1973 - 30th reunion

Thirty years later, eight members of the Class of ’73 met for dinner and reminiscing at the Polo Grille in New Haven. There were the customary reunion activities reported elsewhere, but the eight of us that made it found that three decades make you closer, if grayer—all grayer except for Chris Kull Walsh, who everyone agreed hasn’t aged, and Tom Sweeney, whose red hair has matured well.

Chris, a professor of clinical pediatrics and pediatric cardiologist at Albert Einstein, has completed two terms on the executive board of the AYAM and was elected its new secretary. Her election keeps her on the board and the class representation at two, including yours truly, giving our class the singularly best representation. Chris brought her husband, Sean.

Reunion gave me and my wife, Sue, the excuse and the motivation to come in from our new home in Santa Rosa, Calif., where I now work for Kaiser as a full-time plastic surgeon. Coincidentally, Jim Robertson is also in Santa Rosa, practicing nephrology. He couldn’t make it but sent his regards. I also had e-mails expressing similar wishes from John McDowell, Tom Romano, George Lister and my former Houston next-door neighbor, Bob Galloway.

Next furthest, Marvin Miller, a pediatrician, flew in from Dayton, Ohio.

David Coulter drove down from Boston. David is a pediatric neurologist at Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard. Incidentally, David was recently elected vice president of the American Association on Mental Retardation, making him, in June 2004, the first M.D. to serve as AAMR president in 20 years.

The others were the faithful local denizens. Harry Romanowitz and his wife, Sheila, remain in Stamford, where he now serves as pediatrician-in-chief for Stamford Hospital. Jim Sullivan lives in Waterford with his wife, Rita, and practices adult and pediatric neurology with a multi-specialty group in Mystic. Tom and Anne Sweeney and Rick and Dotty Young remain in New Haven. Tom is in a private vascular surgery practice, the heir to Stern and Toole. Rick is chief of pediatrics at St. Raphael’s.

The class population, according to most recent records, remains at 87. We noted and respected the passing of four: Omieri Mitoko, John Frederick Neil, Robert Joseph Polakwich and Charles F. Stroebel.

The conversation over dinner, as you might expect, brought us up to date with current careers, children and interests. Then-Dean Kessler stopped by to visit. Reminiscing suffered somewhat from failing memories. Some paths have crossed in the last 30 years, and Chris seems to have maintained correspondence with most of the women. We had a room in the restaurant all to ourselves to chat the hours away, until we all realized it was getting past our bedtimes—that never happened in medical school.

—Harold R. Mancusi-Ungaro Jr.