Classmates

FRIDAY OCTOBER 12th.   6:00 to 8:00 pm.    WINE TASTING.   (Seltzer and Soda also available.)    Hosted by George Wheeler and Ellen Taylor.   Suite number will be given later.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 13TH.   5:00 to 7:00 pm.   Come say hello to some of your former MK teachers.   Bistecca Lounge.  

7:00 to 11:00 pm.    THE BIG BASH!  
OPEN BAR  (7:00 to 10:00), DINNER, AND DANCING to records spun by the Famous and Fabulous Tom Hammer.   And Open Mike!  Morris Room.   
(Night Owls may meander over to the Bistecca Lounge afterwards, if you so desire, to keep the party going.) 

SUNDAY OCTOBER 14th.   9:00 to  11:00  am.   BREAKFAST IN THE WATERVIEW ROOM, adjacent to the Bistecca Lounge. 

Terry Garfunkel (Garfunkel)

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Divorced
Occupation: Medical Coder/Abstractor
Comment: Following graduation from MK, I attended Villanova University for two years as a nursing major.  Took a year off to enjoy the "hippie experience", then supported my continuing education at Rutgers as a dental assistant, graduating with a degree in Psychology.  Worked briefly in NYC at the Institute for Advanced Study in Rational Psychotherapy.  Returned to the health care field as the manager of a large orthopaedic practice for 23 years, and am currently performing medical coding/abstracting for the Mayo Clinic.  Married in 1989.  Divorced in 2016.  Looking forward to retiring within the year, winning the lottery, and planning a return visit to East Africa!  

Ed Halbig

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 2
Occupation: Retired Packaging Sales
Comment: Karen and I recently celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary.   We have two grown daughters, and we are enjoying retirement.   I'm fortunate to remain close with my two closest friends, Joe and Rick, as well as many of my friends from both St. Mary's GS and Morris Knolls

Rick Heilman

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 2
Occupation: Retired
Comment:     Four years at Boston University provided me with a BS in Manufacturing Engineering and, more importantly, my wife Carole. The 45 years with Carole has proven to outlast the usefulness of the degree since I'm now retired but she's still here.

    I added an MS in Material Science at Rutgers while Carole completed a PhD in Microbiology. A well-earned post-doc position for Carole at the National Institutes of Health lead us to Bethesda, MD and me to a position in technical sales for 20 years.

    During those years, we were twice visited by the stork with, first, Jessica and then Elliot. Both children have enriched our lives immensely and we never lacked for entertainment and things to do.

   While Carole has, in the last year, retired after 39 years at NIH, I retired in 2012 after shifting jobs from sales to IT management. Retirement continues to make us marvel that we ever had time for full-time employment.

   Jessica is now the manager of physical and occupational therapies at Roper Hospital in Charleston, SC while Elliot completed his PhD at Northwestern U in the humanities. He is a proud new owner of a house in the city of Chicago and we visit as long as it's not winter.

   With Jessica, and more importantly, our 6 year-old granddaughter, Lana, located in Charleston, we bought a small place at Seabrook Island, SC to make it easier to visit a lot. So we are great friends with I-95 as we split our time between Seabrook and our home in Rockville, MD.

   Life is good. The bicycle trips with Eddie (and sometimes, Joey), my motorcycle adventures, the many golf outings, and travel in general keeps the rust off and the joints moving. People are amazed when I tell them that I am still in touch with many of the "kids" with whom I grew up. I simply see it as just one more joy in my life.

Barbara Hellriegel (Baker)

Marital status: Widowed
Children: 5
Occupation: retired nurse
Comment: Hello all.  When I graduated, I spent a year working then went on to a college in Boston.  After a year, I decided I wanted to teach music.  College at the time did not work for me.  I became a musician (organist) and a music teacher in Fair Lawn.  While entertaining at Germania Park on the piano and organ, I met the love of my life, Richard.  We were married 5 months later to the day.  I continued teaching for a while, but then left it when I had my first daughter.  I had four more daughters and stayed at home to raise them. We moved to Naples, Florida in 1993.



 In 1994, I went back to school to become a nurse.  I worked as a Geriatric Nurse for Alzheimers patients till I retired in 2012.  My husband worked in the County government as a Project Manager,  designing roads and bridges for the growing city.  My husband passed away in 2001 from a very short illness.



I had a short marriage in 2006, which didn't work out and we divorced a year later. 

I now live in a condo in Naples, Florida.  I have 10 grandchildren.  I cruise at least 2-3 times a year and make a yearly trip to Haiti for short-term missions.



I am truly looking forward to seeing everybody.

Gary Hermann

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 1
Occupation: Retired Forester
Comment: In the fall of 1968, I enrolled at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Made the freshman cross country team as a walk-on.  Spent 3 years here surviving two spring floods, an arsonist, tray sledding on the hills, all campus snowball fights, beautiful fall and spring seasons, and the arrival of the Ohio National Guard to quell a week of riots sparked by expansion of the Viet-Nam war and the shootings at Kent State.  Jimmy Books (MK'68) and I had quite an adventure getting home to NJ after campus was closed and all students were ordered to leave within 24 hours. I did receive my BS degree in Plant Biology in June 1972.



In the spring of 1971, I applied to and was admitted to the Duke University School of Forestry.  Enrolling in the fall, I earned my Masters of Forest Management in May 1974.



I secured employment with Westvaco Corporation in North Charleston, SC in their wood procurement department as a landowner assistance forester, a job I spent nearly 41 years at.  Enjoyed the work immensely assisting private landowners manage their timber and buying wood for the mill.  Met and worked with several celebrity landowners, but most of my clients were just average "Joes" (and "Jills") wanting to make some money and leave their properties and the world a bit better than what they had.  At one time I was actively managing over 200,000 acres.



During my career I had the honor of working with and nominating several outstanding landowners for the work we were accomplishing on their properties.  Six of them won South Carolina Tree Farmer of the Year awards; two earned Southern Region Tree Farmer of the Year Awards; and one earned the National Tree Farmer of the Year designation.  In addition, in 2006 and 2007, my individual efforts were recognized with the American Pulp and Paper Associations "Forest Mangement Award" and the Forest Resource Associations "Forest Activist Award".



While at Duke I met and later married Carol Stewart of Pittsburgh, PA.  We'll be married 44 years at the end of October.  We were blessed with one son who resides in Alexandria, VA and works as a network sales engineer for a company called Vidyo.  Carol, who also earned a Masters degree from Duke, was a "stay at home mom" who looked after me, our son, and our various pets and projects.  Currently she is actively involved with our local Methodist church, serving on several boards and committees.  We reside in Walterboro, SC, approximately 50 miles west of Charleston and 60 miles north of Savannah, GA. I tell most people, "... if you've ever been to Florida, via I-95, you've been through Walterboro". 



As for me, I retired from KapStone, a legacy Westvaco company in 2014.  I now do private forest consulting work, perform forest inventory audits for Weyerhaeuser, serve as a District Chair for the South Carolina Certified Tree Farm Committee, and as a commissioner and guide for the Edisto River Canoe & Kayak Trail.  In my spare time, I canoe, read, particularly Civil War histories, travel to numerous battlefields and historical sites, enjoy photography, and play with the dog.



I'm looking forward to returning to NJ for the first time in over 35 years; but, I'm more looking forward to this event and renewing acquaintances with friends and classmates whom I haven't seen in 50 years.



See y'll in October!

Catherine Lamphier (Stoecker)

Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 3
Occupation: Retired/Realtor/Referral Agent

Laurel (Laurie) Lhowe (Cook)

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 1
Occupation: Artist, hospice volunteer
Comment:

  • I've lived in the Boston area since the year after college and love it. First I lived on Beacon Hill for 21 years then moved to "rural" Cambridge. My brother, Robin, and family live close by so we see a lot of them. David's brother and wife live in RI. It's nice we are all close as there are no longer parents in the picture and have not been for a long while.

  • Right after college to moved to Freedom, a tiny town in Maine where there where lots of hippy types gardening, hunting and hiking and brewing dandelion wine (yuk). When I first moved to Boston I worked as an illustrator for a small advertising agency. I moved to Pittsfield, MA for a couple of years as an artist for Eaton paper and got on the National Ski Patrol. Upon moving back to Boston I got in the back door of Harvard Medical School (during the Bizzard of '78) and trained as a medical illustrator. I worked as a free lance medical illustrator until I retired a few years ago.

  • Now I do a lot of landscape painting and volunteer for a hospice. I married at 40 and had a son at 41 who lives in Portland, OR. Last year David and I  bought a cabin on Grand Isle, Lake Champlain and will spend more time there from spring to fall when he retires. We bike, ski, travel, and enjoy all the things city life offers.

  • About 15 years ago I became a Buddhist amd was subsequently involved in starting a school in the eastern Himalaya. I have been there to teach and spend time with our sponsored child who is now 16.  

  • David and I spent a month in Bhutan a few years ago where he volunteered as an orthopedic surgeon. Every few years I hike in the Lake District with UK friends. David amd I enjoy bicycling and have taken several trips cycling in England, France and Italy.  My mom raised miniature poodles when we lived at Green Pond and as a family we have had two standards, the latest being Xena, a 9 yr old red firecracker of a poodle.

  • If you are interested in seeing some my paintings check out my website LCOOKL.COM.

Aleta Luberger (Newby)

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Widowed
Children: 2
Occupation: Retired
Comment: Sorry I did not attend the reunion, but enjoyed looking at all the pics!  Here's my story:

I graduated from Trenton State College, or now known as The College of New Jersey.  I then taught art in Parsippany Schools.  Somehow I ended up as a Buyer at Warner Lambert in Morris Plains and took an early retirement package in 1989 when my son was born.  



I then went back to school and received my certification in Special Education.  At that point, we moved to Florida, as my husband was an avid boater and fisherman.  I taught kindergarten and then third grade there and then moved back to New Jersey!  Here I taught special education at the Sussex Wantage Regional School District, before retiring in 2008.  We then built a house in St. Mary's Georgia and moved our summer residence to PA and winter residence to Georgia.



My husband died of cancer in 2017; I sold both houses and moved back to Newton, NJ where I am now.  I have a Westie, named Sparky who keeps me busy.  I continue with my art, mostly watercolors and love to read. I also  like to travel, went to Italy this summer and have a trip planned to Vienna and Prague in December.  And of course, my annual trip to Wisconsin to visit two beautiful granddaughters!



Who knows, maybe I'll make the 75th reunion!

Chris Maughan

Then Then
Marital status: Married
Children: 2
Occupation: Retired
Comment: As My wife, Wai Lee (anglicized first name 'Helen') and me draw near to our 43rd wedding anniversary, we are most proud of our sons; the oldest completing his doctoral dissertation at Vanderbilt U., and the youngest a practising attorney here in SoCal. They are great young men and fine citizens.

            Helen has been teaching several levels of Chemistry at a local community college for going on twenty years. She is respected by her administration and loved by her students. She thoroughly enjoys her work and is constantly looking for ways to make her classes more enjoyable.           

            After 22 years 'behind the wire' of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, I was released. No, sorry, released is the wrong word. I meant to say, retired. Yes, that's the word, retired - from the free-staff position of Senior Librarian at the California Institution for Men at Chino, CA. Previous to the above, I worked ten years for McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) in Long Beach, CA. And, believe me, nothing in aerospace prepared me for working in the CA prison system. My 'clientele'  kept me up on my toes - hardly ever a dull moment. 

           Over the years, we've travelled to Asia and across Europe. On one indelible night in Paris, Helen and I danced a passable cha-cha on a the sizable stage front and virtually empty dance floor at the Moulin Rouge. The 15 piece orchestra played on. There was a smattering of applause from the packed house. With this, many others came to the floor and now tired, we retreated to our seats. We confided to each other later that the applause may just as well been for the orchestra, as they were quite good. 

           I am grateful to Dave Black for allowing me to re-acquire the '68 MK yearbook. Per his instructions, I downloaded the document and began a perusal of names and faces I had not seen for decades. Soon I came to the pages dedicated to the MK fencing team, which proved memorable.  I was pleasantly reminded that, once upon a time, I could (p.105) 'move' that well, and during a varsity competition no less. Although not quite Rathbone vs. Power, it was, hey, 'good enough for high school'..and not a bad showing for all that.

           We try to keep reasonably fit, but Helen is better at this than I am. In retirement, I have become more 'desk-bound' ( a 2$ upgrade term for 'sedentary') But, in keeping with the times in which we live, I claim merely to be a victim. I blame this sluggishness on bad habits I picked up while writing my first novel 'Children of the Emperor' (available on Amazon, and elsewhere {oh, shameless man}).  Not to be deterred from drudgery, I'm working on a sequel to the above mentioned novel that, itself, resolutely refuses to become fashionable. Challenging. Ignoring the occasional vacuous nibble from H'wood and other time consuming distractions is part of the 'eyes on the prize' game.

            But, back in the very real world, I was genuinely honored when Ms. Laura Pedersen, MK Librarian, decided to add my novel to MK Library general collection. Once  again, Thank You, Ms.Pedersen.

            Apart from that, when I look at my Senior photo, and then look into a mirror, I'm reminded of an expression I heard years ago  -- If you stick around long enough, eventually you become your own grandparent.

 

Jim McCrudden

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 6
Occupation: Retired YMCA CEO