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NEWS – Wyandotte High
School Class of 1958
LIFE SINCE ’58: Let us know
what you have been doing since 1958 dschone@cox.net
Scroll ¯ Click For Music (Through The Years) 
LIFE SINCE '58: Mike Calwell
I moved to Kansas City
in 1957 just before my senior year and chose Wyandotte because it had a swimming
team. I was only at Wyandotte as a senior,
however I made a lot of new friends through swimming, and still keep in touch
with many of them today. After
graduation from Wyandotte
I found out by accident (our swimming coach didn't even know) that I had been
selected as swimming All-American in the 400 yd freestyle. This news helped me secure a scholarship to
college so I started at K-State in the fall of 1958 as a freshmen swimmer. I ended up at KU and finished my swimming
years there in 1963 as captain of the KU team.
My summers had been filled with jobs around swimming pools including
guarding, teaching, and coaching. I
completed my degree in Education at KU and took a position in the Kansas City
Missouri Schools as a teacher and swimming coach. Over the 10 years I taught biological science
at Kansas City Missouri
East HS, Southwest HS and finally moved to Shawnee
Mission South HS. I started teaching in a blue-collar
environment, and finished in one of the most affluent school systems in the U.S. What an interesting contrast and what a
fortunate learning experience. I
continued to coach Men's and Women's swimming teams, teaching science while
working on a Masters degree in Physiology (MS completed in 1973). I maintained a pace in those days that would
probably kill me now. Still, I count
those years as the best and most challenging of my life.
By
1975 I was getting a little burned out with the 12+ hour days and low pay. With two children, Todd age 5 and Cindy age
2, and house payments (a whopping $122\month), I needed better income and more
time to spend raising my own kids. After
ten years I made the difficult decision to step out of teaching into a business
career and took a position in sales with a sash and door company in Lenexa. In the first year alone, I doubled my salary
from the teaching days. I was eventually
promoted to sales manager and in 1979 (when the home building crunch hit) I
made my third and final career change. I
went to work for a Kansas City
based corporate recruiting firm, and by late 1980 decided to set up my own
operation. Myself
and another gentleman established a Search firm called Michael\Merrill-Kansas
City. We bought space in a condominium
style office building on the Meadowbrook Golf Course (the view was great) in Prairie Village. We started with two phones, two chairs, and
two card tables and were in the black within 30 days. In 1981, I returned to swimming as a way of
keeping physically and mentally fit. I
began swimming in the U.S.
Masters program and competed locally and nationally. I met some great people and developed many
new friends. One highlight was an
opportunity to compete on the block next to one of my great swimming idols,
Olympic great, Jeff Ferrell. I didn't
beat him but it was a close race. In
1984 I was elected chairman of the Missouri
Valley Masters Swimming
Committee and over the next four years worked to develop that local
organization and serve on national committees.
Many of those changes and improvements are still in place today.
I
was divorced in 1984 and like many of you who have experienced this difficult
emotional time; I suffered through it with the hope that things would
eventually heal over. In 1986 I met a
beautiful brown eyed, brunette Masters swimmer named Laura. I casually moved over to her lane and we hit
it off immediately. By the end of the
year we decided to get married. I hired
a minister, a hot air balloon and a stretch limo and we were married in a
beautiful outdoor lake setting West of Lenexa on Oct 17, 1986. The wedding party was a balloon chase. After a marvelous two-hour flight, we landed
in a farmer’s field where the reception was held with about 70 friends. At this writing we have just celebrated a
fantastic 14 years together. We each
have two wonderful children from our first marriage, and at one time had four
teenagers living in the house at the same time.
(Never again!)
Laura and I just returned from a spectacular three weeks in Alaska where we paddled
with humpback whales, hiked the rainforests and glaciers, and walked in the
grizzly bears habitat. A life's
dream-come-true! In 1991, I took my son to Alaska and we were
introduced to Ocean Kayaking. Once back
in Kansas I
bought two 16-foot Sea Kayaks and our love affair with rivers began. Recognizing the serious plight of our rivers
in Kansas, Laura and I began to explore and
ultimately work to defend our great Kansas River. Over the last 6+ years we have developed a
group called Friends of the Kaw, www.kansasriver.com “Helping
to save our Kansas River”. Laura is the President of that organization
and I serve on the Board. We continue to
solicit members to help protect the river from mining and pollution. Our simple goal is "Access to Clean
Rivers". Laura is a full time
interior decorator and I continue to run my recruiting business. We both squeeze a lot of river work into our
busy schedules. I serve as President of The Kansas
Canoe Association that is a paddle sport club of nearly 200 members whose
purpose is to help people get on our rivers for canoeing, kayaking, and
rafting. We write, lecture, lobby,
sponsor floats, and promote clean water whenever there is an opportunity to
protect and improve our river. Last year
I scheduled and led a series of float trips that took a large group down the
full 170 miles of our Kansas River. We took over 500 slides along the way and
have developed a presentation for civic groups called "OUR KANSAS RIVER-The Good, The Bad
and the Ugly."
I still own the
office space on the golf course, but after nineteen years I have moved my
business into my home. I built a great office
from our old attached garage. It's the
private "den" I've always wanted and the décor reflects my love of
the outdoors. It's wired to the max and
I love it. I invite you to come and see
my "wall of eagles" sometime.
Those great birds are on the comeback trail and this is my daily
reminder that the struggle is the adventure. My parents Doris and Bill Calwell are 92
years old and enjoy good health. They
live in Topeka
at a retirement home. Dad plays golf
(made a hole in one at age 91). He has macular
degeneration and he still beats me at golf.
I tell him … "something is wrong when I can't even beat a blind
guy". I still take him fishing on
good days and this year he caught an 8 lb bass.
Mom still cooks and is doing a lot of writing for senior magazines. They are a gift I hadn't counted on.
In 1983 I served on
the Wyandotte Class of ’58 25th Reunion Committee and had a blast getting
reacquainted. Two years prior to the
1993 Reunion (35th) I was asked to co-chair
the committee with Judy Donovan McIntosh.
What a hard working group they were!
We had a BLOCKBUSTER 35th Reunion! I was asked again to chair the 40th Reunion Committee for 1998. "The Class of ‘58 would be 58
in’98" and we toned down the activities to allow for more interaction (visiting). It worked very well and thanks to a great
committee we had a delightful 40th.
Those of you out there that don’t come to the reunions are missing a
great opportunity to see the past come alive again. It's like stepping forward in time to see what
people have become. Don't miss the next
one. To my friends I say ... love many,
trust few, but always paddle your own canoe.
Mike
Calwell - E-Mail Address: mcalwell@swbell.net
Mike and Laura Calwell
LIFE SINCE '58: Barbara (Fabac) Schone
Hello former
classmates, my post Wyandotte High School life began by attending KCK Junior College
and working part-time. I continued
dating Don Schone, Wyandotte
Class of 1959, who attended K-State, and KCK Junior College. We became engaged, married, and moved to Southern California the year following KCKJC graduation.
We lived in Downey, California,
home of the first McDonald's and Rockwell International of space-race
fame. I worked there (then North
American Aviation) for six years during the time of the first Moon landing, and
had the opportunity to meet some of the Astronauts. Don worked for the State of California and attended college at
night. He graduated from California State
University at Long
Beach with a B.S. in Civil Engineering, and was in engineering
management at Southern California Edison (now Edison
International) from 1970 until his retirement at age 55. We have two fine adult Sons. Scott earned a B.S. in Mathematics from California State University, Fullerton, and owns a computer consulting
company. He is the Father of our two
Grandchildren. Steve graduated from UCLA
with an Economics Degree. He remains
single and is a manager at a national magazine publishing company. In 1970 we bought our first home in the
Southern California planned community of Mission Viejo. I was hired in 1971 by Mission Viejo Company
(a Philip Morris company), the land developer that built Mission Viejo, working
in public relations and recreation throughout most of that development until my
1997 retirement. Upon retirement, we
remodeled our second Mission Viejo home where
we moved in 1978, the year that it was built.
I enjoy playing piano and spending time on the PC -- creating and
maintaining this Web Site and another for the Alumni of my former company http://members.cox.net/mvcalumni) -- and interfacing with
those Alumni and other friends and relatives.
I am pleased that we have remained friends with '58 and '59 WHS
classmates over the years. Though we
enjoy and have done some travel, we look forward to more.
It
is nice to be able to serve on the Wyandotte
Class of 1958 Reunion Committee as Web Site
Master. My thanks to other past and
present Committee members for their efforts and good planning that have
resulted in outstanding Class Reunions!
Barbara
(Fabac) Schone – Footnote: Barb sadly passed away 4/6/07 Click on her Obituary
& Guestbook Thank you all… Don
Schone dschone@cox.net

Steve, Barb, Don, Andrew, Kathleen, Scott,
Annaka
LIFE SINCE
'58: Joyce
(Ethridge) Woods
Within a week of graduation from Wyandotte, I started my
secretarial career at Westinghouse. I
have also worked as a secretary at Trans World Airlines, a law firm, and Kansas State
University, Manhattan, Kansas. I simultaneously attended K-State as a
secretarial science education major and substituted for the instructor as
needed. Manhattan was a terrific place for raising
children and I have never regretted the move.
I divorced after almost 23 years of marriage, and
felt freer and more independent than I ever felt in my life! So, what did I do? I met a Southern gentleman by the name of
John Woods. Our first date was the
weekend following the 25th year class reunion. We married in May of 1984 and bought a
lovely home at Table Rock Lake in
southern Missouri
on three acres located at the end of a peninsula. Life was heavenly until John tired of tending
the acreage and we both tired of fishing.
We sold the property, put our belongings into storage, hooked our 5th
wheel RV to our pickup and hit the road!
For the next six years we traveled over 175,000 miles and in twenty-one
states. We had a ball! It takes two people with a love for
traveling, and who get along extremely well, to live in a 23-foot RV. We have settled near Milford
Reservoir, which is 70 miles west of Topeka,
Kansas.
My
daughters have grown into beautiful women; each with her own delightful
personality. And, each a personality I
love dearly. Carol
is a hazel-eyed redhead who has two red-haired sons, Benton and Wesley. Eadye, a blue-eyed
blonde, has a blue-eyed blonde daughter, Demi. Gigi, the brunette,
has dark eyes, and has a dark-eyed, brunette daughter, Jessi. Each daughter and son-in-law has at least one
college degree. I'm terribly fond of my
sons-in-law. The only requirement I have
of them is that they treat their families lovingly...and they do. I am truly blessed.
Joyce (Ethridge) Woods - E-Mail
Addresses: wyandotte1958@yahoo.com
or joycewoods@tctelco.net
Student Bulldog Joyce
Joyce (Ethridge) Woods
LIFE
SINCE ’58: Jim Masters
James
I. Masters is President of the Center for Community Futures in Berkeley, California. The Center helps
organizations develop their vision, values and strategies. He has worked with over
500 Community Action Agencies and Head Start programs since 1966. He was with the US
Office of Economic Opportunity from 1966 to
1970. From 1970 to 1975, he served in
several appointive positions in New York City government, including Assistant
to the Budget Director, Evaluation Director in the Human Resources
Administration and Assistant Deputy Administrator in the HRA Department of
Community Development. Jim has a BA in
Cultural Anthropology from the University
of Kansas and a MS in International
Business (with Honors), from St. Mary's Graduate School
of Business, Moraga,
California. Jim's motto: LIFE LONG LEARNING!
Jim has been married to
Patricia for 20 years and they live in Oakland, California. There are five children: Jennifer is single, is honing her
writing skills at UCLA, and has passed the State test qualifying her to do
substitute teaching. Greg heads the legal department at Plumtree Software Company in the California
Silicon Valley. Michael
works for the San Jose Police Department, and he and Monica are
expecting “Baby Wharton” in September 2003.
Michele is full time Mom, as she and Todd are parents to new baby
Tessa who arrived on June 23, 2002. Rachel
moved from teacher’s aide to third-grade teacher, and has started work on
her teaching credential and Master’s degree.
Jim says that time has played tricks on him. He was just finally getting the hang of being
a father and now he is a GRANDfather.
Jim Masters - E-Mail Address: jmasters@cencomfut.com
Jim Masters 
http://www.cencomfut.com - Center
For Community Futures Jim
and Granddaughter Tessa
LIFE
SINCE ’58: Ron Bozich
In
the Fall of '58, I entered college, but dropped out to
enter the workforce since money at that time was of more interest to me than a
degree. In 1960, I went to work for the Rock Island Railroad. I joined the U.S. Army in September of 1963 and served my
country in Newport News, Virginia. Three months later, on
December 28, 1963, I married a lovely lady by the name of
Margaret.
We were married at St. Johns Church in Kansas
City, Kansas.
"Maggie" returned to Virginia
with me and we started our life together. Our first son, Ron, was born in
September of 1964. Then, in late 1964, I shipped out for Bien Hoa, Vietnam,
for a year's tour of duty.
When I
was discharged from the Army, we moved into our first home as a family, in Kansas City. I
returned to work for the Rock Island
line. With Rock Island's
help, I received an associate degree in 1967, and a bachelor of science in
engineering technology degree in 1970. Our second son, Mark, was born in
1969. Today, the Rock Island
is gone, but Margaret and I are still together.
I am the Plant Engineer for
Parker McCrory Mfg. in Kansas City.
With over twenty years of railroad experience, I recognized a need for
qualified railroad inspectors. So, I started a small business that I run
from home called Kansas
Rail Services. I provide freight car and locomotive inspections for
private car lines and other customers. When the Rock Island track from
Kansas City to St. Louis was sold to the Missouri Central Railroad, some of my
old railroad friends went to work for the MOC and asked me to come aboard as
their Chief Mechanical Officer on an as-needed basis. So, I did it just
for fun. Not much money in it, but I can play train and run locomotives
when I have time. We all need our toys!
Margaret
and I have lived in Shawnee, Kansas, for the past 25 years. We have one
grandson who I can't wait to take fishing. Most people our age are
looking for ways to retire and I plan to do that some day, but for now
there are many things that need to be done. One of the things I enjoy
most is working with refugees from Bosnia
and Croatia. Margaret and I have been working with the
refugees for five years. I have learned to speak Croatian again; my grandparents
were from Croatia.
The Croatians and Bosnians roast some of the best lamb and pork you have ever
eaten, and their smoked meats are delicious as well. I am glad to be a part of
the Class of 1958, and hope all of us together have made a difference in this
world we live in. We should never forget from where we came and we need
to pass along to our children and grandchildren our lessons we have learned in
life.
Ron
Bozich - E-Mail Address: rmboz@everestkc.net

Donna, Margaret, Ron
Ron and Margaret Bozich
Ron Jr., Matthew, Mark
Ron Margaret
Back to Top
LIFE SINCE ’58: Mel Bliss
Right after high
school I worked for the Kansas City Kansan newspaper, in all departments except
circulation. The main department was Advertising where my final assignment was in Classified
Display. During this time I attended Kansas City, Kansas
Junior College where I met my now ex-wife, Carolyn
Pickel (a NW Junior High and 1959 Wyandotte
graduate) and we had three great children.
I then went on to get my Associate Degree from Donnelly
College, while working full time for
the Kansan and Southwestern Bell. In January 1966 I went to work for Southwestern Bell in the Marketing Department. My last major accomplishment with SW Bell in
the Kansas City area (mainly on the Kansas side) was the
coordination of a large Central Office based system for all of the General
Motors Corp. located in the Greater KC area.
I then moved my family to Parsons, Kansas where my job with SW Bell was Marketing Manager
for all of SE Kansas. While working for SW Bell I was able to
finish my Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration, with a major
in Marketing, at Pittsburg State University,
Pittsburg, Kansas in 1979. We moved back to the KC area in 1979 and I
stayed with SW Bell for another 1½ years, when I quit to go
to work for Plantronics (the headset company) out of Santa
Cruz, CA as the District Manager
for the Midwest area. I then started my own telecommunications
business here in the Midwest, and stayed with
this until 1992, when I broke my ankle, which led to complications, eventually
having to have my right leg amputated below the knee. This does not slow me down, I still officiate
high school football in the Fall here in SE Kansas. I owned
my own Auction and Real Estate business up and until I went to work for the Boy
Scouts of America in SE
Kansas (Pittsburg)
in December 1997. Before that I was in
the Alton, Illinois area with the Boy Scouts for about 2½ years, and before
that I was in Monroe, Michigan where I started with the Boy Scouts in October
1993. I retired from the Boy
Scouts in March, 2002 and am now living back in KCK, Just East of Wyandotte County Lake.
I have been alone
since September 1992 and divorced since 1994.
I have three children and four grandchildren. My oldest daughter, Melanie, is an Art/French
teacher in Goddard, Kansas
(a suburb of Wichita), with her husband who is
an elementary school principal in the Wichita School District. She has two of my grandchildren, Joshua, age
14 and Jessica, age 11. My son John has
just moved from the KCK area back to the Denver,
Colorado area with Adelphia Cable
Company. His two children, Johnathan,
age 11 and Jordan, age 10, live in Denver
with his Ex. He is the Technical
Trainer for a four-state area out of Denver
for Adelphia. My youngest daughter, Amy,
and her husband live on the NW side of Johnson County,
just South of 47th Street (County Line Road). She is an Architectural Engineer for Walton
Construction Co. in the Kansas City
area. I love to square dance, camp,
travel, canoe, white water raft, and just enjoy the out-of-doors in general. When I have found that special someone to
spend the rest of my life with, I might start up my auction business again.
Mel Bliss – E-Mail
Address: melbsa3@sunnetworks.net
Mel Bliss
LIFE SINCE ’58: Bob McCoy
Hello folks, after high school I joined the
Marine Corps and was gone from KC until April 1963. When I returned I went to work for Proctor
and Gamble. Then in 1965 I married and
moved to Yakima, Washington and went to two years of
electrical trade school. Upon completion
I moved to Milwaukie, Oregon,
a suburb of Portland,
where I joined the Electrical Union Local 48.
Then along came two sons and a divorce.
I worked for 35
years in the construction industry and retired at 60 years old with quite a
nice retirement package. Somewhere in
there I had a second marriage (if you want to call it that), it only lasted for
about eight days. I had custody of my
oldest son and the Ex had the youngest.
As luck would have it, the oldest died at 19 years old. The youngest lives in Springfield, Missouri.
I spend my summers
in my Oregon home and my winters in my Arizona home enjoying
the good life of retirement. I am a
computer nut, a ham operator and a Harley rider. I love the out of doors, watching football
and life in general. I could go on for
hours, but there is just not enough space to put all the life since '58 in this
little summary. If anyone would like to
know more, feel free to e-mail me and I will be glad to have a chat. Good luck to you all.
Bob McCoy - E-Mail
Addresses: 2Dogs@worldnet.att.net,
twodogs_az@hotmail.com
or
kb7da@arrl.org
Bob McCoy
LIFE
SINCE ’58: Tom Cunningham
The
Long And Winding
Road Since Wyandotte High School
Education
Attended
KCU (Now U of MO At K.C.) 9/58 - 6/59
Attended
Central Electronics Institute, K.C. MO 7/59
- 2/60
USAF Technical Training Course, San
Antonio, TX 5/60 - 9/60
Attended Seattle
Community College 6/70 - 6/72
Graduated U of WA. Seattle,
WA 8/74
Employment & Military
Retail Sales & Factory Job K.C. MO
6/58 – 3/60
Active Duty w/USAF Texas, Nevada, Germany 3/60 – 3/64
TWA Interline Accounting K.C. MO 3/64
– 9/64
Mgr. Retail Sales Spokane, WA & Seattle,
WA 9/64 –12/69
Life & health insurance Agent Seattle, WA 1/70 - 12/70
Planner/Coordinator, City of Seattle 1/71 - 7/74
Painting Contractor, Seattle,
WA 11/74 – Present
Sports, Hobbies & Interests
Ran my fastest mile run at Stead AFB, Nevada 5/61
Jazz music has always been an interest.
Played
Keyboards and sang with some unknown groups. 61 - 68
While in the Air Force went on tour with the 28th
Air Division Jazz/Dance Band as the singer. 2/62 – 6/62
Active In Jaycees N. Spokane &
Burien, WA 66 – 75
Member of Thornton Creek Alliance 95
– Present
Life Member of U of WA Alumni Association
Volunteer for Changes Parent Support Group 8/99 – Present
(CPSN)
Family Of Origin
Father Deceased 66
Mother Deceased 88
2 brothers and 1 sister live in Kansas
City Area
1 sister lives in Southern California
Marriages
(1) Anita
Louise Fabunan, Spokane, WA 7/65,
Divorced 7/70
Daughter,
Sandalynne (Sandi)
Daughter,
Tracey L.
(2) Susan
Katherine Elwood, Glencoe, IL 12/70
Son, Thomas W.
Grandchildren
from Sandi and Demir Ateser
Son, Stephen
C. Ateser
Son, Alexander T. Ateser
Son, Ryan C. Ateser
Grandchild
from Tracey L. and Scott Robertson
Son, Max Ansell Robertson
I've lived in Seattle,
WA since 4/68.
Since 2005, I have become
involved with Prepaid Legal Services Inc.
Website: www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/thomast07
That’s all for now. Updates when they occur.
Thomas T. Cunningham – E-Mail Address: cunninghamtom39@hotmail.com

Tom Cunningham Susan and Tom Cunningham
LIFE SINCE ’58: Jim Warfield
September 1959, I decided to move to California and get a job and go to
college. Started evening classes at El
Camino College in Torrance,
CA while working days. In 1961, I met a beautiful Italian lady, Rose
Anne Pizzorno, at a church dance. She was also a student attending Marymount College
in Palos Verdes, CA.
After dating six months and a one-year engagement, we were wed August
10, 1963, right after she graduated with her teaching credential. On August 29, 1964, son Tony was born. November 28, 1966, daughter
Michelle was born. November 14, 1968, daughter Gina was born. Rose Anne has been teaching off and on,
between having the children until the youngest started school. She is now
doing substitute teaching here in Torrance. My career has been involved in the Materials
Management field in aerospace and electronics industries until about six years
ago. I am now the Vice President of Home
Run Software Services in Huntington
Beach, CA.
Interests:
Sports, traveling, gardening, camping and fishing. All of our children have been heavily
involved in sports. All three played baseball, softball and soccer as
young children. Both my wife and I
coached baseball and softball through their younger years. I coached both of my daughters in high school
softball for four years (three championships in four years). One daughter
played college ball and they both played college soccer. All of the kids
(30 years old now) and myself are still playing
softball, and the kids are still playing soccer. We all play while my wife watches all the
grandchildren (seven of them now).
Travels: Moved to Bellingham,
WA in 1992. Moved back to California
in 1995. Vacationed to Vancouver, British Columbia,
Europe (Italy, Germany, Austria,
and Switzerland), cruise to Alaska; cruise to
the Caribbean, and four cruises to Mexico
and of course around the U.S.
LIFE SINCE
’58: Larry Dowd
I, like so many others, joined the
ranks of grads at the State
Avenue University. Seems over 90% were the classmates that
graduated just three months before. I
wanted to bring this time period into light because I met my future bride on a
blind date while in attendance. Norma,
my bride, is also a '58 grad, but from Washington
HS. Stumbled through JC and began
pharmacy school at the University of Kansas City, later to become UMKC as part of the University of Missouri system. I took a pathology
final on 25may62 and we eloped the next morning. We had a total of five in the wedding party;
the two of us, the couple that stood up with us, and the chaplain from Baptist Hospital where I was serving my pharmacy
internship. At this time, I still had
three years of school staring me in the face.
Stumbled a lot here also. But graduated in '65 and Norma received her
PHT (Putting Hubby Through) degree from the school also. This did eliminate any school loans, but the
repay plan I became involved with is much different and longer.
In
December of '65, Uncle Sam needed a good man to join him. A draft notice was received in December and I
left for basic training in the US
Army with my new home in Ft Jackson, South
Carolina. Advanced training was also at this location
and then transferred to Ft. Benning Georgia for Officer Candidate
School. There with the training and a letter from my
mother, I became an officer and a gentleman in this man's Army as an Infantry
officer. Had a 13-month tour in Korea and finished my Army career of two years,
nine months 28 days at Ft.
Carson, Colo and enjoyed
the whole schmear. We had two children
while in the Army, both at the cost of $25.00 each--no return, no
refund--Norman Scott, named after Norma born 23jun67 and Deedra Jeannine, named
after yours truly (Larry Gene) born 12oct68.
Arriving back in KC, this family of four was now ready to face the real
world. During the next eleven years, we
moved from Kansas City to Wellington,
KS; had a drugstore in Gt. Bend, KS; lived for
a short time in Columbia, MO, and moved back to KC in 1980. I became a traveling salesman for an
over-the-road nationwide truck-line and stayed for ten years. It was during this time that my blood donations
began and it took 13 years, but I donated a pint of blood in each of the 50
states and Washington, DC.
In 1990, I shifted back to pharmacy and in due time, had stints of
pharmacy in retail, hospital, sales, nuclear pharmacy and long term care
pharmacy.
We've all heard the "old
dog, new tricks" saying. I am not a
believer of that. In 1990, my bride and
I began ballroom dancing. This is
strictly for fun—no competition. We
dance several times a month and travel various places for dances. At age 56, we both began snow skiing. We'll never make the Olympics, but we have
fun frolicking in the snow. In '99, I
began taking piano lessons--just because I wanted to. We love to travel and don't have near the
time (a sub for money) to travel as we wish, but we make the most of it. Some of our vacations were to places for
blood donations and some very interesting sights were observed. We look forward to more travel in the very
near future.
Larry
Dowd - E-Mail Address: na28rdlgd@aol.com
LIFE SINCE ’58: Judy Gail (Harman) Arnold
I have lived in Marin County,
California, across the Golden
Gate Bridge from San Francisco since
1966. I work for John Burton, the
President pro Tempore of the California
State Senate. I am
his District Coordinator for Marin and Sonoma Counties. I have also been a political consultant and a
candidate for office. I think this whole
government thing began when I took International Relations my sophomore year at
Wyandotte.
My husband, Bruce, is a musician and sculpts 1:43 scale model cars that are
manufactured. He is licensed by Cadillac
as Bruce Arnold Models. Also a song he wrote and recorded as Orpheus in
the early 1970's was just redone by Hootie and the Blowfish in the Jim Carrey
movie, Me, Myself and Irene. My oldest
son is married and lives in L.A.
and is a Veep at MGM. His wife works for
Chuck Norris. My daughter is married and
lives in San Francisco. My youngest son works in the film industry in
L.A. I am
enclosing a photo of me taken at my 60th birthday party with two of my three
granddaughters.
Judy Gail (Harman) Arnold - E-Mail Address: judyarnold1@cs.com

Lauren, Judy
and Brayden
Back to Top
LIFE
SINCE ’58: Frank Locke
I am one of those people, who most of you do
not remember, but I remember most of you all and I am very excited to attend my
first reunion and to tour Wyandotte High.
I have been around the school several times since graduation, my brother
Joe lives within walking distance. When
I left high school I was only seventeen, and too young to get a good job
and go to the service, so I worked at Jake Brown’s Barbecue after graduation
until I could go into the service. Then
I joined the SUAVE and went to Lackland Air
Force Base in Texas, then to Washington State. After my return to Kansas
City I went to work for Western Electric Co. in Merriam, Kansas
and worked there for fifteen years. I
married a local girl who also went to Wyandotte
High. Her sister Mary Jean Ruby was in
our class. We had a daughter, Virginia
Locke, and later we divorced. I also
have a son, Joe Locke, who lives in Canada.
I decided my life was not being fulfilled and I quit my job and
moved to Oklahoma. I opened a nightclub and it was not what I
wanted. One day when I was reading
Success Magazine, I saw an article and the man said, "You can do anything
you want to do, If only you believe. Let
me show you. I went to Waco, Texas
and I met Paul J. Meyer, and he made me a believer. I closed my club and set out working for
myself. I was selling tapes and books
for three hundred fifty dollars. It was
going real good, then it got bad, and I closed myself up in my apartment, no
job, no food, no nothing. Then one
afternoon Paul J. Meyer’s office gave me a call. Mr. Meyer told me he felt something
was wrong. I shared my
story with him and he said I needed to come to Texas and now. I finally talked a friend into lending me
some money, but it was just enough to get there and back. For three days and nights I slept in my car. I had peanut butter on bread, drank
water, and no smokes, but I learned a good lesson. Never, never, never, never
give up. The one who gives up
loses.
I saw a Chevrolet car store and I went up
to the dealer and said I want to sell cars.
He said to be there the next morning and I could go to work. After fifteen years with that dealer I was
top sales person for ten years, used car manager, new car manager, general
manager, and business manager. I only
quit because I wanted to become a dealer myself. I made a list of everything I ever
wanted; one hundred fifty items, and I achieved one hundred twenty of them. The
top of my list was Frank Locke Chevrolet, the first of two dealerships;
traveling, and many things for my wife.
We traveled for ten years and we really love the ocean and the sun. I have three boys and two girls and I have
nine granddaughters. I am hoping for a
grandson, but whatever the Lord Jesus wants for my life, that’s what I
want. I must tell you that all of my
children have graduated with degrees and Masters, Oklahoma
State University, Oklahoma University, North
Eastern University,
Rogers State.
I am thankful my wife and I were, with the help of God, able to see them
all through school.
I have not worked for three years now. I had a stroke, and I have spinal cord
damage. I had prostate cancer,
thirty-eight treatments and the cancer is gone.
I believe my Father in Heaven has healed my legs and spinal cord, and I
will be able to walk into Wyandotte
High School. In the meantime I am in a wheelchair, and I
have the best caretaker in the world who loves me unconditionally, my wife
Ronda. But the thing that I most want to
share with you is that I am grateful that I went to school with each one of
you, and if I could give you anything, I would give you Jesus. I have had a life that was very hard on me,
but the Good Lord got me through.
You are one of the many special people Barb
that I remember the most. I am looking
forward to seeing you and all the others.
If I should not live long enough to see you all, thank you for being a
part of my life, thank you for being nice to me. I felt so alone in that big school. Some of you made me feel like I was a part of
the class, and that I was wanted. You
smiled at me, and said Hi to me. How can
I ever repay any of you? I am still
working at home.
Update July 2003: I shared with you in the past I am hoping to be able
to walk by the September Reunion. I am getting weaker and cannot walk without a
lot of help. I might have to dance
around the floor in my wheelchair. I am
really grateful that I will be able to come to my first reunion. I am as
excited as a new teenager. I really
enjoyed the Life Since 1958 articles. Thank you and the others
for all your hard work in making our reunion a success, and making an old
teenager happy. Sincerely, Frank
Locke
Frank Locke – E-Mail Address: franklocke@cableone.net

Ronda
and Frank Locke
http://www.quickinfo247.com/7621565
LIFE
SINCE ’58: John Richeson
The summer of 1958 was
devoted to assisting in the building of my parents new
home in Leawood where we moved the day before I left to attend the University of Kansas.
I spent eight consecutive years in school working on three degrees. I obtained a B.S. in journalism and a J. D.
in law. During my quest for an M.B.A. in
the eighth year of my university experience I succumbed to academic fatigue as
I commenced my private practice of law, which by that time was my first
love. I located in Ottawa,
Kansas, because of its close proximity to K.U.
in Lawrence
while I completed one half of the M.B.A. program.
In
1967 I met Jan, a home economics graduate of K-State and we were married the
same year. We lived in Ottawa for the first five years of our
marriage. Jan taught third grade and decided to pursue her master’s degree in
guidance and counseling from K.U. We
later moved to Olathe, Kansas,
where we remained from 1972 through 1997 and I commuted daily to Ottawa, a 32-mile trip on
I-35. Jan retired from teaching in 1975
and we were fortunate to adopt our son and daughter in 1977 and 1979
respectively. Ryan is a 911 dispatcher
and Megan is a 2002 graduate of K-State in public relations mass communications
and history. We have one grandson, Ryan
Jr. age 3. We
moved to Leawood five years ago to a new home we custom built. We enjoyed the planning and the
decorating. Unfortunately, I increased
the distance away from my Ottawa
office so I daily make a round trip drive of approximately 95 miles.
I continue to
enjoy helping people solve their problems and plan their estates. I cease to be enthusiastic about litigation
because of the uncertainty of the outcome, the extreme expense and the personal
stress. As a young man I envisioned that
the longer I practiced law the better I would become. Experience is a wonderful teacher to reveal
that the longer you are involved the more chances you have to get it right and
you start to worry more with seasoning as to which of the alternatives present
the best plan for the client. I do plan
to remain active by serving as a mediator and as an office lawyer.
John Richeson –
E-Mail Address: jricheson@abrfh.com

John Richeson
See
John’s professional Bio at this site: http://www.abrfh.com/sys-tmpl/attorneys
Anderson, Byrd, Richeson, Flaherty & Henrichs, a Limited
Liability Partnership
LIFE
SINCE ’58: A. Compton Reeves
It is delightful to have
been found by the class of 1958. My life has just been moving from one
school to another since leaving Wyandotte.
I took BA and MA degrees in history from the University
of Kansas, and then a PhD in history
from Emory University. I was a professor of
medieval history at the University
of Georgia for three years, and then
moved in 1970 to Ohio
University, where I now
teach part time and am Emeritus Professor of Medieval History. My
permanent residence is in Prescott, AZ, and I am also Adjunct Professor with the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance
Studies.
I am very impressed with the efforts of the reunion
committee, and hope that I shall make it to the celebration in 2003.
A. Compton Reeves – E-Mail Address: ProfCR@kachina.net

Prof/Dr A. Compton Reeves
See a sample of Compton’s professional work at: http://www.r3.org/wood/papers/reeves.html
LIFE
SINCE ’58: Alford T. Welch
It's great news to know that
our class has a web site and an e-mail directory. I don't get back to KC every year like I did
before my father died in '87 and my mother in 2000. I should, since I have
three brothers and a sister living in a wide circle around KCK (Leavenworth, Olathe, Lenexa, and 122nd and
State Line). I guess that's not a
complete circle, maybe more like two or three sides of a rectangle. I've been teaching comparative religion at
Michigan State University since 1972 – after completing an undergraduate degree
in Oklahoma (the state in which I was born) and graduate degrees in Louisville,
KY and Hartford, CT, and then a Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the
University of Edinburgh in Scotland (1970).
My
wife, Dena, and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary last summer with a
week in Stratford, Ontario (not much more than a two-hour drive
from where we live), where we saw several plays at the Shakespeare Festival
Theatre and others there. We've been back to Scotland
and England several times,
including the 1979-80 academic year at Oxford
University and (the last couple of
months) back in Edinburgh, Scotland. Our son was 2-3 years old
then, so he doesn't remember any of his experiences there. We spent one summer and then (ten years
later, 1984-85) an academic year in Cairo,
Egypt (on a
Fulbright Fellowship), where I studied the history of the Arabic text of the
Qur'an (Koran). Our son, Steve, was in the 2nd grade then, at an American
private school (called Cairo American College,
where "college" is used in the British sense of what in the US is usually
called an "academy"). We had a great time there, among other things,
had a two-hour horseback ride in the desert in sight of the Pyramids and then
an excellent (but inexpensive) buffet breakfast at one of the fine hotels just
down the road from the Pyramids. We
tried to do that at least once a month. We spent our Christmas
"holiday" (another British expression) on safari in Kenya, which was also amazingly inexpensive,
traveling with a tour group from Cairo. I'm now writing an introduction to the Qur'an
for the Edinburgh
University Press, aimed
at "the general reader" and undergraduate students, scheduled for
publication sometime in 2003. It should be "timeous", as the Scots
say.
Son
Steve is now 25 years old, and is living in California. (He arrived late. We ordered him in 1970, just after I
completed my studies in Scotland,
but for some reason -- blame it on the U.S. mail, or the American Stork
Society – he didn't arrive until seven years later, on 7-1-77. I thought if he
was going to wait that long he should have waited six more days, so I could
remember his birth date. But, as you may know, children never listen to their
fathers.)
Alford T. Welch – E-Mail Address: welch@msu.edu
http://www.msu.edu/~welch/
LIFE
SINCE '58: Marilyn (Lawrence) Keller
I retired the end of December 2000, and am enjoying
retirement very much. I worked the past eleven years for the regional
office of the Presbyterian Church. In fact, I worked with another member
of the Class of ‘58, Mary Sue (Frye) Thomas. We were good friends in high
school and have remained so all these many years since.
After high school I went to KCK
Junior College and in 1961 married a
man from Hutchinson, KS. We met at church one summer when
he was working in Kansas City.
We have reared two boys and they both are married and live in Kansas City. We also have two
granddaughters and one grandson and feel blessed that they are close so we can
watch them grow. Since retirement we
have done some traveling and volunteering. I am volunteering at the local
grade school tutoring fifth and sixth graders in science, social studies, and
reading. I like working with children so it is a perfect fit for me.
I have really enjoyed working on the last four Class of '58 reunions. I have met people who I didn't
know well in high school and we have become friends. It is interesting to
see how well we all have "aged."
Life has been good and for that I am extremely grateful!
Marilyn (Lawrence)
Keller – E-Mail Address: gm@everestkc.net
LIFE SINCE '58: Richard D. Childers
Following graduation from Wyandotte,
I served two years in the Army with most of that time based in San Antonio. Returned to KC upon discharge and began working for 3M Company in
sales. Was transferred to St. Paul, MN in 1967 as a
sales manager and while still with 3M attended the University of Minnesota
where I received a BA degree. I later received an MBA from Stanford.
Left
3M in 1971 to join International Paper Co. in Dallas where I managed a branch
operation. Was transferred back to KC in
1975 and asked to start an Import Division as general manager that involved
travel worldwide. Was
transferred to Los Angeles in 1977 as President
of a recently acquired company with branch operations from Denver
to Honolulu. Was transferred in 1984 to Erie PA
to become President of their distribution business which grew to $6 billion in
sales. Moved the distribution
headquarters to Cincinnati in 1992 where I
remained until moving to Austin
in 1996.
I left International Paper in 1995 and started my own
merger and acquisition business located in Austin, TX
that has been very successful. I live in
a golf community, which is located on Lake
Travis just west of Austin and have an opportunity to play golf two or three times
per week. During the past three years I
have lost my son to a brain tumor and my wife to ovarian cancer. I have a daughter still living in KC. I recently remarried (Sue) and we look
forward to attending the reunion next year and renewing acquaintances with old
friends.
LIFE SINCE
'58: R. Dale MacCallum
After graduating from Wyandotte,
I attended the University
of Kansas and graduated
with a B.S. in Architectural Engineering. Then I served two years as a
lieutenant in the Army. After discharge from the Army, I moved to Tulsa.
I
work in consulting engineering and have done structural engineering designs for
high-rise buildings, industrial plants, north slope
pipelines and offshore platforms. In the seventies and eighties when the
oil business was booming, I worked a lot of overseas construction. I
worked in Indonesia, Singapore, Korea,
the Philippines, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Qatar.
Also, I got to visit Malaysia
and India
on vacations. I am currently managing the civil, structural, and pipe
stress engineering department for Linde BOC Process
Plants LLC, a company that engineers and builds gas and petro-chemical
processing plants. I am a licensed professional engineer in ten
states. I will probably keep working until the brain cells start to
die. Computers have relieved much of the tedious work in engineering
making it more fun.
After
two unsuccessful marriages, I met the love of my life twenty-five years
ago. Her name is Barbara and she is the oldest of eleven ("a nice
Catholic girl"). She is a native Tulsan and OSU Master
Gardener. She plants and I dig. Barb graduated from Tulsa University
with a degree in communications and marketing.
We have two daughters, Kim and Megan. Both are grown and
married. They have provided us with four grandchildren so far, Max,
Mitch, Sidney and Patrick. We have been living in the same house in Tulsa, when we were in
the country, for twenty-four years. We both like to travel. Barb got to spend time in Korea, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico when I was working there. We
both played tennis until a couple of years ago when Barb's recovery time
started to exceed her playing time. So
far, life has been a great adventure.
LIFE SINCE
'58: Willard B.
Snyder
1962, BA from KU; 1965, JD
from KU; December 1967, graduated from Infantry OCS as 2Lt. Served on active duty for four years as
Provost Marshal in Germersheim and
then as a General Staff Officer for MATCOMEUR in Zweibrucken. 1971,
opened law practice in KC KS and was appointed German Consul (H) for
Kansas & Western MO. 1995, retired from
the Army National Guard as Col. Currently serving as Consul and running Real
Estate Corp. Inc. and The Breidenthal-Snyder
Foundation. Activities include: Dir.,
Blue Ridge Bank & Trust; First VP, Liberty Memorial Assn.; Trustee
(and past President) the MacJannet Foundation (in France); Trustee, the SEAL
Museum; Trustee, The Hoover Presidential Library Assn.; Trustee, The Harry
Truman Good Neighbor Foundation; member of the Boards of KC Metro Crime
Commission, Wyandotte Co. Community Foundation and The Unicorn Theater. Married to the former
"TJ" (Capt. USNR, Ret.) and one son, Rolf, who graduates in June '03
with his JD and MBA.
Willard B. Snyder – E-Mail Address: wbs11@kc.rr.com
LIFE SINCE
'58: Richard L. Reynolds
In August 1958 I joined the Marine Corps with Wayne
Moore and Ted Fick of the Class of ‘58, along with Ted’s brother Glen Fick, Dan
Sheley, Loren (Moose) Rabon, and Dennis (Pee Wee) Walker, all Class of
‘57. During my enlistment I was stationed in 29 Palms, California
and Okinawa, Japan,
and was discharged in 1961.
After
my discharge I went to work for Ford Motor Company in January 1962. In 1966 I met and married the love of my
life, Midge Younger. We had two boys, Rodney who works for Ford, and
Rick, now deceased, who also worked for Ford.
In 1969 I went to Real Estate school and got a Missouri
Brokers License, which led to the opening of Reynolds Realty in
1970, located at the Lake of the Ozarks in Laure, Missouri.
I ran that business with three salesmen, while still working at
Ford. In 1974, I sold the business and devoted my time to my family,
Ford, hot rod cars, boats, water skiing and shooting pool.
At
Ford, in 1983, I ran for a union office (Committeeman) and won.
Later I was elected to the Bargaining Committee and finally in 1987 was
elected to the top job in the local union of Bargaining Chairman in a
plant-wide election of 5,000 members. In this position I was elected
three times for a three-year term (the last time unopposed). I retired as Bargaining Chairman in 1994 and
Midge and I moved to the Lake of the Ozarks
where I still water ski and shoot pool.
Richard
L. Reynolds – No E-Mail Address
Sunrise Beach, MO (See Web Site Postal
Directory For Address And Phone Number)

Richard L. Reynolds
Family
LIFE SINCE ’58: Wayne Moore
In August 1958 I joined the Marine Corps with Rich
Reynolds and Ted Fick of the Class of ‘58, along with Ted’s brother Glen Fick,
Dan Sheley, Loren (Moose) Rabon, and Dennis (Pee Wee) Walker, all Class of
’57. During my enlistment I was stationed
at 29 Palms, California
and was discharged in August 1961 at the rank of Corporal E4.
After discharge my
working career began in 1961 at Colgate Palmolive in Kansas City, Kansas
driving a tow motor. In 1968 I took a correspondence course involving
computers. This led to a nighttime course taken at Electronic
Computer Programming Institute located on Main Street in K.C. MO. I married in 1964 and we had two girls who
produced three grandchildren, one boy and two girls. After leaving Colgate Palmolive in 1968 I
started working for Chemagro Corporation located in the Kansas City, Missouri
area as a Computer Operator. Two years later I was
promoted to Computer Programmer and stayed there in that position until
1974. I divorced the mother of my two girls in
1974 and gained custody. I should have known better, she was a
graduate of Ward High School. I accepted a transfer by the company in 1975
and moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where I became a Systems Programmer. The
reason for the transfer was mainly to set up and build a large centralized
computer center capable of supplying all the information needs of Bayer's
(located in Levercusen, West Germany) nine operating companies
located in the United
States.
In 1976, I married for the second time. Her
name is Elizabeth and nickname is Betsy, a
native of Pittsburgh
and has a Bulgarian heritage. She has two sons, so with my two
girls we were sort of like the "Brady Bunch." In 1980 after climbing several positions of
Systems Programming, I became a Supervisor in the same area. In 1984
I was promoted to Systems Programming Manager and was responsible for
all operating systems and related software running on all computers. The
name of the company was initially Mobay, then changed
to Miles, and now Bayer U.S.A. I left the company in 1990 after a very
exciting career lasting twenty-two years. I then filed an Age
Discrimination Suit with the Equal Opportunity Commission, and then in
Federal Court. I won my case in both areas and accepted a settlement in
1995. Since then I have been retired.
In the year 2000 we moved from Pittsburgh
to Sarasota, Florida where we now reside.
Wayne
Moore -
E-Mail Address: betsmoore@comcast.net

Wayne and Elizabeth
(Betsy) Moore
LIFE SINCE ’58: Judith S. (Harbison) Pickrell
Since graduation....that seems like another lifetime
ago. I just can't believe I am 63 years old. My head says 30 maybe, and then I try to work
out or just have a wild night at work and my body says, "SEE! I told
you." My life has never been dull! I married shortly
after graduation and had twins at the age of 21, a son and a daughter. We
were blessed with a second daughter at 23.
Of course, now they are parents themselves and have given me five
wonderful grandchildren.
I
lived in Southern California for about five years and have been back in Kansas ever since.
I now live in Minneapolis, KS,
but spend most of my time in Kansas
City.
I have worked 12-hour night shifts at Olathe Medical
Center, Friday thru
Sunday for the past six years. Mother’s
health is failing and requires 24-hour care. Consequently I only get
"home" for about three days every two weeks. This doesn't allow
for much playtime, and I am looking forward to some real down time in the
future. I have promised myself some time off for the reunion to see you
all!
LIFE SINCE ’58: Marilyn
(Milam) Fortney
I was married in 1961 to Ron Fortney from Clinton, MO. We went on a blind date that Sandy McMillian
(Class of ’58) and her husband Denny Childers arranged. After a very few years we were divorced and I
have never remarried. God blessed me
with two beautiful daughters just 18 months apart, so many times it was like
having twins. My girls, Lynn and
Kimberly, and I began our journey through life with just the three of us
when they were 4 and 5 years old. There
were some very hard times for us and by the Grace of God we've come to this
chapter in our lives.
I
am very proud of my daughters. Lynn, my oldest, and her husband Jeffrey, have two wonderful
children; a son, 7 years old, named Keller, and little Miss
Madelynn who is 5. Jeffrey is a
writer/producer currently with Hallmark, but who received four Emmys while with
NBC. Lynn and Jeffrey recently opened a
coffee shoppe/bakery in Parkville
called River Rock Coffee Co. Great food
- all hand made by Lynn and her staff.
My daughter Kimberly is married to Yehiel, a man from Jerusalem,
and they live in Philadelphia. Kimberly has her own company in Philly and
works with movie companies for movie trailers and exit polls on opening
weekends for new releases. Her husband
Yehiel has a redecorating business.
Me
- After working for nine years with Schlitz and Pabst in Milwaukee (no Laverne
and Shirley jokes please), I went to work for TWA and eventually transferred to
Oklahoma City where my daughter Kimberly trained with the Olympic Gymnastics
team at OU, and my daughter Lynn coached gymnasts in dance and floor
exercise. Both girls graduated from
OU. I moved back to KC and eventually
left the airlines to become a travel counselor.
Many of those years have been with American Express, and I transferred
to Philly with that company. After 9-11
the bottom has fallen out of that industry and the East Coast was hit very hard
in many ways. We lost our jobs in
December of 2002 as a result of the fallout, and I moved back to KC to be close
to my grandchildren who are the love of my life. 9-11 was a life changing experience for many
of us, as it was for me. We lost eleven
people with Amex, and I was one from Philly to go to New York for the Amex memorial. It was only about three weeks after 9-11 and,
as we went to Ground Zero, the smoke was still rising from the ground.
I
don’t know what tomorrow will bring. I
do know I am blessed and am so glad Joyce
Ethridge Woods found me. I look forward
to seeing everyone and creating more memories.
Marilyn (Milam) Fortney – E-Mail Address: rainbowstrust@hotmail.com
Marilynn with Grandson Keller and Granddaughter Madelynn
LIFE SINCE ’58: Gladys
(Heisman) Burks
Hi to all of my former classmates. Life for me after graduation began at Bethany Hospital School
of Nursing where I enrolled in September of 1958. After 36 continuous months of hard work and
studying, I passed my state boards and became a Registered Nurse. I began my nursing career by becoming a 2nd
Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.
I spent basic orientation at Fort
Sam Houston,
Texas and, after completion I was assigned to
the Army Hospital
at Fort Huachuca, Arizona where I would meet my husband of 41
years, Tommy Burks. Tommy was an E-4 and
the hospital's company clerk. At that
time officers and enlisted personnel were strictly forbidden to have any type
of relationship with one another other than military business. Needless to say we fell in love and after
meeting him in January 1962, we were married on April
22 1962.
Shortly after our marriage, Tommy was sent to Poitier,
France and I stayed in Arizona waiting for
orders to join him. Finally, after six
months of paperwork, harassment from my chief nurse, and a lot of help from
Senator Frank Carlson, R/Kansas, I was assigned to the 60th Station Hospital
in Chinon, France, which was about an hour's
drive from Poitier. With the help of
Senator Carlson again, Tommy was reassigned to Chinon after another four
months. We lived in a cute two-bedroom duplex without heat, and boy was it cold
and damp!!! We eventually were able to
buy a kerosene heater from a family that was being sent back to the
States. We were discharged from the Army
in November 1963. We lived in Kansas
City for about a year but, since Tommy was from Mississippi, we decided to move
to Memphis, Tennessee and we have lived here ever since, although our home is
actually in Nesbit, Mississippi, about ten miles south of Memphis.
We have three children. Daniel Edward (Danny) is 39, single and lives
here in Nesbit. He is engaged to a sweet
girl, Michelle who is from the Philippines. They are planning to get married next
year. Pamela Jo (Pam) is 37 and has
three daughters. Shelby is 11, Shannon
is 9, and Shealyn is ten months. They live in Warsaw, Indiana
where Scott our son-in-law is an engineer for Zimmer Medical. Our youngest son Timothy Boyd (Timmy) and his
wife Diana have two children; a daughter Nicole who is 7, and a son Preston who is 2.
They live in Hernando,
Mississippi, which is only a few miles away.
Timmy will be 35 in November.
I retired from nursing in October 2001 after working for 35 years at Methodist University
Hospital in Memphis.
Currently I am enjoying staying home and stay busy buying and selling on
Ebay. My husband is a Captain on the Desoto County
Sheriff's Dept. He is a criminal
investigator and very active. We have a
pontoon boat and enjoy outings on the lake whenever we can. We are both looking forward to attending the
reunion in September. I hope to renew
old friendships and make new ones. God
bless America.
Gladys (Heisman) Burks – E-Mail Address: gigisglad@hotmail.com or burks2u@bellsouth.net

Gladys (Heisman) and Tommy Burks
Gladys (Heisman) Burks
LIFE SINCE ’58:
John M. Zielinski
My
grandmother used to say I should have been a minister, but I knew all my life
that I would write. I was an Air Force
Historian, Armed Forces Radio Announcer, writer for a Magazine called
"Guidepost" in Madrid, Spain; worked for Associated Press, Milwaukee
Journal, and Hartford Times, in Hartford, CT, and Maryknoll Magazine on staff
in Latin America. Works have been published in Life, Time, Reader's
Digest, Highlights for Children and Scholastic (at various levels). I
freelanced as a student at University of Iowa to Kansas City Star, Cedar Rapids
Gazette, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, New York
Post, and my Amish Boys Running photo made the New York Times Photo
section. My photos have appeared in dozens of other books. What you
have in the list (below) are only my exhibits, my videos, my books written,
designed, photographed, published and distributed under my imprints. A
number of those books I did only photos and layout. All my scrapbooks are
in University of Iowa
special collections, along with the newspapers I produced on Iowa corruption. You will note that
open piracy of my work slowed me down, or I would have had twice as many
books. I had to scrap half a dozen Iowa
books because I knew I would not get any kind of press. I am under total
blacklist in the State. Despite the fire I had, I have dozens of articles
written about my work and me. There were hundreds written.
I
have been very busy the last few years, then a major fire burnt me out in the
Ozarks and I lost 90% of the photos I had taken over forty years. My last
book was written for Noreen Gosch whose son Johnny was kidnapped from Des Moines, Iowa
in 1982. It's available thru Barns & Noble or Amazon.com: "Why Johnny Can't
Come Home"
John
Zielinski – E-Mail Address: jmzamish@planetsos.com
Zielinski
Bibliography (Exhibit by Iowa
Arts Council in Hundreds of Locations)
|
1967 (exh) Iowa Amish (Davenport Art
Gallery
1968 (exh)
300 Years of Connecticut
Architecture
1969 (exh)
The Amish: People of the Soil
(Iowa Arts Council Touring)
1971 (book) A Money
Saver’s Guide to Photography
1972 (exh)
Iowa’s Indian Heritage (Iowa Arts Council Touring)
1972 (book) The Amish:
People of the Soil
1972 (portfolio) Iowa’s
Indian Heritage
1973 (rev) A Money Saver’s
Guide to Photography
1974 (book) Portrait of Iowa
1975 (book) The Amish: A
Pioneer Heritage
1975 (book) Children of Iowa
1976 (book) Mesquakie and
Proud of It
1977 (book) Unknown Iowa
1978 (book) From This Earth
1978 (exh)
Brotherhood of Man (Polish American Museum)
1978 (exh)
Brotherhood of Man
(Inaugural Exhibit U of I Hospital, Iowa City)
1979 (pbk)
Portrait of Iowa
1981 (rev) Portrait of Iowa
1982 (book) Portrait
of Iowa Travelguide
1982 (book) Iowa Barns
1983 (book) Amish Across America
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1983 (book) The Magnificent Mississippi
1984 (book) Pirated edition
above, claim on my entire works
1987 (book) Amish Children
Across America
1988 (book) Amish
Horsefarming Across America
1988 (rev) Amish Children
Across America
1989 (book) Amish Barns
Across America
1989 (book) Amish Life Thru
a Child’s Eyes
1989 (book) Alma’s Amish
Kitchen
1990-92 Newspaper on Iowa Corruption
1991 (video) Farmers Under
Siege
1991 (audio) Missing
American Children
1992 (video) America’s MIA
Children
1993 (rev) Amish Across
America 1693-1993
1993 (video) The Amish:
Between Two Worlds
1994 (video) Welcome to
Amish America
1995 (video) Amish Buggies
Across America
1995 (video) Amish and
Mennonite Quilts Across America
1997 (rev) Amish Across
America
1999 (book) Surviving Y2K:
The Amish Way
2000 (book) Why Johnny Can’t
Come Home
2001 (DVD) Welcome to Amish
America
2003 (book) Amish Buggies
Across America
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LIFE SINCE ’58: Ron
and Carolee (Crews) Seifert
Ron and Carolee
completed 44 years of marriage on August 22, 2003
They have three children and four grandchildren
Son Steve Seifert with two children
4 and 6 years old - Technology Manager in the office of the CIO at Perot
Systems
Son Scott Seifert with two
children 3 and 7 years old - Attorney and partner in Dallas, Texas
law firm
Daughter Susan Seifert -
Graphic Designer
RON - Spent a career in Technology Sales and Management
IBM 17 years, Apple Computer nine years,
Toshiba American Information Systems four years. Retired in 1996 from
Toshiba as Vice President of Regional Sales. Currently on Board of Advisors for Price College
of Business, Oklahoma
University - Served as
Board Chair for two years. Served on
boards/committees for City of Plano, Communities
in Schools, Plano Library Foundation, Big
Brothers & Big Sisters, Mercedes
Benz Club/Dallas Section, Council and Mayoral campaigns for City of Plano, Trustee for Dallas Museum
of Natural History. Hobbies – Golf,
travel, cars and grandchildren
CAROLEE - Spent a career raising three wonderful
children
A civic volunteer with the library system
wherever we lived
Joined a new business florist startup and
became a florist
Has won most of the ladies golf tournaments
at our country clubs in Plano, Texas
Survived as a corporate wife entertaining and
hosting corporate business executives and business partners
Hobbies – Reading (four to five novels per
week), golf, joining Ron on car rallies, and grandchildren
Ron and Carolee (Crews)
Seifert – E-Mail Address: rseifert@advantexmail.net
LIFE SINCE
'58: Sherry
(Moles) Halula
After I
graduated in '58 I went to work for Swift & Company in the mail department. I married my Mr. Wonderful
(who graduated from Wyandotte
in '52). Over the next ten years we had
six children, including twins. When I
was pregnant with number four, Jack took a new job in another town, and we
moved several hours away from KCK.
After raising our children, my
husband had an opportunity to go to work in Colorado and we moved there. We ultimately ended up working for the Church
and lived near the mountains. We enjoyed
those years of "working for God.”
The pastor asked me to be World Youth Day coordinator for the parish,
and I took a deep breath and tackled the job.
It turned out to be a very time consuming, detail-oriented task, but it
all turned out well. Part of the job was
to arrange housing, transportation, and food for 85 people from five
countries. The Pope came to Denver for WYD in 1993,
and it was wonderful. The pastor created
a new position as Director of Volunteers and he sent me to Colorado University
in Boulder for
Volunteer Management courses. I held
that position for five years, and oversaw 35 different volunteer ministries,
including a food bank and a mother and baby "supply closet." Of all the different jobs I have had, I
enjoyed that one the most. I think that
people are at their best when they volunteer their time and talent to make
someone else's life a little better, a little easier, and there is no feeling
like it. When Jack retired a few years ago, we had to stop and think, where
is "home?” We decided to come back
to where we raised our family.
Two of the children still live in the area.
Jack is retired, but I am
still working. I went back to
a second love, medical transcribing, and now work
at one of the local medical clinics.
Besides working, I have been spending my time with computer restoration
of vintage
photography and creating a family tree book for all of our children and
grandchildren, with all the "family stories" I can remember (while I can
still remember them).
We have been married 45 years.
All of the kids are grown now and are successful in their chosen
professions. We have 12 grandchildren
and one great grandchild. Grandparenting
is so much more fun than parenting! God
has been good to us and blessed us abundantly in the important things in life -
family and love.
Sharon “Sherry” (Moles) Halula – E-Mail Address: techimom@OurTownUSA.net

LIFE SINCE '58: Jay Willis
Even though I had not
intended to attend college after graduation in 1958, during the summer I
decided to go to college (with the guidance of church friends who felt I should
prepare for the ministry). I enrolled in
William Jewell
College, Liberty, Missouri,
majoring in Religion and New Testament Greek, graduating with a Bachelor of
Arts degree in 1962. During these four
years, I worked part-time to pay my way.
During the summer of 1958, I met Rebecca (Becky) Sue Johnson (Wyandotte ’59). We married in June 1960. We had not known each other while I was at Wyandotte, but we have an
interesting coincidence between us.
Early on at Wyandotte,
students had the opportunity to get social security numbers. Apparently, the day I got mine, Becky was
standing in line three persons behind me, because we have the same SS number
except for the last digit.
In the fall of 1962, I enrolled
in Midwestern Baptist Seminary (Kansas City North) in the Master of Divinity
degree program, still planning to be a pastor, but worked part-time as a music
director at Harmony Heights Baptist Chapel in Kansas City North. Becky became the major breadwinner while I
continued in school. In 1964, our first
daughter, Cheryl Luann, was born, and in 1966, our son, Bryan Jay, was
born. I dropped out of school to
make ends meet, working for DC (Denver-Chicago) Trucking Company and Jones
Trucking Company (both in Kansas City) as a billing/utility clerk. (My typing skills were still with me, even
from that first typing class in 8th grade at
Northwest...uh...Grossenbacher!) I
returned to seminary in 1966, graduating in 1968 with a Master of Divinity
degree. Upon graduation, I became
Minister of Music and Education at Mt. Washington
Baptist Church in Independence, Missouri, until June of
1972. Our second daughter, Katherine Suzanne, was born in 1971, the same year
that my father passed away.
In 1972, the Old Forest Road
Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, called me as their Minister of Music, Education,
Youth, and Assistant to the Pastor, so we all packed up from Independence and
“went on down the road.” The work in Virginia was really more than I could
handle, and I wanted to focus on church music, so we moved to Louisville,
Kentucky, in 1973 so that I could attend the Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary School of Music. I received a Masters of Church Music degree (a church
music education degree with piano as the performance instrument) from the School of Music in 1976. Becky completed her third P.H.T. (Put Hubby
Through) degree. In 1977, the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist
Church of Washington,
D.C., called me as its Minister of Music and Education. This church, a large, bi-racial congregation,
provided us with a wealth of experience and brought us many fond memories. Our family became infatuated
with the East Coast: we lived within two-hours drive of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Blue Ridge mountains. We’ve lived on the East Coast since
then and now call it home. In 1982, I
became bi-vocational, working part-time in churches and full-time in a secular
position. Since 1982, I have served as
music director and accompanist in churches in the Washington, D.C.
metropolitan area and as accompanist for the Capital Baptist Chorale, a
volunteer choral group, from 1979-89.
Other activities have included adjudication at choir festivals and youth
music camp instructor and accompanist at Maryland Baptist
State music camps. My secular work has included word processing,
typography, desktop publishing, and copy editing for research firms in Washington. Since 1990, I have worked for the
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), whose mandate involves
“sustainable options for ending hunger and poverty”; I enjoy being involved in
this research.
We’ve settled in Waldorf, in
southern Maryland, 25 miles southeast of Washington. Becky and I enjoy our grandchildren—three
girls and one boy—who live nearby. We hate the traffic mess in Washington, D.C.,
but we enjoy growing flowers and working in the yard. We both enjoy singing in the choir and
listening to music (country, new age, classical); I enjoy playing the
piano/organ and accompanying choirs.
Becky collects many things, from salt and peppershakers to dolls to Star
Trek memorabilia. We enjoy watching videos of our favorite movies. Through our journey to this moment, we feel
that God has had His hand in it. Our
motto: one step at a time, ask for God’s help, and try to get some sleep!
Jay Willis – E-Mail Address: j.willis@cgiar.org
Jay Willis
LIFE
SINCE '58: Irene
(Garcia) Villalpando
In January of 1956, I
married and ten months later had a beautiful baby boy, Anthony. Seventeen
months later, I had another son, Phillip born in April of 1958. I call
him my diploma. Residing in Kansas for several years, we found ourselves living in Europe for four years. While there, we traveled
throughout Europe and really enjoyed our
life. While living in Maryland, we had a beautiful baby
girl. I was 34 at the time. We then moved to the Northwest, where I
went to Barber College. I became a Master Barber.
My husband retired in April of this year. We are looking forward to
traveling, maybe some more college, and enjoying our eight grandchildren.
God Bless!
Irene
(Garcia) Villalpando – E-Mail Address: irenegarciavill@cs.com
Irene (Garcia) Villalpando 
LIFE SINCE '58: Glenn Bengtson
August 2003: It has been a long time
since I have seen any of our classmates. I have recently accepted a
position in Washington
State - - seem to be
developing a habit of moving west. I'll be acquainting myself with the
new job and new region while the reunion festivities are taking place. I
have been in the Denver, CO vicinity for the last twenty years. Married for thirty-three years to the same woman. Three
boys raised, one is still in college (C.U. - Go Buffs! Remember, when
the chips are down the buffalo is empty). No grandchildren yet. Have a nice celebration
and I'll be thinking of all of you.
Regards,
Glenn Bengtson –
E-Mail Address: KBengtson@comcast.net
LIFE SINCE ’58:
Jean (Graves) McDonald-Walker
Dr. Jean McDonald-Walker
was appointed to Arlington Temple United
Methodist Church
in July 1999, after serving three years as an Associate Pastor in Virginia Beach. In 2004
she was transferred to Market Street United
Methodist Church
in Winchester, Virginia as Pastor. Jean graduated from Wesley Theological
Seminary in 1996, having entered seminary after two earlier careers. For ten
years, she served as faculty member in the Department of Political Science at
the University of
Oklahoma. Subsequently,
she was a senior policy analyst for the National Governors' Association working
to help governors improve public schools and colleges. She has two grown
children and two grown stepchildren. She was married in 1999 to Bob McDonald
Walker. Bob is an analyst at the Institute for Defense
Analyses.
Jean
(Graves) McDonald-Walker - E-Mail
Address: JGMcD1940@aol.com
Dr. Jean (Graves)
McDonald-Walker
Pastor, Market Street
United Methodist
Church - http://www.gbgm-umc.org/marketstreet/
LIFE
SINCE '58: Barkley “Bark” Fahnestock

Pastor Barkley “Bark” Wife Carleen
Barkley “Bark” Fahnestock
Pastor,
Quidnessett Baptist Church
- http://www.qbchurch.org
Note: February 2005 - Barkley and Carleen are on a
missionary assignment in the southern mountains of Ethiopia. Bark's contact information
in our directories is no longer applicable. They expect to return to the U.S. in late
summer or early fall of 2007.
View Bark's photography of Ethiopia
at: http://www.fahnestockimages.com/stock_photo/index.php?category=gallery
LIFE
SINCE '58: Dr. Ray Wheeler


Life SINCE
‘58: Mary Alice (Crowe) Worth
November
2004: After Wyandotte, I went to work in the insurance
industry where I am still employed. I
attended Donnelly College and Creighton
University in Omaha.
I was offered early retirement in 1999 from Aon Insurance Brokers after
36 years of service which I accepted with a very nice retirement package. Not ready to totally
retire, I then went to work for my current employer Individual Assurance
Company in Prairie Village,
Kansas. For over 40 years, IAC has been the provider
of the Group Life Insurance Program for the Government Groups in Guam, Saipan, Marshall Islands, Palau, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, and
Yap. I am the Pacific Group Life
Administrator for this program which allows me the wonderful experience to
travel to all of those islands.
I
married Larry Worth and we currently reside in Liberty, MO.
where we built our home 12 years ago. We
have one son, Alex Worth, age 30, who is married and has four children whom we
both enjoy spoiling very much. My career
has been very successful and a fun ride, but I am looking forward to retiring
this April and staying home and doing gardening and relaxing at our pool.
Mary
Alice (Crowe)
Worth - E-Mail
Address: MWorth@iac-group.com
LIFE SINCE
’58: Doris (Meade) Riley
Doris 2004 Country Club
Plaza Christmas Lighting Ceremony
Doris (Meade) Riley - E-Mail Address: dorisjriley@kc.rr.com
Scroll ¯
Wyandotte Grads In The Spotlight…
Judy Gail (Harman) Ainsworth Arnold
Class of 1958
Scroll ¯

Past
Cheerleader Deanna Bowers (Actress Dee Wallace Stone)
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At WHS Centennial
(1986-1987)
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By Barbara (Fabac) Schone dschone@cox.net


