MARCH 2000
Submitted
12/30/99
Jack Sheehan died on 2 Nov in Chicago
when a truck hit him after he had stepped off a bus. Jim Hahn, Joe Hurst and Denny Morrissey attended the funeral in Riverside, IL, on 6
Nov. Jim reported that the crowd numbered
about 350 people, a tribute to Jack’s stature as a community leader and
churchman. Denny and Jim visited
briefly on the eve of the funeral with Jack’s wife, Lois, and with five of his seven children. They appreciated the West Point
representation, and Jack’s connection with us was very apparent in photos at
the funeral home and in the newspaper obituaries. Jack had left the Army in 1962 and had gone to work for Illinois
Bell. At retirement he became a small
business consultant and had been president of the local Chamber of
Commerce. The sincere condolences of
the class are extended to Lois, to their children, and to the rest of Jack’s
family and friends.
Likewise our
hearts are with the Kleb
family. George’s brother, Geoff, USMA ’64, died on 2 December in Fairfax,
VA. He was known to many of our
classmates and had worked with quite a few of us over the years. Memorial gifts in Geoff’s name may be made
to the West Point Fund, Class of 1964.
Bill Fitzgerald sends the photo of the
M-1 crew in Washington Hall at the 40th. Ladies in the front are Judy
Dyer, Louise Webster, Pat Eberhard, Bobbie Fitzgerald, Nancy Satterwhite, Pat Paschall,
and Jynell Miller. Men in the back are John Eberhard, Bill
Fitzgerald, Carl Webster, Glenn Dyer, Jim Satterwhite, Rod
Paschall, and Jim Miller.
John & Kathy Harkins are in
Harrisburg, PA, and were recovering from high school football season when John
wrote in November. Their option
quarterback grandson, Jake Ramsey, had come off a pretty good year, and John’s
promoting of a WP career was being met with some interest. Other family news was that son Mark, whom
John calls the brain of the family, had received his master’s from Bucknell
during the summer. John remembers that
the best he could do was retain academic eligibility for the lone weekends away
from WP. That’s after plebe year, of
course, if you happen to be a latter day reader of this rag.
Bob Howe lives in Gloucester Point in
Tidewater Virginia, where fishing, boating and gardening are the values, and
where “the land of the life worth living” is the motto. He is a compadre
of mine, since he writes a monthly newsletter for the Coast Guard Auxiliary
Flotilla and appreciates the tension between incoming news and inexorable
deadlines. He volunteers his time in
helping the Coast Guard promote boating safety, examines recreational boats for
safety equipment, and patrols the local waters under Coast Guard orders to help
boaters in distress.
Bob’s wife, Jennie, is into genealogy and has traced their family histories
back into Europe. Since in the American
Civil War her family fought on the Confederate side, and Bob’s on the Union,
there are many interesting comparisons.
Their oldest son, Glenn, is a civil engineer for the county of Los
Angeles; and their youngest is a computer programmer who works in the
Raleigh-Durham Research Triangle. Both
Jennie & Bob have advanced degrees from Virginia Tech, and both sons
graduated from there, so, needless to say, they were rooting for Tech to go to
the Sugar Bowl and beat FSU.
Bob says he occasionally sees Don Tillar on the York River where the
two do most of their boating. Lee Bell brought his boat down to make
a quick visit on one of his cruises several years ago. Carl
Groth, Bob’s West Point roommate, said he bought a sailboat last year. Bob remembers visiting Carl’s very nice home
on the water at Lake Anna, VA, shortly after Bob retired in ’92.
Jerry & Geri Hilmes are in
Alexandria where Jerry is close to his job as EVP Defense Group, CSC, which has
about 13,000 people and an annual budget of $1.5 billion. He’s working too hard, he says, but it’s
exciting and a “neat job.” And he’s
agreed to be on the class gift committee, a commitment he is enjoying. Talking to classmates reminds him that we
have a great class: talented, connected
and generous.
The Hilmeses have raised four sons and are
proud to say that none are in jail, none are back home, and all are
married. The last to marry was Andy
(USMA ’95) whose wedding at WP on 13 Nov 99 to Nicole Hess (of Jerry’s great
State of Illinois, he points out) is memorialized in the accompanying
photo. Pictured are grandkids Ryan and
Angelique, Doug (son #3) and wife Kelly, MAJ Gary (son #2, seated), Andy and
Nicole, Chris, Megan and Diana (seated), the elders, and Bruce (USMA ’83). The three sons in uniform are Armor, and all
were promoted in 1999. Fantastic!
Powell Hutton, also with CSC supporting
the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, is looking forward to an
interesting year in his field. With a
national election coming up and a Presidential decision expected in June on
whether or not to deploy a limited national missile defense, the subject will
reverberate both at home and abroad.
1959:
Powell Hutton and Bob Shapiro.
Powell & Joanne live in Arlington,
VA. Charlotte, their 18 year old, is
enjoying her freshman year at Sewanee (University of the South) in
Nashville. In March she will tour
English Cathedrals (Canterbury, Salisbury, York, and others) with the
university choir. Their 17 year old,
Cecily, is a junior in high school, lives at home, and is a joy.
The Huttons watched the Navy game at Bob & Elaine Weekley’s new
retirement home in Lancaster, on the Northern Neck of Virginia. Bob roasted oysters for everyone, preceding
a potluck lunch furnished by the group.
Included were John & Marge
McNerney, Bill & Bobbi
Fitzgerald, John & Mary Gurr, Bill Turpin, and Frank &
Elaine Besson. Some stayed the
weekend and were treated to an exciting ride on Bob’s boat.
Topics
interesting the class on the Internet at this writing are the Rocky Versace memorial in Alexandria
and the retirees’ health benefits issue.
John Gurr has continued to
post detailed reports on the efforts to have a new school named for Rocky. Alas, the school board voted to name the
school after a local politician, a result that was not entirely unexpected
despite the heroic efforts on the part of John, others in our class, the WP
Society of DC, and “Friends” of Rocky who had started the hard work. There is now a proposal from the school
board to have the road fronting the new school named “Captain Rocky Versace
Avenue,” and a proposal approved by the Alexandria City Council to build a
Rocky Versace Veterans Memorial Plaza in front of the Mt. Vernon Recreational
Center. More news, I am sure, will come
from John, who has been truly diligent in keeping up with the issue for us.
Bob Riordan has been doing the
spadework on the health care issue to make sure that we are all aware of the
importance of legislation known as HR 2966.
The effort is to rectify shortcomings in health care provided for
retirees, which has become much less than we were led to expect when we signed
up. Check Bob’s e-mail postings for
things you can do to help.