146th Column
Pictures at end of column
146th
Column. 27 Feb. Sad News first. From Paul Ruud, D2 CCQ: “Sharon & Ron Olson's youngest daughter, Kecia
Fagerland, just called me with the news of Sharon's passing. She died this
evening (Saturday, 2-19-05), after her long struggle
with stomach cancer. Their three
daughters, Kristi, Laura, and Kecia, all married with families, live there in
Minot. Remember the family in your prayers.”
Through
the marvels of internet and digits, here is a portion of Sharon’s obit: “Sharon
Olson, 68, died at her home surrounded by her family. Sharon Elaine Moffet was born February 5, 1937, in Springfield,
IL, the daughter of Thomas and Emerald (Neher) Moffet. She was raised and educated there,
graduating from Springfield High School in 1955. She attended MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL; and Mary
Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA, where she studied psychology. (In 1958) on a weekend excursion to West
Point, NY, Sharon met a young cadet named Ronald Claude Olson. They were
married 6 months later on July 26, 1958, in Richmond, IN.
“Sharon
spent the next 21 years as a busy wife and mother as Ron's Army career took the
family to various military posts at home and abroad, a total of 13 moves. In 1979 Ron retired and moved his family
home to Minot, ND. In 1981, they moved
to Crosby, ND, when Ron became a partner in Northwest Farm Service. Having raised her three children, Sharon
then returned to the workforce as an employee of Farmers State Bank, where she
remained for the next 15 years.
“In 1997, Ron and Sharon returned to
Minot to accept their most rewarding job of all, raising three more children -
their beloved grandchildren. Sharon was
a member of Augustana Lutheran Church and was active with the Veterans of
Foreign Wars Auxiliary and many civic and other organizations. She was an avid reader and loved to collect
and restore antiques, research her genealogy, knit and crochet. Most of all she loved spending time with her
family, especially her grandchildren.
“Ron
died unexpectedly in September of 2002 and a few months later Sharon was
diagnosed with cancer.”
From another email:
“Paul, The
flowers from D-2 were so beautiful. Our family is so grateful to your
company for all their support. Mom's service was simple and
beautiful, just the way she would have wanted.
Thanks for everything, Kecia Fagerland”
Changing companies and tempo, an email from C2 CCQ, Pete Penczer
contained this news: “On behalf of the
Phoenix Think Tank, it is my pleasure to announce two new members to the
Executive Committee, Dr Trino Sandoval and Mr Alex Pensiero.
“Alex has a long history of experience with the Phoenix Think
Tank. As a member of the Steering Committee, he worked to expand the
Family Resource Center concept to numerous schools. He helped introduce Communities In Schools to Arizona and has served on its board since inception ten
years ago. Alex graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point and
served in the US Army. After thirty- years with General Electric and
Honeywell management, he served as Executive Director of the Arizona Alliance
of Business to help coordinate the Summer Jobs for Valley Youth program.
He was chairman of the Maricopa County Private Industry Council (PIC) and for his contribution to workforce
development was honored by the City of Phoenix Human Services Division as
Volunteer of the Year 1995. Alex and his wife Lois came from
upstate New York and have lived in Phoenix for the past thirty-five
years. They have four grown children. Welcome Alex!” Congratulations, Alex, “Volunteer of the
Year 1995” and continuing to contribute time, talent, and treasure to Phoenix
community.
Also
cut from 146th, an email from Al Sasseville A2: “Could one of
you gentlemen send me a copy of ‘How to Prepare a Mint Julep’ written by a true
Southern General to the Commandant during WWII. As I recall it was beautifully written with unforgettable prose
and appeared as an e-mail on the forum several months ago. Thanks to those who were smart enough to
keep it.” Scribe did not hear whether Al
got his Mint Julep, but loved the first news about him in ages.
Plebe
Posture Photos mailed to girl friends, 1954. Glenn Hall tossed this hand grenade via email: “if I'm not
mistaken, the roommates of one of our number (and you know who you are) sent
his Plebe posture photo to his then-current girl friend, who, as I recall, was
not impressed.” Confession being good
for the soul, Stan Bacon responded: “She was thoroughly embarrassed,
being the prim San Antonio debutante and Wellesley student that she was. She didn't mention it to me till I found out
some time later from said roommates and asked her about it. I had been at swimming practice when Bernie
Card and Jim Morgan returned to the room, found the photos
distributed on each desk, hid theirs, stole mine and told everyone else to hide
theirs. I was totally clueless. Where did you hear that story, by the
way? I thought I had successfully
suppressed it. This is not, repeat not,
a subject for Alan Salisbury's history project, you hear?” By email Alan agreed to silence. Fortunately, there was no mention of your
Scribe and the class column. Silence
was neither requested nor promised.
However, Stan was not the classmate Glenn had in mind:
“The classmate I was referring to, strictly third-hand from our cadet days, is Mel
Drisko.” This prompted Scribe’s
email to Ron Turner, K1 CCQ: “Rumor has it that Mel’s roommates sent his
Plebe Posture photo to his girl friend back in 1954. I would love to
confirm this rumor for use in the class column. Also, need to know the
name(s) of dastardly roommate(s) with such a well-developed sense of
humor!” Excerpts of email generated
during Ron’s inquest: “OK--someone or several are guilty. I'm certain that neither Dick Groves
nor I are, but someone is! Note that I
have not included Mel on this message. Perhaps he will get a
surprise. Mel is still having health
problems that are being treated. Drisko's are hoping to make the Mini in
San Francisco. (And) I am doing fine
after all of the radiation treatments, and have my fingers crossed. Hope to have
a great K-1 contingent in SF.”
Promising health reports are fringe benefits of this story. Back to the inquiry. Pete Hidalgo wrote: “Not Guilty (but
I wish I had thought of it).” Brad
Johnson speculated: “Sounds like
something John Buchanan would have done,” which prompted John to add: “Not me; however, if he'd
sent her my photo, am sure she would have fallen in love. And, a picture
of BJ would have sent her to the bathroom.”
The last word
from Tom Sands: “Oh my! It is true, I was Mel's roommate but the
culprit was Jack Black (John D).
Mel was dating Admiral Strope's daughter at the time. Jack, without saying anything to anyone in
the company (including me), got a copy of Mel's posture photo and had
someone in the ‘lost 50's’ do the envelope addressing. When ‘Stropie’ received
the photo, she sent Mel the envelope (Scribe’s question: she kept the
photo?). As I recall, he spent a
considerable amount of time going around the company trying to match the
handwriting on the envelope. Naturally,
he was not successful. It took me a
long time to convince Mel that I was not aware of the planning associated with
the execution of this dastardly deed.”
Two successfully classmated or “roommated.” Were there others? That’s
it for 146th. See you all in
San Francisco. Bring your Plebe posture
photos to show off in Benny Havens!
PS – Flash. Don
Palladino is in Indonesia on tsunami relief duty for Save the
Children. In 2003 he was in Iraq for
the outfit. Rumors of this war horse
having retired must be false!
Photos for 146th in May-June 2005
-
Grand Paramount Carabao Butch Saint
-
Four more Carabaos at the Wallow
-
F1 after Bob Durkin’s funeral
-
Sam Myers in Rose Parade
-
Newlyweds Rich & Nadine Clements
-
Four golfers at San Antonio Mini
-
Normandy Wreath Laying
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