and Craig with Rich Casden, June 2006.

From the Willwerscheid Funeral Home: Craig E. Lindeke (June 9, 1946 – August 5, 2020), of St. Paul.

Died Wednesday, August 5, 2020 of heart failure. He leaves behind his beloved wife, Elizabeth and five children, Benjamin Thompson (Ginny Ann Glasgow), William Lindeke (Emily Parks), Anne Thompson (Max Berger), Glen Lindeke (Jin Wen Guo), and Lisa Daniels (Seth Daniels). He was the beloved Opa and
Yaya to his four grandchildren Edgar Berger-Thompson, Eleanore Berger-Thompson, Estelle Berger-Thompson and Lotus Lindeke. Craig was a graduate of Wayland Academy, Williams College and Vanderbilt University Law School. He worked in the Minnesota Revisor’s Office drafting legislation for over thirty years. His wit, generosity and larger than life personality will be sorely missed.

Craig and Elizabeth loved to travel; Elizabeth has shared some pictures with us:

	Craig in Croatia		Craig in Macedonia

				>
Craig in Montenegro		Craig in Sarajevo		Craig in Salt Lake City

John Nelson has shared his thoughts:

Although we lived 500 miles apart, Craig and I remained in touch and visited one another several times over the years. We attended fireworks conventions in Fargo, ND and Mason City, Iowa and short-track auto races at Elko, MN, Cedar Lake, WI and Knoxville, IA. I visited the Lindekes at their home in St. Paul and their summer cottage in Wisconsin. We regularly exchanged Christmas cards and postcards of our travels. I always enjoyed getting together with Craig, Elizabeth, and their extended family. He will be missed.

The Ramsey County, Minnesota, Bar Association held a memorial service on May 7, 2021, for members who passed away in the previous year.  Craig’s memorial was read by his stepson, Ben Thompson ’01, and was written by Bill Lindeke ’01 and his wife Emily Parks, Lisa Lindeke Daniels ’06 and her husband Seth Daniels ’06, and Ben and his partner Ginny Ann Glasgow.

Craig Lindeke was born on June 13, 1946 in St. Paul, Minnesota.  A loving husband, father, and grandfather, he passed away from heart failure on August 5, 2020 in St. Paul at the age of 74. He explored the world and pursued his far-reaching interests with curiosity and a gregarious personality.

Craig spent his childhood in Minnesota, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Germany.  This early exposure to a variety of cultures and lifestyles inspired a lifelong love of travel.  After graduating from Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, Craig attended Williams College in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts.  His college studies were interrupted by four years of Army service during the Vietnam War.  After his tour of duty, he was shipped directly back to Williams with only his uniforms for clothing.  He was known as “Sarge” by his college friends ever after.

After graduating from Williams, Craig pursued a law degree at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and joined Spear and Hill in New York City when he graduated. He enjoyed telling of his adventures on Wall Street, especially his role in the firm’s representation of the Sultan of Oman. When the firm dissolved Craig returned to St. Paul and began working in the Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. 

Accomplished and outgoing, Craig was well known at the Capitol. He formed close connections with the many legislators and staff with whom he worked drafting and reviewing legislation and rules. Craig’s easy way of communicating, listening skills and command of language helped him excel in his role of translating ideas into law.  He particularly enjoyed serving as the legislative attorney for the Ways and Means Committee.  Craig enjoyed mentoring newer attorneys and connecting personally with all of the support staff in the office until his retirement in 2011.  

Craig was dedicated to community service and the betterment of others. Through the years, he sponsored refugees resettling in Minnesota, served on the boards of Neighborhood House and the Lex-Ham Community Council, and delivered countless meals with Meals on Wheels. While mindful of his need to remain politically neutral during his career as a bipartisan public servant, he proudly displayed the United Nations flag as a symbol of world peace.  

Craig connected easily with people who crossed his path, especially his neighbors and their dogs, for whom he always had a spare treat.  Generous with his time, Craig hosted dozens of international students and staff from France and Japan in his home.  He loved taking his family and visitors on road trips visiting baseball stadiums, national parks, historical sites, and friends and family across the country.  He also loved international travel. Craig was an avid collector of everything from books, records, stamps, presidential campaign buttons, and car brochures to the Star Wars figurines displayed prominently in his office.  

Craig will be remembered by his colleagues and friends for his legal acumen, his charisma, sense of humor, and kindness.  He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, children Ben, Bill, Anne, Glen, and Lisa and their families.  He is greatly missed.  

Tracks from the ’71 Gul record that Bill produced are available in our Music Gallery.

‘Gentle Giant’ Bill Sweney Dies From COVID-19 – KHOL Jackson Hole Community Radio:

At six feet, eight inches tall, Bill (William) Sweney was “a gentle giant” and “literally larger than life,” friends and family said. They are mourning the life of the Emmy Award-winning producer, longtime airline employee and nature lover.

Sweney, 71, died Wednesday from COVID-19-related complications. He is the seventh person in Wyoming to die from the virus and the first in Teton County. Sweney’s close contacts and colleagues were notified as part of a case investigation and contact tracing, according to Teton County Health Department.

 
Bill and Rob Farnham exchanged emails about the Survey questions on favorite music, etc. Bill wrote:

My son had pretty much the same [pop culture] questions on his application to Princeton — song, book, movie, poem, etc. Ironically, our answers were/are similar. I guess some of those things span generations. Interesting.

I think because when I was president of WCFM, I was exposed to LOTS of music, and played lots of it when my kids were growing up (including playing a few of my favorite songs on the guitar and singing to them at bedtime when they were toddlers), some of those songs became their favorite songs. My eldest son (Princeton grad) has since given me participation in his Spotify family plan, and regularly recommends various artists to me. I’m pretty much listening to music all the time. I’ve even got a neat set of JBL speakers that stick magnetically to the back of my Motorola phone, called MotoMods. Puts pretty high fidelity in my pocket. My younger son, who recently started a job with SONY PlayStation, also helped me get a wonderful pair of Sony’s best noise cancelling headphones, which make frequent airplane trips bearable — and keep the music playing.

Favorite movie for all of us still seems to be THE SANDLOT. We do disagree on books. I just became a grandfather for the first time on Christmas Eve. I think my daughter’s favorite books have just become IF YOU GIVE A MOOSE A MUFFIN and GOODNIGHT MOON!

For our 25th Reunion, Bill wrote:

When you’ve been in the TV, radio, film, and motion picture business for twenty years, writing “hype” comes pretty naturally. That’s why this is so difficult; the assignment is to write the truth and sometimes the truth hurts. Obviously, to write about one’s self and not go on about work and its various “ephcomplishments” probably denies the existence of two-thirds of the time spent since Williams. But, the great thing about the assignment — and, in fact, the whole notion of 25th Reunions — is the opportunity it gives to reflect, weigh, and think about things — hopefully, before mid-life crisis sets in.

Published in the Los Angeles Times February 27, 2020.