A group of alumni from the medical class of 1967 gathers every three months or so to catch up, check in with each other, and reminisce about their days together at the University of Vermont. They have been meeting regularly for the past two years, typically at a coffee shop or one of their homes. The now-retired physicians collectively represent about 450 years of clinical practice.
Class of 1967 friends (front row, left to right) Pam MacPherson, Ursel Danielson, Mimi Reardon, Geoffrey Smith, John Dick, (back row, left to right) Bruce MacPherson, Kathy Dick, Stuart Alexander, and Roger Wilson
Geoffrey Smith, M.D.’67, remembers vividly the first time he met his UVM classmate Ursel Danielson, M.D.’67. His eyes well with tears as he tells the story.
“We were first-year medical students, walking out of the medical school building at the corner of Prospect and Colchester Avenue. Ursel was with her son, who was six years old. Seeing them hand in hand, turning right at the bottom of the steps and heading downtown ... It’s one of my favorite memories. It’s the emotional attachment we have for the years we spent together becoming physicians.”
Dr. Smith, Dr. Danielson, and a half dozen other alumni from the medical class of 1967 gather every three months or so to catch up, check in with each other, and reminisce about their days together at the University of Vermont. They have been meeting regularly for the past two years, typically at a coffee shop or one of their homes. The now-retired physicians collectively represent about 450 years of clinical practice. If you include their accompanying spouses who are nurses, those years surpass 600.
On a sunny day in July, the friends met at the home of 1967 classmate Mimi Reardon, M.D., on the Lake Champlain shoreline in Ferrisburgh. Dr. Reardon, professor emerita of medicine, was associate dean for primary care and led the establishment of the Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) in Vermont.
“Mimi is the spark that pulls us together,” said Danielson, a psychiatrist and former medical director at the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury. “For 55 years, we only saw each other once every five years or so, at the reunions. We found each other at our 55th reunion. We were all retired, so we thought, ‘Let’s get together more often.’”
Danielson and Reardon arrange the meeting dates and locations and send out emails inviting people to attend.
“It’s not an official thing, we just love each other,” said Smith, who arrived this day sporting a UVM cap and a Bernie for President T-shirt. A public health specialist, Smith served as state epidemiologist in Vermont and New Hampshire. “Being graduates of the Larner College of Medicine means so much to us, we wouldn’t trade that for anything else.”
Regular attendees from the class of 1967 include Stuart Alexander, M.D., with spouse, Emily; Jim Austin, M.D.; John Dick, M.D., with spouse, Kathy, a graduate of the UVM College of Nursing; Bruce MacPherson, M.D., professor emeritus of pathology and laboratory medicine and former dean of graduate medical education, with his spouse, Pam, a graduate of the UVM School of Nursing; Irving Peyser, M.D., with spouse, Dahlia; Roger Wilson, M.D. And once, classmate Bill Burrows, M.D., who lives in California, visited, bringing avocados grown in his yard.
“I very much enjoy these gatherings. We reminisce and talk about people we know,” said Dr. Alexander. “We always get into ‘Do you remember ...’ It’s a common past we have, and so interesting, the distillate of these memories.”
For Reardon, staying connected is paramount. “We will continue to meet and invite classmates to contact me so we can arrange coffee with classmates,” she said. “We have memories and treasures to share.”
All 1967 alums living in or visiting Vermont are invited to attend by contacting Mimi Reardon at mimi.reardon@uvm.edu.