Reunions

A Virtual Reunion

BY BRIAN SIBLEY ’90

The coronavirus pandemic threw a wrench in the works of a great many events this year, and class reunions were no exception. But one CA class was undeterred, and made the best of the situation, even though no in-person reunion was possible this year. On Saturday May 9, the class of 1990 held a virtual reunion over Zoom, hosted by Brian Sibley, who was joined by 14 of his classmates. A lively conversation was had by all, catching up on events since the last reunion in 2010.

This particular group was truly global, including members from across the U.S., along with three members from overseas: Adrienne Whitelaw Batkin in Brisbane, Australia; Akio Nishikawa in Tokyo; and Patricia Vriesendorp in Biel, Switzerland. Thanks to those international classmates for getting up early or staying up late to join us! A natural topic of discussion was a comparison of the various local and international responses to the coronavirus pandemic, differences in local schools, and work experiences, as well. The class certainly found out that a lot of us were going through this in very similar ways, but there were also many key differences. Overall, everyone is looking forward to May of 2021, when the rescheduled (31-year!) reunion can take place on campus, and we can see each other in person. “A lot of things have moved online now,” said Sibley. “I’ve been encouraging a lot of people to find ways to connect during this time when we’re all having to stay physically distant from each other, so when Sue asked if I’d be willing to host a ‘virtual’ reunion, it was an easy decision. I’m glad so many were able to make it! I hope other classes will find ways to reunite online this year too.” In addition to the main reunion, the class of 1990 went into smaller breakout rooms to have smaller conversations. Most folks appeared from their living rooms and kitchens, but Joe Giersch took his video camera outside for the afternoon and impressed us all with his views of Glacier National Park in Montana. And no Zoom meeting these days is complete without livestock, it seems: at one point, a couple of Nathalie Eddy’s goats made a guest appearance, and Jane Sinclair Petersen introduced us all to the bevy of newborn chicks temporarily taking up residence in her living room, while her husband and kids were out back building them a chicken coop.

Other classmates who joined the virtual reunion were Julie Beattie Reeves, Jeff

Burroughs, Brendan Dallas, Julie Ivker Dubin, Maud Kernan Lonergan, Gene

O’Neill, Lisa Miller Robert, and Will Schoyer. We hope to see you all next year! n

50th Reunion in the Age of COVID

BY JEFF LOWDERMILK ’70

kept checking my watch and thinking to myself, “fifty years!” It all seemed so surreal; how could it be fifty years? Who would be on the virtual call? Yes, I was anxious.

I started fumbling with Zoom for about ten minutes before 4:00 p.m. and had to call Sue Burleigh for help to make the connection. Then suddenly I was on, and could see my old friends. In a large square in the lower center of the screen sat Sue with a grand photo of Welborn House in the background. One of CA’s first few virtual reunions was underway! There were only five of us from our graduating class: Bob Jacobs, Tom Minor, Rod Oram, Steve Kanatzar, and myself. David Mueller also joined, who was in our class during the 1960s, but did not graduate. We all started by thanking Sue for making it all happen. I told everyone this had been Rod’s brainchild and thanked him.

We all took a moment to honor all those in our class who had gone before us. Too many have made that journey. We started by each of us giving a broadbrush account of our families, careers, and what we were currently doing. Bob lives in Santa Fe, N.M. with his second family. Prior to Santa Fe, Bob owned an Alaskan wilderness guiding service for many years. He still flies his own plane, and he and his wife are busy raising their two teenage sons. Bob’s first wife was the sister of Bill Keller ’70, and their son lives in Denver. Tom and his wife live in Phoenix, Ariz.; however, much of his ongoing career as an architect/engineer has been working in New Mexico at the Los Alamos labs. I’m sure he can’t tell us about very much of what he does. Tom has made the weekly commute from Phoenix to Los Alamos for years, living there Monday-Friday. Due to COVID, he is working from home and for the first time is actually living at home. Rod and his wife live in Auckland, New Zealand, and their daughter (engaged) is finishing her PhD in music in San Diego. Rod continues with his lifelong career as an international financial journalist. Rod recently rode his bike from the northernmost tip of New Zealand to the southernmost point. With great enthusiasm, he announced he is planning a 2021 or 2022 bicycle trip from Australia’s southernmost to northernmost points. He eagerly invited any and all of us to join him. Certainly caught my interest. Maybe! I found Steve’s history most interesting. He has built a restaurant in Colorado Springs from an enormous KC 97 Boeing airplane. He said it was the first plane to have an elevator. He had the plane shipped section by section and assembled it on the south end of the Springs near Peterson Air Force Base. It is appropriately called the Airplane Restaurant. He has been operating it for over twenty years. He gave us a visual tour, which included a wall of photographs and signatures of astronauts and high-level Air Force officers. Outstanding! Going to see Steve is certainly high on my list. David Mueller lives in Denver and is heavily involved in the world of opera and he worked for Opera Colorado. He certainly knew many of the old stories. As for me, my wife and I have two beautiful daughters, a great son-in-law, and two delightful granddaughters, ages six and four. We currently live in Santa Fe, but are in the process of moving to Denver to be closer to our family. Most of the last twenty years of my life has been devoted to studying World War I, and I have published a book about my grandfather’s World War I diary titled: Honoring the Doughboys. Among all the stories and laughs, we recalled our teachers, most of whom are on the A team: Griggs Dayton, Tom Fitzgerald, Bill Matassoni, Lew Elsey, Tap Tapley, Steve Marx, Ben Priest, Coach Bob Simms, David Woods, Woody Monte, Ian Jewett, Dylan Evans, and of course, Chuck Froelicher and Thomas J. Lee.

BY ROD ORAM ’70

Our impromptu 50th class reunion online was a fine sign of our COVID times. Although we were far apart, we Zoomed together for our two-hour gathering. We caught up on highlights of each other’s lives; we shared news of other classmates; and we recounted stories of our time at CA.

As a pretty feisty class, we were shaped in many ways by the Vietnam War and all the related social, political, and cultural upheavals it caused. Speaking personally, my CA education helped me make some sense of all that and set me on a professional path I follow to this day. In the same spirit, the newly graduated Class of 2020 has gone out into the world well equipped by its CA education for these far more extraordinary times of pandemic and turmoil. Over the decades ahead, each of them will make their distinctive contributions to humanity’s renewal. I wish I could hear their stories at their 50th Reunion! n

Class of 1970, Top Row (L to R): Tom Minor, Sue Burleigh, Rod Oram. Second Row: Bob Jacobs, Steve Kanatzar, Jeff Lowdermilk. Not pictured, David Mueller.