Leonard Capelli

I am so sorry to hear that. My prayers go out to his family. 

Stephen Leuchtman

That is awful news.  Mike and Karen are two of the nicest, most decent people you will ever meet--truly classy.  Mike was successful in life, and it was well-deserved.  Add in Carol Strucel's recent loss of her husband and you have proof that bad things can happen to really good people.  I join Len in his prayers.

Catherine Micallef (Kosikowski)

My thoughts and prayers go out to Karen and her family.  Mike had a long struggle and kept working as long as he could. We had plans to visit after the reunion. She wanted me to take lots of pictures. Karen worked for the same school district as I did.  One Saturday afternoon, the doorbell rang and it was Karen, Pam McCallum and Kathy Lawson. They came to visit Karen and as Karen was driving by my house she just decided to ring the bell. It was great!

I just had a long conversation with Phil Burgess.  He was so glad that I contacted him, and remembered our class very well.  I had given Gail Walton and Steve L. his email address and he was so pleased to hear from Gail. He just had some shoulder surgery and will not be able to attend, but if not for that, he would have loved to see everyone again. If we should have another get together, he would love to be invited.

James Mollard

Hi Friends.  I want to thank Dan O. for telling me about this message forum site.  I've scanned the comments everyone has been making and find them very interesting to the point of responding to a few.  This is the second time I'm doing this; I explained in an earlier message (that vanished into thin air) that I have a love - hate relationship with my computer; it loves to hate me.  This was just realized as I was roughly 18 lines into this message when it suddenly disappeared for absolutely NO reason.

First of all and most importantly , I want to extend my prayers, thoughts, well wishes, and condolences to Karen Moore and her family.  I was fortunate to have Karen and Mike as good friends throughout HS.  We did a lot of fun things together.  They are top of line people and Mike will be greatly missed.  May the Lord be with Karen and her family.

Patty V. asked the question; did anyone attend the Woodward Dream Cruise?  Patty, you stated that you and your hubby pulled out of the Radisson Kingsley Inn with the Corvette Club on Wednesday evening.  It just so happens that some on my cruiser friends and I were having dinner across the street at Little Daddy's restaurant.  Wife Karen and I have owned an 87 Buick Grand National Turbo Car since the day it was built.  I worked as a sales engineer at Garrett Turbochargers and drove the car for company business for three years before retiring it as a collector car.  During my time with Garrett I was instrumental in development of numerous noteworthy cars like the GMC Syclone and Typhoon.  Dream Cruise Saturday is so busy that we avoid it and go down during the weeks preceeding the event.  Our grand kids love to cruise with us, so we go as often as we can.  Their dad, my son, Ryan has a supercharged Mustang.  See you out on Woodward. 

There was a lot of talk about track coach, Bob Parks.  Funny story - I bumped into Bob and his wife at a boat dealer west of Brighton one day many years ago.  Then, my wife, Karen (a nurse in a doctors office in Milford) was working with a patient several years ago when the man who noticed her name badge asked if she knew a Jim Mollard and she responded with, I married a Jim Mollard.  This person turned out to be coach Parks.  On a later visit to the doctors office he asked Karen if he could have our home phone number, and low and behold I got a surprise phone call from my good ole buddie, Danny O.  What a pleasant surprise.

Well enough for now.  I look forward to seeing you all at the reunion.

Blessings & Praises,  Jim Mollard

Gerald Wiebeck

This is a vidoe for one and all ----.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aC9vmAvjfg

Jane Cinka (Herrick)

My thoughts and prayers go out to Karen and Mike's family.  I am so sorry for the loss of Mike.  Karen and I were great  friends in high school, and we were renewing our friendship this summer through emails.  Such sad news.

Bruce Kordenbrock

Stephen Leuchtman

What an outstanding event!  There are a number of vignettes from the Reunion that I am sure I will remember for the rest of my life.  Probably the biggest one was that on Sunday morning, Jim Mollard and his wife Karen hosted a breakfast for the track guys who could attend, and Coach Bob Parks, who lives near Jim and is now 83.  Bob has an incredible memory.  The breakfast ended up lasting four hours, and it seemed like ten minutes.  It offered me a wonderful opportunity that unfortunately many of us don't always have.  I got to tell Bob that he is on a list of people who I can easily count on one hand, including my mother, who have had a profound positive effect on my life.  He appreciated it, and I am grateful for the chance to have shared that feeling during our lifetimes.  For anyone who is interested, I have put a photo of the event on my profile.

I had a very small role on the Reunion Committee (tracking down faculty), but attending the meetings afforded the opportunity to see how hard the committee worked and how talented so many of the people are.  Not to slight anyone else, but Marilyn Rouen, Patti Veresan, Elaine Vossos, Jan Carter and Sheila McKee absolutely hit it out of the park.  I attended my wife's 50th Reunion recently, and it was very well done; but she and I agreed that ours made hers look amateurish by comparison.  By the way, she was blown away by how friendly everyone was---and by the true affection we all have for each other.

Thank you all so much for making a memorable event.  The Reunion was a wonderful combination of catching up with old friends and getting to know and appreciate people I didn't know well in high school.  God bless you all!

Elaine Vossos (Kirshman)

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your kind comments and acknowledgement of the Memory Book effort.  As I've said, my motivation for some long hours was that the classmates enjoy it and have a good time at the reunion.  I think, for the most part, everyone did.  I'm just sorry that the night seemed to go so fast, I still didn't get to connect with everyone I wanted to see. Time to take to Facebook, I guess.  

At any rate, it sounds like you had a great weekend and made some special recon-nections with classmates and teachers.  That's what it's all about.  

Thanks again for taking a minute to acknowledge the effort.  Much appreciated.

Best regards,

Elaine Vossos Kirshman 

Robert Stockton

Before the reunion weekend was over I knew I wanted to make a comment, but I thought I would wait a couple days to allow the memories and take-aways to settle.

First, I would like to express my thanks to all those that put in the time and effort to plan and execute the event. Obviously, it took a lot of work and time that probably could have been spent on something fun.

I did have the opportunity at the reunion to congratulate Jan Carter for the excellent job she did on the web-site. It was very well laid out and has, for me, functioned flawlessly. Developers of most corporate and retail sites should be envious of Jan’s skill.

Second, I learned about the reunion back in March. I had wondered if the class would do anything to mark fifty years and almost immediately knew I would try to attend.

However, in the days preceding I did have some doubts about the weekend. Being an introvert, I don’t like crowds and generally don’t feel comfortable in any social event involving a large number of people. As a result I know I can give the appearance of someone bored or uninterested when the reality is shyness has taken over. I also wasn’t sure what I would say to people I hadn’t seen, in some cases, for fifty years.

Well, I’m very pleased to report that although few things in life prove to exceed expectations, for me, our reunion certainly did. I talked with a number of people, more than I would have guessed, some that, frankly, I had forgotten. I enjoyed each exchange no matter how brief. In a few cases I was able to reconnect with a good friend with whom I had drifted apart and it was like no time had passed. Every memory that came back was a good one making me more thankful for my time at THS and for the people that shared those years with me. I know everything back then was not sweetness and light, however, from the vantage of fifty years on, for me, the good greatly outweighs the bad and I hope at least most of you can say the same.

The only way to have improved the experience was if more classmates had been able to attend.

Lastly, if in the future another gathering is contemplated and I’m in the area and able, I would like to volunteer to help with the front-end work if help is needed.

Dennis Abraham

TO STEVE,BOB,ELAINE, I READ YOUR VERY SINCERE MESSAGES.3 TRUE BLUE THURSTON EAGLES. IT WAS VERY TOUCHING AND YOU 3 SPEAK FOR ALL OF US. I'M CHOCKING UP READING THESE FABULOUS MESSAGES..YEAH, EVEN US GUYS ARE SENSITIVE, AND ALREADY WE ALL MISS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU.WISHED YOU ALL LIVED IN MICHIGAN SO THAT WE CAN SOCIALIZE MORE !!!   MEMORIES WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN !!  AND THANK YOU ALL THE ALUMNI STAFF FOR A FIRST CLASS RE-UNION AND WEEKEND,YOU ALL ARE THE BEST !!!  MAY GOD BLESS AND KEEP IN TOUCH.   BY THE WAY, I DO STILL GO TO 2 THURSTON FOOTBALL GAMES PER YEAR.........DENNIS ABRAHAM

David Daniels

Hey, did we have a great reunion or what?  Virtually everyone I have spoken to; received an email from; or has posted on Face Book -- has said that it was way better than they had anticipated.  That includes the committee members who put it a lot of time and effort to pull it off and myself.  I got the ball rolling on this deal simply because I though we should get together after 50 years.  It is hard to imagine that anything (except for the addition of those who couldn't make) that would have made it better.

For those of you who were not there, we're sorry you missed it, but pictures should be forth coming soon . . . I hope.  For those of you who do have photos, please post them here as soon as you are able to do that.  If you don't know how to do it, sent them to Jan Carter Ziegler (jan.ziegler@hotmail.com).  Jan is gonna love me for that.  So she doesn't get too overwhelmed and then too upset with me, please do not send her everything you took.  Edit out the best of what you have please.  If everyone were to submit 2 or 3 photos, we'd have a wonderful selection and memory.

Jan Carter (Ziegler)

Thank you David. 

I do want pictures to be sent to me ASAP as classmates that couldn't make it are asking for them to be posted.

Jane Cinka (Herrick)

I just returned home after being gone two weeks on the road visiting family, friends and going to THS 50th reunion.  I had a blast at the reunion and enjoyed it so much!  I am still thinking about it now...how much fun it was talking, laughing, and reminiscing with so many classmates.  Thanks to all and everyone who helped make this reunion a total success!  Loved the tour of the high school...that was definitley a highlight too!

David Daniels

Jan -- thanks for getting up these pictures, especially of the school.  I agree with Jane that the tour was very much of a highlight.  Very pleased that we did that.

Gerald Wiebeck

All of you did a great job and Jan has done a fantastic job with this web site.  I know you are concerned about having another reunion so soon after all the work you did, but please consider we do have other unused resources.  Our children and grandchildren who'd love to know we should  have a good time.  So please don't limit us by thinking we are the only ones and the only resources to get the job done. 

Again I am exceedingly pleased with all of the enormous work you've done.  And it paid off in the excitement and enthusiasm everyone had who  attended. 
 

David Daniels

Have a "reunion" story for you.  My cousin Brian grew up in southern California.  Turns out his father-in-law graduated from high school with Phyllis Diller in the mid-30s.  Their class had several reunions over the years, but when they got beyond 60 years, they just would have lunch with whoever was left and available.  It got to the point where there were just 2 of them left -- Phyllis and Barb's dad.  They would have lunch once a year together, and did this last year in June.  My Brian & Barb drove her dad up to Phyllis' home where she had a very nice lunch for the 4 of them.  Brian told me that it was great looking through her house with all kinds of Hollywood memorabilia.  Phillis passed away last August at the age of 95.  She was followed by her long-time high schol friend a few months later.  Can you envision 2 or 3 of us getting together for lunch in 2040?

Bruce Kordenbrock

Dave,

You and I can meet at my home in California in 2040...as can any other THS Class of '63 member.  I know Kathie, my wife, will love seeing you again. I am an eternal optomist!

David Daniels

Thanks, Bruce.  I think I can be there -- nothing else on the calendar anyway.  You didn't give a time though.  By the way, Kathie was going to email me the pictures of the pool records board.  Could you please remind her?

Dennis Abraham

KEEP UP THE EXCITING PHOTOS AND RESPONSES.....BEST WISHES,  DENNIS ABRAHAM

Leonard Capelli

I want to start by thanking the committee for the dedicated and tireless effort they put into this reunion for the rest of us. I want to commend Janice on getting the web site up and functional early. The pictures, bio's and messages both direct and on the forum created an excitement level and a comfort level for me and others that I sure did not expect. I want to thank Pam for the attention to detail and hosting the after glow. I enjoyed seeing so many wonderful people, and feel bad about not getting to visit more. Hopefully by the next reunion I will be able to stand and to walk, w hich are important in mixing, meeting and greeting. And a special thanks to Dave who got this effort jump started. It was a great event. 

Edith Bergstrom (Usher)

While people are thanking people, I think Patti Veresan deserves a hugh thank you for all she did.  What she did wasn't as obvious to everyone but she was the catalyst that kept it all together.  She made many trips to the hotel, ran to stores, ran the meetings, checked on everyone, opened her house to those of us that made the memory boards and table decorations, and in general made sure everything was being done.  Also, Elaine Vossos and Sheila McKee did a great job on the memory books and I really don't know how they completed them in such a short time.  Thank you to everyone involved you all did an amazing job! 

Jan Carter (Ziegler)

55th year reunion in 2018????  Where?? 

We have a lot of classmates in Florida, California & Arizona maybe we all can travel to one of these places if someone volunteers to handle it.  Have it in the winter so we can get away from the cold.

Catherine Micallef (Kosikowski)

I want to say thank you to everyone who served on the reunion committee, you did a terrific job, and we are all very grateful for your time and talent. I just wonder if everyone's 50th class reunion was a wonderful as ours.  The warm smiles, hugs and the happiness in seeing each other and sharing such a great time in our lives, Of course we had our heartaches back then ,but that was part of growing up, and now we can look back at the foundation of our lives that were built during those years. Wouldn't want to trade that for anything.  I choose to think that our class was something very very special. Take care of yourselves and see you in a few years, I hope.

David Daniels

Jan, et al:  I like the idea of a 55-year gathering, but I think we should keep it very simple.  We're all gonna have 5 years less energy by then.  This one was excellent, but an awful lot to pull off. For 2018, let's forget the DJ, the memory book, the table decorations, picture boards,the awards, etc.  Can everything except name tags.  We get an idea of how many can come, find a restaurant with a banquet room that can hold us, and everybody orders what they want and pays for their meal. We could do that with a committee of 3, and with minumal work on their part.  The other idea (and we could do both) is a picnic.

As for where, we are scattered but the large portion of us are still in Michigan.  I had 375 names on my spread sheet.  With 61 gone and 65 lost, that leaves 249 with whom we have contact.  The website says 139 in MI, or 56%.  Besides that, a lot of us who are out-of-state, still have relatives or other contacts in MI (such as yours truly).  The largest group outside of Michigan is Florida with 17 (7%).  I think we would have to stick with home base.  But let's do it when we could be guaranteed good weather (especially we want to do a picnic) -- if I remember my time there, I think that would limit us to the 2 middle weeks of June.  Seriously, I suggest June, July or August of 2018, and we keep it as simple and easy as possible.