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| The Survivors on a beach somewhere | L-2 at Portland after Memorial Service | Roger and Sandra - Portland tennis champs | Sisters, children, & grandchildren at Jack Schneider's grave | Jones' AUSA Family Reunion |
16 Nov. Early start. More on
elected officials. Roger Gietzen served
on the Exec Comm of Newaygo County, MI Republican Party in 84-90 and was Chairman of the
Republican County Committee for two terms. Now
comes the real elected part—in 1988 he was elected as Presidential Elector for the
then-9th Congressional District. He cast that
vote for President George Bush. Is Roger the
only ’58 file to actually matriculate at the Electoral College?
Wives as elected officials. We know about Bonnie Moscatelli, on the City Council of
Frisco, CO until Bob was elected Mayor and she
resigned. Another is Marie Tierney, but the elected position she held,
provided by Jack in an email, is lost or
deleted. I think she was in TX legislature,
but am not sure.
Goat football team. Via email during the “slide rule” war
stories on the class net, John Sutherland K2
claimed to be the ranking classmate to play on the Goat football team (reminds me of
virtue among ladies in the oldest profession). He
later corrected the record. Seems that Dick Graves played Goat football and stood 19
files higher on 4 June 1958.
Children. Lately, I have reported about grandchildren, but
some classmates are still in the recent father category.
Old news first about Casey, born to Bob
& Chris Dey in June 1995. Happily,
many of us met Chris at the Portland Mini. Casey
stayed home, therefore, we look forward to seeing her before she is too much older.
More recent parenthood for Jim McCauley--two
children since Casey Dey arrived. Details are
sparse because Jim remains elusive. Thanks to
Fred Easley for even this meager information. Fred is advocating an “ultimate cup” for
classmate having the last child. Who knows
when that winner can be declared? We do know
the “class cup” was awarded to Karl
Oelke with some assistance from Kathleen
(a June Lady who joined on 4 Jun 58) and the cooperation of son Karl III.
Memorial gold for ’02 rings. Ron Turner
had a great idea and is making it happen—gold from old grad’s rings to be melted
into the gold used for future class rings. A
tangible link in Long Gray Line. He had some
23 rings for the melt down on 20 Nov. The
’58 contributions include: Mike Luck’s
donating his step-father’s ring (Charles B Gatewood ’06). Garry, Will
and brother John Roosma ex’52 have given
their father’s ring (John S Roosma ’26, Army’s only member of National
Basketball Hall of Fame). Another class
father’s ring was given by John Isaacson
(Harold Isaacson ’27). Stan Bacon and Wayne Wyatt each donated their own rings which
have not been worn for some years. I think
there will be an article in Jan/Feb Assembly
with more information than here—if you missed it, get out the earlier magazine and
read the article.
27 Dec, 3d Day of Christmas. Back to column with tragic news first: Elaine Bons died on 19 Dec of complications due to Multiple Sclerosis (MS). She was originally diagnosed with MS in 1980. Elaine was the mother of six, mostly all
raised at West Point while Paul was
“professing” in BS&L. Two went
to USMA: Kevin ’83 died as a cadet on mission duty for his church and Vincent
’86. Tragic news at any time, all the
more sad because of the season and C-1 plans for a micro in Salt Lake next summer to see
Elaine.
And we lost Alan Claflin on 21 Nov after a too-long battle
with cancer. Cindy and their children Kathy and Major Bob
’85 buried Alan at West Point on 29 Nov. Cindy
chose to have the funeral service in the Cadet Chapel where they were married on 4 June
58, a mere 1 ½ hours after graduation. In
the words of a very familiar song, “may it be said, Well done, be thou at
peace.’”
Strange to think you will read this in Mar/Apr edition during Lent. Demonstrates time delay in class columns. Cards and other snail mail. D-2 letter from Paul Ruud CCQ.
Paul’s company news: (1) Pete Byrne
& Debbie Danforth will be married at Ft Myer Chapel on 30 Jun 01. (2) Bill
& Mary Alice Murphy are planning to attend Santa Fe Mini 1-4 Nov 01. (3) Bill Gillette will be skiing in Austria again in
Jan 01. (4) Paul is in touch with Fred & Barbara Alderson. Fred is COL-Ret but the day before yesterday he
was MAJ and D-2 Tac our first class year. (5) Randy
Rodenberg is the D-2 reunion coordinator. Great
way to get Randy to attend: make him the coordinator!
Christmas card/letter from Jim & Dottie Castle, as busy as ever. Photo from beach somewhere. Maybe Seychelles, Madagascar, the Comoros,
Zanzibar, Kenya, Maui but certainly not Greenbriars, London, Las Vegas, Sacremento, Paris,
Baltic, Rhone river, Vail, Los Angeles, West Point (Homecoming) or Baltimore (Army-Navy). They do get around!
Card/letter from Lana & Pete Bahnsen with them in hot tub
filled with bubbles. Wish I had this photo for the column.
Tough life on the Olympic Peninsula.
Card with short note from Annie & Jae Stanton: reminiscing about the
Portland Mini, especially the Oregon Vietnam Memorial.
Good spot to insert L-2 photo from the Mini.
Card/letter from Bob & Pat Julian. Interesting reading about daughter Megan and her
softball exploits. Unfortunately, Megan had a
life-threatening burst appendix. She has
recovered and is back to school, softball and college search complicated by softball
scholarship offers. The highlight of her
softball-related travels was participating in Junior Olympic ASA 18 Gold Nationals in St
Louis.
Jumping from 18-year-old athletes to
phenomenal accomplishments of our Ken Phillips
in over-65 softball. Short summary of his
achievements in 2000: he made Tournament All Star Teams in Houston, TX (Apr); Marietta, Ga
(June); National Softball Assn (NSA) in Cullman, AL (Jul); Slow Pitch Assn (SPA) in Panama
City, FL (Aug), American Softball Assn (ASA) in Jacksonville, FL (Aug) and International
Softball Assn (ISA) in Las Vegas, NV (Sep). In
addition he received Most Home Run trophy in Houston and was named outstanding Defensive
Player in Marietta and Cullman. His Georgia
Peaches won the AAA Division of ASA Tourney. Wow!
Tennis players at Portland Mini
included Roger & Sandra Gaines (first
’58 reunion for this I-2 gift of ours to ’59), Harry Kramp and Jerry Lewis.
Jerry sent some photos, the best is included here.
Jerry says that Roger & Sandra “are highly rated in tennis,” but gave
no further details.
Great photo of sisters Jo Ward and Fran Schneider flanking kids and grandchildren
visiting Jack’s grave. My last photo is Linc & Ann Jones with daughter MAJ Patty Jones
and her husband MAJ Malcolm Frost ’88 (as a couple, they are Major Major Catch 22).
This wraps up 2000. This one is due on
5th Day of Christmas, therefore, it will arrive a day early (tomorrow).
On to 2001 and the New Millennium. Historical class events by the time you read this
include: Capitol Steps and dinner 13 Jan (Tony
Smith); Class Luncheon in DC 8 Feb--focus healthcare issues: we are getting older (Alan Salisbury); Ski-Mini in Breckenridge 26 Feb-3
Mar (Mike Dugan). Annual luncheon 1 Mar with ’57 in DC (John Herren).
Events you can still make after
reading this include Founder’s Day dinners around the world (there is bound to be one
near you). The WPSDC Founder’s Day
dinner is on St Patrick’s Day. Annual
Class Meeting at Army-Navy Country Club on 19 Apr (Andy Andreson).
Class Memorial Service at VN Memorial and Brunch at ANCC (this year wreath laying
and stories about Floyd Spencer) on 20 May (Georges Lawton & Sibert). Elbe River Cruise 2-9 Jun (Phil Pryor and Jerry Mitchell).
Eastern Shore Biking in Jun (details TBA by Munge
Moore). Picnic at Wolf Trap in Jul
(details TBA by Tony Bauer). Battlefield Tour in Aug (details TBA by Herb Puscheck).
Plebe Hike with ’05 (Ed Weckel)
and Mini Grad Seminar on 15-16 Aug. First
Class Club turnover on 23 Aug (Bob Pointer). DC Class Luncheon in Oct (details TBA by Dale Hruby).
“Reunion Different in the City Different,” Santa Fe, NM 1-4 Nov (Tom Claffey/Cinco Amigos). Class Luncheon with USNA ’58 at ANCC 15 Nov (Andy Andreson).
Army-Navy Rally at Bolling AFB on 28 Nov (WPSDC).
Army-Navy Game & Rally on 1 Dec (Florence
& Alan Salisbury).
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| The Survivors on a beach somewhere | L-2 at Portland after Memorial Service | Roger and Sandra - Portland tennis champs | Sisters, children, & grandchildren at Jack Schneider's grave | Jones' AUSA Family Reunion |