COMMUNICATIONS FROM CLASSMATESThe following are letters or emails that need to be shared that I have received from classmates or relatives. |
Click on any person below to view their letter.
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Ev Macy 11-16-2005Hi Dennis: We moved to this area after I retired in July '02. I put in 38 years in with Los Angeles Unified School district and Ventura Country Community College district. We bought 4 acres up here when property was reasonable, for Calif. After retirement we had a house built. We are about 30 minutes from the southern entrance to Yosimite Nat. Park. Come visit sometime. I'm sure you know, but Tony Potami passed away. He was not listed as such on the web sight. I last checked the sight on Tues. Look forward to August – making it to my first reunion. Ev & Carolyn Macy |
Vicki McDermott 11-28-2005Hi, Denny! Please change my former married name back to my Irish maiden name of McDermott. I am happy to have acquired back my proud name through my divorce. Also I'm glad we're having the 45th reunion next summer so count me in on attending the Aug. 4-5 gathering at the Androy. I'm also wondering with so many of us retired now if there might be an interest in a golf outing at Mesaba Country Club either Fri. a.m. or Sun. a.m. (doesn't everybody play golf at this age?) I could call & check it out if we have committed players interested. Anyway thanks so much for all that you do and have done for our fun and friendly class. Vicki McDermott |
Roberta McGowan 1-10-2006Hi Dennis! I have chanaged my name and address. Roberta (McGowan) Way is no longer~~~I am now Roberta Pias living at 20 Emerald Highlands Ways , Sequim , Washington 98382 . My phone number is (360) 582-9723. Unfortunately, I will not be attending the reunion this summer. However, I look forward to any information that might be mailed out to classmates. I have received no information or material regarding the reunion because of the wrong address. I have lived here in Washington for the past 3 years. Please send greetings to all my classmates. Would love to see or hear from them if the come out to the beautiful Pacific Northwest !!! My email address is robertapias@olypen.com. Thanks for your time in making the above changes. Have a WONDERFUL REUNION !!! Roberta McGowan Pias |
Tom Kantos 12-16-2005Dennis, Hello from International Falls. The reunion sounds like a good idea. I usually have company from SD for the first week in August, but I will see about changing the dates. Richard DelGreco is deceased. He flunked a grade so he wasn't with the class of 1961 as he was supposed to be. He was my best friend in my early childhood. Robert Erickson was murdered at Sioux Narrows , Ontario , where he was living at the time. I used to see him on his trips back to Hibbing. I worked for U.S. Immigration on the International Bridge so I got to see lots of Hibbing people coming home. Take care........................... |
William "Bill" Widstrand 1-7-2006
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Sheila Rothkopf 12-21-2005Hi Dennis How is a girl supposed to keep up the lie of being a whole lot younger when emblazened across the front of a mailing is the obvious truth????? Roger and I moved back to the big, wicked city last January. We love it, especially the 3 minute commute to downtown( 15 minutes if one hoofs it across the Hennepin Ave. bridge). New street address: Phone: 612-378-3001 Look forward to seeing you .......hopefully at the gala reunion. What would the town elders have said if we had scheduled the 5th or 10th reunion at the local hotel? Ah, another sign of the times.....a long, long time(s). Good thing we all look and feel young. Sheila (Rothkopf) Stageberg |
Steve Erickson 1-7-2006Hi Dennis, I came out to California in 1962 and have been here ever since. We have very good overall weather here in the bay area which is the primary advantage. I really could not take Minnesota weather anymore. I am now retired and enjoying it. Time does fly though. Regards, Hi Dennis, Just received your Class of 1961 Reunion blurb. Would you please correct my address as follows: Stephen Erickson My e-mail address is: serick2095@aol.com Thanks, and best wishes for the coming year, |
Cynthia Erickson 1-9-2006Hi Dennis, Thank you for letting me know about Bonnie. Do you know what type of cancer she had? I've lived in Oregon since December of 1979 when my husband and I moved here from the San Francisco area. He had grown up in the Seattle area and really missed the northwest, so got an engineering job in the Portland area, and we were midway between my family in the San Francisco area and his family in Seattle . My family moved to California in the summer of 1962. It's been nice to have Karen Miettunen Nichols living in Portland , and we've had fun over the years reminiscing about our teen-age years in Hibbing. I noticed from your website that Tom Meados lives in Eugene , Oregon , which is where my oldest son is a physician ( works at the only hospital in Eugene ) as of July. Is Tom still there, and what does he do? Do you have an email address for him? Eugene is where the University of Oregon is and recently has become a popular place for retired people from California. I was last in Hibbing about 23 years ago with my husband and two sons when they were 3 and 6 years old. We took them to see the open pit mines, and they were fascinated with the huge trucks. We bought shirts for them with a drawing of the open mines and the name " Hibbing ," making for good conversations when they wore them. My oldest sister was in Hibbing in July for her 50th reunion. She hadn't been there for around 45 years! Will you be updating our class info? It would be interesting to know what everyone is doing and where they are now. ~Cynthia |
Sharon Douville (Barden)Hey Den, If i remember correctly, quite a few of those pictures on the website were mine.........and I am very pleased where they ended up. You get to a certain point with your possessions that you wonder what will happen to them when you die...I never had kids. I am certain that none of the nephews or niece will have a clue. Susie Wilkerson is my sister-in-law but that doesn't mean her kids would care about the class of 1961. Not sure how many I have around here, but will check them out and send them to you. Is your address on the website? The day I checked out the website I ended up somewhat depressed with all the classmates we have lost. And yes, most of them did cross paths later in life. Kathy Barrett's sister Susie was married to my younger brother (both my sister-in-laws were Susies...) and she also died in 1989. Lost her to Leukemia. Needless to say, Kathy and I were very close over the years. We shared a niece and nephew. And Bonnie....I think she was a friend to all. I spent a lot of time with her, up at their cabin at Side Lake. Quite a few of my pictures might be from those times. The ones of all the girls in front of the pizza was taken on one class day or another. Must have been 11th grade because my sister-in-law Susie (Mary) was with us. I think we were all heading to Side Lake. We were so fortunate to grow up in Hibbing. And to be teenagers when rock and roll was just hitting the world. The Youth Center cannot be explained to others, guess you had to be there. I sure feel sorry for teenagers today. Things are so different. Not sure if we will be up in August, but thinking about it is certainly drawing me there. July and August are good reasons for heading out of Georgia. Good talking to you..... |
Ray Kampen 12-29-2005Dennis, You most likesly don't remember me. May name is Roy (Skip) Kampen fro the class of 61. I lived out in the country and didn't do that much socially whil in high school. My current/retirment address and an update to your list is: Roy Kampen Thank you very much for you fine work in developing and maintaining the website. I must admit that I had a hard time looking at the list of people that have already passed awy. They were some of my dearest friends while in School. I'm definitely going to attend this reunion since it will be my first since graduation and hopefully not my last. Best Regards, Roy Kampen
Dennis, Thanks to your website and letter on the pending reunion I realize how much that I've missed by not keeping in touch with people that I grew up with. My only explanation is that I joined the Navy at 18 years old with a friend named Russell Ningen (also of the Class of 1961) and spent the majority of my life, including 25 years in the Navy, outside the continental United States. My grand parents that raised me in Hibbing died many years ago and the house I used to live in was razed for a machine shop with essentially no sign of my old home. Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness. I'm really looking forward to seeing old friends and acquaintances at the reunion next August. Best Regards, Roy |
Jackie Fiori Hartnett 6-28-06June 28, 2006 I have so enjoyed your website & look at it periodically for additions. Just noted the 2004 reunion pics and they're great. I've enjoyed contributing to the site. Because of it, I've been in contact with several of my Hibbing friends. That's been really a pleasure. Thanks, again. Jackie Fiori Hartnett March 19, 2006 March 27, 2006 |
Lloyd Korhonen 4-25-06April 25, 2006 |
Patrick Nash 4-7-06April 7, 2006 |
Pat Wippler Busha 4-26-06April 26, 2006 David Andrew Karakash I will keep a look out for your dome homes. Your web page is very interesting...Congratulations on how well you have done! Thanks again, Pat |
Donna Korhonen Yecke 5-3-2006Dennis, Donna Korhonen Yecke HOWEVER from May to October, we are here: Cell: 651-587-6384 I think I'll be changing my email when I get to MN, but I'll let you know what it is. Thanks for doing this, Dennis. It brings back a lot of memories. I'm shocked to see who has passed on, especially Bonnie. She was so young. See you in August! Donna |
Phillip J. Smolz 7-10-2006Phillip J. Smolz Dennis Johnson July 10,2006 Dear Dennis, I received word of the reunion from Ray Kermode a while ago. Sorry I haven't responded sooner. I cannot make it this year due to work and vacation scheduling, but I want to give you my current info. It may be too late to be included in the program but I want to assure you I am alive and well.
My current address is: Phillip Smolz I don't have a current e-mail address so I have to rely on "snail mail" Have fun at the reunion, Pat
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Ted Vonfeldt 8-23-06Dennis, I think I can help with a couple of people in the picture. The first is Tom Brklich standing next to me in the photo. Matt, his dad, was our little league baseball coach up at Bennet Park when we were 10-12 years old. The last time I saw the Brklich's was in Austin, MN where Matt had bought into a pizza business. I don't remember what year it was. The other person I recognize is Ken Volbrecht (not sure of the spelling). He is standing between Fred Nelson and Frank Yuretich in the top row. I think anyone who knew Ken remembersthat he was able to get a drivers license in 8th grade. His mom owned a 1957 green plymouth. Mickey Laurienzo may remember the clouds of blue smoke from the tires when Ken did dounuts with the car. Ken ran around with several of us but in particular, Jim Daniels as they lived close to each other out by Dupont Lake. I also remember a party at Ken's parent's vacant house out in that area. We all got in lots of trouble over that party. I'm sorry I missed the class reunion. I have a new job (3rd career) with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit as a light rail operator. Being new to the job, I couldn't get the time off at the right time. I hope to make the next one in 2011 if I'm still around. After looking at the obituaries, a personjust doesn't know. I can't believe the number who have passed. I guess we will all have our time. Thanks for the great work you are doing with the Web Site. When I feel nostalgic, I look at the site just to remember some of the greatest people I have ever known in my life. I have some old pictures of Parpovich, Tellor, Obrien, Laurienzo, and others.They are from the Prom in 1961 and also a little get together at Tellor's cabin around that time. What are the bids not to show these pictures fella's? For that matter, what are the bids to show the pictures? Thanks for the memories. Ted VonFeldt
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| Updated 09-08-2006 |
JoAnn Peterson GonzalezDear Dennis, I am hoping to attend the class reunion. I have lived in California so long and have lost contact with all of my classmates. I missed the last two years of high school as well. How fast the time has passed. Looking at the photos brings back so many memories Hope to see you in August. |
| Updated 09-25-2006 |
Amy RandyHi Dennis- Amy Randy, CSI, CDT Cuningham Group Architecture, P.A. |
| Updated 11-17-2008 |
Rudy NylundHi Dennis, I enjoyed the chat with you at our last get- together at the Androy. I am so impressed with all the work and thoughtfulness you have put into the web site, not to mention the hundreds of dedicated hours. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!!! I've just retired from my second career job.( 31 yrs. as a systems engineer with AT&T and 10 yrs. in electronic sales at Sears ) Currently I am on the building corp. board for a new fire station, also its historian and official photographer. My wife Janet and I do some traveling and spent some time in Arizona last winter. Back home, both of our children and 5 grandchildren live nearby, so we are kept busy and entertained. Please add my e-mail address, rnylund@hrtc.net to the "Class of '61" list. Sincerely, Rudy Nylund
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Tallie Sachs (Paperny)Hi, Dennis., Hope all is well with you. The latest on me is that on January 22nd I became a grandma to a precious baby girl born in Los Angeles. Parents are my oldest son Todd and his wife Sunny. Please change my address to |
Keith GrundfeldtI was in bank management for 28 years before we were acquired in 1996. The last 11 years I have worked for a company the buys, sells, manages and leases high-rise commercial real estate properties in the Twin Cities, Chicago and Indianapolis. I am planning on retiring in June of this year (2007) and I'm ready! I really enjoyed viewing this web site and all of the old memories from the "Good Old Days". Growing up in Hibbing and the Iron Range was special and something that my wife, kids and people from the cities don't understand. Best wishes and I hope to see you in 2011! Keith Grundfeldt |
Dick BranhamMay 8th, 2010 Hi Dennis: It was good to hear from you. Why I am at this end of the hemisphere is a complicated question best explained when we can sit down together over a cold beer. Let's just say that I work at a scientific center doing my specialty, astronomy, and enjoy being with my wife, daughter, and three grandsons, the last of whom arrived just this week. |
| Updated 5-12-2010 |