1949 Classnotes

2023

Ivan Backer - passed away on July 1, 2023

2022

Audrey K. Tostevin passed away on December 27, 2022.

Elise Yelenics Evans passed away on March 26, 2022.

2020

Pierina DaRos Borsoi passed away on April 25, 2020.

In 1969, the Hartford Foundation made a grant to Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, to create a position dedicated to building a relationship between the college and the surrounding community. Ivan Backer, an immigrant who escaped the Holocaust, filled that position. Backer founded the Southside Institution Neighborhood Alliance, and his work has resulted in significant improvements in the Frog Hollow neighborhood. In recognition of Backer’s accomplishments, the Hartford Foundation created this video. “It highlights Ivan's story and shows how the actions of one self-described ordinary man can have a massive ripple effect on his community.”