1960s
1960s
60 What a Ride
There is no lack of comment on the 2018 football season, from totally negative to totally positive. This writer’s opinion is positive. We have a terrific team of which about 97 percent will graduate, and seven of the 2018 team graduated early. The announcers for the Clemson game indicated a 30 percent rate for Clemson. That was later refuted by a trusted classmate who looked it up and found 60-70 percent graduate. Take your pick. Peter Giaimo says he may start spending six months in Naples, but he also acknowledges a continuing interest in boiler inspections. His golf game and tennis game remain intact, unlike others of us. Several of the year-rounders in Southwest Florida get together regularly for dining and kibitzing: Bonnie and Tom Fitzgerald, and honorary member of our class John Fitzgerald, Jean and Jim Driscoll, Lois and Pete Mootz, Pat and Bill Roth, and Joanne and Art Velasquez. As we get to high season, we see Jan and Dick Gelson, Phyllis and Dan Kletter, Sharon and Tom Biever, Noreen and Terry Keating, our class epee-ist Peter Giaimo, and Barbara and Bill Boland. Our Monthly class luncheons begin in October and end the first of June. They are always a good time. A note from Gene Masters: “I’ve left Tampa behind, and Ruth and I now reside in Knoxville, to be with grandkids. They have since flown the coop and are doing their own things. I've written and published a novel, which is a work of historical fiction titled Silent Warriors. It tells the story of the WWII submarine campaign in the Pacific. It's gotten some great reviews and is available on Amazon and elsewhere.” A note came from Chuck Sawicki: “Buy my 5-star rated book, On Mentoring - Lessons Learned During an 80-Year Journey. It is on Amazon and I will donate all profits to the Class of 1960.” We heard from Barbara and Bob Scholtz a few weeks ago. Bob sounded great and has been doing a lot of heavy-duty rehab following some hospital time. Give Bob a call as he would enjoy hearing from friends. Big news from Potter Valley CA on the Russian River, from Guinness McFadden. The results are in from the 2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, and McFadden won big. “Out of over 6,800 entries from over 1,000 wineries, we took home four gold medals and four silver medals. We won gold with our Sparkling Cuvee Brut, 2016 Gewurztraminer, 2017 Sauvignon Blanc (We are almost sold out of this one, folks.), and 2013 Old Vine Zinfandel. As for the silver medals, we won with our 2017 Chardonnay (it is almost sold out), 2017 Pinot Gris, 2017 Pinot Noir, and our Sparkling Cuvee Brut Rose.” All these wines are available for purchase at McfaddenFarm.com. Guinness mentioned he lost no vines in the two major fires, but a couple varieties were ruined by smoke damage and had to be destroyed. We got a postcard from Tim Carroll while he is off in some unknown country plying his trade. We got his picture on a national stamp of a country in Africa. Tim has been spending a lot of time and energy in Traverse City MI, converting part of his family home into a museum. Maybe we can get Tim to expound at our next class get-together. I could use some current news from you. Whip an email to me. — Joseph F. Jansen; 9190 Southmont Cove, No.103, Ft. Myers FL 33908; cell 317-514-4478; jfjansen@aol.com
61 Football, Chuck Lennon
Well, Dec. 29 was not exactly an extension of Christmas if you count happiness and joy as attributes of the holy season. The Tigers showed their might and in the final poll for college football, we wound up number 5. None the less, there were some aspects of our play that showed talent and grit. We held them to 30 points (I hope you are laughing) and Alabama did not. Our offense just could not get clicking against Clemson’s large and quick defense. All in all, I think we should be proud of our Fighting Irish, who completed the regular season undefeated. I have a recollection of a season, like 1960 (our senior year) when we would have thought 5 and 5 would be a welcome finish. So, don’t hang your head over one defeat and be proud of the fact that we were one of four who got to the championship playoff. I have received several notes on our own Prince Chuck, Charles F. Lennon. He is experiencing several health challenges and has recently entered hospice care. This information came from the Alumni Office from Joe Mulligan ’59, through the courtesy of Jerry Kearns, another of my regular sources. They report that his spirits remain high according to Lou Nanni ’84. In addition to hospice, Chuck is also assisted by a wonderful group of young adults at Ave Maria U in Florida. Mulligan went on to recount that our Prince Chuck is a Double Domer, with degrees in ’61 and ’62MA, is a monogram winner in baseball, and was an assistant coach for Jake Kline. Thereafter he wound up as you know heading up the Alumni Office for years and serves as our esteemed class president. Upon retirement from ND he went down to Florida to assist in creating an alumni association. Go figure, but he soon learned they needed an assistant baseball coach. Chuck continues to monitor all things ND and all people ND via email at lennon.3@nd.edu. He would love to hear from you. As you are writing to Chuck, I would appreciate you copying me, or better yet, why don't you email, or snail mail me at the address below. I had Christmas calls with Jerry Kearns and Bob McCutchan. As with Abbie and me, they report that they are acting our age but still active in one form of retirement or another. We are all at that age when we need to pray for each other. It is a rare find for someone in our class who is not affected by a serious health condition. If you need our prayers, please send me your requests. We can set up our own prayer warriors’ group. That is how things are today. Weather here on Jan. 19 is a high of 74 low of 63 so naturally Abbie is by the front door with the latchstring out expecting visits from our snowbirds stopping by on their way through South Texas. Have a happy New Year and God bless you. — Joseph P. (Pat) Kelly; 2103 N. Wheeler St., Victoria TX 77902; 361-573-9982; jpkellytx@sbcglobal.net
61JD Class Secretary — John N. Moreland;
jnmnd1958@aol.com
62 Important Work
Dave Castaldi dropped a note saying that Commonweal published an article he co-wrote titled, “A Step Toward Accountability, Assessing Diocesan Financial Transparency.” Dave was a founding trustee and former board chairman at Voice of the Faithful, formed in 2002 in response to the clergy abuse crisis. “We conducted a survey of the websites for all 177 US territorial dioceses and scored each on 10 key points regarding financial transparency, which is closely linked to the then and still on-going clergy abuse crisis in our Church. Then, prior to publishing the article, we circulated the results to the presiding bishop and CFO of each diocese. We are currently doing the survey again for the third year in a row to encourage greater diocesan financial transparency.” Here is the link to the article: votf.org/content/step-toward-accountability-voice-faithful-diocesan-financial-transparency-study. Guido Carmassi died on Sept. 10 in upstate New York. He had taught at the university level. John Wolf passed away suddenly on Oct. 16. John was from Michigan and active in his law practice when he died. Tom Klett died Oct. 28 in Florida. Tom was a stock broker for UBS in Boston before he retired a few years ago. He then moved to Winter Park FL and had a form of Alzheimer’s and was in a memory care unit. John J. Ryan, who lived in Green Bay, passed away on Nov. 10. Steve Enright died Nov. 11. He was an architect living in Massachusetts. A few years after graduation, Steve took a job in 1972 at a British architecture firm in Hong Kong. One of his projects was working on the design for the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok. He moved back the States in 1975 and started his own firm, retiring about 10 years ago. Pat Sullivan went to med school after graduation and after a stint in the service moved to Winter Haven to become a partner in a private practice as an orthopedic surgeon. He held several posts at the local hospital over the next 46 years and was a member of the Irish American Orthopedic Society. Barry Maher died on Dec. 8, about 10 days after he was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer. He refused experimental treatments. Those attending his funeral included Tom Smith, Pete Vieira, Carl Sundstrom, and Phil Driscoll. Barry retired from AT&T several years ago. He was an attorney specializing in employment issues. When he moved from the Boston area to the Cape, he told me he gave up his computer to spend time “in more fruitful pursuits.” Joe Martori passed away the following day in Phoenix where he practiced law and headed up a firm specializing in hotel and resort development. Joe left ND in freshman or sophomore year but then came back to the Law School where he graduated number one. He also published a book, Street Fights, in which he mentions several interactions with members of the class along with a run-in he had with Rev. Collins. Michael D. Sullivan had been in poor health for several years and died on Jan. 2. Following graduation from the Law School, Mike clerked for a judge in the 7th Circuit and then went with a major Chicago firm. George Scharpf, who headed up Amboy Bank in New Jersey, passed away suddenly on Jan. 4. — Raymond Ready; 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 Remembering John O’Brien
We remember our beloved classmate John G. O’Brien, of Radnor PA, who passed away on Jan. 18. John was the beloved husband of Margaret “Peggy” MacDougal O’Brien; devoted father of Meghan O’Brien McRae (Jason) and J. Michael O’Brien; loving grand-father of Madeline Grace McRae; dear brother of Thomas O’Brien and the late Gail O’Brien Holland, Maureen O’Brien Smith and Kevin Daniel O’Brien. He is remembered with love by his family, which also includes many nieces and nephews and well as grandnieces and nephews. John was laid to rest during a funeral mass, very well attended, and said by our own Fr. Charlie O’Hara. Charlie was eloquent and compassionate remembering John and our class. All Domers present rose and sang the Alma Mater following Charlie’s homily (Brian “Bomber” Richardson had the loudest voice). John’s passing is particularly poignant to those members of our class who are also members of the Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne, Pa. Not long ago there were nine of us; Tom Shallow, Mike Ryan, Jim Bruder, and now John have passed on. Ray Weinman is lost (we haven’t heard from him for years). Left on “this side of the grass” are Matt McCloskey, Jim Nolen, Jerry O’Grady and myself. At the time of his death, John was serving as our class secretary, and I am now taking on this role. Please reach out to me with your news and updates, and see the end of this column for my contact information. And please continue to keep John’s family and loved ones in your prayers. Please pray also for the family of Donald Dempsey, who passed away on Nov. 30. Donald was a loving husband to Linda, his wife of 47 years; a dear brother-in-law of Nancy Powers (Ed); beloved uncle of Mark Powers (Amy); great-uncle of Lia, Andrew and Jillian Powers; brother of Mary Ann Burkhart (Jim) and Diane Gates (Don). His funeral Mass was held at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Troy MI. We also received a report from Badin’s 4th: Tom O’Connor, Steve McMahon, Bob Hellrung, Dick James, Jack Walker and Tom Bishop. Bishop writes, “Sadly, some of the group have passed: Dick Kavanaugh, Jack Hildebrand, Dave Kennedy, John “J.J.” Cunningham, and Kevin “Rock” O’Neill. More than a decade ago, we decided to convene annually at some interesting spot in the USA. Once gathered, we share cooking, sing, swap lies and sometimes fall into serious discussions. Our wives, and widows Liz O’Neill and Jane Cunningham, are core members of the group. This year, Liz’s new husband, Bill, was embraced as an adopted brother at our gathering at Lake of the Ozarks. We are mostly retired. Steve and Trish McMahon live in retirement and community service in Northern California after lively careers. She was a college professor of literature and theater arts and he used his Harvard MBA in the HR world, and later did personal coaching for business execs. Jack and Belinda Walker live in Los Angeles where he retired as the managing partner of Latham and Watkins and now works on his culinary skills, chases golf balls and has penned two novels and a memoir of his perilous days in Vietnam as a Marine recon officer. Belinda, whom Jack met while both were attending Harvard law, is involved in start-up nonprofits serving overlooked in-crisis girls and young women. Dick and Mary James live in St. Louis near their daughters and a multitude of grandchildren. Dick is near retirement after years as the executive vice president of a multistate hi-tech construction firm. Dick and Mary are involved in community and church activities in St. Louis. Mary is a mentor of young women and Dick has shepherded his company’s strong corporate citizenship. Bob Hellrung and wife, Cheryl Leeds, live along the Meramec River in rural Missouri. Bob is a retired family mediator and Cheryl is a retired hospice social worker. They have presented workshops at marriage enrichment conferences on “loving tenderly together” and are writing a book on the subject. Tom and Adrianne O’Connor live on the shores of Indian Lake near Tom’s birthplace. He is retired from a patent litigation practice. Although retired from full-time teaching, Adie finds irresistible the lure of returning to the classroom on a part-time basis. Their lakeside home is a frequent center of O’Connor clan activities. For several years, Kevin and Liz O’Neil lived in London in connection with her IT work with British Petroleum. Retired and recently remarried, Liz lives with new husband Bill Harkins in Cleveland. John Cunningham died from complications from long term cardio issues after retiring from administrative positions in various New England institutions, including service as director of admissions and dean of student services at Keene State College. In retirement, John continued to serve his community and church in various volunteer capacities. Jane retired from elementary school teaching and happily has remained a stalwart member of our group. Kathrine and I live in rural North Stonington CT. I am retired from the Connecticut Appellate Court but continue hearing appeals on a part-time basis and I also do some mediation work at a nearby courthouse. Having left Pfizer early in the lives of our two daughters, Kathrine has worked and volunteered as a naturalist educator and wildlife rehabilitator. For several years, she co-operated a summer camp for children with cognitive disabilities. We of Badin 4th have been enriched through sharing our life pathways while deepening the bonds that took hold so long ago.” — John F. Dougherty, Jr.; 915 Exeter Crest, Villanova, PA 19085; mobile 215-510-0844; johndoc969@gmail.com
63JD Sad News
John Gildea reports that Jim Searcy passed away Nov. 11. Following law school, Jim and his wife Kayleen continued living in Elkhart working for the next 23 years with St. Joe Valley Bank on financial and estate planning matters. In 1986, he moved to Minot ND and did the same work for Bremer Bank until retiring in 2001. In North Dakota, Jim was very active in the community holding leadership roles with foundations, the chamber of commerce and particularly in advocating for the needs of military personnel at Minot Air Force Base. Following retirement, he relocated to Palm Springs CA, but never slowed down. On the day of his death, he was still conducting a private financial planning practice and serving on the Sun Lakes Country Club Master Association Board of Directors, an HOA with 3,327 homes. Jim had four children and nine grandchildren. John Gildea and his wife Gwen continue to live in Elkhart, at least until the first snowfall. In early November, they leave for their home in Ora Valley AZ, near Tucson. They would like to reconnect with anyone going to a football game before November. — Bob Saxe; 15725 Ranchero Drive, Morgan Hill CA 95037; bsaxe5@aol.com
64 News from Osage IA
Monte Kloberdanz of Osage IA admits to being “partially” retired, having worked throughout the country in fund development and sports marketing. Monte earned his doctorate from Iowa, created a Phoenix-based foundation for Native American student athletes and participated in a dig at the Little Big Horn Battlefield where he discovered remains of one of Custer’s troopers. Monte and Sarah have two kids and are working through a “mission bucket list” of good works. Tom Goehl writes from Morrisville NC where he and Marilyn run a non-profit providing scholarships enabling the poor in Guatemala to attend high school and college. He and John Nelson reminisced about classmate Ed Gasior who passed away in 2017. Ed and Tom were part of a freshman class of about 70 chemistry majors and were two of the seven who graduated with BS degrees in chemistry. Tom indicates Ed had a successful career in chemical sales, was a dedicated father and a dear friend to many. Dave Freund and his wife of 52 years, Marian, live in Naples FL. After earning his law degree at Indiana, Dave spent time as a treasury agent and partnered in a Chicago area law firm, before finding his true calling in the commodity futures business. He has been running his own commodity futures/options firm, while traveling extensively and fishing aggressively. Dave provided color on his best friend, Mike Whitecotton, who passed away in August in Crawfordsville IN. Mike earned two degrees from ND, in business/finance and in architecture. He opened a large home center in 1978, retiring in 2014. He and his wife of 46 years, Kay, had a home in Bonita Springs FL. Paul Fitzgerald graduated from Tufts Dental School, served with the Army Dental Corps on Okinawa, then completed an oral surgery residency at Georgetown. He and Kathleen moved back to Easton MA where he practiced oral surgery until retiring in 2011. Their three children are ND grads, as is one granddaughter. John Hargrove writes that the tribute to Pete Litrenta at the ND/Navy game was truly outstanding. Pete had a successful Navy career as a PR specialist before passing away all too soon. He was a charter member of the Holiday Bowl Committee and a major player in bringing USS Midway to San Diego. Frank Bujan from Homer Glen IL spent his career in small business and specialized in auditing. Married to Jo for 49 years, they have two children and four grandsons. I received my annual update from Jon James in Honolulu. He continues to dedicate his life to the tutelage of young people at the Premananda Home in India. Jack McCabe reminds me that Frank Fee’s grandson is regarded by many as possibly the best offensive lineman from the Ivy League (Dartmouth). He is likely to be drafted, which will give Frank something to do for the next 10 years. I had a great email exchange from Mike Luea. He served in the Peace Corps in Ecuador, married Barbara, and they proceeded to have six children in the first 12 years of marriage. Mike earned his master’s in social work at Michigan and moved to Lansing with the Department of Social Services. He has a substantial career, with lots of important work on behalf of refugees, families and children. In addition, Mike experienced a spiritual awakening in April 1970 that changed his life. He stays in touch with former roommate Jim Wruck as well as John Turner. We got death notices for Chip Kremer, Sam Calomino and Nick Achille late last year. — Paul R. Charron; 44 Contentment Island Road, Darien CT 06820; 203-655-3930; paul.richard.charron@gmail.com
64JD Power of Home
As I pen this report from the desert early in January amidst Christmas vestiges, I can feel the pervasive power of home (and the experience of being with the family) almost overcoming and certainly made poignant by Perry Como’s rendition of “No Place Like Home for the Holidays” considering his son Ronny Como’s passing a few days prior to this writing. As many of the ND undergrad contingent in our class remember, Ron was also a 1961 undergrad with us. Sharon and I are spending about a month in Palm Desert and have enjoyed a family gathering with kids (I guess 50-year-olds still qualify) and grandkids. We were able to see our granddaughter play in a basketball tournament in Ontario CA won by her Seattle high school team, and she was selected tournament MVP. Our grandson is a prodigious rower whose crew hopes to compete in the national championships in Sarasota, followed by a trip to the Henley in Great Britain. Jack Kopko relocated to Indian Wells CA and finds the desert to his and Adele’s liking, particularly their proximity to their daughter, a doctor at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage. Jim Slater says he is fine; he and Marian plan a trip to Sicily later in the year. He also reports having the most unusual house guests over Christmas: a 3-year-old dwarf Nigerian goat brought by one of the grandkids, as well as 13 two-legged guests. Kay and Tom Conneely remain avid hikers and skiers and are planning trips to one of their favorite Utah areas, Park City, where all 80-year-olds ski free. Russ Bley says his activities continue unchanged although interestingly this year he is the host family to a female graduate student from Saudi Arabia under St. Louis U’s program. Frank Miele still is recovering from his fall from a ladder during one of his performances at the Met, but he is heavily engaged in his recovery program at a level few of us could do. Charles Sacher probably could and continues his own intense workouts in addition to a full work schedule. As I write this, Eileen and Bob Cash are in Cincinnati but are on the cusp of leaving for their Venice FL home. Betty and Larry Gallick already have done so, with Larry having achieved the role of purveyor of bad internet jokes. Lou Pfeiler reports that Carol has stabilized somewhat and is getting along better. Bob Hanlon hosted 13 grandkids at Christmas while still finding time to continue his product liability practice. One of the grandsons is a budding track star at Johns Hopkins. Dawn and Bob Frost downsized to a new abode within a few miles of their prior home to minimize upstairs/downstairs risks. Jack Rammel and I had a wide-ranging chat centering in part on some international travel misadventures involving lost passports and luggage. He and Mary are fine and send their best to all of us. Jim Mercurio is excited by the career step taken by his youngest son, Robert, the lead in a New Orleans based (but widely traveled and recorded) group named Gallactic featuring creatively blended traditional New Orleans music. The group purchased an established club as its home base in New Orleans and renamed it Tipetina. I wish you all God’s blessings for 2019. — Richard Balfe Wagner; 1204 Erskine Manor Hill, South Bend IN 46614; res 574-299-9888; cell 760-567-1270; rswagnersb@gmail.com
65 Heart Health and Heart-Felt Thanks
Don Zone, a retired invasive cardiologist, has published a concise book, Heart Health Today, available on Amazon where it holds the number one spot on new releases in cardiology. After a career treating the consequences of heart disease, Don was motivated to make available to the general public the most current information on the root causes of heart disease and how to prevent it. He presents six ways to improve our heart health. The paperback and electronic releases are easy to understand and provide practical insight into prevention. It is a well referenced treatise. Don and Mary Lou split their time between homes in Erie PA and Hilton Head along with many visits to their children living on the East Coast. Heisman Trophy winner John Huarte and his wife, Eileen, donated $1 million to the University as an endowment for grants-in-aid to student athletes. They previously donated $500,000 to the same program. Their amazing generosity is compounded by their long-standing policy of providing college financial assistance to employees of their company, Arizona Tile and Marble. John played professional football for 10 years and earned a Super Bowl ring with the Kansas City Chiefs. After football, John founded the Arizona Tile and Marble Company, which has evolved into a multistate family-run business. They have five grown children and 14 grandchildren. At our 50th reunion, our Class scholarship fund was transferred to the University for their management. As of June 2018, we have distributed $1,621,031 over the life of the fund and $154,419 in the fiscal year 2018 to 10 students. Bernie Raimo retired last year as counsel to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Upon retirement he was conferred the McCormack Award given to outstanding government employees who make things work in DC. Bernie and his wife, Sharon, live in Washington DC. Those who do long-range planning should mark their calendars to attend our 55th reunion in June 2020. Irene and Ed Ojdana have generously offered to provide the wine for one of our dinners from their highly regarded and award-winning Napa vineyard. More specifics on our reunion will be in our column later in the year. — James P. Harnisch MD; 6759 W. Mercer Way, Mercer Island WA 98040; jphnd65@hotmail.com
65JD Class Secretary — John Donald O’Shea;
pelagius@qconline.com
66 Play Hard
By the time you read this, winter will be on the wane. I heard from Charlie O’Brien, who lives in Abingdon, north of Baltimore. Formerly a successful trash magnate, he was on the mend from an accidental fall and wondered about the status of his pal Dave Rentschler, now residing in NYC. COB also reminisced about the late Don Ohlmeyer. John Berges sent word from Rolla MO that he is fully retired, and he and his horses recently won the Ranch Sorting National Championship. JB and Claudia haul their equines around the Midwest participating in ranch sorting and team penning events. They traveled to Alaska, took up dog sledding and have become Iditarod junkies. JB reports that Jude Lenahan is well in Nashville and the two of them spent time commiserating on all that ND has meant in their lives. Ditto that. Also, they say that Rudy Navari is not retired. He is teaching and seeing patients at U of Alabama Birmingham and working on an antiemetic drug that will hopefully help patients better tolerate cancer treatments. JB also mentioned John Rahiya in Atlanta, who sent word of a minireunion that took place in September in Doolin, County Clare, Ireland. Joining JR for fellowship, golf and pints of Guinness were Joe Bodell, Dennis O’Toole, Bob Crotty, Tim Bard and Mike Bernath. That had to be fun for sure. Class prez and stalwart baseball expert Cap Gagnon hit Baltimore in January to give a talk to a group from the Society of American Baseball Research. We tried to connect but were unable to do so. I heard from Jack Gerken, who took 60 folks to the ND-Navy game in San Diego, including eight of his 12 grandkids. JG also attended a Christmas concert by the ND Children’s Choir at his Huntington Beach CA parish. The choir is a new group on campus mentored by ND grad students. Be sure to check out Jack’s ’66 missive on the web. Bob Basche weighed in from Stratford CT where he and Susan reside, in proximity to his good bud and fellow Nightlighter John Houlihan. Those two get together with Tom Meyer, a retired Delta pilot, to play in Atlanta. Word is they can still blare out “Louie Louie,” but they’re waiting for Dorsett VT resident Tony Andrea to loosen up his pipes and rejoin the crew. As previously noted, Bob sells boats (aka Yachts) out of Rowayton CT and keeps in close touch with Dr. Bob Lombardo in the Hamptons. Another tidbit from John Twohey in Evanston IL who’s active in a mentoring program at Northwestern U that links local residents with grad students from abroad. He’s helped a series of PhD candidates from China get acclimated to the US and is working with a young engineering student from Kazakhstan. JT had an email exchange over the holidays with Jed Key, now settling into life in Wernemunde, a German town on the Baltic. Jed and Suzanne left Tucson to be near son James, a highly regarded tenor whose opera career is taking off in Europe. JT reports that 349 individuals have made 474 gifts to the Pete Duranko Fund, totaling $221,323, since 2015. Most donors are from our class, but alums from 12 other classes have made gifts, as have ND friends, including the late Ara Parseghian. The ND Athletic Dept. continues to use the funds to better diagnose and treat concussions among the University’s 750 varsity athletes. Bill Highter, from Amherst MA, sent the sad news of John Walter’s passing in July. Bill and John were roomies and remained friends. JW was an Air Force vet who served in Vietnam and earned the Bronze Star. He later joined the family construction business in Manhattan KS. He went on with other firms to build water plants and investment portfolios. John and Cheryl were married for 51 years and enjoyed annual ND games, along with Tom Green, Ken Hatcher, Fred Flusche, and Bill. Fini for this issue. Send news and be well. — Tom Sullivan; 1108 Westwicke Lane, Lutherville MD 21093; cell 773-454-4343; t66sullynd@gmail.com
66JD Class Secretary — Philip C. Ruddy;
rudds241@aol.com
67 Retired
Steve Collins is retired in Charleston SC after many years as human resources management consultant. He and his two sons were back on campus for the Stanford game. Unfortunately, we lost two more good classmates. Tom Rhoads passed on Oct. 30 after a gallant battle with cancer. Bob DeCoursey died on Dec. 2. Bob was a history major who served in the Peace Corps after graduation. He got the opportunity to travel around Asia, the Middle East and Europe. After the Peace Corps, Bob went to the U of Kansas Law School, subsequently practicing criminal law throughout the Kansas City area. Please write so we have more to publish than obits. — Bert R. Bondi; 1891 Curtis St., Unit 1502, Denver CO 80202; bertrbondi@gmail.com
67JD Snowbirds Flock to Florida
Sara and Gary Kaup are on Marco Island for the winter and are hosting their kids and 16 grandchildren over the next few months. Gary retired at the end of last year. Lynn and Ted Sinars will again skip Cub spring training, opting instead for 10 days at Sarasota’s Long Boat Key, preferring sun and sand over hits and errors. Nancy and Jim Olson will take their annual sabbatical to Florida and meet up with Pam and Tom Sullivan. The Olsons also have planned a ND trip to Croatia in the fall. Flo and I will visit Key West in February as our cruise ship stops for the day. The Jim Harringtons had a marvelous Christmas at their family home with all the children and grandchildren and spent several weeks in southern Florida in January. The families of John Blasi, Ken Lazarus and Lou Jachnycky will visit the area this winter and, hopefully, have a chance to get together. I keep up with Sean Keenan on his Facebook page, but he is also a faithful contributor to my quarterly plea for news. Sean avidly follows the football Irish at a local watering hole where he takes charge of the remote control. But he is even more devoted to the women’s basketball team. He’ll travel to Georgia for the Tech game and meet up with Jerry Berthold and then attend a home game with Florida State. Christmas was spent with his daughter Megan ’96 and family in nearby Canton. Beth and Frank Verterano have their travel schedule finalized for at least the first half of this year: Portugal and much of Spain in April and May and then a cruise on the Danube in July. Of course, the fall finds them with season tickets to Irish and Penn State football. With Dick Muench, it’s all about the grandkids. Granddaughter Carly graduated in May as a wildlife biologist and works in Montana on a private wildlife reserve; grandson Jack is at Cornell and expects to make the varsity football squad next fall. Mike Fogerty reports that he is still collecting US cars from the past 60 years. He has at least 10 of these beauties and had a huge garage built to store them. He enjoys working on them and showing them off at car shows. John Nelson’s outstanding record of volunteering in aid to his beloved Colorado community was recently published on the We Are ND website (weare.nd.edu). John responded to an ad in the local newspaper seeking volunteers to start a Crime Stoppers program in his area. The organization allows people to report criminal activity anonymously and offers cash rewards for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. John started the local branch and is now a regional director for the organization. In addition, John has been a prime mover on a ballot referendum to build two new fire stations and has been a volunteer firefighter; he has also worked with the Court Appointed Special Advocates program, which advocates for abused and neglected children, and has served as a county election judge. — Jim Heinhold; 1200 Carmel Lane, New Bern NC 28562; res 252-638-5913; im4irish@gmail.com
68 True Always
Periodically, journalists begin turning to favorite words and phrases with the regularity of FedEx packages heading to Memphis. Examples from recent years include eponymous, iconic and bespoke. Now, there’s true freshman, which, it turns out, means something other than the people we were in the fall of 1964. Or does it? Weren’t our roomates true freshmen? Sure, at age 21 and a former Marine, Larry “Monk” Forness appeared borderline at first, an outlier able to help the true sophomores of Zahm Hall obtain alcohol. But he soon fell into step as a true freshman acquiring knowledge with everyone else of the Norton Anthology and the schedule of buses from Barat or St. Xavier’s. Paul Stulgaitis, Jerry Maglio, Dick Bertel, all of us lived as true freshmen with access to a proper Gilbert’s wardrobe and timed payments. Brien Murphy, equally true, eschewed that look for a sweatshirt with sleeves ripped off, or with Brien, bitten off. Who were truer freshmen than Class President Tom Weyer, Tiger Schaeffer and Chuck Grable as they belly-flopped onto the icy mud of the North Quad? Open our heavily redacted yearbook to any headshot and remember the true freshmen squirting shaving cream beneath doors or getting excited about Ara: Gary Olney, Dave Vecchia, Tom Sherer, John Myers, Paul Widzowski. And what about the poor rectors such as Rev. Matthew Miceli, CSC, and Rev. Robert Austgen, CSC, who tried to ride herd over the likes of Charlie Schmitt and Brice Parker? True freshmen must progress to become true sophomores. To their dying days, Chuck Wordell and Eddie Kurtz probably made it no farther than that. As for true juniors, maybe Thomas D. McCloskey Jr., James Leger Jr., Thomas L. Bush Jr., Daniel W. Casey Jr., Frank Chuck Jr., and Robert Wildes Jr. held that station, while Christopher Murphy III, William M. Dewey III and Joseph A. Schwartz III over-achieved. True seniors are impossible to imagine. Impossible. Jeff Keyes’ liking for 4 p.m. dining only makes him fiscally prudent, ready for his long true sophomore phase. Even after a half century and some, who can think of one true senior? Senior Class President Mike Minton? Fred Ferlic? Thomas F. McKenna? Boyish John Flemming? Nope. True is an apt word, just the same: true friendship, true spirt and heart, the Great 68. This includes true loss, the death of Dave Kabat at the end of 2018, shortly after a fall in Michiana led to a rousing reception in South Bend as physicians Fred Ferlic and Steve Anderson led a line of visiting well-wishers; Gene Cavanaugh, Joe Kernan, Bryan Dunigan and Tom Cuggino. On Nov. 13, we also lost Dr. Jim Fticsar, USN (retired) of Chesapeake VA. Bob Ptak flew from Florida and Brian Gormley from Virginia for Dave’s New Buffalo MI funeral, where friends included Sheila and Tom Gibbs, Mary Ann and Tom McKenna, Mary Pat and Rock McKenna, Skip Strezlecki, John Walsh, Bridget and Pat Herald, Jean and Roger Guerin, Mary and Tom Weyer, Mary Lou and Dennis Toolan, and Patty McPartlin, while Dr. Rick McPartlin tended his own hospital patients. Where did Dave pick up the nickname Lunch? Bryan Dunigan explained: “Often times, Dave, who was manager of the Notre Dame baseball team, could not be located and the team would say he was out to lunch.’’ True also joins with service and brilliance. On the blog, ndclass1968.com, read about (mandated) retiring Traverse City MI Judge Tom Phillips and the wise programs he began for offenders, including drug addicts. Joe Kernan’s health is not good but the impact of his government service and kindness is powerful. Matt Walsh and Joyce, Class President Tom Weyer and Mary will be among many classmates attending a March screening in South Bend of a PBS documentary about Joe’s life. During the Christmas season, when Marilyn and Mike Obiala visited their DC daughter Julie, they had an evening of reunion with Ted Bratthauar, Tom Curtin, Mike Moore and their wives. Jim Schindler sent regrets from St. Louis about missing two reunions last year: the 50th and then the Marching Band’s fall reunion. You can imagine his 2019 resolutions. True or not, please send news and photos, epiphanies and fatwahs. — Tom Figel; 1054 W. North Shore, Apt. 3E, Chicago IL 60626; 773-764-4898; tfigel@reputecture.com
68JD Law School Reunion
The Class of 1968 50th reunion was hosted Nov. 16-18. It was a great success, exceeding everyone’s expectations. From entering the reception on Friday night at the Law School, friendships were rekindled. Everyone was involved in sharing the war stories and embracing the overall great experiences we had at Notre Dame. We were honored to have Dean Nell Jessup Newton join us for the Friday night gathering. Her kindness and great sense of humor were much appreciated, since Dean O’Mara was of a different culture. Tom Curtin and J.C. Coyle were unable to attend the Friday night festivities because of a snowstorm, but they arrived to close the bar at the Morris Inn late Friday evening. On Saturday, we began the afternoon at the Law School and shared in the excitement of ND beating Syracuse. We enjoyed visiting at the Morris Inn for dinner on Saturday evening. We had 31 members of our surviving class of 44 attend the weekend functions. We initially experienced technical problems in our effort to show a class video on Saturday night, but thanks to a Hail Mary by Tom Curtin, the video appeared on the screen. We honored many of our fine professors in the video. We were blessed with the return of Mike Williamson and his bride, Juanita, for this reunion. Jack Sanders, Jim Seckinger, Pete King and Tom Curtain shared with us why the Class of 1968 was special. Jim’s remarks were right on point about why our class was indeed special and the word “grit” was indeed appropriate. Owen Moon attended with his bride, Maria, and we shared the many contributions that Rev. Bill Lewens made to Owen, me and many other members of our class. We closed Saturday night’s dinner with a rendition of our fight song, as well as Notre Dame Our Mother. Next, many attended Mass on Sunday at the Law School and we concluded with brunch at the Morris Inn. Rev. Rev. David Link, CSC, ’58 ’61JD said the Mass and provided extra wine for the Mass, considering his knowledge of our class. J.C. will email a final accounting to everyone. After all expenses have been paid, there was money left over and we will donate the remaining sum to the Law School. Extended thanks to Tammye Radke Raster ’92JD who served as our law alumni program manager. She was simply outstanding. As to ND’s performance against Clemson, we only need to review a memo that was sent to me by another ND graduate, which provides the following. Five-star high school seniors are going to develop as super stars on the college level. During the past six years, ND has recruited two five-star players, Alabama 28, Georgia 19, Clemson 18, Ohio State 13 and Oklahoma six. Most of the players are from the south. It isn’t coaching but recruiting that makes the difference. Julian Love, ND’s best defensive player, got hurt and had to sit out the second quarter. The three quarters he was on the field, Clemson scored 10 points. They scored 20 points in the second quarter. Clemson’s quarterback and two wide receivers are all freshmen and five stars. Need we say more? The winters of northern Indiana and Notre Dame’s entrance requirements cannot compete in today’s football climate. Please remember in your prayers our deceased classmates, including John Amerman, Emilio Belluomini, John Burgess, Albert Dudash, Richard Hirsch, Joseph Ladd, Larry Miller and Robert Wilczek. They were celebrated by Father. Finally, I would appreciate everyone providing me with updates as to what is happening with you and your family so that we may share this information with class members. Regards. — Dennis G. Collins; 314-516-2648; dgc@greensfelder.com
69 50th Reunion Here We Come
Assistant secretary Ray Patnaud, our blog founder John Hickey and I have been working with the Alumni Association and the University in preparation for our 50th reunion beginning Thursday night, May 30, and concluding at noon on Sunday, June 2. John Hickey and classmates Gary Kampana, Bob Gibbons and Dave Sim are creating a yearbook for our class, which will be a wonderful memento of our milestone accomplishment. We appreciate all their hard work. We also appreciate the many classmates who have made phone calls relative to attendance at the reunion and our scholarship fund. At the writing of this, in mid-January, we are approximately half way to the minimum goal of $100,000 to establish a class fund for undergraduate scholarships at the University. The language of the agreement was tweaked to meet IRS charitable giving regulations, as mentioned in the winter Class Notes. Our descendants are specifically called out in our agreement with the University with the obligation to self-identify as a descendant, and if eligible, to be considered to receive a scholarship from our fund. Classmate Delbert Hosemann has announced his bid for Mississippi lieutenant governor for next fall. Classmate Bob Whitmore was inducted into the Purcell Pavilion Ring of Honor on Jan. 12. Many classmates attended this wonderful event. Congratulations to Bob. Unfortunately, Bob Kuechenberg passed away on Jan. 12. Our condolences to his family. Bob Kuechenberg and Bob Whitmore were two examples of the extremely talented athletic segment of our class. Sharon and Ed Weinlein are traveling to Vietnam with the encouragement of Mike Cerre to go back to where he served during the Vietnam War. I look forward to hearing about this experience. Remember there will be a veterans’ service, which our classmates will lead, Saturday morning, June 1, especially honoring the Vietnam veterans of our class. Stay healthy and be well. Hopefully you can attend the reunion. I wish you safe travels and all the best until then. Go Irish. — Tom Ryan; 248-334-9938; sylvanlawtr@gmail.com
69MBA 50th Reunion
I am happy to report that I am writing this column in mid-January and we already have about 25 classmates and spouses with rooms reserved at the new Embassy Suites. There will be shuttles from the hotel to campus even though the hotel is right next to campus. It really is going to be a special once-in-a-lifetime event. The University, MBA Program and the Alumni Association are assisting us to make sure it is special. You should have received your registration form by the time this column is printed. You will have noticed a welcome party at the new Foley’s Bar in O’Neil Hall in the ND Stadium on Thursday afternoon and then a buffet and cocktails at the Embassy Suites. Friday and Saturday are filled with events and tours if you would like to participate. We look forward to Mass in the Log Chapel and dinner in the Oak Room in the South Dining Hall on Friday. Saturday night’s dinner will be at Mendoza with the dean of the MBA program speaking and inducting us into the 50 Year Club. We then will have preferential treatment for room reservations at the Morris Inn. Remember, we are not in the 50 Year Club yet. There will also be a hospitality room open every evening for just our class at the Embassy Suites. The best thing about this reunion will be spending time with each other. Thanks to Jerry Claeys, Ken Samara, Bob Dowdell, Joe Cavato, Gene Dixon and others for helping and being so excited about this reunion. If you have any questions, please contact me. — Dennis B. McCarthy; PO Box 246, Bear Lake MI 49614; 231-864-3111 ext. 115; dbmc2@blarneycastleoil.com
69JD Time Marches On
It is hard to believe that 50 years ago we graduated from the Law School. Our reunion is set for Sept. 19-20, which is an away football weekend. I have reserved a block of 35 rooms at the Morris Inn for the weekend under the name “Law School ’69 Reunion.” My contact person at the Morris Inn is Heather Goralski, 574-631-2000. I have been asked if surviving spouses of our classmates can attend. I took the liberty of saying yes. If you are in contact with the wives of any of our deceased classmates, please let them know they are welcome to attend. Tim McLaughlin is working with me on events for the weekend including a reception Friday night, a game watch (Georgia) on Saturday and a dinner Saturday night. I welcome any suggestions for the weekend. Please send me an email with your size and home address if you plan on attending. Dean Nell Newton is retired as the dean of the Law School. We again raided the West Coast (Stanford) for the new dean, G. Marcus Cole. I have invited Dean Cole to meet with us at our reunion. I received an email that Jim Brady has officially retired. I lost the email while I was in the Cleveland Clinic having my aortic valve replaced. With my valve replaced, I am good to go. The procedure was done through my aortic valve, which has made recovery remarkably easy. Tim Malloy is enjoying life after his prostate cancer diagnosis. He is looking forward to the reunion. Leo Stoff is retired, or at least his new email address would indicate he is: imabum@prodigy.net. More later about the reunion. — Jim Starshak; 889 Kaohe Place, Honolulu HI 96825; res 808-395-0443; cell 808-778-4033; starman@hawaii.rr.com