Principal Sam Dolnick just died. Here's a link to his obituary from Chicago Tribune 3/3/14. He was our principal for just a short time before we graduated.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?pid=169898378 

I regularly do a blog called "Over 65" for the Hastings Center, a medical ethics think tank. Over 65 means over the age 65, our ages!  Shortly after our reunion planning was up and running, I got the inspiration to not only reflect back to the Von years, but to think about how our educational and social "tests" have changed over time, and how our lives must have changed, too. Some, tragically, have not made it this far and have already had their final exam, so to speak. A couple of classmates have somehow seen and read this blog, and suggested other classmates might like to read it, so if you have any interest in reading it also, the link is:

http://www.over65.thehastingscenter.org/preparing-for-the-final-exam-of-life/

or, just e-mail me or google Over 65 blogs (where there are many others of interest for us over 65.

(I'm sure, by the way, that there will be no exam at the reunion!)

Steve Moffic

Most of my classmates may remember me as someone who was devoted to music—singing up and down the halls, before school and after. But when I went to the University of Illinois, my life took a turn that was a surprise to everyone—especially me.

I entered the music school wide-eyed and dreaming of being a choral conductor.There was only one hitch and it was a big one.  I did not have the kind of musical ear needed for this profession.  It took three semesters for me to realize that music was not my future.

Depressed and spurred on by a girl in the dorm who wrote me a nasty note, (She wrote everyone these notes.) I began writing literary poetry in my sophomore year.  I had never written a poem on my own before.

Writing became my passion and I spent every spare minute of each day creating poems. By the time a year went by, I was published in two university journals and invited to give a reading at the University of Wisconsin. Alas, I could not go but all of this launched my lifelong love of words, especially poetry.

MA in English in hand, I moved to Kansas City to work for Hallmark Cards. There I entered the world of commercial writing and editing. I created copy for products such as collectibles, ornaments, cards, gift books, children’s books, newsletters, direct mail, ads, and brochures. Through much of my time at Hallmark I edited the Jewish card lines and products and was afterwards a consultant for all Jewish product. (It took a while and thousands of destroyed cards to convince management that Hanukkah was eight days long!)

Before retiring as Editorial Director, I won Silver and Bronze Omni Awards, the top prize in a regional newsletter contest and the Matrix Honor Award.

 Volunteering has been key to my life. Since 1976, I have been poetry editor of Veterans’ Voices, a journal of writing by hospitalized vets. I served as Midwest Region VP for Women in Communications overseeing 20 chapters in 8 states. Luckily, Hallmark let me do a lot of traveling. Through the years, I served on several boards of directors which gave me the experience to play a major role in reviving a local KC gem—The Writers Place. I was Co-President for two years and now the 100-year-old castle can continue to be the center of Kansas City’s literary scene.

 I focus on literary poetry in my retirement and am a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, was Editor’s Choice in two journals and a finalist in two prestigious poetry competitions. My work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies and in 2010, my chapbook of 22 poems called Cutting It, was released by The Lives You Touch Publications in PA. A second larger book will be published in May this year by Aldrich Press in CA. It will be a 60-poem collection titled Listening to Night. Whistles. Cutting It is on Amazon and Listening to Night Whistles will soon be on sale there as well.

Wed to Mr. Lynn Alan Norton at the age of 50, I am possibly the class’s oldest first-time bride.

Hi Sandy,

I read your post about Samuel Dolnick. He died in the last two months, while living on San Diego. We are friends with a close family member of his. 

I'm looking forward to seeing you. Take care and be well.

Iris

Dear Classmates,

I'm so sorry to say that I will not make it to our reunion as planned. Doctors are evaluating significant problems I am having with my lungs to determine cause and course of treatment. 

So, here I am sitting with the all too human sense of impermanence.  And in the calm within the storm I sense a tender connection with all of us, "the Class of 64." We have reached that time in life development when we view and review who we are and what we've become. The promise of our high school hopes has unfolded in different ways for each of us. Down superhighways and off the beaten path.  The Reunion, while a wonderful celebration of connection is also a mirror and a measure, a tender and uncertain right of passage deserving full dignity and respect.

There will be those who attend that will feel incomplete, inadequate or broken. Some folks, I'm sure, recognize a pain, shame or disconnect and have not responded. There are those who choose not to attend. That's understood.

Right now I'm very conscious of our classmates, like myself, who might wish to attend but for various reasons will be "absent."  The list of those who have died is already far too long.  I remember almost everyone listed.  I'm so glad you are going to take the time to recognize these passings as a part of the reunion process and hopefully shine a light on each individual opening to the joy of remembrance and grief of loss.   

Some absentees may have not been able to meet the financial costs or get past social obstacles. I believe I saw something posted on the website at one point offering assistance to those in need. If so, I think that's quite generous.

I'm sure there are others besides myself who, due to illness or other physical constraints, just aren't able to make it. I ask that you invite us in and connect us in whatever ways you can during the reunion. Please share my love for all those who remember "Kucs Kusckie" (ask Steve Moffic about the name) or remember the guy who parodied Tom Dooly as a campaign song for Class VP.

I'm including two photos. The first you'll get a kick out of, I think.  It's a section of a painting one of the Leo Burnett art directors did in 1969. The painting is now in my son's apartment in Denver. The second photo is just a couple of weeks old. It's Barry and Deborah, my wife of 37 years, in our back yard in Germany. We're holding three month old Henry our first grandchild. Our daughter and son-in-law are visiting us from Canada.

So...it would be so great to see you again, old friends. Drop me a line, send me some photos. 

Love,

Barry Paul Marcus (Kucs Kucskie)

The second pic, as promised!

I look forward to seeing old friends at the reunion.
I have been living in Providence, Rhode Island for over 4 decades. In a few months, I will be celebrating my 20th year on the Rhode Island Superior Court bench and have no plans of ever retiring. I have one daughter, a dog and a parrot. I have been widowed for thirty years.

After Von, I spent 3 semesters at the U of I in Champaign-Urbana, eventually dropping out and joining the U.S Air Force in 1965, becoming an aircraft mechanic. I spent 3+ years in Taiwan, and 14 months in Vietnam. I married my wife Mei-O while stationed in Taiwan. 

Upon leaving the service, I got a B.A. in Chinese Language and Literature from the U of I in Champaign-Urbana, including a year of study at Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan. Our son Chris was born there that year.

After college, I became an air traffic controller in Youngstown, Ohio, where I was the local PATCO union president. During the ATC strike of 1981, I was fired by President Reagan.

I then attended Youngstown State University, earning a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science. I joined IBM in Rochester, Minnesota as a Software Engineer/Application Developer until my division was sold to Celestica, Corp., a Canadian contract manufacturing company. I continued working in Rochester as a Senior Application Developer, retiring in August of 2013.

My wife Mei-O and I have traveled extensively to Taiwan (we go there almost every year to visit family) and have been to China and to Europe several times.

Currently retired and taking it easy, I work with the Rochester Symphony Orchestra and Chorale as their stage manager.