Law Links - December 2014
Class of ’49 Reunion
Members of the Class of 1949 gathered for an evening at Oliver's Restaurant.
Front row, left to right: Douglas W. Kuhn, Hon. John T. Curtin, Richard M. Handel, Peter J. Murrett Jr. Back row, Jane Curtin, Roberta Handel.
By Richard Handel ‘49
Greetings from the 65th reunion of our law school class of 1949. We were the first postwar class - most of us were veterans attending on the G.I. bill - no tuition for us, how different from today!
We attended the University of Buffalo, which was not yet part of the state system. Each year we relocated, first to Townsend Hall on Niagara Square, thence to 77 West Eagle St., and lastly to the Prudential building.
We recall the faculty headed by Dean Jaffee and then Dean Hyman.
Admission was not especially selective: We started with approximately 150 students and finished with about 80 students. By the standards of the day, we were a diverse group reflecting major groups of Buffalonians viz. German, Greek, Italian, Irish, Jewish and Polish communities. Most of us were from Western New York and remained here for our respective careers. By today’s standards, we were not inclusive in that we had only one African American, Jim Robinson, two women, Peggy Bero and Betty Gundlach, and Ramsi Tick, an openly gay person. We had no Hispanics, Asians or Native Americans in our class.
Upon graduation we distinguished ourselves, having taken diverse paths. Most of us became practicing attorneys in Western New York and participants in varied activities. Several of us became judges.
We are especially proud of John Curtin, the former Chief US District Court judge. He was recently honored (again) by becoming the recipient of the Dean’s Medal award from the law school at commencement. By any measure, John’s judicial career was outstanding. Other judges were John Hogan, Victor Manz, Frank Borowiec and Sherwood Bestry.
