1964–Spring ’18 Class Letter
Spring 2018
Class Agent:
Pat Ostrom Kohnen ’64
925-201-7377 / [email protected]
Greetings, Classmates,
The last few letters have appeared in the R Connections booklet. In the future an R Connections booklet will become an annual fall publication, and the spring letters will be sent by email and/or regular mail. For this letter, I will request that it be emailed to class members with emails and sent by regular mail to the other members. Obituaries will be going back to the Ripon Magazine starting in July 2018. A stronger Class Agent, class letter and news note presence online is being developed for release this fall.
As we all know, our lives are filled with both happy and sad things. My brother Terry did not come to visit me for my fifth Christmas here at Stoneridge Creek because he died suddenly in early September. He was still teaching at the University of Michigan Dearborn campus. I enjoyed a Lewis and Clark paddle boat trip on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in early November. I traveled with Cleve Beck, a friend who also lives at Stoneridge Creek. One day at lunch we met TOM HUGDAHL ’62 and JACKIE BLODGETT HUGDAHL ’62. He is Ripon ‘62 and she is Ripon ’63 although she left after sophomore year to go to nursing school. It is indeed a small world! We had fun sharing Ripon memories. This spring I have a trip planned to Ashland, Oregon for theater performances and my first Road Scholar trip to Sedona, Arizona and the Grand Canyon. I suspect that many of you have traveled with Road Scholar (formerly Elder Hostle). In late June I will be going on a Crystal Alaska cruise.
I have news to share from three of our classmates:
LINDA FLAMME HANSEN ’64 of Racine, Wisconsin, writes, “Married April 21, 2017 to Randol Hansen; 3 children; 8 grandchildren. Retired, but still a church organist! Love to travel!”
JAMES HAAG ’64 of Charleston, South Carolina, writes, “Been a long time since Ripon. But ask the guys on the wrestling team, how many will keep doing the same thing in 53 years? I guess I couldn’t get enough of the wrestling back at Ripon. I am still training in BJJ. Even went to Israel a year ago to train with the real practitioners. I manage to mix it up with the young guys about 3 days a week, and there is something to be said for age and sneakiness vs youth and vigor. Like I say in Krav Maga, if you don’t cheat, your tactics suck. Living in Charleston, South Carolina, and would enjoy hearing from any other old time Riponites.
MARY ANN SIMS TROMBETTA ’64 of East Setauket, New York, writes, “Still married to Angelo after 53 happy years. Retired as an ESL teacher in 2003. Divide our time between Setauket, New York and Marco Island, Florida. Enjoy our son and daughter, their lovely spouses and their four beautiful smart granddaughters-2 in elementary and 2 in college.”
I enjoyed reading the winter issue of the Ripon Magazine which focuses on giving back, volunteering and helping those less fortunate. President Zach Messitte closes his message by saying “Being a part of the Ripon community means that we are duty-bound to be our neighbor’s keeper in what we do today and hope to accomplish tomorrow.”
Please join me in making a donation to the Annual Fund. I continue to be grateful for my time at Ripon. If you come to San Francisco please contact me for a visit.
I wish you a happy and healthy spring and summer,
PAT KOHNEN