RICHARD HOFFMAN

Richard Hoffman is retired and living with his wife JoAnn in McFarland. And how does this lucky man fill his time?

"Having fun - traveling, gardening, golfing, fishing, hunting, volunteering with non-profits."

Thank you Richard, we hope to see you in July.

MARY ROWE

Mary Byrne Rowe is living in beautiful Gotham, WI after spending 35 years in Southern California........don't say a thing. She still works as a designer - her motto is "If it doesn't move - decorate it" Three darlings: Carolyn 29, Meghan 24 and Matthew 21.

Exactly what has she been up to ? "Traveled around in the early 70's - including two extended stays in CA. Finally finished UW in '74 and moved to So CA in the Spring of '75. Married Peter Rowe - settled down and spent the eighties having babies, being the PTO mom, soccer mom, T-Ball mom with a mini van ...... and through it all - a self-employed interior designer. Turned fifty, got a divorce and moved to the beach. Laguna Beach is a fabulous place - and I loved every minute of my time there, but reality set in and the rent came due and I decided it was time to get back to some sort of normalcy. With all kids graduated high school and happy (as they could be) I moved back to Wisconsin in 2007. Of course "normalcy" is relative: I bought an old country church circa 1840 outside of Spring Green and am renovating it and turning into my home.
Life is good. "


Favorite memories? "I have wonderful memories of Edgewood ...... sure I was insecure and self-conscious - but isn't that what high school is all about? A few favorite memories in no particular order: The U-Haul !! ....... going to McDonalds after the final episode of The Fugitive - it was raining and Gary Lloyd ran in front of our car with his arm tucked up his sleeve- just like the opening scene of the show ! .... Senior retreat and dancing like Zorba ... T.P.'ing Shimanski's house - if you have a front lawn w/ that many trees, be prepared. Dan L. singing "The House of the Rising Sun" Going to Lombardino's and then Hoyt Park w/ the girls who were dressed like nuns (after they broke into the nuns laundry) - I Phelta Thi - Cactus Bluff - pep rallies and games- getting out of detention to go get Coke for Sister Alphonsine at Fauerbachs ........... this was all great, good , clean fun !"

LAURA CROSS

Laura Brusca Cross and her husband Stephan live in Madison. Their children are Stephanie - 32, and Matthew - 38 and they have three grandchildren. So what has Laura been up to ?

"I have been employed for 33 years at St. Mary's Hospital as the supervisor in the Echocardiography Department. I have been put out to pasture due to 'corporate restructuring' . In June, I will be starting a new job, part time, no management and really looking forward to moving on."

"Went to MATC after high school in the Lab Tech program. Got a job at UW Children's Hospital working in Cardiology, and learned on the job how to do Echocardiograms. In 1977 I took a position at St. Mary's.
I married my soul mate in 1971 and we just celebrated our 39th Anniversary.
We have two awsome offspring, both who have blessed us with the most wonderful grandkids.
Prior to building our cabin along the Kickapoo River we travelled, golfed, remodeled, redecorated, relandscaped and gardened. I still fly to Florida about three times a year to visit our daughter and her family.
I started gardening again and am looking forward to expanding this summer (lawn reduction!)"

Favorite memories?......."Cruising State Street in my parent's car with my girl firiends - or was that American Graffiti?"

ANN SAXER

Ann Chickering Saxer is loving life in Largo, Florida. She works for a small family owned food service distributor. She has two sons: Erik 32 and Adam 31 and two grandchildren.

What has she been doing besides working on her tan ? "I was married for 25 years to Tom and then I got divorced and moved to Florida where my parents and my oldest brother lived. Since I moved here I have lost both of my parents (they both made it to 90!) and my brother Jim who was in the class of '67 has also passed away. I have two sons and two grandchildren. My younger son is married and has two kids - Brandon, 9 and Jadamarie, 7. My older son is with the USDA and is in Colorado at this time but he would like to get back to the Midwest.

I thoroughly enjoy the warm weather here in Florida and have no intention of moving back to the frozen north."


And you gotta love these memories !

"Betty Zeier and I skipped school one day our senior year and she called herself in (as you may remember her parents were both deaf). So I decided to call myself in and say that I was my mom - well, Sister Seraphica didn't believe me and she called my mom and told her I was not in school so when I got home that afternoon my mom had her sorority club at our house but she was looking daggers at me so I knew I had been caught!

Also, the wonderful homemade lunches we used to get in the cafeteria.

Another great memory is the group of us that hung around together used to take turns dressing up to look pregnant in order to go into liquor stores to buy beer. Whoever was the 'prego' that night always bought 6 / 6 packs of Schlitz Malt! Yikes, those were the days."

(I remember those shenanigans ....Bunbury was the BEST )

PATRICIA CARROLL

Patty Roth Carroll and her husband Thomas live in Madison. They have three daughters: Elizabeth 28, Katherine 26 and Colleen 25.......and one darling grandson, Stanley.

Patty is now retired and spends her days "Chasing my grandson, raising puppies, reading, knitting, and traveling."


Her favorite memory? "The senior year barn dance. Does anyone else remember this or did I dream it?"

RICHARD REUSCHLEIN

Richard and his wife Janeen live in Verona. They have two children: Kristin 31 and Jessica 27.



"After over 30 years in the car business as a manager and buyer, I decided to go into real estate in 2005 as I had always wanted to try the field. I am currently working at the Holiday Inn Express in Verona and really enjoy meeting all the interesting guests. "

Love this memory (and the visual):

"Avoiding getting caught smoking in the boys room by George Chryst."

Hope to see you in July.

VANCOUVER OLYMPICS

Team MANION preparing for their opening match in the co-ed hockey division.
Gotta love it ! Thanks Bill - see you in July.

JOE KRANTZ

Joe and his wife Pat live in Verona where he has owned and operated Krantz Electric Inc. since 1978. They have 5 children : Scott 38, Rob 34, Megan 30, David 26 and Leah 23.......and they have 4 grandchildren.

Honestly Joe - you always were such a chatterbox. You know - I can ADD to this should you decide to "share". C'mon - throw me a bone here ! I know you've done something in 40 years.

WILLIAM MANION

Bill and his wife Betty are living in Waupaca where he is a Manufacturers Rep with the firm SSI Technology. They have four children : Patrick 33, Kelly 31, Colleen 28, Tim 25.

What has he been doing?
"Just married 3 of our 4 children in the past 11 mos. In recovery,financially,emotionally,generally. Trying to pay off the weddings."

Any great memories?
"At this point anything I can remember is appreciated."


Well Bill - everyone remembers the parties in your basement on Jefferson St. !!
See you in July.

VALENTINES

I wanted to have a current photo for this love story - but it is so fitting to post today - St. Valentine's Day - I will just have to add a visual when I receive one. (I love this story)

Our classmates Patty Sgroi and Curt Niglis didn't really know each other in high school - they had only one casual meeting.....and never met at any of our reunions. But in 1999 - when EHS had an "all school reunion" - they both attended.

I asked Curt if had he known Patty before and for the scoop on their meeting:


"No we did not know each other in H.S. I met her once there with John Ball (God rest his soul) and that was it. We met at the Wonder Bar where the re-union was taking place. After attending the Edgewood golf outing at Yahara, Marc Sanna and I went there. She was sitting up front having a bite to eat. I said hello, introduced myself and gave her a one liner not knowing she was part of our class. She liked the joke and we have been talking ever since. "

They were married in May '04.

So there's a fun Valentine's Day tale - we'll toast them in July.

MIKE MCKENNA

Mike and his wife, Cynthia, reside in Madison . Mike has been with Kraft Foods/Oscar Mayer for almost 37 years and is currently the TEAC & Trans Program Admin. Manager. They have a daughter Courtney who is 21 and a son Patrick who is 15.

And what has he been up to ? "Prior to being married at age 35, I had lived in Nashville, TN and Sandusky, Ohio while working for Oscar Mayer. After moving back to Madison and getting married to my wife Cynthia, we bought a house in 1986 in the Nakoma neighborhood, four doors down from where I grew up in Madison. My daughter Courtney attended Edgewood and is now a Junior at Marquette University. My son, Patrick is a now a Freshmen at Edgewood and it’s been fun to get back into the Edgewood scene. For the past three years, Patrick has been taking drum lessons from ’69 alum Dave Heilman. I still enjoy golfing, attending Badger games, and have tried to stay involved in the community. I am completing my third year as Co-President of Sertoma of Madison, a local and national service club that provides resources for the hearing impaired population.

For the past 20 years, I been doing something that I would never thought possible when I was in High School and that is acting, including singing and dancing (not a pretty sight) on stage in front of large audience in a play. I have been one of the principle actors in the Nakoma neighborhood’s annual musical / comedy dinner theater, which is entitled 12th Night. This year marks the 86th consecutive year this event has taken place."


Favorite memory....."Christmas vacation of our freshman year when fellow ’69 alums and golf team members Dave Heilman, Ed Murphy, Steve Mueller, and myself drove Steve’s dad’s car down to Biloxi, MS to practice our golf games. On New Year’s Eve we actually drove over to New Orleans but when we arrived at around 11:30 P.M. we had no idea where we could park or where to go. We simply drove around the city for awhile and then drove back to Biloxi. Talk about a bunch of losers. When we got home, Steve’s car had to be junked because we had abused it so on our little trip. "

Thanks Michael - and I don't know about the rest of you - but I want to go to 12th Night.

MINI REUNION

We had a wonderful warm-up for our reunion ........lots of laughs as you can see. Anna planned the most amazing meal - it was "make your own" pizzas with her homemade dough and artisan sausage. I'm pretty sure there were a few who said " I have never made dough - does that need yeast? What IS yeast?" Not a Home Ec major amongst us. Thank God for Anna's family recipes !!

PEG LUCAS

Peggy Wrabetz Lucas is married to Mike Lucas and they reside in Madison. Peggy is a Human Resources Administrator at Credit Union National Association, Inc.

What has she been doing ? "Beside being an avid fan of Wisconsin sports (especially football & basketball), my passion for the last eight years has been bringing a Gilda's Club to Madison. Gilda's Club provides emotional and social support for anyone touched by cancer whether it be the person with cancer, their family, their friends. All services are provided at no cost and include lectures, workshops and social events. The Club opened in 2008 and is located next to Costco in Middleton."


Memories: " Probably those that involve our sports teams our senior year. Fun trips with basketball & baseball. All the graduation parties. Mixed Chorus."

Thanks Peggy!

THOMAS FAHEY

Mary Ellen and Tom Fahey live in Chicago where he is a managing partner at Ungaretti and Harris Law Firm. They have five children: Colleen 24, Tom 23, Meghan 22 and twins Matt and Dan 19.

What has he been doing? "Have tried to keep it simple...one house; one wife; one job; five kids now nearing their ejection into adulthood. Transplanted successfully into the Beverly neighborhood on the south side of Chicago in 1976 but returning frequently to Madison to visit my mother, my high school friends, and children (three of whom have gone and are now going to the UW".

How about some memories: Black Sox shenanigans, Aunt Sabina's cookies, basement parties freshman year; 314 Broom; baseball with Mr. Osipowicz; etc. etc.


Thank you Tom - and happy to know we'll see you in July.....and who is Aunt Sabina and why didn't I know about her cookies? And "hello....what about prom?"