Rod Manges
Manhattan, KS
Spouse: Shelley
Married: 1977
Children: Taylor, Tim
2010 Biography: My wife Shelley (MHS class of '71) and I are still teaching music in the Manhattan-Ogden
schools mostly at the elementary and middle school level.
Our daughter, Taylor, is attending KSU and is an assistant manager at Kieu's clothing store located downtown on
Poyntz. Our son, Tim, will be a senior at MHS next year and is a receiver on the football team - Go Indians!!
I'm also still performing as a keyboard player in "Mainstreet" - a Manhattan based Rhythm & Blues band.
It seems that musicians work mainly on weekends
and holidays which makes it difficult to attend social events and reunions. Please keep in touch!
Phyllis Mar
Kansas City, MO
2010 Biography: A couple of people at this 2010 reunion mentioned that they were interested in seeing an update from me, and I have been intending to do it for some time. Hang on while I make up for lost time. Here goes. Maybe I ought to sensationalize this --- Phyllis Mar - The Untold Story --- and use a creepy font.
After graduating, I went to K State, majored in art for about 3 years, and then had a crisis of talent. I can't pinpoint any one event that triggered it. From the time I was very small I was always drawing. All through grade school, junior and high school, I was tagged as an artsy type, but I was otherwise invisible. It came to a grinding halt, and I had no motivation to keep on with it. I had no one to talk to about it, and I really couldn't describe it anyway.
I felt like there was nothing special about my art. Everyone was making art equally good or better, and I couldn't see that I had anything to offer. I went into a deep depression about it. I looked at my fellow art students and mostly what I saw were a lot of fragile massive egos vying for attention. I didn't have words for it then, but in retrospect I was probably searching for meaning and purpose. I had frequent thoughts about suicide, but I couldn't figure out a way to do it that would not leave a mess for someone to clean up. Basically I wanted to just evaporate.
I had been regularly playing cards in the K State Union with a group that included Stu and Joyce Parsons, Geoff Roof, John McNair, Vicky Faurot, and sometimes Jane Sanders and Delores Carter. I don't remember how much my depression colored the enjoyment I got from hanging out with this group, but one day I decided it was not serving me to keep playing cards, and I stopped hanging with this group. I think this was when my art lapsed, and today I call myself a lapsed artist because I've not yet regained my art as a consuming passion.
One day I found myself taking an acting class. I had a lot of fun with it, and I auditioned for a part in a one act play. I wasn't any good, but it was an entrée into the college theater community. I fell in love with it, and it nourished me. I found my place in this community as a costumer. At last I belonged somewhere. I could make a contribution and be recognized and appreciated. I went on to graduate with a degree in Speech and Theater with an emphasis in costuming in 1974.
But, I still had no idea what I wanted to do, and I hung around a bit, doing the professional student thing, and it was too easy because I still lived with my parents. I made a feeble stab at a masters program, but mostly I just took more theater courses.
I got a part in the chorus of Godspell during the summer of 1976. I'm forever grateful to my sisters Linda and Amy who covered for me at the restaurant, but at one point Linda half jokingly complained that they were the only ones in town who hadn't seen the musical. It was open air theater that was set up in the old stadium.
During the summer of 1977, I became costumer for a summer theater in Grand Lake, Colorado, that was headed up by one of my theater professors. Star Wars was playing in Estes Park across the way, and at the end of the summer, Elvis died. Grand Lake is at an elevation above 8000' ASL, so temperaturewise, I didn't have a summer that year. It was beautiful, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't still been in the throes of youthful angst.
In the summer of 1978, I was accepted as a costume intern at the prestigious Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis - no pay, just prestige. F. Murray Abraham was one of the actors in residence that summer, and it was before he made Amadeus. He had the lead role in a play written by Isaac Bashevis Singer, called Teibele's Demon. Leonard Nimoy did a one man show playing Vincent Van Gogh's brother, Theodore. I worked on costumes for Hamlet. Because of this background in costuming, it was very interesting to connect with John Roberts' wife, who is an historical costume consultant for the film industry, at this 2010 reunion.
I had my nights free in Minneapois. One of the things I did was a temporary job as a cocktail waitress for a summer concert series. It was set up cabaret style with tables instead of theater seating. The featured artists included Mitch Miller, Bobby Short and Jane Olivor. Mitch Miller was declining in fame, but Bobby Short was coming off some recent fame from a popular commercial for some perfume. Jane Olivor was being touted as the next Streisand, and she was popular with the gay community.
I also bought a package of introductory dance lessons at Arthur Murray. Talk about wham-bam-ala-kazam, I was hooked. I absolutely loved ballroom dancing.
When I got back to Manhattan at the end of the summer, I staked out the nearest Arthur Murray as being in Kansas City. It was upstairs at 12th and Walnut, across from the Jones Store. I was so starry eyed for ballroom dancing, my first visit was magic. It was a hot day, and after they rang me into the security door, wonderful air conditioning wafted over me. As I walked up the plush carpeted stairs, I could swear I was kicking up sparkly gold fairy dust. For almost a year I would go to Kansas City once a week for dance lessons.
My obsession escalated to where once a week wasn't enough. It was ballroom dancing that led me to move to Kansas City in August of 1979. Absolute true story. And it wasn't even the professional dancing you see on Dancing With the Stars, but we did work on some routines for performance events that were like dance recitals. It was very social, and a lot of the customers were old and wealthy. A few of the instructors aspired to be in professional competition, but even back then it was prohibitively costly.
The dance lessons themselves were costly, and finally after much pleading from my mother, I walked away from ballroom dancing around 1983. I had spent roughly $10,000.00 on dance lessons. And no, I won't buy a bridge from you.
My first job in Kansas City was at one of the last dress manufacturers in the garment district. We were across the street from the Folger Company. I applied as a sewing machine operator, but there were no openings in that department. I ended up in the patternmaker's department. What a fun job. All day long I got to cut out paper patterns, and I learned a lot about garment construction and manufacturing.
My next job was as a seamstress doing alterations for Swanson's on the Plaza, a really swanky women's clothing store. I worked on designer clothing - the big names: Bill Blass, Geoffrey Beene, Oscar dela Renta, Valentino, Chanel, Yves St. Laurent - and I rubbed elbows with the wives of some of Kansas City's wealthiest men. We also had a bridal department, so I worked with a lot of Bridezillas and their Motherzillas. Swanson's was owned by Hallmark.
It was my heavy makeup period. We had the top lines of makeup in Swanson's, like Chanel and Lancome. Our employee discount was 40% on clothing and 20% on makeup - it was a really sweet perk. I went to Patricia Stevens to learn fashion merchandising in the hopes that it could help me move up in the organization, and their modeling course was part of the curriculum, so that was even more heavy makeup. The course did nothing to advance me, but we took a fun field trip to New York City.
One of our stops was Windows on the World, a restaurant on top of one of the World Trade Center buildings. We looked across at the other building which had an observation deck on its roof, and it was crowded. We could see the Statue of Liberty off the lower end of the island, and I remember small planes that appeared to be flying at the same level we were at. Little did we know. This was in the early 80s.
Speaking of small planes, during this period I signed up for a community class on what I thought would be an informative class on flying small private planes. It turned out to be a cram course on passing the written test for a private pilot license.
The instructor was a pilot for TWA, and he was also a flight instructor. I took flying lessons as a personal challenge for myself. I was terrified of flying, especially in a small plane, but something drove me to test that boundary. 40 hours flying time and a cross country trip were the minimum requirements for a private license. I came close but did not complete that requirement. It's still an open loop that I might go back and close one day. We'll see.
I took advantage of Hallmark's tuition assistance program and went to computer programming school at night for about a year. When I graduated I got a job as a junior programmer at a software company in Overland Park, and I think I stayed at Swanson's on a part time basis. That employee discount was hard to give up. I really liked programming, but they laid me off after six months.
I went back to working full time in Swanson's, and the furrier's assistant retired. I applied for the opening, but I thought that one of the other seamstresses who had had previous experience in the fur industry would be selected. I was shocked when they chose me. I spent the first two months of that job in sensory overload. To this day I can visually tell a real fur from a fake.
One day I was doing a fitting in the designer salon, and as I walked out I saw a familiar face in the fur salon. Imagine my surprise and utter delight when I saw Kent Glasscock there. He was buying a fur coat for his girlfriend of that time. If any of you gals have ever turned him down for date, that's what you missed out on.
In the meantime I had also started working at the IRS, so these two jobs overlapped for a couple of years. I finally resigned Swanson's shortly after the furrier retired.
Current surface detail in July 2010 is a relatively quiet life as a crazy cat lady who has been an IRS employee for 23 years. This life has been punctuated periodically with extraordinary events, in large part due to the fact that I have a secret life as a workshop/conference/seminar junkie.
I started sometime during the late 80s going to real estate seminars. Beyond the book learning, there were a lot of growth exercises, so yes, I've done the trust falls and I've broken boards with my hand. The first wave of seminars petered out, and I didn't go to anything for a while, but it got me to buy a house.
I had a bucket list long before it was called that. For the longest time I had 'learn to parachute' on that list. I think it was for my 40th birthday that I finally decided that 20 years of having it on my list was long enough, and I decided to go learn to parachute as a gift to myself.
I went to a required ground school, and went through some drills where my instructor had me practice simulating the steps to make a jump. I was supposed to step out onto the strut of the plane, and then as I stepped off the strut I was supposed to assume a Superman-like position to become aerodynamic.
Well, what a joke compared to the reality. I did what they call a static line jump. There's a long cord with one end attached to the pull cord on the parachute and the other end has a hook that is hooked to the floor of the plane. The parachute opens automatically as you fall. The joke was that the instructor completely omitted any mention of how fierce the winds aloft are. I don't think I got more than two steps out onto the strut before I was just blown off, and it happened so fast that I was down a couple hundred feet before I remembered to assume the Superman position.
They equipped us with a radio, so following their instructions to pull left or right, I managed to land in the target area.
I did one more static line jump after that first one, and then I had had my fill. Parachuting didn't turn out anywhere as exciting as I had expected, but the only way I would learn that was to do it. There was a small group of diehard enthusiasts, but the majority of the people I encountered there seemed pretty shallow, and I was not moved to mingle with them.
Plus, I had to drive almost an hour to Lexington, Missouri, to get to the small airport. This airport was on the banks of the river, and it regularly got flooded. I found it too much of a hassle.
In October 2001, a month after 9-11, I accompanied my sister Linda to pick up her second adopted daughter from China, while her husband stayed home with their first adopted daughter. It was my first trip to China, and I hope it won't be my last.
Linda is employed as an attorney for the Marriott Corporation, so we stayed at a really posh Marriott in Hong Kong the first few days of the trip. We rode the big escalator, we went up to Victoria Peak, we visited our paternal grandmother's grave in Kowloon and we went shopping in the Stanley market.
In Beijing, we met up with the adoption coordinator and the other adoptive families. There were only three other families, so we were an unusually small group. Other groups had at least a dozen families. The whole adoption machinery in China is extremely organized and regulated. The adoption coordinator felt strongly that the children's adoptive families should at least acquaint themselves with the culture, so he also assumed the mantle of a tour guide. We saw Tiennemen Square and we visited the Forbidden City. We went out to the Great Wall. I felt the ghosts everywhere.
There were also vendors everywhere. I was especially dismayed to find them on the Great Wall.
After Beijing, we went to Fuzhou (?foo ? joe?) to rendezvous with the children and their chaperones from the orphanage. It was quite an emotional first meeting. My niece was named Ting Fu Yue by the orphanage, and she was adopted as Rebecca. She was thirteen months old and had just started furniture walking. When she ran out of furniture, she loudly demanded that one of us hold her hand and walk her around. She was relentless.
After Fuzhou, we went to Guangzhou (?gwong ? joe?). All adopted babies leaving China go through Guangzhou and stay at the White Swan Hotel because it's around the corner from the Consulate. The babies went through a physical exam and then they were sworn in as American Citizens.
Rebecca slept the first two hours of a 15 hour flight back to the States. Not only was she awake for the next 13, but she did not want to sit still. If we tried to get her to sit still, she would wail loudly. So as not to disturb other passengers, I walked her around as she charmed all the flight attendants. She was not the least bit tired, but the bags under my eyes were big enough I could have checked them.
We came through San Francisco and met up with our sister Amy, who was 7 months pregnant with her first child at the age of 41. After a brief chat, we went our separate ways to our respective homes.
In February 2002 I had surgery to remove a small lump from my left breast. A biopsy confirmed that it was indeed cancer. In April of 2002 I had a second surgery to clear the margins, and to take a few lymph nodes from my left armpit. The lymph nodes tested negative, so the cancer did not spread. I declined chemo, but I agreed to the radiation therapy. My left breast is now about two inches higher than the right, so if you ever see me listing to one side, that might be the reason. LOL
The current round of workshop experiences started in 2004.
I have:
done more trust falls; done a firewalk; jumped off a cliff into a river 3 times; participated in about 5 or 6 sweat lodges; bent rebar at my throat with a partner; done a trancedance; done a rebirthing process; climbed to the top of a pole and stood upright on it before jumping off; participated in a death by strangulation exercise; done a maze blindfolded; eaten fire; gone white water rafting.
Not all in the same day, though.
The underlying spiritual emotional growth has been exponential and indescribable.
Sometimes things happen even before I get to one of these workshops. One time a man died in the seat next to me on the plane. He revived and was able to walk off the plane when we landed, but I knew he left briefly when the stench of his fecal release came at me abruptly. I now treasure uneventful flights.
I went to India for the first time in 2007. I went with a group of almost 40 people, and we stayed for 18 days. At the end of the first week, shortly after we'd seen the Taj Mahal, Mother India tried to kill me. I woke up sicker than a dog. On top of the usual flu symptoms, I couldn't keep any food down, and nothing would come out the other end, either. Dr. Bidwell, I sure wish you had been there.
In spite of this, it was an incredible trip across northern India. One of the most memorable experiences for me happened in Varanasi. We took a predawn boat ride out to the middle of the Ganges, when it was dark and still. Quite a few of us, including myself, had dressed with swimsuits underneath our clothes.
Since there were nearly 40 of us, we took two boats out onto the water. Our leader was in the other boat. He spoke a few words about Ma Ganga - the Ganges - and then peeled down to his skivvies. He invited us to join him as he jumped into the river. The first rays of dawn were starting to glow.
A couple of my friends jumped in before I did and swam around happily. Not only was I sick, but I'm a very poor swimmer, so I hesitated for a few minutes. I knew it was a once in a lifetime chance. I had no idea if I would ever come back to India, and even if I did, there was no guarantee that I would take a boat ride out to the middle of the Ganges.
I don't remember if I jumped, or more likely, I probably sat on the edge of the boat and slipped into the water. I do remember thinking that these people would attempt to save me if anything happened, and if they weren't successful I would at least be dying in holy water. It was the thought of immersing myself in holy water that drew me into the water.
As I went beneath the surface, the sounds got muffled and it was totally murky. It was strangely comforting, and then I suddenly remembered that I better start using my arms to get back to the surface. When I got to the surface my friends were ready to pull me back into the boat, but I wanted to get two more dips in, and I hung on to the side of the boat to do that.
Once I was back in the boat I sorta lay there exhausted but elated, and then I had to get my clothes back on. In India the women have to stay covered, but at least one of the guys had jumped in nude. The sun came up blazing red, like a huge glowing blood orange. I think I have pictures in my Facebook album.
A day or so later we would go dipping into the Ganges from the water's edge, but that was a totally different experience. We were at Kumbh Mela, the world's largest religious festival. It was an off year, so it was only 30 million strong. In the major years they have as many as 70 million attend.
More recently, I attended the historic Inauguration of Barack Obama. Since my sister Linda lives in Washington DC, we didn't have to fight to get a hotel room.
It was sure freakin' cold, though. And we did lots and lots of walking, and then lots and lots of standing in long slow or non-moving lines. Our group included me and my three sisters and two of their husbands. We got on the subway around 6 am and it was already crowded, but at least it wasn't as packed as it would be later. It was still dark when we got off near the Mall.
The numbers exceeded all expectations, and I think that blew their plan for tickets out of the water. I still have my ticket. We managed to get into the Mall, and the gate was closed behind us. At that point having a ticket was useless because the Mall was full.
We ended up where there was no Jumbotron, but we could still hear the speakers. We couldn't see Obama directly but it was an awesome feeling to be part of history.
Whew! Was that really 40 years???
Still on the bucket list:
touch a whale / go into space / dance tango with Robert Duvall / learn to play my didgeridoo (Yes, I have one)
DeWayne Marcellus
Manhattan, KS
William Marion
Searcy, AR
Spouse: Brenda
Married: 2000
Children: Carrie, Jacob, Allison, Aaron
2000 Biography: V. P.
Operations - Land O' Frost, Inc. Employed by LOF in Searcy, AR since 1983.
Doug Marker
Manhattan, KS
Steve Martin
Oxford, MI
Spouse: Phyllis
Married: 1983
Children: Tabitha, Abigail
2005 Biography: I graduated from Johnson Bible
College in 1974. I was a youth minister for seven years. I earned a Master
of Arts degree from Eastern New Mexico University in 1981. I was an
associate minister in Tulsa, OK, for 2 years where I met my wife. We have
been married for 22 years. Since 1984 I have been the preaching minister in
several churches. Currently I am the minister at Meadowbrook Christian
Church in Rochester Hills, MI. Rochester Hills is a beautiful area in
northern metro Detroit. Before moving to Rochester Hills we lived in a small
town outside of Charleston, SC. Both of my daughters are in college in
Tennessee. The oldest wants to be a high school English teacher and the
youngest wants to be a missionary. I enjoy riding my mountain bike, golfing,
playing tennis, and reading a good thriller or fantasy book.
Anna Masters
Bob McCarthy
Manhattan, KS
Patty (McCarthy) Metzler
Middlebury, VT
Spouse: Steve
Children: Chris, Scott, Paul, Peter
2022 Biography: My husband Steve and I moved to Lawrence from Middlebury, Vermont in 2001 for Steve to go to KU Law School and to be closer to my family. We are both retired now, Steve from law and I am a retired nutritionist. Steve and I will celebrate our 45th wedding anniversary on June 4. Two of our four sons live in Vermont, one lives in South America and our youngest son lives in Florida.
Our oldest son is married and has two daughters. His oldest daughter will graduate from 8th grade on June 9. I will miss the reunion as we will be in Vermont for her graduation and most of the rest of this year. My dear mother, Phyllis McCarthy, passed away on May 18 2022. My sister Susan McCarthy and brother Jim McCarthy/wife Darla and I took care of her for the last 5 years rotating from house-to-house every 4-6 weeks. I will miss her dearly. She would have been 99 in August. Hope you all have a great reunion! Best, Patty McCarthy Metzler
Kim McClelland
Columbus, OH
Carol McCracken
John McInteer (deceased)
Bev McKee
Mike McMahon
Marietta, GA
John McNair
Lenexa, KS
Spouse: Joanne
Children: Catherine, Johnny
Chuck Meyer (deceased)
Wes Milbourn
Oklahoma City, OK
Spouse: Sandy
Married: 1974
Children: Jennifer Milbourn Schreiner, Elisa, Grant
2020 Biography: Since high school, I attended and graduated from Kansas State University with a B.S. degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. Continued my broadcasting career throughout high school and college. In college, met my wife Sandy and we have been married for 45 years. We moved to Oklahoma City in late 1978 and have been in broadcasting since my beginnings at KMAN in 1967. Currently, I'm President and General Manager of two TV stations...KFOR-TV, the NBC Affiliate, and KAUT-TV, an Independent Affiliate in Oklahoma City.
Sandy and I have three great kids...Jennifer (9-10-1981) lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with her husband Adam and their two boys ages 9 and 6. She graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2004. Elisa (12-17-1984) is living in Oklahoma City and works for the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association and married to Deston McAlister (12-08-18). She graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2007. Grant (9-11-1987) is now a Major in the United States Air Force and is stationed at Vance AFB in Enid, Oklahoma, where he is now an instructor pilot (IP) training the new pilots how to fly and is recently married to Melanie (11-15-19). He graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2010 where he also received his commissioning. I still continue to enjoy weekend golf games with my golfing buddies and shooting hoops in the driveway with my kids and grandkids. Sandy and I are blessed to have all of our kids and grandkids so close to us!!!
Douglas Miller
Lawrence, KS
Spouse: Susan
Children: Chris, Scott, Nick
2000 Biography: I have
been married to my wonderful wife for 25 years and have been working for the
Lawrence Ks. Police Department for the last 26 years. Our 3 sons, Chris,
Scott, and Nick are pursuing their respective career choices.
John Mills
Douglas Moore
Apple Valley, CA
Spouse:
Married: 1972
Children: 2
2020 Biography: First, let me put everyone who doesn't remember me at ease. I only went to MHS one year, my senior year, 1970. So, it's ok if you don't remember me. I still thought it would be fun to see a lot of people at the 50 year MHS reunion though, including the few people I've been in touch with over the years. So, here's to hoping many of you are able to attend our big 50th reunion!
Now that that's out of the way:
After graduating from MHS I went to a small college in Oklahoma, just outside Oklahoma City. After a couple of years there I met my future wife. (She was in grad. school when I was a sophomore.) We married in 1972. (Yes, we were way too young. We are still together though. Going on 48 years now. I give her all the credit for that.)
After a few years living in OKC we moved to Casper, Wyoming, where we were part of a family construction & development business. We built apartments, single family homes & condos. We were in Casper until 1984, when the oil glut/gas crisis of the late 70s/early 80s hit and many of our tenants left Wyoming as their mother companies moved their offices out of state.
In 1984 we moved to Apple Valley, California (about 80 miles N.E. of Los Angeles). We needed to find a place that was booming, not "busting" as the State of Wyoming was back then, a place where it would be a good, safe environment to raise our 2 sons. One was 4, the other 2. We still live in Apple Valley to this day.
My wife got a teaching job here, at Apple Valley High School, where she taught math (calculus, geometry, statistics, etc.) until she retired in 2017. She has also taught part time periodically at the local college over the years.
I went back to school & got a fifth-year CA teaching credential (required in CA) for teaching English & Art, but found that, unlike my wife, I did not have the gift that many do for teaching high schoolers. So, I started working for the County of San Bernardino. After taking some additional grad school work, I started a job as a contracts writer (later a contracts administrator). After a few years I was asked to join a Special Projects team that did efficiency studies of various departments within the County of San Bernardino. (The County employs around 19,000 people.)
Eventually I was hired as a Policy Analyst (l later became Deputy Chief of Staff) for the SB County Board of Supervisors. All of the unincorporated areas in SB County (the largest county in the US geographically) are governed by 5 elected County Supervisors. They work with the mayors & city councils of the 24 cities within SB County on common areas of concern (land use, public works, state & federal legislation, etc.). The county also has the D.A., Public Defender, Social Services, County Hospital, County airports & parks and the like. My job was acting as advisor to board members & working with city, state & sometimes federal officials & staff, counsel, etc., as well as our own County department directors, counsel, administrators ...
In 2014 1 retired from the County, but a year later realized I was not ready for total retirement & went back to work part time for the Board of Supervisors on contract. But, in 2017 my wife had a brain aneurysm. (l almost lost her at that point, but it was not her time yet.) After several weeks in ICU, more weeks in a rehab center & more eeks doing individually supervised rehabilitation at home I told the County I was going to "do the right thing" & take care of the love of my life, so I fully retired.
My wife is doing great now, about 90% back to normal. She's as feisty as she ever was. I am Spending a lot of time doing something I've always wanted to do now, being a "wanna-be" artist. I do oils, pastels, pen & ink, etc. I've won some local art shows and had some paintings auctioned for local charities (e.g. a greyhound rescue group & a non-profit that helps unemployed low income people get back in the workforce). I've also done a few commissioned paintings, but I prefer donating my work.
My wife & I spend as much time as we can with our 4 grandkids now. (l teach 2 of them tennis lessons at a local club.)
Our sons are now 39 & 37, both married & career people. One is a math professor at a local college. (He inherited his mom's brains.) His wife, a former public school administrator, is a coordinator for all the home schooler familie> in our area. Our other son is a Director for a transit agency (buses, ADA paratransit vehicles, etc.) that serves most of SB County. His wife has her hands full with a 2 year old & a 4 month old girl.
Well, that's about it for me. Not the most exciting life, but we are greatly blessed & content in our "old age" (though I don't feel old).
I look forward to seeing everyone who is able to attend our 50 year reunion! I hope all of you are doing well and send my prayers for those who are struggling in one way or another. I hope to see many of you in June at the reunion!
Michele (Moore) Weber
Columbus, KS
Spouse: Jacob
Married: 1974
Children: Aaron, Eric, Gregory,
Dominic, Christa
2005 Biography: After high school I attended
Kansas State University majoring in Elementary Education. While there I met
my husband, Jacob. We both graduated in 1974. I in Elementary Education and
Jacob in Horticulture. We moved to Oakley, Kansas that same year to help
operate the family farm which we did for 14 years. During that time we
started our family having 5 children: 4 boys and 1 girl. In 1988, my husband
accepted a job with the Kansas State University Research and Extension
Service as the County Extension Agent in Horticulture for Cherokee, Crawford
and Montgomery Counties in Southeast Kansas. This called for a move to
Columbus, Kansas, where we still reside. (After our arrival, we discovered
that my former classmate Cindy (Busset) Epler was living on a farm southeast
of Columbus, serving on the Cherokee County Extension Executive Board and
signing my husband's paychecks!!!!! Our families participated in many
activities together and Cindy and I remain close friends!!!)
In the summer of
1999, I enrolled in the graduate school of Pittsburg State University to
complete teacher recertification. In 2000, I accepted a job with USD#493
Columbus, Kansas, as the 4 year-old At-Risk Pre-Kindergarten Teacher. I have
19 four-year-olds during the regular school year. I find it extremely
rewarding and yet challenging!!!!
Paula (Moore) Carver
Wamego, KS
Karen (Morey) Piland
Kansas City, MO
Diana (Morrison) Havenstein
Manhattan, KS
Spouse: Steve Havenstein (Class of '70)
Children: 3
2020 Biography: Steve and I have been married 48 years, raised 3 wonderful sons, lived in 7 different states, retired in 2017 and moved back to Manhattan. I've been a florist or shop manager for many of those years. I enjoy traveling with Steve, spending time with friends, gardening and volunteering. Life is good!
Becky (Mosier) Wassom
Wamego, KS
Spouse: Steve
Married: 1976
Children: Mark, Matt, Laura, Derek
Grandchildren: 6
2020 Biography: We are enjoying retirement and seem to be on the go all the time following 11 grandkids and their sports, music, 4-H and school activities.
Volunteering at the Flint Hills Discovery Center and the Wamego Library and Friends of the Library fills in the week days.
We hope to do some traveling this year and have a list of places we want to visit.
Dr. Mike Mosier
Manhattan, KS
Spouse: Becky
Married: 1976
Children: Katie, Maggie, Annie, Amie, Whitney
2005 Biography: Mike is starting his 26th yr. in Family Practice with his brother Steve, in Manhattan. His wife, of soon to be 29 yrs, is Becky. They have 5 daughters:
Katie (25) is starting her 4th yr of medical school, is married to James Sutton.
Maggie (21) is a student at KSU.
Amie (20) is a student at KSU.
Annie (20) is soon to be a student at Western College in Gunnison Colo. to run cross country.
Whitney (17) a senior at Riley County High School. Was a starter on the girls basketball team which had a 2yr record of
51-1and were 3A -2005 state champions.
Between his practice and all of his daughters plus the other demands of life, Mike keeps busy.
Janet (Motley) Swander
Manhattan, KS
Betty (Muir) Popa (deceased)
Doris (Muncie) Smith
Atlanta, GA
Marcia (Murphy) Rowe
Pleasanton, CA
Spouse: David
Married: 1972
Children: Colette, Jared
2005 Biography: Wow, I can't believe that it
has been 35 years! How can this be since I am only 29? Time flies, alot has
changed in the past five years but more has stayed the same. I have been
married to the same man for 33 years (sometimes a challenge) and we have
been in the same town and home for 25 years (according to our children this
is very boring). We have both changed jobs in the last five years, David was
a Sale Engineer for 30 years and a victim of downsizing (very popular here
in California) he now works for SBC in a call center (in at 8 and out at
4:30). A very different job, however there is no stress and he is just a 20
min. bicycle ride from home, so no commute. Four years ago I left the job I
had had for eight years and haven't looked back. I love being at home again
with time to garden, read, cook and most importantly sew. I still work two
mornings a week at the local quilt shop, but that is more play than work.
The shop is just a few blocks from home so if I were so inclined I could
walk. Our children are grown and free spirits. According to my husband this
was caused by sending them to UC Santa Cruz to school. I think they just
enjoy life. Our daughter lives in Berkley and is a garden teacher at an
elementary school (more info on school gardens can be found on Alice Waters
web site www.edible schoolyard.org/ppl). This next year she has a grant to
also work with the students to encourage healthy eating habits. Our son is
an investigator and Spanish translator. He has been with the public defender
in Santa Cruz, but now is in the process of going out on his own in San
Francisco. They both travel as much as possible, Jared has just come back
from 2 months in Mexico and Colette is about to spend the next 2 months in
the northwest and Canada. My husband and I enjoy traveling also, however we
prefer large cruise ships and pampering. We have just received city approval
for a small addition we are putting onto our house (enlarging our master
bedroom and most importantly my quilting studio). We will be doing most of
the work ourselves so this summer you will find me in the backyard, hard hat
on, plans in hand, telling everyone what to do! We are located about 40
miles east of San Francisco, so if any of you are out this way give us a
call. My brother Matt still lives in Manhattan so I make it back every year
or so. Sorry to miss the reunion - I hope you all have a great time.
Bruce Murrell (deceased)
Carl Musil
Overland Park, KS
Jill (Nedwed) Duer
Alta Vista, KS
Spouse: Steve
Married: 1996
Children: Bryan Robinson
2010 Biography: My husband and I moved back to this area three years ago to be closer to my parents
in their older years. We moved from Spring Hill, KS which is south of Kansas City. We love the rural life and chose a home in
the country with some acreage to farm. I have worked for almost 30 years for the same company, Mid-America Cardiology at KU
Medical Center. Since I married my current husband, I have worked from home, transcribing medical documents. Last year about
this time the transcription department was disbanded and our jobs outsourced. I was retained but my job is in the midst of
transition again and I don't know if I will survive another cut. Regardless, I have enjoyed the freedom of working from home
and will embrace whatever new comes along. Steve and I enjoy the outdoors; he bought a motorcycle and I bought a motor scooter
last year. (No changing gears for this chick). We like to ride when we have time. We vacation during the summer in Minnesota at
a family cabin on Big Sand Lake,(can't beat the beautiful weather and scenery). We enjoy our animals; at the moment three dogs
and two cats who share our space in our home, as well as a population of barn cats/kittens that is ever changing. I play in my g
arden and play with my granddaughter when I am not working. She will be two years old this summer and she is the light of my life.
I see her every chance I get which is every other weekend! I will be in MN over the Fourth of July so will miss the reunion. Can
it really be 40 years since we graduated? Life has been interesting. Those of you who make it back for this reunion, have fun
catching up with each other. Thanks to the reunion committee for taking time to plan and execute, and hopefully we will all be
around in ten years to celebrate 50 years.
Pam (Nelson) Hadden
Edmond, OK
Spouse: Scott
Married: 1979
Children: Benjamin, Zachary
2010 Biography: After graduating from K-State in '74 in Elementary Ed. I taught Kindergarten in Manhattan
and then moved to Lincoln, Ne., where I met and married Scott. We have lived in Nebraska, Africa, Kansas, Colorado and Texas. We now
live in Edmond where Scott is director of counseling at a Christian Counseling Center and I am an admin. assitant for a gas and oil
company. Our children are Benjamin who is a drilling engineer for the same company that I work for. He and his wife live in Istanbul,
Turkey. Our son Zachary and his wife live in Tulsa where he is a Petroleum Engineer.
Sorry to miss seeing you at the reunion. I have many great memories of my years at Manhattan High.
Barb (Nesmith) Horowitz
Seattle, WA
Terry Noordsy (deceased)
Hertford, NC
Spouse: Vicki Jo
Children: Chelsea, Mason
2000 Biography: Life
after High School: I spent several years as a Hospital Corpsman with the
Navy and Marine Corp, Naval Reserve. Moved back to the Topeka, KS area and
became a Radiology Technologist. Married Vicki Jo in 1976 and raised Chelsea
& Mason around the Topeka & Manhattan area until 1989. Spent 1 year in
Oklahoma and then moved to North Carolina in 1990. I ran a MRI at a local
hospital and Vicki owns an Antique Business. Chelsea has a business degree
and is a loan officer at a local bank. Mason is learning the ins and outs of
the local music store. He is a gifted guitar artist! Hopes to help me
refine!
Wanda Norman (deceased)
Jim Norton (deceased)
Bruce Norvell
Milton, GA
Spouse: Kay Muncie (Class of '71)
Married: 1976
Children: Jessica Lewis, Adrienne, Peter
2022 Biography: ?I’m looking forward to our 50th (52nd). How can it be 52 years since graduation?
Manhattan was a terrific place to grow up and the 50’s and 60’s were a special time. My father was a PK (preachers kid), the son of a Methodist minister growing up. The Methodist church moved their ministers around frequently mostly without their input. So my Dad never had a hometown and hated the moving. Once he was hired by the Manhattan school board in 1949 he did not leave and finally had his hometown. We Norvell kids benefited from that fact. My childhood was very blessed.
After graduating from K-State in ‘76 (as I like to say I squeezed my four years into six with a year off for military active duty.) I moved to Atlanta and have basically been here ever since. Kay Muncie, Class of ‘71 came with me. We married and had three children. Two daughters and a son. I got into the insurance business as an underwriter and had a 40 plus year career. I was able to travel and had wonderful client relationships and friendships. I still keep up with many of my former clients and work colleagues. Again, I was blessed in my work career.
Our oldest daughter, Jessica was smitten at an early age by the horse bug which would shape our lives going forward. We owned horses for years and had them on our property. The girls competed in horse shows all over the southeast and beyond. It was good for them and our family. We’re still on acreage and share 20 acres with my daughter, Adrienne and her six kids. Our little piece of heaven is called Wild Meadows Farm. We see the grandkids every day which is a blessing. Our older daughter, Jessica is 15 minutes away and our son, Peter is in Chattanooga which is two hours north. Jessica and Peter both have two children so we have 10 grandkids!
We’ve always loved the beach and have had second homes there for 20 years. We just built which I hope is our last beach house at Seabrook Island, SC. Seabrook is south of Charleston about 30 minutes. We spend lots of time in the summer with the family there and other times, as well.
My siblings are all well. Nancy is in Nashville, Mark’s in Tulsa and Gary is in Tacoma Park, MD.
I still see Dennis Hedke when we can get together and we communicate regularly. I saw Joel Goldberger frequently for years and we still see his widow, Debbie and his children. So many friends are gone. Joel, Jim Bolton, Kurt Romans, Rick Karsminzki, Bruce Baxter, Jim Norton, Tim Gorman…… Count your blessing and live every day like it’s your last. Easy to say and hard to do.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in June!
Tom Padgett
Ft. Collins, CO
Bonnie (Parker) Vanek
Boulder, CO
Carol (Parker) Mortimer
Manhattan, KS
Spouse: Robert
Married: 1973
Children: Amy, Erin
2005 Biography: I have
stayed in the Manhattan area, and worked in education most of the time. I am
currently the coordinator of a community learning center, working for
Southeast Kansas Educational Service Center. My husband will retire on July
1 of this year.
I have two daughters. Amy is currently working on her masters at Boston
College (to be completed August 05), and is a professional distance runner
with Reebok.
Erin is a junior at KSU majoring in education. She too loves running and
plans to coach in the future as well as teach.
Tim Parks
Piedmont, CA
Children: 2 girls
John Parry
Kansas City, MO
Spouse: Vicky Borchers
Stuart Parsons
Lenexa, KS
Spouse: Joyce Kufahl (Class of '70)
Married: 1974
Children: Christin LaMourie
Grandchildren: 2
2015 Biography: See Joyce (Kufahl) Parsons
Pam (Pearson) Westmeyer
Manhattan, KS
Spouse: Rex (Class of '70)
Married: 1978
Children: Ashley Graff
2010 Biography: Looking forward to seeing everyone again this year. Our daughter, Ashley,
got married in September 2008 and is living in Portland, Oregon with her husband, Justin. He is an electrical engineer
who also graduated from Kansas State University. Rex is now a private pilot for a company out of Salina; flies to the
central states region carrying crews that fumigate grain. Pam is in her 17th year as a Realtor in Manhattan and
surrounding area. YOWZA! Time flies.
Think of me if you know of someone buying or selling in the area. It's fun to run into classmates
here in town, but it's hard to believe there are so many of you out there that I never see! I'm still riding horses
and go camping several times a year with them. Still snow skiing as long as the knees hold out.
Website: www.pamwestmeyer.com
Mike Penrod
St. Cloud, MN
Spouse: Judith Siminoe
Married: 1981
Children: Emily, Meredith
2021 Biography: Well, I am going to start this like I assume everyone else will-I can’t believe it has been 50 years. For me, as I am sure for everyone else, it has been an interesting 50 years. Like many of you I attended KSU. I graduated with a BA in History in 1974 and was commissioned into the Air Force. I spent just over a year on active duty playing a very minor role in Operation New Life (evacuation of South Vietnamese Refugees) as the war in Southeast Asia wound down. I left active duty much earlier than I had originally planned as part of the post-Vietnam drawdown. My plan was to go to graduate school but not necessarily at K-State even though that is where I ended up. After piddling around way to much I graduated in 1981 with an MA in American Military History and in 1985 with a Ph.D. in Higher Education Studies with a specialty in the history of American higher education. In the process, I transferred branches of the service and resumed what became a full-time/part-time career.
During those years I also met my life partner. We were married in December of 1981. We moved to Lincoln in 1983 and I went back on active duty in the Army while she completed law school at the University of Nebraska. I was assigned to state headquarters Nebraska National Guard for several years. Part of the time I did what is now called force protection and part of the time was the logistics management officer for one of the state’s major commands. I finally left the Army as a major in the post-Cold War drawdown in 1990.
After 4 years in Lincoln, we opted to return to Kansas to be nearer my mother. During the Lincoln years our first daughter, Emily was born. Our second daughter, Meredith was born in Manhattan. I went to work in adult education first at Fort Riley and later for the Kansas Department of Education. I also spent several years in the Kansas Army National Guard. Judith became the Associate General Counsel for the Kansas Board of Regents representing Pittsburg, Emporia, and Fort Hays.
We stayed in Kansas, in Manhattan, until 1998 (my mother passed in 1992) when we both accepted positions at Eastern Washington University. We spent three years in the Spokane area where I got involved in the fire service. Those of you who went to Northview may remember both my Dad and Grand Dad were firefighters so this wasn’t a totally unexpected career turn accept I was about 15 years older than most people when they start a fire service career. What was unexpected was the eventual move into emergency management from the fire service. This took me on a change in career trajectory which I did not anticipate, and which lasted until 2010. While I was having fun in the fire service Judith was the Special Advisor to the President of EWU and helped lead a major turnaround at Eastern Washington.
In 2001 we moved to Warrensburg Missouri arriving on September 7, 2001. Judith accepted the position of General Counsel at the University of Central Missouri. This was a career move for Judith and allowed us to be somewhat closer to her mother. While in Missouri I got involved with the University first as coordinator of its fledging online education program and later taking over administration of most of the off-campus education activities including interactive television and remote programs-talk about having no idea what I was doing. But something went right as we managed to grow our programs. Early on I was doing this 25% time and teaching in several of the distance programs where I learned how to do distance ed through trial and error. And, in my spare time, I was a firefighter/EMT with the city fire department. I eventually became a trainer and Assistant Team leader (lieutenant) in the department’s part-time program. This, and my military background, and my experience with distance ed all led to an eventual appointment at the university leading a distance ed program for first responders in how to manage large scale incidents, focusing of Weapons of Mass Destruction incidents. In the wake of 9/11, we spent enormous amounts of money preparing people for the next one. And, in my spare time, I taught American history and political geography.
During the years in Missouri, both daughters evidenced talent in music and acting. Both were active in high school theater and choir and in community theater and music events. Both also graduated from high school and moved on to college.
In 2008 we moved to Saint Cloud Minnesota as Judith accepted a position in administration at Saint Cloud State University. Both daughters followed and we acquired a third, temporary daughter, as we took in a friend of Meredith’s who had no place to go. Emily and Meredith both completed undergraduate work at SCSU, and our temporary daughter worked to find herself. Emily and Meredith both eventually graduated from SCSU and after pursuing various life options are in graduate school (Meredith completed a Masters's in higher education studies this spring and wants to go someplace where she is not known as Judith and Michael’s youngest daughter). Emily completed a Master’s in technology integration and instructional design in December. Our temporary daughter eventually found her life partner and has started a new life for herself.
One of the major challenges was to adjust to the winters in Minnesota-they are impossible to explain. We have beautiful crystal-clear mornings with a 3-foot snow cover and an air temp of -25 or -30 (and that might be the high for the day). The worst it has been in our time here is -35, for several days in a row. The place closed for about 3 or 4 days in the winter of 2018-2019 because of sub-zero temperatures. The summers are nice but short. Fall is my favorite time of year here. It is really pretty especially on the North Shore of Lake Superior.
After spending a year as Director of Community Operations for the Central Minnesota Chapter of the American Red Cross I ended up at Saint Cloud State University as Director of Distance Learning and Online Education at one point overseeing about 10% of the university’s academic programming. I also became active as a labor leader spending 3 years in the executive leadership of the campus professional service and administrative faculty union. I also continued teaching history and political geography online at the University of Central Missouri. I retired from UCM in 2016 and Saint Cloud State in 2018.
Since retiring I have resumed an interest in Historical Archaeology. In 2020 I finished a Masters's in the field. In the summer of 2019, I spent a week in Delaware looking for a 17th-century Dutch fort and 2 weeks in Lyons, Kansas looking for a 16th-century native American site probably visited by Coronado. The latter activity was part of a project sponsored by the Kansas Historical Society. The former was sponsored by the National Park Service. In 2018 I was involved in a search for a Civil War-era frontier fort here in Minnesota. We found the fort and I spent most of the last eighteen months analyzing artifacts and writing a report about what we found, that was my Masters’s research project. I spent the COVID year working on a couple of small writing projects. In the fall of 2021, I will go back to work teaching American History at a small public community college near here.
Judith continues to work at SCSU. They are going through really tough times with major enrollment declines and internal turmoil as the administration tries to trim expenses and refocus the university. The COVID-19 situation has really exacerbated their problems. She is also a consultant to the Higher Learning Commission and participates in the accreditation of colleges and universities all over the country. She plans to work another couple of years.
I expect we will stay in Minnesota. It is very pretty. The politics can be a little strange. Populist as opposed to progressive and Minnesota nice is really Minnesota passive-aggressive. We do travel some, we spent ten days in Alaska in 2018 and have made shorter trips to places like the Grand Canyon and Charleston as we have time. We planned 10 days in the Canadian Rockies this fall but that got pushed back to spring, maybe.
I get back to Manhattan several times a year. My ties are really limited in some ways. I have a couple of cousins in town that I have not seen in years and several generations in Sunset and Grandview cemeteries. Watching the K-state bowl game with a friend at Finn’s Bar on Poyntz (formerly I think Stevenson’s Men’s Store) has become a holiday tradition.
Brenda Peterson-Smith
Lawrence, KS
Spouse: Thomas Smith
Married: 1997
Children: Trisha Smith, Raven Smith
Grandchildren: 2
2010 Biography: Work stuff - Brenda still has a salon in Lawrence and still teaches for
Redken although that "part time hobby" has become a second business. Tom's upholstery business is doing well too. Fun stuff -
wine-tasting trips every two years with most of the same people each time continues to be a hoot - see great country and taste
great wine! So we may actually DRINK more than TASTE! Lots of football each year - Kansas State, Kansas, and, add to that,
arena football in Topeka. Tailgating continues to be a blast - even tailgate at KSU/KU baseball games. Vacations include
trips to the mountains of Colorado and countryside of Illinois and, of course, the Country Stampede in good old Manhattan. Have
only missed one over the years - great chance to kick back (with a favorite beverage) and listen to awesome music by famous
artists and do absolutely NOTHING else!
Peggy (Peterson) Link
Manhattan, KS
2015 Biography: Pathologist at Peterson Laboratory Services in Manhattan. Two children: Katie, 25 years old, and Tyler, 24 years old.
Hal Phillips
Mary (Pillsbury) Beck
Blue Springs, MO
Steve Pinkston
Molalla, OR
Spouse: June
2005 Biography: See his website at:
http://www.geocities.com/fdmundo/
Janice Plumberg
Leigh Poston (deceased)
Chester Pratt
Manhattan, KS
Ray Price
Manhattan, KS
Janina (Prus) Plinski
Alexandria, VA
Tom Ptacek
Kansas City, MO
Gregory Quinn (deceased)
