Evert Fowle

Evert Noble Fowle, 84, died Monday, April 27, 2009, in Southport, ME, after a short illness, with his family by his side. He was the husband of Cellen Fowle. After graduation, Mr. Fowle worked at Lincoln Labs and the Mitre Corp. as a research engineer in radar design until 1982. He retired at age 57 and with his wife moved aboard their boat and sailed for the next 20 years. They crossed the Atlantic several times and traveled through Europe, the Black Sea, North and South America and the Caribbean. He and his wife welcomed family and friends aboard "Arion" for years. On a long ocean passage everyone was crew. Under Capt. Fowle everyone learned a great deal about sailing and a great deal about their inner resources. Mr. Fowle was a patriot who loved his country, although he was not always in agreement with its government. He served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II in China and the Pacific and later in the Korean War.

Before retiring to Southport, the Fowle family lived in Lexington, MA, for 30 years. They were members of the First Parish Church, where Mr. Fowle served on the parish committee. He participated in town affairs as a Town Meeting member and a member of the Planning Board. His insistence on open space conservation and intelligent development in the 1960s helped Lexington remain a beautiful town.

In addition to Cellen, his wife of 60 years, he is survived by four children and 10 grandchildren.

Jo and Gerry

Gerry Lessels writes,

With great sadness I report the passing of my wife of 58 years, the former Joline Reddan of Arlington, MA, on March 18, 2009 of complications of Alzheimer's Disease. She was diagnosed in February 1999, but retrospectively I realized the first symptoms of this dread malady went back to the early 1980's. I was able to keep her with me at home, through September last year, with caregiver help during the previous year and a half. We were also able to continue our summer annual travels during this period despite her losing her eyesight in 2004. In October, 2008 I placed her in an assisted living home, but after six weeks I had her back three days a week with a caregiver until late February this year, when she fell and broke her neck at the home. That trauma undoubtedly hastened the end, and she passed away two days after I brought her home with full-time caregivers.

After what we went through I do have some advice for any of you, or family members, who are at greater risk for A.D. because it "runs in the family", or from any other risk factor: Investigate what can be done to reduce risk, including seeing a neurologist, especially one who is knowledgeable about dementia. There are dietary strategies certainly. Believe me, anything you can do to avoid what my wife and I have been through is very worth considering, and the best of luck to you.

On the good side I continue to be in touch with three of my chem engineering classmates, Harry Foden, Ray Gilliam and Dave Gushee. Also Russ Stott, EE, Bill Bidermann, General Engineering and Doug Hutchings '48 Aero Engineering. I got to know Doug rooming with him in the Barracks Dorm along with Harry and Ray.

I plan on traveling for four months this summer seeing many friends and relatives to help me deal with my loss. If anyone will be in Tucson this Fall or after, when I return home, I'd be glad for a visit.

Sincerely, Gerry Lessells, Xb ( bths44mit50@q.com )

A few weeks ago we sent out the following note to our Class email list:

There are two very interesting new links on our class web page at http://alumweb.mit.edu/classes/1950/

The 2009 Scholars link gives us a report on our Class of 1950 Student Aid Fund and the 90 Scholars who are recipients this year. Also there are some details about the fund and its management.

The Letters FY 2009 link has letters from some of these 2009 Scholars. We can be proud of them and proud of ourselves as well.

We would like to emphasize that there are some very interesting details about some of the scholars. Very few of you appear to have noticed these interesting details. Let us hear from you if you find any interesting details, and we'll let you know if you are as Sharp-eyed as Hank.

We close on a happy note. Our vice-president and webmaster, John Kocher, forwarded the following organization notice from Schneider Electric, which acquired Square D several years ago. Square D now operates as a division of Schneider.

New Engineering Fellow
Organizational Announcements
From: Gary Pollard, Director Engineering

The Center for Innovation and Technology is pleased to announce the promotion of Mark Kocher to the position of Fellow Engineer. Mark joined Schneider Electric in 1990, and has thirty years of R&D engineering experience, including 10 years at General Electric. Mark specializes in Analog and Power Electronics system design and analysis, with particular emphasis on Controls and Communications. His product development experience includes PLC's, AC Motor Drives, Power Supplies, and Factory Communications Networks. Most recently he has concentrated on the development of control systems for interfacing Fuel Cells and Solar Photovoltaic Panels to the electrical grid.

In addition to his technical role, Mark has served as Engineering Manager and Project Manager, and has been project coordinator for numerous contract engineering activities. Mark has also represented Schneider engineering in more than 15 acquisition projects over the past decade.

Mark holds BSEE and MSEE degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds 14 patents, with 3 further patents pending, and has written three papers that were published in various IEEE publications. Mark resides in Raleigh, NC, with his wife Kate. They have two grown children who also live in the Southeast. Mark's outside interests include backpacking, sailing and amateur radio.