Andy Hough Remembrance: Andy was a lifer at Country Day and lived on Given Road close to the school. He was particularly interested in Science and Math. His quiet nature would easily give way to interactions with many of us. Professionally, Andy became an engineer and worked for the California Department of Transportation for several decades. He had a large and supportive family, with whom he was very close. Andy was married, had a daughter, and was a Californian his entire adult life.

Mark Lanier Remembrance: The term “Renaissance Man” gets overused, but Mark truly deserves the distinction. A natural scholar and varsity athlete in soccer, basketball, and tennis at Country Day, he went to Williams College, then studied English literature at Oxford before attending Stanford Business School and beginning a long career as an investor. Deeply interested in the art, music, literature, and cuisines of many cultures, he wrote haiku, collected river stones in the Japanese tradition of suiseki, tended bonsai, studied classical guitar and the accordion, and loved to cook, often hosting dinner parties after which he and his guests would zoom off to a concert of chamber music or Indian ragas. Alongside all this, he devoted many hours over many years to Clubhouse International, a nonprofit that supports people with mental illness. Mark’s considerable physical presence became a kind of metaphor for his intellectual appetites and capacious mind, which included an enduring and sometimes relentless taste for the absurd. Let’s not forget his dramatic recitation of Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” in sixth grade or, later, his performance in drag in the upper school production of Cabaret. To paraphrase Whitman, he contained multitudes.

Steve Marcum Remembrance: joined us in the 7th grade coming from Hamilton, the city his family helped build, and the city he loved in so many ways. Steve enjoyed studying the language arts and history, but saw math and science as necessary evils in the educational process and where I believe he perfected his excellent doodling. He was on the school swimming team for a couple of years and Steve’s joys in the water expanded to include SCUBA diving, water skiing and boating. He loved spending time at Walloon Lake with his family. Steve was a very good piano player and later dabbled for a time in a wide variety of musical instruments with the goal of learning one new instrument a year. He loved all kinds of music and jazz was a favorite. After graduating from Vanderbilt, he studied law at the University of Dayton and had a successful career as a real estate attorney. Steve was with the love of his life, Trudy, from their days at Vandy and they raised four children together. Trudy and their oldest son, Matt, are here with us tonight. A few years back, Steve confided in me his apprehension about fitting in when he first arrived in seventh grade. I think that we can all agree, he was an essential thread to the fabric that made up the Class of 1976.

Marc Mendenhall Remembrance: Marc grew up on a farm in Lawrenceburg, Indiana commuting an hour and a half each way to find a school that was sufficiently challenging. Intellectually gifted, with a very dry sense of humor and a distinctive cackling laugh, Marc was building lasers and programming computers in high school before the rest of us knew what those things were. He earned his PhD in Experimental Physics from Caltech and had a distinguished career as a Physics Professor at Vanderbilt and a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He loved renaissance music, learned several instruments and became an accomplished hammered dulcimer player. Marcus’s physics work centered on precision X-ray metrology. His most cited paper was “An Implementation of the Fundamental Parameters Approach for Analysis of X-ray Powder Diffraction Line Profiles.” He developed a novel technique to measure how atoms are arranged, making measurements down to a quadrillionth of a meter. Marcus’s wife Cheryl shared that he had really been looking forward to this reunion. Marcus passed away suddenly in April 2025, riding his bicycle in the regional park behind his home in Maryland. He had retired in 2024 and was training for a 10-day hike in the Alps.

Jay Stoehr Remembrance- Jay was a captain of our class excelling in athletics, leading us in social gatherings, and never too serious but always inclusive.  He went on to work his entire working life in his family sports flooring business including leading the company for the last twenty five years of his life.  At sea and on inland lakes he was captain of an armada of sailboats over his lifetime.  

In 1986 two couples with me as the fifth wheel took a sailing trip in the Bahamas. When we arrived at the boat dock, the wind was howling. The proprietors who had had previous rental experience with Jay showed us to our boat, but assumed we would sit and wait for the weather to calm down. No sooner had the guy turned his back and walked away then Jay said load everything in the boat, We’re going out now. We were flying across this Bahamian sea as fast as i had ever travelled in a motor boat.  We’re talking wind speed so great you had to shout to be heard.  But i sure heard the sound of the sail ripping up the entire length of the mast sounding like a zipper on steroids. within seconds the main sail was wrapped around the top of the mast  and our fearless Jay was howling with nervous laughter shouting at the sea like Captain Ahab. He somehow convinced the boat yard to bring us another sail. I think we lost our deposit. 

He scuttled us as his crew, and for the rest of his sailing escapades his beautiful family was his crew.  I still have the pleasure of maintaining a lovely relationship with his family.  His wife Amy is here with us tonight.

Todd Walker Remembrance: Todd joined our class in 7th grade from Lotspeich and settled in like he had been a classmate forever. He immediately established himself as one of the best athletes, most personable, and savviest members of our class. Bill Simon took a group of us to London in 8th or 9th grade - within the first 24 hours Todd had hard cider and a case of beer iced down in the bathtub. He wasn't one to sit still or live by the rules ("what rules?"), he could be at the center of a storm and look like the rainbow that followed. His brilliant mind led him to a career as a psychologist - an appropriate, ironic and somewhat wicked twist - like Van Gogh and Dr Gachet - who's counseling who? Todd left a lasting legacy of mentors, colleagues, and students. And his son Austin was with us last night.