Sorry
I missed February! My wife has been ill, we had a blizzard, and I was doing the
documentation for a major product delivery at work. All conspired to throw off
my schedule for the month.
Our
numbers are holding at 699, meaning we are under the illusion that we know the
whereabouts of 699 classmates.
January
and February were hard months for our classmates.
Condolences
to Corrine Kilpeck Fortune, whose mother died recently.
Condolences
to Christine Altieri, whose mother and father both died in the fall.
Tom
Iacono shared this tribute to classmate Marc Plante, who died recently:
“I
don’t know if you knew Marc, but he was my childhood friend. His parents and
mine were good friends. Marc and I were born 2 weeks apart, so we spent time
together from when we were babies and went to the same schools together from
pre-K through high school. During the high school years, we drifted apart as
often happens and I have not seen or spoken to Marc since high school. But the
memories have stayed with me. I spent more time with Marc than any other kid
growing up. We were always at each other’s homes. We served as altar boys
together. If I had a dollar for every one-on-one basketball game we played, I
wouldn’t be worrying about my son’s upcoming college expenses. Marc was a quiet
kid, but I think that those that knew him know how funny he could be and what a
good kid he was. By all indications, he was a fine adult too. Even though we
have not had contact for years, it is sad when someone you were once so close
to passes on. Here’s to his memory.
We
do have a little good news. David Lanni is proud to report that his brother,
John E. Lanni Jr., was just inaugurated as one of three City Wide Councilman
for the City of Cranston and was also elected City Council President.
Congratulations!
David
Fowler is once again training for this year’s Boston Marathon, and he is once
more blogging about his progress. You can read his always-fun and
thought-provoking column here:
Dave
runs each year partly as a fundraiser for the foundation he started in his son’s
memory. You can read about that here:
Speaking
of running – wait, this involves a little more complicated introduction. In the
position I have, hearing about everyone’s news and activities, I’m starting to
notice different clusters of interests among our classmates. I want to start
writing about these common interests as I notice them. Please chip in with your
own observations. We have a lot in common that we might not know about.
For
example, I know that Jakki Kougasian Horan and I share the same current
profession: we’re both technical writers. In fact, because we both live in the
Boston area, we routinely swap job leads as needed.
And,
speaking of running, I know that there are a few serious runners among us,
including David Fowler, Mary Caldarola-Smith, and John Kennedy.
I
believe I have already mentioned in the past that our class also has a number
of clergy, including Dianne Saffron Dugan (minister), Dean Bengtson (minister, in
Japan), Jacob Adler (rabbi, Temple Shalom of Northwest Arkansas), and Alan
Mittleman (rabbi and director of the Tikvah Institute for Jewish Thought at the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America).
Lots
of current and former teachers, including Linda Gronneberg Gaulin, Lauren Goding
Johnson, Jean Colaneri, Debra Donnelly Cronin, Mary Caldarola-Smith, and Ronnie
Stabile.
I
know I’m missing some people – and some interests like musicians and artists.
Help me fill in the blanks here. What do you know you have in common with other
classmates?
We
are still thinking about the possibility of a “We’re 60!” party sometime this
year. Still trying to sort out possible venues and dates.
We
have lots of ways to keep in touch online, now. For example, we have a web
site:
and
Facebook group:
and
a Facebook event for the last Reunion:
Check
out one or more of these easy ways to see what people are up to.
And,
by the way, I post these updates online at http://chse1971.blogspot.com/.
We’re
inching toward spring. Enjoy!
Ed
DeJesus
