1973-Spring ’19 Class Letter
Class Agent: Jean Kirkpatrick Lederer
Spring 2019
Dear Class of 1973,
When I write the greeting I don’t think of 1973 as being that long ago. But here it is 2019 and four months has gone by already. Time has a way of flying by so fast. Our 50th Ripon reunion will be here before you know it, so I hope you all have marked your calendars that the last weekend of June, 2023 you need to be in Ripon! You probably will be sick of me saying that between now and then, but really it would be wonderful to get as many people back as possible! And I don’t want “I did not know the date” to be your excuse.
Our class has always been very generous to Ripon College and I hope this year will be no exception. Remember the Ripon Fund gifts should be in by Alumni Weekend 2019. Also, if you have not thought about it already, maybe it’s time to think about including Ripon in your estate planning.
A few of our classmates sent in news, and some of the news sent in was a bit longer than I can include in my letter, so I have had to paraphrase, and hopefully did an okay job of it. Apologies if I did not.
KATE PARISH MILLER ’73 Richland, Michigan, writes,“I’m still doing some activist work for the environment. There is so much to do- environment, racism, low income housing, food assistance, etc! The shutdown hasn’t helped. Pipeline 5 – under the Great Lakes we are trying to push to Shut It Down. Trying to coordinate 350.org, which seeks to get us away from dependency on fossil fuels, and Sierra Club and Citizens Climate Lobby which are seeking 100% renewables by approaching city governments. So much to do! All are healthy and hope you all are, too.”
After more than 30 years in New Mexico, LEE HUFFMAN ’73 and wife, Christine, of Missoula, Montana, retired and relocated to Montana. They moved from Santa Fe to Missoula in 2015, one hundred years after his grandparents moved from Oregon to Montana. Over the decades in New Mexico, Lee says his Ripon visitors included SAM WELLER ’73, MIKE JUNEAU ’73, BILL ’73 and ROBYN MACKIEWICZ LAKE ’74, STEVE FLOOD ’73, and JIM HUFFMAN ’70.
Lee commented on the passing of Ripon Professor Curt Thompson saying: “I had Curt Thompson for four economics courses, although I was not an Economics Major. I learned everything I needed in Curt’s classes to properly cross examine economists in several cases. One of those economists served in the cabinet of several administrations.” Lee also mentioned BILL NEILL ’67 who sent him a nice note when Lee’s father passed away.
JOSEPH SANDRIN ’73 of Bayside, Wisconsin, works in Saudi Arabia as manager of a program supporting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its efforts to remediate and restore damages to the desert and coastal environment from the First Gulf War. The project is funded through the United Nations and Iraq oil revenues, and is one the largest environmental restoration projects underway anywhere. He has been with Jacobs, Formerly CH2M Hill, which offers environmental and engineering consulting services.
GARY SHARPE ’73 lives in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and is still working. “It’s what happens when you marry a younger woman.”
WILLIAM H STARKE ’73 of Tucson, Arizona, writes, “Sold our house in Vail, Arizona and bought a townhouse in Wrightstown Square in Tucson. Major remodeling took three months to complete.”
JAMES B. THOMPSON ’73 of Salem, Oregon, was featured in an “Out & About” article relating to an art show at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art. Water is Sacred: Water is Life” is the latest solo show by James B. Thompson a longtime Willamette University faculty member and mature artist at the height of his career. The author of the article wrote: “Thompson’s work has a more rigorous feel, a seriousness of intent that is by no account dull, but rather, in its own way, both engrossing and liberating. Thompson, who creates variously in paintings, prints, and fused glass, usually works in series of images rising from the same theme and often taking him a year or more to complete. His interests range from the historical to the geological, to the ways in which science and nature and human beings interact and to the human impact on the changing landscape… Thompson’s work never seems didactic. It is rather an exploration of the visual and intellectual possibilities arriving from a specific philosophical proposition and it seems to lead him to surprises as he traverses its terrain. His artist statement for Water is Sacred: Water is Life states his intention….clearly and succinctly: We can live without food for days on end but not without water, or we perish.”
HILDE BORMANN HENKEL ’73 and husband MARK HENKEL ’70 of Rudolph, Wisconsin, along with their sons James and John just made history as all four earned their 7th degree black belts in Taekwondo. They are the first family in the Kukkiwon records of the World Taekwondo to simultaneously achieve this level of expertise. The skill testing was completed by Robert Stevens , who holds the coveted Grade 1 Dan Examiner certification, the highest awarded by the World Taekwondo Academy of Seoul, Korea. Testing includes advanced skill components, board breaking, and high intensity sparring, and writing a paper on techniques and teaching of Taekwondo. They also needed to meet age and time in rank requirements. Grandmaster Stevens refers to the Henkel family as “The First Family of Taekwondo.” Mark and Hilde have recently taken over Stevens Taekwondo Academy after the founder and lead instructor retired. The couple enjoys teaching the classes for may reasons beyond the continuing fitness. Hilde says: “Taekwondo has been really great for us. We enjoy working together and enjoy providing the fun and discipline of Taekwondo for others.”
MIKE MIZEN ’73 of Lakewood, Ohio sent an email in late January: Finally some cold weather and snow in Lakewood albeit the promise of 3/4” rain and 50 degrees tomorrow. Have several chances to see Beta Sig’s this year. PETE TULLIO ’73 of Northridge, California, GARY SHARPE ’73 of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, ROBERT GADDIS ’72 of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin and us in May and October. Childrens weddings are nice events to connect. We will ski in Colorado in February. They have consistent snow and cold. Our fall 2018 RV trip to the Gulf Shores was great even with the 100+ heat index for 10 days in a row. New found appreciation for crab claws. Beginning fall 2019 RV adventures. Perhaps Ontario Canada provincial adventures…
MARTY MORRIS ’73: Totally settled into Portland life now. Trying to enjoy the Great Pacific Northwest. In addition to the culinary adventures in town have been exploring the countryside and coast. Wineries, beach combing, camping, whale watching have all been enjoyable. Even took a trip to Hawaii which will have to be repeated. It’s amazing what one can do when freed from the commitments to work and other things.
KEN ’73 and MARCIA FRUHMAN ’74 ELLIOT of Malta, Illinois, Ken retired from teaching at Northern Illinois University at the end of August 2018. He works more at our store Made Just for You Gifts which features handcrafted gifts and home décor items. He would like to spend more time crafting himself, but family matters have kept us hopping. Maybe things will slow down in 2019 so he can enjoy his retirement a bit. Our daughter Christina added new baby Brynlee Rayne Williams to the family. She joins Brooklyn (age 9), Bria (age 4) and Bryson (18 months).
SUDY REIGLE ALTHOLZ ’73 of Chicago, Illinois, writes, “I’m sending this from New Zealand where TOM ’72 and I are visiting for a driving trip for 3 weeks. We sold our house in Arizona last spring. Our plans are to travel a lot, and spend time with our boys and our grandchildren. We love our life in Chicago and all the activities we try to take advantage of. And we continue to stay in active involvement with Ripon, a special spot for us
JEAN KIRKPATRICK LEDERER ’73 and GARY LEDERER ’72 of Estero, Florida, writes,
“We became grandparents for the first time on December 18. Emily Alice Lederer is adorable and we are all in love with her. She will be coming from California to visit us in Florida with her parents in March and we are counting the days. Gary and I keep busy with Guardian ad litem cases. We have three cases with children ranging in age from 2 to 16. Each case is challenging and involves a lot of time. We find it rewarding and just hope we are making a positive influence in the children’s lives.”
For those of you who do not know: KEN MAGRATH ’73 passed away in December of 2018. Our sympathies to JULIE FENWICK MAGRATH ’73 and her family.
I do hope to hear from more of you for the next letter. I can see on Facebook that lots of you are busy doing many fun things: saw a picture of FRANK NEER ’73 at the Super Bowl, DARCI JAEGER JAYNE ’73 has an adorable granddaughter and puts some magnificent pictures of birds and Lake Michigan in her posts. BILL MACLEOD ’73 seems to be very adventurous, and PAT WILKE EPTING ’73 and LEX ’72 EPTING sure do like Taco Tuesday. JANE SCHORE ’73 who is a Realtor lists some magnificent LA properties that I would love to wander through. Me, I just complain a lot about delayed aircraft keeping me from getting where I want to go when I want to get there. And for those of you who remember him Marvin will be off on a new great adventure in June. Look forward to it!
Wishing everyone a Happy Spring!
Jean