IN MEMORIAM

THE HIMALAYAN CLUB OBITUARY

1. HENRY S. FRANCIS Jr.
2. GEORGE HAMPSON
3. NAWANG PHENJO

Class of membership and year of election

(Hon.: Honorary, 0: Ordinary, L: Life)

 

 

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HENRY. S. FRANCIS JR. 59, of Sky Farm, Borough Road, died on 7 October, 1990, at his home after a brief illness.

Born in Cambridge, Mass., he lived the past 15 years in Charlestown. He resided for five years in Newton, Mass., and for 10 years in McLean, Va.

He attended Hawkin School, Cleveland, Ohio; the University of Grenoble, Grenoble, France; a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy; and Harvard College in 1954.

From 1976 to 1989, he served as executive director, then president of the Student Conservation Association — a national non-profit organization that places high school and collegeage youth in volunteer work positions with land management agencies such as the National Park Service, National Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management. Under his leadership, I he organization became the national leader in volunteer conservation endeavors.

Before assuming the leadership of SCA, he was assistant secretary of environmental affairs in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, serving under Govs. Frank Sargent and Michael Dukakis. He was also commissioner of the Metropolitan District Commission in the greater Boston area.

He had a key role in the early days of U.S. scientific interests in Antarctica, first as station master of Little America Station during the International Geophysical Year, then with the National Science Foundation, where he was international program director, responsible for the U.S. negotiations under the Antarctic Treaty.

He was a delegate and negotiator to several treaty meetings including Santiago, Chile, in 1966; Paris, France in 1968; Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1969; and Tokyo, Japan, in 1970.

He was a recipient of the Bernardo O'Higgins Medal, First Class from the government of Chile; the National Science Foundation Outstanding Performance Award; and was a member of the board of directors of Conservation Resources Inc.

After leaving the Student Conservation Association, he formed Youth Opportunities Inc. to aid high school dropouts in remedial education, job training and placement.

In addition, he was the acting executive director of the Connecticut River Watershed Council.

Mountaineering was his avocation, and he led Harvard Mountaineering Club expeditions to the Hindu Kush in Pakistan, Mt. McKinley in Alaska, and the Interior Ranges of British Columbia. With his wife, Sharon, he climbed in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru, the Wind River Range in Wyoming, the Canadian rockies, and the North Cascades of Washington.

He was a member of the American Alpine Club; The Himalayan Club; Harvard Travelers Club; Harvard Mountaineering Club; and Loyal Order of Moose Lodge 1201, Claremont.

Sharon F. Francis

 

 

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H. GEORGE HAMPSON DIED Thursday, 23 January, 1992 • after a long battle with mylofibrosis at his home in Ottawa, Canada. He has been a member of the Himalayan Club since 1950.

George began climbing in his youth in the Laurentian mountains outside his home town of Montreal, Canada. After mastering the art of rock craft and pioneering a number of new routes in this area, he began venturing farther afield. His pursuit of mounteering took him to the Canadian and U.S. Rocky Mountains, the European Alps and the Himalaya. His first expedition to the Himalaya was in 1949, thereafter, he returned several times with his good friend and climbing companion Peter Aufschnaiter. Their expeditions to Garwhal and other areas of the Himalaya included the first ascent of Ronti (6063 m) on the periphery of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary in 1955. In addition to mountaineering, he also did a considerable amount of trekking in Nepal, Tibet and* Kashmir.

George developed not only a great love of the mountains of the Indian subcontinent, but also its people, culture and rich history. This he developed while spending a number of years with the Canadian High Commission In both India and Pakistan in the late 1950s and early 1960s during his career as a foreign service officer with the Canadian Diplomatic Corps. He will be sorely missed by family, friends and climbing companions.

Philip Hampson

 

 

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NAWANG PHENJO, Himalayan Club Sherpa Roll No. 203, died on 15 July, 1991 in Darjeeling after a short illness. He was 50 years old on the same day.

Born in Darjeeling, Nawang Phenjo received formal schooling up to the middle high school, but belonging to a traditional climbing Sherpa family and being a second generation domiciled Sherpa, he felt the call of the mountain rather early in life. At 14 years of age he joined the Swiss Everest expedition 1956 and carried up to 7000 m. In 1958 he joined with the Japanese Himal Chuli expedition. In 1959 Japanese Dhaulagiri expedition. And in 1960 he joined with the Indian Everest expedition when he carried loads up to 8000 m to the South Col. By 18 years of age, Nawang Phenjo was an established High Altitude Sherpa and his subsequent climbing exploits were on Tukuche, Nilgiri, Lhotse Shar and again on Everest in 1972 with the Japanese when he missed reaching the summit by only 600 m. He was on Nun/Kun, Nanda Devi and numerous other smaller mountains. During the course of his climbing career he climbed with reputed world climbers like, Eggler, Dyhrenfurth, Lionell Terray, Muraki, Yasuo Kato, Tenzing "Norgay and a host of others lo name a few. And travelled to Japan and the United States of America.

As a colleague Nawang Phenjo and I were occasioned to climb together on many a small and large mountain. My fondest memory of our involvements together is that on the Indo-Japanese Nanda Devi Traverse expedition of 1976 where we were a conglomeration of people and categories of climbers. A sizable force to lay seige on that mountain, to support the singular aim and effort of climbing the two peaks and traversing the 3 km ridge between the two. There were 14 Japanese members and Hiunjo was included as the 15th as he was especially asked for and his expenses paid for by the Japanese. So, he was branded as 'Japanese Sherpa'! There were 5 Indian members including myself, and I was branded as 'Indian Sherpa'. Then there were 4 Garhwali Sherpas and 2 Himachalli Sherpas apart from the 14 Darjeeling ethnic Sherpas. As such, even the detail conscious Japanese took a while to get the clue to the variety of Sherpas. Apart from human relations food was a very tricky matter on that expedition. Whilst the Japanese were responsible for bringing the high altitude food, which comprised of mostly noodles, sea-weeds and fishy smelling reptiles, the Indian side was responsible for the trek ajid base camp food, comprising rice, daal and plenty of masala besides a large quantity of army rum. Nawang Phenjo had brought tsampa from Darjeeling. Whilst a section of climbers loathed the sea-weeds and the fishy smelling *food the other loathed the funny looking dal and masala. In between, a discreet new invention of expedition food by Nawang Phenjo was rum and tsampa cakes! Not so uncommon with ethnic Sherpas. It at least suited the Sherpa palate and nutrition! On this expedition two Japanese members accomplished the traverse. For which Nawang Phenjo's carrying support for the traverse pair was very much commended by the expedition when he with Yasuo Kato carried over 30 kgs of supplies each beyond 7300 m over very steep and exposed grounds.

A dependable climbing companion and an excellent instructor, Nawang Phenjo was inducted at the H.M.I, in 1966 in the roll of instructors and retired last year, 1990. He is survived by his two sons, a daughter and wife. We will greatly miss him.

Dorjee Lhatoo

 

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