Nichols School - Verdian Yearbook (Buffalo, NY)

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EDWARD BALCOM SMITH Born: October 13, 1920 - Entered: September 1938 Football squad '38, Football team '39, Hockey squad '39, Baseball squad '39. Due to the languid and nonchalant manner in which he conducts himself both' in and out of school, Ed is extremely affable with his schoolmates, despite his being voted one of the laziest in the class. He can usually be seen strolling through our halls in apparently no hurry, while at the same time others around him are generating a melee in an effort to meet their next class promptly. Ed has not taken advantage of the extra-curricular activities of the school, but he has more than made up for this on the athletic field. He was a member of several hockey squads as well as the baseball nine. The foot- ball seasons of two years ago saw him through without injury, but during the most recent season, he sustained a fractured jaw and was unable to rejoin the team for the rest of the season. Not only is he assiduous on land but also in the water, where he has shown outstanding ability during various swimming meets. Already a master of sailing, Ed will spend four years in anticipation of a future in marine architecture. CORNELIUS HENRY SULLIVAN Born: February 9, 1923 - Entered: September 1938 Football squad '38, Football team '39, Track team '39, Basketball squad '40, News Board '40, Verdian Board '40, Honor Roll '39. The old adage which states that a person weighing over two hundred pounds is invariably genial. certainly holds true in Sully's case. Vlfhenever you see him walking down the hall or roaming over the campus, it is only a matter of seconds before such stock epithets as Hi, Sully or Hey there, Big Stoop reach your ears. But even though Neal does tip the scales at over two hundred, a high percentage of this weight is tough bone and sinew, which have served him excellently on the football team for the past two years. He also applies his rugged physique to the track and field team, hurling the shot-put a fabulous distance. His numerous sport proclivities quite naturally entitle Sully to the position of sports editor of the Nichols News, and his excellence in writing warranted his being on the editorial board of the Verdiang both tasks he executed with a considerable degree of success, while at the same time his name appeared on the honors list each month. , Neal looks forward to Yale, but vacillates between the career of a chemical engineer and that of a surgeon.

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center half as one of the mainstays of the team. Next year Ed will begin preparing for the study of aeronautics ROBERT STOCKTON SIKES Born: July 3, 1921 - Entered: September 1933 - Re-entered 1938 Football squad '38 '39, Track squad '39, Dramatic Club '39. Time: 8:55 any moming. Scene: Nichols parking lot. Sound Effects: Motor of a 1933 Ford with a broken manifold. Compression whistle shrieking as car lurches around the corner on two wheels at a terrific speed followed by sharp screeching due to the sudden and violent application of brakes. Dramatis Personae: Cln order of appearancej Mr. Robert Stockton Sikes alias Stocky or Stockums . A large group of boys racing in mad haste from the driveway. Thus might start a play based on the action of one Stockton Sikes any morning of the school year. We do not feel, however, that all Stocky can do is drive madly around corners, since he is, at times, a rather con- scientious worker. Another of the famous incoming fifth formers of last year, Stocl-ry immediately became popular due to his extreme good-nature and jovial character. Because of these acquisitions, Stocky has been a necessary addition to the Senior Class. As yet he has not chosen the college in which he will make his preparations for a banking career. EDWARD CARLTON ROTH JR Born: September 24, 1921 -Entered September 1934 in Soccer squad '37, Soccer team '38, '39, Honor Roll '34, 35 Hockey Dance Committee 40 Ed, if the condition of his books is significant, is one of the wildest boys of this Senior Class Good looking with a '34 Ford coupe, Saturday morning classes must affect Ed more than any of his classmates But Ed knows how to work also, as witnessed by the two successive years for which his name adorned the Nichols honor roll. He figured prominently in the elections for both the Most Energetic and Most Pessi mistic member of the Senior Class, a combination which, if his fellow class members have Judged accurately A is unusual indeed. Also, he shared top honors with one other as the Most Argumentative and the same fighting spirit which enabled him to receive this title has proved a great asset both to himself and the Nichols team on the soccer field. He has played varsity soccer for the last two years advancing from a utility man to Ed has also added to the success of the new hockey dances, introduced into the social calendar by the Student Council, by providing a record-playing set-up for their use for this he deserves a vote of thanks

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GERALD RAY TAYLOR Born: December 2, 1919 -- Entered: October 1939 Football team '39, Basketball team '40. In one year at Nichols, Jerry has, through his remarkable athletic ability and his amiable manner, become exceedingly popular with his class-mates. Throughout the football season, his astounding end-runs and accurate punts, which usually managed to bounce out of bounds in the vicinity of the opponents' three-yard line, saved several games for the Green and White. He has also shown promising ability in various other sports, which include especially basketball and baseball. Certainly Jerry is one of the best and most versatile athletes in the school. As a student, he does not always attain highest honors, but the eighth period often finds him enjoying the tales and comments of Mr. Thornton's class for boys who cannot fathom the intricacies of General Business . Since athletic activities have left him no time to enter into the extrascurricular lields, the various commit- tees and boards have not been able to take advantage of his jovial, yet carefree nature. Jerry's hopes for next year lie in Michigan State. CHARLES FREDERICK THOMPSON Born: April 4, 1922 - Entered: October 1939 Soccer team '39. Much to the disappointment of all who grew to know and like Charlie this year, he, like most of the 1940 Seniors, will no longer frequent the halls of Nichols, but, after his one short year with us, will head for Rutgers University. A man after Mr. Pierce's own heart, Charlie came to us from Kenmore High School, and long before school opened, made his initial appearance on the soccer Held. There he played long and diligently, filling the important position of left half -back in an otherwise weak defensive system. Tommy's talents are too numerous and far-Hung to be enumerated, but we might add that he is a master mathematician, frequently surpassing his awed classmates in penetrating by brilliance and insight into some unfathomed geometric depths. Time passes quickly as the class listens with interest OJ while Charlie tries to explain geometry to Mr. Tuthill. The field of plastics-an almost untouched frontier, according to Tommy -should provide him with an excellent opportunity to exploit his already obvious ability.