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Dear Classmate,
Here’s a “pre-union” taste of what’s in store at our reunion Saturday, November 6, 2021, 7pm-11pm—three classmates’ stories, lightly edited, about their varied, fascinating lives. We thank them for their permission to share them with you, and hope you enjoy them.
Test your memory and intuition to figure out who they are!
1) “Studied electrical engineering…moved to Phoenix to begin my aerospace career … received my M.S.E.E. and obtained my private pilot's license. ...worked on many cutting-edge technologies for various companies during my aerospace career as well as some interesting telecommunications products…In 1979, I taught an advanced FORTRAN class at UC's Evening College … on the first day of the class a few minutes before the class was scheduled to begin, I was amazed and overjoyed to bump into Mr. Doyle from Aiken. He was moonlighting: teaching a calculus class in UC Evening College! Great memories.”
2) “Moved to four cities since graduation but have lived in Louisville for the past 37 years. Working in communications/PR/fundraising and event planning for most of my career. I worked behind-the- scenes on artist catering and sponsorship underwriting for the Forecastle Music Festival in Louisville in its early years. Enjoyed traveling and meeting celebrity chefs when I spent 10 years in the culinary industry. It was during that time that I organized Julia Child’s 90th birthday dinner celebrations in 20 cities nationwide. Currently, I’m employed by a religious order of women, the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, as their Alumnae Relations, Development & Planned Giving Director. During a year-long Centennial celebration of their Motherhouse Chapel, I secured event sponsors and facilitated program planning. All in all I’ve had a good life and feel blessed. I have fond memories of English teacher Mrs. Kessen and working on the Talon newspaper.”
3) “Went to David Lipscomb College for undergrad, then Northwestern University for my physical therapy degree, and decided to head out West to see what I could explore there. Ended up in the Seattle area and while I loved the hiking, X-C skiing, mountains, fishing, I tired of the rain. Decided to do something really crazy so I quit my job, flew to Australia, bought a motorcycle and traveled for the next 10 weeks. 10,000 km later I flew back to the States, but boy were those kilometers filled with a lot of memories! One was in a biology lab with so many animals and plants differing from those here in North America. And, the people were incredibly friendly. Back now in the States, and now with what little love life I had, I decided to do something else crazy, and this I did.
Applied for and was accepted to work in a hospital in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Armed with one Arabic word and a backpack I started work in a large military hospital there full of English, Irish, Filipino, Egyptian, Saudis, Canadian... you get the picture. My contract was two years and I figured I could handle anything for two years, right? All was going swimmingly well for me for the Middle East which meant every day was SNAFU; ah, the stories. Anyway, I was coming back to Dhahran after an 8-day motorcycle trip around Cyprus only to find that Kuwait was just invaded by Saddam. Yes, August 1, 1990 and while Dhahran is not close to Kuwait, it was still too close. For the next few months I watched the UN forces build up in Saudi and feared for the future. On the bright side of things, I met a fearless Irish nurse, temper and all, and decided I didn't want to live without her. She, too, was working at the same hospital which was simply delightful.
My contract was now finished, but I elected to accept a job in Bahrain, a small lovely country in the Arabian Gulf and ended up staying there for the next three years or so. We were married there (yes, they have churches) and really enjoyed the amenities of a moderate Moslem country. Now back to Saudi. Accepted director of rehab in a military hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia which is on the Red Sea, literally next to it. Wonderful diving, exploring of the Hajaz Railroad of TE Lawrence fame, and forays into areas close to Mecca and Medinah filled the next few years. After two years we decided to settle in Florida near one of my brothers thus ending the crazy trips, right?
Our first child was born in Dublin, Ireland in the meantime and the wanderlust hit us again. Over the next five years we worked in Kwajalein, the Marshall Islands, then back to Bahrain, just in time for 9/11. No trouble occurred in that tiny country but we elected to return to the states with our two children. Jobs in Colorado, Idaho, California and finally Michigan brings us to the present.
Again, while the profession I chose afforded me the luxury of traveling, I missed my friends from Aiken and always wondered about their stories: It is your stories, your struggles, your life I wish to hear about..”
You can find these—and other—Profiles, and write your own, on the Reunion webpage, aiken71.com/class_classmates.cfm.
We hope you will join us on Saturday, November 6, 2021, 7pm-11pm to revel, remember, and reacquaint with the Class of 71.
Sincerely,
Your 50th Reunion Committee
Saul Aguiar
Lisé Bohannon
Keith Brown
Sue Stenten Gilman
Sylvia Hill
Kermit Kinne
William “Bill” Kirkwood
Geoff Mayfield
Kristeen Estep McKenzie
Charlotte Weiser Pamplin
Mary Ann Wesseler Perkins
Christopher Press
Linda Palumbo Ratterman
Laura Howard Scudder
MISSING CLASSMATES AS OF MARCH 2021:
Patricia Adams
Christina Ayeni (Adekanbi)
Martha Bankowski (Cameron)
Bonnie Banks (Kreimer)
Sherry Bantly (Goebel)
Danny Barbour
Patricia Bates (Woods)
Patricia Bernard (Kincaid)
Pamela Beverly (Sims)
Don Boehringer
Richard Bohm
Joyce Brandner (Lewis)
Reuben Branham
Ron Bready
Anthony Breitfelder
Roger Brown
James Buchheid
Mary Buckner
Darrell Burch
Beverly Burns (Galloway)
Bob Busby
Wanda Buster (Hall)
Mercia Butler (Burress)
Jeannette Campbell (Terry)
Lynn Carey (Rose)
Linda Caudill
Ella Childs
William Clack
Karen Coach
Joseph Collins
Timothy Collins
Judy Cone
Jay Cook
Kathleen Cox (Renner)
Deborah Crawford (Gillespie)
Steve Crosby
Rhonda Danum
Dan Davies
James Derrick
Marilyn Dew
Audrey Dexter (Cowin)
Victor Dowers
Raymond Doyle
Kathleen Drake
James Dugger
Rosemary Dunckley (Richardson)
Scott Dunn
Kevin Durban
Harold Durbin
Brad Dusterhoft
Donna Eberle
Judy Edwards (Mergy)
Michael Eldon
Darryl Evans
Greg Fairbanks
Ernest Farrier
Robert Ferguson
Sharon Ford (Nolan)
Julie Franks
Dennis Funke
Donna Gilbert (Dew)
Joyce Gilbert
David Glenn
Gloria Godbey (Cook)
Marchell Gordon (Short)
Joan Graf (Woods)
Paul Grau
Shirley Greber (Riggs)
Bruce Gundrum
Vicki Hamer
Robert Hammond
Thomas Hannaford
Randy Hayes
Joann Heimpold
Barb Heinold (Mccabe)
Judy Helton
Sherry Hendricks (Garrett)
Debbie Hickerson
Rebecca Hill (Kaiser)
Michael Holley
Paula Hopkins
W. David Horton
Clemmie Hudson
Susan Hunt
Sandy Iames (Parrish)
Mike Jefferson
Carmelita Jenkins (Payne)
Davetta Johnson (Gaston)
Deborah Johnson
Joyce Jones
Marsha Jones
Karen Jorden
Steve Kallay
Debbie Keith (Mcdaniel)
Mike Kettler
Rick Kilb
Herbert Kindel
Debbie Kleiner (Bedel)
Jeff Kraft
Matt Kramer
Vicki Kramer (Kartye)
Ralph Kubiak
Harold Lackey
Jonita Larkins
Diann Lewis
Gary Lewis
Regina Lewis (Williams)
Peggy Liedhegner (Kuhl)
Mary Lilly
Pamela Longworth
Elizabeth Lotspeich
Caroline Lucia (Young)
R. Bruce Mackenzie
Robert Maddy
Doug Major
Nasim Mallick (Kahn)
Mary Malony (Brown)
Deborah Matthews (Parrigan)
William Meinhart
John Merkel
Mark Michael
Kathleen Miller
Marcie Miller (Woeste)
Patricia Milton
Linda Mitchell (Bowen)
Stephen Mitchell
Jacqueline Mofield
Mary Monroe (Kist)
Karen Moore
Vernell Moore
Janet Morell (Dykes)
John Neefus, Jr.
Randy Neuhausser
Charlotte Nichols (Tyree)
Ron Odenbeck
Edward O'Dom
Dale Payne
Donzella Payne (Bowler)
Richard Pemberton
Karen Peterson (Diaz)
Jan Petroff (Kincaid)
Jan Phillips (Bernzott)
Marian Proffitt
Bryan Puck
Cathy Querner (King)
Lorre Raczko (Mccaffrey)
Thomas Rahn
Alfred Reese
Richard Riess
Michael Ritchie
Steve Ritter
Edward Ritzi
Pat Robbins (Williams)
Christopher Roberts
Derek Rowles
Wanda Rusher
Eddie Sanders
Patricia Saylor (Luers)
Mary Schlensker (Wade)
William Schott
Doug Schrand
Michael Schuler
Mary Lou Schutte (Smith)
Tom Schwieterman
Veselka Sestic (Snelling)
Sandy Sherman
Marie Simon (Dickman)
Darlene Simpson (Brown)
Janet Sims (Haysbert)
Willy Sipe
Cliff Slaughter (Iii)
David Smart
Gregg Smiley
Beth Smith
Cynthia Smith
Howard Smith
Lenard Smith
Charlene Sofer (Hattchett)
Darlene Sofer (Branham)
Albert Spell
Deborah St. Clair
Jim Steigleiter
Sandra Stillings
Norris Stokes
Rick Stone
Jim Stortz
Michael Strader
Michele Strader
Donn Stueve
Alicia Styles (Tidwell)
Melissa Taylor (Greer)
Greg Teetor
Dale Thomas
Samuel Trammell
Bev Turpin (Pitchford)
Janice Tyler (Futrell)
Roy Utley
Kenneth Valentine
Brian Van Wagenen
Darrell Walton
Diana Warner (Daniels)
Ernestine Watkins
Beverly Weis (Thompson)
Darlene West (Jordan)
Christine Widmer (Klaine)
Ken Wilkerson
Mary Williams (Woods)
Arlo Wilson (Jr. )
Steven Wolf
Gwenetta Woodall
Marilyn Woods
Paula Wooley (Brock)
Barbara Yates
Roomaw Yisrael
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