Class of 1959 Newsletter: April 2008

From the Class of 1959 Newsletter: April 2008

Greetings to all in the Class of 1959!
This includes those of you who graduated from St. Mary’s, those who have not, Student Brothers, and Seminarians from the Class of 1959. These Newsletters have been developed to rekindle the friendships and the spirit that we cultivated while attending St. Mary’s College (now Saint Mary’s University) during the years of 1955-1959. I have enjoyed hearing from many of you, by letters, emails and telephone. Also, since I have volunteered as one of the participants to contact classmates as part of our 50th Anniversary Class Gift, organized by Ken Ortman, this activity has also put me in touch with many classmates and I take pleasure in sharing your great memories.
Read more...

We have been attempting to improve our address and telephone lists; so if you are aware of a classmate who has not been receiving this Newsletter, let me know and I will see to it that he is included correctly on our mailing list.

During the month of April we had a gathering of Colorado St. Mary’s alumni right here in Castle Rock, Colorado, at the home of Don ’53 and Eileen Gass (CST ’53). It was an informative and enjoyable event attended by members of the development and alumni relations staff. We were shown plans to upgrade the Hoffman Science Building and development of a new outdoor athletic field. They also showed my film, “Saint Mary’s College – 1950’s”.

Homecoming – 2009
Our 50th Anniversary Celebration will be held during Homecoming Weekend in June 2009, which is a little more than one year from now. We are encouraging all of our classmates to plan now to be at this “special” gathering for our golden anniversary. We look forward to a “once in a lifetime experience”, seeing many of our teammates, roommates, and classmates for the first time in fifty years. Festivities are already being planned to make this a truly memorable event. So block out your calendar for early June in 2009 and plan to attend. You will have a great experience!

To make the most of this truly golden opportunity we need to get the message out to every one of our classmates. I’m certain that there are former Student Brothers and Seminarians who can do a much better job of encouraging and relating to your fellow classmates to join us in this celebration than I can possibly do. So “step up and get organized.” I am looking for “Representatives” from these two groups. Contact me and I will help you organize your reunion plans to successfully “connect” and have a great gathering with fellow St. Mary’s classmates.

Harry Plotke

CLASS NEWS

Keith Hanzel – Ely, Minnesota
Forty years of work: Cretin High School teacher as a History instructor, hockey coach at St. Mary’s College, insurance adjuster, St. Paul City Prosecuting Attorney, private law practice, pro hockey player agent, Ramsey County Public Defender.
Married 1961 to 1991. Four kids, (one a St. Mary’s grad) all making me proud.
Retired in 1998, living year round in the wilderness five miles from the Canadian Border and 25 miles from Ely, the nearest town. Spend my time reading, fishing, and hunting. Also, cooking, splitting wood, traveling, sports, and enjoying life immensely.
Come visit!!!

Dr. William Blass – Knoxville, Tennessee
Bill continued his education after SMC receiving a Ph.D. He taught at St. Mary’s ‘63-‘67. He taught Physics and Astronomy at the University of Tennessee. During his tenure at Tennessee, he was President of the Faculty Senate and served on the Board of Trustees for one year. For 18 summers Bill has served as Visiting Faculty member or NASA Fellow at the Goddard Space Center. Bill indicated he will consider contributing to the class gift and may attend the 50th.

Dr. Robert LaPata – Glenview, Illinois
Bob ran into Bob Slomka while celebrating a High School reunion and promised him that he would be at our 2009 Homecoming. He was astounded by the many changes in our campus when he last visited SMU.

Dr. Richard Rock – Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dick plans to return for the 50th and plans to make a contribution to the class gift. Also he has been discussing making contacts to other graduate doctors with Ken. Dick is a semi retired orthopedic surgeon and continues to teach. He is a top-notch trombonist and banjo player who performs with Dixieland bands.

Ed O’Connell – Dallas, Texas
Ed attended SMC for one year and graduated from Notre Dame. He has returned to visit with many of us as he did for our 45th anniversary. Ed plans to return for our 50th and will consider contributing to the class gift.

Fred Andrus – San Diego, California
Fred and his wife Alice just got back from a three-week vacation to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. They got to feed wild wallabies, sample Aussie tucker, went hot air ballooning (not Alice) and tries boomeranging. They attended our 45th Homecoming Reunion and will possibly be on campus for our 50th.

Fred Dalleska – New Brighton, Minnesota
Fred plans to attend the 50th and will consider contributing to the class gift.

Bill Harwood – New Bern, North Carolina
After eight years of teaching and coaching in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area Bill spent his last forty years in sales with the quiet company - Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. He had several management positions including recruiting, training and sales and is now a semi-retired senior salesman. He golf’s three or four times a week, and he and his wife Barbara, enjoy visiting with children and grandchildren. They travel or cruise four or five times a year! They now live in Trent Woods, North Carolina, and God willing, he intends to join his classmates at the 2009 reunion.