Pictures at end of column
136th Column for Sep/Oct 03. Our 45th will be in progress or history when you see this one. Hope you were there! If not there, Scribe guarantees you were missed. Next reunion (technically a “mini,” but they are not so mini these days) will be in San Antonio in 2004, details TBA by Jack Bujalski.
Bad news. Tom Coleman died on 17 May. The following report is from George Lawton via Jack Downing’s email notification to those classmates wired for the 21st Century: “Just got off the phone with Max Pearsall and Tom Maliska. Tom had flown in from Washington State to KY. He and Max drove down to Greenville, SC Thursday. They arrived shortly after RT went into a coma from which he never came out. He died peacefully in his sleep of liver failure about 0020 hours, Saturday, 17 May 03 in the hospital in Greenville. His wife Peggy and two of his children, Ron and Mary Stella, were there when Tom died.
E-2 CCQ Toftoy and others were super at keeping his company-mates informed about RT’s deteriorating condition. For the record, Tom had planned to attend the 45th, but fell victim to the final selection too soon.
A follow-up report from Tom Maliska: “Surviving Tom are his wife, Erlene "Peggy" O'Neall Coleman; his son Ronald Thomas Coleman Jr of Atlanta; three daughters: Mary Stella Huffman of Columbia, SC; Erlene O'Neall Coleman and Ellen Daniel Coleman, both of Greenville. Tom was blessed with four grandchildren. William and Claire are the children of son Ron and his wife Laurie. Stella and Hannah Huffman are the children of his daughter Mary Stella and her husband Will.
“The funeral service held in Greenville on the 20th of May was attended by E-2 members Joel Moore, Corky Henninger, Ed Adair, and Ed Matthews. The entire Coleman family deeply appreciated their attendance at the service.
“The family will arrive at West Point and stay at the Thayer Hotel the evening of 12 June. Max Pearsall, Ed Adair and I will be at the Thayer as well. The burial service will be at 1330 hours on the 13th of June. Any classmates and friends of Tom are very welcome to attend the service and meet the Coleman family before and after the service.” Thanks for the report, Tom. Our prayers are with Peggy and her family. The class applauds the E-2 files who attended the services in Greenville and West Point.
Bad news continues. Here is my email notification to extended class email net: Billie Nadal died on 21 May 2003 after a prolonged battle with cancer. I received an email from Tony last night. As most of you know, Billie was one of our June Ladies. In fact she was one of the June Ladies who came up for Plebe Christmas. And, as I learned while talking to Billie at the Pensacola Mini in April last year, she came up during Beast Barracks and met Tony for dinner at the Hotel Thayer. The Beast Detail was no match for our Billie!
A verse of Army Blue might well have been written for Billie:
“To the ladies who come up in June, We’ll bid a fond adieu, Here’s hoping they’ll be married soon, And join the Army too.” If you close your eyes and concentrate, you can hear our ’58 Glee Club and Choir members singing this refrain for Billie.
Our sympathies are with Tony and their children and grandchildren: Vicki, Mike, Joanna, Alexis and Zachary. As an Army wife (and Army brat herself), familiar lines of our Alma Mater certainly apply to Billie as well:
“And when our work is done, Our course on earth is run, May it be said ‘Well done; Be thou at peace…’” Goodbye, Billie, we’ll miss you.
Eulogy sites. Good place to advertise the eulogy sites provided for our deceased classmates by West-Point.Org. Here is one testimonial I received recently by email about Tony Evans: “My name is Tahara Evans and I am married to Joseph Anthony Evans, III a.k.a Toner Evans, Tony's oldest son. I would like to thank you for writing this eulogy about Tony. I am sorry to say I never knew him but I do know he would be very proud of his son today. It sounds like Tony was a wonderful man. Thank you for sharing your memories of him. Please feel free to email me if you would like to share any more about him. I know Toner would appreciate anything you could share. God Bless...Tahara Evans.” I referred Tahara & Toner to John Schaefer D1 CCQ. And encourage wider all ’58 to use the eulogy sites.
Classmate in Basra. Follow-on topic to our kids in harm’s way in 135th column (Jul/Aug Assembly). The info is from Pete Penczer about Don Palladino, appeared on class net and is repeated with those not wired: “Don has retired from the job as Chief Operating Officer for Save the Children, but he is still with them and only doing the things he likes doing, as he said. He is in Basra for them and is coordinating aid there. I think that the US government contracted with them to do that, something they are good at. Marty, his wife, told Lynne that Don says all is going well, no problems and everyone happy he's there with his people. Don said he's well received by the local people.” Hope so. Tough mission. Pray for Don and his “troops.”
Walker Award Ceremony. Info from Penczer who represented the class at this affair: “Tom Carpenter asked me to cover for him at the George Walker Award presentation, a part of the Social Science Department Award ceremony. The experience was beyond my expectations. Major Perez took me to the George Walker Room (in old BOQ from our days). The Debate Team trains there two hours a day instead of intramurals. George’s picture is on the wall. It was clear to everyone that our class had furnished the room for them. They certainly appreciate it. Robert Whitfield, ‘48, one of the other presenters, and I spent time talking to the debaters. They were interested in our personal experiences, my acquaintance with George and what the Debate Council and Forum were like then.
“The Awards Ceremony was held at Thayer Hall. Academic awards, course by course came first. The available electives are truly amazing. This ceremony supplemented the Corps wide ceremony at the parade on Friday which we would have recognized. Our award, an extracurricular activity award, came at the end. My principal duty was to shake hands, hand over an award and book, face the camera and smile ( and at that point to keep my mouth shut ), all at the same time. I’m still sufficiently coordinated, it seems. I said ‘good-bye’ having experienced a great lift. I’m convinced I got more out of the day than I contributed to it.” Great report, Pete Penczer, pop your chest up!
Ramsden Award. Jack Downing reported via email, but most details must wait for next submission. “Yesterday we returned from the West Point Department of Chemistry awards ceremony in which Rae Ramsden presented the Brigadier James Ramsden award to Cadet John Fitzgerald.” More next time in 137th. Out of time and space. Here’s hoping to see YOU at 45th.
Photos:
(click on a picture for a larger view, use your browser's back button to return here)
Mary Kay Olson and D-2 the night before
Memorial Service at VN Wall
Mary Kay at the Wall with D-2 shown in reflections
Gerry Schurtz at Bataan Memorial (details in 135th July/Aug)
Jerry Lewis & Harry Kramp – training for Plebe March Back?
Susan & Carl Sullinger at Founder’s Day in San Jose
McGrews & Schwars at Pensacola, Apr 02
I-2 Skiers recovering from the slopes Feb 03