In the small world category, as the five of us were walking up an approach ramp to the stadium, I heard someone yell out my name. Just behind us were David Reahl ’82 and a group of other our-era Baltimore friends from Loyola High School and St. Paul’s that were staying at David’s place in Chicago for the game; they just happened to be walking in right behind us. Of the gang with me in Chicago, Ted is still practicing appellate law in southern California, Anthony bounces between his podiatry practice, fishing off the Connecticut coast and skiing in New England. Hal is living well in Winston Salem, N.C., staying busy with his medical practice as an eye surgeon and he is getting ready to captain a 54-foot sailboat for a cruise around the Greek Islands with his and one other family. Tom works for CSC, a global company that provides “technology enabled business solutions and services.” He just spent several months in London, where he was locked up in the Tower of London for arguing with the Queen. Seems the Queen was able to politely ignore his rants about England’s National Healthcare system, but she became upset when he started referring to her as Her Royal Majesty, Queen Obama. Scotland Yard police were seen dragging Mr. Fusting away as he was demanding a copy of her birth certificate and challenging her ability to be Queen, because a certain Mr. Trump had told him she was not born in England. On a more serious side, Tom did add the following from London, “Mostly 12+ hour workday grind, so the initial excitement of being here has worn off. I have been watching a fair amount of rugby on weekends. My office is right on Thames River and hotel on the other side, so I have a nice walk back and forth every day. It rains pretty much every day here. We did get a sunny day one Saturday so I went to see the Piccadilly Circus area. Brits are known for good humor, though not for good food. The guy I work for here is the spitting image of Alfred Hitchcock. Our team is made up of about 10 differing nationalities and strong accents. They say our Lithuanian team member speaks better English than the Scotsmen!” Mark Neumann added, “We are busy chasing our kids, both here and abroad. Our oldest, Paul, graduated from Gilly Tech last year and participated in a gap year program abroad this year before he attends college in the fall. Unlike mine, his life sounds exciting — he is traveling and just returned from India. Robin and I missed him so much that in November we went to Israel to spend time with him for a long weekend — literally. We left on a Thursday and we were back home Monday night. But don’t start to think that we are now international jet setters as that is not our norm. Domestically, we are enjoying watching our other kids participate in sports, trying to help with homework and keeping our fingers crossed now that our middle child is driving.” When I sent an e-mail out to the class complaining about a lack of response to my request for notes, Mark replied, “Just may have to make up a whole lot of stories — things like Joe Morelos won the World Series of Poker, Gilman discovered that JB Howard may have been a few credits short and reversed awarding him the Morehead.” Both sounded plausible enough, so I figure they should be included.
Jim Cavanaugh contributed, “The Cavanaughs have had a good year. Ben, 23, graduated from Pitt and is now pursuing a master’s degree in speech language pathology at UNC–Chapel Hill. Kate, 20, is a sophomore at Wake Forest — majoring in psychology and Spanish. Deb and I are enjoying life in the empty nest — although we occasionally wish we were closer to family in the south. I continue to grow and prosper on the faculty in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of New England in Portland, Maine.” Jim also extended sympathies to us “Baltimorons” that had to live through our winter polar vortex, as he has had a lot of experience with similar and worse conditions up in Maine. Tom Snider remarked, “Young Tom is finishing up high school and attending the local community college; he is active in the local music scene and it would not be a surprise to me to see him turn professional as a drummer or guitarist. I am still working in software engineering and architecture for Applied Information Sciences and still living in Catonsville. Life is mercifully quiet and fulfilling despite my best efforts to make a mess of it. Sorry, but no cure for cancer, no Nobel nominations, no great American novel from me this year. These are gifts that must come from my classmates.” Tom Finney wrote, “Time is flying by . . . My wife Virginia and I will celebrate our 23rd wedding anniversary in October this year. My daughter Georgie is 17 this May and has been driving with me on her learner’s permit for the last several months . . . Excuse me her provisional license as it is now called . . . Now I know I am getting old. She is going to be a junior at RPCS next year. My son Tommy is 14 and graduated from the Middle School at Gilman this spring. He is very psyched to be joining the Upper School at Gilman. I am sure we can all relate to how great the experience was becoming an Upper School student and that sense of freedom and exhilaration that we all enjoyed so much. I am entering my fourth year as market Executive for U.S. Trust here in Baltimore and I can honestly say it has been the best four years of my working career. Every day is an adventure and I feel very fortunate to have the family, friends and life that have been given to me. Here is wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2014.” Tom Hoblitzell and Jim Urquart are still working together in Hunt Valley for Willis of Maryland, a division of Willis Group Holdings, which is a global risk adviser that also provides insurance and re-insurances brokerage services. Tom forwarded, “My oldest son Tyler graduated from The University of South Carolina . . . Go COCKS . . . and is now completing his first year at the University of Maryland School of Law. Number two son, Alec, is a junior at Skidmore College and hoping to study in Barcelona next fall . . . clearly with all the tuitions still staring at me, I continue my career at Willis.” Rob Harrell noted some big changes in his life: “I retired from cardiothoracic surgery after having surgery on my neck twice resulting in a nerve injury to my right hand. I had a great insurance policy that allowed me to walk away. I was accepted into the University of Chicago MBA program and will finish in 2016. I will go into healthcare administration or
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