Class Notes: March/April 2026
By John M. PinneyLast year at this time, we had 10 inches of snow. This year, mostly cold and windy, but we have more geese, including a brief appearance by a sizeable flock of snow geese, who clearly don’t want to mingle with their rather drab cousins, the Canada geese.
I don’t usually begin with news about classmates we’ve lost, but I’m making an exception in the case of Stanley Trotman. Stan died on December 10, 2025, after a long battle with cancer. His service to our class and Yale was exemplary, his friendship over the years is something I will cherish to the end, and his and Susie’s (Doozle) examples of strength and resilience in the face of debilitating illness are an inspiration to all of us. Among his contributions to our class, Stan served as reunion class gift chair or cochair (with Mel Shaftel) for six reunions, a commitment to Yale and ’65 that yielded consistently high gift totals. My memories of Stan date from freshman crew up to our 60th reunion—too numerous to share here, so I will be posting more on yale1965.org. I encourage all of you who knew him to do the same. I’ll be attending his memorial service in Hobe Sound, Florida, along with many classmates, and I’ll have more to say in the next notes.
On a more positive note, the 2026 edition of the class Zoom program got underway in January with an uplifting presentation entitled “Blue Power: Brian Dowling, Calvin Hill, and Greatness at Yale.” The presenters were Reg Lansberry, a sports journalist for nearly five decades who has followed Yale football for more than six decades. He was joined by Fred Morris Y’69, who played center on the Yale varsity football team and experienced the many highs of those years, as well as the infamous 29–29 tie in 1969. On a personal note, I lost a $100 bet on that game with a Harvard ’65 graduate who served in my unit in Vietnam. The session was ably moderated by our own football greats, Chuck Mercein and Dan O’Grady.
A final happy note: Bruce and Susan Smathers missed the class dinner to prepare for their son Bruce Jr.’s wedding in the Bahamas. Bruce Jr. and Courtney Levering were married on November 8 at the Ocean Club. If you’re on Instagram, take a look at the photos of their beautiful wedding.
These March/April notes tend to be short on news, so I encourage you to share lots of news with me, or on the y65 discussion group in the next few months, or risk having me make up stories.