JUNE 2008 CLASS NOTES

Classmate Mariano Romaguera wrote informing us that his daughter Ana Maria Romaguera Ruddy died April 26, 2008 in Union City, Tennessee at the age of 47. Mariano was there and after the funeral he took her ashes to Puerto Rico. Mariano will now be living in Puerto Rico and his new address is Urb Ponce De Leon, 9 Calle Agueybana, Puerto Rico 00680.

Joe D’Annunzio’s report on 60 years of MIT baseball

On Saturday May 9, Warren Fenster and I went to the 60th anniversary of MIT Baseball in Cambridge and played in the Alumni game won by the present MIT team in 11 innings. Both Warren and I went one for two and drove in a run each. Warren suited up, but I didn’t because for a Floridian it was too cold. However, I did coach third base throughout the entire game.
Warren and I both played on the first baseball team in 1948 and we each got two hits in that game although we lost. In 1950, in the first MIT spring trip in a game against Upsala College, Warren pitched right handed for 4 innings allowing no runs, then went to first base for the rest of the game playing first base left handed. He won the game with a home run in the last inning.
Both of us had great memories and during my talk about early baseball, I recited Al Petrofsky’s thoughts (see http://alumweb.mit.edu/classes/1950/MITBaseball.html ) on what he had to do as Student Manager prior to and during the trip.
There were about 80 that attended the dinner that night, and 33 alumni played in the game. You can read more about the event at http://web.mit.edu/dsl/ooa/pages/events.html
This alumni game was the first in which a grandfather (myself) played in a game against his grandson (Christopher).

Al (Pete) Petrofsky sent the following email. Can anyone in the class help answer his question?

Months ago you were reporting on the experiences of Class ROTC members. On Memorial Day I remember John Westcott, who was killed in action as a Combat Engineer Platoon Leader in Korea. John started with the Class of 1950, but dropped out after freshman year. He joined the Army, was selected for Officer's Training School, was commissioned and sent to Korea. I do not remember the name of his unit, or date of death. I believe he was the only member of our Class who died in that war. There is a list in the memorials in Building 10, where this could be checked. I wonder if anyone else in the class remembers John. I happened to know him because he had dated one of my cousins in high school in North Attleboro, MA.
Al Petrofsky

Tom Keane replies:
Al, I do not remember John Westcott. There are websites that give information about those who were lost in the Korean War. One of them is at http://www.abmc.gov/search/koreanwar.php . By doing a search, I got the following information:

John Cullen Westcott
North Attleboro, Massachusetts
Born 1928
First Lieutenant, U.S. Army
Service Number O-1913312
Killed in Action
Died December 2, 1950 in Korea

First Lieutenant Westcott was a member of Company C, 13th Engineer Combat Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He was killed in action while fighting the enemy at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea on December 2, 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. For his leadership and valor, First Lieutenant Westcott was awarded the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.

Donald Archer Bly, husband of Argyle Stryker Bly, died May 20, 2008. His last known home address is 600 Carolina Village Road, Unit 122, Hendersonville, NC 28792-2888. His business address was 623 Carriage Commons Drive, Hendersonville, NC 28791-18i5 where he was in electrical consulting.
He served as a submariner on the USS Razorback during World War II prior to getting his electric engineering degree at MIT. He helped develop the first electric watch while employed at The Hamilton watch Company and filed numerous patents during his career. He was an avid sailor, world traveler and watch and clock enthusiast.

William Bliss Corcoran, Husband of Mrs. Lucille M. Corcoran died on May 13, 2008. His last known home address was Huntington at Nashua, 55 Kent Lane, # H220, Nashua, NH 03062.
After graduating from our class in Course XVA, Business and Engineering Administration, Bill received his officer's commission in the U.S. Army. He was called into active service in 1951 and for the next two years was stationed at Fort Lee, VA as cadre in the first eight weeks of basic training. Upon discharge, he joined Draper Corp. in Hopedale, MA in the foundry (metal casting industry), a field of employment in which he spent his next 42 years, mostly in front line manufacturing.
Just prior to entering the service, he was married to Dorothy M. (O'Kane) Corcoran resulting in two wonderful children, William B. and Julie A. Corcoran. His occupation took him to employment with various companies in Spartanburg, SC, St. Louis, MO, Warwick, RI, Boston, MA and to NH in 1987 with Hitchiner Manufacturing in Milford.
Bill and his second wife, Lucille, married in 1987 and put two families together with a total of seven children and twelve grandchildren. At that time, they moved to Nashua and became for many years very involved members of the Parish of the Resurrection, Catholic Church. Bill was active in such projects as Stamp Ministry, Corpus Christi Food Collections, church cleaning, lector and the big endeavor, the building of the new church that was completed in 2000.
During his business years, Bill was active in the American Foundrymen's Association, as an officer in both the New England Chapter and in the Carolinas. He also gave much effort to the FEF (Foundry Educational Foundation) as a Trustee, an organization devoted to assisting young college students in their attempt to enter the metal casting industry. Regardless of where he lived within the United States, Bill always took part in the Republican activities, whenever the opportunity allowed.
He and Lucille had 21 wonderful years together. They enjoyed many trips to such places as Hawaii, Panama Canal, Middle East, Ireland, Rhine River and Italy (Vatican). Together they spent 3 1/2 years at the Huntington, enjoying its peace and security with their new and extended family.

Daniel Ziedelis passed away on May 08, 2008 at the age of 81, leaving behind his wife Mrs. Douglass L. Ziedelis. His last known address was 15 Tyler Road, Lexington, MA 02173-2416.
Dan served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946, and graduated from MIT, class of 1950. He was past Master of Washington Lodge AF & AM, Member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Boston, and past President of the Boston Section ISA.

A long time resident of North Andover, Richard George Haltmaier died May 20, 2008 at the Prescott Nursing Home in North Andover.  He was born in Augsburg, Germany, on November 29, 1922, and immigrated to North Andover in July 1927 with his parents and his twin brother.
Before enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1944, Dick studied at the Wentworth Institute and worked at GE in Lynn. After seeing service on a minesweeper in the Pacific Theater during World War II, he attended MIT on the GI Bill, graduating in January 1950 with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He met his wife of 57 years, Margaret McConnell, while she was a student at Boston College and he was at MIT.
For 38 years, Dick worked at the Charles Stark Draper Labs in Cambridge, primarily on guidance systems for the first generation of nuclear warhead missiles that were designed to be carried on submarines. He was also on board for the first successful underwater launch of a Polaris missile from the USS George Washington on July 20, 1960.
He is survived by his wife, six children and thirteen grandchildren.

We have been advised by the MIT Alumni Office that Edward Jacob Schickli has been added to the list of “lost” members of our class. (see our March 2008 notes for the complete list). As always, if you know of the whereabouts of anyone on this list, please let us know, or, better yet, encourage them to communicate with us directly.

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