Dave Gerard
8822 Harbor Circle
Terrell, North Carolina 28682
828-478-9813
gerardd@charter.net
www.west-point.org/class/usma/1968

I received an email from Bruce Korda, who is working for a German firm in the DC area, while I was in Chile.  Bruce informed me that he had received a call from Manny (Manolo) Diamante who returned to the US for some business and pleasure.  Manny visited Bob Keller in Florida and moved up to NYC to do some real work.  As all classmates, Manny was looking to rekindle old friendships before returning to the Philippines.  He was especially looking for Bruce Brown, who was last heard of in Warminster Wilkshire, England, Bob Clarke, who gave up the rat race in the DC area to open a B&B in Colorado, Jim Greenberg, who remains in the thick of it in Saudi Arabia, and Ray Rhodes, who continues to deal with ExxonMobil security matters in Malaysia.  Do we ever settle down?

Jeff Rogers dropped a note to let us know that he and Carlie are enjoying living in Florida and he is still working part time for SAIC.  They met George (who apparently goes by “Bob” now) & Jean Laswell for the first time at the Space Coast West Point Society Founders Day celebration in Melbourne.  George-Bob is still making new Florida converts by dealing in real estate at Sanibel Island. 

[Photo #1 – “Jeff & Carlie Rogers and George-Bob & Jean Laswell at the Melbourne 2006 FD”] 

Ross Irvin lamented that once everyone retired in his part of North Texas, they didn’t seem to have time to attend founders Day anymore.  This year only Ross & Margaret participated with Phil & Linda Samuel in the local Founders Day celebration at the Southwest Airlines Museum in Dallas.  Phil retired last year from EDS, and Linda is contemplating her own retirement from the job that brings in an income to supervise Phil around the house.  Ross also grumbled that Linda has proven to be a bad influence on Margaret, who now is now considering retirement despite Ross’ discourses about the virtues of hard work.

[Photo #2 – “Ross & Margaret Irvin with Linda & Phil Samuel at the Dallas 2006 FD”]

Echoing Ross’ sentiments about being too busy, Mike Potter dropped a line to forward a picture of his own personal Founders Day.  He closed his neurosurgery private practice in Southern Oregon and is now working about a week out of every month spelling other neurosurgeons around the U.S.  The rest of the time, he and Rachel travel or work around their “hobby farm” and have no plans to move.  They spent the Founders Day season in Hawaii, with their youngest daughter, Caitlin, a freshman at Seattle Pacific University.  Mike’s decision to go into “sort of retirement” put Rachel in a bit of a quandary since she was his surgical first assistant, and she still wants to keep her nursing license current.  She found a part-time nursing job in an outpatient surgery center in Grants Pass with old friends and colleagues, where she works when Mike is on assignment elsewhere. 




[Photo #3 – “Mike, Rachel, and Caitlin Potter off the coast of Maui”]

John ONeal is also cutting back.  This is his last semester teaching; however he will keep an office in the Political Science Dept. at the U of Alabama and continue his research on the causes of war and the process of economic development.  He will use the 10-15 hours per week he will gain by not teaching and being on committees to increase his time as Mr. Mom and becoming more active in his local church.  His and Fran’s daughter, Adelaide, is 16 and will be going to college soon, so he wants to spend more time focusing on guiding her away from the wrong elements.  Ah, what goes around comes around.  Owen is 12, so John has more time to program him.  In 2000, the Oneals spent seven months in Norway, where John was a Fulbright Scholar and Fellow at the Norwegian Nobel Institute.  

















[Photo #4 – “John ONeal posing as the person he does not want his daughter to meet in college”]







 

[Photo #5 – “Kathy & Dick Shipley on the slopes at Big Sky”]

In between the Capstone coordination and classes presentations for Dick Shipley and flights for Kathy, they managed to stay mostly gone from their San Antonio home during Founders Day month.  They spent time at their lake cabin in Washington state, saw Dick’s parents and family in Ohio, and visited with son, Eric, and his bride, Samantha, and their new son, Michael.  While Dick is still coming to grips with sleeping with a grandmother, they spent their own personal Founders Day with Mark & Diane Hanson at the Hanson ski-in-ski-out compound in Big Sky, Montana.  The Shipleys also reported that they learned that Bob Kelly is still in the energy business as a founder of Houston-based DKRW Energy.  The “R” in DKRW is for “Robert C. Kelly” – Freed Lowrey can report on the “W” part of the company.

[Photo #6 – “Mark & Diane Hansen with a dog team at Big Sky”]

We double dated with John & Margie Hedley to the Founders Day sponsored by the West Point Society of the Carolinas in Charlotte, where we caught up with Dan Gooding, who has been living the good life in Charlotte for years as an Anesthesiologist with Presbyterian Anesthesia Associates.  John has severed ties with Raytheon and has struck out on his own as an Asian business development consultant.  Leave it to John to ferret out companies who have honed their product quality in the pits of NASCAR and who are quite able to share that quality with others.  When he’s not consulting and Margie is not showing homes around the lake through her bounding real estate enterprise, they have opened their home as the Lake Norman Chapter of the Class of 68 Innkeepers club.  So far, they’ve hosted Craig Carson (who will return, if only to find his sun glasses at the bottom of the lake), Jerry Holderness, and the Gerards – but the list will grow once the word gets out about his bottomless limitless scotch well.  We’re still looking to get the Poopschool crowd together at our places this summer.

[Photo #7 – “Dave Gerard, John Hedley, and Dan Gooding at the Charlotte 2006 FD”]

After looking at these Founders Day pictures, I’ve come to realize that wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up.

John & AnneMarie Keane had a rough winter.  John continues to recover slowly from his bypass surgery – any type of major extended exertion still wears him out.  AnneMarie got sick at Thanksgiving and stayed laid up with fevers through the holiday season.  Doctors finally figured out that she had about as severe a set of sinus infections as they have ever seen (Pool and Academy Record?).  After successful surgery in February, she appears to be on the mend, is able to enjoy grandkids again, and is looking forward to a vacation to the Outer Banks. 

Dutch Hostler is continuing to spur on the class officers and class gift committee regarding reaching out .  If you have not yet received your class coin, you are on the rolls for neither pledging nor contributing your fair share.  You should have also received an updated progress report on fund-raising.  As expected, some pledges have fallen short due to personal circumstances, so we need to pull together that much more.  Pres Miller has stepped up to head the “Class Memorialization ” effort.  In true Miller style, he held the kick-off meetings in Florida in between rounds of golf.  As for the calls that Dutch and I have received regarding who is on or off the coin list, I recommend you contact your company rep, who has the financial skinny on how much more it will take for you to gain a coin.  This project is important to West Point and the class.  Don’t make me use UPPERCASE.  Despite the meetings, discussions, and travel, the only folks that can bring this important project to a successful close are you and your generosity and loyalty because YOU’RE ALL WE’VE GOT.