Lowell Alumni Association SERVING THE OLDEST PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL IN THE WEST SINCE 1910
DISTRIBUTION: 32,000
SUMMER 2009
SFUSD Stiffs Lowell by $400K By Terence Abad ’76
Boys Win AAA Basketball Title Again For the fourth time in six years, Lowell’s boys varsity basketball team took the Academic Athletic Association crown, this time downing a talented Lincoln Mustangs squad 48-47 at Kezar Pavilion. Not since the 1930s, when Lowell took 8 of 10 league titles, has the boys program seen such success. Congratulations to coach Rob Ray and his entire squad, including All-City players Yuhki Sakai (senior, first team) and Robbie Pollard (junior, honorable mention). But the excitement didn’t end with the AAA championship game. Both the boys and girls varsity teams advanced to the state basketball playoffs where, for the first time
in school history, both teams won their first-round games. The boys team knocked off Salinas before losing to Monte Vista of Danville. And after an undefeated regular season, the girls varsity team was upset by Lincoln in the championship game but still advanced to the state tournament, where they beat McClymonds of Oakland before falling to Sacramento’s Kennedy High School. Three starters on the girls team received All-City honors: Jessi Miao (senior, first team), Kristina Lum (junior, first team) and Ashley Ong (senior, second team). Job well done — go Cardinals!
News Flash: Carol Channing to Perform at Lowell This September! Details to be announced later this summer, but be sure to check the Lowell Alumni Association website — www.lowellalumni.org — for more information as it becomes available. Don’t miss this special opportunity to see one of Lowell’s most accomplished alumni on stage. Please update your e-mail address at www.lowellalumni.org to make sure you receive news about this very special event.
State Education Budget Still In Limbo No news is certainly not good news when it comes to the uncertainty and anxiety surrounding the ongoing state budget battle in Sacramento. Although Lowell’s administration and school site council have crafted a budget for the coming school year based upon current funding estimates, there exists a significant likelihood of mid-summer budget reductions that will force painful additional cuts to staffing and programs throughout the state’s public school system. As things stand now — without any additional cuts — Lowell will have fewer classroom teachers and paraprofessionals next school year, resulting in larger class sizes and less access to drop-in computer labs and other services. The biggest change is that Lowell’s 9th grade English and math classes will no longer participate in the state’s class size reduction program, which had limited those classes to 20 students. Instead, those classes will average 30 or more students, thus allowing us to reduce staffing by four full-time teachers. Given the school district’s recent decision to slash Lowell’s Advanced Placement program funding by $400,000 (see front page article), far deeper staffing cuts would
have occurred if not for the Lowell PTSA’s decision to provide more than $400,000 for staffing, supplemented by another $100,000 from the Lowell Alumni Association. These donations will be used to save a number of classroom teachers at Lowell, along with our two full-time librarians and hard-working counseling staff. Lowell’s Information Systems Administrator, who supports an aging network of more than 400 computers throughout the school, would have had his hours cut by 20% without special funding from the alumni association. Despite all of the uncertainty created by the economic meltdown and state budget deficit, Lowell students, faculty and staff generally remain upbeat and exceptionally appreciative of the ongoing support provided by the Lowell Alumni Association. We will continue to do our best to uphold Lowell’s tradition of academic excellence by providing today’s students a rich and varied curriculum as well as outstanding extracurricular opportunities. For the latest news regarding the Lowell budget for 2009-10, visit www. lowellalumni.org or follow us on Twitter (@lowellalumni).
Call it the unkindest cut of all. After years of budget cuts affecting public schools throughout the city and state, the San Francisco Unified School District has abruptly changed a long-standing funding formula that will have a disproportionate impact on Lowell and three other city high schools. As a direct result of this decision, Lowell will lose the most — more than $400,000 for the 2009-2010 school year — resulting in the loss of five teachers. This means that course offerings will be trimmed and class sizes will increase throughout every department. Unlike previous budget cuts, which have been shared more equitably among the district’s schools, this change essentially singles out Lowell for especially harsh treatment and establishes a frightening precedent that could lead to even deeper cuts at Lowell in the future if we fail to speak out now and protest this unfair treatment. (Among the other three high schools affected by this special budget cut, Lincoln and School of the Arts will each lose less than one teaching position while Washington High School will lose fewer than two teachers.) The funding formula at issue provides schools additional funding based upon the number of Advanced Placement (AP) exams administered and was originally intended to compensate schools for the additional
prep period provided to teachers who teach AP classes. (The school district’s contract with the United Educators of San Francisco requires full-time high school teachers to teach five classes per day, but those teaching AP classes have a reduced workload of four classes plus one AP prep period.) Given the explosive growth in Lowell’s AP program over the past 20 years and the increasing number of Lowell teachers who teach multiple sections of AP classes but only receive one AP prep period, this funding formula has for many years provided Lowell much more funding than is
Contact the SFUSD to protest these cuts, see page 4. needed to pay for the actual number of AP prep periods used by Lowell teachers. For the current year, Lowell received nearly $2.4 million in additional funding under this formula, but only needed $1 million to pay for the AP prep periods used by Lowell teachers. The difference of $1.4 million was used at Lowell this year to hire an additional 17 teachers, thus allowing us to maintain reasonable class sizes and offer the rich variety of course offerings that is a Lowell hallmark. So why is this special funding so imporContinued on page 4
AP Funding Cuts to SF High Schools $0
School of the Arts
-$50,000 -$100,00 -$150,000 -$200,000 -$250,000 -$300,000
L 0 W E L L
Lincoln
Washington
Note: San Francisco public high schools not listed above will suffer no funding reduction as a result of this change.
-$350,000 -$400,000
JROTC Program Saved By Narrow Margin After voting in 2006 to phase out the Junior ROTC program in the San Francisco public schools and then stripping JROTC students of physical education credit in 2008, the San Francisco Board of Education did an about face by voting earlier this month to retain JROTC by a 4-3 vote. Lowell JROTC commander Colonel Doug Bullard, his fellow JROTC commanders and hundreds of cadets worked tirelessly to save the program, including the successful effort to put a pro-JROTC advisory resolution on the San Francisco ballot last year, which won approval from more than 53% of voters.
Still to be resolved is the issue of how JROTC cadets will qualify for physical education credit. Enrollment in JROTC at the city’s public high schools dropped from 1,600 three years ago to 500 today as a result of confusion over the program’s future and termination of physical education credit for JROTC. School board commissioners Jill Wynns, Rachel Norton, Hydra Mendoza and Norman Yee voted in favor of saving JROTC. Student delegate Max Wallace (Lowell class of 2009) was also a strong voice in support of the program.
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Lowell Alumni Association
Summer 2009
R eunion Calendar Classes of January & June 1940 & January 1941 — Reunion Lunch Saturday, August 15, 2009 — Sinbad’s Pier 2 at 11:30 a.m.
Classes of January & June 1964 — 45-Year Reunion Sat., Oct. 17, 2009 — Embassy Suites Hotel, South San Francisco
The Lowell Classes of Fall 1939 and Spring & Fall 1940 are planning a reunion luncheon Saturday, August 15 at 11:30 am at Sinbad’s restaurant, Pier 2 on the Embarcadero in San Francisco — easily accessible by street car, ferry, auto and train. If you wish to join us, please telephone Sinbad’s at (415) 782-2555 and make your own reservation to join the Lowell group. Your children, grandchildren or friends are also welcome. For any questions, please contact Frances Hubbard Curley at (209) 523-6596 or fhbcurley@sbcglobal.net or Marjorie Deckman Moore at (415) 435-4942 or jimmygirl23@aol.com.
Save the date! Our 45-year reunion will be held on Saturday, October 17th from 5pm to midnight at the Embassy Suites Hotel in South San Francisco. Invitations will be sent out soon! Please e-mail updated contact information to Gwenlyn Giffing Gibson at gwenlyn_gibson-lowell64@comcast.net or call (510) 525-8214. Call or e-mail your friends to spread the word! It will be great fun to get together again to celebrate our 45-year reunion! Hope to see you all on October 17!
Classes of 1947, 1948, 1949 & 1950 — Grand 60-Year Reunion Sunday, October 4, 2009 — Runnymede Farm, Woodside at noon A joint “Grand 60th” Reunion is set for Sunday, October 4, 2009 at the Rosekrans family’s lovely Runnymede Farm in Woodside down the Peninsula. All Lowell alums from the Spring and Fall classes of 1947 to 1950 (June 1947 to January 1951 grads) are invited to gather there to meet and reminisce with classmates and friends, get up to date on current Lowell happenings, and enjoy a barbecue picnic lunch from 12 noon to 4:00 pm. Festivities will also include walking tours of the site’s striking outdoor art works. The joint Grand Reunion idea grew out of planning by the Class of 1949 for their 60-year reunion and Adolph Rosekrans’ suggestion and kind offer of hospitality for an expanded event to include additional classes from the same period at Lowell. Plan now to attend what promises to be a great combination of nostalgia, culture, and fun on October 4. Invitations with further details will be mailed in August. Contacts: Ellie (Cooper) Van Voorhis (925) 935-5478 or ellievan32@aol.com Bill Gelardi (415) 472-0194 or jandbgelardi@comcast.net Wandaline (Carter) Perelli (415) 239-1665 or wandy571@aol.com Don Green (415) 751-4992 or dsga22@aol.com
Classes of January & June 1955 — 55-Year Reunion The classes of 1955 are taking a survey of their members to find out if they would like to have a 55-year reunion and, if so, what kind. So far, a dinner and/or picnic seems to be what the classmates we have heard from want, but let us know your thoughts. You can contact us via e-mail at lowell1955@gmail.com. And even if you have no thoughts on the subject, please send your e-mail address if you have one so we can save trees and stamps.
Class of June 1959 — 50-Year Reunion Saturday evening, Oct. 10, 2009 — Old Lowell (Hayes & Masonic) We are planning a fabulous evening at the Old Lowell at Hayes & Masonic. Join your classmates to dine, reminisce, renew old friendships and catch up on 50 years post graduation. Please help us update our class roster by sending us your e-mail address. And please let us know if you plan to come. For more information, please contact Ella Tom Miyamoto at (415) 921-4727 or ellamiya@mindspring.com
Class of June 1960 — 50-Year Reunion Saturday, March 20, 2010 — Presidio Golf Club Save the date for our 50-year reunion next year. For questions or more information, please contact Lenore Wiseman Hofmann at lenorehofmann@sbcglobal.net
Reunion Committees Don’t forget to provide photos and an account of your special event so we can share them with your fellow alumni in our next newsletter. We can help if you’re starting to plan a reunion. Phone (415) 759-7830 or e-mail us at lowellaa@lowellalumni.org LOWELL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Terence Abad ’76 Executive Director
Lisa Coughlin Clay ’74 President
Jim Rosenthal ’50 Vice President
Leon Blum ’52 Treasurer
Anita Payton ’74 Secretary
Alan Wendroff ’50 Vice President, Planning & Development
Paul A. Lucey Executive Director Emeritus
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Jack Anderson ’50 Roberta Bleiweiss ’65 Mike Bower ’67 Cathryn Brash ’43 Joseph Ehrman III ’41 Claudia Wolf Eshoo ’67 Dave Hagerman ’72
Georgene Poulakidas Kromydas ’88 Patricia Pivnick Levin ’67 King Lip ’95 Emily Moto Murase ’83 Geraldine Rosen-Park ’77 Wendy Drefke Shinbori ’68
Helen Louie Wax ’66, Southern California Representative
Bruce Spiegelman ’68 Paul Tam ’82 Mike Ugawa ’76 Dawn Stephens Walker ’74 Rita Yee ’73
Andy Ishibashi Principal
PUBLISHED BY THE LOWELL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Classes of January & June 1969 — 40-Year Reunion Saturday, October 17, 2009 — Fishermen’s Grotto at 5:30pm It’s been 40 years! Let’s all get together on Saturday, October 17th at Fishermen’s Grotto at #9 Fishermen’s Wharf for no host cocktails at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner. To reserve your seats, please send a check (payable to Nancy de Ita) for $60 per person ($70 after August 1) to Nancy de Ita, 520 S. El Camino Real Ste 660, San Mateo, CA 94402 along with a note listing your e-mail address, name and name(s) of your guest(s). Your cancelled check will be your receipt and three hours of free parking is included. If you have any questions, contact Nancy de Ita at (650) 347-0132 or nancydeita@aol.com. RSVP by September 1. For those of you who like music and dancing, suggest a club and we’ll all go there afterward! Your reunion committee: Mike Adelson, Russ Button and Nancy de Ita.
Classes of January & June 1970 — 40-Year Reunion Planning is now underway! If you’re interested in helping, please contact Roberta Cohen Holden at rcholden@ pacbell.net.
Classes of January & June 1974 — 35-Year Reunion Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 — Venue TBA Save the date!! Can it really be 35 years since we walked across the stage at the Cow Palace? October 3rd, 2009 will be the date we get together to reminisce with old friends about our time together at Lowell and our doings ever since! Visit our website — www. lowell74.org — for the latest information. Also contact your friends from the classes of ’74, as well as our friends from ’73 and ’75 that may want to join us, and have them do the same. See you on October 3rd!!
Class of 1979 — 30-Year Reunion Saturday, August 1, 2009 — Lafayette Reservoir Recreation Area, Lafayette, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Join us for a low-key afternoon picnic at the Lafayette Recreation Area in the East Bay. We’ll provide a catered picnic lunch (with vegetarian options!) and non-alcoholic beverages; you bring beer or wine, dessert or snacks to share, and sunscreen. Cost is $30 per person; $20 for kids 6-12; free for kids under 6. Invitations were mailed 05/15/09. If you didn’t get one, send an e-mail to lowell79@gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook under lowell79.
Class of 1984 — 25-Year Reunion Interested in helping to plan our 25-year reunion? Please contact the Lowell Alumni Association at (415) 759-7830 or lowellaa@lowellalumni.org. There’s still time to plan an event for later this year!
Class of 1989 — 20-Year Reunion Saturday, November 28, 2009 — UCSF Mission Bay Yes, it has been twenty years! You and your guest are invited to catch up with your fellow Lowellites, reminisce the good times and create some new ones. The fun will take place on Saturday, November 28, 2009 at the William J. Rutter Center on the University of California San Francisco Mission Bay campus in San Francisco. We’ll start with a no host bar at 6 p.m., followed by a buffet dinner at 7 p.m. Purchase your tickets online (visit us on Facebook at “Lowell Class of 1989” for all the details) for just $89 by August 9th, $99 by September 9th, $110 by November 15th and $120 after that date. Contact us at 89lowell@ gmail.com with any questions.
Class of 1990 — 20-Year Reunion Planning is now underway! More details in the next issue of the newsletter or find updated info when available at www.lowellalumni.org.
Class of 1999 — 10-Year Reunion It’s time to party like it’s 1999 again except this time it will be 2009! Our 10-year reunion is coming up and to help us plan for it, a survey is now available on the web at http://tiny.cc/lowell99survey or via our class website at http://groups.google.com/group/ lowell-1999-reunion. If you have any questions or would like to help out, please send an email to the Class of 1999 Reunion Planning Committee at lowell.1999@gmail.com. Sincerely, Class of 1999 Reunion Planning Committee (Liz Hom, Holman Tse, Alan Chung, Amy Lei, Cara Abdo, Patricia Louie, Sam Segal, Tinna Ho, Angie Kim, Barbara Hou, Lucinda Tay, Melissa Wong, Thomas Yi, Diana Smith
Don’t miss our eNewsletter! To subscribe, just send us your name and your e-mail address. lowellaa@lowellalumni.org
Summer 2009
Lowell Alumni Association
Page 3
R eunions Classes of January & June 1939 1939 Classes of January & June We held our 70-year Lowell reunion on the same exact date the spring 1939 class graduated 70 years earlier — June 13 — at Sinbad’s restaurant on the Embarcadero. It was a beautiful sunny day to enjoy with our classmates, family and friends. Gordon Kenny won the award for oldest alum in attendance (born in 1920) and John Martin was there with his new bride, having been married just nine days before the reunion! Best wishes to our classmates who weren’t able to attend. —Yvonne Cyr Koshland and Hank Washauer ’39
Class of January 1959 Members of the class of ’39 pose at their 70-year reunion at Sinbad’s on Pier 2. First row (from left): Dorothy Lee Fitzpatrick Garrison, Pat Worrall Menary. Irving Jarkovsky, Marjorie Weber Burke, Maybeth Banton Franzi, Mary Ann Walker Dillon, Lorette North Petersen and Trude Karp Ingram. Second row: Betty Green Perry, Gordon Kenny, Yvonne Cyr Koshland, John Martin, Pieter De Vries and Hank Washauer.
Class of 1953 On Saturday, November 15, 2008, members of the Class of 1953 and their spouses or companions — a total of 78 people — gathered at McCormick & Kuleto’s Restaurant at Ghiradelli Square in San Francisco to celebrate the 55th Anniversary of our graduation. The reception and dinner were held in the elegant, private Captain’s Room, with floor to ceiling windows facing a beautiful moonlit San Francisco Bay. Attendees enjoyed delicious hors d’oeuvres and drinks while mingling before dinner, then sat down to entreés of filet mignon or petrale sole, with red and white wines at each table included in the meal. Old friendships were renewed, new ones established and a wonderful time was had by all. A brief program identified all attendees, so that classmates knew who was there and where they were seated, then we spent the rest of the evening socializing. Many thanks to
The elegant Sir Francis Drake Hotel on Union Square was the venue for the 50-year reunion of the Lowell class of January 1959 (Fall 1958) this past January. How many classmates can you identify in the photo above? Front row (left to right): Paul Hofmann, Steve Israel and Ray Fay. Second row: Don Parsons, Jeanne Tobin Bush, Bob Mittel, Pat Clark Bates, Larry Miller, Pat Ireland Cassimus, Louise Kalbfell Ubaldi and Frank Parsons. Third row: Rosalinn Giske Moorhead, Susan Jackson Hanes, Bobbi Noodlman Paller, Shanna Lindquist Carlson, Joanne Karonsky Harris and Shirley Ramsey Shevchenko, Fourth row: Judy Rivara Becker, Sally Hurff Roach, Bill Penn, Joan Metzner Gosliner, Judi Hansen Roberts, Joyce Kelly Anderson and Sue Lunde Argeris. Fifth row: Russell Woo, John Hentz, Paul Fireman and David Paslin.
Classes of January & June 1968 A grand time was had by all when the classes of Fall 1967 and Spring 1968 gathered on November 8, 2008 at the Stanford Court — Renaissance Hotel on Nob Hill. About 275 came to celebrate their 40-year reunion. They met with friends from the past and shared what had been happening in the life. Many enjoyed dancing to music from their years at Lowell. Another 10 years seems too long to wait for another reunion. How would the classes of 1968 feel about celebrating their 60th birthdays in 2010? If a birthday bash sounds like fun, please e-mail Wendy Drefke Shinbori at wshinbori@aol.com. — Lowell ’68 Reunion Committee
’53 class reunion attendees Ann Benard Muzinich (left) with Joanna Alioto Casaudoumecq.
From left: Daniel Dea (May Choi’s husband), Lowell Assistant Principal Janet Lee Tse ’68, LAA Executive Director Terry Abad ’76 and Lowell counselor May Choi ’68.
From left: Paul West, Jim Thomas, Judy Kelleher Rigas and Sena Thomas at the class of ’53 reunion.
Peter Dahl ’53, class reunion chairperson and alumnus extraordinaire. the hard-working members of the Reunion Committee for a job well done and another wonderful “Class of ’53” event. A special thanks to Peter Dahl, who has chaired almost all our reunion events, and who, with his wife Barbara, has been so tireless in supporting Lowell activities. Also invaluable were John McGilvray (Secretary/Treasurer) and Judy Kelleher Rigas (Decorations). Classmates noted that they were already looking forward to 2013 and our 60th Reunion. —Lowell ’53 Reunion Committee
1968 reunion organizer Wendy Drefke Shinbori ’68, surrounded by classmates, including (to the right) husband Dennis Shinbori ’68.
Follow Lowell on Twitter Check out general Lowell news @lowellalumni and Lowell sports news @lowellsports The class of ’68 kept the dance floor filled at their 40-year reunion.
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Lowell Alumni Association
Summer 2009
Principal Ishibashi Shines at Southern California Alumni Luncheon By Carla Lazzareschi ’66 On a warm, sunny (and clear even!) Southern California day, the kind that well illustrates the climatological challenges of our beloved San Francisco, nearly 50 enthusiastic Lowell alums gathered for the 14th Red and White luncheon featuring our famed high school’s newest principal, Andrew Ishibashi. Our gathering spot at the Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank overlooked the gated compound of Toluca Lake, former home to Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Amelia Earhart and Hollywood’s celebrity playground in the 1930s and 1940s. But Ishibashi, an energetic and enthusiastic speaker and unabashed Lowell partisan, was the brightest star in the neighborhood this mid-April afternoon. Ishibashi, who took over in mid–2007 and remarkably is just the 18th principal in the high school’s 153-year history, was given a warm introduction by LAA Executive Director Terry Abad ’76 and then held his audience rapt for 45 minutes as he discussed Lowell’s many accomplishments and his own philosophy of leading a school of national renown. The former principal of San Francisco’s George Washington High School who began his 22-year education career, much of it as a music teacher and band leader, in Southern California started off his talk saying: “I never experienced anything like Lowell in my life and I bet you feel the same way.” To illustrate his point, he said the school had recently received yet another “California Distinguished School” Award, just as it had in 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2001 and 2005, and that Lowell continues as the top feeder school to the University of California, particularly the Berkeley and Davis campuses. (A survey of the 2008 graduating class showed that
50.2% of the 621 students would be enrolling at one of the UC campuses.) The reason for the continuing accolades: the high caliber and commitment of Lowell’s teachers and students, he said, adding that said his primary job on campus is simply “to care for, believe in, support and challenge my students.” The Los Angeles native also believes in teasing his students a bit too, admitting that he recently wore a Dodgers jersey to a school pep rally to get everyone’s attention. More seriously, Ishibashi said he hopes to improve Lowell’s student diversity, particularly from among San Francisco neighborhoods, such as the Visitation Valley, that are under-represented at the school. Ishibashi said that he recently started inviting fifth graders to visit the school to give them a glimpse of what their high school experience could be if they work hard in their upcoming middle school years. Ishibashi thanked the alumni for contributing to the school and said those donations have been an important reason the recent rounds of budget cuts saved many faculty positions and courses that had been scheduled for elimination. Lowell parents, he added, have also generously supported the school’s advanced and varied curriculum. It should come as no surprise that Ishibashi signed his first column in the alumni newsletter “The Proud Principal of Lowell High School.” This year’s luncheon was chaired yet again by the tireless Helen Louie Wax ’66, assisted by secretary Edna “Deedee” Walser ’41, treasurer Nancy Albrecht ’55, and committee members Denis Binder ’64, Charlene Bosl ’65, William Chisum ’54, Carla Lazzareschi ’66 and Nancy Zubiri ’77.
Principal Ishibashi addresses alumni at the 2009 Southern California luncheon. Below, Southern California steering committee members (from left) Charlene Bosl ’65, Nancy Zubiri ’77, Carla Lazzareschi ’66, Helen Louie Wax ’66 and Denis Binder ’64.
SFUSD Stiffs Lowell Continued from page 1 tant to Lowell? The bottom line is that the basic funding allocated to the city’s high schools is simply inadequate to provide any of the schools enough teachers, counselors, librarians, paraprofessionals and other staff. Most of the city’s other high schools receive significant amounts of additional funding in the form of federal Title I or consent decree money, thereby allowing them to pay for the additional faculty and staff they need. But Lowell doesn’t qualify for any of those types of funding, leaving us reliant upon the district’s AP funding formula as well as generous donations from parents, alumni and other friends to make ends meet. If the district were to decide to scale back this special funding to just the amount
needed to pay for the AP prep periods used by Lowell teachers, we would be forced to eliminate most of our counseling staff and cancel 60 class sections (more than 10% of our overall class schedule), leading to average class sizes approaching 35 students in many departments. While the San Francisco Unified School District is facing a terribly difficult financial situation, given the ever more serious reductions in state funding, it’s simply unfair to require Lowell to bear a disproportionate share of the budget pain. Please contact Superintendent Carlos Garcia and members of the Board of Education today to urge them to restore Lowell’s AP funding and spread the impact of the most recent state budget cuts more equitably.
Make Your Voice Heard to Help Lowell Please contact these school district officials today to protest this unfair budget cut and urge them to restore this critical funding to Lowell Superintendent Carlos Garcia
Attention Small Business Owners Reach out to Lowell Alumni via Our New Online Business Directory With the economy in the doldrums, we want to help Lowell alumni promote their businesses to fellow alumni. After all, if a Lowell alum needs a new veterinarian, plumber, financial advisor or accountant, wouldn’t he prefer to give his business to a fellow alum? If you would like to be listed in our online directory, e-mail us at lowellaa@lowellalumni.org (mention “business directory” in the subject line) with your name, year of graduation and a short description of your business with contact information. Let’s help one another weather this economic downturn!
CarlosGarcia@sfusd.edu
School Board President Kim-Shree Maufas Kim-ShreeMaufas@sfusd.edu School Board VP Jane Kim
JaneKim@sfusd.edu
School Board Member Sandra Fewer
SandraFewer@sfusd.edu
School Board Member Norman Yee
NormanYee@sfusd.edu
School Board Member Hydra Mendoza
HydraMendoza@sfusd.edu
School Board Member Jill Wynns
JillWynns@sfusd.edu
School Board Member Rachel Norton
RachelNorton@sfusd.edu
MOVING ?????? Mail from the Lowell Alumni Association is not forwarded if you move. Please keep your address current with the Lowell Alumni Association. Either visit our website at www.LowellAlumni.org and put in your new address, or phone or write as soon as you know you are moving. 415-759-7830 • PO Box 320009 San Francisco CA 94132-0009
Summer 2009
Lowell Alumni Association
Damn Yankees Draws Crowds at Lowell The hapless Washington Senators landed in Lowell’s Carol Channing Theater for a short road trip that filled even the bleachers earlier this year. Kudos to director (and Lowell’s supremely talented choir teacher) Michael Lauricella and his talented cast and orchestra (led by Michele Winter) for this fantastic production!
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President’s Message By Lisa Coughlin Clay ’74
I
t is with great pride that I share with you a historic achievement for Lowell athletics. Both the boys’ and girls’ basketball teams concluded very successful seasons this March. The girls’ team, hoping to extend its streak of three consecutive city championships, was undefeated in league play. They advanced to the Academic Athletic Association (AAA) title game, which they lost to Lincoln. The boys’ team won its division in the AAA and defeated both Washington and Marshall in the playoffs before beating the favorite Lincoln in the championship, 48-47. This marks the fourth time in six years that the boys have won the city section championship, after a drought of fifty-three years. As the result of their finishes as boys’ city champions and girls’ runner-up, both teams qualified for the Northern California CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) tournament. In the first round, the girls defeated Oakland’s McClymonds High and the boys defeated Salinas High School. This is the first time in Lowell history that both teams won in the first round of the Norcal tournament and advanced to the second round. We congratulate the talented athletes on the girls and boys teams and their dedicated coaches, Aki Kuwada and Robert Ray, for their very successful basketball programs and their outstanding achievements this season.
Paul Lucey, our former executive director, established the alumni newsletter more than twenty years ago. It grew from four pages in its early years to its present size of twenty-four pages under Paul’s editorial leadership. Executive director Terry Abad has succeeded Paul as the editor. There are some changes coming for the newsletter. We will be modernizing its look, including the design of the masthead. Look for some new columns and features in future editions. Our plan is to update the newsletter’s format and add features of interest to our alums, while also providing current news about Lowell, its students and the Alumni Association.
We’re #4…and #39…and #68! Things haven’t gone quite as far as the proliferation of college football rankings, but with more and more high-profile rankings of “best high schools” it can be hard to figure out where Lowell really stands these days. Most recently, Newsweek magazine ranked Lowell #68 in the country, based solely on the number of Advanced Placement exams administered in 2008 divided by the number of graduating seniors. While the average Lowell ’08 grad took a very respectable total of just over four AP exams and some Lowell students take a dozen or more AP exams during their high school years, the fact is that there are a relative handful of schools whose students average 10 or more AP exams. But Newsweek’s ranking fails to take into account student performance on AP exams. In 2008, 34% of AP exams taken by Lowell students received a perfect score of “5” while only 14% of all AP test takers earned that score. And while 21% of all test takers received the lowest score of “1”, only 3% of Lowell students scored so low. It is also worth noting that seven of the eight California high schools ranked higher than Lowell in the Newsweek report have total enrollment only one-third or less the size of Lowell’s.
A more sophisticated ranking system is employed by U.S. News & World Report, which ranked Lowell #39 last December after taking into account not only the number of AP exams administered at each school but also the percentage of each school’s graduating seniors who earned a passing score of “3” or higher on at least one AP exam – and 78.5% of Lowell’s 2007 seniors met that standard. It is worth noting that, among high schools with an enrollment of over 1,000 students (Lowell has more than 2,700), Lowell ranked 10th under the U.S. News methodology and New York City’s Stuyvesant High School was the only school larger than Lowell to place above us. Perhaps the most important raking of all is Lowell’s continued near-perfect score on California’s Academic Performance Index, which factors in subject area test scores in a wide variety of subjects as well as results of the California High School Exit Exam. Lowell’s most recent API score is 951 (out of a possible 1,000), placing us 4th in the state and 1st in Northern California. No matter how you slice it, Lowell students continue to excel academically and in a wide range of athletic and other extracurricular activities. So feel free to break into a chant of “We’re number [fill in the blank with your favorite ranking]!”
2008 Advanced Placement Exam Score Distribution Exam Score 5 Lowell 34.3% Global 14.2%
4 33.2% 19.4%
3 20.4% 24.1%
2 8.7% 21.3%
1 3.4% 20.9%
Note: AP exams are scored from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). A score of 3 or higher is considered a passing score.
Follow Lowell on Twitter All photos by Bryan Ritter
Check out general Lowell news @lowellalumni and Lowell sports news @lowellsports
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Lowell Alumni Association
Debaters Compete at Nationals and State For what is believed to be a first in the 117-year history of the Lowell Forensic Society, two Lowell debate teams participated in the 2009 National Catholic Forensic League Grand Nationals held in Albany, New York. Sophomores Sophia Chan and Stephanie Sin battled through the preliminary rounds while the team of junior Mindy Huynh and sophomore Catherine Suen earned a spot in the elimination rounds and finished among the top 32 out of 125 teams in the tournament. Lowell also sent three students to the 2009 California High School Speech Association championships in Culver City this past April. Vianna Newman, a sophomore, placed in the top half of the field in Original Prose and Poetry while policy debaters Catherine Suen and Katie Lau, also sophomores, finished in the top 20 out of a field of 64 teams. In total, Lowell speech and debate squad members competed in 24 tournaments over the course of the year and traveled a cumulative 65,000 miles. The Lowell Alumni
Summer 2009
Caught in the Headlines By Terence Abad ’76 Without any further ado, let’s get to the latest news about Lowell alumni taken from the airwaves and the ever-shrinking newspaper world (will high school newspapers be the last ones left?).
Forensics squad members taking a break from the NCFL tournament in Albany, NY (from left) coach Terry Abad, Stephanie Sin, Sophia Chan, Mindy Huynh, Catherine Suen and assistant coach Kenneth Kozakura ’08.
The political whirl: If you were one of the tens of millions who watched President Obama’s inauguration, how many Lowell alumni did you spot on the stage? Sure, Richard Blum ’53 and U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer ’55 were hard to miss, but Kim Burton ’82 was also there. And so was Walter Brown, Jr. ’72, who reports “As an African American who grew up in Hunters’ Point and had the privilege and joy of attending Lowell. I was very gratified to be in Senator Feinstein’s party seated on the main platform 20 rows from the new President and directly behind the US Senators. What an amazing event!”…and still in Washington, kudos to John Trasvina ’76, who recently won Senate confirmation after being nominated by President Obama to be Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity in the Department of Housing and Urban Development…while Facebook reveals that Ted Seay ’76, currently posted to NATO
Association’s generous financial support, along with that of the Lowell PTSA and student fundraising efforts, makes it possible for nearly 100 students to compete each year at forensics tournaments throughout the Bay Area and beyond.
Order Your Copy of Lowell’s Literary Magazine Today! You’ll find the work of some of Lowell’s most creative student writers, poets and artists in the latest issue of The Myriad – and now you can buy your own copy for just $15, including shipping. As Daniel Handler ’88 writes in his introduction, after discussing memories of his Lowell classmates, “But your inner lives, and your secret histories – I don’t know anything about those. That’s why I’m going to read this literary magazine cover-to-cover, so I can find out. The Myriad is the attempt of people at Lowell to make sense of themselves and the world around them – just like all literature. If I
were you I’d turn the page right this minute, so you can read about the people you know, and what they’re thinking about, instead of reading this introduction. After all, this introduction was written by a very, very old man.” Order your copy today by mailing your $15 check (payable to Lowell Alumni Association) to LAA, PO Box 320009, San Francisco, CA 94132. Be sure to enclose a note explaining that you’re ordering The Myriad and providing shipping directions. Thanks for helping to support creativity at Lowell!
THE MYRIAD VOLUME
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Walter Brown, Jr. ’72 (center), flanked by former Governor Gray Davis and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Presidential inauguration. headquarters in Brussels with the State Department, recently met and dined with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who Ted reports ordered the sole meuniere and was “sterling” company. Sports page: At this year’s NCAA fencing championships, Michael Pearce ’05 of the Yale squad finished 8th in men’s epee to finish an outstanding collegiate career…Stefan Wever ’76 got a nice write-up by the SF Chronicle’s Gwen Knapp for his work as the new head baseball coach at Marin’s Redwood High School and for leading the team to the NCS playoffs. Stefan was a baseball standout at Lowell who ended up pitching for the New York Yankees before a career-ending injury in 1982. Hang in there, Stefan!…and promising major league prospect Charlie Cutler ’05 was named May’s minor league player of the month by the St. Louis Cardinals organization after hitting a scorching .410 with a .527 slugging percentage and a team-high 21 RBIs. (Full disclosure: My retirement plans hinge largely upon the expected meteoric increase in value of the Charlie Cutler autographed Lowell baseball jersey hanging in my closet.)…In case you missed it, the late Tommy Lew ’42 was among this year’s San Francisco Prep Hall of Fame inductees, honored for his skills on the basketball court as a top prep player. Nice to hear that his daughter, Kathy Lew Seto, was present to accept for her father. Tommy is also a member of the Lowell Sports Hall of Fame. Channel surfing: Good to know that no Lowell alumni are to be found in the current crop of reality TV shows (and I should know because I watch most of them), but I did catch former FBI profiler Candice DeLong ’68 on some news programs discussing the tragic Sandra Cantu kidnap and murder case. Her book, Special Agent, is now available in paperback.
L OWELL’S LITER ARY M AGA ZINE 2008 – 2009
Arts and ends: It was long overdue, but Daniel Handler ’88 has been added to the Lowell photo display of famous alumni. Best known for his work as Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events), Daniel visited Lowell to participate in a special event celebrating the publication of the most recent issue of Lowell’s literary magazine, The Myriad, featuring a marvelous dedication written by Handler… and recently Lowell students got to meet Alex Tse ’94, screenwriter of the smash hit “Watchmen” and son of Lowell Assistant Principal Janet Lee Tse ’68. An unnamed, but reliable, source tells us that Alex is working on a project with director Michael Mann (“Ali”, “The Insider” and “Heat”) and Robert DeNiro. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom with Walter Brown, Jr. ’72.
Summer 2009
Lowell Alumni Association
State Superintendent Honors Lowell as Distinguished School Jack O’Connell, California Superintendent of Public Instruction, visited earlier this year to help celebrate Lowell’s selection as a California Distinguished School, one of only 125 high schools honored this year. This marks the seventh time Lowell has received this award, a record unmatched by any other high school in the state. Before this year, Lowell was named a California Distinguished School in 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2001 and 2005. During his visit, Superintendent O’Connell met with Lowell students, faculty, staff, administrators, parents and alumni and held a town hall meeting with students that featured a lengthy question and answer session.
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Retired Teachers Hold 10th Annual Luncheon The Lowell retired teachers group reveled at their 10th annual luncheon at the Presidio Golf Club on May 20th. 55 teachers came early, stayed late and caught up with the active social lives of their ex-colleagues. Only a new cane or hearing aid (or maybe two) were to be seen! Next year’s luncheon
will be May 19th same place, same time, same delicious food! Special thanks to the organizing committee: Wandaline Perelli, Deanna Nielsen, Pat Hanlon, Sara Trelaun, Ron Wong, Sandra Mack, Olene Tilton and Jan Hernandez.
Pat Morehen and Sara Trelaun. Michael Descilo. Superintendent O’Connell (holding Lowell history book) with (from left) Assistant Principal Janet Tse, Assistant Principal Michael Yi, Principal Andy Ishibashi, Assistant Principal Holly Giles and SFUSD Associate Superintendent Margaret Chiu.
Alumni Funding to Focus on Meeting Technology Needs Thanks to the combined leadership provided by the Lowell Alumni Association, Lowell PTSA, school site council and administration, a newly-energized effort to address Lowell’s current and future technology needs has been launched. Until now, most technology funding at Lowell was haphazard at best, reliant upon seeking small grants from the alumni association or PTSA to purchase a few computers or other tech equipment for a particular class or program. While such purchases were helpful, there was no organized effort to assess the overall gap between the school’s current technology resources and the unmet needs of students and faculty — until now. Guided by Assistant Principal Michael Yi, Info Systems Administrator Alex Hsieh, librarian Linda Guitron, alumnus Marcus Pon ’86 and parent Lisa Pollard, the newlyformed Technology Committee is working to develop a multi-year technology plan that will, for the first time, allow the Lowell community to get a sense of the ongoing funding that will be needed to purchase new equipment while replacing or upgrading old equipment to meet the needs to the 21st century classroom. One recent success for the Tech Committee was convincing the alumni association, PTSA and site council to allocate a combined total of $65,000 in technology funding for the 2009-10 school year.
With 400-plus computers on campus now, many of which are overdue for replacement, and a legitimate need for even more classroom technology, it is clear that additional resources will be needed each and every year to bring Lowell up to date. A recent survey of 125 Lowell administrators, faculty and staff revealed that nearly 90% use technology often or frequently in their work, with most using computer applications to produce materials for use in the classroom and using the internet to find materials to support their curriculum. The survey also identified significant unmet demand for laptop computers for teacher use as well as LCD projectors and other classroom technology (interactive white boards, digital cameras, electronic grade books, etc.). In order to support these efforts, the Lowell Alumni Association plans to make technology funding an ongoing priority for the use of alumni donations. Our 2009-10 Annual Fund Campaign, which kicks off on July 1st, will focus on raising money to help address the most urgent technology needs as the Tech Committee completes its work on a multi-year plan for ongoing support and maintenance of Lowell’s technology infrastructure. Your support will be critical if this effort is to be successful, so please look for the Annual Fund Campaign mailer headed your way this fall.
Maud Pearson Green, Linda Grondahl, Loys Rodatos and Olene Tilton.
Jan Hernandez.
Pat Hanlon and Bob Kaiser. Sandra Mack and Robert McMains.
Deanna Nielsen and Wandaline Perelli. Robert Jow and Barbara Prato. Ron Wong and Darlene Vuicich
Gloria Bogdanoff.
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Lowell Alumni Association
Summer 2009
$50,000 in Alumni Scholarships Awarded The Lowell Alumni Association is proud to announce the selection of another outstanding group of alumni scholarship recipients for 2009. The 30 students selected this year plan a diverse set of college majors Nearly two-thirds will be enrolling in the University of California system, with the largest group — ten students — headed to UC Berkeley. Another half dozen will head for the east coast to attend Penn, Yale, Princeton, Wesleyan, Tufts and the Rhode Island School of Design while just one recipient is destined for Northwestern University in Illinois — located in what college admissions officers affectionately refer to as the “fly-over zone”. The LAA’s Scholarship Committee chairperson, Wendy Drefke Shinbori ’68, along with her hardworking interview panel — Claudia Eshoo, Lee Blum, Pat Pivnick Levin, Rita Yee and Lisa Coughlin Clay — interviewed more than 50 applicants over two days and then had to choose which of the many talented and accomplished students would receive awards. On May 28, the annual scholarship reception and awards ceremony was held in the Lowell library. Particularly notable was the participation by members of the Barsotti, Catelli, Ng and Quan families, all of whom have established scholarships that were awarded this year. Best wishes to all these students for continued The 2009 Lowell Alumni Association scholarship recipients. happiness and success!
Board members (left to right) Rita Yee ’73, Dawn Stephens Walker ’74 and Anita Payton ’74 (seated).
Wendy Drefke Shinbori ’68 introduces scholarship recipients at this year’s reception and awards ceremony.
Scholarship Funds Down, But Outperform Market With about $1.5 million of endowed funds under the control of the Lowell Alumni Association — mostly perpetual scholarship funds — it should be no surprise that the economic turmoil of the past several months has taken a toll on the value of those funds, but the LAA’s Finance Committee continues to do a great job in managing these important investments. Overall, the LAA’s endowed funds lost nearly $400,000 in market value in 2008 and another $76,000 in the first quarter of 2009. But the 4.6% loss in value during the first quarter represented significantly better performance than the market averages. Given the 60/40 split in our endowment investments, with 60% in equity funds and 40% in bond funds, the weighted average of the performance of the S&P 500 and the Lehman Aggregate for the first quarter of 2009 shows a 7.4% loss, which is nearly 50% worse than the results for the LAA’s endowment investments. Chaired by LAA Treasurer and professional investment advisor Lee Blum ’52, the Finance Committee also includes finance professionals Paul Tam ’82 and King Lip ’95 as well as former LAA Treasurer Joseph Ehrman ’41, board member Mike Ugawa ’76 and Executive Director Terry Abad ’76.
The Finance Committee’s recent activities have included further diversification of our portfolio of investment funds, adding a corporate bond fund and a small cap equity fund. In addition to managing the association’s investments, the Finance Committee annually recommends to the LAA board of directors the appropriate payout rate to apply to our endowment funds, which then determines the amount available to recipients of alumni scholarships. For the past several years, the LAA’s directors have authorized a four percent annual payout rate (calculated as a percentage of the current market value of the funds), providing a reasonable amount of current spending on scholarships while protecting the long-term viability of the various endowment funds. While the stable payout rate provides some insulation from the wide market swings of the past few years, the total amount available for scholarships this year was down due to the fact that the total market value of our investments had slid so much. But whether the market is up or down, the Finance Committee will continue to manage these investments to carry out the intent of the generous donors who established these important endowments.
Scholarship recipient Gabby Ho ’09 with LAA Treasurer Lee Blum ’52.
Attention Small Business Owners: Reach out to Lowell Alumni via Our New Online Business Directory With the economy in the doldrums, we want to help Lowell alumni promote their businesses to fellow alumni. If you would like to be listed in our online directory, e-mail us at lowellaa@ lowellalumni.org (mention “business directory” in the subject line) with your name, year of graduation and a short description of your business with contact information. Let’s help one another weather this economic downturn!
Summer 2009
Lowell Alumni Association
Ravi Patel ’09 Attending: Stanford University Major: Molecular Biology, with plans to become a cardiologist Activities: Shield & Scroll, Lowell Science Association (president), CSF life member and volunteer Gujarati language teacher at his temple. Noteworthy accomplishments: Conducted scientific research at both UC San Francisco Medical Center and Stanford University. Traveled by himself to India in May 2008 to assist his great-grandmother by providing medical assistance and advice gathered from consultations with his mentor at UCSF Med Center — with the end result being a full recovery. Why or for what will your class remember you? My class will remember me for my willingness to take risks and try new things. Last year, I took a chance and decided to run for senior class treasurer. Even though I lost, I felt that I had gained a new experience, learned new lessons and made new friends in the process. Another thing that my class will remember me for is my passion for science. Even with science, I took a chance and tried my hand at research. From my taste of research, I discovered that it is something that I truly enjoy. Scholarship: Ravi was awarded a Frances Dealtry Scholarship for his freshman year at Stanford and then will receive the Robert Levin Memorial Scholarship (our only multiyear award) for the balance of his undergraduate career.
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Hannah Safford ’09
Hannah Safford ’09 (right) with her mother. Attending: Princeton University Major: Engineering Activities: Fencing, Lowell band, mentor to special education students, reporter for The Lowell and Junior Zoologist at the San Francisco Zoo. Noteworthy accomplishments: Hannah is a world-class athlete, competing as an epee fencer. She is ranked 5th on the national junior (under 20) point list, 8th on the national senior (open) point list and 43rd on the international junior point list. She is a member of the 2009 U.S. team to the Junior World Championships and will join Princeton’s NCAA Division I fencing team this fall. Why or for what will your class remember you? Though I think a lot of my classmates know me as “Hannah the fencer,” I believe I will be remembered just as strongly for my classroom enthusiasm. I love to delve beneath the surface of particularly interesting lessons and this characteristic comes out frequently, whether I’m graphing a smiley face on my calculator in math class, quibbling about Angel Clare’s motivation with my English group, or getting competitive in a physics egg toss. I think my participation adds a positive dynamic to the classroom, and I hope my peers remember it that was as well. Scholarship: Hannah was awarded the Leah Boehm Memorial Scholarship. She has also received scholarships from the Olympic Club and the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame of Northern California.
Scholarship Recipients
Lowell World Languages teacher Judy Branzburg (left) with LAA board member Pat Pivnick Levin '67.
Lt. Col. Douglas Bullard, Lowell’s JROTC commander, with scholarship recipient Jarrett Hornbostel ’09.
Recipient Scholarship Fund Dina Bseiso ’09 Frances Dealtry Stephanie Cheung ’09 Vincent Spangler Victoria Chu ’09 Carol Channing Sandy Diao ’09 Harvey Masonek Karel Ebergen ’09 Stafford Repp Marisol Gonzales ’09 Bob Anino Gabby Ho ’09 Nicholas Ng Jarrett Hornbostel ’09 Sgt. “Mack” Yoshida Marianne Koo ’09 Class of 1949 Allyson Lam ’09 Edith Pence Michael Lazarus ’08 Robert Levin Roy Lee ’09 June Shafer Scott Lee ’09 Paul Lucey Michael Li ’09 Frances Dealtry Frank Lu ’09 Louis Leithold Tiffany Nguyen ’09 Roy Barsotti Ellen Ong ’09 Dr. Ben Shenson Frances Dealtry/ Ravi Patel ’09 Robert Levin Natalia Powers-Riggs ’09 George Lorbeer Hannah Safford ’09 Leah Boehm Elmer Harris/ Shant Siyanhian ’09 Ben Neff/Mike Voyne Maya Sussman ’09 Elena Catelli Vanessa Tsang ’09 Roland Quan Madina Tugizova ’07 Robert Levin Jeffrey Wong ’09 Seward Chapman Nancy Xu ’09 Class of 1949 Sharon Xu ’09 Frances Dealtry Dayu Yang ’06 Robert Levin Eleanor Yu ’09 Jackie Sherman Porter Sesnon/ Alan Zhao ’09 Hershel Tolson
College UC San Diego UC Berkeley UC Berkeley UC Berkeley UCLA UC Davis UC Berkeley UC Davis Rhode Island School of Design UC Berkeley Stanford University Yale University University of Pennsylvania UC Berkeley UC Berkeley UCLA UC Berkeley Stanford University Wesleyan University Princeton University UCLA Tufts University UC Santa Cruz Stanford University UC Berkeley Northwestern University UC San Diego Stanford University UC Davis UC Berkeley
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Lowell Alumni Association
Summer 2009
Letters to the Editor Campus News Briefs To: Lowell Alumni Association
To the Lowell Alumni Association, Thank you very much for selecting me as a recipient of an alumni scholarship for 2009. I am especially grateful because college is getting more expensive every year and the economy is currently in the dumps. So, thank you again for your ceaseless, unrivaled support of Lowell High School and its students. Sincerely, Jeffrey Wong ’09 [The cover of Jeffrey’s thank you card is shown above.] Dear Lowell Alumni Association, Thank you very much for your continuous support. Your generosity warmed our hearts. We really appreciate it! Sincerely, AP Chinese students and teacher [Editor’s Note: Alumni donations funded $5,700 in AP exam fee subsidies this year for students with financial need. Providing this special assistance for Lowell students has long been a centerpiece of the LAA’s grants program.] Dear Lowell Alumni Association, I wanted to thank you for granting me the Leah Marie Boehm Memorial Scholarship and for the lovely awards presentation on May 29th. I enjoyed meeting many members of the association over the course of the evening, and I look forward to joining their ranks after my graduation in just a few weeks! Thanks again to both the donors and the members of the scholarship committee for making the evening possible, and please let me know if there is anyone directly connected with the Leah Marie Boehm Scholarship whom I can thank personally. Sincerely, Hannah Safford ’09 Dear Lowell Alumni Association, I am writing to thank you for the generous scholarship you awarded me last May to attend Harvard College. The money has enabled me to postpone finding a termtime job, enabling a very smooth transition from high school to college. I have settled into dorm life, gotten used to cafeteria food, and even learned to do my own laundry. I have also adjusted to college-level coursework, for which I was extremely well prepared by Lowell’s rigorous curriculum. I would once again like to thank the Lowell Alumni Association for helping to make this experience a reality. Sincerely, Marieke Thomas ’08
From: Ivan Yee, Steve Granucci, Bob Jow and Janet Tse (Advanced Placement Coordinating Team) Re: Alumni Grants for Advanced Placement Students Thanks to the generosity of the Lowell Alumni Association, 36 Lowell students received LAA subsidies to help pay for the 119 Advanced Placement exams they took this May. Overall, 1,392 students took a total of 3,331 examinations in 30 disciplines between May 4th and May 15th. These numbers represent a significant increase over the 1,219 students who took 3,149 AP examinations in 2008. This year, while we were distributing the alumni grant letters, one of the recipients opened the letter and, with tears welling up in her eyes, said “You do not know how much this means to me and my family!” These grants helped a significant number of students who did not qualify for state or federal aid, but found their families to be suffering in these hard economic times. These grants definitely enabled these deserving students to take AP examinations that will have a profound effect on their futures. [Editor’s Note — Long a centerpiece of the LAA’s grants program, the $5,700 in AP exam fee subsidies this year were funded by alumni donations.] Dear Lowell Alumni Association, Thank you for granting me a Lowell Alumni Association scholarship. When I first received the notice, I was simply ecstatic; I was overjoyed and honored to receive this award. This award means more than just financial aid to me. Growing up in my small family, consisting only of two siblings and a single mother, I have learned the importance of family. My family and I are all dependent on one another. Whatever step I make or do in life, I never want to let any of my family members down. I try to remain diligent at all times, whether at school or at home. This award has not only proved to me that my persistent efforts in my academics have paid off, it has made my mom and my family proud. This award will always be a motivation to me for now as well as later in the future to always do my best. Thank you for the motivation and opportunity you are giving me to continue my education. I am forever grateful. Thank you. Sincerely, Sharon Xu ’09 Dear Lowell Alumni Association, Enclosed at last is a small donation to partially (very!) assuage my guilt at enjoying the newsletter for several years and never contributing a dime. I also appreciate so much that “we” have an actual human in the office — in the charming person of Terry Abad this evening — who returns calls. Most unusual these days! Very best wishes to all, Nancy Anderson Chirich ’40
Don’t miss our eNewsletter! To subscribe, just send us your name and your e-mail address. lowellaa@lowellalumni.org
Lowell Still Top High School Choice in SF
With 1,947 applications for admission this year, Lowell was again the first choice for more students than any other public high school in the city. 1,700 of those applicants — fully 41% of all applicants for 9th grade slots citywide — named Lowell as their #1 choice. Runner-up as top choice in the preference system was Lincoln High School, listed as #1 choice by just 817 applicants. Lowell expects to enroll an entering 9th grade class of about 650 students in August.
Elena Chin Honored as Scholar Athlete
Lowell senior Elena Chin was selected as one of two CIF/Farmers Scholar-Athletes for the San Francisco section. As a distance runner on the track team, Elena finished third and fifth in the 1600 meter event in 2008 and 2009, respectively, and second in the 3200 meter event this year.
The Lowell Wins National Honors
Lowell’s student newspaper, The Lowell, was honored by the National Scholastic Press Association as one of the top 40 high school newspapers in America at the NSPA’s recent convention in Phoenix. Several members of the newspaper staff attended the convention, thanks to financial support from the Lowell Alumni Association’s Art Hoppe Fund.
Sports Teams Dominate League Once Again
Lowell athletes outperformed the competition again this year, taking a whopping 19 team sports titles: badminton, boys varsity and frosh/soph basketball, boys varsity and frosh/soph cross-country, girls cross-country, girls soccer, boys varsity swimming, girls varsity and junior varsity swimming, softball, boys and girls tennis, boys varsity track, girls varsity and frosh/soph track, girls varsity volleyball and boys and girls fencing.
Five Students Make US Physics Team Quarterfinals
In the best showing in several years, five Lowell students made it to the quarterfinals of the competition to make the US Physics Team, placing them among the 400 best physics students in America. These top-notch science students, all members of the class of 2009, are Percy Fang, Eric Leung, Alex Lin, Mark Olson and Ben Yee.
All-City First Team Selections Abound
Lowell athletes were found on virtually every All-City first team list this year. Congratulations to all! Girls soccer: Lilliana Pedroni ’09, Alissa Goldberg ’10, Shari Kogan ’10 and Adrienne Pearce ’12. Boys soccer: Anthony Clay ’10 and Jose Contreras ’09. Softball: Sophia Chen ’09, Alina Werth ’10 and Chloe Roddy ’11. Boys volleyball: Christopher Leung ’09, Jon Li ’09 and Joseph Lee ’10. Girls volleyball: Katrina Lau ’09, Marianne Koo ’09 and Jessica Peng ’10. Baseball: Narin Leininger ’09, Sam Mallonee ’10, Nate Gilchrist ’10, Charley August ’11. Girls basketball: Jessi Miao ’09 and Kristina Lum ’10. Boys basketball: Yuhki Sakai ’09. Boys fencing: Alex Cheng was individual champ. Football: Ian McGuire ’09, Noah Shaw ’10 and Jabes Rivera ’10, with Wang Han ’09 named Raymond Bass Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Five Lowell Veterans Retire in 2009
With a combined 113 years of service at Lowell, the four teachers and one counselor who retired this year have helped shape the lives of thousands of Lowell students. Counselor Rosemary Dacanay started at Lowell in 1970 and retired this past January. Retiring in June were Latin teacher Dr. Benito Nogara, science teacher James Carmack (also a Lowell alumnus from the class of 1962) and social studies teachers Mary Anne Wold and Gloria Daffner. Best wishes to all for a fulfilling and enjoyable retirement!
Science Students Win Team Award Five Lowell seniors, with science backgrounds ranging from Environmental Science to biology and physics, competed in the 17th annual Canon Envirothon and earned a third place finish among the field of 15 teams from across the state. Jason Lo, Karyn Smooth, Ravi Patel, Jasper Wu and Alice Zhou represented Lowell and were coached by science teachers James Carmack and Kathy Melvin. Although this was the very first time Lowell has participated in this annual competition, students and faculty found it valuable. “I thought the experience was very insightful and fun,” Jasper Wu said. “It was an excellent opportunity to apply what I learned in AP Environmental Science.”
Student Poets Honored in City Competition Four Lowell freshmen earned honors in the city’s Young at Art Literary Art Contest, including first and second place awards. Deedee Pearce won the first place prize in the high school poetry category, freshman Anna Chen took second and freshmen Karissa Tom and Nancy Wu both won honorable mentions. Part of this success is due to the efforts of poet Susan Terence, who works with all freshman English classes at Lowell as part of the California Poets in the Schools program, with funding provided by the Lowell Alumni Association. These students were honored at a special event at the de Young museum where first place finishers read their poems.
Dragon Boaters Travel to China Twelve members of Lowell’s dragon boat team competed in the Macau International Dragon Boat Race in late May. Senior paddler Jimmy Xin said, “I want to be able to see how they paddle in China because they are the best in international champions and we’re going to be competing against them, which is very exciting.” The Lowell squad combined with students from Galileo High School to form the “Galilowell” team, which was the only youth group and the only co-ed team in the competition. The trip was partially underwritten by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. You can see Lowell dragon boaters compete later this year at the San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival at Treasure Island on September 26 and 27.
Student Actor Competes in New York After finishing first in the English Speaking Union’s 2009 National Shakespeare Competition regional, Lowell senior Karel Ebergen received a fully-paid trip to New York in late April to compete in the finals at Lincoln Center. He recited Shakespeare’s Sonnet 55 and performed Caliban’s monologue from The Tempest. “I used the same monologue as the one we had on our final. To prepare for the competition, I rehearsed with (drama teacher Teresa) Bookwalter,” Ebergen said. He added that for additional at-home practice “one of the best things is to rehearse in the shower because it provides for good acoustics.” Besides being a veteran of every Lowell play and musical during his four years, Karel is the fourth Lowell student in the past six years to make it to the finals of the ESU Shakespeare Competition.
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Lowell Alumni Association
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Sports Schedules 2009 2009 VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Friday, October 2 Lincoln Friday, October 9 Washington Friday, October 16 Galileo Saturday, October 24 Marshall Friday, October 30 Burton Friday, November 6 Mission Friday, November 13 Balboa Thursday, November 19 (Playoffs) TBA Friday, November 20 (Playoffs) TBA Thursday, November 26 (Turkey Day Championship) TBA
Site Lincoln Kezar Stadium Lowell Burton Burton School of the Arts Lowell
Kickoff 3:00pm 7:00pm 3:00pm 11:00am 3:00pm 2:00pm 2:00pm
Kezar Stadium
4:00pm
Kezar Stadium
4:00pm
Kezar Stadium
11:00am
2009 Boys Soccer Schedule 2009 Girls Varsity Volleyball Schedule Date Opponent Friday, October 2 Mission Tuesday, October 6 Washington Thursday, October 8 Wallenberg Wednesday, October 14 Jordan Friday, October 16 O’Connell Wednesday, October 21 Burton Friday, October 23 Marshall Tuesday, October 27 Lincoln Thursday, October 29 ISA Tuesday, November 3 Galileo Thursday, November 5 Balboa Tuesday, November 10 (Playoffs) TBA Friday, November 13 (Championship) TBA
Site Lowell Washington Lowell Lowell O’Connell Lowell Lowell Lincoln ISA Galileo Balboa
Time 5:10pm 5:10pm 5:10pm 5:10pm 5:10pm 5:10pm 5:10pm 5:10pm 4:00pm 5:10pm 5:10pm
TBA
TBA
Kezar Pavilion 7:00pm
Date Opponent Tuesday, September 8 Galileo Thursday, September 10 Burton Tuesday, September 15 ISA Thursday, September 17 Washington Tuesday, September 22 Balboa Thursday, September 24 Wallenberg Tuesday, September 29 Jordan Thursday, October 1 Marshall Tuesday, October 6 Lincoln Thursday, October 8 O’Connell Tuesday, October 13 Mission Thursday, October 15 Galileo Tuesday, October 20 Burton Thursday, October 22 ISA Tuesday, October 27 Washington Thursday, October 29 Balboa Tuesday, November 3 (Playoffs) TBA Wednesday, November 4 (Playoffs) TBA Saturday, November 7 TBA
Site Time Lowell 3:45pm Lowell 3:45pm Lowell 3:45pm Washington 3:45pm Balboa 3:45pm Polo Field #1 3:45pm Lowell 3:45pm Lowell 3:45pm Polo Field #1 3:45pm Franklin 3:45pm Lowell 3:45pm Crocker-Amazon #1 3:45pm Burton 3:45pm Franklin 3:45pm Lowell 3:45pm Lowell 3:45pm Boxer Stadium
2:30pm
Boxer Stadium Boxer Stadium
2:30pm 1:00pm
2009 Girls Tennis Schedule Date Opponent Site Tuesday, September 22 Lincoln Golden Gate Park Friday, September 25 Mission Dolores Park Wednesday, September 30 Washington Lowell Friday, October 2 Balboa Balboa Tuesday, October 6 Galileo Golden Gate Park Friday, October 9 ISA Lowell Wednesday, October 14 Wallenberg Lowell Wednesday, October 21 (Team Playoffs) TBA Golden Gate Park Friday, October 23 (Team Championships) TBA Golden Gate Park Monday, October 26 through Friday, October 30 — (All-City Tournament) TBA Golden Gate Park
Time 3:30pm 3:30pm 3:30pm 3:30pm 3:30pm 3:30pm 3:30pm 3:30pm 3:30pm Daily 3:00pm
For All Lowell Sports Schedules, Scores and Standings, Visit www.cifsf.org or www.lowellathletics.com
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Summer 2009
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AT&T Park Hosts 2009 Lowell Commencement With nary a beer or peanut vendor in sight — much to the chagrin of some parents and friends — Lowell’s 2009 Commencement Exercises were held for the very first time at AT&T Park in China Basin on Monday afternoon, June 8. More than 650 members of the class of 2009 crossed a makeshift stage atop the visitors’ dugout to receive their diplomas from Principal Andy Ishibashi. The Lowell graduation was actually the culmination of a triple-header, with Lincoln and Galileo High Schools having held their ceremonies earlier that same day at AT&T Park. In the continuation of a new tradition begun in 2006, a hardy band of Lowell alumni from classes celebrating major reunions was also on hand. Loe Swart Tolson and Babette Lau Drefke were the most senior members of the group, both from the class of 1934 and celebrating the 75th anniversary of their Lowell graduation. Other alumni participants were Adele Kellogg Baumgartner ’59, Linda Krauss Diller ’59, Ella Tom Miyamoto ’59, Mike Adelson ’69, Dave Garese ’69, Nancy de Ita ’69, Sandra Hsu ’69, Greg Tung ’69 (visiting from Amarillo, Texas), Leticia Lopez Fish ’69, Lynette Chin Yee ’69, Tony Lee ’69 (currently a counselor at Lowell), Corey Domino ’79 and Andrew Williams ’79. Following the ceremonies, the alumni gathered across the street from the ballpark for dinner at Momo’s, courtesy of the Lowell Alumni Association.
Congratulations, Lowell Class Of 2009! Members of the Lowell Class of 2009 plan to continue their education at the following institutions of higher education: Amherst College Boston College Boston University Cal Poly Pomona Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Cal State East Bay Cal State Long Beach Cal State Los Angeles Cal State Northridge Chico State University City College of San Francisco Claremont McKenna College College of San Mateo Contra Costa College Cornell University CUNY Hunter College Dartmouth College DePaul University DeVry University Dominican University Duke University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Evangel University Evergreen State College Fordham University Georgetown University Goucher College Hampshire College Harvard University Humboldt State University Johns Hopkins University Laney College Macalester College McGill University New York University Northeastern University Northwestern University Notre Dame de Namur University Oberlin College
Occidental College Reed College Rhode Island School of Design Sacramento State University San Diego State University San Francisco State University San Jose State University Santa Barbara City College Santa Clara University Skyline College Sonoma State University Sophia University (Tokyo) St. Mary’s College of California St. Mary’s University Stanford University Swarthmore College Syracuse University Tufts University UC Berkeley UC Davis UC Irvine UC Los Angeles UC Merced UC Riverside UC San Diego UC Santa Barbara UC Santa Cruz US Military Academy University of Denver University of Hawaii University of Michigan University of Oregon University of Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh University of the Pacific University of San Francisco University of Southern California University of Washington Vanderbilt University Washington University of St. Louis Wesleyan University Yale University
Special thanks to SF Giants president and chief operating officer Larry Baer ’75 for helping to make Lowell’s 2009 commencement exercises at AT&T park a great success!
Commencement.1 – The alumni contingent gathered before ceremony in the Field Club Lounge, decked out in full academic regalia. From left: Leticia Lopez Fish ’69, Dave Garese ’69, Wendy Drefke Shinbori ’68, Babette Lau Drefke ’34, Sandra Hsu ’69, Andrew Williams ’79, Corey Domino ’79, Loe Swart Tolson ’34, Nancy de Ita ’69, Lynette Chin Yee ’69, Greg Tung ’69, Mike Adelson ’69, Adele Kellogg Baumgartner ’59, Ella Tom Miyamoto ’59 and Linda Krauss Diller ’59.
Senior Annie Deng receives her diploma from Principal Ishibashi.
Not quite a sellout crowd at AT&T Park as parents, family and friends were seated behind the graduates.
Lowell alumni standing tall and proud (from right): Andrew Williams ’79, Corey Domino ’79, Mike Adelson ’69, Nancy de Ita ’69 and Greg Tung ’69. At Principal Ishibashi’s suggestion, the 2009 grads turned to applaud their family and friends for the support they have provided.
The AT&T Park scoreboard covered all of the day’s action, without the need for instant replay. The alumni group poses for one final photo.
All photos courtesy of Tony Lee ’69 Registry teacher Annie Puretz receives a hug from one of her graduating seniors.
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Lowell Alumni Association
Summer 2009
Lowell Sports Foundation Honors New Hall of Famers At its fifth Hall of Fame gala banquet, held once again at the Fairmont Hotel atop Nob Hill, the Lowell Sports Foundation celebrated the induction of 14 outstanding athletes and one legendary coach this past April.Honorees and guests — some of whom traveled from as far away as New Hampshire, Indiana and Minnesota — gathered in the Fairmont’s fabled Venetian Room for an elegant evening of tributes, reminiscences and what surely must have been more than a few tall tales. Local media personalities Mike Sugerman and wife Janice Wright, of KCBS radio and KPIX television, parents of a Lowell alumnus, introduced the various honorees and added their own special warmth and humor to the banquet.It was particularly nice to see so many Lowell contemporaries enjoying the opportunity to reconnect, with a great group from the early 1960s (Leigh Callaway, Bill Carter, Ted Nordlund and Ron Stratten) as well as soccer teammates Kevin Rueda and Tass von Koch and fellow discus champs Roy Abendroth and Steve Colvin. Former principal Paul Cheng was named the 2009 recipient of the Charlie Borngesser Award in recognition of his great support for Lowell athletics during his 16 years as principal as well as for his solid leadership during an era that saw Lowell excel in nearly every academic and extracurricular arena.The timing of this award was inadvertently fortuitous because Paul has recently announced his retirement as Associate Superintendent of the Fremont Union High School District in Santa Clara county, which is particularly good news for the Lowell community because it means he will have more time to work on projects in support of Lowell. Another special honoree was Lowell Sports Foundation founder and past president Dave Hagerman ’72, the first recipient of the Hagerman Visionary Award for his incredible determination and leadership that created the Lowell Sports Foundation to address the longstanding need for criti- Inductee Janice Solomon (left) with Janice cal funding to support Lowell’s student Wright and Mike Sugerman. athletes.As Dave’s good friend Nick Hoppe ’72 wrote, “His vision and energy is the sole reason the Foundation exists, and everyone who has played, or will play, sports at Lowell should be eternally grateful.” And speaking of Lowell students, two members of the class of 2009, Jessica Miao and Stanford Chun, were named the Student Athletes of the Year for their achievements in basketball and swimming, respectively. Two inductees selected earlier this year — tennis star Harry Likas ’41 and track phenom Trish Brown ’85 — were unable to attend, but will be honored at the next LSF banquet. Planning will begin soon for the next Lowell Sports Hall of Fame banquet, tentatively scheduled for 2011. Please contact the LSF in care of the Lowell Alumni Association to nominate candidates for induction or to receive the LSF newsletter. You can also help support the mission of the LSF by making a donation by mail (PO Box 320009, San Francisco, CA 94132) or via the LAA’s online credit card donation page (www.lowellalumni.org/donate) and earmarking your gift for the Lowell Sports Foundation.
2009 Inductees (left to right) Steve Colvin, Kevin Rueda, Tassilo von Koch, Janice Solomon, Eric Quandt, Harley Augustino and Lee Silverstein.
Former Athletic Director John Donohue (left) after presenting Dave Hagerman with the LSF’s Visionary Award.
Former Principal and 2009 Borngesser Award recipient Paul Cheng (center) with Lowell Alumni Association President Lisa Coughlin Clay ’74 and Athletic Director Robert Ray.
2009 Student athletes of the year Stanford Chun and Jessica Miao with LSF President Terry Abad ’76. Inductee Steve Colvin shares some Lowell sports memories.
Beautiful Lowell sweatshirts are available by mail.
LSF Founder Dave Hagerman ’72 (left) sings the Lowell Hymn with friends Dave Bon ’73 and Marty Glickfeld ’72.
Dark red in sizes S, M, L, XL and XXL Generous fit. Lowell logo left side. $40 (includes shipping and handling) Please send check to Lowell Alumni Association PO Box 320009, San Francisco, CA 94132-0009
Inductee Bill Carter (left) with the night’s hosts, Mike Sugerman and Janice Wright.
The Fairmont’s elegant Venetian Room was filled with Lowell athletes, their families and friends. All Lowell Sports Foundation banquet photos by Elena Chin ’09
Summer 2009
Lowell Alumni Association
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Newest Hall of Famers Roy Abendroth ’78 Three-time AAA varsity champion Roy Abendroth took top honors in discus at the 1977 All-City meet and in both discus and shot put in 1978. Roy continues to hold the AAA frosh-soph discus record of 143’10”, set in 1976. A graduate of the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Dr. Abendroth is a radiation oncologist at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.
Harley Augustino ’96 One of the finest pitchers in Lowell baseball history, Harley was named AAA Player of the Year in both 1995 and 1996. Not coincidentally, Harley helped Lowell to AAA championships in both years and ushered in a new era of Lowell baseball dominance that boasts 10 city titles over the past 14 years. A UC Santa Barbara graduate, Harley lives in San Francisco where he is a union organizer with Local 2, the hotel and restaurant workers union.
Leigh Callaway ’60 Leigh Callaway was an accomplished Lowell shot putter and discus thrower under coach Barney Wolf, but he was best known in sports as captain of the football team in 1959, when he earned All-City first team and All-NorCal honors and was named 1959’s Lineman of the Year in the AAA. To top it all off, he was President of his graduating class. Following his graduation from Harvard (where he lettered in track and field), Leigh taught science before two decades of service as a Naval aviator in the U.S. and abroad. Retired since 2007 from careers in software engineering and electronic banking, Leigh and his wife Harriet have two grown children and live in rural New Hampshire.
Bob Carney ’32 As a basketball forward at Lowell, Bob Carney played for coach Ben Neff on the 1931 and 1932 AAA championship teams. The 1932 team went undefeated, including wins over the Stanford and Cal freshman teams. Bob was named to the first team All-City squad in 1931 and 1932 by all four local newspapers. A graduate of both Cal (1936) and Boalt Hall School of Law (1939), he worked for St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company for forty years, retiring in 1980, while also teaching night classes at Golden Gate University for several years. Bob passed away in 1990 but is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Bill Carter ’61 A true triple threat, Bill Carter played varsity basketball and football at Lowell while becoming the best high jumper in school history. He won the All-City meet in 1960 and 1961 and had the second-best prep leap in nation in 1961. His mark of 6’6-1/2” still stands as the Lowell record. At Cal, Bill played basketball and, in 1965, was Pac-10 high jump champ and tied for fifth at the NCAA championships. After service in Vietnam (Captain, U.S. Army), he had successful careers in banking and consulting. Bill and wife Joy are the parents of three, grandparents of six and live in Fairfield.
Steve Colvin ’80 Steve was a two-time All-City varsity discus champion and remains the school’s record holder. His personal best of 183’2” in May 1980 stands today as the best mark ever recorded by a AAA San Francisco Section prep athlete. Steve competed at two CIF State Meets, the 1980 AAU Junior Olympic National Championships and threw 172’2” in the 1980 State Meet at Cal’s Edwards Stadium. Steve also played football during his junior year, earning the team’s most promising lineman award. At the University of Maryland, Steve competed in both the shot put and discus events for the Terps as a three-year letterman and ACC academic honoree. Steve is a Senior Vice President with Boston Properties LP. He and his wife Cristina have two children, Olivia (16) and Austin (14).
Ernest duBray ’48 A top junior tennis player, Ernie duBray won the AAA singles title in 1948 and then went on to play frosh tennis at Stanford as one of three nationally-ranked players on that squad. After service in the Korean War interrupted his college career, duBray returned to Stanford and collegiate tennis in the mid-1950s. Sadly, Mr. duBray passed away late last year, but he did have the pleasure of knowing he had been selected for the Lowell Sports Foundation’s Hall of Fame prior to his death. Mr. duBray was predeceased in 2008 by his wife, Lowell alumna Joan (Higley) duBray ’49.
Melville Long, Jr. ’37 Mel Long made his mark at the 1937 All-City track championships, earning first place medals in the 120-yard high hurdles (which he also won in 1936), 220-yard low hurdles and high jump. Among Mel’s teammates was Barney Wolf ’36, who would become a legendary Lowell track and field coach and Lowell Sports Foundation Hall of Fame inductee.
Maurice “Red” McLoughlin ’09 Dubbed the California Comet for his cannonball service, tennis player Maurice “Red” McLoughlin captained the U.S. Davis Cup team the same year he graduated from Lowell and opened the eyes of the public to tennis as a demanding game of speed, endurance and skill. Having polished his game on the public courts in Golden Gate Park, he challenged the dominance of top-ranking players who had developed their games on the turf of exclusive clubs in the East or their own private family courts. McLoughlin helped win the Davis Cup in 1913 (one of four Davis Cup team appearances) and was ranked #1 in the U.S. in 1912, 1913, and 1914. “Red” died in 1957, shortly after being inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Ted Nordlund ’62 Ted Nordlund was captain of the 1961 Lowell football team that won the city roundrobin championship and Lowell’s first post-WWII Turkey Day victory. Ted’s fourth-quarter interception deep in Lowell territory sealed the 7-0 win over St. Ignatius and helped him earn All-AAA first team honors as well as AAA Lineman of the Year. In 1962, he played in the North-South Shrine Game at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Ted played at Chicago’s North Park College, serving two years as team captain and earning multiple accolades including third team NAIA All-American honors. Ted, a pastor for more than 20 years, now lives in Minnesota with his wife Jeannine. They are the proud parents of three children and three (soon to be four) grandchildren.
From left, Dennis Carney (son of the late Bob Carney, a 2009 inductee) with inductees Leigh Callaway, Bill Carter, Ted Nordlund and Roy Abendroth.
Eric Quandt ’91 As a three-time all-AAA shortstop, Eric Quandt truly stands out among the many talented Lowell baseball players who have played for coach John Donohue. Baseball has been a big part of Eric’s life, from his college days at UC San Diego and an appearance in the Division III College World Series to his stint as player-coach with the Zurich Barracudas in Switzerland, where his team captured the Swiss national championship. A practicing lawyer since his 1999 graduation from Hastings College of the Law, Eric has been a Deputy Public Defender for the City and County of San Francisco since 2006.
Kevin Rueda ’87 Although he played varsity basketball for two years, Kevin Rueda made Lowell soccer history by earning All-City first team honors three times as goalkeeper and making the All-Far West team his senior year. At Santa Clara University, his team won the Division I national championship in 1989 and finished as runnersup in 1991, when he recorded 11 shutouts (second most in school history). Kevin has played for various A-League teams and won a league championship with the Rochester Rhinos in 2000. He lives in Portland, Oregon with wife Amy and their two sons.
Janice Salomon ’99 Three-time AAA All-City tennis singles champion Janice Salomon led her Lowell team to three city team championships and a 40-0 AAA record. Janice continued as a tennis star at UC Davis, where she was twice named to the California Collegiate Athletic Association’s all-conference second team and advanced to the semifinals of the 2002 West Region Women’s Tennis Championships. Janice lives in San Francisco and works in the financial services industry.
Lee Silverstein Lee Silverstein coached golf at Lowell from 1983 to 2006 and led the boys and girls teams to an unparalleled number of team and individual championships. Lee’s tenure saw Lowell capture more than 20 AAA team titles – including a streak of 8 boys team titles in 9 years from 1997 to 2005 – while playing some of the nation’s finest courses, from the Prince and Makai courses at Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii to Spyglass, Poppy Hills and Pebble Beach. Seven of Lee’s golfers have earned AAA individual championships, including three-time champs Devin Moulthrop-Martin ’92 and Katrina Delen-Briones ’07. In coach Silverstein’s words, “It has been my privilege and greatest honor to coach such wonderful students, human beings and fellow golfers.”
Tassilo von Koch ’89 Named three times to the All-City first team in soccer, Tass was a standout Lowell defender who helped lead Lowell to its first-ever AAA championship in 1988. While at Lowell, Tass played on the golf team for two years and rowed during his senior year with the Pacific Rowing Club. Other soccer honors include participation in the Olympic Development Program where he was honored as San Francisco District Select MVP and named to the first team for the Northern California state team. At Cal, Tass played varsity soccer and was recognized as Most Promising Member of the Freshman Crew. Until his “retirement” two years ago, he played in the San Francisco Soccer Football League. Tass now lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife Carissa and their two young children. He is a CPA and tax accountant with Deloitte & Touche.
2009 Student Athletes of the Year Jessica Miao — Class of 2009 Jessica has been an integral part of Lowell’s championship teams in both girls basketball and track and field. A four-year varsity basketball player, she has helped Lowell earn three AAA championships and, just last month, the first-ever Lowell victory in the NorCal girls basketball playoffs. After All-City honorable mention honors her sophomore and junior years, Jessica was named to the All-City first team this year. In track and field, she was the 2008 All-City discus champ and finished second in shot put that same year. Jessi hopes to play basketball at UC San Diego, where she plans to major in psychology.
Stanford Chun — Class of 2009 A four-year member of Lowell’s swim team, Stanford has competed in the All-City championships each year, placing in every event he swims. As team captain, he is a role model and mentor to more than 60 teammates and is a one of a kind student athlete. Stanford has a slew of All-City first place honors, including three consecutive years with the 200-yard medley relay team, twice in the 200-yard freestyle and once each in the 100-yard fly and 400-yard freestyle relay.
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Lowell Alumni Association
Summer 2009
From the Archives — “To the Nines” By Claudia Wolf Eshoo ’67 1859
The first graduating class from the Powell Street campus, known as San Francisco High School, boasted eleven students — seven men and four women.
1869 The Powell Street campus was renamed Boys’ High School in 1864. ~ Seventeen of the first fifty registrants at the newly opened U.C. Berkeley came from Boys’ High. 1879 Boys’ High School moved to 1550 Sutter Street in 1875. 1889 Boys’ High School soon outgrew its quarters and was enlarged in 1889 and 1893 by adding wings on each side of the building. ~ The curriculum included history, mathematics, science, Greek, Latin, French, and German. 1899
The Sutter Street campus was renamed Lowell High School in 1894. ~ An editorial in the June edition of The Lowell featured a column reminding students that Lowell had an alumni association and inviting all to join, with the main focus of aiding in the erection of a new building. ~ An appeal was made to keep the associa tion alive and to keep in touch.
1909 The Shield and L honor society was organized. ~ Hastings Clothing Co. at Post Street and Grant Avenue advertised a full dress suit for $65.00, a tuxedo for $47.50, and a young man’s tuxedo for $22.50. 1919
Mr. Frederick H. Clark, Boys’ High ’78, became principal, the first Lowellite to hold the position.
1929
Lowell’s third building, affectionately known as the “Old Brickpile,” was located at Hayes and Masonic, where it remained from 1913 to 1962. ~ Thirty-one students were accepted to Stanford University, a record for Lowell.
1939
The Golden Gate International Exposition was held on Treasure Island. ~ The school numbered 2,355 students. ~ Ben Neff’s hoopsters won their fifth straight AAA championship, while Mike Voyne’s 1939 AAA champion football squad was unbeaten and untied.
1949
Great athlete Jim Plessas led Lowell High School to four straight track and field All-City titles as well as numerous dual meet and relay championships. He still holds the school record of 9.9 seconds for the 100-yard dash. ~ Mr. George Lorbeer completed twenty-five years as Lowell’s legendary forensics coach. Driver’s Ed was added as a course. ~ Seniors voted physics their favorite subject.
1959
The March 17, 1959, edition of the Lowell was printed in green ink. ~ Teacher Paul Lucey was granted a leave to be an exchange teacher in England. ~ A pair of Worthmore chukka boots was advertised for $12.95, while a diamond wedding ring at Samuels Jewelers was advertised for $150.00.
1969
The school had been located at its current campus on Eucalyptus Drive since 1962. ~ Yearbooks sold for $5.50 each. ~ Lowell’s constitution did now allow girls to run for school president during the spring 1969 semester. ~ The Lowell Plan, introduced by Principal Barton Knowles, included mini courses and mod scheduling. ~ A new creative arts department was added. ~ The Book-to-Book Center opened on campus.
1979
Under federal law, Title IX established equal instructional opportunities for both sexes. Lowell’s traditional single-gender P.E. classes became coeducational. ~ Lowell students honored the memory of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk with a moment of silence and installed a memorial plaque on campus.
1989
Ten foreign languages were taught at Lowell: Spanish, French, German, Latin, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Hebrew, Italian and Modern Greek. ~ The Indian symbol as school mascot ended its long reign. RIP.
1999
The student publication The Lowell celebrated its 100th anniversary. ~ Lowell introduced a new website. ~ The spring student musical, Oklahoma, broke box office records for attendance. ~ Architectural plans were completed for the new science wing on campus.
2009 AT&T Park is the graduation venue for 636 seniors.
The staff of The Lowell, 1929. Below, an illustration from the 1939 yearbook, depicting the Golden Gate International Exposition at Treasure Island.
Winston Chow (Class of ’64), a retired energy R&D executve, and wife Lilly Chow (Lilly Tsu Fah, Class of ’67) have successfully defended their ballroom dance crown by winning the U.S. National Dancesport Championship in the Senior III (over-55) International Standard Ballroom Event in Baltimore the weekend of April 3-5, 2009. Out of 21 couples representing various states across the country in the recent 2009 competition, they placed first in all five dances of the set that includes the slow waltz, tango, Viennese waltz, slow foxtrot and the quickstep. This makes it three consecutive years that they have won the title of National Senior III Standard Champions — congratulations!
Summer 2009
Lowell Alumni Association
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Greetings from Maine in the Winter By Paul Lucey LAA Executive Director Emeritus It’s March 2 as I write this article giving my impressions of life in Maine. I have been here since last July when my wife and I decided to return to our New England roots and join my daughter (Gloria ’69) in Old Town, Maine where she and her husband are UMaine professors. I awoke this morning intending to begin my assignment immediately, but wait… it’s snowing. The pure joy of walking down a country lane in new-falling snow is irresistible. The branches of the trees are laden with snow much like scenes in those beautiful Hallmark cards we see at Christmas. My black Labrador is not so
enthusiastic. She plants her legs firmly and challenges me to budge her 70 pounds. I imagine she’s thinking, “Gee, I know my breed is supposed to like cold weather, but I hate the snow; I want to be home on my rug before the fireplace.” It’s man against dog now, so I end up dragging anchor, so to speak, to the end of the lane. The return home is better. She is stone deaf but there’s nothing wrong with her nose, which tells her we’re heading in the right direction. My first impression of Mainers was at the Bangor International Airport. I flew in from Atlanta and was waiting for my daughter to rescue me when the sound of hand-clapping caught my attention. I saw soldiers coming down a runway to be greeted by men and women applauding and shouting, “Welcome home!” One of the greeters held a sign saying, “Welcome, Heroes”. That was my first introduction to the Maine Troop Greeters. They started meeting and greeting our troops returning from Desert Storm in 1991. They continue as I write these words. An estimated 1,000 planeloads and 200,000 troops have been met with applause, handshakes, thanks, and lots of hugs. It is a brief stopover for troops returning AND deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan, but time enough for Mainers to give them refreshments and provide cell phones for free calls home. The time of day doesn’t matter; 2 a.m. or 2 p.m., a phone tree signals the arrival of a plane and the Greeters spring into action. Flash back to the Battle of Gettysburg for historic evidence of Maine patriotism. On Little Round Top, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain (Medal of Honor) and his 20th Maine Infantry beat back repeated rebel assaults and held the strategic hill, a crucial role in the Union victory. Maine is proud of her heroes, then and now, displaying American flags on the lampposts of many small towns. The demographics of the state were surprising to this multicultural San Franciscan. Maine is a white state — white people (96.5%), white churches and houses, and snow for five months of the year. Apparently it is too far north and too cold to attract newcomers. There was one exception in this Yankee land. I call it the Quiet Invasion, and it came from the north. Since the Civil War, French-Canadians (including this writer’s mother) have spilled down from Quebec to help fuel the Industrial Revolution in New England. Much like today’s mantra,
jobs! jobs! jobs! attracted them south by the hundreds of thousands, bringing with them their language, schools, and churches to form “Little Montreals.” Dire predictions were heard from politicians about their unwillingness to integrate. Fast forward to today: No Frenchspeaking towns exist in the United States with the exception of a few near the Canadian border. The Little Montreals have disappeared, as have most of the Frenchspeaking churches and schools. Nearly a million immigrants have peacefully assimilated into American society including the incumbent chancellor of the UMaine college system. The politics of the state reflect the independence of its people. It shares a distinction with California. The senators from both states are women: Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer in California; Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe in Maine. All are prominent in national politics. The Maine senators’ latest national venture was last February when they broke ranks with Republican colleagues and supported President Obama’s Stimulus Bill. The state’s politicians have played important roles in national politics: Senators Margaret Chase Smith (Maine’s first woman senator ), Edward Muskie (presidential candidate), George Mitchell (No. Ireland/IsraelPalestinian peace negotiator), William Cohen (Secretary of Defense), Collins and Snowe. The state supported President Obama in his presidential bid. Boston’s professional teams — Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics, and Patriots — are 250 miles to the south so sports enthusiasts support UMaine teams, especially hockey, and high school sports. Prep school games get top billing in the Bangor Daily News. The rockbound coast of Maine does indeed exist. There’s lots of it and most coves, inlets, and harbors have one thing in common — buoys of different colors attached to a lobster trap, each the signature color of a harbor fisherman. We’re in the seedbed state for one of the country’s leading gustatory delicacies — lobster. The fishing occurs close to shore by men working alone or in pairs in small boats within 10 miles of shore. It is highly regulated; each lobster is measured for “keeper” size. Recently, a fisherman was caught with two “shorts” in his catch. It was headline news. Smaller lobsters and most females are released. Don’t be deceived by the many colored buoys. Each designates the territory of an individual fisherman or family, sometimes handed down father-to-son for generations. Lobster pounds abound in Maine, located in seaside towns on salt water inlets. Live lobsters swim freely in large tanks with tidal water flowing through to bring nutrients. Originally these pounds were wholesale operations designed to hold lobsters awaiting a favorable price. Nowadays, customers see hundreds of lobsters in tanks, choose the size they want, and within 30 to 45 minutes, they are enjoying Maine’s delicacy — a one and a quarter pound lobster and little-neck clams dipped in butter. Visitors have to be impressed by the weather, hot in summer and freezing in winter. I’ve just come off a Maine winter that lived up to its reputation — 30 degrees below zero, yard-long icicles hanging from the eaves, and 18 inches of snow. Thirty below is when your breath vaporizes as you exhale, car doors freeze shut, batteries whimper and die, water pipes freeze, and L.L. Bean sales of “long johns” soar. The ice is a foot thick, covered by another foot of snow, bringing snowmobiles and kite (parachute) boarders and wind (sail) boarders to the lake. Fishing shanties spring up, surrounded by traps with red flags that signal an unwary bass or pickerel stopping for breakfast. The Bangor Daily News announces snowshoe and dogsled races, snowboarding contests, and cross-country skiing. The state is a winter wonderland for
the hardy, the adventurous, and the young at heart. Join me for a walk in the countryside. Each home has its roadside mailbox with a red flag to signal “mail call.” There are whimsical signs, “Caution, blind cat,” “Night crawlers for sale,” “Speed limit, 15 MPH.” A hundred year-old covered bridge is nearby and stone fences can still be seen marking property boundaries. Maine is a great wildlife state. I have met wild turkeys, lots of deer, and our national bird, the bald eagle. A recent headline warned of great horned owl attacks on walkers if they get too near a nest of fledglings. Black bears and moose have eluded me, although a neighbor recently saw two moose across the street from our homes. I won’t be a certified Mainer until I spot one, preferably with a trophy rack of antlers. Might as well wish big. Outhouses! Now there is a bit of Americana worthy of discussion. Abandoned outhouses are often hidden by bushes or trees to disguise their utilitarian role. Forlorn and unappreciated by a modern world, the family one-holer stands as a relic of rural living before the blessings of indoor plumbing (which froze last January). All yards have one thing in common — a supply of cordwood. The wood is usually split into fireplace size awaiting subfreezing weather. An occasional woodshed gives protection from the weather, but simple stacking is the rule. The Maine winter holds no attraction for summer residents. Kayaks, canoes, sail boats, motorboats, and even mobile docks are pulled up on shore. Now the snowmobiles and ice fishermen come into their own. I look out the window to see snowmobiles racing over the snow-covered lake much like their speedboat counterparts in the summer. Winter and summer, the lake provides recreation for shoreline dwellers. I was puzzled by structures that seemed to have no purpose in a yard. “That’s a fishing shanty,” a neighbor told me. “They sprout up all over the lake when it freezes.” It is a far cry from my youth, when my brother and I were kids. We would cut a dozen holes
in the ice, a baited fish line in each, then build a fire on shore to keep warm. When a red flag went up, we ran like crazy to the hole and with luck, pulled in a pickerel. No sissy shanties for us. The roles are reversed in summer. Snowmobiles and fish shanties are beached and boats take over the lake. Mobile docks return to the water to turn the shoreline into a marina. Children swim to rafts enjoying the miracle of staying afloat on their own. It’s the summer playground homeowners were seeking when they purchased lakefront property (I call it Clear Lake in Maine). The state is rural with colorful scenery and a vast outdoors. The populations of San Francisco and San Jose would fill the state (pop. 1.3 million). Its heyday was 100 years ago when it provided lumber for a growing nation. Bangor, on the Penobscot River, was a boomtown with its lumber barons much like the silver barons on Nob Hill, but a tad more modest. It is a poor state with a per capita income of $32,000. There is no Silicon Valley nurtured by the vast resources of Stanford and the University of California. Nor has it had real estate and “dot-com” booms, so Mainers are feeling the recession without the calamitous effects suffered by Californians. The state has voted Democratic in the last four presidential elections. This article has pretty much been a winter report. In the next newsletter I’ll describe Maine in the spring and summer and the beauties of October when a rainbow of colors spills down from Canada. Residents and tourists alike marvel at this annual miracle of nature. So do travel agents, who fill the tour buses from Boston with those in search of the short-lived display before it turns once again into winter white.
Karpenstein Scholars In March you received a letter from the LAA requesting a mini-bio (150 words max) of your lives since leaving Lowell. We believe the careers of our Karpenstein Award winners will be of interest to fellow alumni. If you have not responded, please do so now, touching on the following subjects: t Undergraduate and advanced degrees (if any), including institutions attended t Occupation(s) and job title(s) t Marital /family status (optional) t Awards/distinctions/testimonials t Publications t Hobbies/avocations t Picture (optional) You can relay this information to
Lowell Alumni Association PO Box 320009 • San Francisco CA 94132 or via e-mail lowellaa@lowellalumni.org or contact Terry Abad directly at 415.759.7830
terry.abad@lowellalumni.org.
Many thanks, Terence Abad ‘76
Page 18
Lowell Alumni Association
Summer 2009
K eeping In Touch… 1929
JUNE
ARTHUR BECKER offers “A fond hello to all the June ’29ers. All is well!”
1930
JUNE & DEC.
JANICE HELEN KERNER GOODHUE graduated from Lowell High School on McAllister Street in June 1930. Now a widow, Mrs. Nathaniel Goodhue lives in Reno, NV. She has led a full life: overseas duty in the Red Cross — Algiers, Sardinia, Italy. First husband, Gregory Duncan, a reporter for Stars and Stripes, was killed in Italy en route from Anzio to Rome. Classmates at Lowell Monda Dunn and Constance Rippon are both deceased. Janice says, “Feel free to call me at (775) 825-1373.”
1931
JUNE & DEC.
ANDREW TRICE complains, “I was disappointed in the last semiannual paper as there was no mention of the class of 1931.” He adds, “Andrew ‘Homer’ Trice is still around at 95. I look forward to the paper and read comments made there. When there is no mention of my class I am upset. Trusting you will not exclude the class of 1931.” [We have only 35 classmates from the Class of 1931 on our active mailing list. — Ed.]
1933
JUNE & DEC.
VALESKA DOUGHERTY RANTZ sends, “Thank you for allowing me to participate in the Lowell graduation last June. I was proud to represent my class of December 1933.” DONALD DASSONVILLE confirms, “Melvin Cohn is correct. We both attended Alamo School. Also most likely, we previously attended the old wooden Rochambeau School.”
1936
JAN. & JUNE
ROBERT CREIGHTON recollects, “As one of your really senior members (but still hanging in there!), I remember when our original Lowell High building had to be retrofitted as a result of the March 1933 earthquake. And Lowell students had to commute to Galileo High for afternoon sessions. Galileo had the abbreviated morning session.”
1937
JUNE & DEC.
JOSEPH H. HANDLON writes “I continue to work on my memoirs. So far I have written four short pieces called My Grandfather’s Drugstore; The Day I Immolated My Oboe; Four Boyhood Cable Car Stories; and, The Circle-H Ranch. I have bound copies of each of these and I will be happy to send any to those interested if you would let me know. I can be best reached by e-mail at handlon20@aol.com” JUNE DE GANNA ADAMS exclaims, “Can’t believe it will be 72 years since graduation day January 1937 — class of December 1936 — as of January, 2009! On the other hand, it’s very believable when you realize I will be celebrating my 90th. Proud to be alum of a great school.”
1940
JAN. & JUNE
CURTIS HOOPER O’SULLIVAN is still keeping busy as book critic for five military/ historical magazines.
1941
JAN. & JUNE
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! THEODORE ‘TED’ SCHULZ sent a contribution in memory of Mary, his wife of 54 years. Ted notes, “Mary would have attended Lowell, except that she transferred when she moved to Utah in 1942. Please give my regards to Joe Ehrman, Grant School, and Lowell.” [Mary was one of thousands of Japanese-Americans relocated to internment camps during WWII in one of our government’s great mistakes — Ed.]
1942
JAN. & JUNE
LAWRENCE HAWKINSON updates, “We have moved to Saratoga Retirement Community and are greatly enjoying our new life. I finally gave up my beloved motorcycle, but being well into my 80s, I realized it was probably about time. I retired as Mathematics Department Head of Gunn High School, Palo Alto, in 1984, but I still attend national and state Mathematics Council Conferences. I am the only person to have attended all 51 annual conferences of the California Mathematics Council Conference at Asilomar. “ MARJORIE WEIGEL HYMAN compliments, “I enjoyed reading your newsletter very much. So many memories came alive. At the approaching age of 84 years, my Lowell days filled my heart and mind with times, all good, never forgotten class of ’42. Please remember me to Gerald ‘Gerry’ Coleman, if possible.” JESSE LANGRIDGE remarks, “Have not seen any class of 1942 messages. Are any of them still around? Hear from Leslie Mendelson regularly.” JOAN RANSOHOFF BERRY shares, “We moved from our home, where we’d lived for 58 years, to a fabulous condo almost a year ago. We love it. Our two children, seven grandkids, and four great-grandkids are our pride and joys.” FELICE HODSHIRE DESPOTAKIS news — see class of 1968
1943
JAN. & JUNE
ALAN ORR announces, “Our committee is developing plans for our 70-year class reunion in 2013. So say I, the optimistic chairman.” HENRY L. GIMMEL applauds, “Ilene and I enjoyed the 65-year reunion this past May, especially the opportunity to have lunch with Terence Abad ’76. Looking forward to the 70-year reunion that Alan Orr advises is already in the planning stage.”
1945
FEB. & JUNE
GLORIA DE MARTINI BENSON sends, “I would like to hear from friends from the class of 1945, especially my sorority sisters from Phi Alpha Chi, at gbenson15@mac.com or (650) 592-9211.” MARIAN HOWE LOONEY posts, “I have retired and moved to Redding, California, to be closer to family and grandchildren. I am in the phone book for any one passing through to the mountains or the lakes.” JERRY O’LEARY greets, “From Santa Rosa, a hail and hearty hello to Lowellites/classmates/ pals, with fondest memories of that special time in our lives.”
1946
JAN. & JUNE
MARSHALL ZEMON claims, “I continue to enjoy my retirement years by going back and forth from Belmont to our second home in Carlsbad-By-The-Sea (San Diego County).” ELEANOR MCCULLOUGH ARNBERG informs “I continue to enjoy living in Rossmoor, Walnut Creek. It is a wonderful place to live with so many activities of various kinds.” NORMA BLAIR CONNOR encourages, “As secretary for UC 1950 Cal Alums, I would love to hear from our Lowell class of 1946 and strengthen that Lowell-Cal connection! Please contact me at shebear50@comcast.net.” RUSS & JOELLE LEWIS BENIOFF ’57 proclaim, “We are delighted to announce the arrival of our new granddaughter Leia Benioff. We have two others — Zoey Young who will be nine and Max Young, who is 5½. We are so fortunate to have our family close by!! We send all of our classmates lots of love!! I was very disappointed to have missed our last reunion!! We were traveling.”
1947
JAN. & JUNE
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! JOHN BELL comments, “Peggy and I have relocated to Southern California to be close to our family. I REALLY don’t like the USC fight song! Too bad the Lowell games aren’t televised, as the Cal games are. Cheers to all you up North!” WILLIAM KNORP recollects, “I remember those wonderful years…the #21 streetcar and all the teachers who could teach; several who taught my father.” RONNY FIGEL SIMON writes “Was sorry I couldn’t attend the 60-year reunion. I have pictures of Arlene Ellis and Pearl Cohn from our Lowell days; would love to share with them but need their addresses. Living in Green Valley (Fairfield) summers and we reside in Rancho Mirage winter; still traveling and golfing — what a good life!”
1948
JAN. & JUNE
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! CHARLES & BARBARA GOODWIN FOGE note, “Two ex-Lowellites now married 56 years! Thank you, Lowell High School.” MERLA BURSTEIN ZELLERBACH updates, “Had a great time at the last reunion! Congratulations to Betty, Marvin, and all who put it together. Am happily retired from my editing job and have a new novel, Secrets in Time, that’s available on Amazon and in bookstores. For what it’s worth, any Lowellite who wants it signed can reach me at merla4@earthlink.net.” WILLIAM ‘BILL’ MORGAN informs, “Been retired over 20 years from teaching in Fresno, California. Sorry to hear about Philip Liberty passing. Football players make life-long memories and think of each other often. Would like to hear news about any of the 1948 football or baseball players. Write me at 3113 N 10th Street, Fresno, CA 93703 or e-mail g.p.morgan@ sbcglobal.net.”
1949
JAN. & JUNE
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! Retired Administrative Law Judge SHELDON ROSENTHAL is volunteering at the Jewish Home for the Aged and Friends of the SF Library, woodworking, barbershop singing, chasing grandchildren, golfing, and traveling. He says, “Who has time to work?” HARRY HAMBLY tells, “Living in Los Altos, still have the Marina home, still creating silk screen prints for craft and gift industries; enjoying friends and family with weddings and holiday times.” JAMES MANEGGIE shares, “Had a great visit with our old friends Douglas Linder and his wife Marianne. They were here all the way from Maine. Doug was best man at our wedding 47 years ago.”
1950
JAN. & JUNE
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! HARRY WONG shares, “My wife and I went with Marvin Hoffman ’48 and his wife, Sue, to Churchill, Manitoba, to see the polar bears. Over 3–4 days we saw over 100 polar bears and it was an awesome experience. On February 16, my wife, Rosemary, and I participated in a ribbon cutting of our school that we have built and will sustain in Cambodia. Pictures can be seen at www.NewTeacher.com.” BETTY TREVOR DAVIS reports, “We are keeping busy with piano students, house and fruit trees, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Greetings to all the classmates.”
DEBBIE KINSLEY DITTMAN details, “In August my girlfriend Ginger and I took the ‘Spanish Wonder’ Trafalgar Tour of Spain. We started out in Madrid. Our tour included stops in Toledo, Seville, Granada, Guadix, Valencia, and Barcelona, where we spent a few days before Ginger flew home. While in Barcelona, I met up with my dancing group of 40 dancers and we went on the Princess Mediterranean Cruise Ship. Besides dancing, we made several stops. Our first was Marseille, France. Then we made several stops in Italy (Florence, Rome, and Naples) before stopping in Turkey at Istanbul and Ephesus. Next we found ourselves in Athens, Greece, and ended our trip in Venice, Italy, before flying home. It was a fantastic trip.”
1952
JAN. & JUNE
ROBERT DOLAN boasts, “Retirement — what’s that? At 74, I’m 100% engrossed (pretty much hands-on) with our property management. Still live right in the center of this fabulous city in the house my grandfather purchased in 1898, and drive by Masonic & Hayes regularly. However, I do manage to break away for a month or so each spring to visit my grandchildren in Paris with a stop-over in Manhattan to visit my second daughter who works at the UN.” COLLEEN MCELROY VERZI cheers, “Looking forward to seeing many of our classmates in April in San Francisco for a 57th–year reunion. We’re getting together for dinner to celebrate our 75th birthdays; should be a very fun weekend.”
1953
JAN. & JUNE
MARTIN SEGOL recaps, “Enjoyed serving on the reunion committee and really liked the reunion. My granddaughter was Bat Mitzvah in August.”
1954
JAN. & JUNE
DARRELL SEVILLA updates, “I retired from teaching media after 42 ‘wild years.’ My students, K–college, produced over 2,000 films and videos, and won just over 1,000 national and international film awards, including three Oscars and one Emmy. The UN Film Department hired me to travel the world making films with Third World children for the International Year of the Child, which was an exceptional experience. As a California Mentor Teacher I trained hundreds of educators to ‘do the media’ all over our state. As I said, it has been a wild and exciting ride, and being a ‘class clown’ at Lowell turned out to be ‘training’ for my exciting career. Some student productions can be viewed on my website: www.camerasandkids.com.” JANET FRANK KATZ states, “Gary and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary this February and enjoy traveling and our five grandchildren.”
1955
JAN. & JUNE
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! NEAL PETERSEN fills in, “I am still actively engaged in the practice of law in the financial institutions regulatory arena. I have been in this game for 47 years since I started with the old Bank of America Legal Dept. in SF in 1962, then as General Counsel to the Federal Reserve Board, 1978–1981, and thereafter in private practice in Washington, DC Retirement is not on my agenda. Indeed, the current financial crisis lends countercyclical support for my legal practice. Oh yes, I still play the tuba in a number of ensembles just like I did at Lowell from 1951–1955.”
1957
JAN. & JUNE
JOELLE LEWIS BENIOFF news — see class of 1946
Summer 2009
Lowell Alumni Association
Page 19
K eeping In Touch… 1959
JAN. & JUNE
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! ELLA TOM MIYAMOTO updates, “Twenty classmates have been planning our “fantabulous” 50-year reunion over the last year. We will return to the Old Lowell HS at Hayes & Masonic on Saturday, October 10, 2009, to celebrate our days at Lowell. What have you been doing? Write and tell us about yourself and your personal/career highlights. We will compile this into a book for a nominal fee (to cover expenses) to be available at the reunion. We want everyone in our class to participate. Please send your piece to Nancy McMillan Clothier at lowellreunion@gmail.com. Please include a photo. Check out our blog at lowell1959.blogspot.com. Hope to see you all at the reunion!” NICK & BENITA RUERO ST AMANT write, “We are so looking forward to the 50-year reunion. Nick says — Eating Club unite Bruce, Gary, Chuckie, Kevin, Len, and I.” IRENE POON ANDERSEN informs that her portrait “Mine” taken in 1996 is represented in the book Mine Okubo: Following Her Own Road, University of Washington Press, 2008. Her photograph “Memories of the Universal Café,” 1965 is included in Asian American Art: A History, 1850-1970, Stanford University Press, 2008, and in the Asian/American/Modern Art: Shifting Currents, 1850-1970 exhibition catalogue, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and UC Press, 2008; it was included as well as the exhibition of the same title at de Young Museum, October 25, 2008 to January 18, 2009.
1960
JAN. & JUNE
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! THOMAS E. DURBIN is still teaching fall terms at CSU Stanislaus. He says, “Looking forward to our 50th! Any plans?” [Keep your eye on the LAA reunion calendar — Ed.]
1961
JAN. & JUNE
WILLIAM GRAFF says, “Just signing in — almost retired, worked 48 years at SF Giants games in sales. Grad USF 1966, US Army 1965–68, three children, seven grandchildren.” WESLEY TOM sends a special hi to Mark R., Henry D., Ken U., Dennis J., Dennis Y., Bill H., Ivan V., and Tony R.
1962
JAN. & JUNE
DAVID GUGGENHIME writes, “The Marin City Children’s Program for which I worked full-time for 12 years had its first three college graduates this past May. There are five more participants who will also graduate within the next two years or so. Given the budgetary situation in California, which is not just a short term problem, I would encourage LHS alumni to volunteer in their local schools.” OWEN RAVEN updates, “Retired Bank Examiner from Department of Financial Affairs of California; docent at California Academy of Science.” K ATHERINE LATHROP LITTMAN announces, “Still enjoying Sonoma County — working at Kaiser, playing music. Son Chris graduated from the University of British Columbia. I’m very proud of him.” MICHAEL BRUCE DEITCH says hi to the Class of June ’62, and he writes, “Well, I guess we are all about Medicare-eligible at this point. Time flies…would like to say a special hello to registry 136, Mrs. LoForti’s homeroom. Hope all is well. Wondering how my old friends John Plough, Robert ‘Bob’ Roddick, and Steve Aizenberg are doing. Drop me a note. Does anyone have information on Terrence Hook? We lost contact about 1966 when he was at Cal and I was at SF State. Would like to hear from old friends; contact me at deitchmichael@ hotmail.com”
KENNETH ATTERMAN greets, “Dear classmates/friends: Still 1) practicing law in San Rafael, 2) married, 3) playing golf, and 4) spending too much time online, but not necessarily in that order! I’d love to hear from any of you near or far at my ‘new’ e-mail address — attymarin@gmail.com. Hard to believe it’s 50 years since I started at Lowell as a sophomore. Keep in touch and happy new year!” SHIRLEY PAINTNER PERKINS retired in June, after 41 years of teaching in the San Francisco Unified School District.
1963
JAN. & JUNE
BRYAN KENNETH GIRARD details, “After majoring in music at SF State, I put the saxophone on the back burner for many years while pursuing a technology career that took me all over Europe and Asia. I returned to jazz full-time in 2001 and haven’t looked back since. Now living in Vallejo and San Francisco with the love of my life with whom I reconnected seven years ago, Rosemarie Estolas DeWeese Girard ’64. We ‘went steady’ at Lowell before going our separate ways for 37 years (so Rosie is my first and last girlfriend). I hated to miss the 45-year reunion but promise to see you at the 60th. I’m at bkgirard2001@yahoo.com” JANICE MACARTHY DRUIAN informs, “Five years into retirement I am living my dream with husband, Greg, in Central Oregon. I’m a full-time painter. Visit my web www.druianstudios.com. Life is good!”
doing community service on the Diablo Valley Chinese Cultural Association Board and other organizations like the Pacific Bus Museum. It is my 2009 wish for the economy to recover, especially in real estate. Traveling is my pastime.” When DONNE MILLS DAVIS witnessed the birth of her first grandchild six years ago, she went completely gaga. She knew she was not alone in her enthusiasm. So she founded the GaGa Sisterhood, a national organization for enthusiastic grandmas. Her organization offers bimonthly programs on activities to do with your grandchildren, such as traveling, visiting museums, storytelling, gardening, singing silly songs, reading, and sharing family memories. She also writes a monthly online newsletter. You can learn more about the organization by visiting www.gagasisterhood.com. GLORIA GONZALES GRACE brags “I have now enjoyed 1½ years of retirement as a clinical social worker. My husband and I have taken some fantastic trips; one of the most exciting was to New Zealand and Australia. I am enjoying my two grandchildren, who seem to love spending time with grandma and papa.”
1966
JAN. & JUNE
MURRAY F. MECHUM rejoices, “It was wonderful to see that Cathryn Brash is a member of the Lowell Alumni Association board of directors. She was my favorite Lowell teacher. My best to her!”
CARMEN AZZOPARDI GAGE comments, “Many thanks to Allan Gold and the ’63 Reunion Committee for another wonderful gathering. Looking forward to our 65th birthday celebration.”
JUDITH CLARKE informs, “Am enjoying retirement in SF and keeping busy as President of The Woods Homeowners Association and as docent at the new California Academy of Sciences. Still have time for travel and other fun things!”
1964
1967
JAN. & JUNE
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! RONALD QUOK announces, “Retired from the teaching profession after 36 years; currently working ambitiously with the reunion committee planning our 45-year reunion. Keep Saturday, October 17, 2009, open. Hope to see everyone there!” LIZZIE BROWN-JEREMI states, “We are looking forward to seeing all of our classmates on October 17, 2009. If you are in contact with other of our classmates, have them contact Gwenlyn Giffing Gibson at gwenlyn-gibsonlowell64@comcast.net for the information and invitation.” MARC CHRISTENSEN updates, “Thank you to the editor for the kind words in the Fall ’08 newsletter. Yes, I retired from teaching five periods a day after 39 years in the SFUSD. I still continue to coach track and field for the district, as well as mentor teachers throughout the secondary division. I’m looking forward to seeing as many of our Fall ’63/Spring ’64 classmates as possible at our 45-year reunion on October 17, 2009.” He also pleads, “On a more serious note, the SFUSD is facing a major financial crisis. Now is the time for all Lowellites from every class to step up and donate an amount each person can afford to preserve the special programs at Lowell. Consider supporting critical staffing needs, the grants program, scholarships, the Annual Fund Campaign, the Lowell Sports Foundation, or any restricted gift funding of your choice. Your donation will go a long way in providing the finances needed to continue the current programs that previous generations of Lowellites have enjoyed.” [Many thanks, Marc, for your service to SF’s young people and your support for Lowell — Ed.] WILLIAM H. MENZIES announces, “Class of Spring as well as Fall 1964, please save October 17, 2009, as the date for the 45-year reunion. Please contact the Reunion Committee at the LAA website for information and updates as well as your own personal information.” ALEXANDER LEE LOCK sends, “I am looking forward to our class reunion on October 17. Although I retired to Reno last year, I am still working at US Airways in San Jose and
JAN. & JUNE
STUART QUAN states, “Sorry, I missed the reunion. I am currently commuting monthly between my University of Arizona (Tucson) and my Harvard (Boston) faculty responsibilities. Please stop by and visit if you are in either locale.” TERRY NATHAN notifies, “Loving significant other Rich Sirianni passed away 02/17/2009; starting to reconnect with old friends. E-mail terrylynne53@aol.com to touch base — would love to hear from you.” YVONNE M. WONG TONG says, “Thank you for the 40-year class reunion in September 2007. I enjoyed the time spent immensely. At the class reunion, I was so very glad to meet again friends from Lowell…still I miss others like Susan Lew, Su Fang, Edith Heitmann, Lilly Fah, Betty Eng, Sharon Chan, Susan Chin, Katherine Lee, Anna Lee, Beatrice Sinoncelli, Wanda Wilburn, neighbor Gregory Cheung, David Edwards, Nancy Lee, Phoebe Ko, May Chau, as well as Pam Wiley and others. You may find me at privilege1224@gmail.com” JEFFREY KEYAK greets, “Hi to all fellow ’67ers. Vicki and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary. Son Aaron is press secretary at National Jewish Democratic Council, son Joshua is a senior at Yeshiva University, and son Jonah is a sophomore at Jewish Community High School. I’m at Kaiser Permanente, where I manage the national sustainable energy and operations programs.”
1968
JAN. & JUNE
KITTY DESPOTAKIS sends “Cheers to 40 years! Missed the reunion but had to mention it was a great year. Justin, son of my brother Ken Despotakis ’68, was married in June to a wonderful girl named Clare at the Fairmont Hotel in SF. Our mother, Felice Hodshire Despotakis ’42, is doing fine living in the gold country near Lake Tahoe, and my husband Robert is making a living creating fine furniture in his workshop where we live near Placerville. Looking forward to another year of good health for all.” MARY GOUGHNOUR DOLL continues as a nurse (33 years) working at two local Sonoma County hospitals. Oldest son Evan (Stanford
’03) is on the iPhone team. Son Joey (Cal ’06) is working toward his Ph.D. in engineering at Stanford. Daughter Elle attends SSU School of Nursing. Son Lyell is a freshman at UC Davis, Mary’s alma mater. Daughter Robin is a junior in high school with college plans undecided. Mary says, “The joy of learning which I developed at Lowell has ‘infected’ my children.”
1969
JAN. & JUNE
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! ALISON THOMPSON MCKEE details, “In 1969, I graduated from Lowell. In 1973, my husband and I moved to Minneapolis for what was supposed to be just enough time to get graduate work done. One thing led to another and we found ourselves in Madison, WI, where my husband found a postdoc and I began the serious endeavor of homeschooling/unschooling our two children. Since then I have managed to write Homeschooling Our Children, Unschooling Ourselves and From Homeschool to College and Work, two books based on our unschooling experiences, and do the necessary speaking and writing that come from those efforts. I also work full-time as an itinerant teacher of blind and visually impaired children in our local school district. My life has been full of exciting adventures, and I like to recall that many of them began at Lowell when I was doing volunteer work at the elementary school nearby. My love and fascination with helping children learn, in nonconventional ways, has never diminished since that time.” SORIN EREMIA suggests, “Looking forward to the 40-year reunion. It would be nice to combine some reunions with the year ahead and behind. We all had many friends or teammates a year ahead or behind us we would like to see again. After 40 years, I recently met Kenneth Carter from the swim team. It was great to talk of the old days!” BRUCE QUAN writes, “Greetings to all! I have been disabled/retired since 1999. I entertain myself by traveling the world, wondering why our elected officials are mentally challenged, and trying to make the life of my sponsored children (Christian Children’s Fund) a bit easier. If anyone working on the 2009 reunion needs help, feel free to contact me. I wish you all peace — and intelligence to our lawmakers.”
1970
JAN. & JUNE
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! PETER VISALLI is in his 31st year of his San Francisco–based hardwood floor business. NANCY LIM-YEE hollers, “Greetings to the class of 1970! Hope this finds everyone well. I’ve been working for the city and county of San Francisco’s mental health division for the past 33 years; currently program director at Chinatown Child Development Center, a children’s mental health clinic. With my three children all grown up and out on their own, retirement is in my foreseeable future. Looking forward to our 40-year reunion.” ROBERT HAYMAN comments, “I’ve reached the point where kids on the street refer to me as ‘Sir’ (or ‘Old Timer’). I still drive cars that run on gasoline, haven’t learned to text-message, and don’t have a Facebook page (for which my own kids are eternally grateful) or an HDTV (for which they aren’t).”
1971
JAN. & JUNE
BRENDA KAHN e-mails, “After a series of magazine editorial jobs, I landed in my current long-time position as senior public information officer for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (based in Oakland, and serving the nine Bay Area counties). I’m now trying my hand as a journalism instructor at City College of San Francisco. I live in Berkeley with my husband and four kids — including identical twin preteen girls, a son at UC Davis, and another son about to go to college.”
Page 20
Lowell Alumni Association
Summer 2009
K eeping In Touch… KAY ALICE WIENER DALY updates, “I have lived for many years in Sacramento with my husband, John, and our dogs, Fiona and Binky. Son Justin married this year. I continue my work on the Eastern District Attorney Hate Crime Task Force as well as the board of the Sacramento Interfaith Service Bureau, both groups working for human rights. I hope you have a prosperous year. I’m at kaydaly@aol.com” LEATRICE SHELLY FORD greets, “Hello to all my fellow Lowell alumni. John and I (high school blind date), married 35 years, are doing well in San Ramon. Still working at AAA, 28 years ‘strong.’ Son Jason, 31, captain in the Marine Corps, is getting married in ’09. Daughter, 30, is an investment broker, traveler. Good wishes to all — health and happiness.” WENDY NELSON TOKUNAGA announces “My second novel from St. Martin’s, Love in Translation,’will be published in fall 2009.”
1972
JAN. & JUNE
ANDREW HUI updates, “Currently working at Amgen Inc. at Thousand Oaks, California, as a scientist in the Department of Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism (area of interest: membrane drug transporters).”
1973
JAN. & JUNE
1976
1980
BETSEY MAR HO shares, “The last of my brood, Christopher, is set to graduate from Lowell in 2009. My oldest, Clarissa Ho ’05, will graduate from UCSB with a triple major (Bus Econ, Japanese, and Chinese). My middle child, Jennifer Ho ’07, is a double major at UCD (Chinese & Linguistics) and preparing to study abroad in 2009.”
LINN HOM mails, “Still living in Sacramento and working with the State of California (Office of Systems Integration). Wishing all Lowell alumni well for 2009!”
IRMA MANCIA RYMERS details, “I graduated in 1976 from Lowell High. I always remember fondly my three years in high school. I have worked as an R.N. over 20 years. Completed my bachelor’s in nursing in 2003 from Stanislaus University, and in 2007 I graduated from the Nurse Practitioner Program at UC Davis. Currently, I am practicing at a family practice clinic and love this job so much. I continue to work at San Joaquin General Hospital in Stockton in the maternity unit every other weekend as an R.N. and finally will be finishing my master’s in nursing in May 2009. I have two children: Melissa, who is going to be transferring soon to UOP with a major in pharmacy, and my son, who will be graduating from high school in May 2009 and will start Delta Junior College with a major in electrical engineering. I have been married to the most wonderful man David for 25 years. Overall, I owe my educational success to my teachers and mentors from Lowell High.”
ROBINA E. INGR AM-RICH writes, “Exercising middle-aged brain through participation in book group (23rd year), League of Women Voters (really smart ‘older’ women), and board work. Last year grad work in bioethics — now with certificate that says I know ethics. (Trust me on the practicing part.) Retirement date has moved back a year or two — guess the Peace Corps or Habitat for Humanity can wait.”
1979
1974
COREY DOMINO shares, “Life is good! God is good! I have lived in Sacramento since 1989,have been married twice, have one daughter (16), and teach preschool.”
JAN. & JUNE
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! JULIO V. SOSA tells, “I just reprinted my poetry book, ‘Impressions of Warriors and Clowns. Some of you might have read the first edition copy I left at ‘RO’ back in the ’80s. Well, I dusted it off and the second edition just left the printers. I added a few new poems to the book. There will be another book shortly, Kang Ta’s Moon, hopefully by the end of the year. Visit my website: americanimage.itgo.com to see what I’ve been up to.”
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! LOIS FONG-SAKAI sends, “After 6 years, Willie, Katie (age 16) and I finally saw a baseball game at all 30 major league ballparks! Fenway Park and Wrigley Field were our favorites. We hope that all of you are doing well, and we hope to see everyone at our 30-year reunion.”
LORNA CORRAL PADIA MARKUS is now the proud grandmother of Robert Jacob Padia, a partner at Mowat, Mackie & Anderson.”
Dear ’78 Classmates,
Our recent reunion was a resounding success. We had a lot of positive feedback from the many classmates who attended and it was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with friends from “back in the day” and to ALIENA CHENG CHIN shares, “My hus- develop connections for the future. We also band, Victor, and I are blessed to have celebrated appreciate the hard work and long hours put 26 years of marriage. Both our daughters (Erin in by the planning committee. and Mallory) have graduated from college with Though we had planned for a minimum their degrees and are holding down decent jobs. of 250 attendees — about one-quarter of We are done with being personal banks for our our class — that number proved to be optichildren. Next year Victor and I look forward to mistic, so we find ourselves “out of pocket” being ‘in-laws.’ Imagine that!” by about $2,500, which is down from VERNE DERTIMANIS tells, “Married to $3,500 a few months ago. We’re grateful Demetria for 25 years; lived with her in sin three to those of you who have already sent in years prior. Daughters Sofia and Eleni are much contributions in amounts ranging from $50 smarter than me. Still enjoy surfing, traveling to to $250, as the Lowell Alumni Association Greece, seeing music, and girl watching. Not as cannot assume this debt. pretty as I was but I have some tall tales and an Please consider making a contribution to alias. Happy and healthy, 2009.” defray this debt. Any amount will be appreSCOTT WOOD greets, “Looking forward to ciated. If you can help us out, handle the seeing everyone from ’74 and our friends from check just as you did for the reunion itself, ’73 and ’75 at our reunion in October! Loving by making the check to Roy Abendroth and mailing it to Julie Soo at 260 Glenview life in Colorado!” Drive, San Francisco, CA 94131. We have TAMARA COGNETTA reveals, “Started the discussed this, and we have decided that we new year off in a BIG way — I was in the tourwould prefer not to have to sell pencils on nament of Roses Parade (no, not as the Queen)! the street to cover the deficit! Our district band was one of the 15 chosen to Thank you for your generosity march in the ‘Granddaddy of them All,’ and it and support. was the most thrilling six miles of my life! Hope Roy Abendroth everyone else’s 2009 has begun in a great way — Julie Soo and I’m looking forward to our next reunion!”
Follow Lowell on Twitter Check out general Lowell news @lowellalumni and Lowell sports news @lowellsports
1981 SELINDA “SALLY” MOLLOY NEAL relates, “So grateful for the many Lowell friends and teachers whose courage, strength, and honesty continue to inspire me through this ever-surprising and unpredictable journey of life!” DOROTHY CHIN greets, “I want to say hello to Sally Molloy and Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Halimah through the Keeping in Touch column. I am a psychology professor and mother of 19-month old twin boys. I would love to hear from Sally, Liz, and other old friends at dchin@ucla.edu.” JULIA LAVROUSHIN is wishing everyone health and joy in 2009!
1982 SERI GOMBERG writes, “Currently living in Orinda with my husband, 13- and 17-year-olds. Worked in real estate and now transitioning back into operations management and performance improvement. Visit my website at www. gomalool.com.” ANNIE MIU HAY WARD updates, “Now work at salesforce.com, the only $1 billion+ technology headquartered in SF. Great place to work.”
1983 NOELLE YUEN states, “I am still living in San Francisco with husband and two kids, ages two and four! I went back to school to get a teaching credential so that I can start a new career teaching math in the middle schools.”
1984 See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news!
1986 IRENE KUO announces, “I was promoted to associate professor of ophthalmology, tenure track, at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. I specialize in laser refractive surgery such as LASIK and PRK, corneal transplantation, and cataract surgery. There is a lot of attrition between assistant and associate ranks, so I feel fortunate that I was able to juggle motherhood, research and publications, patient care, and administrative duties. Lowell certainly prepared me well for hard work!”
1987 FRANCISCO GUTIERREZ informs, “Still working at E*TRADE as a director of software development while getting a master’s from Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley.”
1988 GLENN GALANG posts, “The 20-year reunion was a lot of fun! Thank you everyone for your participation. Let’s continue staying in touch. Visit our website: http://lowell88.ning.com/” LAURA LANE comments from Menlo Park, “Had a great time at 20th reunion. Keep in touch!”
Sacred Heart Cathedral since 1998. One of my former athletes from SHC made the Olympics, so Malinda and I went to Beijing in August 2008 to cheer her on. Yes, running, which all started back in my Lowell days with Coaches Lloyd Wilson and Jim Thomas, has been good to me!”
1990 See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news!
1992 KATHERINE DO HEIDENREICH updates, “After medical school at UC San Diego, I completed a residency in Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Maryland, followed by a fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. I will join the faculty at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in April 2009 as an assistant professor in otolaryngology. My husband, Mike, and I have a two-year-old daughter, Reese.”
1993 MICHAEL SIM says, “Not too much new going on. Sarah and I continue to live in Elk Grove with Martin, almost two years old. I still work at Kaiser in South Sacramento along with a bunch of other Lowell alumni.”
1995 YANA ZELKIN FRAZEE and James Frazee are proud to announce the arrival of their firstborn, a daughter, Sophia Isadora Frazee, on December 21, 2008. Mother and child are doing great!
1998 Yearbooks for sale! The yearbook office has copies available for purchase – just $75 each. Please contact the Lowell Alumni Association at lowellaa@lowellalumni.org or (415) 759-7830 for more information. LESLIE LAU updates, “I recently got married (August 2008) and I am currently living/ working in Southern California. I attended our 10-year reunion at Roe in San Francisco this past December. It was really fun to see everyone again!”
1999 See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news! Yearbooks for sale! The yearbook office has copies available for purchase – just $75 each. Please contact the Lowell Alumni Association at lowellaa@lowellalumni.org or (415) 7597830 for more information.
2002 Yearbooks for sale! The yearbook office has copies available for purchase – just $75 each. Please contact the Lowell Alumni Association at lowellaa@lowellalumni.org or (415) 759-7830 for more information. MARISOL VISALLI is still traveling the world!
2004 GUSTAVO VISALLI graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Davis and just returned from Thailand.
1989
2005
See the Reunion Calendar on page 2 for important class reunion news!
CLARISSA HO news — see class of 1976
ANDREW “ANDY” CHAN reports, “I’ve been married to Malinda Walker since 7/7/07, coaching cross country and track & field at
2007 JENNIFER HO news — see class of 1976
Summer 2009
Lowell Alumni Association
Page 21
In Memoriam 1926 EDAJANE GERHARDT KEMP passed away in her sleep last February, just days after turning 100. Her father, Peter Gerhardt, was a member of the S.F. Olympic Club track team that competed in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, bringing home two medals for the United States. She met her husband of 71 years, T. Weatherly Kemp, at Lowell. He predeceased her in 2001. “Ede,” as her many friends called her, was the oldest surviving member of the Gerhardt family. Unknown to their parents but confided to their only son many years later, Weath and Ede had eloped to Mexico a year before the Gerhardts hosted a formal wedding for them! Edajane was a devoted mother to her son, Tommy, as he was called, She adored her three grandsons and seven great-grandchildren. Edajane was a perfect reflection of her times — she spent her life caring for those around her, content to leave the pursuit of more worldly adventures to others. She will be sorely missed by her extended family, including her son, Tom (Barbara) Kemp; her grandsons Weatherly (Karen), Bruce (Erin), and Timothy (Lisa) Kemp; and her great-grandchildren, Dutch, Phoebe, Tommy, Elsa, Jackson, Abby, and Mackay Kemp, all of Marin County.
1928 MARIETTE QUIGLEY WILFERT, UCB, passed away at the age of 99. She was reunited with her husband, parents, siblings, and friends on December 19, 2008. For a number of years she worked as a medical technician. On September 10, 1948, at Mission Carmel, Mariette wed Albert R. Wilfert, spending many happy years in the dream home they built in Saratoga, CA. Their nieces and nephews were frequently invited for extended visits to the orchards of Santa Clara Valley. Mariette was always gracious and did everything with kindness, elegance, and a great generosity of spirit. She had impeccable taste and cultivated a keen fashion sense through formal education. She was preceded in death by her husband, her father and mother, her siblings, and grandchildren. Mariette is survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins, grandnieces and grandnephews.
1929 VINTON W. VAUGHAN, loving husband, father and grandfather, died peacefully at home surrounded by his family on November 13, 2008. Vinton was born in Napa, CA, on Jan. 26, 1911, moving at the age of 10 to the city he came to love. After graduating from Lowell and USF. he married his wife of 50 years, Dorothy Hartnett Vaughan. Together they raised four children: Yvonne, Moira, Debbie, and Gregory. Proud grandfather to 10 grandchildren: Eric, Nicole, Meghan, Robert, Emily, Caroline, Katie, Peter, Victoria, and Robbie. Vin was the cherished father-in-law to Liz Vaughan, Arthur Romaine, and Robert Kimball. He had a great life over his 97 years! He had a great sense of humor and a true lifelong passion for his family and his friends. He will be greatly missed.
1931 GALE R. BLOSSER, a Stanford graduate, passed away peacefully last January. He worked for 35 years in the SF Assessor’s office and spent the last 16 years of his life at San Mateo Convalescent Hospital. Gale is survived by his wife, Dale; children, Erik and Beth; grandchildren, Erin, Quincy, and Tobin Mitchell; and his cousins from San Jose, Keith Kinkade and Grace Gibson. Gale was a collector of various items, which gave him a great knowledge of history, plus a teller of jokes for any and every occasion. He was a member of Gateswingers Folk Dance Group as well as New Vision United Methodist Church and made many wonderful friends from both places.
1932 DOROTHEA J. “DORIS” (PALLVINY) NELSON passed away peacefully on November
30 in Santa Cruz after a long and active life. She began her lifelong love of tennis and met her future husband, Walter ’29, at Lowell. Doris and Walt moved with their young family to San Carlos in 1947. She will be remembered by family and friends for her enthusiastic and dedicated Peninsula volunteer activities: PTA, Chicken’s Ball, Tri Y advising, Villagers Historical Society (Pres.), San Carlos Parks and Recreation Comm. (Pres.), San Mateo County Service League, Daughters of the Golden West (fundraiser), and KABL’s “Citizen of the Year.” Doris continued to compete in tennis well into her granny years and was a skilled big band dancer. She was a worldwide traveler and visited countries such as Japan and Ireland. Doris was predeceased by her husband and is survived by her sister Jean; son, Steve; daughter, Valerie and grandchildren. DOROTHY BROWN NEMOFF, a San Francisco native, passed peacefully last October at her home in Pacific Heights after a brief illness. She attended Girls High School and graduated from Lowell High School in San Francisco. Dorothy is survived with great loss and sadness by her son, Robert Joseph Cole, and her daughter-in-law, Nancy Reece Cole, of Mill Valley, and by her husband, Harry Nemoff, of San Francisco. Dorothy will be missed more than words can express. She was greatly loved.
1935 WALTER A. IRVINE, a resident of Burlingame for 40 years, died peacefully at home, his family by his side. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Maria, and second wife, Jeanne. Mr. Irvine is survived by four children, 13 grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren. He will be greatly missed by all. LOUISE (KATCHINSKI) WEISSMAN, a native San Franciscan, died Thursday, March 19 at the age of 91. She was married for 35 years to Arthur Weissman, executive vice president and member of the board of directors of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals, until his death in 1980. She was a member of Congregation Emanu-el for 52 years and active in the Sisterhood Guild and Sisterhood board, serving on a number of synagogue committees including its museum committee. She was passionate about the city of San Francisco, particularly its physical beauty, its sports teams, and its opera, symphony, and ballet, and her many friends. She is survived by two sons, Dr. Ronald Weissman ’68 of Menlo Park and San Francisco, and Dr. David Weissman of Milwaukee; three grandchildren: Daniel, Aaron and Julia; nephew Jerry; and cousins Marshall, Barbara, and Edward.
1937 MEL DVORSON, UCB and a Great Generation WWII veteran, resident of San Francisco since the 1920s, passed away peacefully at home on December 19, surrounded by his loving family. He founded Dvorson’s Food Service Equipment in 1953 and designed restaurants worldwide. Mel was a professional soccer referee for over four decades, an avid history buff, a passionate music lover, and an award-winning dancer. He will be fondly remembered for his sharp intellect, astute political observations, and everpresent humor. Mel leaves behind his devoted wife of 60 years, Betty; children, Alexa, Mimi, and Josh; and granddaughters, Geffan, Alia, and Emily. He will be dearly missed by family and friends from many circles, including the Concordia-Argonaut, where he first met Betty. ROBERT WILLIAM HADELER SR., a Stanford grad and WWII Great Generation Navy veteran, died last November. He worked in the grocery business most of his life, serving as president of the SF Wholesale Grocery Company, and vice president of Von’s Credit Union as well as serving on its board. Bob was president of his class at Lowell. He married Marjorie Annette Hunter in 1943, while serving in the US Navy, and together they raised three children. After retiring from Von’s, Bob joined his son at Dynasea Corporation as vice president. He is survived by his loving wife,
partner, and companion of 65 years, Marjorie; three children: Marlowe, Bob Jr. (Sarah), and Marcia,known as “Bobby”; five grandchildren, Alexa, Kristen, Tara, Torie, and Robert; and two great-granddaughters, Evan and Mackenzie.
1938 MILTON CHRISTOPHER VUCINICH, B.A. Stanford, WWII Great Generation veteran and skipper of a Navy PT boat, died December 14. He was a child of the Great Depression of Yugoslav descent. Milt was captain of Lowell’s football team and a varsity baseball player. He attended Stanford University on a scholarship, playing fullback and linebacker. The talented athlete played on Stanford’s only undefeated football team which beat Nebraska in the Rose Bowl in 1941. Among his athletic honors were induction into the SF Prep Hall of Fame and the Lowell Sports Foundation Hall of Fame. After a year of professional football with the Chicago Bears, he began his long and successful career in the insurance business. Among his accounts were the SF Giants and the Golden State Warriors. His friendships spanned the generations: Lowell, Stanford, the Navy, business, and the California Golf Club (41 years). This writer remembers him at his 50th reunion, reintroducing Carole Channing to their classmates. More recently he attended luncheons with The Venerables, where the conversations were largely of “the older I get, the better I was” vintage. Milt is survived by his wife of 65 years, Vera, and children, Jeff and Kristine.
1939 RUTH MARION (KNOPH) BUTLER, SFSU, died last December. A San Francisco native, Ruth and her late husband, Harold Butler, lived abroad for 26 years. She taught high school in Tokyo, Bangkok, Manila, and Venezuela. For the last 10 years she tutored students at St. Peter’s School. A wonderful lady, a special friend to many, and the best mother in the whole world to daughter, Victoria Ann Butler, and late beloved son, Randolph Hugh Butler; and late beloved grandson, Clayton Baxter Butler. She is survived by her sister, Constance Ann Anderson; her grandchildren, Randolph Butler Junior and Barbara Dukes; and great-grandchildren, Taylor Lily Dukes and Layla Mackenzie Dukes.
1940 PATRICIA KURTZ STEPHENSON died at the Redwoods in Mill Valley, on February 17, 2009. While attending Lowell she met her future husband, James McElroy Stephenson ’40. Patricia worked at the Emporium as a buyer but left to raise their three children. A resident of Mill Valley since 1952, Pat was active in the Park School PTA, the Mill Valley Tennis Club, and the Mill Valley Community Church, where she also served as secretary for many years. She was predeceased by her husband of 60 years, Jim, and a son, Mark. Patricia is survived by her son Jim and daughter, Lynne; five grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; and nine step-greatgrandchildren. She is also survived by her sister, Charlene, and a niece.
1941 MARJORIE JAN RUDEE, a lifetime resident of SF, died February 18, 2009. She was predeceased by her husband of 58 years, Milton, and cherished brother, Harold Haas. Marjorie was funny, witty, generous, and smart and will be missed by all who knew her. She is survived by three children, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Robert S. Zeile notified the LAA office that his father, JOHN E. ZEILE JR., BA Stanford, passed away May 2008 in Pasadena. RUSSELL LEONARD RUSTICI, UCB, a WWII Great Generation Army veteran, Purple Heart in the Battle of the Bulge, died in
Clearlake, Lake County, October 5, 2008. Russell went to work in the produce business, joining Sunset Produce Company, owned by his father and Ed Milani. He later became a partner as well. When the City’s old produce market was displaced from its downtown location to make way for Embarcadero Center, Russell was instrumental in the development of the South SF Produce Market. He remained an active member of the market’s board of directors until his death. Retiring from Sunset Produce in the 1960s, Russell moved to Lake County to become a cattle rancher. Along with that, he developed a deep interest in natural resources management. A philanthropist as well, Russell endowed three academic chairs in the UCB system. At Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources, he established the Russell Rustici Chair in Rangeland Management. At UC Davis, he endowed two chairs in rangeland, water, and soil sciences. For students, he established a number of scholarships, including the Rustici Livestock and Rangeland Scholarship Endowment, administered by the California Farm Bureau Scholarship Federation, and scholarships at Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources. In April 2008, the college presented him with its highest award, the CNR Citation. In addition, Russell supported various local charities in Lake County, serving as treasurer and board member of the Lower Lake Community Action Group. He is survived by his sister, Corinne Rustici, of Lake County.
1942 FRANCES REGINA ARNERICH died December 15, 2008 in Watsonville. She is survived by many cousins and by nieces and nephews, who enjoyed her gentle caring and quiet way and humor. She worked downtown at the White House Department Store and retired to care for others at home. Frances loved the City and had happy memories of her childhood in Watsonville as part of the Croatian community. Aunt Franny will be missed. WALTER HOWARD HILL, a Great Gen eration WWII Army Air Corps veteran and SFSU graduate, passed away in Petaluma on Thursday, February 19, 2009. After graduating from college, he began a 30-year career in education, serving in the public schools as a teacher, counselor, coach, and principal. Howard proudly oversaw the establishment and building of the continuing education high school for Petaluma. After retiring, he began his second career as a volunteer for Petaluma Valley Hospital, Kaiser, Hospice, Friends of the Library, and the Petaluma Museum, just to name a few. He had a passion for football, the ocean, and abalone diving. Howard was predeceased by his wife of 50 years, Betty Giles ’42. He is survived by his daughters, Denise and Carolyn; four grandchildren; a great-grandson; and a sister, Alice. THOMAS A. GALLAGHER JR., BA & JD Stanford and a WWII Great Generation Army veteran, died on September 24 at the age of 83. He served as a medical corpsman in the European Theatre until 1946. Tom’s entire working career was in the field of banking law. Following the completion of the bar, he joined the firm of Stevenson, McCallum and Davis and subsequently served in the legal departments of Crocker National Bank and its successor bank, Wells Fargo, from which he retired in 1990. He was preceded in death by his wife of 40 years, Margery Basler Gallagher. He is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, John and Nan Gallagher of San Francisco and his lifelong friend Nancy Robinson Stavig of Mill Valley. GERRY G. FALK, BA USF and WWII Great Generation US Army veteran, passed on February 12, 2009 in Hillsborough. He spent his career in the automobile business, acquiring his own dealership, Burlingame Ford. In the early 1970s Ford sent him to Spain to set up a dealer network. He will be remembered by his many employees as a generous and dear friend who helped many of them to successful careers. Mr. Falk was predeceased by his dear wife, Bonnie, and is survived by two sons.
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Summer 2009
In Memoriam MARJORIE JEAN RUDEE (N. HAAS) passed away last February. She was a lifetime resident of SF Marjorie was predeceased by her beloved husband of 58 years, Milton and cherished brother, Harold Haas. She was the devoted mother of Stephen (Marilyn) Rudee, Barbara (Paul) Jaffe and the late Jeffrey Rudee. Her grandchildren Jason (Jeannette) Rudee; Jill (Sean) Melvin; Michael, Adam (Nicole), and Brian Jaffe, will always remember their “Nana” with love. She was a great-grandmother to Haley and Hannah Rudee and Gabrielle Rodda. Margie had two sisters, Mary Haas and her lifelong friend Joyce Gollober, as well as many friends with whom she loved to spend time. She was funny, witty, generous, and smart, and she will be missed by all who knew her. She was fortunate to have her devoted caregiver, Zenni, with her for the last two years.
1943 Mrs. Frank Antoine notified the LAA office that her husband, FRANK ANTOINE, died last October in Walnut Creek. HOBERT W. BURNS, WWII Great Generation veteran (Purple Heart), BA, MA, EdD Stanford, died last October at his home in Los Gatos. Bert, as everyone called him, said the turning point in his life was in middle school when the principal referred him to renowned Lowell High School in San Francisco. His career in the field of education defies full description here: professor, acting president, SFSU and Sonoma State; Fulbright Scholar to Chile; chair of the Dept. of Cultural Foundations, Syracuse U; dean of the College of Education, Hofstra U; academic vice-president, SJSU. The entire CSU system adopted the model for general education he created. Bert was acting president of SJSU during 1969–1970, coinciding with the protests against the Vietnam War. He was credited with forging a student-faculty-community coalition that helped spare the campus the tumultuous unrest other schools experienced. Bert returned to administrative and teaching posts from 1970 to 1983. In 1979 he received the faculty honor society’s first Exemplar Scholar Award, recognizing outstanding teaching. In 1983 CSU Chancellor Ann Reynolds appointed him interim president at Sonoma State University. Bert’s lifelong commitment to educational reform was reflected in his publication of nine books and 99 scholarly articles. Even during his administrative career he always taught classes. He once wrote, “A wonderful school experience at Lowell High led me to want to be a teacher. I’ve never regretted that conclusion and the life to which it led.” Bert is survived by his wife of 54 years, Patricia; daughters, Carol and Janifer; son and daughter-inlaw Charles Burns and Annie. Other survivors include grandchildren Donna, Monica, Ryan, and Clare; goddaughter Cecily; brothers- and sisters-in-law Charles and Merle Burns and Katharine and James Bower.
1944 RUTH LEVISON HALPERIN, a Stanford graduate, super football fan, and trustee, died last November at the age of 81. Mrs. Halperin was born a fourth-generation San Franciscan whose family had arrived during the Gold Rush. After attending Grant School and Lowell, she enrolled in Stanford, where her father, Robert Levison, a 1921 Stanford alumnus, had taken her to football games since she was five. She was a passionate supporter of her alma mater: she was a patron of the university’s art programs; attended more than 60 Big Games; endowed with her husband two professorships in art and history; championed efforts to rebuild the Stanford Museum after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989; commissioned the campus landmark “Stone River” sculpture, a serpentine wall crafted from sandstone salvaged from Stanford buildings destroyed in the 1906 and 1989 quakes. In 1956, she married Robert Halperin, who later became president of Raychem. While raising their children, she found her calling as a leader of efforts to improve the arts at Stanford. “I think it is fair to say that the Cantor Arts
Center at Stanford might not exist without the guidance, passion and support of Ruth Halperin,” said Thomas Seligman, Freidenrich director of the Cantor Arts Center. “She was a dear friend to whom I will be forever grateful.” In 2007, Mrs. Halperin was awarded the Golden Spike Award, Stanford’s highest honor for volunteer service. Her father also received the spike, in 1973. She is survived by her husband, Robert, and three children: Philip, Mark, and Peggy; a sister, Barbara; and eight grandchildren.
1945 Nancy Wolf notified the LAA office that her beloved husband, LAWRENCE JOHN WOLF, WWII Great Generation Marine Corps veteran, USC graduate, MA Cal Poly, LLB La Salle U, died in April 2008. He enjoyed a career in the automobile and aerospace industries and retired as the director of student financial aid at Cal Poly. Lawrence is survived by his wife, Nancy; four children: Larry Jr., Brian, Marianne, James; and seven grandchildren. Phyllis Vargas notified the LAA office that her mother, LOIS S. (KONKEL) ARMAJO, passed away last December. “She always remembered her school with fondness.” BARBARA JEAN DUBOSE (DE MATTEI) December 28, 1926 – January 4, 2009. Barbara (Mimi, Bobby) passed away at her home in Novato, CA, with loved ones and friends by her side. Barbara grew up in the Marina and Cole Valley districts of San Francisco. Upon marrying and raising a family, Barbara moved to the Sunset District and finally moved to Novato, CA, in 1976. Barbara was married to Russell McKlem and is survived by their two children, Russell and Colleen, and grandchildren, Sean and Ryan Barry. In 1970, Barbara went on to wed Lon T. DuBose (deceased) and is survived by his children, Stephe, Suzie, and John, and grandchildren, Jason, Karen, and Cameron. Barbara loved meeting and befriending new people, as well as spending time with close friends and family. The loss of Barbara will be felt deeply by all that were close to her. GEORGE DAVID CROWLEY, BA Santa Clara, passed away peacefully on December 5, 2008, in Antioch, CA. He worked in the accounting industry for 46 years and as general manager of Towne Ford Sales in Redwood City for 30 of those years. George and Margaret married in 1956 and raised seven children in Cupertino, CA. He is survived by Margaret; his brother Joseph and wife Betty; children: Michael, David, Mary, Annie, John, Mark, and Laura. Twelve grandchildren, Milan, Nina, Jillian, Kyle, Matthew, Sennan, Bianca, Jack, Christopher, Andrew, Joseph, and Michael, will also miss their grandfather tremendously.
1946 DALLAS D. BROCK, attorney (USF), Lowell and Santa Clara basketball player, died of heart failure at his home at the age of 81. He played basketball (6'3'' guard) for Benny Neff and continued at Santa Clara, beating UCLA twice, and making it to the Final Four, before losing to Kansas. Dallas practiced law in San Francisco and was a patron of the arts. He is survived by his wife, Darlene; daughter Candyce Brock of Corte Madera; and two sons, Dallas D. Brock of Redondo Beach and Christian Brock of San Rafael. JAMES FRANCIS KRELING, UCB, passed away peacefully on Friday, Nov. 21, in the city he loved and lived in all his life. He was surrounded by his family and friends. Jim had deep roots in both Europe and San Francisco. His mother was born in France — a country and culture for which he retained a deep affinity. His father’s family — originally from Germany — resided in the City since the late 1800s, contributing to its cultural and economic development. His grandfather was a well-known impresario of his day, who brought many talented performers to the then popular, family-owned Tivolli
Theater. James’s professional life was largely spent in the insurance business, specializing in insuring many restaurants in the Bay Area. He will be greatly missed by his beloved wife, Angelica; sons, Mark and Matthew; stepdaughter, Gabrielle Milani; grandchildren, Samantha, Derek, and Nicole; and an extended family of siblings, nieces, and nephews.
1947 JOHN L. HENDRICKS, a Cal graduate and US Army veteran, passed away last December at the age of 79. He worked for the Dietzgen Corp. for 15 years. In 1971, he and a partner bought Baker Graphics, a blueprint business in Palo Alto with five Peninsula locations, retiring in 1996. He enjoyed tennis, golf, and skiing, especially when the whole family was involved. John is survived by his wife, Sally; three children; and eight beloved grandchildren. He was proud to say all his kids and their spouses attended Cal …Go Bears!
continuing education high school for Petaluma. After retiring, he began his second career as a volunteer for Petaluma Valley Hospital, Kaiser, Hospice, Friends of the Library, and the Petaluma Museum, just to name a few. He had a passion for football, the ocean, and abalone diving. Howard was predeceased by his wife of 50 years, Betty Giles ’42. He is survived by his daughters, Denise and Carolyn; four grandchildren, a great-grandson; and a sister, Alice. RONALD B. CASRIEL, BA SFSU and Korean War Navy veteran, died September 2008 of pancreatic cancer in Torrance, CA. He spent 16 years with the Ernst & Ernst CPA firm. Next, he went to Occidental Petroleum as vice president and treasurer for 20 years. Ronald is survived by his wife of 52 years, Helen, and two children, Caren and Richard.
ELIZABETH MENZIES METTLING, a fifth-generation San Franciscan, passed away last December. She was the keeper of the family history, which she learned from her mother, her aunt, and especially her grandmother (a 1906 survivor). Fortunately, she wrote the history in her beautiful script with many of the family photographs. Elizabeth attended Grant Elementary school. She was a child in the years leading up to and during World War II, walking across the Bay Bridge when it opened and visiting the 1939 World’s Fair on Treasure Island. In 1950 she married Joseph Mettling (d. 2003). She spent her life raising and loving her three children and three grandchildren. She was on the board of and served as president of the Miraloma Park Improvement Club, contributing much time and energy to improving her community and making many friends. Mrs. Mettling is survived by her children: Jocasta, Morgan, Barbra, and Cassandra; granddaughters, Kelly and Madison; and grandson, Darwin.
JERROLD M. LADAR, Esq., JD UCB Boalt Hall, passed away on September 17, 2008, at the age of 75. He clerked for federal judge Albert C. Wollenberg Sr. before being hired by Cecil F. Poole, US Attorney for the Northern District of California. He spent 10 years as a criminal prosecutor, the last two as chief of the Criminal Division. Jerry started private practice in the firm of Maginnis & Dormer but soon opened an office across the street from the Federal Building, where he practiced for 28 years, the last 20 with his wife, Joyce. While he defended many of the Bay Area’s high-profile cases, he also taught the night class of criminal law at San Francisco Law School. He was active in the American Bar Association Criminal Law Section and edited In Re, the criminal law newsletter for the California Bar Association. A friend of the federal bench, he was considered the “Answer Man” by other criminal law practitioners. Far from serious outside of the courtroom. Jerry was well known for his theatrical interest and talents. He regularly appeared in Morrie Bobrow’s legal reviews to benefit various legal associations’ annual fund-raising events. In 1988, he was honored to be invited to edit, produce, and direct the American Bar Association’s highly successful Presidential Showcase Production titled “Whether a New Nation.” He is survived by his mother, Sylvia Ladar; his wife, Joyce; and his sons, Jeffrey and Jonathan.
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1952
The LAA office was notified that DAVID COHEN has died in Sonoma.
ALVINA EDITH MONTEVERDE FLOWER passed away peacefully at home in Sausalito on December 10, 2008, surrounded by her loving family. She was an ardent golfer (hole-in-one in 1992) and a fiercely competitive tennis player in tourneys in the 1980s. She will be missed by friends in Marin County, northern and southern California, the desert country, and back East (Conn. and NY) where the family lived in the ’60s and ’70s. Alvina married (1953) her lifelong boyfriend and classmate, Kenny Flower ’49, Lowell and USC basketball Hall of Famer. She is survived by husband, Ken, daughter, Kimberly; son, Kenny, two grandchildren, Billy and Lauren; nieces and nephews. Predeceased by son, Jeffrey. Alvina’s Lowell classmates send their condolences to her family.
The LAA has been notified that WILLIAM F. “BILL” MALLORY SR. died last November in Salem, Oregon. He was a lifetime member of the Presidio Golf Club and president in 1965, 1978, and 1991. Bill was the father of three children and grandfather to six.
1956
GEORGE GUNJI SHIRO died peacefully on October 8, 2008, at the age of 78, with his beloved wife of 51 years at his side. George graduated from the Western College of Radio. In 1959 he opened his own business called Shiro Bros. TV and worked there until he retired in 1989. George battled against progressive supranuclear palsy over the last 19 years of his life. He is survived by his loving wife, Chiz; sons; Richard and Michael; daughter-in-law, Traci; his two beautiful grandchildren, Kimiko and Kenji; and brothers Joe, Whitey, and Jim.
MELVIN PRESCOTT, a U. of Santa Clara graduate, died March 14, 2009, surrounded by his loving family. He was a Daly City resident and OLM (Our Lady of Mercy) parishioner for 41 years. Mel enjoyed a sales rep career with Wyeth Labs for 28 years. He was on the Daly City Park & Rec. Commission Personnel Board, the San Mateo County Grand Jury, and was a member of the Bronco Bench. Mel had many interests, primarily his family and friends, basketball and golf (hole-in-one, 1989), coaching (CYO), the 49ers, and high school and college basketball. He can be seen in his 1956 (Centennial) yearbook with teammates Tom Meschery, Jim Caranica, Ken Balling, et al. His family and friends will miss this giant of a man with a heart to match. He leaves his classmate and wife of 41 years, Lynn Vlautin Prescott ’56; children, Nicole and Colin; two grandchildren; and an extended family of nieces and nephews.
1950
1957
WALTER HOWARD HILL, a Great Generation WWII Army Air Corps veteran and SFSU graduate, passed away in Petaluma on Thursday, February 19, 2009. After graduating from college, he began a 30-year career in education serving in the public schools as a teacher, counselor, coach, and principal. Howard proudly oversaw the establishment and building of the
RUSSELL G. JANIGAN, BS, MA, Teach. Cred., SFSU, passed away unexpectedly on Oct. 18, 2008, in Mill Valley, CA, at the age of 69. Russell worked for 40 years teaching biology and life sciences at a number of SFUSD schools. He also worked in the District Curriculum Office mentoring teachers, and developing and overseeing curriculum implementation. After
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In Memoriam retiring, he worked as a consultant to schools and educational foundations. He was a talented educator and was well respected by both colleagues and students. Russell and his wife, Mary, took many trips when they retired from teaching several years ago. He loved hiking on the trails of Mt. Tamalpais and walking on the beach. He is survived by his beloved wife, his brother Richard ’65 and his wife, Cathy Feder Janigian ’73, many nieces and nephews; and a wide circle of good friends who loved him dearly.
1963 Duffy Jennings ’65 notified the LAA office that his brother, DORN W. JENNINGS, died in Maywood, New Jersey, after a lengthy struggle with cancer. After graduation from Lowell, he served four years in the US Air Force in Okinawa. He held a variety of positions in the computer industry until he retired in 2000. Dorn is survived by his wife of 35 years, Kathy, by his brother, his nephew. Adam; and niece, Danielle. KEVIN PATRICK McTIERNAN, USF, passed away at age 63 on October 6, 2008. Kevin spent his career working in banking and credit card and health care services. He served on the boards of the Irish Cultural Center and Family Link. Mr. McTiernan is survived by his wife of 40 years, Kathy Argo; his children, Megan, Shannon, and Sean and their extended families of relatives and friends.
1965 LANI SILVER a lifetime San Francisco resident, died on January 28. She was 60 years old. After receiving two master’s degrees in political science, one from San Francisco State University and the other from the University of Chicago, she threw herself into political activism. A candy striper turned activist, she began the Holocaust Oral History Project, through which she interviewed or oversaw more than 1,700 interviews
of Holocaust survivors. Her interviews took her throughout the world: she visited France, Russia, and Japan to conduct interviews that are now in the Smithsonian Museum. In later years, she helped break the story of Chiune and Yukiko Sugihara, a Japanese ambassador and his wife who assisted over 2,000 Lithuanian Jews escape by issuing them exit visas. As she broadened her interests to include issues of racism and genocide, Lani fundraised for the James Byrd Foundation while helping youth in local school districts understand how racism affects their lives. She also conducted 2,600 interviews dealing with racism in the Bay Area. Lani was known for organizing notable events for her organizations, which brought them funds, friends, and considerable attention from the press. Most recently, she coordinated an event in San Francisco to honor the 10-year anniversary of the death of James Byrd. At the time of her death, she was also working in several high schools to promote antiracism in education. An artist at heart, her posters, paintings, photographs, music, and collages were uniquely beautiful pieces expressing her political views. She wrote several operas on the dramatic Sugihara and Byrd stories, along with three CDs. Lani is survived by her sisters, Lynne Jacobs and Lori Silver (with husband Sydney Shaber), along with nieces and nephews Sara Silver Jacobs, Brette Silver Jacobs, Jose Silver Jacobs, Lauren Shaber, and Justin Shaber. PETER J. (CADO) AVENALI Peter, or “Cado” as he was known to many, was a fifth-generation San Franciscan, born October 31, 1946. He died in Santiago, Chile, December 27, 2008, after a long and courageous fight against cancer. He was a graduate of The Town School, Lowell High School, and the University of Utah. He is survived by his loving wife, Ruth; his daughter, Hillary Avenali; his parents, Peter and Joan Avenali; sister, Marianna Schaefer; brother, Michael Avenali; nephew, Christopher Schaefer; niece, Katherine Roberts; as well as numerous cousins, especially Linda Guittard, his devoted friend. His son Joshua predeceased him. Cado devoted his life to seeking out adventure both here in the US and throughout the world. He
was a skilled and enthusiastic skier, mountain climber, rock climber and, river rafter who loved the outdoors. With his wife and longtime friend Scott Perryman, he operated an adventure travel business out of Coyhaique, Chile, where he lived for many years. He was a kind, lovable, and loyal person, and he will be sorely missed by his family and many friends in many places.
the theater and arts, good books, good food, singing and dancing, and books on philosophy. Gail will be missed beyond measure. She is survived by her three children: Serena, Clark, and Stephanie; three grandchildren; her brother Dennis; two nephews; many cousins; and lifelong friends.
TONY TUITELE, a SFSU graduate and citizen of American Samoa, died March 1, just shy of his 62nd birthday. He bore the title of Paramount Chief of the Tuitele clan, served on the nation’s senate, was a director of the port administration, and held several similar government offices. He received a two-day funeral, beginning with a state funeral at the LBJ chapel. The governor stated, “American Samoa has lost a great man and a great friend. He will be greatly missed.” The Senate and House passed resolutions conveying deepest condolences and sympathies to Tuitele’s widow and family.
1972
Paramount Chief Tuitele is survived by his wife, Fesala’i Allen Tuitele; children, Tanya, Tehani, Joshua, and Jason; and an extended family of grandchildren, nephews, and nieces. The senator’s advice to his children was , “Get your education first, come home and serve the family.” A bizarre twist to this obituary is that the senator’s sister Lepeti (wife of Bill Fazio, prominent SF attorney), died in a freak accident (choked on a piece of gum) while attending her brother’s funeral. That two members of the Samoan nobility would die so suddenly sent the US Territory of 650,000 into shock. Two of her children are Lowellites: Tarita Fazio-Geniella ’95 and Tom Fazio ’99.
1970 GAIL YVONNE MARBLE passed away peacefully, surrounded by her children, on December 20, 2008. She was well-traveled in the world, including Europe and the Middle East. Gail had a love for languages and was fluent in Italian and Spanish. She had a variety of interests:
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$40 (includes shipping and handling) Please send check to
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INGRID LOUISE TOBIASSEN, SFSU, passed away peacefully last December at home, surrounded by her children and friends. She was born and raised in San Francisco, and earned a degree from San Francisco State University. Ingrid was predeceased by her sister Kristine; her mother, Sue; and her father, Toby. She is survived by her sons, Erik and Christian; her daughter; Josephine; her brothers, Toby (Arthur), Richard, and Ronald.
1974 JEFFREY ALAN (SIK) SEAD, UCB, passed away unexpectedly last February. He is survived by his brother Danny Sik; niece, Kimberly; and nephew, Christopher; and many uncles, aunts, cousins, and relatives and a wealth of devoted, loving friends. He was an HR professional with a biotech firm in South San Francisco and most recently was a business center associate with Stanford Court Hotel in SF Jeff was an English teacher in Japan for a number of years and a volunteer for the Asian-Pacific Wellness Center. Jeff was passionate about all aspects of Asian and Hawaiian culture, was a member of a Hawaiian dance troupe, and loved traveling, gardening, and photography. Jeff was a compassionate mentor and friend to many who knew him. To those he touched with his warm kindness, he will truly be missed.
1978 EUGENIA KAHILA AGATHANGELOS MELISSAR ATOS, SFSU cum laude, Concordia U, Alberta, Canada; California School of Herbal Studies; Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, passed away peacefully on Friday, March 6, surrounded by her brother and dear friends at Stanford Hospital. Eugenia had a diverse career that spanned several fields, interests, and roles, including working as an operations analyst, customer support coordinator, finance assistant, and security analyst in the banking, finance and technical fields. She established and directed Energy Essentials, an import business. In later years, Eugenia began painting and created a prolific portfolio of unique and vibrant water colors. She developed a website to share her art with others: www. creative-expression-art.com. In addition to art, Eugenia’s interests included worldwide travel, photography, music, singing, dancing, and being in nature. She had a gentle, loving spirit and will be greatly missed by the many lives she touched. Eugenia was preceded in death by her parents, Agathangelos and Hariklia Melissaratos. She is survived by her brother, Gregory A. Melissaratos.
FACULTY DONALD MURRAY, an SFSU graduate, Korean War veteran, and science teacher, died at his home in Daly City of Parkinson’s disease. He taught at Lowell from 1968 until his retirement in 1992. Students will remember the good-natured Mr. Murray as a popular and respected teacher whose classes filled rapidly on self-scheduling day. Donald’s avocation was service in the Merchant Marine (1946–1982). Each fall he put away his mariner’s uniform and resumed his career as a science teacher. The world traveler would regale us in the teachers’ lounge with stories of far-off places he had visited during his so-called summer vacation. Donald is survived by his wife, Geneva; twin daughters, Geneva and Donna; three grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
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An Illustrated History of Lowell High School 1856–2006
I
n celebration of Lowell’s sesquicentennial, the Lowell Alumni Association is proud to announce the publication of the definitive history of the West’s oldest public high school, spanning Lowell’s colorful 150-year history. A limited number of this keepsake hardcover book are still available. The book includes: ◆ A complete narrative history of Lowell, from its 1856 founding as Union Grammar School to today ◆ 300 pages, including nearly 150 photos (many in color) ◆ Complete histories of many Lowell activities, including music, drama, forensics, JROTC, etc. ◆ Detailed accounts of the history of various Lowell sports, from football to swimming An accompanying CD-ROM provides several special features, including: ◆ Complete graduation lists of every class from December, 1859, through June, 2007 ◆ A listing of every Lowell faculty member ◆ Special lists (student body presidents, editors of The Lowell, etc.) ◆ Selected images from the Lowell Alumni Association archives This commemorative history is being sold for $50, including tax, shipping and handling. Just complete and return the order form below to take advantage of this very special offer. If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact us at (415) 759-7830 or lowellaa@lowellalumni.org. YES! I would like to order ________ copies of An Illustrated History of Lowell High School 1856–2006 ($50 each). Enclosed is my check (made payable to Lowell Alumni Association) in the amount of $___________.
Lowell Alumni Association PO BOX 320009 • San Francisco, CA 94132 (415) 759-7830 E-Mail: lowellaa@lowellalumni.org Visit our website: www.lowellalumni.org for information about reunions, special events at Lowell and alumni news
Summer 2009 — Lowell Alumni Newsletter
Attention Parents Help us ensure that your son or daughter receives this newsletter in a timely manner. If your child has a new permanent address, please let us know so that we can update our records. Contact us at (415) 759-7830 or, via e-mail, at lowellaa@ lowellalumni.org. Thank you!
Attention Small Business Owners Reach out to Lowell Alumni via Our New Online Business Directory With the economy in the doldrums, we want to help Lowell alumni promote their businesses to fellow alumni.
Name ______________________________________________Class ________
After all, if a Lowell alum needs a new veterinarian, plumber,
Last Name at Lowell (if different) _____________________________________
financial advisor or accountant, wouldn’t he prefer to give his busi-
Address _________________________________________________________
ness to a fellow alum?
City ________________________________ State _________ Zip __________
If you would like to be listed in our online directory, e-mail
E-mail __________________________ Phone __________________________
us at lowellaa@lowellalumni.org (mention “business directory” in
Mail to Lowell Alumni Association PO Box 320009 San Francisco, CA 94132
the subject line) with your name, year of graduation and a short description of your business with contact information. Let’s help one another weather this economic downturn!