To sit with Cathy Ball '78, granddaughter of Floyd Sears '27, and her family is to be reminded of how thoroughly, and beautifully, the lives of UVM families are interwoven with the broader landscape and life of the state of Vermont.
We uncovered Floyd’s name as part of the ’24: Then and Now project, and Cathy’s name as one of the living relatives of someone who had been on UVM campus in the 1920s. Cathy responded that she would be very interested in talking with us about her family and then wrote back to say that her mother and father wanted to join. And that a couple of cousins (also alums) wanted to come along and they invited us for lunch during the 2024 reunion the group had planned for Stowe that July.
What ensued was a delightful afternoon at a hotel on Stowe’s Mountain Road, filled with memories and jokes, with family coming and going, and sharing stories all along the way. Not long after, Cathy sent along a treasure trove of pictures, which we’ve shared here, along with some highlights from the conversation. (We recorded nearly two hours of the family talking and gave that to them for their own enjoyment.)
Scroll down for just a few of our favorite snippets of the stories they shared.
Who Was There in 2024
Sylvia Ball, daughter of Floyd Sears (we think but can’t confirm that he would have graduated UVM in 1927, had he not gone on to Middlebury)
Nelson Ball
Cathy Ball ’78
Myrna Lindholm ’54
Albert Lindholm ’56
Nancy (Ball) Mullen
Phil Robinson ’48
Jackie Robinson ’48
Gail Robinson ’76
Other UVM alumni in the family include Robert Magoon, Coralie Magoon, Jean Magoon Penoyer, Thelma Oakes. This is a group with strong Catamount Country affection and connection!
UVM Families: Part of the Fabric of Vermont
Current residents of and visitors to Stowe might not be aware of how many of the buildings and byways were originally built and operated by the Sears family and their descendants.
As they told us:
(Floyd) grew up on Tabor Hill. And his father Walter also helped him maintain the Four Winds farm. So that's one of the places that we love to drive by when we can, remembering the Foster part of the family, who our mom's related to.
My great grandparents actually ran a youth hostel, a market, and a gas station, where Idletyme (brewery) and (local favorite pizza restaurant) Piecasso are today. Where Piecasso is now is the original piece of the house. It's fun to have those pieces as part of our family history, and present in Stowe today for us still to see and know we’re connected to.
In his time at Middlebury College (from where he’d eventually earn his bachelor’s degree), Floyd provided a chauffeur service to make extra money. The family remembers that one of the people that he used to give rides to was beloved poet Robert Frost, who lived in Ripton.
“He’d bring him back and forth over (Vermont’s scenic Smuggler’s) Notch to various things that were over this end of town versus over at Middlebury. We always have thought that's pretty fun,” they shared.
The family was also connected with the legendary von Trapp family, who settled in Stowe after fleeing the Nazis in Austria at the start of the second world war (a story familiar to anyone who has seen Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music).
Cathy remembered:
We're all proud that Floyd’s dad, Walter Sears, who's buried right here in the cemetery in Stowe, was actually one of the first people to befriend the von Trapps when they came. And they became very good friends over the years, and they actually sang at his funeral when he passed away.
She and Grandpa apparently stayed in touch. They invited us to go and visit her. We were sad when the original one burned down because of course it meant extra to us, but it's a pretty cool thing that’s been rebuilt and is there now.
And we’re proud there’s a chapter of his own in the von Trapps’ book, saying that Mr. Sears was a great carpenter and a good friend.
His family certainly agreed.
“He was so important to all of us!” said Cathy.
1924 Descendants - Cathy Ball '78 and Floyd Sears' Family
Cheryl Carmi
December 2, 2024