This is a page on which classmates may make announcements, ask questions, whatever.
6/19/21 George Eckle wrote: "Pete, Can you please pass this on. Just received call from Dexter [Williams], he is in Aspen, on his way to a local hospice. Not much time left. He was a good friend for a long time. Just want others to know what is happening.”
Comments sent to Peter Kelman by members of the class:
Kate Buddy Thornton wrote: Very sad…..I was always very fond of Dexter. We were classmates at Saugatuck elementary school and sat next to each other in sixth grade.
Charlie Taylor wrote: Such sad news about Dex. We had lunch in Park City in 2016! He was doing well. What a great guy! We were Downshifters together. If you talk to him please tell him we love him!
Pat Ferrone Land wrote: So sorry to learn of Dexter Williams .... my 54 year old nephew passed away May 27th. This has been a year full of sadness.
Jessie Mackay wrote: Oh, such sad news about Dexter. Thank you George and Peter for passing it on.
Kera Voigtlander wrote: So sorry to hear about Dexter-thoughts and prayers to him and his family.
John Brandt wrote: Sorry to hear about Dexter. Guess it's another reminder that we're in the zone and living every day to the fullest should be our plan of each day.
Thea Vierling wrote: Peter, as usual, thanks so much for all you do for all of us and for me. This news gives me reason to pause and appreciate my life, my health and all the friends I have. Some friends, like you, are coming back in a different, giving my life new meaning. George Eckle said “Dexter was a good friend for a long time.” What a wonderful thing to say about someone and a wonderful way to be remembered. Our reunion has really renewed many friendships not just ours and for that I am so grateful to you! It has helped me to reframe those high school years, looking at past experiences in a new and very positive way.
Xris Martin wrote: Sad news, indeed.When he arrived in Westport, he didn't know anyone, so I took him with me to Dexter Bullard's birthday party. He made a lot of friends that day. A loveable guy, and certainly one of the most popular in our class.
Janet Morrissey Brinkop wrote: I had a huge secret crush on Dexter and still think about him from time to time. Was disappointed that he didn’t respond to your outreach but perhaps he wasn’t well. Please tell George that a classmate Dexter probably doesn’t recall remembers him sweetly.
Russ Hyde wrote: So very sorry to hear about Dexter, we were pals all through school.
Margot Jones wrote: Sorry to hear about Dexter. I remember when he came to Saugatuck elementary school, or was it Bedford JHS, and had the most beautiful cursive handwriting. I remember when we had individual class photos the photographer used make-up to cover up Dexter’s birthmark. Afterwards I asked him why they did that. “Because it’s ugly,” Dexter replied. “Oh no, it’s not ugly, it’s a beauty mark!” I replied, “It’s like the one I have on my thigh!” and pulled up my skirt to show him. We both blushed and started laughing. Often he would greet me shyly with, “Hi! Let’s see that beauty mark again!”
Mary Cuseo Voss wrote: Peter thank you for letting us know about Dexter. Do you think George would have an address or a telephone number for Dexter. He was a very dear friend of my brother Jimmy’s who also lived in Aspen.
Connie Milbrath wrote: Thanks Peter. I was also a friend for awhile. Very very sorry to hear. Does he have family?
Betsy Foreman wrote: Bummer!
Sheila Reardon wrote: Thank you for sending the sad news about Dexter, he was a great guy and I just hope he's surrounded by family and friends who appreciated his friendship.
Lucy Weberling wrote: Charlie called me this am to tell me that Dexter is in hospice.damn! I SO loved Dexter. I still have the water ski he gave me for one Christmas.
Betty Flanagan called to get George Eckle's email address to follow up with him about Dexter.
Cronan Minton wrote: News about Dexter reached me yesterday through Russ Hyde. What a shock. Dexter and I were pals at Saugatuck Elementary and Bedford Junior High. Our parents were friends with his parents (Mer and Chick — amazing nicknames). We skied A LOT together as families, had Lymans moored in the Saugatuck at Benson’s across from where Dexter lived. I broke my ankle at Cannon Mountain, NH on a grey icy day trying to keep up with Dexter and his father (a National Ski Patrolman). One day at Mohawk Ski Area Dexter appeared with the fanciest pair of racing poles I’d ever seen — pale blue adorned with red rings. I was wild with envy. My wife Penny (Lawder) and I visited Dexter in Aspen about a dozen years ago. He was a sensitive, incredibly sympathetic guy. We had lunch and spent a wonderful afternoon together. I figured he would live to be a hundred. He summered in Aspen, but for real skiing he spent the winter at his cabin in Alta, Utah. We will miss him!
Ellen Rixford wrote: It's so sad to read of a fellow classmate nearing death. We have lost many of our friends, and at the age we all are, I think we worry about each other.
Bill Mitchell wrote: so sad to hear about Dexter will keep him in my prayers hi to the rest of you
John Kluchnick says: Climb every mountain.
Betty Curtis Stiles wrote: Always liked Dexter. So sorry.
6/19/21 Suzy Ogilvy Ochs wrote: "I am wondering, what was the song we sang at our graduation? Climb Every Mountain? The Impossible Dream? Somewhere (West Side Story?) Darn. I can't recall which one!”
Many people responded with various recollections, including Kera Voightlander who just happened to have the program from that graduation with the apparently correct answer(s): "We sang “Climb Every Mountain” in the beginning and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” towards the end.