Ye old Highlander walking the halls has heard the following classmates sharing what we would be surprised to know about them: Fred Pack said we would be surprised to know after living on the “wild side “ of life, (bars, drinking, gambling, etc.) the first 33 years of my life, he now enjoys his wife of 54 years, 2 children, 4 grands, 4 great grands and good health all because of the grace of my heavenly Father!! Vicky Gwinn Vital enjoys living alone and is never lonely. She would like to take an art class and learn to paint. Joyce Pettry Johnson and her daughter adopted her ex-neighbor’s dog from the shelter last October. She had been abandoned and picked up by the shelter. They found out about it and her daughter went there and searched for the dog. When Joyce got home from vacation she had a new pet. The dog is an American foxhound about 5 years old. Gary Esteppe invites any classmate who may be in Tampa to call and he will show you around Tampa. Frances Johnson Hose is president of the Blue Spring Missouri Historical Society. John Minichan has lived in Barboursville in the same house for 45 years, has been married to Mary for 51 years, has been an Elder in his church and visited Paris and Normandy in June 2014. Buddy Cooper tells us that his first wife was from Reading, England (deceased 2012) and they had one daughter (2 granddaughters and a great grandson.) In 1983 he married Jacqueline D. Hines (class of 1955). They divorced in August, 2008 (“Big mistake”) She now lives in an assistant living facility in Ona, WV where he spends 3 to 4 hours with her, almost every day! Some of his family thinks he’s crazy, but Jackie’s daughter thinks he’s a “saint” (ha, ha). Allen Rhodes says that after decades of sitting in from of a computer he values his time being outside and doing gardening and landscaping. Sam Cutler taught a class in Tai Chi at St. Mary’s Hospital for 12 years. Had to give it up because of rotator cuff problems. He is retired from Appalachian Power and Sears and now works part time at Huntington Internal Medicine on the concierge desk. Sam is a rabid supporter of the Cabell-Midland HS marching band which he says is the best high school band in the eastern U.S. Jo Ann Odum Aldrich lives in Wilmington, Delaware and along with her husband represents the Shaklee Corporation working to help others be healthy and financially
free! She is a museum guide and an active member of the Tri-Sig alum group. Neither she nor Jerry takes any medications at all. Harvey Morrison splits his time between The Villages in Florida and Barboursville and likes to bicycle and play golf. He thinks retirement is working great because it allows time for the really important stuff. Ruth Fuller Kubis lives in Mission Viejo, California. She enjoys duplicate bridge and spending time in Hawaii and Lake Tahoe and cruising to Alaska. She is active in Toastmasters, Panhellenic and is a former president of American Association of University Women-Saddleback Valley Branch. David Cliness lives in New Middletown, Ohio and confesses that after teaching thousands of graduate courses and workshops and giving hundreds of conference presentation and public speeches during his career as a University Professor and Department Chair, he now goes into a state of panic at the very though of getting up in front of a group of people and giving a speech or presentation. “Yes, there is no doubt about it, I have developed ‘stage fright’.” He plans on retiring on his birthday in 2015. Barbara says she will believe it when she sees it. They may even consider spending some time in Florida. Roger Coffman has retired to metro Louisville, Kentucky and he and Milbrey are doing some traveling –China, New Zealand, Australia, Alaska, Nova Scotia, Caribbean, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks and Mackinac Island, Michigan. His new interest is Barbershop Harmony and he sings with the Louisville Thoroughbreds. Moving to Kentucky created a new church related experience as they had to chose a church rather than be assigned a church as a pastor. He states, “after 50 years of being on one side of the table, it’s very interesting and fulfilling to be sitting on the other side”. He doesn’t wear many white shirts and ties any more but does do some occasional preaching. He has 12 grandchildren which includes two adopted from Ethiopia. Sandra Trickett Lare is still very active with the NC Folk Art Society-current editor of the journal VOICES, and volunteers several times a week with the homeless in Charlotte through the Urban Ministry Center and Moore Place. She has downsized to a one level home. She is an avid collector of NC pottery and southern folk art. Her daughter is a graphic designer living in Ashville, NC and they both enjoy the North Carolina mountains. John Matheny has been driving a Prius for 9 years. His new interests are movie directing and editing but he makes time for golf, directing a hand bell choir, working with a few voice students and leads travel tours. Jack Collins says that we would be surprised to know that he is an open book.
Linda Trickett Blythe likes to watch golf and also enjoys reading, antiquing and collecting folk art. Her new interests are her two grandchildren who live in Florida. Fred Crowder continues to make wine and win medals-won a gold medal at the Kansas Amateur Wine Growers Convention in January 2014. He says he is retired but never seems to have enough time to get everything done: mows a couple of yards for two older ladies he’s very fond of, works many hours a week in the garden, spends 2 hours at the gym every morning, meets every other week in a Bible study group and reads the Bible daily and prays for all of us and his family and friends. He is very blessed of the Lord and He makes my days to be peaceful and happy. I very seldom get down, am never depressed and love helping as many folks as possible, as the Lord leads. Connie is his soul mate and they both get their strength from the Lord of Glory. Shirley Fisher Bledsoe has a grandson training for the 2016 Olympics. Look for swimmer Cory Mullins. Macky Collins White still lives in Naples Florida and was married two weeks after our 50th reunion. She enjoys exercising, playing cards, traveling, scrapbooking, being with friends and family and church activities. She took a “blessed journey” to Israel with her church. Unfortunately she shattered her kneecap – required three surgeries and 10 months of therapy-she is now 95% healed. Barbara Kidwell Jones says that her favorite place is Ritter Park in Huntington. She golfs, volunteers for Hospice and a community library, plays Mah Jongg and cards, is in a book club and bicycles every day. Ann Hodges Cliness lives in Youngstown, Ohio still has a massage therapy practice and is a yoga instructor. She enjoys activities with her children and grandchildren and outing with friends, gardening and taking care of her 2 dogs. Yulanda Lucas McClure lives in Vermontville, Michigan and loves to bake for other people considering it a real blessing. She went on a medical mission trip to Bolivia in 2011 and to Honduras in 2012 to help publicize a new church being formed. Bobby McClure says we would be surprised to know that still has a full head of hair. He likes to fish, hunt and work in the yard. He enjoys traveling and visiting his 5 grands. Sandy Pack Enoch has moved to Nashville Tennessee. Anne Wright Gay is living in Phoenix, Arizona and is an avid tennis fan. She likes to entertain family and friends who come to visit in Arizona. Ernie Carpenter is back in Naples, Florida and loves retirement. He has plenty of time to read, write, eat and travel. He spent time in Italy in 2014 and in Japan and Mexico in 2013. We’d be surprised to know the he can fix a mean cioppino from scratch; he
lives with a dog named Teddy Bear Haji Baba; He has published 2 books on his family history (’08, ’09) and is dining coordinator for a gay social club (300+ members). Linda Maynard Dobbs lives in Florida and is now on her fourth career in real estate and finds it might turn out to be the most lucrative. We’d probably be surprised to know that she has her WV clergy license and is working on her Florida license. Janis Wilcox Williams lives in Antioch, Tennessee still paints, is learning to play the violin and has resumed taking voice lessons. She has 3 undergraduate degrees – Bible Institute Diploma, BS in Bible and music and a BA in music. She has 4 grands. She is assisting her husband’s recovery from a recent stroke. Jerry Boone loves art (painting and sculpture) and theatre. He has been to the Louvre, the Hermitage, the Uffizi, the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC to name a few museums. He has attended the Shaw and Stratford theatre festival in Canada for the last 12 years and has seen 4 or 5 shows there per year. He has traveled for at least 2 ½ months a year for the last 14 year, including most of the winter in Florida. He plays in 2 golf leagues during the season and is active with the Dublin Senior Citizens. He is president of the Gypsies Travel Club where they meet and discuss travel to various world locations.
Words of Wisdom from classmates: Steve Cottle – “Stay active and keep believing.”
Fred Pack - “Put our Lord first in your life and everything else will fall into place!” Linda Ours Wright – “Enjoy life!” Vicky Gwinn Vital – “put your trust in Christ and Him alone.” Joyce Pettry Johnson – “Just look at each day as a gift from God and strive to do your best to help each person, who may have a need, as well as you are able.” Jack Keller – “Keep your powder dry-the South may rise again!” Bill Bias -“ Don’t become idle, keep busy with something.” Anita Barton Jones – “Live, laugh, love and worship the Lord!” Frances Johnson Hose – “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” John Minichan – “Enjoy every day! Don’t put things off. Have friends you love. Family is important and make church part of your life.” Buddy Cooper – “Just keep moving, laughing and loving!” Allen Rhodes – “Do your best. –Do what’s right. Always treat others the way you would want to be treated.” Sam Cutler – “Never quit. As soon as you stop being productive, your mind will turn to mashed potatoes.” Jo Ann Odum Aldrich – “Treasure your health—for if you have it, you are truly blessed. Also remain true to your Lord Jesus Christ.” Ruth Fuller Kubis – “Stay active in your community and with your friends and family.” David Cliness – “I have noticed with some concern and sadness the number of classmates who have died, some over this past year. To be sure, it is a law that we are all getting older and not younger. As we age, we may experience more health problems and feel more vulnerable that we did during our younger days. Our thoughts, rightly so, may be turning toward more metaphysical thinking, and with good reason, because we have fewer years left in our lives than we have already lived. However, I would suggest that we not worry about death or dying. That is the easy part of life; although I would rather it not hurt when it happens. Rather the far greater problem that we face is how to conduct our lives in the most meaningful and fulfilling say between now and the time when death comes knocking at our door.” Roger Coffman – “After 50 years of preaching forty to fifty Sundays a year, I am trying to listen more and talk less. I don’t know nearly as much as I once thought I did. When
talking with our grandchildren about their futures, I enjoy telling them that I’ve still not decided what I want to be when I grow up. We are all works in progress. God’s not finished with us yet!” Sandra Trickett Lare – “I have had to deal with many broken bones over the past 10 years as well as cancer, and would say to never give up. Even when in the hospital and rehab-I dressed every day and put on my earrings and lipstick. Being part of a church community, wonderful family and close friends were wonderful.” John Matheny – “Generally, the creative, cooperative, warm, hardworking people outnumber the few idiots you have to work with.” Jack Collins – “Life isn’t tied with a bow…but it’s still a gift.” Linda Trickett Blythe = “Love life each day.” Fred Crowder – “Always keep the Lord ever before you. He alone can bring peace and joy to your soul. ‘Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus, concerning you’.” Mike Burcham – “Buy low, sell high!” Shirley Fisher Bledsoe – “Do and be yourself now as you only go around once. You have lived long enough now to say and do as you please. If not now-When?” Macky Collins White – “Enjoy every blessed day of your life!” Barbara Kidwell Jones – “Be happy! Enjoy the moment!” Linda Hensley Harmon Egnor – “Never fail to tell your children (and others), ‘I Love You’. It may be the last thing you say to them or the last words they hear.” Ann Cliness – “Be kind.” Yulanda Lucas McClure – “God is faithful.” Bobby McClure – “Anything worth doing is worth doing your best.” Ann Wright Gay – “Enjoy your life, family and friends’” Ernie Carpenter – “Live it up while you’re able! Love everyone.” Linda Maynard Dobbs – “Life is short so eat your dessert first!” Janis Wilcox Williams – “Don’t give up, keep trying. Share your happiness with others.”
Jerry Boone – “No words of wisdom, if you have made it this far, just keep doing what you have been doing, unless you are in jail, then stop doing what you have been doing.”