March 2008 Class Notes

We are sad to report the death of Mitchell Hannoosh on February 6. Mitch’s wife, Eleanor, died two days later.
Mal Green writes:
I knew Mitch quite well. He was a commuter, as was I, and he, classmates Sam (Saleem) Riszk, Harold Holmes, and I often walked together to and from the T subway at Kendall Square to MIT.
Mitch had an interesting career path. During WW II he was an aircraft engine mechanic with the Air Force and after discharge worked as a machinist apprentice at GE. While there he took and passed the entrance exams for MIT where he enrolled in Mechanical Engineering.
Upon graduation he spent three years at Sylvania Electric where he designed machinery for the lighting division. Three years later he moved to Ft. Wayne, IN to become Asst. Chief Mechanical Engineer of Capehart-Farnsworth’s government products division which made ground test equipment for the Bomarc missile. Leaving there in 1956 he joined MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory as group leader of the radome development group and patented a large metal spaceframe attachment system.
In 1959 he left Lincoln Lab to form Polystructures, a custom molder of reinforced and cellular plastic products. Sadly he lost the company in a financial dispute with the Air Force over a cancelled contract.
He joined the Mitre Corporation in 1966 where he worked until retirement in 1988. While there he patented a lightweight reinforced plastic shelter for mobile military use.
After retirement he did some consulting work and patented a self-righting cane for the physically impaired. No doubt this was inspired by the serious injury his wife suffered in an automobile accident in 1991.
Throughout his life Mitch was involved in community affairs.
Mitch’s son James received a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in 1975.

Harry Raymond LaTowsky Jr. passed away unexpectedly on Monday, Jan. 7, in Asheville, NC. His last known address is 400 Wesley Drive Apt 359, Asheville, NC 28803. Harry is survived by his loving wife of 56 years, Audrie, and by four children and three grandchildren. Harry entered the Navy in 1944. After the war, he completed an engineering degree at MIT, began working and married Audrie. His career in plastics packaging, begun with DuPont, took him to Charlotte and later to New Jersey. While working he completed his MBA from Rutgers. On retiring in 1991, he and Audrie returned to North Carolina, settling in Asheville.
We heard from Harry as recently as last December. (See the January 2008 Class Notes).

We are advised of the death of our classmate Roy E. Hale on 14 October, 2007 in Torrance, California. His last known address is 27612 Avenida Delmesa Rancho Palos Verdes CA 90275-1003. We are grateful to Charles Renn for passing this information to us.

Class of 1950 Student Aid Fund

GEORGE C KRUSEN II, PE of 69 Depot RD., BOXBOROUGH, MA. 01719 writes as follows: Joe, Here is some material for “Class Notes”. At the class banquet in Annapolis there was no time for me to ask this question: Did any of you know Richard Armknecht who was in our freshman class in 1946? He left after that year, went to Colby College and eventually to the Harvard Business School. Years later, I made his acquaintance here in Massachusetts. His widow gave me his Red Class Blazer. He obviously was very proud that he had had that one year at Tech. Neither Ruth nor I knew him then so would like remembrances. Send such to me at 69 Depot Rd., Boxborough, MA. 01719. Sincerely, George.

Here is the Christmas news that George sent:

KRUSEN POST CHRISTMAS LETTER – 2007

Last Notice for the MIT Class of 1950 Reunion in SUNNY SAN DIEGO

SUNDAY AND MONDAY, MARCH 30TH - 31ST

Bureau of Missing Persons

We see in the most recent issue of Technology Review that the Class of 1946 is planning a mini-reunion in Annapolis, MD, this coming September. We wish them well, and hope that their Annapolis adventure is fully as successful as ours was this past September. Perhaps we have started something!!

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