This page contains biographies provided by classmates whose last name (maiden name for the gals)  begin with S-T-U-V, who wanted to share with you what has been going on in their lives..

Last updated:  08/31/19

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TIM SCHAEFER

I graduated from UW-Madison where I majored in Computer Science and Real Estate.  After a few years as a computer programmer at University Hospitals, I got involved with software for real estate property management, as well as owning apartments in the Madison area.  Later I started my own software company that computerized over 3,000 property management firms, mostly in the United States.  I sold that company in 2005, and retired in Naples, FL.

38 years ago, Karen and I were married.  I had two daughters, and Karen had three sons and a daughter.  We delight in getting the family together, and that includes 8 wonderful grandchildren.

We enjoy time with family and friends, golf and traveling.  We will not be able to attend the class reunion because we will be leaving for a tour of China, a few days later.

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Gary G. Schultz

Wife: Ruth Darlington, 1956 graduate of West High

Schooling

BA in Philosophy – UW, Madison

Master of Divinity – McCormick Seminary, Chicago

Masters in Counseling Psychology/Guidance – UW, Madison

TESOL certification (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), WESLI, Madison

Children

Daughter: Anne Schultz

Librarian University of New Mexico Science and Engineering Library

Son: Steve Schultz

Corporate Communications Manager, Madison Gas and Electric Co.

Career

Ordained clergy, United Presbyterian Church; served 5 years at Pres House on Madison UW campus; five years as Associate Pastor, Northminster Presbyterian Church, Evanston, Illinois; 20 years as Associate Presbyter for Milwaukee Presbytery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

From 1980 to 2000 I commuted from Evanston to work in Milwaukee.  Ruth continued her library career at the American Dental Association in Chicago.  We stayed in Evanston so both children could graduate from Evanston Township High School, an excellent preparation for their futures.

After an early retirement in 2000, I made 12 trips to Madurai, Tamil Nadu, South India where I set up a program using U.S. and Canadian volunteers to teach spoken English to orphans and semi-orphans in three children’s homes.

In 2012 we returned to Madison to be near our three grandchildren where we help out with school pickups and some child care.

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JILL SIEVERS ELVER

EDUCATION

Broward Community College (FL.) 1989 – 2000

Married

Charles “David” Elver 1959 2006 (Deceased).

Son: Charles David, Jr., Director of Security, Kaiser University FL

Daughter: Kimberly Ambrose, Field Support Manager with Academy Mortgage, Denver, CO. ,

Son: Dennis “Hugh” Elver,  Electrician , Charlotte, N.C.

Grandchildren: None.

I worked as an Insurance Agent, 1981 – 2006

2006 I moved from FL. back to  DeForest, WI. I live in a 55+ community. I worked part-time in the 55+ community as Office Assistant. 2007 – 2017. 2009 – 2013 I managed the DeForest Farmer’s Market. I love outdoor activities and travel. I have been to 27 countries and now traveling the U.S.. Have visit San Antonio, San Francisco, New York City, Sedona and this week Nashville. 2019 will take me to the Canadian Rockies.

Once a year I visit  the children and once a year they visit me. I do volunteer work and enjoy being retired.

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Guy Simpler

Only attended Madison West for senior year, having been transferred from Highland Park IL.  Dad was executive with Ohio Medical Products based in Madison.  Got BS from UW and went to Creighton Medical School (Omaha NE) as a grad student on a grant from US govt to study electron microscopy.  Stayed there two years.  In the meantime had gotten married and had first child.

Moved back to north shore of Chicago, had another daughter and a son and after a few years in management consulting was recruited to Washington DC, on the staff of the Secretary of Interior, White House and NASA.  Left Washington after 4 years, back to Illinois and then to Texas where I lived until 2005.  Wife (#2) bank executive, got transferred to Charlotte NC, eventually retiring in 2017.  My last twelve years of work was as General Manager of a home building company based in SC.

Everyone bored so far?  I’m getting there.  Present status:  Still living in Charlotte NC (beautiful area), great house, lots of flowers, herd of 13 deer who visit us daily, mild winters usually, near the mountains, decent restaurants, etc.  This sounds like a Chamber of Commerce plug.  Have 3 kids, 6 grandsons, 1 grand daughter and 2.95 great grand kids.  (Great grandson being born today 4/23/19).

We travel a fair amount, mostly cruises headed east – transatlantic, med, Europe, etc.  Also have an RV which we wander around in mostly eastern US.  Jane’s dad is 102 years old, retired WWII veteran.  He was the radar tech who checked out the radar on the Enola Gay the night before the big blast.

I have a sister living in Texas, a brother in Washington DC, and all my kids, grandkids, great grandkids, and ex are living in Texas.  We’ve been very lucky, life is good.  Except for back issues (steel plates and screws) I’m in tolerable shape.

Haven’t been to Madison in years but have fond memories of it.  Nice city about 1000 miles too far north.  Good luck to everyone.  I probably didn’t know you and couldn’t remember you anyhow.  I’m sure you don’t know who I am/was.  Enough of this….  Best of luck.

Guy Simpler

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MARILYN SIMPSON ABBINK

After my husband Bernie died in Sept of 2005 I took off in my RV and hit the road I have been to Every State in the U.S.A, 41 Days in Alaska,4 Months in Arizona, Florida, visiting my 5 Children and  16 Grandchildren,and 10 Great Grandchildren as of August 15,2018 another 11th Great Grandson. Also went by Plane to Hawaii, Egypt, Jordan, and the Holy Land in all my travels I have filled lots of my bucket list. With Dog Sledding, and crossing over the arctic circle by a 8 women seater air plane which included the woman pilot. Flew in a float plane. And almost fell over the edge of Salmon Glacier.  But my God and partner saved me from going over the edge.
(At this point the glacier divides into two parts, one flowing north into Summit Lake (elevation 826 m.) and the other flowing south to a terminus some 10 km. from the bend, at an elevation of 175 m. )

I Thank God for helping me and my Two Yorkers for successfully touring some Awesome God made scenery over the 13 Years of RVing.  I Regret not being able to make it for the 65th union, my wish is for you all to enjoy, And hopefully We will all make it to the 70th.

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GIORGIO SINIGAGLIA

After graduating at West High, I completed my Italian school period obtaining the Classic Lyceum diploma (1958). Then I graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the Genova University, followed by a 1,5 year period in the Air Force (antiaircraft system).  I married Milena (Sept. 14, 1968!!!), had two girls: Francesca, married to a French-Italian, two grandchildren, twins, a boy and a girl now 10 years old, and Anna, single who, sadly for me, has not given any contribution, as far as grandchildren are concerned.  I started working at the Fiat Cars Company, then I was employed in an important Company (Franco Tosi) in the field of Power Generation (Boilers and Steam Turbines).
Initially in the Turbines Design Dept., then Field Engineer, Project Manager and finally responsible for all foreign projects: so I travelled in Europe, Bahrain (where I lived 10 months), several times in Jordan (Aqaba Power Plant), Jeddah (at that time the world biggest desalination plant), Malta, Turkey, Japan (Mitsubishi in Nagasaki), New Zealand.
During this period, I had the opportunity to work and confront myself with important Consulting Organisations, as Chas T. Main (Boston), P.C.R. and Kennedy Dunkin and Eubank (all Great Britain). In 1976 Tosi Company and Bechtel Power Corporation (Los Angeles) joined in view of developing a series of new nuclear power stations in Italy, in addition to those already operating: so I lived with my family in Russellville, Arkansas, for one year. I visited my American family in Madison (at 1976 Thanksgiving). Unfortunately, because of the Chernobyl disaster, the whole Italian nuclear system has been later dismantled : but, at least, I had the opportunity to have a second wonderful experience in the USA.
In 1992 the Company has been incorporated in another one, so I resigned and I started working as independent consultant: new life, new experiences, new contacts as Black&Veatch (Kansas City) for a new plant in Bangladesh and some trips to Tokyo (Sumitomo) and Osaka (Hitachi).
Other two small projects in Italy, then my professional life came to an end in 2007. Milly and I became tourists: Normandie, Camargue, Andalusia, Amsterdam, Israel (very impressive), Tunisia, Moscau and S.Petersburg (I suggest to visit Russia, forgetting all the past years of a soviet USSR troubles maker Nation).
Music lover, I restarted to play piano (not very well), studying mainly Historical periods, some gardening and grandchildren care.
I have been visited by Gary Jacobson (1960), Joanne Lillywhite, Patrick Coffee recently, and two years ago by Eric and Maida Wedell: we spent two days touring Milano and climbing, with great effort, to the top of the Milano Cathedral – Duomo, during the hottest possible day: sorry for Maida!

I believe, from what said above, you understand how valuable  has been for me what I learned at West:  the language, the way of thinking, how to get organised and how to perform things in the American way: so many thanks to you all, each of you have given an important help to me.

Apart some other inconveniences, I have gone through four hearth angioplastic operations, with related Stents, in a period of seven months: even if I am presently living an almost normal life, I have been warmly suggested to take it easy, for the time being. So the trip to Madison, programmed since long, will not take place.
Sorry, very sorry. I also see that the three foreign students, Katarina, Evert and I, this time will not be at the meeting.

In the past years I have been in touch with Karin Potter, Barbara Duwe, Gary Schultz, Margy Freed, Karen Mennes (thanks again for your DVD), Bill Lautz, Nancy Thielen, Maria Messina, Jim Nafziger, Ann Teegardin, Katarina and Evert. I follow with interest Warren’s long trips. Marcia Haville knew I like classical music: very kindly, together with a touching letter, she sent me a CD with her recoding of the Mendelssohn’s piano concert n° 1 in G minor op 25, performed at West on Jan. 26. 1958 (her birthday!) with the outstanding West Orchestra: the best gift ever.

I am living in Legnano, 15 miles north of Milano: if anyone passes close by, please let me know: i can be a good tourist guide.

Bye for now,  your friend Giorgio

PS – I do not know if what I ask is allowed  in the US: does anybody have some info about Dan Mermin, Roland Henry, Sandy Huchaby, Karen Hepner, Betsy Runkel? Thanks.

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Sandra Stewart Fager  (added 7/20/19)

After graduating from Madison West I bobbled around for two years at the University of Wisconsin and found my soulmate in the process.  Carl Fager and I married in 1960 and after a year of saving money, moved to Missoula, Montana so he could complete his forestry degree.    We had our first son, Bruce, and a little more furniture when we loaded up the car and U-haul and moved from student housing in 1965 to the little town of Plains, 90 miles NW of Missoula.  There we added the experience of living in a small town and having our second son, Craig.   Our house was a little 24×24 size house that rented for $50 a month and our car payment was $66.  A friend and I called those years in Plains the “Potato Famine Days.”   We drove in to Missoula once or twice a month to stock up on whatever wasn’t available at home and to have a change of scenery. 

In 1970 we moved “over the hill” and to Idaho to the slightly larger town of St. Maries where we lived for ten years.  We bought an old beater of a house for $8,000 and proceeded to work on every surface in the place.  We enjoyed camping, hiking, skiing and fishing among other things.  Our boys enjoyed going up on the mountain behind the house and had freedom to do many things without the fear that accompanies modern families.   We also had the “fun” of cleaning up ash after Mt. St. Helens blew its top in May of 1980.  It’s amazing how heavy ¾ of an inch of ash can be.  It was a great experience to go through once, and only once.  If Yellowstone blows while we are in Billings I understand we won’t be around for the cleanup.

In early 1981 we loaded up again and headed for Harlowton, Montana, in the center of the state.  Bruce was a senior in high school and had joined the Marine reserves so he stayed behind in Idaho with friends.  The main thing Harlo is famous for is wind.  It blew like crazy most of the time and the water had an alkali taste but we just learned to adjust.  It was a dry climate so we had little snow and we sold our ski equipment.  The joke was you could only ski from west to east in the furrows.  I worked as a substitute weather observer and then as a legal secretary for the County Attorney.  Craig payed basketball and football for Harlowton High, and we trudged all around central Montana enjoying the games.  When he graduated from high school and moved to Bozeman to attend Montana State University, we became empty nesters.

One day Carl and I had a discussion on where we would like to retire and I told him Billings was the only big city I thought I could live in and, Voila! he was transferred there.  We had shopped there for years so it was familiar territory.  I quickly landed a job with the City Attorney and worked there until retiring in 1962.  One retirement year was about all I could stand so I went to work as one of our church’s secretaries and stayed on for many years finally pulling the plug at age 74.  It was a lovely job. 

I can truly say that the Lord has blessed us with a great family, friends, churches and living situations.  The only decision we now face is whether or not to stay put or move to North Idaho to be closer to family.  Time will tell.

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Anderson aka Karen Stone

My parents met &; married &; had their first-born while enrolled in UW-Madison in the 1930’s. And BOTH received their M.D. degrees there, back when women physicians were rare. I was the 2 nd of their 5 girls &; they somehow thought, tho they divorced, that I should be the one to also pursue an M.D. degree. But that was not to be. Instead, after one year @ the UW-MSN myself, I married &; had 2 sons &; didn’t return to continue until 1967.  Because I had only received mostly B’s in math, @ West, I chose to pursue a master’s degree in social work, w/ a goal of health care admin., preferably in family planning. After a brief stint as an AFDC social worker, I was therefore thrilled to be hired as the Family Planning Program Director sponsored by a war-on-poverty grant to the Community Action Commission in ’74.  Oh but some months later our boards of directors wanted to become a Planned Parenthood &; I was summarily fired! (BTW, PP came to Madison anyway &; later received that grant.)

I was then lucky to find a position at the UW Med school as coordinator of the “Instructor-Patient” course recruiting women to serve as the first “patient” for med. and physician-ass’t students performing their first pelvic exams while receiving guidance from the women they were examining. I also recruited folks w/ chronic medical findings who with some training from their physicians allowed students the opportunity to practice their physical exam skills and taking a medical history. This is now standard training in all US medical schools but was a novel concept then. After 7 years there, I decided to become a PA myself. With the calculators then newly available, I got A’s in math and pre-PA science courses and received that degree in ’84. Because my Pa had paid for most of my education, I assisted him for a year closing out his 50 years of medical practice and learning a great deal from that informal “internship”.

In April 1986 I lost my younger son @ age 25—as anyone who has lost a child will understand, that is the worst blow life can deal a parent and remains the most painful part of my life.

I shortly thereafter began employment at the VA Hosp. as a cardiac surgery PA removing vein for cardiac bypass procedures and helping to close the chest. I was in this position for 20 years and thoroughly enjoyed this satisfying work for our veterans. As I neared retirement, I became a couple w/ an M.D. member of the 1 st Unitarian Society I’d met there many decades earlier. He’d been in Family Practice &; then had re-careered into Radiology, &; he’d become a widower one year earlier. What can I say? Violins played! Ed &; I have be n a couple nearly 13 years &; married for 8. We share the same political views, religious affiliation and of course interest in medical topics, and what’s more, he cooks! We last worked in the winter of 2010 on the island of Saipan, a US possession near Guam in the western Pacific, and we both retired later that year.

To stay busy &; active in retirement, I do volunteering such as helping folks file their taxes w/ the free AARP program. I also go to the gym daily plus have biked on dozens of week-long bike tours since I was 53, most recently a 266 mile ride in the very hilly driftless area in western WI. I have helped both my beloved grand- daughters cover college expenses. I am extremely grateful that my son Jeff and his spouse live close-by. Overall, with the exception of losing my younger son, I have been one lucky lady!

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Frank Swanson

At UofW I received my BSEE degree along with my Bachelor of Naval Science degree in 1963. Upon graduation I was commissioned an Ensign in the Naval Reserve and spent the next two years aboard the USS Arcadia (AD-23) as the Communications Officer. The ship’s home port was beautiful Newport, RI, but while I was onboard we were deployed for six months to Naples, Italy in support of the 6th Fleet and two 6-week trips to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for Operation Springboard replenishing torpedoes during the winter exercises. Upon release from active duty in 1965, I got a summer intern position in the program office (Crew Integration Branch) of the Apollo moon landing program at the Manned Spacecraft Center south of Houston (now known as the Johnson Space Center). That fall I attended Stanford University to get my MSEE degree in 1966, and then went to work for IBM in San Jose, CA, in the Small Scientific Systems group designing central processing units (CPU’s) for computers. When that group was transferred to Boca Raton, Florida, I went to work at IBM’s Advanced Computer Systems group in Menlo Park, CA. I finished my IBM tenure back in San Jose designing the electronics for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) fare transaction (ticket) system.

Shortly after starting work at IBM, I married my wife, Beverly, who was a 4th grade school teacher, and three years later we had our first child, Jeffrey. Shortly thereafter we moved from an apartment in Mountain View to a brand new house in a little town west of San Jose, called Cupertino where we reside to this day (we actually moved in on the day of the first Apollo moon landing). I left IBM in 1971 to join a start-up, Versatec, maker of electrostatic printer/plotters where I designed the electronics to attach the machines to mini-computers and large mainframes. Our second child, Jennifer, was born in 1972. Jeff is currently an electrical engineer with Intel in Santa Clara, and Jennifer is a 1st grade teacher at Booksin Elementary School in Willow Glen. They both live nearby in Sunnyvale, CA. During the 14 years at Versatec, my job functions evolved into being more of a systems engineer and eventually into engineering management. I left Versatec in 1985 to take positions with several other start-up companies to make my fortune (which by the way never did happen): Precision Image, Pyramid Technology, HAL Computer Systems and finally Fujitsu Corp. I retired in 2001 when Fujitsu moved their engineering development to Japan and that was a bad time to get a new job at my age. So I turned my longtime hobby of videography into a part-time business making videos of weddings, recitals, sports events, memorials, marketing, training aides, and so forth, not to mention a bunch of free video DVD’s for my friends and relatives over the years. It was called Swanson Video Productions, until I closed shop in 2011.

In 1985 I  retired from the Naval Reserve at the rank of Captain having served during those 22 years in various billets and summer two-week training locations such as aboard aircraft carriers, mine sweepers and destroyers, not to mention naval bases at Rota Spain, London England, Sasebo Japan, and Mare Island California. In my spare time now I get out to play tennis (doubles) three times a week with a bunch of other old guys, run the audio/video system at our church once a month, do lots of outside yard work and take care of my wife who has some medical issues. Life has been a good and interesting ride since my graduation in 1958 from Madison West. Glad I was able to attend our 50th -and 55th reunions, but sorry that I cannot attend this years with you all.

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Rodney Sweet

I graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1962 with a BS in economics.   I was commissioned upon graduation but got a one-year deferment.  Helen Cohen (from Green Bay) and I were married in September, 1962 and we moved to Champaign, Illinois where I was a research assistant in the University of Illinois Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations.  In  August, 1963, I received a Master’s Degree and the Army immediately ordered me to active duty. I spent 6 weeks at the Adjutant General’s School at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis. Then the Army sent us to the Presidio of San Francisco where I served as personnel officer at XVII Corps and then transferred to Headquarters, Sixth Army as a press officer.  In September, 1965, I started law school at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.  I graduated in 1968 with a JD Degree and have practiced law in San Francisco and the East Bay ever since.  We have two sons, Michael, who was born in 1969, and Sam, who was born in 1975. Michael graduated from UCLA law school and is a partner at Fox Rothschild in San Francisco. His wife Debbie is also a lawyer and is assistant general counsel for Citrix Systems,Inc. They have two daughters, Adina and Raquel.   Sam got a PhD in psychology from DePaul University in Chicago and is a psychologist at Kaiser Foundation in San Francisco.  His wife, Aurora, is director of certificated personnel in the Hayward Unified School District.  They have two children, a son Elliot and a daughter, Arianna.  It’s great having all the grandchildren in the immediate area.

I am in my third retirement but this time it is for good.  I plan to go inactive as a lawyer the end of the year.  Helen and I are avid photographers and we travel to various locations around the world to take pictures. After the reunion, we are going to Chicago to  photograph architecture.  In October we will attend the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which is something we have done for over 40 years.  In February 2019 we are going to Argentina and Chile.

We are looking forward to the reunion and renewing old friendships.

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Margarete Sy  (added 8/21/19)

Bill and I have lived in Ladysmith for almost 30 years….yikes! I was a substitute teacher in grade school and middle school for many years. I served 10 years on the Rusk County board of supervisors.
Bill and I have 2 kids, Curt, and Susan who both live in Madison. Our 2 grandchildren, Cristina and Adam both went to West High School…yea!
Bill and I have taken many long road trips, have hit every state in the union. (Flew to Hawaii). GPS has helped save our marriage. Lots of memories.
I am a compulsive knitter, socks and mittens are my forte.

Margaret Sy Ellmann

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Judy Taugher Hable   (added 8/31/19)

KATHY TAYLOR ISSACS

After graduation from Wellesley I married journalist Skip Isaacs whose work took us from Baltimore, MD to Brazil, Washington DC, British Hong Kong, and China, and back to the Baltimore area where we now live on an inlet of the Chesapeake Bay where I can swim and kayak from my pier in the summer. At Thanksgiving, we will celebrate our 56th anniversary with our 3 children and their families including 7 grandchildren (ages 4-26). Along the way I got two masters degrees (Library Science and Educational Administration) worked in school and public libraries, taught in independent schools for 20 years (mostly middle school), taught English to Mandarin-speaking college students in Xi’an and children’s literature to aspiring teachers at Towson University. I’ve had 3 books about children’s literature and hundreds of book reviews professionally published. I continue to read and review and to serve on book evaluation committees. After 30 years I stopped singing with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, and returned to the piano which I still play badly — but I practice more often than I did in high school. In June, at our college reunion, I saw Ann Koch Schonberger but will miss the rest of you this fall since I made my annual Madison family visit last spring.

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ANN MARIE TEEGARDIN

In addition to undergraduate years at UW where I majored in sociology, I also studied  at Oxford Univ. England for a school year.  Before and after that, my husband (who I had met at UW) and I traveled around the world, with a highlight being one month in Bangkok. Back stateside, living for awhile in NYC and in Elgin IL, we had a daughter and a son. While they were young, my part time jobs included teaching preschool, helping resettle refugees, teaching ESL and doing elementary school librarianship.

When my marriage was ending, I went back to UW for a Master’s in Library and Information Studies. That brought me to a satisfying career as a Reference Librarian in a CA public library system.

With retirement I moved to the San Francisco Bay area and have loved the coastal climate, being near my two grandchildren and having easy access to the richness of cultural events I love. Along they way I’ve been active in peace and justice causes – which included taking some work/study time El Salvador.  Other recent travels have been to Costa Rica, and to Peru and the Galapagos.

This year we had a family vacation to Whistler, British Columbia with time to catch up with my adult kids, now a Textile Artist / RN and a Marine Biologist, and my equestrian, sports and nature loving grandchildren.

My interest in environmental concerns and ecosystems, led me to participate in an organization called Exploring a Sense of Place where studying and hiking together expands our awareness of the diverse bioregion where we live and our place in it. Other activities of mine each week usually include church, yoga, something musical, gardening and flower arranging.

Over the past 6 years I helped form, and now live in, a new cohousing community of 19 households.  We each have our own individually owned, complete condo, plus shared common space for dining, entertainment, exercise and crafts.  It’s a grand experiment in intentional living that keeps us learning and adjusting.  In this urban environment we chose to have underground parking, leaving room for fruit trees and 16 large raised beds for growing our own organic veggies and flowers. The original 1885 farmhouse on our property has been restored and serves as our guest house.

I’ll happily tell you more about cohousing at our reunion or by email. Looking forward to our gathering in Madison!

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NANCY THIELEN OHMANN

After graduating in ’58 I spent the next 2 years in California working as a personal assistant to an actor under contract to Warner Bros. I returned home in late ’61 and met and married my husband, Ron who had just graduated Medical School from the U of Mn.  We were married for 25 years and reared 3 children.

All three live in the Minneapolis area along with my four grands. After my divorce, I attended the U of Mn and graduated with a double major in Sociology/Psychology.  I immediately got my dream job as an investigating probation officer for the largest county in the state. My son and I graduated at the same time…he from St John’s Univ and me from U of M. Both daughters graduated with Masters…one from U of M and the other from U W in Madison.

Along the way I traveled extensively to Europe, Thailand, VietNam and Central America.  I feel fortunate to have done that traveling while my health was still excellent. The last 5 years have made me appreciate those years of good health. My prior interests were tennis, long distance bicycling, hiking and reading. I look forward to seeing you all in the very near future.

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Tom Thomsen    (added 7/16/19)

After UW-Madison, two years aboard a destroyer in the Pacific, three years in Chicago and getting married, we moved back to the Madison area. We raised our family in Windsor and now reside in Waunakee. Kit and I have been married fifty two years and blessed with close family, good friends and good health. Life has certainly treated us well.

Sincerely, Tom Thomsen

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SUSAN TORRANCE WALTERS 

 Cheers classmates

Just a few highlights of my 60 years since West High Graduation.  First, it is so hard to believe it has been 60 years!

In 1961, Joan Muckinhern Kincaid and I drove across the U.S. in my car, stored the car in San Francisco and boarded a ship for Hawaii.  We intended to spend a few months at the university of Hawaii.  My few months turned into 3 years as I met and married my husband, Bob, there.

In 1964, when Bob was released from the Navy, we we drove back across with U.S. with our one year old son, Greg.   We ended up in Michigan where we have lived every since.  Our daughter, Sheryl, was born in 1965.

After many years of volunteer work…March of Dimes, United Fund, PTA, Jaycees, Cancer Drive, political elections, census taking, etc., I decided to enter the work force as a sales manager.  I retired in 1999.

Since retirement, Bob and I have been spending the winters in Florida , finally purchasing a home in Ft Myers in 2005.

Our family has grown to include a grandson, Robert, and a granddaughter, Christine.  We spend as much time as possible with them in Michigan in the summers and we are happy that they enjoy visiting us in Florida several times over the winter.

I stay active with golf and tennis and I have just taken up pickleball.

I have always been proud of the education I received at West High.  Amazingly,  I have been able to remember facts, historical dates, shorthand, spelling, algebra and even enough French to get along in France three different trips.

I am so sorry I will not be ble to attend  the 60th Re Union.  Cheers!

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 SUSAN (TREWARTHA) PAPANIC

Education:

Univ. of Colorado, 1 ½ years

Univ. of Wisconsin, BA in Art Educ., 1963

Univ. of Wisconsin, MA, Art Education, 1969

Professional:

Taught art in secondary schools in WI, AZ, AK, MA, and CT

While in grad school, I traveled to Nigeria for four months to illustrate and edit text books for Northern Nigeria Education Project.

Worked as an Acquisitions Editor at Davis Publications in Worcester, MA for two years.

Worked, part-time,  at the Visitor Center of Morton Arboretum In Lisle, IL for four(?) years.

Personal:

I married George, a nuclear engineer, in 1979, and we had aa daughter, Robin, in 1981. She is married and lives in Portland, OR———-no grandkids.

Since we’ve been married we’ve lived in NH, CT, IL, and now in Bend, OR, where we retired————–LOVE IT (Bend and retirement!)

We’ve traveled extensively in the US and abroad, most of the trips being hiking or biking trips with Elderhostel/Road Scholar. We also enjoy hiking and kayaking locally.

I keep busy with my art work, gardening, reading and volunteering with Planned Parenthood.

I’m SO looking forward to seeing all of you!!

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Karen Vanderheiden Wallander (updated 4/25/19)

I attended the UW-Madison and graduated in 1962 with a degree in Speech Therapy and Education.  My first job was in the Seattle, Washington public schools for two years; then I returned to the University for a Master’s Degree in Speech/Language Pathology. In June 1965 I married Jerry Wallander, a graduate student in Dairy and Food Science and Biochemistry.  I taught one semester in Madison. then retired to have our first child, Gregg, in 1966.  Lynne was born in 1967, and when Jerry finished school we moved to Evansville, Indiana for 37 years, where he worked for Mead Johnson, a nutritional food company and division of Bristol-Myers.  Our youngest daughter, Lesley, was born in Evansville in 1972.  I worked first in the Rehab Center there and then in the school system as a Speech/Language Pathologist.

After retiring in 1995 I volunteered at our Museum and a local Victorian home museum.  Our children went to college, married, and we now have 10 grandchildren, in Indianapolis, Chicago, and Hartland, Wisconsin.  They range in age from 27 to 12.  We returned home to Madison in 2004, where my father was still living and we enjoyed him until 2008, when he died.  We enjoyed traveling internationally after retirement, and are now traveling mostly for family visits as we continue to live in Madison.

Best to all classmates of 1958, and a particular thank you to those who work to keep the class coming together.

Karen Vanderheiden Wallander

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JEAN VERTHEIN

How wonderful we are getting together, with or hopefully without or with flooding.

After The UW, Smith College  and Sarah Lawrence College, I taught at Columbia University School of Public Health and School of Social Work as an adj. professor for 14 years as a disability specialist.

I represented WILPF US at the UN, one of the UN ‘s 200 founders and just returned from Ghana, W. Africa a few days ago. From International House at CU I began traveling the world and the US.

I was in the invasion of NYC on 9/11. The Red Cross picked me from hundreds of NYS licenses to supervise on that gruesome night.

My book  Last Gentleman in the Middle  Distance will be published in 2019.

Pleasure is great coming to Madison and my cottage to see the Sperling’s, JoAnn Salin and Gary Schultz.  Much laughter.

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Verne Vlack

After graduating from West I attended Wisconsin School of Electronics.  I owned and operated a tv and communications business till retiring seven years ago.  I married my wife Sharon in 1962 and just celebrated our 56th anniversary.  We have a son Greg and a daughter Lisa and four amazing granddaughters.  Since retiring we spend winters at our condo in Ft. Myers, Florida.  We currently live in Middleton.  We travel as much as possible and particularly enjoy cruises.

(Note  a home address was listed, and was removed due to website privacy policy.)

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