Class News

Dick duPont ’64 welcomed back to the Class of 1964

February 9, 2022

Recently, we heard from Dick duPont who was a member of our Class in 1960-1962 (our freshman and sophomore years). In the course of communicating with Pat Caviness and Sam Crocker, Dick decided to reengage and “officially” affiliate with our class. Both Pat and Sam were close friends of Dick at Taft.

In perusing our Class website, Dick was reminded of Bruce Warner, a freshman-year friend, who died as a result of injuries he sustained in Vietnam. Dick wrote a lovely note of remembrance to Bruce’s surviving spouse, Mimo Robinson.

Pat Caviness and Sam Crocker (who is the Taft 1960 Class Secretary) collaborated on the following history of their teammate and friend over the years.

Richard S. (Dick) duPont comes from a fabled American family. He attended The Taft School where we met the first day of preseason football practice. Dick was the QB and captain of the football team. More than that, he was a highly respected natural athlete whom team members looked up to. Our coach, Bob Poole, was a much-loved former Yale halfback. He would later die in a freak car crash while working for the Peace Corps in Africa. Dick was also an outstanding hockey player. Over his time at Taft, he earned nine varsity letters. He lettered in hockey on the Yale freshman team.

Dick left Yale in the fall of his sophomore year on his road less traveled to pursue an aviation career. He enrolled in the Delaware Air National Guard where he flew large C-97s as an aircraft commander over worldwide routes. At one time he flew freight into Vietnam and bodies out of that country during the war. After eight years of part-time service, he resigned. An accomplished aviator and flight instructor, Dick continued to fly every sort of small plane in Africa as well as a Lear jet on various family trips. In the course of his 40+ years of flying, he has owned over 30 aircraft.

For many years Dick explored big-game hunting in Africa. He was for a time an avid deep-sea fisherman and prides himself on having schooled his sons in those skills. In 1991 Dick suffered a paralyzing stroke that caused him to lose his muscle control and all sense of balance. A life-changer, after his stroke Dick was “usually up the Sun, making damn good and sure, I don’t miss a minute of what’s left”.

Over the years Dick has proven to be a prolific writer, having produced several booklets including Letters of Taft, The Big Pond 1991-2021, A Bull from Tum, The Cape, and Tanzania.

A large part of his life has been spent fully engaged in conservation work. Over the years, through his vision, dedication, and leadership, Dick built up large grassroots support for several successful natural wildlife tracts of land his family donated to the State Park.

Along with his wife Stacy, Dick has raised a large family of active young sons and daughters and has been an active supporter of The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut. Several members of his family attended Taft and Dick served on the school’s board for many years. He is the last of three brothers in his family. Willy and Hal passed away within a year of each other. Dick’s uncle and close friend, Ruly Carpenter, was a member of the 1960 Yale undefeated football team and also the captain and catcher of the Yale baseball team. Later, Ruly would own and manage the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.

We all welcome Dick back to the Class of 1964!