Page 11 - 2013-Alumni-Recognition-complete

classmates in song—and other pursuits on behalf of Skidmore—ever since.

A talented vocalist and pianist, Tibby had been volunteering as a voice and piano coach in the Music Department since she was a freshman; her abilities didn’t go unnoticed by Irwin, from whom she started taking classes. “Every time a musical opportunity came up on campus,” she recalls, “he would say to me, ‘Tibby, you’ve got time for that, don’t you?’ Naturally, I would say ‘sure.’ I absolutely loved being involved with music. And I simply adored the way Professor Irwin taught. If he wanted an orchestra full of piccolos, I would have learned to play the piccolo just to be part of it.” By sophomore year, she had switched her major to music. Tibby went on to direct her class in the annual song contest for the next three years, much to the delight of her classmates. Zilpha “Dotsie” Slosson Erskine ’48 refects, “Tibby was so enthusiastic—she was an absolutely terrifc leader of the song contest. We all so looked forward to it. She always had us moving and shaking.” The ’48ers won the song contest every year except for their senior year, when the song they composed was deemed “too sad.” Tibby says, “I knew while we were rehearsing it that it was extremely sentimental, but there were good reasons for that. We had spent part of World War II together and celebrated its end together—emotions ran high. Most of us had a father, brother, or boyfriend who was in the war, and we never knew when one of us would be notifed of a tragedy.” Tibby’s brother, Nick, was a bombardier who few a B-29 over Japan during the war. “Also, we all realized it would be the last time we would sing together in the contest, so many of us were in tears. We were an extremely close, sentimental bunch.” Beyond her musical gifts, says Nancy “Leggie” D’Wolf ’48 , Tibby showed

Aileen Kwock Char ’48 and Leola Ah Nin Woo ’48 , and helped them feel at home on campus. They remained close friends over the years. Sadly, Leola died in 2003, but Tibby and Aileen continue to stay in touch today. Leggie adds, “That’s the way it’s always been and continues to be: Tibby knows everyone and everyone knows Tibby.”

After graduation, Tibby pursued her love of music and launched a 40-year career teaching in her hometown of Framingham, Mass. She was a beloved teacher who took a personal interest in each of her students, often persuading the most resistant among them to try out for chorus. Early on in her career, she convinced one young man, who believed that singing was a feminine pursuit, to give it a try by introducing him to the music of Frank Sinatra. “I just tried to pass on what I knew and loved,” she refects.

Although she was busy teaching and raising a family, Tibby cherished her Skidmore connections and continued to nurture them as both a loyal classmate and an energetic alumna volunteer. She was a faithful attendee of all class reunions and played a lead role in planning her 40th and 45th, drumming up attendance as well as participation in the class reunion gifts. In 1994, she signed on as class president and served in that role until 2003. Concerned that ’48ers might lose touch between reunions, she conceived and implemented the Class of 1948 Directory project, working with College staff to create a purse-size class directory with contact information that