Class Letters 500 other actors, actresses and musical performers. I also had the pleasure of “discovering” Farrah Fawcett and bringing her to Hollywood. The day she passed away, I was on national television on CNN and the other networks. During this period, I took a group of Hollywood people to China to film a television special called “Bicycling through China.” We spent 30 days on bicycles going from Macau to Canton. Included in my group were Lorne Greene (“Bonanza”), Kate Jackson (“Charlie’s Angels”), Lindsay Bloom (Miss USA), Broadway star Ben Vereen and a Harlem Globetrotter, a country-western singer, a magician and a mime. It was an experience I will never forget.
You cannot get DAN HOLDEN ’60 to slow down. He had a knee replacement in November and is now back to golf, skiing and pickle ball. February will see the 100th birthday celebration for Dee’s mom. Their two sons are busy as lawyers, and one grandson just graduated from boot camp and Great Lakes, and the other grandson is just entering the Air Force.
“Another memorable event in my life was in 1978 when I put the very first professional cheerleading team together for the Los Angeles Rams. We were the second professional sports team after the Dallas Cowboys to have a cheerleading team. Once I finished my days as a Hollywood publicist, I started putting on charity fund-raising events which I am still doing at my age of 82. I have had the honor of putting on more than 2,500 events throughout the United States and in seven foreign countries —including ones for the King of Malaysia and the royal family of Japan. I am proud to say I have helped raise $35,000,000 for my nonprofits. Now, to put a cap on my life is my biography that has just been published and is called “What Makes a Star.” And, if you get a few minutes, go through the links on the website which is www.dmirisch.com. You will have fun looking at dozens of photographs of the stars and famous athletes I have worked with in “my wonderful life.” God bless to all of you.”
DEB
I love you all, be well, stay in touch. TED PETERSON ’58 will have details of our 60th football celebration of the 1957 undefeated season in October 2017! ROGER (#12) and MANON VENDEN
1960 Deborah Johnson Van Slyke 8700 E. Mountain View Road, Unit 1074 Scottsdale, AZ 85258 480-284-5564/619-889-5061/advanslyke@cox.net Congratulations to KEN LUBER ’60 on the publication of his new book, “The Sun Jumpers,” available as his others are on Amazon. You can read his previous book, “Falling from the Sky,” on his blog kenluberblogspot. com. If you like page-turners with unusual characters, try there. No I cannot find any Ripon people in the books, so relax. ED SIEBEL ’60 and his wife, Sue, have been busy with grandchildren on Balboa Island; traveling to help his youngest son settle after finishing his residency at the Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida; and continuing to represent fathers who have kids with developmental disabilities to get the support that school districts are required to provide. KARL PIOTROWSKI ’60 is very busy with his construction consulting business in Hawaii. He just spent four days on Kauai with his son, Brian, conducting inspections. Daughter Joy is VP of her med school class and busy with her final year of med school. Wife E Leng is in a Chinese singing group and doing line dancing. Artist CLAUDETTE BEALL LEE-ROSELAND ’60 of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, had solo show in Plymouth, Wisconsin, during January showing 75 paintings. Her travel plans include a trip from Cedarburg to Seattle in June to visit JANE STALLARD LORTON ’60. Jane is an Internet holdout.
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As for me, busy learning dance routines and songs for an amateur production, swimming and keeping up with four cats. Those alumni in later years can see that retirement never really arrives — at least for the class of 1960.
1961 Peter Jochimsen 1010 Woodlawn Ave, Iowa City, IA 52245 319-325-6649/cuttertoo@centurylink.net I am thrilled with the response that I got to my request to the Class of 1961. It has made the whole operation very enjoyable and trust you will enjoy reading from those classmates that we have not heard from before. BILL PYE ’61: “In early September, we had our annual Sigma Chi reunion in Ripon. More than 25 Sigs attended along with some wives who are Ripon grads. DAN BEHRING ’62 arranges the event annually, and it includes meeting with Zach and several other administration officials plus members of the active chapter. This is an annual weekend event, and brothers come from all corners of the United States. The highlight is a brat fry at one of the local parks on Saturday evening. Attendees from our class this year HOWIE MYERS ’61, FRED “ZORRO” HABERLAND ’63, ROBB ROWE ’61 and myself. Attendees come from the classes of 1955 (founding) to ’65.” EVANN “SUGAR” MALTBY BALMES ’61: “I guess the lack of submissions reflects the age of our classmates. I did run into one of our classmate’s brother a while ago — DAN BENKA ’61’s brother JOHN BENKA ’60. Did I run into him at a trendy club, a concert or a bar? No, it was at a rehab facility where I was visiting a friend. John was recovering from a joint replacement. When I walked into his room, he, of course, did not recognize me, but proceeded to tell me, in the tradition of all the old Ripon jocks, that I had not changed a bit! We had a few laughs, remembering his Merriman buddies and my Duffie girlfriends. Rehab facilities may not be the most uplifting hangouts, but they are better than funeral homes for meeting old Ripon pals. Hope to have more news next time — enjoy cruising!” TOM ANDERSON ’61, writes, “I wish I had something to report, but I am kind of happy to report nothing exciting is going on here. Boring is good.” LEE JESS ’61 of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, writes, “Peter, keep up the good work! Still enjoying my dentistry and always keeping up with the new techniques, implants, crowns, being made out of ceramic in office with machine milling from computer impressions. Wish I was just starting with all the new advances.” TIM BURR ’61 writes, “Here is a synopsis of my life after Ripon: I transferred to Northwestern my junior year and ended up with a degree in performance studies, which was kind of like majoring in theatre except it involved all kinds of literature and you didn’t have to wear tights. I also got interested in Japanese music and after