Donn Jourdan ’45 was sent a calendar from Loomis Chaffee this year.   

The photo for the month of August, taken inside the chapel, brought back a memory.  

“I remember the stage at the chapel because, when I was a senior, we all had to do a senior speech. I did a speech about senior speeches, and unfortunately they liked it very, very much, and I was asked to do it again at graduation,” Donn said. 

He laughed. “I did too good of a job at that, so I had to do it twice.” 

There are many other things Donn would do again. One is attending Loomis Chaffee. During a recent phone interview, he said more than once that the education he received at Loomis set him up for life. He also would marry his wife, Elizabeth Whipple Jourdan ’48, all over again. They had five children: David ’71, Stephen, Barbara, Richard, and Douglas. 

“I’m the Iuckiest man I know,” Donn said. “I'm 98 years old, and I am having and have had a wonderful life. I was married to my wonderful wife for 67 years. No one has been luckier than I have.” 

Donn said he didn’t recognize parts of the campus pictured in the calendar photos. After all, it has been more than 80 years since he first stepped onto campus, and much has changed in the physical appearance.  

What has not changed, he said, is what a Loomis Chaffee education does for its graduates.  Asked what he would say to a Loomis student today, he didn't hesitate: “I would say they are going to get the best education possible, and they will remember Loomis fondly after they graduate, and the friendships they make will be lifelong friendships.” 

That testimonial might read like copy from a current marketing campaign, but it comes from someone who graduated 80 years ago, the sentiments standing the test of time. 

“I made a lot of friends there ... loved being there,” he said. “We all felt the same way about our education. A few days ago my son [David] and a classmate of his visited me, and they felt the same way about the school. I think it is well documented for those of us who went there. ... Loomis teaches you how to study, makes it easy for you to learn, and it made it so much easier for us when we got to college and when we came across a problem. The Loomis education taught us how to take care of it.” 

He fondly recalls some parts of campus, such as the SNUG, which was truly underground back in the day, and the Senior Path through Grubbs Quadrangle, where to this day no student walks before their senior year. “I recall how as seniors we protected it from other classes,” he said. “We were a close-knit group.” 

Donn recalled graduating on June 7, 1945, and by June 18 he was in Alabama for basic training. “I remember I was 14 when Pearl Harbor was bombed,” Don said, “and I thought to myself, people of my age will be in the war.” 

The war ended just a few months after Donn enlisted, and his service time ended December 2, 1946. Connecticut’s veterans of World War II were honored in May at the State Armory. Donn was there to receive a proclamation.  

“It was a nice gesture from the state to recognize our service,” he said. “I didn’t feel I did much. I got much more out of my service to the country than I ever gave.” 

Donn went to Yale University on the GI bill. After college he held numerous jobs, at one point running his father’s business.  

When Donn’s wife died in 2019, he moved to Stonebrook Village at Windsor Locks.  

He had once played the ukulele and picked it up again. “My wonderful daughter-in-law [Cheryl Uzanas Jourdan ’80] bought me a really nice ukulele. During COVID I started playing happy birthday for residents. They liked it, and I continue to do it.” 

That brought back another music memory. 

“When I was in the service, I was in a band; I played the bass fiddle,” he said. And then he listed the other band members by name and what they played. “How I can remember that after all these years, I don’t know.” 

His daughter-in-law knows. She called him “sharp as a tack with equally witty humor. ... He’s an amazing man.” 

Amazing to his son Richard, too. 

“My dad was always, even now, my hero,” Richard said. “Hard-working, strong work ethic, and a family-oriented person. ‘Family is everything.’ He said that a lot and lived it. What stands out is, he was always around when we were growing up, and he has a great sense of humor.” 

Donn’s daughter, Barbara Andrukonis, said that he always has been involved as a parent and grandparent “and is one heck of a great person and a terrific dad.” And she has an idea about that sense of humor.  

“There has never been a gathering my father attended where he wasn't part of the entertainment, planned or spontaneous,” Barbara said. “He is masterful at telling a joke or funny story. And with five kids, there has always been an abundance of material for this talent.”