1960 – Fall ’20 Class Letter
DEBORAH JOHNSON VAN SLYKE ’60
480-284-5564 / 619-889-5061 / [email protected]
Hi everyone.
This certainly has been an unusual time. I hope that all of you are healthy and COVID free. Yes, I took a test and it was negative so I am able to endure the heat dome that has descended on Scottsdale. For the last week, I have had to forgo my morning swim as the water was like swimming in hot soup. This week our nights are finally down in the high eighties. I try to keep in good spirits by thinking of going up the hill in the snow. Remember the Toilet Bowl?
Would love to hear from more of you. How are your grandkids? Have you taken up any new hobbies? I just read a piece by Frederick Buechner on old age. He said it is our second childhood that we can enjoy and that “what young children and very old children have in common is the advantage of being able to sit on the sideline of things. While everyone else is jockeying for position and sweating it out, they can lean back, put their feet up, and, like the octogenarian King Lear, pray and sing and tell old tales and laugh at gilded butterflies.”
Was happy to hear from our artist CLAUDETTE BEALL LEE-ROSELAND ’60 of Cedarburg, WI (check out her website: www.claudetteleeroseland.com). Claud has had a difficult year including run-ins with cancer, a broken leg, and other medical annoyances. She is on the mend and in good spirits. I am hoping to be in Egerton for Christmas and plan to visit her studio. She is soooo talented!
GERALD R. KIERGAARD ’60 of Madison, Wisconsin, died Feb. 19, 2020. At Ripon, he majored in English and philosophy and was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. He also studied at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He taught for the Madison School District for more than 20 years. After retiring, he was a substitute teacher for the Monona Grove School District. He enjoyed bird watching, day trips, woodworking, puzzles, casino trips, the Green Bay Packers and his dogs. Survivors include his wife, Yvonne; one son and one daughter.
BOB BORGER ’60 checked in from Waterville, Ohio. His wife Yvette is in the hospital with a variety of maladies. I remember Yvette from the 50th…delightful woman. Get well soon!
For those of you who are well…congratulations! For those of you who are going through bad periods or your spouse is, I am so sorry. For those of you who are climbing the walls during this stressful time…you’re not alone.
Write me, call me, email me…….the next letter will include your news.
Take care,
Deb