Name: Pam Gregg Amon
5) Where did you go to school after you left Oakwood:
a. Degree & school: Ohio State University BS, RN
b. Degree & school:
6) What were your favorite jobs:
a. Job #1: Psychiatric nursing on children's ward in Denver, CO
b. Job #2: School nursing in Jefferson Co, Colorado
c. Job #3:
d. Your worst job: I don't think I ever had a bad job!
e. Your major career path: Retirement
7) What are you passionate about:
a.My family
b.Friends
c.Having fun (that sometimes includes golf)
8) Family
a. Wife/Husband’s name: Al
i. Career: High school basketball coach; biology teacher (remember Mr Bigalo? Al' a lot cuter!) Retired since 1991! He retired...I quit...seemed fair at the time!
b. Kids:
i. Kid #1 Nikki Ann (28 yrs old)
1. Married: to Peter Oldfield for 4 years.
2. Kids: None in their future.
3. Current job: Nikki teaches 8th grade social studies; Peter teaches middle school PE
ii. Kid #2 Tod Amon (oldest step-son)
1 Current job: computer instructor for Michael Blumburg
iii. Kid #3 Bret Amon (youngest step-son)
1. Married: for 2 years
2. Kids: Ava, age 1
3. Current job: selling real estate in Dillon/Silverthorn area in Colorado.
iv. Kid #4 (this is bordering on too many kids by the way!)
1. Married:
2. Kids:
3. Current job
9) What are you doing now and why:
Al and I have been on the road for 16 years...went from Colorado to Ft. Myers Fl and Port Chalotte Fl for 10 years. Florida was not my favortie place, so I was very happy to cross the border
going north to Tennessee. I had to look on the map to see where exactly Tn was in relation to normal states. We live in a retirement community with 4 golf courses, tennis, swimming, rec center etc. Fun..fun! At the moment however, we have our home up for sale and are planning to return to Colorado. Feels like we are going home. Nikki and Peter have been asking for us to come and live near them and now seems to be the right time. My sister, Pat, died in Feb of this year. She a lived in Columbus, Ohio with her family. She was ill for a long time with an assortment of chronic illnesses. Since I don't need to travel to Ohio...Colorado...here we come. We are very excited about the move and will settle in Colorado Springs.
10) Future plans: Whatever may come our way!
Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): Take care of each other...enjoy the moment. Encourage peace and harmony. Just have a good time and loved each other. Hope to see you all next year.
__________________________________________________________________________
Name: Patricia Newman Bartels
University of Wisconsin-Madison
BA Favorite job-raising my daughters
Before family, I worked as a caseworker in protective services in Chicago
Now, I work as Substitue Teacher 3-4 days a week
Kids:
1. Sarah Bartels Marrero- teaches in bilingual immersion school in Cambridge, MA She is married to Hernan Marrero. They have 2 dogs. Sarah teaches the 4th grade curriculum in Spanish. Hernan is a native of Venezuela and is an architectural designer.
2. Jennifer Bartels Pak-is an attorney for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld in NYC. She is in their tax dept. Jen married Ji Pak who was her high school sweetheart in September 2006. Ji is Korean and works as a trader for JP Morgan Chase. They have a bulldog named Carter.
3. Rebecca Clare Bartels-receives her MBA from University of Miami. She has accepted a position in marketing for Daymon Worldwide. She has adorable little dog naed Stella.
I'm passionate about my family and friends. My daughters are my best friends. Also, I'm eager to be a grandmother, but keep my mouth shut to avoid being accused of pressuring. I'm passionate about the friendships that I have developed over the 20 years that I have lived in my community. I love to travel, play tennis, work out, walk, enjoy my own ShizTsu puppy, Maggie. I have been divorced for 5 years. I have found a couple of Mr. Right Nows, but not Mr. Right, yet..
My future plans are indefinite. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Molly Jaeger-Begent
After I graduated all I was really sure of was that I wanted to leave Ohio and not become a typical suburban stay-at-home Mom like my mother. Unlike most of the girls of my generation I didn’t want to get married or have kids – I wanted to see what was on the other side of every fence I saw. My main goal out of high school was to go to a college somewhere other than Ohio and then travel and see the world, which I was able to do. Then I got caught up in the changing times and turned into a hippie. I eventually got tired of going nowhere fast and went back to college, got married, had kids and turned into my Mom but did not stay at home – along with my husband we eventually became successful business owners proving the “American Dream” is alive and well. We sold our business at the start of the recession (talk about luck!) and now my husband and I have switched careers and are now both professional artists and enjoying ourselves immensely!
In detail: from Oakwood I went to Colby Junior College in New Hampshire (as did Jane Leland by the way) and majored in [I am embarrassed about this major and don’t tell too many people about this dismal fact] secretarial science. In my defense, my Dad told me that women who worked traditionally had only two career choices [bless his heart – he was only trying to help me out and it was 1963 and we were in Ohio] – teaching or secretarial work – I knew I didn’t want to be a teacher so there you are. After I graduated I came back home for a couple of years to make some money so I could buy a car and get out of town [plus Mom wanted me to stay at home until I was 21]. Right after my 21st birthday I quit my HR job at Monsanto to become a stewardess for American Airlines [with Barb French] and moved to Dallas – then Buffalo – then New York City. After 3 and a half years, lots of travel and plenty of job-related adventures, I decided that for me being a “glorified waitress in the sky” was just not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life -- so I quit on my way out of town to Europe -- where I backpacked around for almost 4 months and had the adventure of a lifetime! I ended up on a ranch in Spain with a group of gypsies who came to the ranch every summer to drink and play Flamenco music….I could go into greater detail but none of us has enough time.
Anyway, when I came back from Europe I went to work for a NYC talent agency in their HR Department and met the likes of Robert Redford, Woody Allen, Robert Redford, Robert Redford, etc. I got tangled up in a situation in which the President of the company replaced my boss, the Director of HR, with his mistress! I didn’t like company politics any more then than I do now so I decided to quit in protest. They promised me unemployment if I would train someone to replace me, and since I wanted to go to Art School I took them up on it and ended up at The New School in NYC and by this time feminism, the hippie movement, civil rights and the Vietnam War were all happening at the same time and I was right there in the middle of it – as they say “times they were a changing!” After a year in art school I decided I really had to leave NYC for “the country” which was being touted by the hippie movement as the place to be. Actually, by this time NYC had become for me a stifling environment because everyone there was so materialistic and concerned about appearances, plus the fact that the City was actually dangerous [my apartment had been robbed twice and the second time they took my puppy!] I decided to move to Ithaca, New York, where I had some “hippie” friends who had already “dropped out” and moved there from NYC. I should intercede here and tell you that after considerable reflection, it has occurred to me that the “hippie movement” lasted only about one hour in Berkley before it began it’s march into history – I actually never really considered myself much of a “hippie,” but I was always aware that everyone around me thought I was.
Ithaca was quite an experience, especially after NYC. Ithaca is a small town of about 30,000 people with 2 colleges – Cornell and Ithaca College. Essentially I figured out that moving to the country was NOT where “it was at” – and besides it was very cold in up-state New York! I eventually ended up managing a head shop in downtown Ithaca where I met David, my husband of 35 some years now. David was a Vietnam Veteran turned hippie, and was then and still is the most creative person I’ve ever known. Well, living in the “country” was getting older and colder by the minute, so 6 of us from the head shop decided to go to California by way of Florida to guarantee getting warm as soon as possible. David and I [who were by this time living together] took off in my VW with everything we owned in it [which obviously was not much]. After a few interesting and bizarre adventures we all ran out of money in Austin, Texas – what a stroke of luck!!! Austin was in what they now call its Golden Age. Austin is in the middle of Texas, which is supposed to be redneck. However, it was not and still is not, by any means a redneck city. It was the era of free Willie Nelson concerts, thousands of hippies swimming nude at Hippie Hollow on Lake Travis every weekend or at Barton Springs in the middle of Austin anytime, and an emerging creativity at all levels of artistic endeavor…it was great there and we had an amazing time. I eventually went back to college at the Univ. of Texas [if you lived in Texas for a year you were a Texas citizen and could go to college for about $300 a semester and that included books!]. David went to A&M, a 2-hour drive from Austin, to get a degree in Landscape Architecture. After I graduated with a degree in Journalism, I moved to Bryan/College Station, the home of A&M and the Aggies, to be with David. We were young, creative, had some diverse and amazing friends, got married [I was 33 by the time I got married] and had 2 wonderful boys [I was 36 when I had my first child Brad and I’m forever grateful I decided to get married and have children before it was biologically too late!]
David started his own business designing and building spec homes & restaurants in College Station that were so creative he was written up in the local newspaper and became quite the avant-guard builder. I became the editor of the local magazine and we ended up staying in Bryan/College Station for almost 12 years – until the “recession” of 1986, which was really a depression. This economic disaster was an unbelievable experience -- one minute the oil and money was flowing, people were getting rich, and everyone thought it would last forever (does this remind you of anything in recent history?!) -- and the next the Saudi’s flooded the market with oil, the oil industry crashed and in one month Texas (along with Colorado) went under – even the Texas Hunts, who were maybe the richest family in the world, ended up going bankrupt. People had no choice but to literally go to the bank and hand them the keys to their home, get into their car and leave Texas for states that had jobs.
Well, we decided, along with everyone else, that we needed to move on to greener pastures…so we decided to continue on our original journey to California. To make a long story short, we packed up all our stuff, the kids, the dog, 2 cars and headed for California and were fortunate to land in San Diego where, although the homes even then cost a fortune, they had 70 miles of beach and weather to die for! We were like the Clampets – literally. We got to California with practically no money, no friends here and no jobs…we actually got down to $35 when the truck sold and we were in the money again! David got a job at a construction company while he studied and got his B-1 California construction license. I got a job in the HR Department at a local biotech company [Hybritech] and the rest is history. After David got his license he started working on his own. We named his company David Begent & Co. [creative name don’t you think?!] and he began working out of our garage. I worked during the day for Hybritech and at nights and weekends I did the books and invoicing for David, which I had been doing for him in Texas also. At one of Hybritech’s social gatherings David met the boyfriend of one of my associates who ran a “rat lab.” Which means he raised nude mice in a clean room environment to be used by biotech research & development companies for experiments. He needed a remodel done in his facility and David and I began our march into the biotech tenant improvement business, which became huge in San Diego. We ran our construction company for 25 years and incredibly built one of most successful biotech construction companies in San Diego. We sold the company 5 years ago and are now in our new profession…we are both professional artists now and sell our work out of a gallery in Del Mar, CA. We really enjoy living in southern California and having a great time in our new creative endeavors so, in conclusion, life is good and I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy every minute of the journey.
Name: Sylvia (Flemming) Brown
a. Degree & school: Bachelor of Social Work University of Dayton
a. Job #1: Social Worker @ Miami Valley Hospital
b. Job #2: Teacher in Sydney for children with cerebral palsy
c. Job #3: Real Estate agent
d. Your worst job:
a. My family
B the lifestyle in Australia
a. Wife/Husband’s name: Barrie
i. Career: Real Estate agent (licensee) in own business
i. Kid #1 Alicia
1. Married: Not married
2. Kids: None
3. Current job Teacher in an Elementary school
ii. Kid #2 Ben
1. Married: No
2. Kids: No
3. Current job National Administrating Manager
9) What are you doing now and why: Semi-retired and living in a suburb of Sydney
10) Future plans: ????
11) Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): After 35 years living in Australia I have just become a citizen. Celebrating in style with my closest friends and family _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Lana Thorpe Burgulis First, thanks to Molly for her enthusiasm and effort all these years in keeping our class in touch with each other and all the reunions going. While I have never traveled the distance (I live in Florida) to attend a reunion, I've had fun reading about them. Some of you may know I've been married twice. My first husband (who I was with all through high school) died in a car accident when we had been married just 10 years. Five years after that I found a second great guy, Tom Burgulis, and we will be celebrating our 34th anniversary in a couple of months. I have no children or grandchildren to brag about, (although I wish I did!) but we have bred, raised and shown Boxer dogs all these years. I spent a lot of years working in the pet supply and veterinary industries -- mostly as a manufacturer or distributor territory rep ... and loved it. Have been retired the last 5 years, but volunteerd with the Humane Society and our county Animal Control. Tom and I currently live in Lake Wales, FL but are going to be moving soon to Vero Beach, FL. Tom manages retirement and assisted living communities and has just accepted a new position in Vero. Can't wait to get moved -- it's a beautiful town right on Florida's east coast and exactly where we want to be when we are both retired. It doesn't seem possible that high school and college are so far in past, but here we are all of us pushing 70 years old already! Hope you're all happy and healthy and enjoying life as much as much as Tom and I do. Best wishes! Lana Burgulis (bblana@aol.com)
______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Donna Paull Burrall
a. Degree & school: Baldwin-Wallace College BA
Major: Sociology
Minor: Music
a. Job #1: Product Sales Manager for the CT Valley Girl Scouts Hartford CT
b. Job #2: Alumni/Development at a private school
d. Your worst job:Lunch Room Mother...only lasted one day!
e. Your major career path: I am still trying to find it, but seem to have followed a career in fundraising and capital campaign work
a. My five grandaughters
b. Knitting
c. Music
a. Husband: Steve
i. Career: Pension Consultant now after 25 Years at MassMutual Life
Insurance Company working in Group Pensions
i. Kid #1 - Heather (38) Computer Science Major @ Hartwick College NY
1. Married: To Herbert Heins, an accountant with GE
2. Kids: Kate (9), Emily (4) and Brooke (1)
3. Current job: State of New York, Office of the Comptroller, Computer
Programmer/IT Specialist
ii. Kid #2 - Hope (34) Education Major @ Ohio Wesleyan Unive
rsity
1. Married: To Forest, a computer security specialist for a Boston bank
2. Kids: Mary Agnes (May) (3) and Abigail (1)
3. Current job: Consultant for Harcourt Pulblishers (trains teachers in
their products)
iii. Kid #3 - Hilary (27) Psychology Major @ Trinity College Hartford
CT
1. Married: Not yet
3. Current job : Assistant Director of Alumni Relations at Graland
Country Day School, Denver, CO
(9) What are you doing now and why: Working in the Alumni/Development
office at the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor CT. It is where my
daughters went to school as did my husband, so it just seemed like a
good fit when the opportunity came along.
10) Future plans: Retirement maybe! Would love to travel more! Have a
couple more continents to visit!
11) Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): Looking
forward to seeing everyone in October. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Marcia Price Butcher
Brad and I are spending our time in California where we have resided for the last 20 years. Our son and daughter are here as well. We live in a suburb of San Francisco, better known as San Ramon, about 30 miles southwest of the City by the Bay. Our son Dan lives in Santa Cruz. Dan was drafted out of college to the Colorado Rockies where he was fortunate enough to pitch awhile. Lisa our daughter is an at home Mother with a very active life with 4 children under the age of 9. Her husband is a Landscape Contractor and their yard looks like something out of Sunset magazine with the waterfall into the pool and outdoor kitchen. She's only 8 miles from us in Danville,. We are blessed with 4 grandchildren and break all the rules with them, spoiling them just a bit!! My brother Dan is in Palo Alto, 25 miles away and is also a Corporate Lawyer. He actually was a great part of the reason that we left Oakwood. After he graduated from Georgetown Law School, he visited California, loved it, took the BAR, passed it and settled out here. We visited him on a summer vacation, went home, sold our house, packed up and moved out to a home he helped us purchase before our move. He has been back to Oakwood for several reunions of the class of 65.
Brad and I just celebrated 42 years of the two of us. We have been married 36 of those years.......a long engagement you might say! I'm a domestic engineer, helping Brad with his business and a caregiver to my Mother, 89, who lives with us. My Mother and Dad have been with us now for many years. Dad just passed away last February at 89. Mom and Dad were married for 65 years. I think they must hold a record in the marriage statistics.
Brad is a Paving Contractor and has been for 25 years. Our son, Dan is part of the team that handles our Bay Area Division. I handled the office end of the business and once the children were grown and in high school, I was offered a management position of a multi-faceted use building that was a mixture of retail tenants, a restaurant, night club and executive offices, all under one roof in San Jose I managed the
Dohrmann Building for 14 years and loved every minute of it. I was also off-site manager for the developer apartment complexes in Fresno, Ca., so I was able to travel a bit. I enjoyed the challenges brought with each day. I worked closely with the City on the joint venture of restoring the building while keeping its 1916 flavor as the building was registered historical in the County. The building was sold to a out of state firm who brought their own management team so I said good-bye and Brad and I spent a summer with many of our days at the Beach which is our second home. Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Pismo Beach and San Diego provided the getaways when we could take time out.
Our days in the sand ended abruptly when Brad suffered cardiac arrest 5 years ago. I was home with a grandchild when the call came and when I walked into ER, the attending nurse told me that he was nearly in a coma and not expected to live.......................... I remember going immediately into denial and feeling numb. Brad was put on life support with only 29% lung capacity. His lungs had filled with fluid when his heart stopped. I did a lot of walking and praying as the nurse sat with him 24/7 just as I did. In just three days after I was nearly without a voice from talking to him to get his brain waves in tune, he opened his eyes wide long enough for us to connect. From that moment on it was nothing but positive. I kept up the foot rubbing, knowing the reflexology was connecting with the organs of the body. When he was able to come home from the hospital it was rest time so I became a foreman of sorts and met with the crew to coordinated the jobs as best I could with their help. Brad recovered 99% with little memory loss and we feel very fortunate for every day we have. According to the cardiologist, only 3% of patients with cardiac arrest live through it. ______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: LEIGH (Shirley) KEPLER CAMPBELL
My life since Oakwood High School certainly has been a lot different then I had planned or even could have imagined.
Married Geoff Campbell 1964-1981. Moved to Colorado which is the best place in the world in 1973 and had 2 daughters: Jessica (38) with granddaughter Samantha (5) and Liza Jane with husband David living in Truckee, Colorado and doing so great. Gorgeous place and I love to visit there.
Somehow after not working for 10 years, staying home with children, after divorce, I got lucky and had a couple great jobs and got kids through school.
Then I went a little crazy and did all I should have done at 19. I quit y boring jobs and took off to work in 4 or 5 hunting/fishing lodges so far in mountains not even electricity. I lived on herbs and did so much work that I could not do today. Also have met so many fun, crazy, educated, loving friends. I’ve done lots of river rafting – even down horrible stuff on Colorado River. Went bear hunting in Canada looking for 2-year-old female grizzly to bring back to Glacier National Park. Somewhere along the line I met grizzly expert and he was sent to Canada on this mission and knew I would love it. There were about 20 or so and what a great 3 weeks. No grizzlies but caught, collared and tagged about 20 black bears.
Some time during all this I met Bob Wade and have been with him since about 1986. We got married in 1990 and divorced in 1991. I sold my house in Colorado Springs and built a gorgeous real log cabin on 12 acres I bought a long time ago. I try to spend most of my time down there with the eagles and elk but have care of my grand child a great bit of the time.
My father, before he passed away four years ago, built my sister and I lovely homes in Ormond Beach, Florida, but I don’t get down there. I guess he had in mind my retiring there but this is not for me. My sister has lived there for years. After numerous trips to Mexico that would be my pick – at least tonight!!! Or Aruba!
I’ve herded cattle, branded wild mustangs, been a “beer wench” for 4 years at Renaissance Festival, was brownie and girl scout leader. Love to se wan d cut tons of firewood for my cabin for winter. Made a trip to Sturgis, Daytona Beach on a Harley. Been to all big car races – Bob’s a “car guy” and drives 1956 Ford with corvette engine so been to Indy and Daytona 500 and tons of car shows all over the country. Did years of skiing and snowmobiling. Cooked at lodges for 30 people – breakfast and huge dinners – all elk, antelope, etc. So much fun and unbelievable memories. Also couple of cruises with my mother.
Well, anyway it’s been an awesome trip and full of lots of surprises, disappointment, happiness and really good times. Time is going too fast now and getting social security really hit me hard. Seems totally impossible.
Whatever! If anybody wants to come to Colorado would love to see you. If I’m gone bob will know where I am: 719-598-2103 (cabin 719-942-3747). Sorry I won’t be at the Reunion… _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Margaeret Ann Fogt Cothern – “Peg”
5. Where did you go school after you left Oakwood:
a. BS in English – Bowling Green
b. MS in Counseling –Wright State
6. What were your favorite jobs:
a. Counseling at Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda, MD
b. Teaching English at Centerville High School, Centerville, OH
c. Your worst job: teaching English and Reading at Cole Junior High School with cops on our roof and Black Panthers on theirs—armed, Denver, CO
d. Your major career path: counseling
7. What are you passionate about:
a. Loving my family, friends and several thousand students
b. Treating others and myself with respect
c. Rallying for equity, access and affordability for all students to earn a college education (I lobby on Capitol Hill)
8. Family
a. Husband: C. Richard Cothern – “Rick”
Career: Phyicist-expert on chemical sensitivity; radon; sustainability; professor
b. Kids
i. Kid #1 – Beth (my stepdaughter)
Divorced;
Kids: Ellen and Julia
Psychologist
ii. Kid #2-Brad (my stepson)
1. Married
2. Kids: Hannah and Noah
3. Archetect
9. What are you doing now and why: I retired after 38 years in public education July 1, 2007. 38 years is plenty. I do have 25 college recommendations to write in October (I’m a softie so may have more), and I agreed to spearhead the monster called AP exams just for next year.
10. Future plans: college consulting; gardening; reading; playing golf (will join a league); volunteering through our church; getting up when I want to; solving crossword puzzles ; loving Rick
I’ve been blessed with two nieces and a nephew who grew up very close to where we live. My brother and sister-in-law allowed me into their lives. Hence I’m close to them and love them as if they were my kids. And…(Sorry Ms. Page) m y step kids and I are very close and loving _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name:Anders Ekernas
2) Address:13 Clover Place, Cos Cob, CT 06807
3) Telephone Number: 203- 661 5890
4) E-Mail address:ekernas@optonline.net
5) Where did you go to school after you left Oakwood: Back to Stockholm, Sweden
a. Degree & school: Studentexamen (= Int'l Baccalaureate) at Norra Reallaroverket, Stockholm
b. Degree & school:Civilekonom (= Masters of Science/Finance) at Stockholm School of Economics
a. Job #1: Current job (Chairman of institutional investment advisor)
b. Job #2: Chief Investment Officer at insurance company
c. Job #3: Summer intern at a farm
d. Your worst job: Salesman of trinkets
e. Your major career path: Investment management
a. History
b. Classical music
c. Hiking in the mountains (any mountains, as long as they don't require climbing with an axe and a rope)
a. Wife/Husband’s name: Mariann (trophy wife since 1971)
i. Career: HR and Executive Search
i. Kid #1 Son, Ulf
1. Married: Yes to Sarah
2. Kids: Julian, born April 25, 2006 and of course the greatest kid ever.....
3. Current job: Patent Coordinator at Washington, DC law firm
ii. Kid #2 Son, Stefan
1. Married: Yes to Karen
2. Kids: Not yet
3. Current job: PhD student at University of Montana in conservation biology
9) What are you doing now and why: Chairman of Hillswick Asset Management LLC, an institutional investment advisory firm. Because I thoroughly enjoy the challenge of trying to discern macro-economic and financial trends and scenarios, as well as their investment implications. It also keeps me away from the house and provides an excuse for not doing all the weeding.
10) Future plans: Keep working for as long as I enjoy it (or the bastards kick me out). Keep traveling the globe. Teach Julian to cross country ski (when he gets to be four or so).
11) Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): My year in Oakwood truly changed the path of my life (despite Miss Page). _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name:Catherine Calvert Fay
Where did you go to school after you left Oakwood:
a. Degree & school:Hanover College B.A.
b. Degree & school:University of Dayton
What were your favorite jobs:
a. Job #1:Mother and wife
b. Job #2:Elementary Physical Education teacher
c. Job #3: Mens Tennis Coach for Wilmington College
d. Your worst job: Inner City Boston teaching job
e. Your major career path: Health, Physical Education and Recreation
What are you passionate about:
a.Nature
b.Tennis
c.Traveling
Family
a. Wife/Husband’s name: Phillip A. Fay
i. Career: Teacher of Music theory, history and choral music
i. Kid #1 Michael Calvert Fay
3. Current job-Master Brewer at Great Dane Brew Pub in Madison Wisconsin
ii. Kid #2-Bryan A. Fay
3. Current job-Computer programer in Madison, Wisconsin
What are you doing now and why: Retired from full time teaching. Adjunct Professor at Wilmington College and at Chatfield College. Coach Wilmington High School Tennis team. Still coach my jump rope team I started ten years ago. Teach tennis at Clinton Swim and Tennis Club. Volunteer with Ohio Reads program. Once a teacher, always a teacher. It is hard to stop. But it is nice to pick and choose when and where. We spend our winters in the south in our Airstream- sometimes Florida, other years Texas , Arizona and New Mexico. We stay as long as we want and move when we want to where ever we want. Also sing in the Wilmington College -Community choir and also the Friends choir as well as ring bells in the bell choir. But the most fun is that I play on a tennis team in Cincinnati at a club and we play against other club teams in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky.
Future plans: Travel more. I want to go to Alaska and many other places that have beautiful natural surroundings.
Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): I have such fond memories of our many years together. I am always sad when I hear others say they had a horrible high school experience. We had so many wonderful experiences. We were all very, very lucky. I have loved seeing everyone at our reunions. I look forward to our next one. Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): I have such fond memories of our many years together. I am always sad when I hear others say they had a horrible high school experience. We had so many wonderful experiences. We were all very, very lucky. I have loved seeing everyone at our reunions. I look forward to our next one. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Russ (aka Rusty) Gilmore
Where did you go to school after you left Oakwood?
The Ohio State University – I was not ready for this and received an education in what not to do in college.
Hillsdale College – BA 1968
University of Dayton – MBA 1975
What were your favorite jobs?
My favorite job is my current job. I am President of DG Equipment Company. We are a heavy industrial rigging company and heavy haul carrier that installs, relocates and transports very large, very heavy industrial machinery. We work on projects throughout the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe. Our transport vehicles are the ones with 100 or more wheels and are escorted by police and other vehicles with flashing lights – the ones that retard your progress when you are travelling on a major highway.
What was your worst job?
I didn’t have one. Some were just better than others.
What is your major career path?
To take an outmoded industrial business, develop a strong team based environment with unquestionable values and integrity, then turn the business around and mold it into a recognized industry leader. We are making good progress towards that goal.
What are you passionate about?
My marriage
My family (and 4 grandchildren)
My church – I am very involved with Holy Trinity Catholic Church and with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati
My hobbies – I am learning to play the clarinet and have been a potter for over 10 years.
My business
(The above order seems to change depending upon the day of the week!)
Wife:
Kathy Gilmore – Retired but spends a great deal of her time in volunteer activities and with our grandchildren.
Kid #1
Ashley – married - lives in Columbus, OH – stay at home mom – 2 children with a 3rd on the way.
Kid #2
Emily – married – lives in Oakwood – CFO DG Equipment – 1 child
Kid #3
Dan – married – lives in Tipp City – VP DG Equipment – 1 child and a 2nd on the way
Kid #4
Adam – will be married in April – lives in Houston, TX – Engineer/Department Head with NASA – no children (I guess that was obvious.)
What are you doing now and why?
I am President of DG Equipment Company, a business I purchased 5 years ago. I love the business, and more importantly, love the fact that I get to work with my daughter and son each day. It has been a terrific experience working with these family members and watching them develop.
Future plans?
I will most likely continue to work until one or more of the following happens:
I am no longer able to work.
Either one of the two kids in the business tells me it is time to leave.
Kathy says, “Enough of this, you need to retire.”
Remarks (anything you would like to say to your classmates?
Be positive, live healthy, stay in love, do good things, laugh often. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Pam Grange
a. Degree & school: BA, Brown University, Providence, RI
a. Job #1: My current one! Events and marketing manager at our local independent book store
b. Job #2: Tech support
c. Job #3: Programmer
d. Your worst job: High tech product management
e. Your major career path: Wherever the wind has taken me
a. Animals
b. Books
c. Nature/ocean
a. Wife/Husband’s name: David
i. Career: Retired law enforcement
i. Kid #1 - Petey the cat
1. Current job: sleeping and making us laugh
9) What are you doing now and why: Working at Kepler's Books - the job I always wanted, but never knew what it was. Flex hours, work from home mostly, lots of free books, meeting authors. It is SO much fun!
10) Future plans: Keep doing this job forever!
11) Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): I was thrilled to get out of high school, but I have very fond memories of lots of people. I think email is probably the best invention ever. I just spent time with Paula (Allemang) Turner in NYC while attending Book Expo. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Phil Grout Newest Update on Most Embarrassing moment reveal for 2013 Reunion (2013):
Between some really busy freelance work (which I need to keep on top of), a tussle with laying the brick floor on our new addition (which I want to finish before the first snowflakes) and some personal issues, my attendance to the reunion looks doubtful. But I didn't want you to get up there on the mic and be scratching for stories, so here goes.
My most embarrassing moment in these 68 years happened not too far from where your mic is set—in Moraine's main dining room in maybe 1962???
It was my first experience attending a debutante ball. I was assigned a date—a young lady from Middletown who was reasonably attractive and seemingly pleasant. We had just met maybe 10 minutes before dinner was served. As Dad had instructed me, a graciously held the young lady's chair, then I pulled out my own. I sat down, smiled and nodded at my date. All seemed just fine until I leaned back in my chair and the entire chair back snapped. My momentum caused me to flip backwards out of the chair seat and land flat on my back. If I could have I would have curled up in a ball and huddled under the tablecloth, but I found another chair (was tempted to stay there in the corner with my nose to the corner) and joined my dinner party—red face, soaring blue pressure and all.
Of all the experiences working around the world as a photojournalist, I suppose one of the most unusual was the day I single-handedly stopped President Jimmy Carter's motorcade at the intersection of two dirt roads outside Plains, Georgia. I lived in an abandoned sharecropper's shack at the edge of a red-dirt peanut field. I lived there several months gathering material for my first book, A Spell in Plains. The book dealt mainly with the farming family I lived with and worked for, but when I heard the President was coming to town, I figured I ought to at least try to get some photos of him. I took a break from helping irrigate one large peanut field. I was covered in red dust, sweaty—hadn't shaved in several days, but I knew Jimmy would be traveling down my toad to see his mother Miss Lillian. It was close to 100 degrees as I sat by the road and waited.
A reasonable Secret Service agent checked me out—went through my camera bag—and went back to town. Old Mr. Joe Bacon, the patriarch of my new family bounced in his drive in his old chevy pick up. Just as I got up to go see Mr. Joe I spotted a long entourage of cars. A Georgia state cop slid around the corner followed by what I suspected was Jimmy's sedan. And as the black sedan approached me, I instinctively put out the flat of my left hand.
With that the driver leaned on his brakes and caused a chain reaction of stiff brakes all the way back the line of 20 or so cars. The president got out and walked toward me. I introduced myself, extended my hand but received a rather limp handshake in return. Jimmy and Joe Bacon were old friends—they used to go fishing together down in the old baptismal pond, so the two had a grand reunion in Mr. Joe's drive. And I got some decent photos of that reunion. Cordoned off maybe 50 feet behind me were shooters from AP, UPI, TV crews and who knows. I was traveling independently for a Baltimore book publisher, but had no press credentials. But I got my photos, thanks to a decent Secret Service agent and a quick subconscious thought (that would probably have gotten my butt shot today). . .
I hope this helps. Feel free to edit what ever you need.
Attached is a photo of me in the central mountains of the Dominican Republic, riding a burro around a village—before I found out the owner of the animal really wasn't cool with my borrowing his burro—as my escort had assurred me, "Si, si. Is OK Felipe". (sorry this photo is lost - would love to see it though!)
Please give my best to everyone and offer my apologies for being unable to attend, and if Jack Kneisley shows up ask him to tell the story about the night he and I singlehandedly jumped in (tuxes and all) to rescue a young debutante's father after we threw him in the swimming pool somewhere in Dayton-Middletown.
Peace, as always--Phil ("Groutie")
Old Bio:
5) Where did you go to school after you left Oakwood: Denison
a). Degree & school: After 2 years and 5 majors the Dean suggested I try something else . My draft status was !A. It was 1966, so I enlisted in the Navy because I understood they had good food,traveled a lot and I'd probably end up a long way from Vietnam. In bootcamp I lied about my journalism experience, so they made me a "journalist". Two months later I was on the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam conducting my very first news interview--with the Secretary of the Navy, Paul Nitze. Fortunately there was an officer aboard my ship who'd taken journalism 101, and between his course and my BS (that's not a bachelor of science) I got the story out. It made /Stars and Stripes/. I worked as a photojournalist in and out of 'Nam for two years, then landed in South Texas where I editted (I still can't spell that word) a station newspaper and met my wife, ML (Mary Lou)>>
a. Job #1: Working many years as a photojournalist, feature writer and editor of the Hanover Evening Sun in Westminster, MD 1970-84
b. Job #2: Newsboy for the Dayton Journal Herald 1957-58 (except for delivering Haley Fitz's paper up on Lookout Ridge. I swore the house was haunted and every time I delivered the Fitz's paper I held my breath and ran faster than blue blazes while flinging their paper somewhere close to their front door. Fortunately the Fitz's were "office pays" so I never had to collect from them.
c. Job #3: Deliveryman and dish washer for Jump's Caterers
delivering almost all of those delicious cucumber /cream cheese crustless sandwiches to very important people in Oakwood who usually forgot howmany cucumber/cream cheese sandwiches they'd ordered) Christmas 1963 and '64
d. Your worst job: Working for Rusty Gilmore's dad (a great guy) as a stevedore (sorry, I don't think this program has a spell check!). One day my mates and I unloaded big bags of kitty litter (I think each bag had ten, ten-pound bags each)!
e. Your major career path: I always thought I wanted to follow in
Dad's footsteps and become a doctor but quantitative analysis, physics and calculus thought otherwise--so'd the Dean. Looking back I really think Harvey Brucker (7th grade math: "Phil Grout you go out in the hall until you come back") and Ralph Juniper (11th grade Algebra II: "The trouble with you Grout is you're dumb.") put a pox on my mathematics house. So instead of medicine, I followed in Dad's photographic footsteps (he was a fine amateur) and became a photojournalist, author and now "jeweler" (Dad's father was a gem setter in Dayton around the turn of the 1900's) without taking one course but just running a lot of film and paper. I've been feelance since 1984. This path has lead me through newspapers, magazines, wire services and book publishers. (I never got a degree but I think it must be something like the day my wife and I went to the Library of Congress and ordered up my first book, /A Spell in Plains/. There Have been others--/Seeds of Hope/, /Harvest of Hope/ and /The Christmas Sack/, but nothing compares to the thrill of that first one and then giving a copy to Miriam Page--who in 11th grade showed us the beauty and structure of the English language (as well as the nuances of blue hair shades).
7)What are you passionate about:*
a. Trying to use my camera to shrink the size of this world--to bridge the "chasm" of what we think are all of our differences and portraying the vastness of the common ground we all do share.
b. Trying to be used to illustrate the needs of the "Developing World"
c. Getting back to the Southwest, particularly southern Utah, as much as possible.
a. Wife/Husband's Maria Luisa Ramirez (ML, Mary Lou)
Career: High school drama and English teacher, actress, accountant
b. Kids: ML and I were never blessed with children although we've had a number of four-legged children over the years. We're particularly proud of our current "son", Frederick Holden McGroin, a border collie/black lab cross who can sing on cue. Fred is currently working on a YouTube video of his version of "Pants on the Ground".
9) What are you doing now and why: I continue to work as a freelance
photojournalist to newspapers and magazines working in the Americas,
Africa, Asia and India. I also do a lot of fine art photography with sales through galleries and art festivals. Lately I've been producing one-of-a-kind wearable art jewelry pieces using miniature images of mine.10) Future plans: In two days I fly out to the Dominican Republic (note from Molly – this was sent in Feb of this year) and catch a UN flight into Port-au-Prince. I'm working with a large cooperative of Haitian artists and crafters who make beautiful soapstone carvings and large metal wall sculptures from steel drums. All of their homes were destroyed in the earthquake, but fortunately they sustained no fatalities. I'll be documenting their Recovery/rebuilding efforts for print, internet and multi-media fund raising projects *https://www.serrv.org* My website (which needs some work) is *https://www.philgrout.com*. My YouTube collection is found by keying in *groutster* in the main search window.
11) Remarks (anything you'd like to say to your classmates?): I wish I could take back that bus trip to Lasourdesville Lake after graduation when I belched most of the way and grossed out most of the folks around me--it was a thing I picked up from my oldest brother who could
honestly belch the entire alphabet in one breath. I never achieved that level expertise. I should also apologize for taking so long in reconnecting with the class of '63, but thank you Molly for this
opportunity. Oh, and I just wanted to add that when Jack Kniesley and I decided it was time our names be removed from the Dayton-Middletown-Cincinnati debutaunt registry that summer of 1963, it was Jack's idea to throw that one debutaunt's father in the pool, as far as I can remember. Even though we did succeed in removing our names from the Registry, both of us did jump in with our tuxedos on to save the man's life--not his dignity. To his dying daying in 1988, my dear old Dad still thought his youngest son had been thrown in the pool by some rowdies 25 years ago.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Charles Thomas (Tom) Hager Newest Update (2014):
Well, I have pondered Molly's request for information regarding special moments to remember or forget and I am not sure this qualifies, but here goes:
Firstly, you knew my Dad. A man who put up with little nonsense in his life until Jim and I came along. It would be fair to say that he and I had our moments over the years and while we loved each other dearly I suspect there were many times he questioned whether I had in fact "sprung from his loins" so to speak. His major clue was that while all the rest of the family ended up being qualified professionals of one sort or another, I ended up making retail my trade. I am not sure he ever really understood why but I suspect he thought the milk man had something to do with it.
Anyway, on to the story. When my mother passed, my brother and I decided to leave the house as was for a year and to face the cleaning out of same at the later date. We lived far from Dayton and we wanted to be able to take the time to deal with our parents affects with due consideration. This we eventually did and after a fairly intense week of selling things and disposing of others to friends, it came down to clearing out the remaining bits and pieces. For this I contacted a rag and bone man to come in and "take the lot" for $250. The process of clearing what remained went for an entire day and into the night. At about 10pm I am sitting on an old wooden box having a cup of coffee from a thermos when the rag and bone man came into the kitchen with a cardboard box and asked me whether I had meant to sell what was inside. I almost said of course but curiosity got the better of me and I had a look. Hell, Bill, in that box were my Dad's ashes! He was close to going out the door with the rest of the trash! Anyway, needless to say we struck a deal whereby I retained the ashes and he took everything else.
I could not help but think at the time, and I still think the same now, that my father would have turned to my mother in heaven and said "Typical bloody retailer, that little bastard even sold my ashes!"
The above may not qualify for inclusion but I thought as you knew well those involved you would appreciate the story.
When Molly asked me to write a biography I must admit that my first thought was “How do you top Ricky Reidmiller’s?” and my second thought was, “who the hell would be interested in what I have done with my life?” I finally reached the conclusions that as to the former I will not try and to the latter, why should I care? So with apologies to Molly and to those I will probably bore, I submit the following.
I was born in October 1944 the second son of Lois and Charles Hager. They already had one boy child and they were pulling hard for a girl the second time around. So you might say I started life a disappointment. My Mother refused to believe things hadn’t worked out as planned so I was dressed in frilly dresses for the first two months of my life. My Father came home one day, removed the dress and said “Look, like it or not he is a boy and you’ll just have to get use to it.” I am not sure Mother ever did.
My Dad was born in Dayton. His father was a saddle maker and had a shop on East Third Street where he once spent three days on its roof during the Dayton Flood. Grandad was a friend of J. H. Patterson and would on occasion make small investments in some of Patterson’s early inventions – all to no avail. He finally said no to any further investments and of course the rest is history. We don’t talk too much about Grandad as a result. My Dad could trace his roots back to Oberuwyil Switzerland where the old family home still stands, or so I am told. My Brother and I are making the trip back to Switzerland this May and I half suspect that when we arrive we will find that our ancestors left Oberuwyil owing money.
My Mother, born in Richmond Indiana, came from a family of nine within which she was the youngest child. Her mother was a Quaker and her father a hard drinking railway man. I am sure this made for an interesting home life. My Mother was, is and will always be one of my heroes. She taught me never to lose sight of your goals and that persistence will in the end overcome resistance and adversity. At the age of 50 she went back to school, obtained an undergraduate degree and then her master’s degree in English Literature. She ended up teaching at Sinclair and Wright State. This was a goal she had set for herself at the age of seventeen. She also, at the age of 84, achieved the distinction of being awarded the title of Writer Laureate. She impressed the hell out of me.
I have a cousin who decided to trace the Parker family (her fathers) tree only to find that our Great Great Grandfather on my Mother’s father’s side had married a full blooded american indian. This little bit of news caused a stir amongst some of my relatives but from my point of view I think it’s great. The only down
sides are that her tribe was the Kickapoo, a name which creates less than favourable images in my mind (I therefore prefer to think of myself as a distant descendent of the Cherokee Nation) and secondly, the Kickapoos apparently don’t own any Casinos.
As with Ricky, I have no intention of mentioning my high school years other to say that when I do look back at them it is usually with some degree of embarrassment, Somehow I graduated and moved on. Surprisingly I ended up, after several false starts, obtaining a degree in Marketing and then a Masters in Business. I say surprisingly as I was never a very good student.
My wife and I married in 1968 and I have always felt I got the better of that deal. We have had a good partnership over the years and she remains my best friend (that is not to imply that she doesn’t remain my wife as well). How she has had the patience to put up with me and not be permanently addicted to Prozac I will never know.
Trudi and I migrated to Australia in 1969. Our intention was to gain some experience living and working overseas. Dick Chaney, who was the best man at our wedding, had been born in Melbourne Australia and it was he who introduced us to the idea of Australia rather than Europe or elsewhere. Both Trudi and I were well travelled (I to most of the fifty states and South America and Trudi to about the same number of states plus Europe) so it was not a major decision for us. Australia was offering assisted passage and a settlement allowance provided you agreed to stay for two years. Neither of us thought the idea of buying a house in suburban Dayton Ohio, settling down and starting a family held appeal. We in fact travelled half way around the world to buy a house in suburban Melbourne, settle down and start a family. Makes absolutely no sense, does it? I remember thinking at the time that if Dave Wilson could survive in Hong Kong, then I should be able to survive in Australia. Dave returned home. I never did.
We have had a good life here. We have had the joy of raising three wonderful children and we are currently experiencing the extra special joy that our first grandchild has brought us. We have over the years achieved some reasonable degree of success in our professions. Trudi is a trained social worker and I am a filthy capitalist, which makes for interesting conversations at times. She has been very successful in her chosen field while I attribute any success I have had more to good luck than good planning.
My profession is retailing. I started in the stock rooms of Rike’s and went from there. They say that an actor struts the stage for love of the smell of the grease paint. For me it was always the sound of the cash register! In my forty odd plus years in the industry, I have been a buyer, personnel manager, training manager, manpower planning manager, store manager and, from the age of 36, the managing director (president) of several department store groups. I retired in 1993 but ended up being a failure at that. I then took up the role of managing director of a small pharmacy chain which over ten years was built into a reasonably good size business. I retired again last July as I found that the job was interfering with work. After forty years, I finally came to realise that my satisfaction is not gained from managing others but rather from managing myself. It was time to get my hands dirty again so I retired to start my own supply chain business in pharmaceuticals. I am seven months into it and having the time of my life. I love working from home,
Australia is a wonderful country and it has been good to me. I am and will always be an American but I am also an Australian and this is my home. I have at times lived in Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland. Our home of the last eighteen years is just north of Brisbane in the foothills of the Dividing Range. We have about three acres and we have wallabies, kangaroos, koalas and dingos transversing the property. We also have a resident peacock or two and a family of Kookaburras that live in the Gum Trees back by the pool.
Name: Tom Hager
2) Address: Depends. Six months of each year it is 13 Boland Court, Eatons Hill. Queensland, Australia, 4037. The other six months it is 642 Corner Ridge Road, Frenchburg, Kentucky, 40322
3) Telephone Number: Australia: 011-617-3298-5156. USA: 1-606-768-2268
4) E-Mail address: Australia: tom@cybertel.net.au USA: jthager@mrtc.com
a. Degree & school: B. of Business, Wright State University
b. Degree & school: Masters in Management, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
a. Job #1: Running my own business in Pharmacy Solutions
b. Job #2: Developing Friendly Care Pharmacies from six stores to twenty eight
c. Job #3: Department Stores at various levels
d. Your worst job: Beaver Skinner at a mink food processing plant in Laramie Wyoming (Truth!)
e. Your major career path: I forsake beaver skinning for retail
a. Family
b. Personal Freedom
c. History
a. Wife/Husband’s name: Career: Social Worker
i. Kid #1 Andrew
3. Current job Vice President Research for Energex, the Queensland Power Supplier
ii. Kid #2 Matther
1. Married: Yes
2. Kids: One boy
3. Current job Disabled
iii. Kid #3 Deceased
9) What are you doing now and why: Establishing a farm in Kentucky and acting on several Boards as a Director in a few Australian Companies. Basically, retired except for the Farm. I now know which end of the cow the grass goes into.
10) Future plans: Enjoy time with people I like in places I enjoy
Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): Not really except a Howdy from Down Under.
a. Degree & school: Wright State - BSBA
b. Degree & school: RMIT - MBA
a. Job #1: Several, all in retail
b. Job #2:
d. Your worst job: Beaver Skinner at Mink Food Processing Plant, Laramie Wyoming (this actually happened)
e. Your major career path: Now, retired but doing some contract management and farming
a. My Grandkids
a. Wife/Husband’s Trudi
i. Career: Retired
2. Kids: Not that we know of
3. Current job Capital Equipment Forecasting, Queensland Electricity
ii. Kid #2 Matthew
1. Married: Stacey
2. Kids: Two fantastic Boys
3. Current job House Husband
9) What are you doing now and why: Retired, working the farm in KY, and doing contract work for the Queensland Government in remote aboriginal communities in northern Cape York. Work involves assisting indigenous communities in self determination and developing skills to
help empower them to achieve self management and government. Extremely satisfying in six month hits.
10) Future plans: Retirement stinks. I will keep doing the above until I drop
11) Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): Just recovered from West Nile Fever (a year ago). My recommendation is that given the choice between major surgery and West Nile, take the surgery! Also, I am super impressed by the way many of you came together to support Rick. You are a special group of people. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Janet I. Harris
a. Degree & school: Miami University, Oxford, Ohio - Bachelor of Fine Arts & Minor in Urban Studies
b. Degree & school: University of Cincinnati, Master of Fine Arts.
Degree Degree & school: University of Cincinnati, Master of Community Planning
Jobs:: Jobs:
a. Job #1: Cultural Resource Development - State Arts Movement, including:
New York State Government, New York State Commission on Cultural Resources and New York State Council on the Arts - Associate Director & Program Director, New York City.
b. Indiana State Government, Indiana State Arts Commission, CEO - Executive Director, Indianapolis, Indiana.
c. Job #2: Community Affairs and Market Research, including:
Anacomp Computer Services - Community Affairs Manager and Grants Officer, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Dun & Bradstreet Information Services - Senior Account Executive, Indianapolis, IN.
Duke Energy / Cynergy / PSI Foundation - Community Affairs and Founding Manager of PSI Foundation and Grants Officer.
Walker Information, Customer Satisfaction - Research Manager, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Job #3: Harris Marketing, Inc., Market Research - President, Indianapolis, IN
J
What were your favorite jobs: Jobs where I could innovate ways to provide public service for the greater good of society.
d. Your worst job: No Comment.
e. Your major career path - Phase 1 - Cultural Resource Development
Y Your major career path - Phase 2 - Community Affairs and Market Research .
a. My children - Michael & Alex
b. Staying healthy and alive to raise my children
c. Holding onto my money for a long Life.
a. Wife/Husband’s - Divorced
i. Kid #1 Michael D. Harris - Age 7 - In 2nd Grade & Likes Math.
1. ii. Kid #2 Alexander T. Harris - Age 6 - In 1st Grade & likes to sing and dance.
1.
9) What are you doing now and why: Re-engineering my Life to set a path for the next 30 years. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Peg DeMarse Hater
I went to Monticello Jr. College and received a Business Associate Degree.
One of my favorite jobs, other than a stay-at-home-Mom was with the Kettering Schools
II had a variety of jobs from secretary, class room aide and handicap aide.
I was a member of The National Ski Patrol for 10 years while we had our boys and loved it.
Snow skiing if the reason I met my husband. He has been a patroller for 35 years and holds National number #7238.
I am most passionate about: My family - all of them!
My dogs Chief, Bear and Max
Being able to volunteer, to help others
My husband, Ed Hater, and I have been married 28 great years.
He has worked at Wright Patt for 32 years as an International Arms Merchant (Foreign
Military Sales) - sorry guys! and a computer analysist.
Steve, 26, has been a volunteer firefighter in Kettering for 7 years and worked for AAA - Miami Valley and others. He is now in Alexandria, Va for firefighting training for a full time job. He has been a National Ski Patroller for 9 years and as well as a first aide instructor.
David, 22, is at the Univ. of Northern Alabama, studying recrecational management and a mionr in religion while playing on the football team. He is a member of the U.S. BobSled
Team as a pusher/brakeman. He has been a member of the National Ski Patrol for 7 years.
I have been a pharmacy tech. for 7 years. David tells everyone -my mom's a drug dealer - well, I do push pills, but...I am still working because I enjoy my job and a lot of my customers and David is still in college!!
I hope Ed and I stay fit and healthy so we can enjoy golf, skiing and volunteering.
___________________________________________________________
Name: Don Henkel
a. Degree & school: Univ of Cincinnati, BS Mechanical Eng.
b. Degree & school: Univ of Cincinnati, MS Aerospace and Strees Analysis
a. Job #1: General Electric – Lasor Lab
b. Job #2: General Motors – Automobile Airconditioning
c. Job #3: Western States & Machine Co. – centrifuge design
d. Your worst job: dor to door salesman
e. Your major career path: R&D Engineering
a. Railroads and travel by rail
b. Physics and History
8) Family Single
9) What are you doing now and why: Still working
10) Future plans: Learn to play piano _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: David Kennett I'm glad Molly decided on doing bios now while we still have most of our memory! There are many times I envy those of you who got out of Dayton early on (maybe not to the extent of Hager). I graduated from The University of Cincinnati and married Susy Lamar in July of 1967. We both grew up in Oakwood, only 8 blocks apart and at the time we just didn't think about living somewhere else.
I started with NCR in sales and after a year decided it wasn't for me to be in sales. I went with Dun & Bradstreet as a financial analyst and stayed 11 years until I decided to go to law school. I graduated from University of Dayton School of Law in 1982 and have been active in the practice thereof ever since. In 1994 I ventured into the political arena and was the endorsed Republican candidate for Common Pleas judge here in Montgomery County. I got 43% of the votes, not bad in a largely Democratic county, but I decided that was it for me politically.
Susy has been very successful as a real estate appraiser in her own business. Our only child, John, was born in 1969. After he graduated from UD in 1992 he said "Dad, I don't want to end up in Dayton". I said "move now and you won't"! He started out in Orlando but decided he liked the west so he married a girl from Dayton and in 1994 they moved to Scottsdale AZ. They love it there and have 2 beautiful girls who are 8 and 4. Our grandchildren are the center of our universe and we spend a great deal of time in the desert, especially in winter. John is with Westin Hotels so I get great golf deals and some other great travel benefits. If any of you are planning to be at the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale give John a call.
Over the years we have traveled extensively throughout the world with our son and now our grandchildren. Our 8 year old will be making her 3rd trip to Europe this summer. For the past 25 years we have had a summer home in Bethany Beach, Delaware where we enjoy many spring, summer and fall days. Last summer we found out that Doug Lane spent a week in the house across the street but we missed him! Anyway, Bethany is our second home and a great family resort.
At some point we would like to leave Dayton to be closer to the kids and also spend more time at the beach. I have very little family left, only my Mom and an aunt and Susy's Mom are still living in Dayton.
The past 43 years since HS have been generally good to us and, it would appear, to the class of '63. I want to thank Molly for all the communications and for keeping everyone in touch. The Internet didn't hurt either. I remember when George Miller and I chaired the 20th reunion how difficult it was to communicate efficiently with everyone. Not it's a breeze!
Update: Our grandchildren are now 15 and 11. We have continued to travel and take them as many places as possible. We enjoyed the 50th reunion and hope to see everyone again in the coming years.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Mary Michaelson Lee New for 2013 Reunion:
I was 12 when our family immigrated to the US and Oakwood. I had had only one year of instruction in the English language before getting here and I recall spending most of seventh grade carrying around a dictionary. Thankfully Elaine Collier O'Neal had the locker next to me and showed me how to use the lock! We then discovered that we lived 3 blocks apart so we walked to school together. That was the beginning of a life long friendship. In fact, we and our spouses recently took a Baltic Cruise.
Looking back at junior high I remember how kind all my classmates were to "the Greek girl". Along with Linda Downy Neugebaur, Elaine, and Margy Colvin McDiarmid, we often walked to Margy's for lunch where her mother Harriet would feed us. It was dubbed "Harriet's Hash House".
In high school Miss Page and Mrs. Bender inspired me to major in English. So the immigrant who spoke little English when she arrived in Oakwood became an English teacher!
Along the way I discovered Montessori education and found enormous satisfaction in working with preschoolers. After all, they were closer to my size! Linda Downy Neugebaur spearheaded the establishment of Columbus Montessori Education Center in 1984. Partnering with her was the highlight of my professional life as an educator and a continuation of another life long friendship. Though we have both retired, the center continues to provide high quality education and care to children from infancy to elementary ages, and to adults enrolled in its Montessori Teacher Education Program.
Nowadays my husband Bill and I live in West Virginia in the summers and Palm Desert CA in the winters but we make it a point to reunite as often as possible with the Neugebaurs, the O'Neals and the McDiarmids.
I graduated from The Ohio State University
a. Degree & school: BS Education, OSU
b. Degree & school: American Montessori Society, Early Childhood Credential
a. Job #1: Early Childhood Teacher
b. Job #2: Director, Montessori Teacher Education Program
d. Your worst job: 1. Welcome Lady (!) 2. Diet Institute Counselor
e. Your major career path: I found my calling in Montessori early childhood education after my two children attended a Montessori school
a. children
b. early childhood education
c. family
a. Wife/Husband’s name: Bill
i. Career: Spent his entire career at Nationwide Insurance in various management positions
i. Kid #1 Tom
1. Married: to Beth
2. Kids: Megan (9), Jessica (7)
3. Current job: Director, Information Technology, McAfee
Ladera Ranch, CA
ii. Kid #2 Katie
1. Married: to Chad Townsend
2. Kids: Anabelle (6), Will (3)
3. Current job, Director Marketing for State and Local Tax Division, Ernst and Young
Charlottesville, VA
9) What are you doing now and why: Bill and I have retired and have found a haven in the hills of West Virginia. We divide our time between our Glade Springs home in the summer and a condo in Palm Desert, CA. Thus we are near two of our grandchildren at each coast, each season. We play golf and travel extensively. We spent most of our life in Columbus, OH with three years in California and three years in Des Moines, Iowa.
I feel fortunate to have had a couple of satisfying careers. Thanks to Miss Page and Mrs. Bender, I became a high school English teacher. I taught high school juniors and seniors who towered over me! When our children came, we discovered Montessori education and I retrained to be an early childhood teacher. Bill says that those students were more my size! In 1984 Linda Downy Neugebauer and I founded the Columbus Montessori Education Center, an early childhood education and childcare center. We started with a few students and grew to serve many children from 6 weeks to age 14. We added a Teacher Education Program to prepare adults to work with children in early childhood and in infant and toddler settings. While Linda and I are now "Directors Emeritus" (Mrs. Sipe would roll over in her grave; it should be "emeritae", but , never mind!), the center continues to thrive in Columbus. Linda continues to advocate for children in creating family friendly public policy, and I have retired to tend to grandchildren, golf, book club, yoga, walking and the like. We still keep in touch with Linda, Elaine Collier O'Neil, Margy Colvin McDiarmid and their spouses. In fact, Linda, Elaine, I and our spouses will meet at a villa in Posetano, Italy, this October.
10) Future plans: Do more of the same!
Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?):
It was 50 years ago this Labor Day weekend when my family immigrated to America from Greece. Oakwood High School was a wonderful place for me to come to and assimilate into the country. All of you were kind to the "Greek girl" and made me feel welcome and worthy. I thank all of you for this gift. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Jane Leland Langdon
a. Degree & school:Colby Jr. College, Associate of Arts
b. Degree & school:University of Denver, Fine Arts Degree
a. Job #1: teaching Elementary School
b. Job #2: teaching adult and children's art
e. Your major career path: art education
a. family/friends
b. art/music
c. animals
a. Wife/Husband’s name:Brad
i. Career: Unity Minister
i. Kid #1 "Sammie" a tabby Manx (12 years) with tons of personality!
9) What are you doing now and why: Brad and I have been temporarily living in Kansas City for the past 2 years while Brad has been studying at the Unity Institute. I haven't been able to put down any roots here...yet I have been doing lots of art.
10) Future plans: Brad hopes to be ordained in June as a Unity Minister. He hopes to find a related job within an easy drive of my mother who is still in Dayton. We will be relocating this Summer. He is currently being courted by a small Unity Church outside of Indianapolis. There is lots of adventure and unknowns in our future right now. I never thought I'd leave Colorado or be a "preacher's wife!." I am hoping to go back to school and looking forward to adopting another dog after we relocate.
11) Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): Wherever you are...whatever you are doing....take good care of your wonderful selves! _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Allan Lewis 5) Where did you go to school after you left Oakwood: a. Degree & school: BA Denison Univ; JD Univ of Cincinnati b. Degree & school: LL.M. (Tax) New York University 6) What were your favorite jobs: each job was interesting and enjoyable given the stage in my life. Bar tender at the Shed in Dayton; law clerk with the Montgomery County Courts, tax litigator with the U.S. Department of Justice ('71 to '88); administrative law judge with the U.S. Department of Education ('88 to present) and chief judge since 1998. I hear cases involving civil rights matters, grants made to state and local agencies, Federal impact aid cases, and other matters. My function is essentially to replace that of a federal district court judge. Appeals in my cases go to the US courts of appeals. . d. Your worst job: co-chair of the traffic committee for our neighborhood civic association that was developing modifications in traffic patterns within the neighborhood in an effort to reduce cut-through traffic-- just think of the problems with the neighbors that would arise if you trying to reroute I-75 through Oakwood and that describes the job. e. Your major career path: 7) What are you passionate about: a. family b. Golf and trout fishing in Michigan. I am fortunate to belong to a fishing club where my dad taught me to fish in the 1950's. The club is adjacent to a national forest and has seen virtually no development nearby over the years. There has been modernization at the club over the years -- electricity, the telephone, and updating of most of the cabins -- yet the basic facility has remained unchanged since the 1950's. It's a quiet and contemplative place. c. my 1994 Harley 8) Family a. My wife passed away in February, 2013. She had been a part-time tutor of elementary students in the District of Columbia for 25 years and thoroughly enjoyed it. b. Kids: twins Andrew and Jessica 9) What are you doing now and why: as noted above, currently working as a judge. It is challenging position and produces a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction as well as frustration at times. 10) Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): As a group, we have truly traveled many different paths from our common origin.
_____________________________________________________________
Name: Jennifer (Jeannie) Luttenton O'Flaherty Ohio State, where I spent four fabulous, adventure-filled years, was my first stop after high school. My only regret: majoring in partying rather than taking my studies seriously and pursuing subjects relevant to making a living. My degree (political science) and $2 can just about get me on the subway! I finally went back to school and got a graduate degree in finance from Columbia, which led to a wild and crazy Wall Street career trading futures on the NYFE. The market crash of '87 scared many of us independents and quite a few, including me, decided to take the money and run - and either find a new career or go back to a previous one. A friend who was a computer trainer at Moody's insisted it was time for me to learn about computers and allowed me to use their self-teaching lab, where I spent hundreds of hours exploring the burgeoning IT field from C++ to databases, word processing to graphic design. I've been hooked ever since - bought my first 'puter in '90 and have been online since the earliest days of AOL when one navigated with 'shift/click/enter' rather than a mouse. Thus began my new career in graphic design in the fall of '88 that eventually progressed to web design and - finally – e-commerce, internet marketing and content management with a subsidiary of a major media conglomerate where I am now a VP. We're about to launch 12 online newspaper sites and working 'round the clock. Well, keeps me out of trouble, anyway!
Having spent most of my adult life (25 years) in Manhattan, I miss it terribly - loved to walk home from work in the spring and fall, bike in Central Park, jog along the FDR, stroll through Carl Schurz Park (a block from where I lived), hit all the sample sales, go to events at the Met and Lincoln Center, head up to Vermont for ski or golf weekends, sail the Sound from City Island to Block, or just knock around. The City
teemed with a raw energy that was somehow passed along to - and became part of - my own personality. I landed here in SW Florida in '02 to care for my aging and partially disabled mother, and to say it's the most boring place on earth is a blatant understatement... Thus, I head to Miami, Manhattan or New Orleans as often as possible... My (almost 32-year-old) daughter got married last year in Mexico (photo below) and I have no doubt their union will last, which is a source of great relief. And although they're now on the 'baby path,' that is something I can wait on. Grandmother? Me? I feel rather like the Tom Hanks character in 'Big' - one day I was young and the next woke up, looked at my drivers license, and shook my head in disbelief. Who played this dirty trick on me?!? I should be 40, not 60!!! Whatever, my broken/dislocated/dislocated-again hip (and 2 major surgeries in December and January) aside, life is good...just have to keep reminding myself to look down so as not to trip over a sleeping 90-lb. sheepdog ever again... Like many others I've made a few bad 'mate' choices along the way, but early last summer reunited with the love of my life after a 37-year separation. We had a rough go in the beginning but are now on solid footing and bouncing between New Orleans and Florida (well, I'm doing most of the bouncing but that's fine by me). I love to travel, even though I now beep when going through security and am treated like a common criminal despite having a doctor's statement saying I had a total hip replacement. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Judy Mack
a. Degree & school: Otterbein, BS in Education
b. Degree & school: Wright State, MS in Education, certified in figted education
a. Job #1: Gifted Intervention Specialist
b. Job #2: 3rd grade teacher
d. Your worst job: didn’t have one
e. Your major career path: Education
a. Walking in the woods
b. Golfing
c. Teaching young children
a. Wife/Husband’s: James Mack
i. Career: Mortgage Banker
b. Kids: None
9) What are you doing now and why: Still in education because I love it
10) Future plans: Retiring from Centerville Schools at the end of the school year 2008 – then traveling the world _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Margaret Colvin McDiarmid
a. Degree & school: University of New Hampshire, BA French 1967
b. Degree & school: Middlebury College, MA French Literature 1974
a. Job #1: H.S. French teacher (various schools)
b. Job #2: French instructor, Xavier University and Director of Study Abroad
d. Your worst job: Typist at Juvenile Court, Montgomery Co., OH (did learn a few secrets about acquaintances & Oakwood classmates!)
e. Your major career path: Teaching French
a. Family and friends
b. Travel (especially francophone destinations)
c. Reading
a. Wife/Husband’s David McDiarmid, married Aug. 22, 1969
Career: AV Consultant for The Sextant Group
i. Kid #1 Jeremy
1. Married: to Dara Arons
2. Kids: Hazel Lily, born 4/5/08
3. Current job- Attorney for Environment Northeast (Boston, MA)
ii. Kid #2 Doug
3. Current job - Indie Rock Musician, Band is WHY? (San Francisco, CA)
iii. Kid #3 Andrew
3. Current job MA, Information Systems, UC Berkeley, 5/08 – looking!
9) What are you doing now and why: Still at Xavier U. after 25 years. I teach French and continue as director of the Office of Study Abroad
10) Future plans: Re-career in retirement _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Linda Downey Neugebauer New Info (2014):
I have lived most of my life since high school in Columbus, including attending Ohio State for BS and MA degrees in education. An exception was being in charge of residence halls at Univ of Cincy in the mid 70's, living in a dorm of 700 men while married, mother of a toddler and pregnant. The guys in the dorm, including the football team, didn't know quite what to think when I had to settle 'disputes'. Definitely the most unusual work experience I had.
My most challenging as well as rewarding professional experience was starting a non-profit Montessori school with Mary Michaelson Lee in 1984. It's still in business and serves 250+ children six weeks to sixth grade, although Mary and I are now 'emeritus'.
I'm still active in advocating for access to quality early childhood programs, especially focusing on infants and toddlers and early literacy.
My husband George and I enjoy a happy family life with 2 married sons, 36 and 38, and two young grandchildren.
Mary, Elaine Collier O'Neil, and Marg Colvin McDiarmid and I have remained close friends through the years, even though we do not live in the same locations now. Having long time friends to share the ups and downs of life with has been wonderful! Our husbands have become close friends as well which has greatly enhanced our chances to visit and travel together.
a. Degree & school: Ohio State. BS Educ. 67
b. Degree & school: Ohio State MA. Guidance and Counseling, 71
a. Job #1: Administrator/Founder (with Mary Michaelson Lee) of Columbus Montessori Education Center in 1984 which has children 6 weeks through 8th grade. I am still involved, but more indirectly.
b. Job #2: History and Gov't teacher, Centerville H.S., 1/68 to 6/70.
c. Job #3: Administrative faculty, OSU and Univ. of Cincy.
d. Your worst job: In college, shelving books in the stacks of Ohio State U. library. The supervisor had spies who roamed around making sure you never sat down! However, on the plus side,. I lost 25 pounds.
e. Your major career path: Education and Child Advocacy
b. Child Advocacy
c. Hoping our country can find its way back to good policy making and government
d. Urging organ donation
a. Wife/Husband's name: George Neugebauer
i. Career: Field Director, Cincy Insurance Company, 35 years.
i. Kid #1 Matt, 33
1. Married: Matt to Smita Moksgundam, an attorney and University of Michigan grad. It makes the OSU v Michigan game each year a little more interesting.
2. Emma Priya, born June, 2008.
3. Current job: Private banker, 5/3 Bank, Chicago
ii. Kid #2 Cory, 31
Teaches Social Studies at Metro HS, a STEM and magnet school in Columbus.
Previously a special agent with the U.S. Dept of State Diplomatic Security Service.
9) What are you doing now and why: Established the Early Care and Learning Fund at The Columbus Foundation in 2005. and this past year, a new non-profit org, Early Care and Learning, Inc. Together, we work with other orgs and agencies to increase access to quality child care and education for all Ohio children birth to 6, with special emphasis on birth to 3.
10) Future Plans: Continue with the above, enjoy family and friends, and travel.
11) Remarks (anything you'd like to say to your classmates?): In August, 2001 for my birthday, my brother Tim gave me a kidney. The best present ever!!! I had a hereditary condition, polycystic kidney disease, that our mother died from when she was 51. Tim and I were in our early 20's at the time. Then Tim's wife died at 43, when their son was only 21. When my kidneys finally failed, after a long decline, my sons were 22 and 24. Tim was determined that Matt and Cory not loose their mother too. He was a perfect match, which saved my life, as I had many complications, infections, etc. after the transplant, but that kidney never missed a beat.
I had a really good life, but always assumed I would die in my early 50's like my mother. Although always hoping to live, I had really accepted that I wouldn't. I am in an unexpected 'bonus round' of life - a special gift and also an odd kind of challenge. I was fairly driven and always had a life plan for what I wanted to achieve. Then, suddenly, here I was, with absolutely no life plan whatsoever. Who knew? Quite a shock for someone who had played 'beat the life clock' since age 26, when I my kidney disease was diagnosed. But what a great problem to have!
Name: Elaine Collier O'Neil
a. Degree & school: BA, Butler University
b. Degree & school: MLS, Indiana University
a. Job #1: Interior Designer
b. Job #2: High School Librarian
d. Your worst job: telephone operator during college
e. Your major career path: Interior Designer
b. Creating beautiful and confortable surroundings
c. Travel, reading, gardening
a. Wife/Husband’s (Bill)
Career: Power engineer with his own business, Industrial Steel and Boiler Services.
i. Kid #1 Eric Ley
3. Current job: Music producer in Chicago
ii. Kid #2 Abby Ley
1. Married: will be married in December to an Icelander, Dagur Helgason
3. Current job: Medical Student at Indiana University School of Medicine
iii. Kid #3
9) What are you doing now and why: My husband's lifelong home and business are in Massachusetts, while my business is in Florida. We travel between the two states every 2 or 3 weeks, year round...we are never bored! His large and raucous Italian/Irish family is such a fabulous included benefit of the marriage. I also inherited two grandchildren, Olivia (7) and Christopher (4) who are constant delights.
10) Future plans: More of the same.
11) Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): God is good. I feel so very blessed and grateful for His many gifts throughout my life. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Bonnie (Halliday) Pintaric
a. Degree & school: Northwestern University, School of Speech, BS Degree
a. Job #1: Traveling for Procter & Gamble as marketing rep
b. Job #2: Running Convention tours for Colorado Convention and Reservations
c. Job #3: Current position, Supervisor of Patron Services for Arapahoe Library District
d. Your worst job: making milkshakes in the air force commissary cafeteria in Wiesbaden, Germany
e. Your major career path: library patron services
a. outdoor activities
b. reading
c. collecting Betty Boop memorabelia
a. Husband’s name: Dan
i. Career: Retired Sales Rep
Kid #1 Robert – lives in Carmel, California
1. Married Elizabeth: June, 2005
2. Kids: Daughter Leah – two pugs
3. Current job - medical rep for Swiss spine equipment company
Kid #2 Benjamin (BJ) – lives in Aurora, Colorado
1. Married Dana: Feb, 2007
2. Kids: Alexandra, Bryce, and Aubrey
3. Current job Financial Advisor
9) What are you doing now and why: Two current jobs: 16 years with Arapahoe Library District, and 21 years with Weight Watchers
10) Future plans: more time to travel and spend with family – not thinking retirement yet!
11) Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): I get to Dayton regularly to see my mother who still lives on Ivanhoe by the Y. Call me to catch up if you get to Denver!
Name: Ned Rhodes
Alright, here is a run down on the life of Nelson Mefford Rhodes. I am with Andersen windows in Bayport, Mn. Bayport is sort of a suburb of Stillwater. Stillwater is 20 miles east of St. Paul and about 17,000 people. Bayport is about 1100 people. Both are on the St Croix River. Beautiful country. I like the country part. I was in Indianapolis for 33 years with Adam Wholesale owned out of Cincinnati, Oh. Dayton Sash and Door was part of it. We were wholesale to lumber companies around our areas. Andersen windows were 65% of our business then. In 1999 Andersen windows bought us out. This past June my job got transferred to Minnesota. I am in customer service. The logistics branch in Indy did not change. Just my job got transferred. I wasn't sure if this was going to work or not, but after 2 months I know this is where
I belong. I really have to buckle down and study the new computer system. This company is great. Back to the beginning of this paragraph. I am in the order center (about 350 people) in Stillwater. The main plant is in Bayport. I think it’s about 7,000 employees. Actually, our office in another suburb of Stillwater (Oak Park Heights). Cold does not bother me at all. Heat bothers me. We had about 25 days of 90* heat or more this summer. I asked these people is this normal for Minn.? They said no. I live 6 blocks from work and I have been walking some mornings. I am down to 165 lbs. and I feel great.
Alright, here is chapter 2------
I never did go to college. It just wasn't for me. I did not like working for NCR. After NCR I went to work for SERPCO Electronics on the north side of Dayton. I was in electronics in the Air Force. That lasted maybe 6 month. Next I went in sales for MUSACK sound systems. I don't think I spelled that right. That lasted maybe 6 months. Next, I went to Dayton Sash and Door. They said there was an opening in Indianapolis (home of the Indianapolis Colts) -- I was lucky. I found what I was supposed to do with the rest of my life. I fit right in.
Now, the girl friends part. Just before I left Dayton I started dating a schoolteacher that lived a few blocks from me in Dayton. This was a few blocks from the corner of Patterson & Shroyer. I knew her from Urbana. 2 dates and everything was going fine. Then I get a phone call that almost made me through up. Michele called to tell me she was engaged. I just went out with her 4 days before. She and her boyfriend of 2 years broke up to see if this is really what they want. Anyway, I said that's it, I'm going to Indy. I saw Michele at an Urbana reunion 2 summers ago. She never married that man. They broke up again. She did marry a man about 18 years her senior. He pasted away about 4 years ago. O.K. now we are in Indy. I was dating girls off and on. My main problem was drinking and smoking. By the age of 38 I was doing way too much of both. At 39 I thought I would never see 40. I quit drinking after 2 DWI's. It's been 21 years and I don't miss it one bit. The following year I quit smoking. I am so happy to get both of those bad habits out of my system. In 1991 and 92 I was engaged for 2 years living with Elaine. I got cold feet. She even had us going to a marriage counselor. Can you believe that? We weren't even married yet. I guess those of you that know me could believe that. I have my eye on one up here, but this is just recent. I don't even know her that well yet. I need to get married by the age of 66. Retirement age. I am in no hurry. That's a big step to take. I have to think about it. Ha! Ha
Update: Ned is currently living in Urbana, Ohio and still can't seem to get hitched....
Name: Ralph E. Richter, Jr
Went back to Philly/Southern New Jersey, where I grew up, and worked for a few months, then got on a ship in New York City and off at Rotterdam two weeks later. Worked in Holland, Denmark, and Germany until Summer Quarter 1964 at Ohio State. Came home on a German freighter.
Pissed my father off so he wouldn’t help me financially any more, so left OSU Winter Quarter 1965 and spent the next four years in the US Army Security Agency. Served in England, the Middle East, and Asia. Was in downtown Athens when the Greek military overthrew the monarchy government in 1967, and in Turkey during the Six Day War, about a month later.
Went to Korea just before the USS Pueblo was captured in 1968. Several of the crew members on that ship, who were linguists, had done their On The Job Training at our mountain top site just south of the Demilitarized Zone. Traveled throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. You know, the Army’s motto is Fun, Travel and Adventure. Folks who have served know what FTA really means…
Re-entered OSU Spring Quarter 1969, and left during the anti war riots in 1970. Worked for a few companies, then started my own transportation business in 1972.
Borrowed $2,000 on a signature loan from a local bank, leased three vans and started delivering flowers from retail florists around Columbus. Moved into the transportation of other products over time, with over 1,200 employees, 800 trucks, and six aircraft, from 14 facilities in the Mid Atlantic and Mid West. Also operated as the Fixed Base Operator (fueled, serviced, handled cargo loading/unloading for all civilian aircraft) at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, when it became a joint use airfield. Don’t do the airplane stuff any more.
Expect to be doing this forever. I love it!
a. Job #1: My current job
b. Job #2: Washing pot and pans on dining cars of the German rail system.
c. Job #3: Always wanted to be a Go Go Boy, but things just never worked out…
d. Your worst job: Washing pots and pans on KP in the Army.
e. Your major career path: You call, we haul, you pay, that’s all…
a. Volunteer work with the Salvation Army’s Columbus Adult Rehabilitation Center. Serve on the Advisory Board and try to make a difference in the lives of adult men and women—help get them back on their feet again.
b. Board member and classroom volunteer with Junior Achievement of Central Ohio. I like working in classrooms at inner city schools; teach Applied Economics and the Economics of Staying in School. All these kids what to be somebody, but don’t have a clue how to get there. I try to show them. Give them hope…
c. Church stuff…
a. Wife/Husband’s name:
Linda. After my son’s death and a divorce, I was never going to get married again. Then this lady I knew from church went to China and adopted a daughter as a single mother. Lee was 19 months old when they came home. Linda and Lee came to visit me several weeks after their return, and when I looked into that little girls’ big black eyes I fell in love—with both of them. Linda, because I realized she had courage, and Lee, because she grabbed my heart.
i. Career: Private Detective, but mostly a stay at home mom now.
i. Kid #1 – Ralph (Ricky) E. Richter, III ; deceased -- lost Rick in 1994. He was 21 and a college student in Atlanta.
ii. Kid #2 – Lee Yan – Lee is 10 and in 5th grade.
iii. Kid #3 – Andrea Aili – Andrea is almost five and in preschool. Linda, Lee and I went back to China three years ago and adopted her.
9) What are you doing now and why: Still a trucker. With three ladies at home, I need someplace to go every day…
10) Future plans: Play with and help raise two little girls. Hang out here in Orient ohio and spit and cuss with the local farmers, and make faces at the prisoners when I drive by the state prison down the road.
11) Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): I came to Oakwood from Medford, New Jersey in February of our senior year. Back there I was President of the Student Council and a jock. Didn’t even know where Ohio was. Yet, I sure met some great people and had lots of fun there. It was a wonderful experience for me. I just want to say thanks to everyone in our class for that opportunity to be with you…
Ohio is my home now, and has been since we graduated from Oakwood. My parents (mom passed away a few years ago) still live on Telford Avenue; and three sisters, who also graduated from Oakwood, are still in the area.
Name: JIM RYCKMAN Newest Info (2014):
I know Molly sent you a summary of all the bios that she received from our class mates and I had a short bio in there as well, which I must say is out dated. I am forwarding you the attached bio for me that was included in the Honors and Awards Program from the Air & Waste Management Associations' annual meeting that was held in San Antonio TX last year (sorry - this bio has been lost but have a feeling Jim will send it to us...however, I have included Jim's previous bio info below...Note from Molly). The award that I won was previously won by several US EPA Administrators and agency heads to include William Ruckelshaus, Douglas Costle, William Reilly, Mary D., Nichols and John Seitz (Head of EPA Air Toxics Div at OAQPS). Ed. Muskie was also one of the early recipients of this award back in 1965. I am now the second guy from the State of Maine on the list. Ref., https://www.awma.org/Public/awards_list/Mellon.aspx
I am engaged in taking extensive course work with the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) for my new position and hope that I can carve out some time to participate in some of the Class of 63's upcoming functions.
For the past 35 years I have been engaged in the Civil & Environmental Engineering career field, focusing primarily on environmental engineering the past 25 years, with lots of interesting projects in support of the Air Force. One such project involved the creation of a 500 square mile evaporation pond back in the mid 80's to relief the flooding to caused by the Great Salt Lake out in Utah. You can see that pond (lake) when flying at 30,000 feet elevation over Utah going coast to coast if you know were to look. That pond is larger then Lake Pontchartrain, just outside to New Orleans, LA.
Brief Family Status Update: I've attached a "short" bio at the end of update for those that might be interested. My wife Diane grew up in the mid-west, in the suburbs of Chicago, and holds a dual degree in Journalism & Medicine from the University of Illinois. She moved to California after graduation, where we later met and I successfully convinced her to marry me and to make Ohio, the Miami Valley, and Oakwood our family home. Diane completed a Master's Degree in Medicine at Wright State University and today Diane serves as the Director of Occupational, Rehabilitation, and Sports Medicine at Kettering Medical Center, Kettering, OH. Our son, Judson is a sophomore at Vanderbilt University, with a dual major in Physics and Electrical Engineering and loves the south and the extended golfing season. While empty nesters, we have two dogs -- a younger Golden and an older Yellow Lab that get along great together. We are blessed that my parents, my siblings, and their kids are all doing well.
Scouting is my great hobby. Indeed I have been busy with scouting over the past 12-13 years, first as a Cub/WEBELOS Leader, then serving as an Assistant Scoutmaster from 96-99 and as Scoutmaster from 00-04 for the Oakwood Boy Scout Troop. In 2004, I formed a new Oakwood Venturing Crew (which is scouting for older youth up to ages 21, those above are leaders) and have been functioning as the Crew Advisor. We achieved BSA quality unit status after the first year in operation. The Crew focuses on Leadership Development and on Outdoor High Adventure. This is primarily a collegiate program. The crew has 25 members (20 Youth and 5 adults), with 75% of the youth in college (attending colleges in a half dozen conferences ranging from New England, the Mid West, and in Southern States) and the rest are still in Oakwood High School. I wish we had such a program when we graduated in '63, but the venturing program did not exist back then, the closest thing being explorers and the ability to communicate with each other and to network was certainly different.
In 2004, the Crew spent 10 days at the Northern Tier National High Adventure Canoe Camp, known as Charles Summers in Ely, Minnesota. We canoed along the US Canadian bounder in the Wilderness Canoe Boundary Area. In 2005, we had two major events: one a 16 day hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoke Mountains of NC-TN and secondly spent 6 days in upper Michigan on a Lake Michigan Sailing and Camping Exploration out of Suttons Bay, MI. The Crew maintains a 3-year forward looking rolling program geared around their college breaks.
I have been the Chair of the Air & Waste Managements Association (A&WMA), Scouting Jamboree Committee ('01-05), which is a part of the Public Education Division of the Education Council, https://www.awma.org/education/edcouncilmissions.asp. Back in the 1998-2001 time frame, our ad hoc group, created the first A&WMA Exhibit for the 2001 Jamboree, joining with 22 other long standing environmental organizations along the Environmental Trail to present an environmental outreach for the
scouts. We have since created a standing committee to support upcoming Jamborees and to draw "volunteers" from within our > 15,000+ member base of environmental professionals across the country and in North America. Back in 2001, our exhibit generated over $30,000 in equipment contributions, excluding part and full time labor, which would push the value of the exhibit well up over $70,000, and we operated without a pre-existing established budget -- purely a voluntarily effort by all. We are operating on nearly the same basis now, so there is much uncertainty with all we do, making it interesting as the volunteer "can do" spirit dominates.
Since 2001, I have held A&WMA Scouting Jamboree Planning/Recruitment Meetings in: Baltimore, ,Maryland (02); San Diego, California (03); Indianapolis, IN (04); and plan one last recruitment and final planning meeting in Minneapolis, MN (05). My committee has run a number of articles in the environmental management (EM) magazine and have posted information seeking volunteers on the web under the Education Council's home site, https://www.awma.org/education/BoyScoutJamboree.asp, along with a more detailed summary of what we did in 2001 and plans underway in 2005, click on "Read More" -- (I wrote it, including my pictures). Updates were periodically forwarded to the entire membership during the Dec-Feb timeframe, seeking volunteers from our Chapters and Sections in North America. I now have volunteers from over 20 states to make up my team. Regionally, I recently expanded our recruitment focusing within the Ohio Southwest Chapter of A&WMA (Columbus, Cincinnati, and Dayton) and its 200 members -- still awaiting a reply.
Scouting Jamboree Environmental Exhibit: Anyway, back in 2001, I created a National Exhibit on the Conservation-Environmental Trail at the BSA National Jamboree on behalf of the Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA) -- the oldest environmental group in the country founded in 1907 the same year international scouting was founded. The Exhibit drew in volunteer environmental professionals from across the country to help man the Exhibit over a 10 day period to extend an educational environmental outreach to the 40,000 scouts attending the Jamboree, and specifically for the 28000 to 30000 scouts that ventured alone the trail. As a result of the success of that outreach, the A&WMA Education Council created a standing Scouting Committee within the Public Education Division, which I have Chaired since 2001. The support for the committee has grown from Section Council and Technical Council over the years to the point that we actually had >30 people from over 22 states on a tag team supporting the our 2005 Jamboree Exhibit on the Conservation Environmental Trail from July 25th - August 3, 2005, with many living and operating out of tents for that time period -- that is dedication. What a great group of volunteers --outstanding and great fun. Allan Worth would be please to know that we made a special presentation to the Antarctic Scouting Exhibitors that became the newbie Exhibitor on the Trail in 2005. I'm glad we lost that title, The Presentation was an antique picture of Admiral Perry, when he was a Lieutenant, journeying to the North Pole - a little humor yet greatly appreciated by the Antarctic guys as I had it was stamped by every Exhibitor on the Trail. In fact, we had a Professor Emeritus on our team from Univ. Of Missouri that was in charge of testing and demonstrating the first portable nuclear device for generating power in the Antarctic. As a team, we delivered a quality program to the thousands who traveled along the Conservation-Environmental Trail. According to John Baughman, Chair of the BSA National Conservation/Environment Committee, after visiting all the exhibits on July 28th, "I was very well pleased with all our exhibitors and their staff. The area received visitation of more than 30,500 Scouts, Leaders and visitors. That is a new record and I was very impressed with the innovative methods all the exhibits used to get their message across to the Scouts." Roy Williams, Chief Scout Executive, also joined John Baughman on-site in expressing BSA's deep appreciation to all the agencies and associations and to their exhibit volunteers for making a "significant contribution in positively influencing the Nation's future leaders about conservation and environmental issues." President George Bush, said the Jamboree indeed was awesome, thanking all the scouters and volunteers who made that possible. Our exhibit was a diamond among many jewels. Our committee is looking forward to the 2010 Jamboree and perhaps participation in the 2007 World Jamboree in England to extend an environmental message to future leaders.
Short Bio:
Born: Bennington, VT
Residence: Dayton, Ohio
Profession: Environmental Engineer
Degrees: BS in Civil & Environmental Engineering; MS in Engineering Management; from University of Dayton; Graduate of Air War College, Air University (Senior AF Leadership School)
Positions: Command Environmental Engineer; Sanitary & Facilities/Utilities Engineering; Civil Engineering Design & Construction Management
Professional Highlights: Air Quality (AQ) Command Program Management > 12,000 AQ Compliance Sites; Chair AQ Information Management Systems Development (EESOH-MIS-AQ, APIMS, AQUIS); Environmental Auditing System (ECAMP) pioneer; Utilities Modernization Program; Water Resource Engineering (Great Salt Lake Flooding EIS)
Youth Experiences: Scouting in New England (Katahdin Council, ME)
Air Force Materiel Command, Environmental Management Directorate
Name: Ron Schwartz
a. Degree & school: Ohio State Univ, Bachelor Elec Eng 1968
b. Degree & school: Univ Maryland, MS Elec Eng 1970
a. Job #1: Current job as VP Quality, Scweitzer Engr. Laboratories, Inc., Pullman, WA
e. Your major career path: Quality Management for Technology company
a. Amateur radio, getting young people involved in science, electronics
b. Sailing on Lake Coeur d’Alene
c. Outdoor enjoyment at my country home
8) Family single (divorced)
a. Wife/Husband’s
i. Career:
i. Kid #1 Christine
1. Married: 208
3. Current job Asst Prof Sociology, Univ Wisconsin, Madison
ii. Kid #2 Andrew
1. Married: single
3. Current job Coastal Scientist, state of Washington Dept of Ecology, Olympia, WA
9) What are you doing now and why: I continue to work at Schweitzer Engr Labs as I enjoy my job and co-workers and am on the board of directors of the company
10) Future plans: Retirement in 2011 or 2012
11) Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): Looking forward to getting together in October. My dad and brother still live in the Dayton area _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Barbara Jeane French Shapiro
After graduation from OHS, I attended Penn Hall Junior College in Chambersburg, Pa. After a year, I realized college was not for me at that time. In 1966, I went off on my adventure as a flight attendant with American Airlines. I flew for 5 years, based in Buffalo N.Y. and Dallas, Tx. How fortunate I was to be flying in the days before US Air Marshalls and long security lines, when air travel was considered a luxury.
In Buffalo, I met my now husband of 43 years, Jerry. He was born and raised in Buffalo, the city of friendly neighbors (everyone huddles together to stay warm!), and after marriage in 1970, felt it was time to go South. We moved to Miami. Fla. where our daughter, Jennifer (the light of our life) was born. We remained in Miami for 2 yrs., while Jerry finished his Doctorate in Education. We then moved to Stamford, Conn. where my husband was Director of the Right to Read Program at Bank Street College, NYC. I was immersed in being a Mommy, but did manage to go back to school, taking correspondence courses from Univ. of Conn.
After 3 yrs., we moved to Fairfax, Va., now our home for 33 yrs, where Jerry started his own corporate counseling company. When Jennifer was 4, I returned to school part-time, graduating from No. Va. Community College in 1978 with an Associate degree in Nursing. I worked as a Med Surg RN for 5 yrs. I then had an opportunity to return to American Airlines as a Management Specialist at Dulles Airport. I worked in the Admirals Club, a public relations area, managing travel arrangements for VIPS and frequent travelers. This was a most enjoyable job and thanks to AA travel benefits, my family and I were able to travel the world. I stayed in this position for 11 yrs, but during this time continued going to school. I had also become my Mother, Millie’s caregiver, as she had been diagnosed with Alzheimers. In 1988, the same year my daughter graduated from High School, I graduated from George Mason University (remember the final four 2006) with my Bachelors in Nursing. Our daughter went on to graduate from Marymount University 4 yrs. later with her degree in Psychology and Education. She worked in the corporate world where she met her husband, Ken. They now after 10 yrs. of marriage have 3 beautiful children.
In 1994, I took advantage of early retirement with AA after 16 yrs. and went back to Nursing in the area of Case Management. In Nov., of this year, I resigned as Patient Care Coordinator at Inova Fairfax Hospital, where I was responsible for coordinating patients’ continuation of home care after discharge. I currently am still working part-time in Pre-Surgical Services where I do pre-op nursing assessments and obtain health histories from patients about to have surgery.
So for the 17 yr. old who didn’t know which direction her life was going in 1964, I’ve had two very fulfilling careers with American Airlines and in Nursing. But most of all now, my greatest role is being Grammy to 7 yr. old Evan, 5 yr. old Shea, and 16 mo. old Megan Jeane. We have also enjoyed being God-parents to Molly’s (Jaeger-Begent) two sons, Bradley and Colby, watching them grow to be fine young men. Jerry and I are very grateful for another year of good health, I being a 14 yr. breast cancer survivor, and he surviving quadruple bypass surgery in 2005.
I have so many fond memories of my years at Oakwood High School and to all of you, I wish you a healthy and happy new year.
Name: Steve Stevens 5) Where did you go to school after you left Oakwood: I attended Hotel & Restuarant Management Course at the Dayton Inn Hotel. Upon completion I was made assistant to the Sales & Marketing Manager at the Dayton Inn. I held that position until May 1965 at which time I joined
the United States Air Force. 6) What were your favorite jobs: a. Job #1: Assigned to USAF Security Service from 1965 thru 1974. During this period I held a Top Secret & Nato Top Secret security clearance due to the sensitive nature of the job both in the United States and Europe. During this period I was assigned to Wiesbaden AB, Germany---Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan and Wright Patterson AFB. b. Job #2: Assistant to Maj. Gen. Willian Yancey at Headquarters EUCOM in Vaihingen, Germany nr. Stuttgart. 1974 - 1975.
c. Job #3: In 1975 I went into Clinical Management where I spent my remaining 16 years in the USAF. During this period I was Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge of Dental Services at Bases in England and Los Angeles, Ca. I retired from the USAF in June 1991 after a very rewarding and diverse 26 years. d. Your worst job: None e. Your major career path: Although my 10 years in AF Intel. was extremely rewarding, I must say my 16 years in managing dental clinics was my major career path. 7) What are you passionate about: I'm passionate about my love for my country and the great things we accomplish at home and around the world. Whether these things are accomplished for all the world to see or behind the scenes, we are truly a great nation to be proud of. 8) Family a. Wife..........Anna i. Career: Occupatioal Therapist b. Kids: Kid #1 Stephanie 1. Married: Still single and breaking hearts, just like her Dad when he was 28 (well almost). 2. Kids: None 3. Current job........Stephanie is a Recruitment Consultant 9) What are you doing now and why: I'm retired, but have a part time job at a men's clothing store. Gets me out of the house to hone my social skills. 10) Future plans: Nothing earth shattering at this point in my life. Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): To the handful of you that I bore with all my fwds...........I love you dearly. I won't mention your names, because you know who you are..........your thoughtfullness and concern for me when I had my triple by-pass meant a lot.
Anyway, enough of that sentimental stuff............I'm looking fwd to the next reunion and seeing a few of you in between, both over here and back in Florida & Ohio. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Jerry Stolle
5. Where did you go to school after you left Oakwood:
Ohio State University: Bachelor Science Business
a. Management family-owned die casting business for 38 years.
b. Owner with wife, Marion, Health & Wellness business for 27 years
c. Your worst job: Didn’t have one
d. Your major career path: Industrialist in a family-owned business with 2 brothers until January 2007 when took disability retirement.
a. My Christian faith for last 30 years
b. Sharing interests with Marion. We enjoy helping others to develop healthy lifestyles. Spending time with our son and daughter-in-law who live in Chicago and other family members whether here in Dayton, Lake Erie or in Chicago. We celebrate monthly gatherings with extended family at Lake Erie for holiday and birthdays.
c. Taking periodic trips with family and friends, particularly the Les Cheneaux Islands.
a. Wife’ name: Marion to whom have been married for 38 years
(1.) Career: Health & Wellness Entrepreur, Natural R.N. Wellness Educator Consultant
b. Kids: Matt Stolle
(1.) Married: Lisa for 4 years. No children. One dog, Oscar, the Pug
(2.) Matt works at the Art Institute in Chicago, a job for which he is passionate. He
also has his own studio and exhibits his art in various galleries. Has a MFA.
(3.) Lisa is a Registered Nurse, working toward her graduate degree as a Nurse
Practitioner. She works at Rush Hospital in the Interventional Radiology Department.
9. What are you doing now and why:
a. Since my retirement in Jan 2007, I offer consultation to my wife in our Health & Wellness
business. We are passionate about helping others develop healthy living. Spending time at our
family farm fishing and care taking 2 precious labs is always fun. As a nature lover, we enjoy
photography in our travels and taking trips with family and friends, particularly to God’s country,
the UP in Michigan.
We are in our 12th year opening our home to weekly Bible Study.
We also spend time in legacy projects to leave to our children and to role model those around
us.
We have been blessed in so many ways, both in good times and challenging.
10. Future plans: Continue with more of the same. No one knows what a day will bring. With my
disability has come opportunity to learn with deepened enlightenment what is really important in
life; that is relationships. I am thankful for my relationship with the Sovereign Lord, my lovely wife &
children, and genuine friends.
11. Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): Seek the truth about the true purpose
for living. Life is short. Don’t take yourself too seriously and have a good sense of humor. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: David Theobald
a. Degree & school: University of Cincinnati; Bachelors Degree in Industrial Design
a. Job #1: Patent Illustrator for Frost & Jacobs Attorneys....(Now Frost Brown Todd)
b. Job #2: Patent Illustrator for Procter & Gamble (still there)
e. Your major career path:Technical Illustration
a.My kids: Stephany has her degree as Medical Assistant, currently enrolled full time at Miami Univ. for her RN. Joe II Walmart Loss Prevention Manager and custom motorcycle builder .... interesting combination eh? David Jr....aka JR....Trooper Ohio State Highway Patrol and father of 2.
b.Joe got me started doing leather work so I could make a custom seat for his first motorcycle....I currently do about 6-9 seats per month.
a. Wife/Husband’s name: Carol
i. Career: RN retired
i. Kid #1 Stephany
1. Married: to John Harry
2. Kids: no
3. Current job: full time student at Miami U. part time medical assistant
ii. Kid #2 Joe E. II
3. Current job Loss prevention manager for Walmart and custom motorcycle builder
iii. Kid #3 David E. Jr. aka JR
1. Married: to Lora
2. Kids: 3 (yours, mine and ours)
3. Current job: Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper
9) What are you doing now and why: Still at P&G and making motorcycle seats part time....see above. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Paula Allemang Turner Newest Info (2014): - It hasn't been a great year. Broke my left hip skiing in January - OUCH! They operated and put in a rod and 2 pins/nails, no weight-bearing for 8 weeks. Fast forward to now, there are complications with the healing. Still have pain and still using a cane. Probable future surgery and/or hip replacement. Still seeing doctors. 'Nuff said.
- a happier story: Dated Bill for 3 years in college. Then I went to Italy, allegedly for 6 months, ended up staying 7 years, went our separate ways, lost touch. 32 years later, 1990, we got back in touch through our university, and have now been together for 23 years (married for 20). :-). He' d be here, but his 50th reunion is also this weekend, in Chicago. Many in the class know him (some from our college days!). _____________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Name: Alan Worth
a. Degree & school: BA Rice
b. Degree & school: MD Southwestern Medical School
What were your favorite job: Section physician, Palomer Skyform, Antartica – 2 seasons
Your worst job: HMO
Your major career path: primary care medicine
What are you passionate about:a. Unitarian Church, Politics, cross word puzzles
Family: Wife: Linda (Career: ultra sound technologist)
Kid #1 Tom: Married, 2 kids
Kid #2 Ariel: Married, 2 kids
What are you doing now and why: retired due to MS
Future plans: Lead an MS support group
Remarks (anything you’d like to say to your classmates?): We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. (T.S. Eliot)
From interview by Vicky Dorvee of the Left Hand Valley Courier, November 2020
Jane Leland Langdon's art expresses what's in her heart - a genuine love for life and others. You've seen Langdon's oil and watercolor paintings in Niwot and Boulder County businesses and homes. She's the Niwotian you just can't help but notice because of her lovely large smile and easy laugh. I met Langdon years ago waiting in the check-out line at the grocery store where she struck up a conversation and I was thrilled that we continued to cross paths again and again. This Familiar Face column is an opportunity to get to know this wise, warm, and whimsical woman even better.
Left Hand Valley Courier (LHVC) - Every time I see you, you remind me of sunshine. Has that always been your nature or was there something that brought you to the happy state you exude?
Jane Leland Langdon (JLL) - You are so kind. Just so you know, I have my moments. Many years ago, during my desperate search for inner peace, I came across these words, "You experience what you express." At last I could be in charge of my own joy and, after 40 years, it's just a way of life.
LHVC - Where did you grow up and what brought you here?
JLL - I was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. My brother (and only sibling) was quite ill as a child. My parents worried that I had depression because of my brother. So in the 9th grade during Christmas break, my father drove me to northern Michigan to try skiing. He said I found my smile on the ski slopes. Skiing became a yearly tradition throughout high school. Of course, I never saw real ski slopes until I came west. I moved to Colorado to ski and to attend college...in that order. I've been in Colorado most of my life and eventually found my true home in Niwot in 1993.
LHVC - Where did you go to college and what did you study?
JLL - I earned a BFA degree from the University of Denver and earned my Colorado state elementary teaching credentials from Metro State College.
LHVC - Is there anyone in particular who has had a big influence on your life?
JLL - My parents were always in my corner. My mother told me many times that if I had good manners, I could go anywhere - I could have tea with the queen or coffee with a hobo. My father was exceptionally kind and his kindness is etched in my heart.
LHVC - What's a typical day for you?
JLL - Coffee first! Then, if my neighbor Kellie is not available for a power walk, I hop on my cool e-bike from Niwot Wheel Works and head to the bottom of my favorite half mile incline on the Niwot trails. I call it "heart-rate-hill". I park my bike and power walk up the hill once or twice and then bike home. Once home, I play Frisbee with our dog, Zoey until she's tired or distracted. The rest of my day varies. I paint in my studio, teach drawing or painting, have coffee with friends at Old Oak Coffee Shop, head to the mountains, play a weekly game of bridge, play pickleball when the Longmont rec center is open, etc. Even if I just lollygag (which I excel at), at least I know that I got my heart rate up for the day.
LHVC - What jobs have you had?
JLL - Most of my jobs over the years have involved teaching. My favorite was being part of a pilot program in the Jefferson County Public schools. We experimented by creating a curriculum for each student which was built around the child's interests. I still have a huge warm place in my heart for those years, and the principal and visionary for this school, Jerry Bryant, recently moved to Niwot.
LHVC - How did painting become a passion of yours and where can your artwork be purchased?
JLL - My mother was an oil portrait painter and she always encouraged my love of art. I retired from the business part of art. However, I sell Niwot watercolor prints and postcards at the Niwot Market and Wise Buys Antiques. Fly Away Home is having canvas bags printed with a winter watercolor scene for the holidays. You could say that I have a passion for painting scenes that feel like good old-fashioned community because that's the life I love. Folks can view my Niwot prints at http://www.LeftHandGallery.net
LHVC - Where in the community are folks likely to see you?
JLL - I walk to the Niwot post office each day because we have no mail delivery in old town. I'm also in Niwot Market every day. I love that place and Bert and his friendly employees take such good care of our community. I adore going into Little Bird Boutique. Also, they know me at The Niwot Liquor Store because I head there for cold local beer on hot days. I occasionally have Sunday breakfast on the Pinocchio's patio with friends. I love to attend any music at the Old Oak Coffee Shop.
LHVC - Tell us about your family.
JLL - I met my ever-so-kind husband, Brad, at a meeting in Boulder many years ago. We were an item for two and a half years until I proposed to him! As for Zoey, our Min Pin mix, we adopted her from a shelter in Indiana. Instant love!
After years of working at Niwot Real Estate, Brad decided to take the journey to become a Unity Minister. This idea was great with me as long as I didn't have to become a "preacher's wife." After attending seminary in Kansas City, Brad took a position as senior minister at a Unity Church in Indiana for eight and a half years. During this chapter of our lives we rented our home in Niwot because we always wanted to return once Brad retired.
LHVC - What life challenges have made you who you are?
JLL - My brother took his life at age 23. That unspeakable disappointment set my foot on a spiritual path in search for meaning. To make a long journey short, I ended up in one of Boulder County's many intentional spiritual communities popping up in the early 70's. I was still in my twenties. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. I adored being part of a community, organic gardening, raising chickens and turkeys, milking goats, and singing while we cooked or washed dishes. However, I was naïve, idealistic and too trusting. Little did I realize that I was slowly being trapped.
When I finally woke up to the fact that I was part of a patriarchal, hierarchical cult, I was afraid to leave. After 17 years, thanks to The Cult Awareness Network, I was able to disengage, get therapy, find my power and my voice again. That's when Brad and I moved to Niwot so that I could literally start life over. I feel like I might be a good resource for anyone stuck in an allegiance to a dominant leader and loss of freedom.
LHVC - How has COVID-19 affected your life?
JLL - My world is a bit smaller during this pandemic. Mostly, I miss hugging neighbors and friends.
