At the time of his death, Wells lived in Santa Fe, NM and was retired from a career of over 40 years as a college counselor director, coach, and teacher. At the time of our 10th reunion, he was Director of Admissions at Trinity School in New York and at the 25th reunion, Wells was Director of College Counseling at Greenhill School in Addisson, TX near Dallas.
Wells was diagnosed with inoperable prostate cancer in 2018. His wife Susan organized a GoFundMe fundraiser, Help Wells Fight the Cancer Beast. The fund raiser page tells more, and the numerous tributes at the end testify that Wells was held in high regard by his friends, students, and colleagues.
Wells married Susan senior year, Patrick was born in February, 1966, and Wells is survived by Patrick and Susan.
I knew Wells--whom we all knew as Moo, which is how he referred to himself--I never asked about the origin of the moniker--as a Dial clubmate. He was a party animal, one of the core group of half a dozen or so who decided to call themselves the Irish Zoo, had green t-shirts made imprinted with the name and gave Dial much of its party vibe in our junior and senior years. If partying called for a leader, Moo was such a leader.
Moo was a regular attendee at all of our major reunions and those of the class of '65. He and Susan would anchor a Dial table under the tent and the old Irish Zoo crew and the rest of us Zoo wannabes would gather round.
Moo played shortstop on our outstanding Dial '65 and '66 softball teams, including in our two victories over the women's varsity and alumni at our 24th and 25th reunions. He found cleats uncomfortable, so he played barefoot. [A '66 Tiger Tale will appear shortly about these games]
He was one of a kind, a guy you had to love no matter how crazy some things he did were, an unforgettable teammate and clubmate who'll be sorely missed.
John Lumpkin:
I was saddened to learn about the death of Wells. In addition to us playing together on the 150’s, he and I were good friends during our time together at Princeton. Not long after we met our Freshman year, I learned that Wells had attended and graduated from The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida. One of his classmates at Bolles was none other than a close friend of mine here in Columbia.
Wells had a warm personality and an infectious laugh. I think the last time our paths crossed was during our 25th reunion when we had a delightful ‘catch up’ visit.
Mark Fleder:
For Freshman Year (1962-1963) Wells, along with Dr. David Corcoran and me, were roommates although none of us knew each other before that year started. Coming from a New Jersey public high school as I did, having roommates from several different private schools was among many surprises to confront me, BUT both Wells and David (the "Corc") immediately became very fast friends, and we helped each other in every way possible. Freshman year quickly became Sophomore Year, and the three of us stayed together as roommates and close friends.
For Junior Year, the high point became Bicker and joining various different Eating Clubs. While the Corc went to Ivy Club, Wells headed into what was then Dial Lodge, and very quickly thereafter Wells was of great help in persuading me that I really belonged at Dial. He also went to bat for me with the fellows at Dial to pave the way for my Dial membership. Once again, Wells was more than a great friend!
We started out with all 3 of us together as roommates in Campbell Hall, and almost immediately both Wells and Corc and other close friends created the "Irish Zoo", well known for playing the Clancy Brothers famous Irish music at all hours of the day and night! At the end of Junior Year, all of those in the other rooms on our Entry asked if we were planning to stay in the same room, and when we answered that we were, everyone else sought to go to other Dorms!
It is with fond memories and great sadness that I express my sincere condolences to both his Wife, Susan, as well as to his Son, Patrick. Wells will always be remembered for the great man that he was as well as a wonderful teacher to students and friends alike.
Jay Britton:
Well, shit — I hadn't heard. Nor did I know he was sick.
First off, he was known to most of us as 'Moo', or occasionally McMoo or even Mooly.
I thought he was a soccer player — lightweight football doesn't ring a bell. As far as I was concerned, he was my shortstop. A good ballplayer.
He was also the founder of the Irish Zoo, a group of us from Dial that got together to drink a lot of beer and listen to the Clancy brothers. Irish Zoo T-shirts (IZTs) were popular around Dial for several years. Others copied and mentioned were charter members. No Irish heritage required for membership.
The last time I saw Moo was in Dallas in the 90s. He was teaching or maybe doing some sort of admin at a private school there. I was in town doing some consulting for some of the Texas power companies. We went to a Ranger-Mariner game. We had great seats down low just past the third base dugout, where you could smell the grass and hear the players talk. Moo told me to watch the Ranger's shortstop. I told him to watch the Mariner's new shortstop, Omar Visquel. Moo didn't take long to recognize Omar as the magician.
James Papa:
I don’t have a lot of memories of Moo during our time at PU but I do remember him as a happy go lucky guy with a great sense of humor. His nickname was a result of the single syllable nickname tradition we had at Dial Lodge. The Irish Zoo was more than a beer drinking group but also included a lot of friendly support and “bar room philosophy”. I last saw Moo at the 50th reunion where a group of us reminisced about our days at Dial Lodge.
Dave Keetley:
It was May of 1965, and classes were officially over. Princeton had determined that students needed some time between classes and final exams to pursue further intellectual desires and so created the Reading Period (some called it the Drinking Period). This was a 2-week period in which students could do additional reading, lab work, study for finals or whatever creative endeavors they wanted.
So, there we were sitting around Dial Lodge wondering what we were going to do when Wells came up with The Tennis Court Project. Wells parents had just bought an old farmhouse in Duxbury, Mass, and had built a tennis court. But the fencing had not yet been installed, so we would install the fencing and Well’s parents would provide room and board as compensation. This sounded like a hell of a good idea so 4 or 5 of us decided to pack up and go.
Transportation was always a problem, but I just happened to have a 1954 Ford sedan behind the Club. Now this wasn’t any sedan but one that had been modified to take advantage of the welcome spring weather, i.e., the roof had been removed sort of... With the help of our fellow engineers and an Army entrenching tool, we cut above the right-side doors, the windshield and the left-side doors and folded the roof back over the trunk. Like a sardine can. And then we were off.
Things went well until we got into NYC, and it started to rain. The aerodynamics were such that above 30 mph the air flow would sweep the rain over the vehicle. But not so much at a red light. But Wells had planned for this and provided umbrellas. My favorite memory was Wells riding shotgun under an umbrella trying to figure where to turn. Must have been some sight – a decapitated Ford with 4 umbrellas.
We were stopped by the cops in twice in NY. The first cop in Manhattan said “What the f… I can’t cite you for anything so get the hell out of here.’ The second cop in Brooklyn was more curious that anything and told us to be careful. We finally rolled in to Duxbury at some ungodly hour but after some sleep and breakfast we ready to go to work.
The decapitated Ford turned out to be an excellent work vehicle. It was used to haul materials to the job site and was a movable work platform for installing the second and third course of fencing. After the job was completed we were treated to a banquet lobster and beer. All then fell asleep in front of an old country fireplace. Eventually we all made it back to Princeton and even managed to graduate.
At the 25th Reunion following the Dial Lodge Alums vs Women's Varsity Softball Team rematch, won by Dial
If you have photos or memories that you wish to share, please send them to the '66 Memorial Team (66_MemorialTeam@tiger1966.org). We will add them to this page.
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