Bob & Vivian (Bellfy) Beaugrand

Since leaving the midwest in 1977, we have fallen in love with the west.

We lived in Los Angeles, Scottsdale and Sedona, Arizona and recently bought another house in Sun City Summerlin, (Las Vegas area).

I may be retired this time.  After 25 years as a Real Estate Broker, I became a buyer for ladies boutique in Sedona.

Bob and I have been married 49 years this year.  We have two sons and one granddaughter, Sophie.

Norm & Deanna (Zeits) Skrzypczak

To: Class of '59

I can't believe it's been fifty years that we graduated, and to see how far we have all come. Who would have thought our lives each would take such a different direction. It is sad to see how many of the class are no longer with us.  The twenty years after I married Norm were

spent traveling all over. He was in the Navy and we lived in Catania, Sicily the first two years of marriage, our oldest son, Michael was born there. (That was fun!) After Sicily we moved to Alameda, California, Long Beach, CA, and San Diego. Norm was on a ship that went to Viet Nam, I went to New York where our youngest son was born. After that we moved to Great Lakes, IL, then to Virginia, then to Rhode Island. And finally back to Great Lakes where Norm retired. We decided to move to Traverse City, I went to work for Chef Pierre, and Norm worked for Olsons.  We stayed in Traverse until Sara Lee closed the corporate headquarters, and I was transferred to Forest MS as Personnel/Safety Manager. I left Sara Lee when I could no longer the corporate games, and went to work for a company called Color Box, we made boxes. It was a very good company and I enjoyed working with them. I was again Human Resource Manager. I enjoyed working with people very much. I retired in 2003.

In 1991 I had a critical illness, it was akin to Legionairres disease. I was in a coma and on a ventilator for 110 days in ICU. By the grace of God I made it, and then had to go to a rehab hospital to learn how to walk, write, etc. It was a very dark time for both Norm and me. I was in a hospital for over six months. But I do believe I am able to work with people now going through critical illnesses. I do understand what it means emotionally for people in these situations. I have walked a mile in their moccasins.

We moved to New Mexico in 2003, for my health, my lungs are pretty much shot. We love it here and have found the desert to be a very spiritual place. I am very active in the Catholic church, and especially studying contemplative prayer. We feel so very blessed that God has granted us these years that the doctors were positive we would never have.

Our two sons, live in Traverse City. We have seven grandchildren.  Life has been good to us and we are blessed in the good times and the bad times we lived through. Life is a very short journey and we have tried to be the best we could be for our friends and family.

We look forward to seeing everyone and catching up.   God Bless
Deanna Zeits Skrzypczak

Linda (Mathison) Duiven
 
I have really enjoyed catching up on the last fifty years.  (How can it be fifty years!)
 
My life in a nutshell:  Went to the U of M, majored in French, met my husband-to-be, and moved permanently to the San Francisco Bay Area right after graduation for his aerospace engineering job.   Rick passed away in February.   We had two daughters.  Jan is a court reporter in Eugene, Oregon, and Steph is chief prosecutor for the City of Federal Way, a suburb of Seattle. 

In the late 1980s, I started a second career by going to law school, passed the Calfornia Bar, and have practiced in civil litigation ever since.  I did retire once, but was enticed back on a part time basis.   I have to have a lot of time off so that I can  play bridge, go to Reno a few times a year with my girl friends to try to win my fortune playing Twenty-One, and, most importantly, visit my two grandsons  -- ages 2 and 4 -- in Seattle every month or so.
 
Due to family vacation commitments, I will not be able to attend the reunion, but would love to hear from all my old friends via e-mail or otherwise.  I hope everyone has a great time at all the reunion events.

My e-mail address is duiven@earthlink.net

Beverly Neufer Tobey

Garry:

Your website is terrific.  I especially like reading the bios and seeing the "before and after" photos.  So I am sending a fairly recent photo as requested.  No, I am not desecrating the Buddha - this is supposed to either garner money or  good luck.  (I have heard it both ways.)  It may have worked for the luck - got in and  out of Tibet before the riots!  (No, I didn't start them!)

My bio  would be shorter if I had stayed put careerwise.   After high school I moved to Portland, Oregon and got a BS in biology - then graduate work in biology at Washington State.  Married a fellow grad student.   We  moved to Sacramento where we both taught biology at Calif. State University.   We divorced and I became an office manager for a Sacramento law firm.  In 1986 I went back to law school at U.C.Davis, and I passed the bar in 1989.  I do only estate planning, probate, wills and related things.  Think of it.  A lawyer who has never sued anyone.  I am still practicing, but working less so that I can travel more.

I have a 38-year old daughter who also lives in Sacramento.  She has an interesting career as the Director of Exhibits and Deputy Director of the California Museum in Sacramento.   No grandchildren, but I do have custody of my daughter's border collie when she travels.  A mixed blessing for sure.

I have not been in Traverse City since 1970, so I look forward to that. I am especially looking forward to the reunion and seeing everyone!

Bob & Deanne L. (Mathews) Gancarz

     Following high school graduation I earned an Associate of Arts Degree from Northwestern Michigan College in 1961.  I then completed my college education at Michigan State and Central Michigan universities, earning undergraduate degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Education, as well as a Master's Degree in Library Science.

     I was employed as a third grade teacher for five years and as a  school librarian for twenty-five years with Mason County Central School in Scottville, Michigan.  My husband taught for thirty-three years,  twenty-nine in Ludington.

      Bob and I have been married for forty-seven years and are the parents of three daughters and a son.  We have four grandchildren.

     Since retirement in 1998 I have been involved in volunteer work (particularly Mothers Against  Drunk Driving) along with plenty of reading. gardening, travelling, and being a grandma. Our travels have taken us to Alaska, Australia, and the Mediterranean. The highlight of all of our trips was a visit to Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, on June 6, 2004, for the 60th anniversary of the World War II D-Day invasion.  We've also enjoyed many of Bob's ship's reunions throughout the U.S.   

     I'm greatly looking forward to our fiftieth graduation anniversary.

Bio of Kemosauba Ahmicasaube

Kemo Ahmicasaube was born into the Odawa Nation one cold December morning in Charlevoix, Mich. As a youngster, he showed a gift for art and music, eventually receiving a scholarship to Interlochen Arts Academy. He later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.; and a Master of Arts from Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. Kemo has been working on an abstract for his PhD.

Early in his career, Kemo was a model for General Motors he modeled the classic 1963 Buick Riviera for a commercial. His musical talents were not to be ignored, however, and Kemo studied at a small college in Illinois with the goal of developing operatic skills. Told he had a fine tenor voice, Kemo was pleased because, in opera, tenors earn a handsome income and, in most productions, always win the girl! After two years of study, though, it became clear his vocal cords would not hold up to the severe demands of opera and Kemo left the program. His musical muse has since found an outlet by directing choirs, musicals and small singing groups.

Through all of this, the visual arts side of Kemo Amicasaube had not been neglected. He had been drawing, painting and sculpting all his life.

As a pictorial artist, he has done renderings for the automobile industry, breweries and distilleries. Though he aspired to become an art director, he was told he was too young and inexperienced. Undaunted, Kemo applied and won such a job with a firm in Lansing, Mich. Two years later, he and a partner created their own advertising and marketing firm with the popular rock band Grand Funk Railroad as one of their first clients. Kemo's talented design abilities led to work on a resort project for the St. Lucia Investment Group and a project manager's position. He taught at a small college and worked for an architectural firm though he found the nature of that work uninspiring.

Kemo accepted a position as senior designer with a Detroit firm where he worked on projects for General Motors, Ford Motor Corp., American Motors, Cambel Ewal and J. Walter Thompson. From this work, he moved east to become the creative director for a 28-newspaper group in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. He redesigned all 28 newspapers and created 10 new products. As a creative director he was invited to become a member of the International Newspaper Marketing Association's board of directors. He was a recipient of numerous awards from the Maryland Press Association and was part of a team that received the prestigious Scripps Howard Award. He is frequently called on to judge competitions for the International Newspaper Marketing Association throughout the country and has served as a judge for the Photographic Awards Competition for the Outdoor Writers Association of America. He is listed in "Who's Who" under the category of Sales and Marketing.

Kemo has undertaken independent contractual work for American and Iberia Airlines, Norwegian Cruise Lines, American Express, Coast to Coast Magazine, Endless Vacation Travel and he has redesigned 18 Forbes newspapers in New Jersey. He did monthly advertising design work for Piedmont Chevrolet Dealers of South Carolina and Georgia.

His most recent venture is one that is also most dear to his heart. Kemo is preparing to create Native American Art and other subjects in the Native style of color and line. A native speaker of Odawa, Kemo is steeped in the lore and traditions of a culture that is rapidly fading with the passing of an older generation of American Indians. It is his hope and dream to re-invigorate the art and crafts of the First Nations of North America. There are many stories to be told and illustrated and it is in that mysterious ability to express those stories through color and line that Kemo's work transcends ordinary description to become a true statement of a people's emotion, vision and cultural being.

I can't seem to stay away from the travel industry and am now working part time from home for an Internet company selling cruises and tours. We should put together a class reunion cruise !!

This past week I was installed as the incoming secretary for the Waikoloa Lions Club. I have truly enjoyed working with the Lions Club and its' many community projects.

My spare time is spent on the golf course, which is a sport I took up when I moved to the Big Island ......... can't seem to get enough of it .

I am looking forward to the class reunion, as well as a family reunion this August.

Thank you Garry, and everyone who is working on the reunion. You are doing a fantastic job.

Janet (Snelling) Fryling

Ed and I have been married 45+ years. We started out in the Grand Rapids, MI , moved to California, lived there approximately 16 years.  Have now moved to Apache Junction, Arizona.

We have 3 children, one son and two daughters, 5 grandchildren.

I really wanted to come but am unable to.  We have not been back to Michigan since 1977.

Good luck to everyone and God Bless.  Say Hello to everyone for me.

Love to you all
Janet (Snelling) Fryling

Mary Jane (Mc Cool) Morgan

After living 9 months a year on our boat for 14 years and traveling from Michigan to Florida, we decided to buy a home near Sarasota, FL.  We now live there in the winter and in TC during the summer.

Larry & Lois (Goyer) Smith

Hello Garry!

      I thought that I had better get in touch with you since no one from our class has ever gotten in touch with me.  I am still around and kicking!  I did not get to know too many people from Traverse City while I was there as I was a transfer my Senior Year from Bellaire, Michigan.  I was very skinny and very shy at the time.  Boy, how times have changed!  I am definitely not skinny any longer and no longer particularly shy.  I have, however, gotten hurt feelings that someone did not try harder to

locate me.  I believe the main reason being is that they did not spell my name correctly in the Year Book.  My name was LOIS GEYER in the Year Book, which  was incorrect.  My CORRECT NAME WAS:  "LOIS GOYER".   (However, I have been invited to  several Class Reunions in Bellaire and I did attend a couple of them.  However, I was not able to attend the 50th one this year)..

     Jon Williams was one of my Supervisors in the Laboratory in one of the hospitals in McKinney, Texas and I thought that when he found out that we graduated together that he would have let someone know where I was. (I did not even recognize him when I went to work there and he didn't recognize me)  After leaving that hospital I moved to California.  I do know that he has attended several of the reunions.  I have moved around a lot through the years but have always managed to stay in touch with a few people.  Unfortunately have not stayed in touch with anyone from Traverse City.

     I was married to my first husband for 25 years and I had four children with one child dying at 2 Days old.  I divorced him and three months after our divorce he passed away.  I remarried and have been married now for nearly 17 years.  We lived in California until he retired from Sempra Energy (So. California Gas Company) where he was a Systems Programmer.  My present husband also has four children but their Mother is still living and is in Iowa.  All of our children get along with both of us so we are very fortunate there.  I have a daughter (41) who is a school teacher in Texas.  They live in Plano, Texas but she teaches in Allen, Texas.  I have a son (37) who is an Insurance Adjuster for an Insurance Company.  He lives in Frisco, Texas which is about nine miles from my daughter.  I have another son (38) who lives in Arizona near the Grand Canyon and he works for Grand Canyon Airlines.  He was in the service and was over in Desert Storm.  Between my husband and myself we have 11 grandchildren with only two of them belonging to my husband.  I have two grandchildren in Bremerhaven, Germany.  While my son was in the service he was stationed over in Germany and married a German girl.  They are now divorced but she stayed over there.  However, my husband and I get over there to see the grandchildren about every two years.  ( And of course, there is the Internet!)

     Six years ago my husband retired so we moved here to Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas where we could keep a closer eye on my father who just turned 93 years old yesterday.  My mother drowned here in a flood they had in 1982.  My husband and I have done some extensive traveling through the years including all 50 States, the Panama Canal, the Caribbean, South America, Africa, Most of Canada including Nova Scotia, NewFoundland, Churchill to see the Polar Bears, Australi, New Zealand and Scandinavian Countries including Russia, Most of the European Countries, plus many more places.  We love to travel.  However, since moving here we now own a Retail Store, a Bowling Alley, and have several rentals.  We don't have too much time to travel anymore.   Have you ever heard of "The Bucket List"?  Well, my husband and I have done all that and then some.  We are most fortunate to be able to have done so much.

      One of my most memorable times was when I lived in Alaska for three years.  I was working for the State of Alaska and dearly loved it there.  I was up there during the huge Good Friday Earthquake and that was quite an experience.  Luckily I was in Juneau where there was not so much damage as Anchorage and other places.  My husband and I have driven the Alaskan Highway and taken a Cruise up there since I lived up there.  We would both love to go back again.

     Garry, I am not quite sure but I think that you used to live across the street from me.  Weren't you living on a corner white house near the school?  I thought it was you, maybe not!  Anyway, whomever it was had a green convertible MG, Corvette, or something like that!!!  I don't think those are the names of the kind of car it was but I can't think of it.

     Sorry, I wrote a book!  Don't know if you remember me or not but I do remember you.  Some friends of mine that I was pretty good friends with were, Jacquelyn Diday, Betty Dreves, Sheldon Cole, Sharon Bickle, Shirley Challender, Roger Carroll, Ruth Ann Hall, Herb Lemcool, Melinda Wysong, and Barbara Jo Skinner to name a few.  Speaking of Barbara Jo, while I was living up in Alaska I was walking down the street and noticed a couple walking towards me.  As I got closer I thought they really looked familiar.  Then all of a sudden the man yells out, "Lois, What on earth are you doing way up here?"   It turned out to be Roger Skinner.  I had him in a couple of classes at Northwestern Michigan when I went there.  Anyway, he was teaching at Mt. Edgecumbe Jr. College in Sitka and invited me to come and visit them sometime.  So, I flew up there one time and we had a great time with some of the students from the college and we went hiking up Mt. Verstovia, went and found Star Fish out in the Bay, etc.  A lot of fun!

    Well, I must sign off for now.  I hope that you remember me.  (You did sign my class book!)   Oh!  Another very good friend that I am sure you know was Leo Arthur.  However, I am sure that no one knows me anymore, except I am corresponding with Charlotte Fouch Graves once in a while now and she remembers me.