1960s
1960s
60 We Keep Truckin’
I guess I made an error in thinking there would be a lot of responses to my request for short notes on how you feel to be 80. I have not received a single reply. Maybe too much concentration and not enough on carpe diem? Who are the minireunion attendees going to be for the Vandy game Sept. 15? Minireunion dinner will be at Morris Park Country Club Friday, Sept. 14, at 6 p.m. Let me know that you are coming and add some news from your neck of the woods. A nice note came from George Ryan. Thanks for keeping us informed about classmates who have passed. It’s sad to realize that our numbers are dwindling, but those remaining are still a force for good in our society. May God continue to shower our class with blessings and may we respond in a way that is pleasing to Him. Mike McKee says, “wasn't O’Reilly an absolute riot? Freshman year he came up to me after an intramural football game. He’d been playing linebacker and boasted about how hard he had hit this runner. I asked him if he’d remembered to use a face guard, as I saw none on his helmet. He said, ‘Naw, Mike, I don’t need one of dem things. See?’ And at this point he took his thumb and pushed his nose in, flat into his face. ‘Ya see, Mike, I've already played some ball.’” RIP, Phil. For six years, Jane and Nick Healy have worked to start a new Catholic college in Ireland. Nick says, “Here is a note to explain why someone my age was relocating to a foreign country to undertake the task of running a school. Newman College Ireland is about to complete its fourth year and have its first graduation. Jane and I are in New Hampshire now, but will return to Ireland April 9 and stay there through graduation. Our plans for the next academic year are not yet determined. Ireland has suffered a decline in the faith greater I think than any other western nation. In 1965, Maynooth was the largest seminary in Ireland with 500 seminarians, and there were nine other seminaries. Today, Maynooth is the only diocesan seminary left and this year they admitted six seminarians. That is in a country of 26 dioceses. Anyway, as God gives me and Jane the strength, we want to do what we can to prepare the seeds for the renewal of the Church that we are confident God will inspire. We are 100 percent Irish ancestry and feel a debt of gratitude to our ancestors who held the faith and passed it down to us despite great hardship and persecution. We do miss the Arizona weather.” From Joan and Tom Torri: “We were recently on campus with Marcine who is with the Badin Guild and who invited us to breakfast in the Morris Inn. Our Lady's Consort provided some beautiful music for us too. Then there was a Mass at Bond Hall followed by a picnic on the South Quad. The entire South Quad was filled from O’Shaughnessy Hall down to the Rockne Memorial building. It was grand. There was a line from the Log Chapel back over to Corby Hall for those making a visit to the chapel. The Holy Spirit was present.” — Joseph F. Jansen; 9190 Southmont Cove, No. 103, Ft. Myers FL 33908; 239-461-0980; cell 317-514-4478; jfjansen@aol.com
61 Put Your Mind to It
They say that lightning never strikes twice in the same place. We all know that is not necessarily true, but it is rare. The same is true for Abbie’s invitation for you to stop by and visit while you are on your way through South Texas. And it happened a week or 10 days ago. Edward McCarron and his lovely wife Rita stopped by. They live in Virginia but came to Texas to visit their children who have migrated to Texas. (We say, “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could.”) We had a great visit. Ed is retired from IBM. He worked for IBM from the time of his release from active duty in the Marine Corps (of course) in 1964. They spent time with one of their kids in Houston and were on their way to San Antonio to visit another. So, you see you can stop by if you put your mind to it. On March 17, members attended the St Patrick's Day Parade in Naples FL. I have not been favored with a list of attendees, but I am confident one will come, and I can pass it along. On the 17th they gathered at St. Anne's Church and the parade kicked off at 11 a.m. Along with the parade, a class dinner was hosted by Frank Annese at the Talis Park Country Club. The class gathered at 5 p.m. followed by a Mass at 5:30 and dinner. Most of you don't know her, but Nancy Sheets, who helped with class notes for Notre Dame Magazine, has retired. You have no idea how many times she has saved these notes when my tech skills or the lack hereof came out. I will miss her, she was great. Elizabeth Groupp advised me of the passing of our classmate George S. Macor. She said there were many proud Domers in attendance, and they incorporated the Alma Mater into the music of the Mass. She and two siblings are Domers as well. Larry McEvoy of our class served as a pallbearer. Many of our classmates need our prayers. When asked by friends how we are doing, Abbie and I respond, “I’m acting my age.” As the saying goes it’s not for sissies. Among those needig prayers is Chilton Maverick. (You may have known him as Chilton Swartsberg). He suffered a stroke and needs prayers. We are all about the same age, so let's all pray for each other. I know you are tired of hearing about me. It seems you work very hard for 50-60 years and when you step down, all the accolades come in. I was selected by the board of Marquis Who's Who for the 2017 lifetime achievement award. This award is, “An honor reserved for Marquis biographees who have achieved career longevity and demonstrated unwavering excellence in their chosen fields.” I thought no one was looking. That’s about it. I assure you Abbie’s at the front door with the latchstring out just waiting for you to drop in on your way through South Texas. Y’all come. — Joseph P. (Pat) Kelly; 2103 N. Wheeler St., Victoria TX 77901; 361-573-9982; jpkellytx@sbcglobal.net
61JD Class Secretary — John N. Moreland;
jnmnd1958@aol.com
62 Serious Fun
Bob Kenny participated in the Gin Rummy Association tournament in Las Vegas in November, ranking fourth in the country and second in the partnership competition going in. Bob, when asked how this came about, said upon going into the Air Force after graduation, he perfected his bridge and gin rummy skills in the officer’s club “battling advanced degree-holders from West Point, MIT and Stanford. T’was a good, but humbling path in the early going but it was a perfect training center.” Bob is engaged in a prison ministry at Georgia’s toughest max-security prison. He takes communion to those in solitary and says it “is likely the most intense and rewarding thing I've ever done. We need to do a much better job for the incarcerated in this country.” Jim Krauser organized our class’s 16th golf and social outing in March in Naples FL. About 50 attended the social at Pat and Angelo Dabiero’s home, followed by lunch, golf, and dinner the next day. Some 38 classmates and 26 spouses were at the dinner, which included first timers Dave Bouton, Dick Caffarelli, Jim Higgins and Clem McDonald. A number also attended the annual St. Patrick’s Day Mass in Naples. The golf portion of the event attracted six foursomes, with the team of Earl Linehan, Bruce Odlaug, Arm Reo and George Williams coming in first. Others attending the social events or golf included George Anderson, Joe Bolt, Bill Moston, Tony Casale, Dick Dyniewicz, Ray Kelly and George Scharpf. Class vice presidents Don Candido and Bill Ford were there along with John Goverau, John Guenin, Mike Hanley, Mike Loparco, George Mammola and Don Imbus. Some of the Floridians participating were Ted Nylese, Dave Scalise, Paul Sica, Ted Middendorf, Tom Weber and Dave Eckrich. The Chicago contingent included Bill Snyder, Walt Kelly, Jack Jiganti, Bob Henry, Jack Madigan, John Ryan and Bill Weinsheimer. After graduation, Jim Higgins went to law school at night while working as a security officer with the State Department and served on the first inquiry into Lee Harvey Oswald’s travels to the Soviet Union. Jim entered the Navy JAG program upon graduation and then spent two years with the Federal Trade Commission followed by 26 years with Westinghouse and Raytheon. In 2000, he started a law practice in the Philadelphia area “and still works at it.” Jim also served as a Radnor Township Commissioner for 15 years, retiring in December. Rene Muller published his seventh book, The Four Domains of Mental Illness: An Alternative to the DSM-5, with the subtitle, A Guide to Diagnosing Pathological Alterations in Mental Life Based on Adolph Meyer’s Psychobiology, The Johns Hopkins Perspectives of Psychiatry and the Existentialists’ Avowal of the Self as Active Agent. Rene said that “in the course of evaluating more than 3,000 ER patients, over a period of 10 years, I slowly began to realize that a significant fraction of the patients (with) prior psychiatric treatment had been wrongly diagnosed, especially with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and wrongly medicated in many instances.” As a result, the FDMI was born in the effort to redress this unbelievable situation. “What I offer is an alternative way to understand and diagnose mental illness.” Rene has an interesting op-ed piece you can read by googling Muller Baltimore Sun Football. Bill Murphy, Cleveland, passed away on March 5. Harold Huecker died on Jan. 19 in Maryland. Dave Maraist, who left early to go to med school, died Dec. 29 in Louisiana. — Raymond Raedy; 5310 Rileys Ridge Road, Hillsborough NC 27278; 919-967-8816; nd62secy@medicinemanremedies.com
62JD Class Secretary — Paul K. Rooney;
1209 Oakmont Drive, No. 2, Walnut Creek CA 94595; rooneypaul12@gmail.com
63 Being with Old Friends
By the time this is published, we will have celebrated our 55th reunion, and be full of stories true and fanciful that come from being with old friends. I want to thank those who were responsive to my request that they share stories of their life with their classmates and friends. Michael McCarthy writes from Vassar, where he is retired from classroom teaching, but remains active as a scholar and writer. He recently published his latest book, Toward a Catholic Christianity. While unlikely to be a best seller with its $110 price tag, it received excellent reviews. Stuart Hilbert and his wife Barbara have retired from teaching at the U of Michigan. They started a business called The Jade Dragon that focuses on Chinese and Japanese art. This gives them the opportunity to attend international fine arts fairs in New York, London, Beijing and Hong Kong each year. Brian Richardson reports that he and Elaine were in Naples FL and celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with Susie and Vic Trino, Joanne and Pat O’Brien, Karen and Cliff Angers, Karen and Pat Conway, Crista and Greg Schwartz, Betty and Terry Desmond, Sandy and Mickey Walker and Mary Ann and Larry Morgan. Prior to that, they sat next to Cynthia and Tom Prisby at a Notre Dame Club luncheon with Coach Brian Kelly as the speaker. Peggy and I were in Naples the week before attempting (and failing) to get the rust off our golf swings. We had the opportunity to have long, conversation-filled dinners twice with King Cruger and his true love, Darcy Pavlik. Randy Wise reports that he retired from Morgan Stanley after 33 years as a financial adviser. Prior to that, he retired from the Navy after 21 years as a Navy Seal/carrier attack pilot. He continues competing in national master’s swim meets, skydiving and traveling globally. Dave Ames had a bad fall Jan. 31 and it resulted in a brain bleed. He spent a month in a trauma unit, and after surgery, he had a month in a recovery center. He needs further therapies, so is in an assisted living facility close to his children and grandchildren. He uses email, so contact him with your good wishes at david.ames@gmail.com. Bill Dinger contracted a lung ailment, perhaps related to exposure to mold. He spent a good portion of the winter hospitalized. As I write this, he’s in a rehab center learning how to breathe without, hopefully, needing to tote around oxygen. He vows he’ll be playing golf this summer. Brian Shea is recovering from rotator cuff surgery, and expects his golf handicap will rise, which is bad news for his opponents. He reports that Dick Juckniess, a fellow fine arts major, passed away in March after a fall. In early February, Mike Roche passed away just six weeks after Kathy, his wife of 47 years, died. Mike was a proud triple Domer from ND High School, the University and Notre Dame Law School. Mike was a nationally prominent litigation attorney who was active in community and charity affairs in the Chicago area. On April 17, Mike McDonnell died. He grew up in Davenport IA and had lived and worked in the corporate world in the Chicago area since graduation. He leaves his wife Judie, six children and numerous grandchildren. Please continue to send me information about you and yours. — John O’Brien; 1246 Denbigh Lane, Radnor PA 19087; 610-529-0811; jgob41@yahoo.com
63JD Remembering Two Classmates
On Dec. 30, Jim Eichelberger passed away in Decatur GA. Less than 90 days later, on March 21, Tony Calderone followed. They were two big guys with big hearts. Tony leaves Sandy, two sons, six daughters, 21 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. His granddaughter Ashleigh Calderone received her MBA degree from Notre Dame in 2016. After a few years in the DA’s office Tony went into private practice where he served the residents of Battle Creek for the rest of his life. He was active in his parish, president of the County Bar Association and by just being Tony. All the while, in Atlanta, Jim Eichelberger had a general private practice serving his community for decades. He was active in his parish, president of the Notre Dame Club of Atlanta and with the same integrity we remember. Jim leaves Jan, four sons, a daughter and six grandchildren.The Notre Dame Day 2018 live video webcast in April featured interviews of prominent ND alumni. Two law school graduates were interviewed: former Prof. Amy Barrett ’97, recently appointed to the Seventh District Court of Appeals and Norm Matteoni. The news from Norm’s interview is that he has recently completed a new book Ghost Man Conspiracy. It is a follow-up to Prairie Man but focuses on the last 30 days of Chief Sitting Bull’s life and how he was affected by the new but rapidly spreading Ghost Dance religion. Jim Lekin reports that at the end of last year our class scholarship fund had $161,226. Each year a total of about $8,000 is given to law school students with some usually unexpected financial issue. It is a great concept that probably will be described by a grateful recipient many years from now in one of these Class Notes. Meanwhile, the shelf life of the fund is severely limited by the fact that there are only 22 of us still on the shelf. For whatever it is worth, from now on each time I am given the option to contribute to my favorite charity rather than sending flowers, I will be contributing to our class fund. — Bob Saxe; 15725 Ranchero Drive, Morgan Hill CA 95037; bsaxe5@aol.com
64 Four Lawyers Lunched
They were John Hargrove, Jack Harty, Dick Meunch and Jack McCabe. McCabe said with four attorneys at the table, “the first liar didn’t have a chance.” Frank Fee writes from Palm Beach Gardens that he and Barbara had lunch with Loretta and John Meyer, Claire and Tom Fox and Mike Moore. Frank reported that all looked good, with John reasonably recovered following his golf cart flip over and hospitalization a year ago. The Fees enjoyed a great 2017 fall attending Dartmouth football games. Their grandson is a first team All-Ivy offensive tackle. I got a report from the GIGS who attended the ND Georgia game and then traveled back east for BC. The entire group (Jim Baker, Jack Lonergan, Carl Massarini, Dick Russell, Dave Kostolansky and spouses) then ferried over to Nantucket for some R&R, only to be prematurely chased off the island by a hurricane. I got the lowdown on Sal Leccese via Fred Heroman. After ND, Sal returned to Rochester and joined his father’s construction business, before heading to California a year later. He spent a couple of years with Bechtel working on the BART project before becoming a Vista volunteer. He hoped to head to some troubled community where he could work wonders. It turns out that he was sent to a community action program in Hawaii. Tough duty. With this good experience, Sal opened a branch of the family business in Orlando and started developing residential properties, with a focus on rental apartments. He is still active in this business with properties under construction in five states. This needs to work as Sal has a big family, including 16 grandchildren. Fred describes 2017 as a “wonderful year.” He has four kids and nine grandchildren. He and Susie took the trip of a lifetime, a cruise from Barcelona to Athens with many stops in between. Fred writes from Baton Rouge that he has dealt successfully with a few health issues, but all seems under control for the time being. Dave Nardone reports that he and his better half have lived in Oregon since 1975, raising three daughters. He spent his entire career as a clinician-educator and primary care internist at the VA Portland and the Oregon Health & Science U. Retiring six years ago, he remains busy as an advocate for seniors and veterans. I finally caught up with old friend Dennis McCracken via Gene Koster. Dennis and Susan are still in St. Louis, having retired from Monsanto in 2002. He was a finance and accounting executive. They have six children and four grandchildren and spend the summers in Jackson Hole where they do volunteer work. Joe Sperber and Valerie have been married for almost 50 years and have three boys and 10 grandchildren. He focused on real estate law with the Davis Polk firm in NYC and continues to be very connected to Georgetown Law. They live in East Williston, Long Island. Joe reported on the January death of his roommate Chuck Siebert. After ND, Chuck earned his law degree from St. Louis U and practiced in that city. He retired early and fought a 20-year battle with Parkinson’s. Ray Sullivan of Princeton Junction NJ also died in January. A civil engineer for more than 40 years, Ray is survived by Valerie, four children and nine grandchildren. Bill Bosworth reports that Jack Flynn of Bernardsville NJ passed away in March. He is survived by Marie, two daughters and five grandchildren. He served in Vietnam, worked for the CIA and was a senior counsel for a consulting firm. Keep the news coming. — Paul R. Charron; 44 Contentment Island Road, Darien CT 06820; 203-655-3930; paul.richard.charron@gmail.com
64JD Weathering the Storm
My last report began with a comment about the weather as I gazed out my den window onto a yard full of snow. I also wrote that the next report would surely be prepared during sunny warm weather. No way. In the words of mythical King John Barley IV, my comment was fake news (dilly, dilly). Today in late April, we still have snow and cold tormenting the Bend. On the positive side, the cold and wintry wetness relieves me from yard work and promotes conversations with classmates. In general, our mates have weathered a long, difficult winter ameliorated by travel to warm places and spending more time with family and friends. Jack Kopko is shutting down his bankruptcy practice and is contemplating relocating with Adele to the Palm Springs where their daughter is a doctor on staff of the Eisenhower Medical Center. Bob Cash and Eileen are returning to Cincinnati in May after wintering in Venice FL. Bob is sporting a new appendage following successful hip surgery this spring. Bob Frost continues to lead our class as the subject of medical procedures, having scheduled a third hip replacement this spring. His second needed fixing. Jim Mercurio also has been part of our medical brigade and reported that his shoulders have healed to the extent that he can resume playing tennis. We also had a good conversation about the political frenzy griping DC and the country. Tom Conneely continues his passion for hiking in the Bay area and is joined on long treks by spouse Kay who recently retired from United Airlines. Dorothy and Jack Jiganti have returned from Florida to a new apartment in downtown Chicago. He sends his best wishes for good health to everyone. Bob Hanlon is working in his litigation practice in New Jersey. We recently talked about aspects of ND that inspire us, and leading the list was our daily email from FaithND and its thoughtful reflections on the gospels. Russ Bley passes on his greetings to all. He is planning an interesting trip to Cuba soon and can compare notes with Tom Conneely, who took a similar trip earlier this year. Mary and Jack Rammel enjoy good health enhanced by a cruise to Hawaii. Marian and Jim Slater plan an interesting land/sea excursion to Croatia that will focus on Ivan Mestrovic, the great sculptor, whose pieta is on view in Sacred Heart Basilica, where Sharon and I serve as docents. Jim has been trying to lessen the size of his complex arbitration/mediation practice. Frank Miele is well in Manhattan and active at the NY MET and the American Ballet Theater. Frank remains our class’s workout warrior, daily running 6-8 miles, cycling at least that and stretching and weight lifting. Charles Sacher has withstood the rigors of the tax season in his estate/tax practice. I talk with him regularly and can report he is well. Lastly, Lou Pfeiler asks for our prayers for Carol, who is having worsening health issues. Let us all give Lou and Carol a spiritual hug. May the Lord care for her always. — Richard Wagner; 1204 Erskine Manor Hill, South Bend IN 46614; 574-299-9888; cell 760-567-1270; rswagnersb@gmail.com
65 Success at Public Relations
Robert Dilenschneider continues to serve as chairman of the Dilenschneider Group in NYC, which he founded in 1991 to provide advice and improved communications within many business sectors. After ND, he earned an MA at Ohio State U and wrote advice booklets, which are available on Amazon. He lives in Darien CT. Irene and Ed Ojdana continue to make outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon from the Diamond Mountain District in Napa Valley. Their web site, vineyard511.com, is worth a visit. At our 50th, Ed graciously donated wine for our Thursday dinner. His gift was done quietly without any expectation of recognition. The mystery is how a man from Canton OH could land in Napa Valley and make excellent wine. Tim Griffin has retired to Beverly Shores IN after having worked in Cottage Grove, Chicago. After retirement, Louise and Mike Koetters divided their time between homes in Hilton Head and Glendale OH. Recently they sold their Hilton Head home and are living in the Cincinnati area. In January, Jack Barstow died in Dayton OH. His daughter, Susan, wrote that he had two careers, one with Standard Register and the other as a realtor with Remax. In retirement, Jack was a docent at the Wright Aviation Center and chairman of the Dayton Police History Foundation. His first wife, Rosie, died in 2006 and he is survived by his second wife, Rose, two daughters and brother, Bill ’69. Bagpipes were played at the funeral and the Victory March was sung. In March, Ron Litz died. He is survived by his wife, Patricia. Ron had a career with ExxonMobil and lived in Baton Rouge LA. After 53 years, many in our class have retired and are pursuing new dreams. Please write and share. — James P. Harnisch MD; 6759 West Mercer Way, Mercer Island WA 98040; jpharnischnd65@hotmail.com
65JD Reporting In
Gadzooks, I have heard from classmates. Jim Flynn is alive and reports, “I am neither humble nor reclusive, but I remain in Evansville IN where I began to practice law after graduation in 1965. In 2005, I was ordained a permanent deacon for the Diocese of Evansville and began what turned out to be a two-year process of retirement from the law practice. In 2015 at age 75, as required by Canon Law, I submitted my diaconal resignation, and am completely retired. But with nine children in two marriages, I have 26 grandchildren to distract me from arthritis.” John McQuillan checked in: “In June 2015, many of us attended a 50-year reunion for our law school class of 1965. We were treated well by ND and the law school. It was fun to have meals and conversations with old friends. Since January 2006, I have been fully retired. My law partnership was an insurance defense firm with the main office in Merrillville IN. The name of the firm was Spangler, Jennings and Dougherty PC. We did trial work in civil cases in state and federal courts. In retirement and to fill my time, I attended to 14 grandchildren in Indiana, Texas and Ohio. Our home town is Valparaiso IN and we live near Valparaiso U where I audited 20 classes over the retirement years. For the last year, I volunteered as a Casa, court appointed special advocate, in juvenile court. I am appointed to represent abused and neglected children, not as a lawyer or guardian ad litem, just as a friend of the court and spokesperson for the kids. Best regards to my classmates.” — John Donald O’Shea; pelagius@qconline.com
66 Staying Tuned
You will likely peruse this after the 52nd anniversary of our ND commencement. Pat McRedmond from Nashville stirred the pot to generate attendance and I expect to hear who made it to campus, as part of the 50-Year Club. I had the opportunity to speak by phone with Dr. Jim Curran down Atlanta way. Jim is dean of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory U, following a long stint with CDC as asst. surgeon general. We recall that Jim was one of the early pioneers in HIV/Aids and the book and movie, And the Band Played On, featured his ground-breaking work. His name came up in a recent conversation I had here at U Maryland, Baltimore with another world-renowned HIV/Aids luminary, Dr. Robert Gallo, who related that it was Jim who first piqued his interest in studying the disease. These men saved millions of lives around the world. I heard from Jim Starshak out Honolulu way, who is retiring from his law practice in August. Star continues his volunteer work with the Hawaii Foodbank and he and Sue will travel and get more use out of their Chicago apartment. Star keeps in touch with his roomie John Ganahl and is secretary for the ND Law Class of ’69. John Twohey in Chicago wrote that he and Mary Jane were celebrating the Pulitzer Prize awarded to daughter Megan for her New York Times stories on Harvey Weinstein, which may become a movie like All the President’s Men. John spent a weekend in Chicago with Tom Bettag and his students from U Maryland and was in touch with Jed Key, who was moving to Germany to be near his opera singer son. I had brief contact with Dan Overholser in Raleigh, where he was helping his wife recover from back surgery. Also, I spoke with Rich Sauget, who continues to prosper in St. Louis (Sauget, IL) and sees Larry Mauch periodically. I phoned John Lienhard, who is well and retired from the commercial real estate business in Annapolis. Gusti Rini sent Easter greetings to his posse, which includes class prez Cap Gagnon, Jamie Toohey, Tim Streb, Tom Begley, Paul Flatley, Jiggs McAuliffe, Tom Belden and Frank Murtha. I heard from Paul Coogan in Ft. Myers, who shared the sad news of the death of Norm Nicola ’65. Many of us knew and loved Norm and some of us shared tenure on the gridiron with him. Bob Campbell weighed in from Inyokern CA where he is a director for the Naval Museum of Armament and Technology in China Lake. Bob is retired and was looking to connect with Bob Schmitt. Here’s a voice from the past. George Gray, my old Pangborn bud, re-surfaced with word that he’s continuing his plaintiff law practice in Indy, following the four years he spent with JAG, after Georgetown Law. He and Bev are sending daughter Marina to Purdue to study veterinary nursing. George was a real gym rat at the Rock. Cap sent word that Jose “Pepe” Ballester was in touch and at Mayo for some re-tooling. More sad news came from Jim Mong and Mike Krach about the passing of John McCann in Richmond in late January. John had a distinguished career in the real estate business and was deeply committed to serving his community in multiple ways. Joining Mike and Jim at John’s funeral were Jack Stutz, ortho surgeon in Seekonk MA, and Paul Leahy from Norco CA. We also lost Tom McGuire, who passed away in Norfolk. Tom enjoyed a successful law practice in Connecticut. Jim Mong is still active in the tax prep business in San Mateo and Mike Krach remains active in Philly. That’s all for now. Stay well and send news. — Tom Sullivan; 1108 Westwicke Lane, Lutherville MD 21093; cell 773-454-4343; t66sullynd@gmail.com
66JD Fondly Remembered
Less than six weeks after the death of wife Kathy, our classmate Mike Roche died on Feb. 25. As I mentioned in previous columns, Mike was an accomplished litigator in Chicago specializing in securities and commodities law. Despite his busy workload heading up his firm’s business litigation practice, he found time to organize and manage an annual Catholic men’s retreat at Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House in Barrington IL. Mike served on Notre Dame’s Alumni Board and was a past president of the Notre Club of Chicago. Mike attended Notre Dame High School in Niles IL and earned his undergrad and law degrees from ND, enabling him to brag that he was a triple Domer. His robust good humor and engaging stories will be sorely missed at our next reunion. On a happier note, Walt Terry learned that the Frank Gregory scholarship that was established at the law school after Frank’s death has a market value of $940,000 and recently paid out $40,0000 toward the tuition needs of two law school students. This remarkable result is due to a combination of our gifts to the law school and the astute investment choices made by the University. Maybe we should see if we can get their investment advisors to handle our own savings. Finally, the indefatigable Bob Siebert informs me that despite some mobility problems, he is planning to take another cruise in October with visits to Beijing, Tokyo and Shanghai. — Philip C. Ruddy; rudds241@aol.com
67 Recovering
Tom Rhoads was at Marco Island FL vacationing when he had a medical episode. Ultimately it was determined he had a brain tumor, which has since been removed successfully, and chemotherapy followed. He is following doctors’ orders for his next steps. He was buoyed by messages and pictures from his ’66 National Championship teammates. Dennis McCarthy has written from northern Michigan to point out that I omitted Jim Barry from recognition regarding our 50th class reunion. Jim was in the middle of planning and executing our reunion and it was my error to not mention his contributions in a prior column. I regret my oversight. John Freitas writes that he enjoyed our reunion but got melancholy about not seeing Dave Mousaw, Scott Bayer, and John Schwartz, who have passed on, but John remembers all the time they spent together as students. John has retired from practicing nuclear medicine but is still doing aviation medical exams, so he can keep flying his plane. John spends most of his time in Naples FL where he serves on the board of the Notre Dame Club. Bob Scheuble sent us his annual update informing us that he has seen Dan Shaughnessy and wife Judy at Judy’s brother’s funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. Bob and wife Liz traveled by train to campus for hockey, lacrosse and basketball games in February, where they were greeted with eight inches of snow as they got off the train. Last Thanksgiving, they met with Nancy and Tom Welsh at the Presidio while they were in California for the Stanford game. Bob also saw John Martin and his wife Ethel for the Boston College game, and Gretchen and Tom Graham at Marco Island. Lee Cass ’65 wrote that our classmate Brian Cass passed away April 24 in Missoula MT. The annual Joe Devlin-Chip Malik cotillion will be on the road for the Northwestern game in November. Joe said Pete Mavrelis plans to make dinner reservations for Friday night before the game. Please send info on classmates. — Bert R. Bondi; 1891 Curtis St., Unit 1502, Denver CO 80202; bertrbondi@gmail.com
67JD For Everything There Is a Season
We were shocked when we received word of the passing of two classmates. Lou Brenner died suddenly at his Florida home on March 1. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Lois, and their four children: Louis Jr., Teresa, Deborah and Pamela. Prior to moving to Florida, Lou, a Double Domer, was named man of the year by the Minnesota ND alumni. We also learned that Greg Nasky died at his home in Honolulu in September 2017. Greg spent most of his career in Las Vegas specializing in SEC work for a major casino. He tried retirement for six years, then moved to Hawaii but continued his practice. My last communication with Greg was a year ago when he related he had taken a leave from his law firm to care for his wife, Rosanne, who was suffering from a prolonged illness. So, it came as a shock when I saw his obituary online. Beth and Frank Verterano’s loyalty to their respective alma maters will be tested this fall as ND and Penn State have major opponents on the same day but hundreds of miles apart. The solution is obvious: Frank will go to South Bend and Beth to Happy Valley. But they will reunite and travel to the Grand Cayman Islands in January for the Pennsylvania Bar Association meeting and for a longer trip to Spain in May 2019. Carol and Dick Muench met the Hargroves for lunch in Oceanside CA. The ladies enjoy getting together and they take turns keeping their hubbies’ discussion of ND football to a reasonable decibel level. Dick ran his seventh Catalina marathon, because no one told him he’s too old to do that. Mary Jo and Kip Roe spent a few weeks in Naples FL to escape winter back home and met up with the Monterossos, who were spending several months in Naples doing the same thing. Coincidentally, the Sullivans at their place near Naples, were hosting the Olsons, also trying to avoid winter in South Bend. Not to be outdone, in February, Flo and I spent a week in Naples after our annual Caribbean cruise. Frank Cihlar is working on his bucket list before the bucket drains completely. He visited Iceland in February, New Zealand and Australia in April, and plans a fishing trip to Montana with Bob Barkley in July. At home, Frank takes singing lessons and is co-producing a local presentation of Fiddler this fall. In his spare time, he repairs clocks. Maryanne and Bob Konopa will celebrate their 54th wedding anniversary in August. Joining in the celebration will be their five daughters with sons-in-law and 12 grandchildren. Germaine and Jim Mollison will celebrate their 50th anniversary in July. Jerry Berthold welcomed spring by shooting less than his age (76) in a great round of golf. Lynn and Ted Sinars made their annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for the Cubs spring training. Judging by experience, the Cubbies are due to win another championship in 96 years. Jack Harty wrote that he’s experienced a humiliating experience brought on by his Google home assistant. Apparently, the device talks back to him and he says one woman in the house talking back to him is enough. He returned the device. — Jim Heinhold; 1200 Carmel Lane, New Bern NC 28562; res 252-638-5913; im4irish@gmail.com
68 The Great ’68 in Force
Notre Dame’s efficiency will have the trash removed, the broken glass replaced, the furniture set back upright, the carpet stains erased by the time these notes appear in a printed magazine. Before then, for three or four sweet days at the beginning of June, we will behave as if we are young again. Confident of a clean election in June, class president Tom Weyer is also confident that special counsel Brian Sullivan will complete his examination by then of alleged Russian interference in voting during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Fred Ferlic, frothing to his planning committee through calls, texts and emails right up to the time of the weekend, has activities gelling into one good time after another: nights of dinners and dancing, days of programs, memorials, Mass, and being together. Handball player Mark Lies continues to trash talk Bill Cleary. South Benders Fred and Mary Jane will take up residence in a hall, a chance for Fred to obstruct any big government/big university regulations affecting free living. Many others, acting on Joe Hale’s discovery of good rates, will stay at the Doubletree. While attempting to make a reservation for himself and Marilyn, Mike Obiala happened on a loophole. When the “nice young lady” (Mike’s term) found 1968 rooms were taken, she located space under the 1958 class and at a price $1 better than ours. Bryan Dunigan and Roger Guerin, who made the reservations when they graduated in 1968, chose the Morris Inn. Registration by the end of April had regular campus visitors and infrequent visitors returning. Rocky Bleier will perform his one-man show several times. John O’Connor, Ralph Neas and maybe Jim Stoffel will give presentations. Mike Suelzer is coming from Iowa City, Jim Davis from Charleston SC, and Dick Faherty from Austin. Wally Moxham had little trouble luring Tom Brislin. Jim Hutchinson and Eileen have their peeps Jerry Murray and Rich and Neil Rogers attending, maybe even camping with the Hutchinsons in a gaudy, Grateful Dead type RV behind the bookstore. Paul Higgins and Jim Chapman are coming from Oregon, Bill Clark from California and Paul Ramsey from New York. Think of a name and you will find that friend among the merry-makers of the weekend. Female readers may note that John McCoy is still single. The reunion will test the truth of what Bob “Rabbit” Noonan wrote as he retired from his consulting position in 2017: “After retiring from the Army, I joined Booz Allen Hamilton here in northern Virginia and led a business unit supporting defense intelligence agencies, organizations and units. On Oct. 31, 2017, I retired from that great company as an executive vice president and now it’s all about traveling and catching up with old friends and spending more time with family. Diane and I live in Herndon VA, just outside DC.” The infrequent visitors such as the Noonans, most of them from the coasts, will have the thrill of face-to-face encounters with the Chicagoans whose names appear regularly in the Class Notes, usually because Chicago classmates provide news about themselves. While a 50th reunion is special, it is not the only reunion opportunity. Bill Maturo, Chris Manion, Brian McTigue, Pat Hermann, John Schmelzer, Jerry McCabe, Dick Farina, Michael R. Ryan, George Kelly, Joe Blake, Bill Kelly, Dick Kelly, Dennis O’Dea, Tom McCloskey and all of you who are unable to come back the first weekend of June, know that you are missed and cherished. Remembering someone? Reunite by phone, by email, lunch, gathering at a destination or on a cruise. The death of Ray Munchmeyer March 26 (see obituary in the blog post) and of John Hughes’ wife Trish in January make us grateful for the time these friends were with us. Please remember the families and pray for them. In addition, remember Dave Hirschboeck’s family. The April death of this friend from the 1969 class produced a gathering of classmates from many years: John Walsh and Dia, Kevin Daly and Helena, Kelly Baruth and Ruth, Shaun Reynolds and Susan, Nancy Carlin and me. Dennis Reeder will repeat the favor he did the class at the previous reunion. He will video classmates who wish to send greetings to absent friends. Once completed and placed on a hosting service, the video will be available on our class blog and will have a link for sending by email or text. Please visit ndclass1968.com for photos and other items. And please send me news and photos. — Tom Figel; 1054 West North Shore, Apt. 3E, Chicago IL 60626; 312-223-9536; tfigel@reputecture.com
68JD Class Secretary — Dennis Collins;
dgc@greensfelder.com
69 50th Reunion Approaching
In preparation for our monumental event, our class reunion, a group has been busy working on the details of a class gift project that was rolled out in my last column. By the time this column is published, we will have executed on behalf of our class an agreement with the University to establish the Class of ’69 endowment fund to assist future Notre Dame students in exchanging loans for grants or scholarships to defray the cost of education at Notre Dame. John Hickey, Greg Ryder, Dan Saracino, Ray Patnaude, Frank Criniti, Don Wycliff and I are working to bring this project to fruition. It’s going to take a whole class effort to accomplish our goal and you will receive further information via our ’69 blog and email to hopefully assist in the organization, solicitation and donation to this effort. If you would like to assist, please contact me or others named, and we’ll put you to work. The response from our class was overwhelmingly positive as to the establishment of the fund for the purpose indicated. The details will be rolled out soon. Basically, three fiscal years are included in the total class gift, that is 2017, 2018 and 2019. There are approximately 1,235 of us remaining, although as you will see later in this column, we have lost a few more of our classmates unfortunately. It will be critical that we have as much assistance as possible to make direct contact. Again, if someone is unable to give a requested amount, which is still being reviewed with the Alumni Association, we encourage as much participation as reasonably practicable. I know our class has been extremely generous in the past and we have over 50 percent participation on an annual basis, but I am respectfully requesting that we move that needle to as close to 100 percent as possible considering that we have three years to complete our gift. There will be more information following regarding our efforts, but the reunion is only a year away and hopefully we will not lose too many classmates in the interim. Unfortunately, the following classmates have passed since our last class column: Richard P. Drnevich, Bill Ellis and Larry Orie. Also, just before this column was submitted, Eugene O’Malley notified me that Dave Hirschboeck passed on April 11. He was a distinguished Cook County Public Defender in Chicago. He also was a fearless Bengal Bout fighter and showed that same passion in the courtroom. For Dave and our other classmates and their families, we extend our deepest condolences. Speaking of Chicago, in March and April the Boundary “Lunch Club” on Division Street in Chicago met with Tom Breen, Ralph Williams, Louis Leon, myself and my daughter, Meghan ’00 in attendance. The beverages were Arnold Palmers and water, unlike prior luncheons at Frankie’s or other locations during our school years. I look forward to the Michigan and Stanford games in the fall. All the best. Go Irish. — Tom Ryan; 248-334-9938; sylvanlawtr@gmail.com
69MBA Minireunion in September
Please mark your calendars for Sept. 8, the Ball State game, for our next minireunion. The group at the last reunion decided to move the date up for good weather and a day game. We are guaranteed to have both. Details of the weekend will be mailed and emailed to everyone in July. So, please make your transportation and hotel reservations now. Tickets are becoming harder to come by, so if you need tickets please let me know ASAP. Remember this will be a warm up for our 50th reunion in 2019. I have not heard from many classmates. However, I get monthly jokes from Joe McCourt and Gene Dixon, so I assume they are doing well. Ken Samara is working on updating our class list, so expect to hear from him. If you have news about yourself or your family or other classmates, please let me know. Thanks. — Dennis B. McCarthy; PO Box 246, Bear Lake MI 49614; bus 231-864-3111 ext. 115; dbmc2@blarneycastleoil.com
69JD R Is for...
Our 50th reunion. I have sent emails to the class with updates on the reunion. Thanks to Dennis Collins ’68JD for his tips on arrangements. Please send me any suggestions you have. Hank Catenacci writes that, even in early April, the snow is still falling in New Jersey. He will be at the Stanford game on campus and Syracuse at Yankee Stadium. Who is up for a minireunion in NYC? Tim Malloy is still working but not as much. He recently traveled to Antarctica where he kayaked within 30 feet of a humpback whale. Bill Keck will be in London for the 50th anniversary of the London Program. The ND law building is on the northwest side of Trafalgar Square and features the ND flag flying from the roof. Dan Hebert complained about of the snow in Kansas in April and noted that the Cubs game was snowed out. Dan said he would retire from the bench when his term ends on June 16. He will be doing more traveling including meeting up with Nick Trogan, Jim Brady, Vince Stamp and Jim Cooney at the summer home of the Trogans in Traverse City MI. Tom Bonner and his daughter went on a ski trip to Deer Valley UT. T Bone met up with George Ball in Park City. T Bone and George are committed to attend our 50th reunion. “R” is also for my retirement. After 30 years with the Carlsmith firm, I will retire at the end of August, just in time for football season. I am not retiring as class secretary, so please note my new email address. — Jim Starshak; 889 Kaohe Place, Honolulu HI 96825; res 808-395-0443; cell 808-778-4033; starman@hawaii.rr.com