Monte Vista High School Class of 1964
Bios
K-Z
Bios
page1
Rod (Rocky) Kent
Sorry we'll miss the reunion we had a trip planned for Europe
and were
unable to change plans without major penalties. I shall
try to be more time
aware. Still hard to believe it's been forty years. I'm
sure you're still
all as young and good looking as ever. I unfortunately have a
hard time
recognizing the older fellow in the mirror each morning.
Probably why I try
to avoid mirrors. Give my best to all. Since last reunion
I've remarried
still continue in practice of Ophthalmology in Coeur d' Alene,
Id. We have
five grand children, eight children (five through college, one
through med
school), and a cat. I served in the first Gulf War and my
son in the
Second. I'm a Captain in the Navy Reserve. I'll be thinking of
you on the
tenth. All the best from Scotland.
Rod Kent ( Rocky)
Wendy Lee Abdelnour
I graduated from SDSU and married hubby George that
summer. I taught school in the suburbs of Chicago while he finished
dental school. He set up practice in the San Diego area, but after the
arrival of three kiddos, we decided we wanted to rear them in a small town
atmosphere. So we've been here in Oregon for 23 years, living five miles
out of a town of 25,000, an hour to our beach house, two hours to skiing
and about an hour to Portland. We don't tan, we rust and we have webs
between our toes-feel like natives! Our oldest son Andrew has joined his
dad in the practice, second son John has just come back from a six month world
tour with his video business and is settling in the CO Rockies, and daughter
Betony is teaching school in Florida. Life is great!!
Blessings to all with hopes that I'll be
able to attend the next MVHS64 shindig!
Picture 1 WendyÕs family at Yosemite on
Thanksgiving Picture 2 son Andrew and Cassandra Picture 3 daughter Betony and
Troy Picture 4 son John and Allison Picture 5 Wendy and George
Tom Lively
Timeline:
1964 Ð1968
College mostly UC Berkeley (I flunked out three times)
We shall
overcome, we shall overcome, someday!
December 1968 Ð
June 1970 USN Seabees (Vietnam)
Thus saving the
world from the yellow peril.
Spring 1971 I
actually graduated from Berkeley, BA Psychology.
ItÕs amazing
what a difference a small dose of motivation and maturity make.
Early 70s
Married and divorced (Susan); built and managed the Vacationer Travel Park.
Thought about getting a Masters at Rat Runner U (SDSU) learned to ski.
Guess what was
the best part?
Late 70s went
to work at Edwards Air Force base during the NASA Shuttle development.
GS 5; Beans and
rice were a luxury item.
1980 moved back
to paradise and worked at North Island then 32 St. I was the guy in the black
hat who got rid of the less motivated civilian employees.
Funny, being a
civilian working for the Navy in San Diego was different than working as an E4
in Vietnam; go figure (plus I was no longer a GS 5; Seaport Village became my
home away from home.)
1982 Moved to
Germany, actually learned how to speak German. I changed cloaks and now worked for the abused against the
oppressive Air Force (EEO investigator) lived in Heidelberg (Ja, mein Hertzt
bleibt immer im Heidelberg, und so?) Plus with 2 incomes, housing paid for, an
exemption from California Tax and a mark to dollar rate of three to one, the
ends were meeting with little or no help from me. Life was good!
Ultimately I
got a job at 21st support command, Kaiserslautern involved with
computers (Unix systems) Got involved with Amiga computers (my downfall)
1989 with the
cold war coming to an end, I left Germany and the government, and moved back to
paradise to start The Lively Computer, a retail store specializing in the
Amiga. Returning with me was my 1
year old son Riley Patrick and his mother Gudrun. There was a reason why I finally was motivated to learn
German.
In 1993 daddyÕs
little girl Annabelle came in to our world and our family was complete,
overlooking the two dogs and a succession of various cats that came along
later.
Today, we all
continue to survive, sometimes well, in El Cajon. My son will be a senior at Granite Hills, my daughter a 6th
grader at Montgomery middle school.
My wife works with me at The Lively Computer, which is now specializing
in PC based video editing systems.
Late this year we should be opening Personal Space Mini Storage in Lemon
Grove (Plug!!!)
My favorite
quote from Anthony Quinn as Zorba, in answer to the question ÒAre you married?Ó
ÒMarried?, of course IÕm married, wife, kids, house, the whole catastrophe.Ó
All in all I think we did overcome, but
it may not have been what Mario had in mind.
Tom Lively tlively@livelycomputer.com
The Lively Computer http://www.livelycomputer.com
Robin Marmon
After graduation I stayed in Spring Valley until 1966 when I, along
with a lot of our classmates, was drafted. I was sent to Hinterweidenthal, Germany, where I spent the next two
years expecting orders (that never came) to Viet-Nam. I returned to Casa de Oro
in 1968 and went to work in the San Diego post office.
In 1970 I married Linda McCormick (Monte Vista class
of 65). After two years of the post office I joined the U.S. Border
Patrol and was an agent in El
Centro for two years until I decided to return to school to pursue a life-long
ambition to become a veterinarian. I received my B.S. in animal science at UC
Davis in 1977. I didnÕt get accepted to UCDÕs vet school so we moved to
Tennessee to try for the University of TennesseeÕs program. We moved to the
small town of Lancing, where Linda was born and raised. I couldnÕt get into
UTÕs veterinary program so I took a job at Brushy Mountain prison as a
correctional officer. I spent seven years as an Officer, Corporal and Sergeant
before quitting to go back to school to gain teacher certification.
After earning certification in 1987,
teaching jobs were scarce so I went back to Brushy Mountain as an officer for a
brief time until a teaching job came up there. I have been a Correctional
Teacher for seventeen years now. I added my M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction
from Tennessee Technological University in May of 2002 and my Ed.S in
Instructional Leadership in May 2004. I am planning to retire in a couple of
years (if I can decide what IÕm going to do when I grow up). I might pursue a
doctorate but IÕm getting a little lazy in my old age.
Linda and I plan to travel extensively after retirement. We
still visit Casa de Oro occasionally as LindaÕs sister still lives there. We
have four great children and six grandkids. IÕve really enjoyed seeing the
pictures and reading the bios of our classmates. IÕve often thought of you. I
would love to hear from any of you who would care to write.
I am Patricia McCullough-Keasling (isnÕt t that a mouthful?)
After I
graduated from college, I started to teach school, but it wasnÕt long
before I discovered that was not for me. So, I went into law enforcement.
In 1996 I retired from the San Diego County District AttorneyÕs
Office, where I worked as an Investigative Specialist.
When I retired my husband, Del Keasling, and I moved to Las
Vegas. After 5 years of retirement bliss I got bored, and now work for America
West Airlines. And I love it.
I have two children, Charlie Jasin 34 lives and works in
Chico, CA., where he manages a company that manufactures paint pigment. My
daughter, Krysta Torres lives here in las Vegas, and works for the Flamingo
Hotel and Casino. She and her husband are the parents of my beloved grand
daughter, Isabella Torres, 4.
It has been a fun 40 years, and I am looking forward to seeing
everyone next month.
Bonnie Melton Dahm
Oh Hell-o to all of you!
Did anyone notice that I was among the missing? I am not sure if
that was really an accident or not. So what the heck we will not hurt my
damaged feeling any further and go with the "missing person" story.
Even though I wasn't "found until July 4th or 5th(?) I am
going to get even and show up!!
As for the past 40 years.
I was born at a very young age. I didn't
realize it until I was notified that this is our 40 year reunion, but
then I guess I must of been a child genius. The fact that I am only 45
years old(or so) means that I must have graduated at the
age of 5 (or so).
The way I have it figured I must have been entering puberty
about the time the rest of you were exiting college.(How am I doing so far?) By
then I must of done something or another for the next couple of years. Then I
married, then I married, then I married and then I married. My husband Wayne
and I have been together for twenty two years. We have 4 blood children and 5
acquired children. We have a total of 9 grand children. I gave birth to 2
daughters and 1 son. Wayne had 1 son.Wayne was married to a gal from Canada.
They divorced when Wayne Jr was 10 months old. "Mommy" took the baby
to Canada, changed his name and was not heard of again. We searched and
searched but to no avail. Then after 34 years we get a phone call from, guess
who? Yep Wayne Jr found us! We flew him down here to meet his entire "new
family". He liked us so much he moved here. That was a year ago
last March. So the story has a happy ending, and we have 1 more kid than
we had 2 years ago. God does answer prayers and about the time I thought the
answer to this one was no, poof the phone rang and the answer turned to
yes.
We live on Tablerock Lake in Missouri. It is south of Branson.
We still have our trucking company. We spend a little more than
six months each year on the road. We have had the opportunity to see the United
States from top to bottom and coast to coast.
We have truly been blessed. We have a happy healthy family, good
friends, good jobs and a very interesting life. When we aren't working
we enjoy traveling to other countries, boating, riding our
motorcycles,our families, our friends and each other. (We don't ride our
families or our friends)
I am so looking forward to seeing all of you again. Boy am I
glad I'm no longer a "missing person" Hey speaking of missing
persons, did anyone ever find Joe Crowley?
Hey "See Ya at the beach"
George Miller
Following high school graduation, I was working as a research
assistant for Dr. Milton Millman, MD., at the San Diego Biomedical Research
Institute.
I attended San Diego State University, initially enrolling as an
undeclared major, and joined Lambda Delta Sigma fraternity. Soon however, I realized that I really
wanted to be an MD, so I changed my major to Zoology-PreMed.
In September 1966, I married JoLynn VanDusen, who also attended
SDSU. Then kids started appearing
in our home, first Chad, and then Corey (our two sons). I struggled to find enough time to
attend school, study, work in a pharmacy and take care my growing family. It not only took an extra year to
complete my BS degree, but my grades were not quite high enough to be accepted
into medical school. It really
hurt each time I received a rejection letter from the 12 medical schools at
which I had applied.
My fallback position was to be accepted into the graduate degree
program at SDSU. I loved my
studies, which emphasized immunology and biochemistry, and in 1973 received my
MS in Biology. My masterÕs thesis
involved research in comparative immunology, rather than what I really wanted
to do, which was cellular immunology.
While in graduate school, I worked as an environmental
microbiologist and chemist at a laboratory near San Diego Sports Arena,
Environmental Engineering Laboratory.
By the time that I received my MS degree, I decided that it was
time to go after a high paying job, so on February 9, 1973, I accepted the
position of Laboratory Director at the Coachella Valley Water District, where I
was fully involved in developing a new laboratory. This required that we move to Indio, California, a place I
had only heard of, and the stories werenÕt particularly exciting. Initially, I only had a staff of two,
and the instrumentation and analyses were simple. Every procedure had to be certified by the CA Department of
Health, which was long and arduous.
Within a few years, however, there were several chemists and
technicians. The analyses became
more complex as also did the instrumentation, where we used high pressure
liquid chromatography (HPLC), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), gas
chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and an automated biochemical
classification of enteric bacteria, etc. to satisfy the increasingly complex
demands.
During this time, three daughters were born: Mindy, Aurissa and
Shasta. The kids were all
competitive swimmers with the Corvina swim team, and doing well in school, but
the marriage of 22 years was beginning to fall apart. In 1988, I found myself divorced and miserable, but at least
I had my kids with me for emotional support.
Then God sent me a most precious gift, Ginger, who is now my
wife. She lifted me from despair,
and brought a most exquisite beauty into my life. Life was once again good, but the divorce had caused such
emotional stress that I acquired acalasia, a condition where the esophagus
closes down, not allowing food to pass into the stomach. Consequently, I weighed only 128 pounds
when I met Ginger, and looked like a toothpick! After marriage, Ginger and I bought our dream home in
Bermuda Dunes, a golf resort area, but lived there for only two years.
After having headed the laboratory for 20 years, the political
strain of operating the laboratory was intense. A new General Manager had made working conditions
unbearable, so I decided to move along.
In 1993, the kids had already moved away, so Ginger and I moved
to West Richland, Washington, and began working at the Hanford Nuclear
Reservation. This is the place
where Plutonium had been manufactured for nuclear warheads in missiles. Our tasks involved site remediation,
where removal or safe storage of the vast amount of highly radioactive waste
was a huge project. I was employed
as a Principle Scientist at the 222-S High Radiation Laboratory, using my
skills as a chemist and biologist to manage federally-funded analytical projects.
Life in Washington was good again for a while, but the Hanford
project was another political football, where congressional funding was
chaotic, bouncing from lavish spending on unessential projects such as parking
lots to slashing millions of dollars from the prime mission of nuclear waste remediation. Eventually, after five years there,
Ginger and I were laid-off.
We moved back to Spring Valley, CA, in 1998, seeking new employment. Ginger found employment at the El Cajon courthouse and a
court clerk, and I began working once again as an analytical chemist at a small
laboratory in National City. That
laboratory, however had plans to expand into a new area ... mold (fungus)
investigations. I applied my microbiological
skills, initially establishing a branch of the laboratory, which dealt with
investigating mold infestations in homes and businesses. Samples collected of the mold would be
brought back to the laboratory, where I also classified and counted the mold
spores. Within three years, the
mold investigation branch of the lab with fewer employees was grossing as much
revenue as rest of the lab.
In February, 2001, I opened my own business, GLM
Mycology Lab, a sole proprietorship.
In my own business, I was competing directly with the lab where I
developed the mold investigation business. Since its inception, the company has grown to include four
employees, and includes a territory from the Mexican border to Los Angeles, and
from the ocean to Palm Springs. In
April, 2004, the company was incorporated as The MOLDoctor, Inc., and although
it is still a small company, its growth rate and revenue have been excellent.
Life is good once again!!
Janie Miller
Bio of the past 40 years Ð what a challenge!
After graduation I attended SDSU where I received by BSN
(Nursing) in 1968. I married Mike Hubbard that summer. We lived in
San Diego for the next 18 months until he completed his degree and through ROTC
he joined the US Air Force. I worked during that time as a Public Health
Nurse in East San Diego.
We moved to Tucson, AZ (1969-73) where my daughter Erin was
born. Then off to Great Falls, MT (1973-76) where my second daughter was
born. Then off to Montgomery,
Alabama for a short time Ð back to Montana. Then off to San Jose, CA for one year (1976). By
the time we moved to Orange County
(lived in Anaheim), I had had it! During MikeÕs next 5 assignments
(including 1 year in Korea), I stayed in Anaheim. After MikeÕs
retirement in 1986 we moved to Placentia and in 1999 moved to Yorba Linda, CA.
While Mike was away in Korea, I became a student again at CSULB
(Long Beach) where I became a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in 1981, and finally
completed my MSN in 1987. I worked as a Public Health Nurse for Orange
County and then became a nurse practitioner in the same department. In
1983 I took a job as a school nurse in Pomona, CA.- I thought I had gone
to heaven. After having been a stay-at-home mom for 6 years and then
returning to the work force when we rejoined the California economy in 1977, I
was tickled to have vacation and summer time off with my girls. When we
moved to California - MikeÕs son Mikie (13 years old) joined us.
Well, we made it through the teen years alive and life is
good. Mike is a 6th grade teacher (3rd career) and loving it! I am
still a PNP at Pomona Unified School District. We both plan to retire in
the next couple years. Mikie lives close and we see him often. Erin
(31 yrs) is married and works as a marine biologist for the US Govt. in La Jolla, CA. Cristin (28 yrs) is a
chemist for a Research and Development Company in San Francisco. All are
doing well.
Bob Payne
Hi everyone,
Here is a brief bio
of my life since Monte Vista. Most importantly, my wife Donna and I have
been married for 34 years and have two wonderful daughters Ellen, 31 and
Emily, 26. Ellen and Don have been married for 10 years and have given us one
beautiful granddaughter, Megan who is almost 2.
I graduated from
USC in 1968 and spent 3 years in the Army Band in Washington, D.C.
After settling in L.A. I began a 34 year career as a freelance studio musician.
Early in my career I earned my Masters Degree in Music Composition from Cal
State L.A.
I have been very
fortunate to have played with or recorded with most of the great musicians and
entertainers in the business and have loved every minute of it. I have
played on over 200 motion pictures, in addition to records, commercials, T.V
shows, etc. and played for Broadway shows for much of my time in L.A. I am
grateful for the never ending support from my wife and family through the ups
and downs of the music business.
We recently
relocated to Fallbrook and feel at home again after too long away. I am still
commuting to L.A. on a part time basis but look forward to staying home as much
as possible.
I am unfortunately
not able to attend the reunion, but I will be there in spirit.
Best wishes, Bob
Payne
Rick
Pedigo
Wow, has it really been 40 years? It is amazing how fast
time passes by.
Right after graduation, the next weekend to be exact, I moved to
Phoenix Arizona. That fall I attended Arizona State University as an
Architecture major. After two years, I realized I did not want to be an
Architect, but had no idea what I wanted to do. I joined the Air Force,
and spent 4 years attempting to figure out what to be when I grew up. In
the Air Force I was a Nuclear Weapons Specialist, and got some exposure to
computer technology. When I returned to ASU, I changed majors to Computer
Science, and graduated with a BS in 1972.
After graduation I joined
EDS in San Francisco, and had the opportunity to be work on some special
projects for Ross Perot. He is an amazing person. I still live in the San
Francisco area. I left EDS after 5 years and returned to Graduate School
at UC Berkeley. I have an MBA in Marketing. I stayed in the
computer industry, and have specialized in Professional Consulting
Services. About a year ago, I left Ernst & Young, after a very long
career, to do a Systems Integrator start up. That is where I am today.
This career has been a great ride. It has always been challenging, ever
changing, and there never seems to be a lack of opportunity. Maybe I will
work forever!
I am one of those guys who married late. I did attend our
20 year reunion when my wife was pregnant with our first child. I
now have two sons, Joshua 19 and Ryan 18. Joshua is in college in Chico
and Ryan will be going to UC Riverside in the fall. My wife passed away a
few years ago, and I have remarried. My new wife also has two sons.
So we now have 4 children in college....another reason I will never retire.
We are a very active family. With four boys, there is
always something happening. One thing I love to do is power
boating. The recent picture of me was taken on my boat at Opening Day on
San Francisco bay in April of 2004. The second photo was taken on
our first vacation without our children. The vacation picture was taken
in Cancun in May 2004. A little less hair, a little more weight, but
really the same guy who graduated with all of you so many years ago.
I am sorry I will not be able to attend the 40 year
reunion. Having moved away right after graduation did not allow me to
stay in the area and keep in touch with anyone. However, the website has
provided the opportunity to hear what some people have done. It sounds
like many people have lead very interesting and productive lives.
However, it is sad to see that some of our classmates have passed away.
I wish everyone a continuing GREAT life. May each of you
enjoy the next 40 years as much as you have the past.
.
Linda Phillips Cornwell
Hi, everyone,
I guess you can say
I'm a survivor. I've been married twice. I have six kids from my
first marriage. Five sons, including a set of twins, and one
daughter. They are: Sean-39, Brian-38, Kennan (still Kenny to me
even though he's 6'4" and has lots of tattoos)-37, Deidre-30, and Brendan
and Liam-28. We divorced in 1979, but made our peace before he died 4
years ago. I have one daughter, Taylor, from my second marriage.
She was quite a little surprise, but because I was older when she was born, I
was more relaxed about being a mother and allowed her to be herself. She
is 20 and has just finished her second year at UCSD. She's majoring in
Classics studies and minoring in Philosphy. Her plans are to teach at the
University level. I think she and the academic life will be a perfect
fit. I can't say her father and I have made our peace. I talk about
him in the past tense because I wish he was dead! ;-) (for all you
Psychology majors, I know, I know, I still have issues)
The latest love of
my life is pixie faced, happy and sweet baby Michael Liam Trail, 18 months old,
my newest grandchild. He's the son of my younger twin, Liam. I have
included a picture of him. He's a lot cuter than his grandma. I
have 7 other grandchildren, including a step-grandaughter. When Deidre
has her second son in August, he'll be number 9. The kids and grands are
scattered all over the US from here to Florida. I wish they were all
closer. I'd love to have one of those Waltons holidays.
I've lived in
Imperial Beach since I moved back home in 1978, and I've worked at the Imperial
Beach Health Center since 1979. I was the
Billing
Co-ordinator until 4 years ago, when I decided it was time for a change and
accepted the position of Executive Assistant. We're a non-profit Clinic
and I have been involved in fundraising and grant writing to further the
clinic's mission that "Healthcare is a right, not a privilege".
I've had good
times, bad times, and times I would rather forget. I love working at the
clinic, especially the chance to see all the babies and little ones who come
there for help. It satisfies that baby hunger. I belong to a needle
working group and a quilt group, and love keeping in touch with my friends over
the internet. I have learned that if you don't laugh, including at
yourself, you'll cry all the time, so I try to laugh A LOT.
I am looking
forward to seeing everyone again.
Linda
Chris Piekunka Johnston
Here's a pic of me standing on our back deck (1st deck) at our
home in Montana. We have a wonderful breathe taking view of nature.
We brought the property and had our dream home built 2 years
ago. I love the slow pace here and total relaxation that the Bitterroot
offers.
Rich Pincott
After
graduating from Monte Vista, I stayed in Spring Valley and went to San Diego
State, and received my BS degree in marketing. I then moved to Los Angeles and received an MBA from USC.
During high
school and college, I worked part time at Alpha Beta. After USC, I worked in Alpha BetaÕs corporate office in La
Habra, CA. for two years. In 1974,
I thought I was going to start a small building company in Spring Valley, but
before I got started, I accepted an offer from an old friend to work in sales
in the printing industry, in Irvine, CA.
In 1983, I left the printing industry to work in commercial real
estate. It wasnÕt the building
business that I once dreamed about, but it was a lot closer then printing. I still work for the same company (CB
Richard Ellis) today, although the name has changed three times in the last 22
years.
In 1976, I met Lynne, my wonderful wife to be. We were married in 1977 and have a
daughter and a son. Kerri (now 24)
graduated from San Diego State two years ago, and Tom (now 22) has about a year
left at San Diego State.
Lynne works as
a dietitian, which is very helpful nowadays. Our current goals are to work less and spend more time
hiking and traveling. Retirement
is not in our current plans, but we are hoping that a shorter work week is in
the near future.
The past forty years have gone a little too fast, but over all
they have been great, and I am planning on the next forty, to be even better.
These are pictures of RichÕs wife Lynne and his
daughter, a picture of his son, and of course a picture of Rich.
Maria Ramirez Soto
I was thrilled to receive an invitation
for our 40th class reunion. I was shy and quiet during my one year
at MonteVIsta and didnÕt know too many people.
I was married for thirty years. I lost
my husband almost four years ago. He had cancer. We have five children, 1 boy,
Joseph Edward, 33 years old, Yvonne, 32, Cynthia, 29, Angelica, 27, and
Jessica, almost 23. We have 6 grandchildren, 4 boys and 2 girls, ages 14, 12,
9, 7, 6, and 4.
I work for the San Diego unified School
District-I am an ESL instructor (How ironic, thatÕs why I was so quiet, because
my English was limited.) I am president of the Friends of the Spring Valley
Library and I teach Religious Education at my church. (Volunteer)
Due to the fact that I didnÕt know how
to belong and nobody took the time, I am now the proud sponsor and coordinator
of Extra Curricular Club at our school site. (Volunteer) I am also our school
site (McKinley Elementary, San Diego) Volunteer Coordinator, Parent Involvement
and Student Advocate. I am also going to start volunteering for Hospice.
I will probably not be able to attend,
but I wish you success for the 40th class reunion and best wishes to
everyone. Have a great time!
Diane Ramsdell Montgomery
After high school, I went to Biola University, met my husband
Robin and
We were married in 1968. We lived in Arlington, VA while he was
in the Army in the
White House Communications Agency. We settled back in Corona and
had Kelly, now
33, Kara, 30, and Nathan 28. Rob became a pastor and was
ordained in 1983. We
home-schooled our children for 9 years, graduated them, and then
I went back to
college. I received a BA in English from Biola U. in 1992. At
the present time
I work for Riverside Life Services Pregnancy Counseling Center
as the Volunteer
Developer and counselor. I have just been promoted to
Administrative
Assistant.
Our lives have always centered around our church, Crest Ave.
Baptist Church
in Riverside. My husband has been the pastor here for 21 years,
I am the church
pianist, we are youth leaders, and I teach a ladies Bible study
class. Our
desire has always been to share what God's Word has to say about
Jesus Christ,
our lives, our purpose, and eternity!
We are blessed with 2 grandsons 5 and 4, and 2 granddaughters,
11 and 2.
Last year we went to Hawaii for our 35th anniversary. In 10 days
we are going
to upper MI to see our son and 3 little ones. Life is good, God
is good, and we
are content. I am SO looking forward to seeing all of
you soon!
Marta (Marty Schiefer) Roffey
is now living on the shores of lovely Lake Rosseau, with husband
Jim, just three
hours north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is the Food Service
and Housekeeping Director at Camp Frenda and Jim is the Head Ranger at the
youth camp owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist
Church. It is a breathtaking place to live and work.
Their own home is in the Madawaska Hills, near
Ottawa, where they are rebuilding their 150 year old log home on 48 acres of
wooded property. Marta and Jim have four children, Joey 36 who lives in
Pacific Beach, California; Wendy 35, who is married with two daughters 15
and 12, living near Tampa, Florida; Amy 30, who is married with
a son 8 years living in Woodstock, Ontario; and Wes 26, who is married
with a 1 1/2 year old son living in Brantford Ontario.
Before moving to Camp Frenda, in 2003, Marta
and Jim worked for eight years in North Georgia just 11 miles south
of the Tennessee border. They lived in the foothills of the Blue Ridge
mountains at Cohutta Springs Camp & Convention center. Marta
owned and operated a very successful Bridal business in downtown Chatsworth
before moving back to Canada.
In 1996 Marta and Jim returned from 8 years mission
service in Africa. They left Canada in 1988 for Rwanda, East
Africa, running an orphanage on the shores of Lake Muhazi. Then they built
and operated an orphanage near Kampala, Uganda, East Africa, on the shores of
Lake Victoria. After two years they were transferred to Burkina
Faso, a predominately Muslim country in West Africa, where
they directed an agricultural school. Finally they were
sent to Mauritania, West Africa, another Muslim country, on the
shores of the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa until 1996 when they returned to
Canada.
Life has been an amazing spiritual adventure that has
only just begun. We have just scratched the surface.
A Short History Ð Jim Schwedler
1964-1969
Attend San
Diego State College receiving a BS in Civil Engineering
1968
Marry
Irene Timoschik
1969-1970
Work as a
Civil Engineer for the City of San Diego Ð Draft deferment disappears, so I
join the Air Force.
1970-1976
USAF as a
B-52 Navigator stationed in Sacramento and Guam.
!976 Call
it quits with the Air Force and Irene.
Receive custody of two daughters, Stephanie and Kristine.
1976-1980
Single
parenthood and Grad School at Cal State Sacramento. (MBA in 1984).
Working for Aerojet, Rocket
Propulsion Company, in Sacramento.
!980 Marry
Sandi Hatton, a local Sacramento girl, who assumes the duties of step-mom as
well as my wife.
1980-1996
Continue
working at Aerojet through a varying number of assignments, ultimately managing
the Inspection Department for AerojetÕs Sacramento operations.
November 1996 Realize
that IÕm not cut out for the management tract, and request a voluntary
layoff. Sandi and I buy a retail
gift shop where Sandi has worked for about 8 years. 2nd careers can be fun.
March 1997 Sandi is diagnosed with non Hodgkins
lymphoma, and after a valiant fight passes away in December. I continue to run the shop with the
help of some fantastic employees whom I will be forever indebted to. Remember, IÕm an engineerÉ..the shop is
a ÒCountry Gifts and CollectiblesÓ business. I learn fast!!!
October 1999 I meet Patsy Edwards when she takes a stencilling class from
me at the shop. We are married two
years later in Mendocino. I now
have two grown daughters from my first marriage and three step children (Kelly,
Alex, and Bonnie) from my marriage to Patsy.
2000
Aerojet
asks me to return. I go back on a
contract basis half-time at first and then rejoin the company full time in 2001
as a Quality Engineer on multiple development programs, mostly NASA stuff. The work is challenging, I supervise
one employeeÉ.ME, family life is rewarding, and life is good.
2003
I close
the gift shop, just couldnÕt do both jobs well and have a life too.
Current
address: 860
School Street
Folsom,
CA 95630
Phone: (916)984-8000
E Mail: jmswoody@comcast.net
Hobbies: Woodworking,
watercolor painting, learning to play guitar, good food, good wine, and good
family and friends.
Jennifer Shacklett Lewis
As far as a bio goes,
itÕs not all that exciting. Fred and I have been married 25 years, and
itÕs been a lot of fun, with his media career, and all the things I have been
involved in. I retired as Manager on Investor Relations and Corporate
Strategy at SDG&E in 1990 because of health reasons (I have rheumatoid
arthritis and have had 46 operations over the years). I have served on
several boards and committees, and in May received an Honorary Doctorate degree
from Alliant International University for the work I had done for them.
Last year, I
resigned from all those organizations and took up oil painting. I love
it! Here is the last one that IÕve done: The next one is a picture of my husband, Fred, step-daughter Lynn, me,
and son-in-law James at an Arthritis Foundation gala where we were honored last
year.
Jainie Sunderson Kinsman
I married a Navy
man right after high school and we had two children in the next two
years. We moved to Riverside where we lived until
Nov.1969; at that time, my husband decided that he no longer wished
to be married, so my children and I moved back to San Diego. I got a
hospital job and went to nursing school, and for the past 31 years, I've
been an Emergency Room nurse, working in the hospital and as a critical
care transport nurse. I was married for 15 years to an
El Cajon firefighter and together we raised my two children and his 2
boys. Fred and I divorced in 1988, but remain good friends. I
lived in Kansas City for about 6 years from 1994 until the end on 2000
when I moved back to San Diego to care for my mother. In March,
2004, she moved to an assissted living in Kansas near one
of my brothers. I had loved my years in the midwest with the
changing seasons and fireflies. so, when my mom moved, I decided to
move also, but this time to South Carolina, because my daughter and
her family (with 4 wonderful kids) live here. Although it is very warm,
I love it! My son still lives in the San Diego area where
he owns a construction company. He has 2 great kids. One
stepson lives in Idaho and he and his wife have 3 children. The other
stepson lives in San Diego and he and his wife have one child. So, at
this point, I have been blessed with 10 wonderful grandchildren and a
career that I still love. I have been and continue to be very
fortunate in this life. Am driving out to San Diego and
am looking forward to seeing all of you at the reunion.
Gail Terrebonne
Pierce
Bill (Class of 62) and I have been married 38
years. We have three children, Brian a plumber living in Temecula, CA,
Ron a plumbing contractor living in Sun Valley, Idaho, and Julie a teacher
living in Sunnyvale, CA. We have one grandson (Garrett, age 11)
from Ron's first marriage. He is the light of our lives. We
retired and sold our business, Pierce Mechanical, Inc. in 1992. We live
part time in El Cajon, and the rest in Tendoy, Idaho. We're
about 20 miles south of Salmon on the Lemhi River. Our grandson loves to
come hunt and fish with his grandpa and golf with grandma. I started an
investment club in Idaho, and belong to an art guild. Then
a couple years ago I decided to go back to work when we are down here. So,
I keep books for a couple of small construction companies. It's a
great filler and I am still able to come and go as I like. Flying was my
passion for 8 years or so but then Ron our second son started racing off road
and a lot of our time went to that; along with Bill being a white knuckle
flyer, I could only go to lunch with my daughter to Catalina or Palm Springs so
much. Bill says he would like me to take it up again and on
beautiful 100 mile days it is tempting, but I think commercial is our first
choice right now. Our kids are our joys. Brian is settling into his
new home in Sun City, CA, Ron and his wife Gina are remodeling a home in
Ketchum, ID and Julie is moving into her new condo in Sunnyvale, CA this
week. We spend time visiting them and playing golf. We are looking
forward to seeing everyone at the reunion. 40 YEARS!!! WOW!
Nick Tingle
I am now at age 58 a teacher, with PhD, in the Writing Program
at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
I have a webpage at:
http://www.writing.ucsb.edu/faculty/tingle/index.htm
Sara Wade Beddows
Dear fellow Monarchs -
Which is probably the first time I have written that phrase since
1964...Back then, you knew me as Sari Wade.
Knowing you three are particularly and most likely to be in the
final throes of preparation for this Saturday's reunion, I slide in at the last
minute and would like to convey my long distance greetings and wish all of you
a great gathering.
This is not the time or venue to synopsize a bio or explain that
while I was elected as "most likely to succeed" I thought it was
"most likely to secede..." Sigh. I have been primarily
unreachable while living in many places in several congealed lifetimes.
Still, I have nothing but admiration for the spirit and enthusiasm that your
efforts have organized and gathered and Judy, your pictures are an amazing
time machine to the past.
I am living in Minnesota - yes, they do run out of temperature here
and operate sub-zero - with my husband who is a native Minnesotan. On
Saturday I will wave at you all. Thank you for looking for so many of us
who dropped out of sight - everyone in the pictures looks happy and genuinely
recognizable (as opposed to when we were actually IN high school...)
Have a great day. Please give my regards. Thank you for
keeping the faith on all our behalf.
Sara Beddow
PS - I am not sure but I think that Diane Ramsdell? may have left a
message for me and a number but we must not have gotten it correctly as I was
not able to return the call. If you are able, would you please convey my
greetings/apologies.
Betsy Walsh Wright
Monte Vista Class of '64: Because of a long-planned
trip to Japan to visit our son, Ben, who is living and working there, we will
miss the big reunion. I had such fun at previous reunions and am so
disappointed to miss this one. If anyone is interested in contacting me
please e-mail rosebetsy@aol.com.
My
life, condensed into a few lines, includes my 26 year marriage to Phillip, who
is a cardiovascular surgeon. I have pursued my nursing career intermittently
while raising our 4 children, and am presently working as an oncology nurse in
an outpatient chemotherapy clinic. I love my work. Our 4 children,
one son and 3 daughters, are the absolute joy of our lives. Sarah is
living and working in Oakland, Sabrina is still in school and living in LA, and
Samantha, our youngest, just finished her freshman year at NYU. The nest
has definitely been re-configured. Except for a 6 year interval in Texas,
we have lived in and love the Bay Area. It seems like only yesterday, and
yet a million years ago, that we were all Monarchs together, a time of wonderful
memories for me. Hope to see you all at the 45th.
Loydell
(Dell) White Ford
I was lost
but now I'm found --
Hello
Everyone!
I'm so glad
you found me! I think you found me
around the same time as you found Bonnie Melton who sent a pretty entertaining
bio. The pictures and the bio
information on the web site are great.
I love the Casa De Ore and birthday party pictures that Judy posted. I was found so late that I had decided
that I just couldn't attend. My
husband and I made quite a few commitments for the week-end, including a party
at our house. So last night, I
copied the pictures and bios and took them home and read them with my mom who
got just as excited as I did about seeing and reading about everyone. Then my husband said he thought we
should just go. After all, how
often can you go to your 40th High School Reunion? Once in a lifetime, right? So we are busy canceling and rescheduling things so we can
attend. If Bonnie Melton can drop everything and go at the last minute, then so
can I!!
So this is
what's been happening for me over the last 40 years. After high school, I worked at San Diego Convalescent
Hospital and then attended college in Texas for a while. I got married in 1967, worked in LA
while my husband finished at UCLA, and then we both attended the University of
Oregon for VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) training and were accepted
into the program. As VISTA
volunteers, we lived in a deserted migrant farm worker camp in Safford,
Arizona. Various poor families had
taken over the migrant camp making a living at what ever they could find. I established and managed a preschool
through community collaboration and donations (no federal or state funds) which
was later funded by the newly emerging federal Head Start program. I also served as a VISTA Leader for
projects located on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. This was a life changing experience
that impacted the rest of my decisions later in life. I was a stay-at-home Mom and college student from 1970 Ð
1977. I attended various colleges
as I followed my husbandÕs jobs to San Bernadino where my daughter ( Wendi) was
born in 1970, then to Santa Rosa where my son (Martin) was born in 1972, then
to Ukiah, CA. My education and
training is in early childhood/family development and community
organization. In 1977 we moved to
Salem, Oregon where I went to work as Child Care Director for the statewide
Oregon Migrant Farmworker organization.
In 1979, I got divorced and began working as the Parent Educator and
Special Projects Coordinator for Family Head Start based in Salem and serving
three counties. In 1980, I became
the Director of Family Head Start.
In 1991, I was hired at the Department of Education as Director of the
Oregon Head Start Collaboration Project, a partnership of the Governor's
Office, Department of Education and the Head Start Association. I was a single working Mom for nine
years before remarrying in 1988.
In 1997, I was selected as one of ten applicants in a national
competition to serve in the National Head Start Fellowship program. I took a leave of absence from the
Department of Education and lived on Capitol Hill in Washington DC for a year
to serve as a Head Start Fellow working at the national Head Start Bureau on
Head Start reauthorization and early childhood policy issues. My husband accompanied me to DC. This was a stimulating and fun
experience! We love the metro
system there. We almost never
drove our car anywhere and took full advantage of the historical sites, museums
and activities throughout the area.
We lived within walking distance of the Library of Congress and attended
all the FREE concerts there, stopping at a Pub for dinner on the way. Currently, I'm back at my job as
Director of the Oregon Head Start Collaboration Project.
My daughter,
Wendi, has her MPH (Masters in Public Health) and works at the Health
Department in Portland, Oregon, as the Program Coordinator for Children with
Heritable Conditions. My son,
Martin, works at Salem Hospital as an Operating Room Surgical Assistant and is
a single Dad. I am
"Grammi" to his two children, Jessie (age 6) and Tyler (age 5), I have a wonderful husband who is a Realtor
and who is "Papi" to the grandchildren. My Mom moved to Salem in March, 2002. She was quit sick at the time and moved
in with us. My Dad sold our house
in Spring Valley and moved to Salem in June 2002. We are currently building a large house on a lake that will
be wheel chair accessible and will accommodate my parents and us living in the
house and all the visiting children and grandchildren. My Mom is 85 and my Dad is 87 -- both are active and in good health. We are involved in a fun and
stimulating Book Club, love to trek down to Ashland for the plays at the
Shakespeare Festival every Labor Day week-end and have a great network of
supportive friends and family. We are taking a three week trip to China in
October.
I'm looking
forward to seeing everyone and hearing your stories. I hope more people put their bios on the web!