Ritual and Celebration –

            The timing of Pope Benedict XVI’s April visit to the United States can seem arbitrary to some, but not to members of the class that graduated in 1968.  For one, consider the convenience for the fertile family of Mike Baroody and Muff, scheduled to meet with the Pontiff in a private group reconciliation session at the Washington, D.C. Nationals’ ballpark.  There are the spiritual needs, as well as some sinful habits, of D.C. and New York area residents such as Pat Collins, Bill Kelly, Eddie Broderick, Paul Ramsey, Pat Furey, Tom Fitzharris, and Pat DeMare.  The Rogers twins Neil and Rich are hard to pin down; they always blame each other and, even in retirement, Rich enjoys the privilege of professional courtesy from FBI agents.  In Jim Davis’ case, he has slipped town and now practices law in Charleston, SC.  All of this may have affected the timing of Pope Benedict’s travel but the most important influence may be the one noted by observers with an historical view: the visit occurred on the doorstep of the Silver Jubilee of Tom Weyer’s election as our class president.  Meeting with the Pope in private conference on the East Coast, President Weyer first exchanged gifts of a 20-pack of sliders in an authentic grease-stained sack and a relic of St. Genesius of Rome, patron saint of comics.  For the occasion, President Weyer dressed in the full, regal, ceremonial garb of his high class office, right down to his Gilbert’s regimental tie and his polished Bass Weejuns.  In addition to arranging for what’s being called the second meeting, a Papal visit with known abusers of priests, Tom received dispensations for some planned 40^th reunion behavior: Brien Murphy will attend with Maggie, for example.  Now retired from his surgeon career, he is rested up. 

            Our class, with its unusual opportunity for a second enjoyment of the Sixties, will make its presence felt.  Bryan Dunigan and Tom Gibbs will warm up a sizable group with golf, dining, and visiting for a day or so in the Michiana Shores area.  Accustomed to their soft lives of privilege, friends from SMC led by Elise Stephens Reeder will pass up dorm residence and make the comfortable South Bend home of Elise’s sister Jackie Krause their reunion base.  Tom McKenna, Mike Browning, Tom Condon, Ken Beirnes and Susan will get things started with two or three dozen of us Thursday night at Sunny Italy’s restaurant.  Jay Schwartz and Laura will drive in from San Francisco after a visit with a new Schwartz granddaughter, Anabelle.  Dinner guests will include former professors and their spouses: Don Sniegowski and Barbara, Ed Goerner and Iris, Don Costello and Christine, Doug Kinsey and Mrs. Kinsey. Steve Sullivan and Brian Miskus have been making plans for a Thursday dinner and maybe golf with friends from the Aero program.  When we meet for the class dinner, quiet, pensive Ned Buchbinder will make some remarks about deceased friends John Noel and Bob Kohorst.

            During the reunion and after, the class blog, http://www.ndclass1968.com, will include photographs and quick notes.  Remember Professor Don Costello’s toast to our year, 1968?  You can find it again in the blog’s Reunion and Rendezvous folder.  You can also find some reunion humor sent by Jim Hutchinson.  And you can find the names of our classmates who have died but remain with us whenever we are together.

            Unfortunately, there won’t be any reunion photos of John Fowler, who wrote and explained.  “I'm a judge for the United and American Kennel clubs. I lecture against breed specific legislation and represent various Kennel clubs in  the United States District Courts where governmental agencies are attempting to pass such laws. I guess I'm a certified wacko animal rights lawyer!!  I'm under contract to appear in Minnesota the weekend of our reunion, but I'll  certainly be thinking of Y'all!!”  Life has been good, John says,  He and his wife Linda will celebrate their 30 year wedding anniversary in July.  They have a daughter, Robin, who now teaches school in Boca Raton, FL and has heard from John “that legacy still applies to my grandchildren.” 

            The South Bend wedding of Molly Beeler, the granddaughter of the late Business Professor John Malone, occurred as spring arrived in early April.  The nice weather added to the pleasure of seeing Molly’s mother Kathy Malone Beeler and Kathy’s husband Brian Regan as well as Chris Murphy and Carmie, Brian Lake and Ginger, and Joe Kernan and Maggie. Chris and Carmie celebrated the birth of their seventh grandchild,  Merlin Christopher Bellinger, during March. Another big class contingent will gather in New Orleans in early May for the wedding of John Walsh and Dia’s son Kieran and Marianne Heidel.  The whole Tom Moore and Kathy family will be there, ready to party with Kevin Daly and Helena, Geoff Thornton and Christine, and the New Orleans committee Eddie Kurtz, Tom Henehan and Peggy, and John Flemming.

            In mid-March, Mike Heaton's wife Barb spent a scary night at the hospital with a heart problem.  The temporary problem could have been brought on by a glimpse of the family checkbook and a list of Mike's recent donations. He and his family give money and a great deal of time to everything.

             Gwynne Morgan, SMC 68, wrote in memory of her friend and our deceased classmate Jon Sherry.  Jon’s daughter Tara Sherry Torres will run in the New Jersey Marathon May in honor of Jon.  Contributions at http://www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/TaraMarie will benefit leukemia research.  Gwynne says Jon ran the New York Marathon several times. 

            Please keep in your prayers Richard Gutowski’s mother Irene Gutowski-Kvatsak, who passed away on February 7, 2008, and Dan Donnelley, who died March 4, 2008.  A grandfather of three, Dan practiced law in Michigan and Indiana. 

           See you at the reunion.  Please post news on the blog or send it to Tom Figel, 1054 West North Shore, Apt. 3-E, Chicago, IL 60626, tel. 312-881-7391, tfigel@lake-effect.com.

It’s Here: Our 40 Year Reunion

            When a younger Notre Dame friend pointed out that, back in the day, 1968, the class returning for its 40 year reunion was the class of 1928, the intent of the barb was a mental image of doddering old men shrinking from the life and change of a youthful campus. That perked interest in learning about these men who graduated when the University’s enrollment stood at 2800. The comparison with us and our own graceful aging would be striking, of course, but the history of the class of 1928 shows more kinship than contrast.  We have Tom Weyer at our head but the likelihood is great that Bernard A. Garber had some of the same spirit and maybe the same kind of support our president receives from Joe Kernan, Jim O’Rourke, Brian Sullivan, Bryan Dunigan, and other class stalwarts.  The secretary of the 1928 class, Jon Davis, is now dead but, as a centenarian, did enjoy posting a Notre Dame magazine class note in 2007 about a great-granddaughter who took him to kindergarten class in fulfillment of an assignment that required her to bring 100 of something on the 100^th day of school.  That 1928 class had Knute Rockne but we did okay with Ara Parseghian.  In November of the senior year, Knute gave the famous “Win One for the Gipper” speech that turned the tide against Army.  For that class, it was a world of eve-of-the-Depression prosperity with Calvin Coolidge in the presidency.  Charles A. Lindbergh had just electrified the world with his trans-Atlantic flight in 1927.  On the other hand, we had the electricity of Lola’s appearance. The University copyrighted The Notre Dame Victory March in 1928.  Ara Parseghian was five years old and Lou Holtz wouldn’t even be around for another four or five years. How the war and the events of the next 40 years would affect the men who came back to marvel at the wonder of the new buildings that graced the 1968 campus!  There were Cavanaugh Hall, built 1936; Farley Hall, built 1942; Alumni Hall, 1931; Dillon Hall, 1931; and so on, including the unbelievably opulent Keenan and Stanford Halls, both built in 1957.

            The class of 1928 had a lot to remember and be proud about when they got together.  No doubt that accomplished group of friends had as much fun at their reunion as we will have at ours.  Check the class blog, http://ndclass-1968.figelpr.com, for notes about classmates’ reunion plans.  The blog also includes a list of our deceased classmates; remember them and pray for them.

         Things always start early for a Bryan Dunigan-Roger Guerin-Tom Gibbs contingent in the Michigan City area.  A group of us will begin with a dinner Thursday night at Sunny Italy; we’ll have the youthful Don Costello, Ed Goerner, Don Sniegowski and other professors as guests.  Ken Beirne, Mike Baroody, Tom Fitzharris, Jim Davis and Bill Kelly have already claimed seats, a nice beginning.  

            Jim Davis is going to be coming from Charleston, S.C., where he is working on a legal matter for his New York firm.  John McCoy now winters in Taos, NM and summers in Arlington, VA.  In California, Forrest Hainline probably will touch up a few poems before heading to the Midwest; his interest in writing poetry was recently the subject of a local law publication’s article.  Pat Collins and Emily will sit with the grandparents: Riley Marie, child of their accountant son Patrick, was born a few hours before the end of 2007.

            Joe Kernan may arrive with a red face.  A vacation cruise to the Antarctic in December became the subject of headlines when the ship struck an iceberg.  No harm came to Joe, Maggie or other passengers but Joe did suffer some embarrassment out in the blogosphere.  Tom Weyer wrote: “Joe sounds like he got confused by one of those  'bargain'  Southern cruises.  JOE it doesn't get warmer the farther SOUTH that you go. I can see Joe now with his shorts and Jimmy Buffett shirt on as the Captain said “we're just slowing down to pick up some ice.'…. If he wanted 0 degrees and icebergs he need go no farther than Lake Michigan this morning…  I just hope that our class Treasury  [which Joe usually carries in his pocket ] was in no jeopardy.”  At about the same time, John O’Connor added: “I understand that the problem was that Joe had read some Al Gore material, and expected beaches and sunburned penguins on his trip.”  Ken Howard called for an investigation: “Now I understand why Joe didn't hesitate to renew that $40 bet with BC grad Jan O'Connor for next year's game. Why would a sane man do that? He's playing with OUR class money!!!!!  $.04 or so of those bets  probably belong to each of us!!!!  Financial chicanery and politicians are a well-known combination, but can we allow this to continue? I think Pres. Tom (who looks to be well on his way re: material for the Friday class speech at Reunion '08) should take his usual decisive action. Perhaps hearings, with all the usual media alerts?”  

            Watch the blog, get in touch with friends, and make plans.  Can’t wait to see all of you.  That means you, too, John Alzamora, John Fowler, Tom McCloskey and a few other shrinking violets.  Send news to: Tom Figel, 1054 West North Shore, Apt. 3-E, Chicago, IL 60626, tel. 312-881-7391, tfigel@lake-effect.com. 

Camaraderie the Antidote for the Pain:             

            As August ended, Bob Smith sent a letter of such quality that, by itself, his news about twenty classmates, from Dick Crouch to Bill Follette, justifies a visit to our class blog, http://ndclass-1968.figelpr.com.  Look for the letter in the notes submitted August 1, 2007.  Here’s a taste: “I hope we have a great turnout to the reunion next June as our ranks will only get shorter.
        “I ran into Arnie and Ginger Vance (Florida), Dick Crouch (also Florida formerly Pittsburgh), Dan Hollingsworth (still an Okie), and Dick Murley (New Orleans area) at the Sugar Bowl.  Dick got his BS and MS at ND in civil engineering and Dick's specialty is now the dams and levies in the New Orleans basin.  Needless to say he has a lot of work to do and he did not contribute to the problem but is contributing to the solution.  I also see Brian Peters, another civil engineer graduate, and the better of the two catchers on our baseball team (Joe Kernan being the other one).” (continued on the blog).

Lenny Joyce, retired in Oak Park, IL and noticing Brian McTigue’s request for Mike Lonergan’s address, sent that San Francisco address along with a bonus, Steve Rodger’s address in New York City.  Maybe Chuck Perrin will have the same luck.  Along with his new Beat.itude Revisited CD of his live performances at his San Diego Club Dizzy’s, Chuck asked to be remembered to Tom Moore and Kathy and asked for Pete Hurley’s address.

In New York, Jim Davis is hitting his stride again after a couple of operations during the fall.  Jim will get to the reunion in time for the Thursday night dinner we like to have as a first event. 

            Fortunate John McCoy was on campus in September for witnessing of Class President Tom Weyer’s strong performance on the Old Boys Team that vanquished the Notre Dame undergraduates’ rugby team.  With Weyer administering crushing tackles and playing a key role in the scrum that produced the first Old Boys score, Tom Gibbs could remain at the ready on the sidelines this time.  Maybe the Old Boys wanted a victory but not a rout.  John said that “Weyer played substantial minutes (relative to a David Beckham appearance in an MLS game).  

            Rugby hasn’t been the only Notre Dame sport looking to the past for its glory.  Later in the season, John Pergine would tell friends at the ND 68 tailgate that “We didn’t give up this many points all year.”  Jim Hutchinson sized up the season during the first game and said, “I think we should engage Rich Rogers, recently retired from the FBI, to find out where the ND football team has gone.”  Many others gathered with John beneath the class flag during the season.  Tom Weyer said friends gathered under the tailgate flag included “Ray Munchmeyer from MA, a sight for sore eyes after many years, Arnie Vance,  Rich Jurjevic and Susan and son from Ashland, OH, (who gave the day a bad football, great meatloaf review), Mike Helmer and son Nick from Napa, CA;  Bill Dewey, now from Chicago; Paul Nowak and Barbara, up from TN.  Many came for the Ara statue dedication during the MSU game: Danny (Bump),Harshman, Kevin Rassas, Steve Quinn and Sandy,  Dave Martin and Jan, and the rare but much enjoyed visit by John Pergine, looking younger than the rest of us thanks to his Italian hairstylist wife.”  Rich and Neil Rogers, Mike Ryan, Brian Sullivan and Nancy came to the first two games.  Rocky Bleier, after having his high school stadium and a street in Appleton, WI named for him, will be honored at the Navy Game before his coming reception of the National football Foundation’s distinguished American Award.”  Roger Guerin was at the tailgate with Milwaukee’s Jerry Cherubini and Jerry’s son Michael, ND 2005 class.

            John Walsh said, “At the Class of '68 tailgate for the USC game, I saw more of our beloved classmates in one place than at any time since the 35th Reunion.  For example, Dennis Withers (Atlanta), Mike Brennan (Santa Fe, NM). Sen. Bill Gormley (entire state of NJ), Ralph White (Akron), and I believe I saw Ken Howard (20,000 leagues under the sea), though my facemask was a little fogged up.  In addition, the usual list of local suspects–whose tenacity and perseverance, delicious food and cold beverages are the heart and soul of this great class–were also splendidly arrayed, even in a below-.500 year: Guerin, Dunigan, Weyer, Tom Gibbs, Tom Misch, Tom Moore (yell 'Tom' or 'John' and half the class will answer . . .), Bob Ptak, Jim O'Rourke, Gene Cavanaugh.  And these are just the folks I  recall–one of the best pre-games I can remember!  One piece of news that's mentionable in print (because he'll never tell you) is that Tom Moore is being honored at the Alumni Awards Dinner for Loyola University (Chicago) School of Law on October 27.  He will receive the Francis J. Rooney / St. Thomas More Award, which is presented annually for outstanding loyalty and dedicated service to the law school. With Tom's years of teaching trial practice at Loyola and volunteering additional time on Loyola's behalf, he has distinguished himself in that commitment.”

            Bob Nenoff’s letter sparked a reminiscence from Bill Clark, who is a Gallina LLP CPA and partner in the San Francisco area.  Bill and Bob were Keenan Hall neighbors of the recently overlooked Iowan Denny Emmanuel our freshman year.  “Weyer along with Tiger Schaefer and a few others were part of the ‘Flaming A—-holes’ of which I got honorable mention for eating a gross concoction – for $10 – in the North Dining Hall.  The FA’s dressed up for Bball games and did other assorted craziness.  I saw Jim Chapman in Eugene, OR, where he and his wife own and run a pewter business.  I lived with Jim in Venice, Italy in 1970.  He had some great stories about the ND motorcycle gang in Europe which included Tim Swearingen (Jim wrecked his bike in a crash), and I think, Joey Brennan, John Walsh and John Fleming.  Jim golfs with Paul Higgins a lot.  In September, I had a reunion in Seaside Heights, NJ with four friends going back to grammar school.  Two of them are also ND grads, Mike Carroll and Terry Adrian.  Mike is a professional photographer who also founded and is president of the Romanian Childrens’ Relief Fund which was profiled in the last ND Magazine.  Mike lives in Pepperell, MA.  He’s married for 30+ years to Joan and has two kids.  Terry teaches English in a state college in New York City, where he’s lived most of the time since graduation.  Terry is also involved with the theater in the city.  He’s married with a daughter.  Our reunion was a blast; it was like no one had changed at all in 30+ years.  And our alcohol consumption was certainly on par with the good old days at Kirby’s.” 

            Tom Condon, in West Hartford, CT, is now the Hartford Courant’s deputy editorial page editor.  Tom joined the editorial page department four years ago as editor of and columnist in the groundbreaking Place section in Commentary. His innovations there included Forum on Form, a series on architecture styles in Connecticut. His editorials and columns on sprawl won a top prize this year in a national journalism competition sponsored by the American Planning Association.  He has won numerous recognitions, including the New England Society of Newspaper Editors' Master Reporter Award and an Emmy for TV Commentary on Channel 30.

            Bryan Dunigan sent some non-Chicago news along with the advice that “Our entire class will be moving here soon to enjoy our temperate climate devoid of hurricanes, mudslides, forest fires and sinkholes.  Anyway, Adrienne and Mike Brennan’s daughter, Brigid, and Mary and Dr. Fred Felic’s daughter, Katie, were both recently married in Santa Fe, NM.  The Brennan’s wedding was on September 15^th (so we were spared watching the second half of the Michigan game) in the Cathedral in Santa Fe, and the Ferlic’s wedding was on October 7, 2007.  Katie Ferlic is a government attorney in Santa Fe and Mike Brennan has been a practicing attorney in Santa Fe for over 30 years.  I understand both wedding parties prepared for the nuptials by slaking their collective thirsts at ‘The Cowgirl Hall of Fame.’  Mike even joined the band for the singing of a few Rolling Stone Classics – Mike was the only one who knew the lyrics!”   Bryan said that, in addition to Mary and him, guests at the Brennan’s wedding included Tony McGarry (’67) and his wife Kathy, Mike’s brothers Pat (’63), John (’69), and Bill (’74) and Pat’s children Jennifer (’89) and Michael (’92).  Brigid’s sister, Colleen (’94) was the maid of honor and her brother Sean (’00) was one of the groomsmen.  Sean is currently on active duty with the Army in Jerusalem, where he serves with a small, multi-national unit monitoring relations between the Fatah faction of the Palestinians and the Israelis.

         Also use the blog for planning of our 40^th reunion get-togethers: See the Reunion and other Rendezvous News section.  Send news to: Tom Figel, 1054 West North Shore, Apt. 3-E, Chicago, IL 60626, tel. 312-223-9536 ext. 301, tfigel@figelpr.com.

                        Class President Tom Weyer has been limbering up his arm in preparation for a debut at a South Bend Silver Hawks baseball game on August 3^rd, where Tom will throw out the first ball.  Then he will return to the box seats where a couple dozen classmates from Chicago and South Bend are convening.  Jim O’Rourke and Gene Cavanaugh will be there from South Bend.  Roger Guerin, Bryan Dunigan, Tom Cuggino and Dave Katz will be present, after a round of classmate golf.  Tom Weyer’s training has included the tossing of a dozen balls in the Cumberland River during a conference stop in Knoxville.  Unable to hang around and join friends there for golf, Tom said that the throw at the river’s edge pretty much accomplished everything he would have done with his clubs.

                        We will make sure a photo of the Silver Hawks pitch goes on the class blog under the Photos of the Photogenic heading. (Editor's Note Aug. 5, 2007: There will be no photo of Tom Weyer throwing a pitch.  Things didn't go exactly as predicted: Tom Weyer, as well as Denny Toolan, found the Indiana Tollroad a slow passage Friday afternoon and so Tom arrived too late for the throwing of the first pitch but in plenty of time for throwing wisecracks.  The disappointment led to some seditious grumbling and even some outraged cries before the crowd settled down to watch the Silver Hawks put away the Burlington, IA team: 'He's unreliable,' shouted one.  'If we had had Mick Hyland for the pitch, he would have been here Wednesday,' said another. During the course of preparation, Tom Condon advised that Tom Weyer shake off the first sign.  Also, Roger Guerin, who had forgotten the preparations required for his daughter's August 4th engagement party, stayed home to help his family.  He neither golfed nor came to the baseball game.  In other respects, things turned out as predicted: Chris Murphy put the squeeze on someone who had reserved the 1st Source Bank skybox and that created room for ten or a dozen in addition to the 20 or so of us in a nearby section.  Looking down on all this in lordly glory was Fred Ferlic, who happened to be hosting an open-bar get-together for 140 employees of his medical practice.  Unaware that he was seated near a Barat graduate attending the game – Bryan Dunigan's friend Mary – Pat Barth reminisced about dating Barat students before he shipped to Vietnam from Ft. Sheridan in the Chicago area.  He quickly acted on counsel given him by Dave Kabat and forgot all names and details.  Later in the game, Joe Kernan came in for some harsh treatment when the wave began; it seemed to us that it began in the vicinity of what was being called the Murphy Skybox and then spread through the crowd of 5,000.  We had great weather, access to Fred's open bar, The San Diego Chicken added to the Silver Hawks victory, and Friday nights are Fireworks nights after the game.  We left as hundreds of Girl Scouts were getting ready to camp overnight in the outfield.  Joe Kernan told us that the Notre Dame baseball team will play the Silver Hawks on April 2, 2008.  This is the same month that Tom Weyer has suggested for a pre-reunion golf outing in South Bend or Michigan City.   The Silver Hawks outing was so much fun that we may have discovered a way of extending our tailgating season into summer months.  Dia Walsh took photos that will soon appear on this blog – after some retouching – in 'Photos of the Photogenic.' ) Please send your own photos and post your own notes, including ticket requests and arrangements for meetings at games.  The site can be useful, too, as we plan our get-togethers at our reunion the first weekend of June, 2008.  If you have suggestions about ways to monetize the many searches centered on Charlie Schmitt, please pass those ideas along, too.

                        In case the fellows who began their friendships as high school students, and in some cases, as grade school classmates, don’t get enough chances for social contact, Bryan Dunigan always schedules a summer golf outing.  This year’s had the pent-up demand occasioned by the previous summer’s thundershowers.  Six foursomes, and almost that many golfers, showed up at the Butterfield course in Oak Brook, IL.  Chris Murphy, who had such a mild heart attack in July – but still a heart attack – that he never spent a night in the hospital, drove a van of South Bend athletes: Rich Allen, Gene Cavanaugh, Brian Lake, Dan Harshman, Joe Kernan, and Steve Anderson were with him.  Terry Quinn’s summer golf stats picked up an outlier score when Tom Weyer filled in for play with Bob Ptak, John Walsh and Dave Kabat.  Brian McManus was in a following group.  Mick Hyland, John Burke and Denny Toulan caught up at Rick McPartlin’s Oak Brook home, where the day ended. 

                        Jim Hutchinson sent a May 28^th column written in salute of the military service of Rocky Bleier, who received the National Football Foundation’s “Distinguished American” award during the month.  See the note and a photo at the blog. 

                        Brian McTigue wrote to ask about the whereabouts of Mike Lonergan.  The question remains unanswered but the contact did reveal that over the years, Brian has gone from investigative reporting and television news production for ABC and NBC in San Francisco into law.  While serving as counsel to United States Senate and House committees, Brian became familiar with abuses of over-funded pension plans and now practices with McTigue & Porter LLP, a D.C. firm that draws on the experience.  Of course, for Tom Fitzharris of Court TV, the chance to visit with Brian means yet another business reason for attending next year’s reunion.

            President Bush’s nomination of Mike Baroody for Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission engendered so much political strife that consideration of Mike’s own qualities never began.  Mike’s May 23^rd letter withdrawing his nomination appears on the blog. 

            Pat Misch, son of our classmate Tom, is now pitching for the San Francisco Giants.  John Walsh saw Pat handle the Cubs hitters until Pat was lifted for a pinch hitter. 

            Please keep Steve Sackley and his mother in your prayers.  Mrs. Sackley died on July 14^th. 

            This column, so sprinkled with Chicago area names, gives heft to the complaint Bob Nenoff voiced in his note: “This is the second time you have mentioned people from Iowa (ND Mag) and not mentioned anything about Dr. Dennis Emanuel from Ottumwa. Doesn’t he count?  I have noticed over the years, that unless you are part of the ‘Chicago’ crowd, you seem to be left out of the news and ignored.”

            Fortunately, lots of help in this regard came from Bob Smith, wRobert.w.smith@sealedair.com), who is keeping track of a great number of classmates from his Greenville, SC home.  His letter is a great one: “Just trying out the new Irish on-line and I found you so I guess I will say hello.  I hope we have a great turnout to the reunion next June as our ranks will only get shorter.
        “I ran into Arnie and Ginger Vance (Florida), Dick Crouch (also Florida formerly Pittsburgh), Dan Hollingsworth (still an Okie), and Dick Murley (New Orleans area) at the Sugar Bowl.  Dick got his BS and MS at ND in civil engineering and Dick's specialty is now the dams and levies in the New Orleans basin.  Needless to say he has a lot of work to do and he did not contribute to the problem but is contributing to the solution.  I also see Brian Peters, another civil engineer graduate, and the better of the two catchers on our baseball team (Joe Kernan being the other one).  Brian has also had an interesting career in dealing with our country's major disasters.  He was the person the city of New York brought in on Sept 14, 2001 to oversee the complete clean-up of ground zero, and, should you see him, he can tell many a story in the grand old Peter's style. Brian lives in Grovers Mill, NJ, the location used for the most famous fictional disaster, Oscar Wilde's War of the Worlds.  Maybe Brian could give his friend Dick a hand down in New Orleans.  I see Dennis Doherty and Chuck Belding around town here in Greenville, SC and Chuck is enjoying life as a kept man (must be nice being supported in early retirement in a life style that suits Chuck).  He loves to spend his idle time racing his car and dining in eloquence (usually his own preparation).  I also saw Brian Kenny at his home in Ellington, CT where I stayed a night.  He is doing well milking the state system as an environmental state union employee and developing side businesses in New Hampshire property rentals (his homes) and electronic demographic surveys for banks relative to minority lending requirements (speaking of nice niches).  He will soon retire from his semi-retirement.  He and his wife, Pat, went to an incredible wedding as honored guests in Viet Nam this past year and toured the shrines in Portugal.  I had dinner with Len Niessen of lacrosse fame.  Len authored a book on ND lacrosse which was quite an undertaking.  He and Bob Morin have copies.  Len and his wife, Pat, are in their same home since graduation from ND in Framingham, MA where he works for basically the same company now under Sun Microsystems management.  Len has the most incredible baseball card collection you have ever seen and has all the cards the rest of us threw away or lost from our childhood.  I stay in touch with Bruce Morrow in the boondocks of Western Kentucky where he is retired Army and runs his own little side business, Ardvark Enterprises which can be just about anything at any given time, kind of like the Jon Hall band (my Cavanaugh next door neighbor) – remember Lola.  He lives on Landing Strip Road, and, in Greenville, the Landing Strip is an appropriately named club just off the runway at the downtown airport.  Brian Muskus (COL-retired Air Force), my freshman roommate, is returning from a hiatus in Japan for a few years with a wife and two kindergarten age children, back to Sydney, Ohio, just a small adjustment for his family.  Dick DiLorenzo, my sophomore roommate, is still in Dayton as a prof at the Institute on Wright Patterson Air Base where he makes everything intuitively obvious to his students. His mom, Mary T. Dilorenzo just died and is in my daily prayers.  I have started new phases of my life.  I was ordained in May as a permanent deacon for the diocese of Charleston and look forward to assisting at our class Mass.  I also was able to start my reserve Army retirement (at 60) and thank y'all for helping me out with your taxes.  Maybe I will retire soon from my employer of 33+ years here in Greenville.  I saw everyone else the rest of you saw at the 1968 tailgate area during two of our home games.
            “Hope all is well with you and the Chicago gang.  (Then Bob added:)

            “As I left work I remembered that I also had dinner with Ron and Sharon Scotti in Greenville.  They were here to attend their daughter's graduation from Clemson with a PhD in the sciences.  Ron got his PhD after the Army (Ron, Brian Peters and I all went to OCS together after we were drafted just after graduation from ND and were in the same unit and kind of bunkmates) from Arizona in optical physics and is now in semi-retirement after working years for Lucent. They are building their dream retirement home on the North Carolina shore and Ron is coordinating a professional association for geniuses in optics (lasers and all that communications stuff).  Ron looks like he did in college which is more than I can say for some of us.  I have also communicated with Bill Follette (as opposed to Tom Follet), who resides in his homestate of Arizona.  He is still a Goldwater Republican and is constantly sending humorous and unusual pictures or writings to a list of us that is quite enjoyable.  Bill is retired Air Force (he was ROTC at ND) and is still with his SMC chick, Barbara, where he now dabbles in Scottsdale politics as assistant city manager (Joe Kernan does not have to worry – Bill is not a threat to bring the Republicans back to a majority).” 

            I will soon post additional news, including a note from Chuck Perrin, who sent a CD and a DVD of some performances at his San Diego club Dizzy’s.  Help me solve Bob’s complaint by posting your material here or by sending news to: Tom Figel, 1054 West North Shore, Apt. 3-E, Chicago, IL 60626, tel. 312-223-9636 x 301, tfigel@figelpr.com.

ND Class of 1968               Contact: Tom Figel, 312-223-9536 ext. 301

May 1, 2007

Good Friends Gone

           Relatively few of us were from Iowa in those years but we found each other: Greg Seaman in Frank O’Malley’s class left after freshman year for the University of Iowa and, eventually, a law practice in his home town of Carrol; Fred Ferlic, who went on to glory with Steve Anderson in South Bend; Pat Casey from Des Moines, John Kamp from Lemars; Mike Lonergan from Mason City, Brian McTigue, who became a stalwart of the Action Student Party; and Bob Kohorst from the vicinity of Harlan, which is near Carrol and about an hour east of Omaha.  Thick-chested, broad-shouldered, and bubbly with good humor, Bob was off the farm and deeply into the General Program’s studies.  There he met Ned Buchbinder, who will post his own memories of Bob on our class blog http://ndclass-1968.figelpr.com.  Ned was the first to tell us this spring of Bob’s death, which occurred last November.  Bob would call occasionally.  Always, in a modest way, he talked proudly about his family.  A few times we saw him.  During his bachelor years, when Nancy (Carlin SMC ’69) and I were in Lake Worth, FL, he got to like the area and would make an occasional weekend visit.  By then, he was practicing law with a Harlan firm.  Farmers and farming operations were his clients and farming was part of the worldview he assembled from all his reading and good sense.  During one visit, Nancy was pregnant with our son Peter and said she felt “big.”  Bob’s reply was no comfort.  “The older cow bears the bigger calf,” he told her.  We heard about and then met Kathleen, the wonderful, young St. Mary’s graduate who returned to Harlan and soon became a lawyer herself.  After they married, Bob and Kate began their own firm.  After a visit to family in Colorado years ago, we were in western Iowa at mid-morning and made the detour north from I-80 into Harlan.  At the diner near the courthouse, the five or six patrons studied us and then advised us that “Bob’s office is there.”  Our kids marveled: “Everyone knows him.”  Kate had just given birth to the first of their two sons, to John.  We had a great visit, one that included a recipe Kate gave Nancy for poppyseed coffee cake.  It gets used and Kate always gets praised.  Please remember Bob and his family in your prayers.

            Dennis Hunt has died, too.  A Californian who was a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan at one time and then began a career as a leader in the field of public relations, Dennis was on his way to Rochester, NY, where he would give a speech and visit with Jim Stoffel and Pam.  Jim Hutchinson forwarded Jim’s note: enroute to the airport in Los Angeles at the end of April, Dennis died in a car crash.  Then Wally Moxham, who became friends when he and Dennis lived in Stanford our freshman year, wrote that: “My wife and I are leaving tonight to go to the services and I understand Rich Carter and Dan Harshman, and I am sure others from the Notre Dame community, will be there to remember Dennis. The California Endowment, where he has been working for the past five (5) years as Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs, has further information at their website which is http://www.calendow.org.  Rich Carter said that, in addition to Wally, Dan Harshman and Jim Stoffel, Rich and two of Dennis’ nephews were the pallbearers.  The Carters live in Orleans, MA, on the Cape: “My daughter, Alexandre, had her wedding here last June and Dennis, Jim Stoffel and Rick Schleef of our class all came to the Cape for that event. Dennis was a great friend for over 42 years – since we were freshmen together at ND in Stanford Hall.”

            In Southport, Connecticut, at the end of January, Michael O. McHarg, Sr. died, leaving his wife Kristine, two sons and a granddaughter.  Mike was a quality assurance manager for the Heim Bearings Company in Fairfield.  His Notre Dame football passion gave him a reputation.

            For these reasons and for the future, let’s make sure we get together next June, when our class has a reunion.  You know Tom Weyer will be there and will have something to say.  Brian Sullivan will be in good voice, too.  We ought to turn out for a Silverhawks baseball game that weekend.

            In the meantime, Roger Guerin says that Bob Ptak has been spending a lot of time at a home in Bonita Bay, near Naples, FL.  Richie Rogers, who comes to games with his brother Neil and other classmates, last year started something that he plans to repeat now that he is retired from the FBI and from paying for triplets to attend college.  With tickets for games on successive Saturdays, Richie stayed and made a week of it in South Bend.  The Parkview was his base for a lot of looking around and visiting with everyone who came by. 

            John McCoy, while traveling back to Washington from his winter home in New Mexico, sent an alert that, on March 1, President Bush nominated Mike Baroody for Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a nomination that quickly produced objections from Sen. Barbara Boxer and others who charged that, coming from the National Association of Manufacturers, Mike would not be objective in considering product dangers.  The comments confirm that politics is a blood sport.  Impugning the integrity of someone with Mike’s character and love of family is dishonest.  Perhaps one of the Washington classmates knows the outcome of the nomination; I couldn’t find the answer at the beginning of May.

            TechniScan Medical Systems in Salt Lake City added Kenneth G. Hungerford II to the Board of Directors in March.  Ken is president of ADAC Automotive in Grand Rapids, MI, a position he has held since 1985.  On Ken’s watch, the company has seen sales growth increase by a factor of ten.

            Don Hynes, who lives in Portland, OR, has published his second book of poetry titled The Living Dark, available for $20 plus shipping at www.donhynes.com.  Don and his artist wife Linda Ethier come to the Midwest once in awhile: he attended the Frank O’Malley conference years ago and has visited John Walsh and Dia in other years.  The Living Dark, as you will find in the samples on the web site, makes for pleasant reading while Mike Hampsey’s new CD plays. The second pressing of Mike’s Celtic Christmas CD is available for $20 from Mike at P.O. Box 1433, Warren, PA 16365.  Don, who still seems youthful – and is younger because he is a member of the class of 1969 – says he is enjoying three amazing grandchildren while continuing to manage large construction projects, most recently for a group of Catholic nuns.  He sea kayaks the San Juan Islands, tramps the woods of Oregon, hangs out with the soon to be retired not-so-rowdy boys and roots for New York baseball while enjoying his next best home town, Portland, Oregon, home of the latte, the tattoo, crowded bookstores, and the all night sound of rain.

            Pat Collins and Emily learned – the hard way – that Pat’s family has a great predisposition to a certain form of cancer, a mean thing that, so far, has caused trouble for Pat’s siblings and, now, for two of the three children.  Michael, the second son, is recovering from surgery and Salley will have a quick procedure for removal of some small growths detected early in the game.  Years ago, blinded by charm, Emily never asked for the medical records.  She is still blinded.  On the other hand, she says, one family’s problem is someone else’s opportunity: researchers at the hospital in Washington, D.C. are crazy with joy: the Collinses are nearby and they are lab animals with one good problem after another. 

            Elise Stephens Reeder ‘SMC 69 forwarded a Christmas letter she and Dennis received from Pete Hurley.  The family lives in Paris, where Pete, a Colonel in the U.S. Army, teaches at Sciences Po, runs USAREUR’s battlefield staff ride program, and runs European Operations for the Association of the U.S. Army.  Pete’s note to the Reeders says: “The boys and I were back at Notre Dame at the end of October, and had our usual special time.  Lots of thoughts about ‘the Colonel (Stephens)’ (seems funny to be a Colonel myself!)”  Pete is writing screenplays, including a love story about General “Blackjack” Pershing.  The picture on the Christmas card shows Lil Hurley and sons Raymond and Christopher winding up a 50 day bicycle trip across the United States.  (By the way, Joe Blake has yet to report the same accomplishment.)

Brian Muskus reported his retirement from Honeywell and his family’s departure from Japan.  Brian and his family have returned to the U.S.  Best way to reach him, he says, is brian.francis.muskus.1968@alumni.nd.edu.

           Paul Ramsey is in Chicago the first weekend of May.  Enroute from the West Coast to his home in New York, he is stopping in Chicago for a birthday dinner with Chuck Amato.

            You can add comments to these notes, submit other notes and send photographs, too.  Thanks for the help. Send news to: Tom Figel, 1054 West North Shore, Apt. 3-E, Chicago, IL 60626, tel. 312-881-7391, tfigel@figelpr.com.

Class of 1968 Notes            Contact: Tom Figel, 312-223-9536 ext. 301
August, 2006
 
With Help From Friends
 
 
            Joe Kernan, lolling around in retirement as an owner of the SilverHawks minor league baseball team in South Bend and as a professor of government at Notre Dame, came to Chicago in July.  Thinly disguised as a luncheon speech to a business group on government and baseball, Joe’s appearance was a get-together with Notre Dame friends from several classes.  Class President Tom Weyer was traveling but did his best to prep Tom Gibbs with jibes and jokes left over from class pranks and Rocky Bleier roasts, but, in the end, Tom Gibbs, unable to be anyone but his fine self in front of his son Bill Gibbs, went with his own instincts and introduced Joe Kernan as a friend who happened to be the ex-Governor of Indiana.  Bill Giles, the former W. Hudson Giles of the Observer sports column, came from Lexington, KY, and John Buck, the Chicago real estate developer, double-parked long enough to say hello at the end. John Walsh came with Matt Faccenda, who claims that he learned from Joe Kernan how to hit a curve ball, a useful skill for the practice of law.  Tom Durkincame by at the start but then had to run back to the defense of one or another beleaguered public official; in recent weeks, Tom, often presented in courtroom artist’s drawings, has been the stuff of the front pages: he mounted a strong, blustery, indignant defense of two Chicago officials accused of politically-motivated hiring practices.  
            The recent trial prompted an audience question that led Joe to tell a story of his grandfather.  Joe’s grandfather, a professional baseball scout, came to a season’s end at a Depression time when jobs were scarce.  At the same time, Joe’s grandmother received a sad call from a friend whose husband had suddenly died, leaving her and the children.  And things had been looking up for all of them, the friend said: her husband was to have started a City job the following Monday.  During the weekend, the Kernans and their friend cooked up a scheme.  Under the friend’s name, Joe’s grandfather would begin the job; the Kernans would share the income with the deceased man’s family.  In order to bring stability to the position, the Kernans quietly petitioned political friends for a shift of the position to their own committeeman’s domain.  After some weeks, Mr. Kernan’s supervisor called him in and announced that his job was ending: the coming Monday it was being given to some guy named Kernan.     
            Bryan Dunigan, busy with preparations for the early August golf outing he organizes for Chicago area classmates, could not attend.  He may have been answering correspondence sparked by his email about the event, which would take place under the sponsorship of Butterfield County Club members Bob Ptak and Roger Guerin.  Some examples: Tom Weyer wrote “To All, I will be bring my 'GAME' to the outing. How courageous of Roger and Bob to risk their memberships in this way. Of course we are turning  60 this year and tend to be better behaved……NOT…  Are costumes required or just optional?”  From Dave Kabatcame: “My first thought was that with the number of classmates who are members at BCC that any membership risk would be minimal.  Then I recalled that we did get thrown out of the Cabin that Club President Ptak owned.  I guess we can take comfort in the fact that Butterfield does not have working fireplaces.”
            The same group of friends heard sad news from Dave July 17^th: his father had died.  In New Orleans, John Flemming, his family and friends lamented the sudden death of John’s stepson Sage.  Tom Cuggino asks for prayers for his son Tommy, a young father who is struggling with cancer of the stomach.  In Washington, D.C., Pat Collins is recovering from a successful early summer operation.
            John Walsh sent a note about John G. O’Brien, who has been elected third vice president of the Illinois State Bar Association and will be installed as president during the 2009 Annual Meeting.
      In late September, Jay Schwartz, Ed Kickham and I are visiting Russia and Estonia. We were going to invite Joe Blake, too, but decided that Joe’s passion for climbing tables and everything high could be a lot of trouble: Joe just finished a climb of Mt. Baker in Washington State.
            Please send news to: Tom Figel, 1054 West North Shore, Apt. 3-E, Chicago, IL 60626, tel. 312-223-9536 ext. 301, tfigel@figelpr.com.
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