Class Knox election. I will say no more.” — Joe Thompson ’65
1965 Rod Ross writes, “I was sorry I couldn’t attend our 50th Reunion, especially after Phil Cohen and Joe Thompson told me what I had missed. Instead, I went on a Jewish-focused tour to China. I did have the opportunity to return to Galesburg in 2014, thanks to an invitation from Owen Muelder ’63, who appreciated that I had been able to arrange for him to speak in Washington for a talk filmed by C-SPAN. While in Galesburg, I stayed with Susan Wood Bailey ’66 and her husband, Steve. I retired as an archivist with the Center for Legislative Archives in the
National Archives, having worked there since 1977. Since retiring, I’ve had a chance to do some traveling, including joining the Knox alumni trip to the Desert Southwest and accompanying my flute-playing younger sister on an England-Scotland tour with the Metropolitan Flute Orchestra. In the next couple of years, I plan to move back to Illinois to be part of the lives of my twin greatnephews.” ❯ Rita Gingrich Black sponsored two Romanian music students and raised money to buy them new instruments. They are now in Switzerland and have since married; the first and second chairs from the London Symphony were at the wedding. Rita made her living as a classical singer and piano tuner. ❯ Sukh Dev Bassi earned a Ph.D. in biology and taught at St. Benedict College in Kansas. He later became head of research and development at MGP Ingredients. He still works in Overland Park as vice president of research and development for Manildra USA—an Australian company with a facility in Kansas—developing new products for the food industry. His son is president of the company. ❯ Joe Thompson writes, “Edie and I met Richard Eisinger in Washington, D.C., on our way to New England. He bought us breakfast from a losing bet on the election. I will say no more. Rich was an administrator in the Social Security Administration, so he and Edie always get yakking about interest rates and preferred bonds, and I just sit there and do the crossword puzzle. We have gotten some expression of interest in a mini-reunion of the classmates still standing, sometime in June 2018 at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. If any of you know of any Windy City events in that month, let me know to help us decide the date. No one who has returned to campus over the last 50 years can fail to see the emptiness of the downtown. As a typical teenager at Knox, I never had much appreciation for the industrial base of Galesburg and its importance in cradling Old Siwash. Who knew, who cared? I lived for Flunk Day and the social board. But with the hollowing out of the industrial base of the heartland over the last half century, maybe it’s time to ask the question: As you make America great again, why not look at Galesburg? It’s been two years since my heart problem. Not a drink since then, wow.” ❯ R. Bruce St John writes, “We began the year in France, visiting our younger son and family, including little Louise Frances, born in November 2015. In the spring, I was the keynote speaker at a U.S. Navy Special Warfare Command conference on combatting terrorism in Libya. I returned to Washington to give a lecture on tribes and tribalism in Libya for a joint meeting of U.S. intelligence agencies. In October, our older son and his family visited for the annual Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Later in the month, I presented expert testimony at a trial in Oslo, Norway, involving corruption in Libya during the Qaddafi era, stopping in Paris on the way there and again on the way back to see our new granddaughter. In addition to completing a third edition of Libya: From Colony to Revolution,
I’ve started work on Bolivia: Geopolitical Ramifications for Landlocked States, a companion piece to my earlier book on Peruvian foreign policy.” ❯ Cecil Steed reports, “Knox College ruined me. I come from a very poor family of hillbillies, and Knox made me into an educated hillbilly. I learned that there is a different way of living—a living through philosophy, art, and CULTURE. I have pursued that ideal all my life; basically, I found that being a student was my goal and ideal. Having to go to work never appealed to me (the time spent at work I resented as an imposition on my free time). I pursued graduate studies at the University of Chicago; Teubingen University in Germany; the Sorbonne; University of California, Davis; University of Oregon (where I earned an MLS degree); University of Alaska; University of Arkansas; University of Arizona (where I earned an M.A. in Spanish literature); and University of Utah. To finance my student life, I have worked as a bus driver, a Peace Corps volunteer, a research assistant, a librarian, a warehouse worker, a farmer, a social worker, and as a adjunct professor in Spanish at the College of Charleston. How can I afford all this? The secret: become a capitalist. Albert Einstein said the greatest invention of the twentieth century was compound interest. I totally, totally agree. That and indexed mutual funds.” ❯ Gordon Benkler works at Discover and likes to fish, hike, and take photographs of flowers and landscapes. He is also an accomplished underwater photographer. He worked at Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust for 17 years after graduating from Knox. ❯ Gary Schneider lives in White Sulfur Springs, Montana. He earned master’s degrees in geology
SUBMITTED
of excursions to Norway and the Baltic in May/June and hiking in the Pyrenees in September should be fun. On the Knox front, we have shared with the College more than 600 letters between Steve’s great-grandfather (Grant’s paymaster) and great-grandmother covering the Civil War period. Knox has done a fabulous job of hydrating and copying them and is now in the process of ‘translating’ them.” [WOW! How cool is that!] ❯ Knox reunions can happen anywhere, even in New Hampshire! Freshman roommates Janet Olsen Zamrazil and Marilyn Ohta Johnson and their husbands, Jim Zamrazil ’63 and Dave Johnson, met for dinner in Hanover. Janet and Jim were on their way from their winter residence in Medina, Texas (the Hill Country), to their summer residence in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin (the Northwoods). The trip included revisiting some favorite places: a few scenic railroad trips and historical sites, plus Campobello and Prince Edward Island in Canada. They enjoy extended road trips each year and train travel whenever possible. Since Marilyn and Dave retired from teaching in 2002, they have traveled to France, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Italy, Alaska and several other states, and, always, Hawaii in the winter. ❯ I heard from Bob Young ’66 (my senior-year roomie), who wrote: “After Knox, I went to University of Illinois to study mechanical engineering and to Illinois Institute of Technology to study electrical engineering, then worked at GTE Labs near Chicago on electret microphones and other telephone-related projects before tiring of winter and heading off to California.” There, he founded Bob Young & Associates, a professional consulting engineering firm specializing in audio, consumer electronics, acoustics and electroacoustics, communications, and telephony. Bob has done projects for more than 100 companies in Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, New Zealand, and throughout North America. Bob and wife Suzanne have “two sons and four grandkids, two of whom were born in New Zealand, where they have fine pinot noir and sauvignon blanc that puts California to shame.” Still working, Bob and Suzanne were in France and Croatia this fall. Class Correspondent: Terry Klopcic klopcicjt2@roadrunner.com
Joe Thompson ’65 with wife Edie.
KNOX MAGAZINE Spring 2017
53