Greetings for the New Year. I hope that your holiday season was a safe and happy one. Unfortunately, I begin this column with the sad news of the passing of two of our classmates.
Priscilla Lundin sent word that her close friend and Trumbull classmate J. Brian Sheehan died on September 4, 2022, in Bloomfield, NJ. Initially in the Class of ’70, Brian was an African Studies major in Yale’s Five-Year BA Program. He joined our class after returning from a year in Mongu, Zambia, where he taught English at St. John’s College. After Yale, Brian earned his J.D. from NYU Law School, then a PhD in Anthropology from Columbia University, which published his dissertation, The Boston School Integration Dispute: Social Change and Legal Maneuvers (1984). Brian taught college courses with content that often reflected his interests in both anthropology and the law, including as an Assistant Professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. For four years during his college teaching career, Brian worked on the documentary film, A Leap of Faith, nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival. Narrated by Liam Neeson, this documentary is about an integrated school in Belfast, Northern Ireland, that enrolled both Protestant and Catholic children. Brian assisted in the conceptualization of this film and was a producer; he also coordinated fieldwork and handled fundraising and media relations. After leaving academia, Brian devoted himself to helping the disadvantaged. His work included writing research grants for the prevention of crime and homelessness, and legal work in the area of mental health for the NJ Department of the Public Advocate. Brian subsequently volunteered as a pro bono attorney in the area of immigration law: for the American Friends Service Committee and Immigration Justice Campaign; and, in recent years up to the time of his death, for KIND (Kids in Need of Defense), representing migrant and refugee children in immigration court. Brian’s survivors include his three sons, Nicholas, Matthew, and Daniel, four grandchildren and his former spouse Noreen Connolly.
David M. Porter, died of Alzheimer’s disease Sept. 21, 2022. David entered Yale originally with the Class of 1969, left and returned as a member of our class, and finally completed his undergraduate studies (including courses at Johns Hopkins University) in 1976. After working as an auto mechanic for a couple of years, David enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Law and earned his J.D. degree in 1982. He began his legal career in the tax department at what was then Piper & Marbury, now DLA Piper, and joined the Maryland Attorney General’s Office in 1989. He subsequently took a position with the Maryland Department of Licensing and Regulation, served as deputy to the state banking commissioner, and then returned to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office of Housing and Community Development. Until retiring in 2016, David spent the last 15 years of his career at the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. David’s obituary noted his lifetime passions for photography, folk music, collecting classic cars and motorcycles, sailing the Chesapeake Bay and his devotion to his wife, his daughters and his grandchildren.
Turning to happier news, Mark DeFrancesco has been elected Secretary of the Accreditation Commission for Health Care for a term running through June 2025. Mark is a past President and former National Secretary of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and recently retired from private practice. He is a founder of Women’s Health Connecticut/Physicians for Women’s Health and served as its Chief Medical Officer from 1997 to 2014. Mark has a long history of service in the healthcare accreditation arena, including as a Board Member and President of the Board of Directors of Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care. He subsequently served on the Board of Directors of Accreditation Association for Hospitals and Health Systems, the parent company of Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program. After Yale, Mark received his medical education at the University of Connecticut and earned an MBA from the University of New Haven. Congratulations, Mark.
We have exciting news to share regarding the Calvin Hill Day Care Center. From its inception, the Center has been closely associated with the Class of 1971. Conceived during the latter stages of our undergraduate years and co-founded by our classmate Kurt Schmoke and Mary Pearl (’72) during the summer of 1971, the Center was designated as our “official class charity” at our 20th Reunion. Since that time, dozens of classmates have donated thousands of dollars to this worthy organization. Now, classmate Mitch Kapor and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, have made an extraordinary commitment to the Center: a $25,000 gift targeting the Clinic’s programming and a second $25,000 commitment to match donations made by classmates to the Center during the 2022-23 school year (i.e., through June 30, 2023). Assuming that gifts from classmates reach the $25,000 goal, Mitch and Freada’s initiative will generate a very impactful $75,000 contribution to the Center attributable to the relationship between our class and the Center. Our class leadership is grateful to Mitch and Freada for their generosity, and we wholeheartedly endorse this fundraising venture for the current academic year. Information on how to make an online contribution directly to the Center is found on the Center’s website calvinhilldaycare.org (as is their mailing address for those who wish to make their donations in the traditional manner).
As we progress through 2023, we will continue to host our popular monthly class Zoom sessions (3rd Thursday of each month at Noon ET). If you would like to be added to the invitation list, please let me know. Don’t forget to visit our class website https://yale71.org/ to review material from our 50th Reunion and to see latest postings from classmates.
Cheers,
Andy Kaufman
11-08-22