Zale's name was Jay Giffin when he was at Beloit . He was intelligent, sensitive, and ebullient. He sang in Eudora Shepard's choir. I remember that he performed in the college production of "The Pirates of Penzance" which I was pleased to enjoy. He also was an advocate of eating peanut butter and cottage cheese sandwiches, especially on Sunday nights when the dining hall was closed. He would refrigerate his sandwich in the snow outside his dorm windown.
He also was worried that he would not be able to obtain concientious objector status during the VietNam war because he had a brother who was an officer in the US Air Force. He was from Colorado Springs, where his father was an Episcopal priest. His ashes are interred there. I considered him a close friend.
Thanks for posting this your note about Jay. I mentioned Jay at the Alumni Weekend at Sunday's Memorium. I got to know Jay well during out Choir rehearsals and got to spent some time with him in Colorado Springs, Colorado and met his father and mother when I was out there visiting Jon Kermiet. Jay came to visit Nancy and I while we were living in Montclair, NJ. I remember the time we spent with him and learned about his time in Africa. He was a very bright, talented and special person with a wonderful sense of humor...I miss him.
I vividly remember Jay, the name by which I knew him. Both he and I were in the choir and chamber choir. He had a fine bass voice. I can’t tell you how many rehearsals and concerts we did together, but it was a great many. Chamber choir especially was a small group, so you work very closely and hear everyone else’s singing. I remember he had a lead role in Bastien et Bastienne, a one-act opera by the 12-year-old Mozart. Jay also sang the role of the Pirate King in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, a production in which I sang the part of the Sergeant of the Police. I remember him as quiet, although John's post above suggests that there was another, fun-loving and more extroverted side to him. In any case, he was kind and conscientious. I had thought he had a Quaker or Mennonite background, but I now understand that his father was an Episcopal priest. Most importantly, Jay took his Christian teaching seriously when it came to the issues of war and peace that confronted us in our Beloit days. I especially remember that he convinced me to take part in a campus demonstration against the Vietnam War after the Kent State shootings in 1970. I hadn’t been at an antiwar demonstration since the fall of 1968 and was reluctant to participate. But Jay quietly urged me to do it, and I did. I remember it as a mostly, if not totally, silent demonstration, almost like a prayer vigil. We stood holding hands in a circle on the green between North College and the chapel. Maybe a day or two later, I received a hand-written, signed thank you card from Jay. When I learned years ago that he had passed away, I was naturally saddened but didn't have a way to share my thoughts with anyone who might have known him well. From a 2012 post by our classmate Barbara Zuntz Bahr on the Beloit Class of '72 webpage, which alas I only read last fall after joining the page, I learned that Jay had an amazing facility for learning foreign languages. For example, he picked up Afrikans in about six weeks and was then able to start teaching in it. He was already fluent in French and German, speaking them without an accent, as Barbara noted. I think oafishly about what little French I’ve retained after four years of high school study and a semester at Beloit. Jay accomplished a lot in life. My memories of him are all fond and I was blessed to know him.
Holy cow, Ron Rico, you made my heart stop. Saw your name and assumed the worst. Didn't realize there were multiple comments. So you are alive and well. And sorry to hear about Jay.
Old Man Morse
John Lafferty
Zale's name was Jay Giffin when he was at Beloit . He was intelligent, sensitive, and ebullient. He sang in Eudora Shepard's choir. I remember that he performed in the college production of "The Pirates of Penzance" which I was pleased to enjoy. He also was an advocate of eating peanut butter and cottage cheese sandwiches, especially on Sunday nights when the dining hall was closed. He would refrigerate his sandwich in the snow outside his dorm windown.
He also was worried that he would not be able to obtain concientious objector status during the VietNam war because he had a brother who was an officer in the US Air Force. He was from Colorado Springs, where his father was an Episcopal priest. His ashes are interred there. I considered him a close friend.
Ronald Rich
John:
Thanks for posting this your note about Jay. I mentioned Jay at the Alumni Weekend at Sunday's Memorium. I got to know Jay well during out Choir rehearsals and got to spent some time with him in Colorado Springs, Colorado and met his father and mother when I was out there visiting Jon Kermiet. Jay came to visit Nancy and I while we were living in Montclair, NJ. I remember the time we spent with him and learned about his time in Africa. He was a very bright, talented and special person with a wonderful sense of humor...I miss him.
Best,
Ron Rich
Joel Parshall
I vividly remember Jay, the name by which I knew him. Both he and I were in the choir and chamber choir. He had a fine bass voice. I can’t tell you how many rehearsals and concerts we did together, but it was a great many. Chamber choir especially was a small group, so you work very closely and hear everyone else’s singing. I remember he had a lead role in Bastien et Bastienne, a one-act opera by the 12-year-old Mozart. Jay also sang the role of the Pirate King in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, a production in which I sang the part of the Sergeant of the Police. I remember him as quiet, although John's post above suggests that there was another, fun-loving and more extroverted side to him. In any case, he was kind and conscientious. I had thought he had a Quaker or Mennonite background, but I now understand that his father was an Episcopal priest. Most importantly, Jay took his Christian teaching seriously when it came to the issues of war and peace that confronted us in our Beloit days. I especially remember that he convinced me to take part in a campus demonstration against the Vietnam War after the Kent State shootings in 1970. I hadn’t been at an antiwar demonstration since the fall of 1968 and was reluctant to participate. But Jay quietly urged me to do it, and I did. I remember it as a mostly, if not totally, silent demonstration, almost like a prayer vigil. We stood holding hands in a circle on the green between North College and the chapel. Maybe a day or two later, I received a hand-written, signed thank you card from Jay. When I learned years ago that he had passed away, I was naturally saddened but didn't have a way to share my thoughts with anyone who might have known him well. From a 2012 post by our classmate Barbara Zuntz Bahr on the Beloit Class of '72 webpage, which alas I only read last fall after joining the page, I learned that Jay had an amazing facility for learning foreign languages. For example, he picked up Afrikans in about six weeks and was then able to start teaching in it. He was already fluent in French and German, speaking them without an accent, as Barbara noted. I think oafishly about what little French I’ve retained after four years of high school study and a semester at Beloit. Jay accomplished a lot in life. My memories of him are all fond and I was blessed to know him.
Timothy Morse
Holy cow, Ron Rico, you made my heart stop. Saw your name and assumed the worst. Didn't realize there were multiple comments. So you are alive and well. And sorry to hear about Jay.
Old Man Morse