Thomas Eldredge Walden
Died February 21, 1973
Tom came to Yale from Thacher School in Ojai, CA, lived in Stiles where he rowed crew, majored in economics and was a member of St. Anthony Hall. He also played polo, earning a major Y for that sport.
Tom was killed in a single-engine plane accident on February 21, 1973 in Arizona and was laid to rest in Tucson, AZ.
Robert Leich remembers:
Tom and his roommate Jim Aquistapace were neighbors “ through the wall” in Bingham Hall. Tom and Jim were with me freshman year in an 8:00 a.m. Spanish class that met five mornings a week. To make matters worse the Prof took attendance, which made those cold winter mornings a real drag. One morning I looked over at Tom in his overcoat and saw that he was wearing his pajamas under the coat!. By the end of that cold week nearly the entire class was in the new uniform: overcoats with pajamas!
Alan Corey remembers:
Tom was a wonderful polo player at Yale – A bit of a daredevil who could ride anything. The best story was when he was visiting a girlfriend at Briarcliff. At curfew he left on time but later returned to the girls room. When he came down later the matronly chaperone at the front desk wanted to know how he got back in. He told her he scaled the ivy clad wall up to the window of his friends room. The lady at the desk didn’t believe him so he did it again to everyone’s total disbelief.
John Pinney remembers:
Tom had a boyish charm that belied his adventurous and competitive spirit. He’s the only one of my Stiles roommates we’ve lost since graduation; and when we gather, which is just about every year, we drink a toast to Tom. We all miss him terribly.