Cranford High Class of 63 Reunion

At the suggestion of Fred Atkins, we are posting a page of short bios - sort of what have you done in the last 40 years in only a couple of paragraphs. So far only a few folks have send in, but everyone is invited. Just send your bio (and a picture if you can) to sdmytriw@hotmail.com and you will be made immortal on the Internet.

After CHS, I went to the University of North Carolina, where I majored in beer, women and Political Science. After barely graduating in 1967, I returned to NJ and went to work for Humble Oil (now Exxon) in Linden. In 1969, I started going to Rutgers Newark for an MBA. I moved into an apartment in Newark with Nelson Dittmar and Howie Milius (Howard eventually married our next door neighbor--a stewardess named Carol). In 1970, I started working in sales for Xerox in Mountainside. In 1971, after receiving an MBA, I married Lynda, whom I’d met in French class at UNC and who had chased me ever since, until I caught her! At that time, I moved back to NC. I stayed with Xerox until 1979, when I started my own business, selling copiers and office equipment in eastern NC. In 1995, I sold the business and retired. Lynda and I have 3 children, all of whom are off on their own now. Over the years, I have developed interests in all kinds of hunting and fishing and especially enjoy big game hunting in the Rockies each fall. I still play golf, but not as well or as much as I did for CHS. Lynda and I enjoy travel and also spend a lot of time at the beach (shore,to you Yankees!).

After graduation, I attended Rutgers for three terms: Kennedy’s, Johnson’s, and Nixon’s. Having interrupted my “education” by spending two years in green, I finally got my degree in chemistry, followed by two more from RU and Seton Hall. I’ve worked in the pharmaceutical field for over 30 years and am now consulting for pharma companies, analytical instrument companies, and the FDA. I have three kids: Alex (30), in CA, Adam (28) in FL, and Alyssa (27) in MD (with grandson and my favorite son-in-law).

I’ve cranked out several texts and chapters for books, published a pile of papers, and have a handful of patents. I’ve managed to fool enough people so that I get to teach in Amsterdam each spring. I have given talks in Beunos Aires, Brussels ,Copenhagen, and Cancun (ignoring the US cities), to name a few places. So, while being a poor ol’ chemist, I still manage to travel a bit.

From Gail Davidson (63) & Barry Ziegler(62) (a romantic tale told in 3rd person)

Barry Ziegler, CHS '62 and Gaile Davison CHS '63 were an item for several years in high school. Gail always wore Barry's class ring on a chain around her neck. Barry never wore his class ring at all. Barry & Gaile always spelled Gail's name "Gaile" back then because they liked it that way. After graduation, Barry joined the Air Force and was stationed 3000 miles away. Ultimately, after Gaile graduated, they became engaged. It seemed like a relationship made in heaven. Unfortunately, time and distance took its toll. There was no email, phone calls were very expensive as was travel. In the end they grew apart and went their separate ways. Sigh! They didn't see or talk or have any contact with one another for thirty five years. From 1964 to 1999. But Barry never forgot Gaile and could never really get over her. And Gaile felt the same way about Barry.

In early spring, Gaile, visiting the Seattle area with her daughter, became virtually overwhelmed with a sense of the presence of Barry. She didn't understand this because she always was sure that Barry lived in Spokane, some 300 miles away.

At that very same time, Barry, quite inexplicitly, was overwhelmed with a very powerful urge to find Gaile. He went on line and tried to find Gaile or other members of her family. He got nowhere. then, on Cranford.com he found Steve Dmytriw. Steve provided Barry with enough info about Gaile that he gleaned from reunion sources, etc. that Barry was able to track Gaile down to the little town of Mulberry in central Florida.

Barry called Gaile and they talked to one another for the first time in 35 years. It was wonderful. Subsequently, they talked on the phone repeatedly - comparing their respective life stories. Barry and Gaile discovered that there were parallels in their lives that were absolutely freaky! At one point, Barry admitted to Gaile that he was silently carrying a torch for her for all those years. Gaile told Barry that he wasn't carrying that torch all alone!

Six weeks after that first phone call, Barry and Gaile agreed to meet in Boston (where she had to go on business) and talk things out face to face. On June 8, 1999 they met at Logan Airport and shared a hug for the first time in three and one half decades. Wow! After her business was concluded, Barry and Gaile drove out to Cape Code for a 4 day secret tryst. There they decided to pick up where they left off so long ago. They became engaged again in July 1999 and were married on February 5, 2000 at her parents' Methodist Church - not the one on Walnut in Cranford, but in Zephyrhills, Florida. In attendance were Gaile's mom and Barry's father. And, true enough, it is a relationship made in heaven.

At Barry's request, Gaile changed her legal name back to Gaile Louise Davison - even adding the "e" to Gail. Barry wanted to marry the same girl he had been secretly in love with for all those years. They now have a very large combined family consisting of Barry's three sons and seven grandchildren (all in Washington State) and Gaile's four children (two of each) and six grandchildren who are scattered in Illinois, Washington State, Arizona, and Pensacola Florida. The 13 grand children range in age from 18 years down to 6 months.

After CHS, I attended Gettysburg College where I earned a BA in Business. To avoid getting drafted, I went to Fairleigh Dickinson University and got an MBA. Since the darned war wasn't over by the time I graduated in 1969, I joined the Navy Reserve and spent two years floating around the Gulf of Mexico on an aircraft carrier. Before the Navy, I lived in an apartment with Fred Atkins and Howie Milius. In 1971, I married Carolyn Von Bulow, CHS class of '66, and joined a Big Eight accounting firm, which eventually became Coopers & Lybrand and then PricewaterhouseCoopers. No long after that I became a CPA. Carolyn and I have two children, Peter, 26, and Bethany, 22. We've been living in Cranford for the last 30 years. I retired two years ago and have had a great time traveling and increasing my volunteer efforts. I'm Chair of the Cranford Environmental Commission, a member of the Planning Board and on the Board of the Union County United Way. We have a vacation house in Barnard ,Vermont and we love to spend time there.

After graduating CHS, I attended Rutgers University and graduated with a degree in Geology (which I haven't used since, except as a Boy Scout Geology Merit Badge Counselor) then joined the Air Force in '68. I spent the next 24years flying EC-121's and C-141's for Uncle Sam, except for a 4 year stint watching a Minuteman III missile, flying T-29's and getting an MBA (also never used, except to fill a square). I've flown across every longitude, West to Diego Garcia, East to Katmandu. I've been stationed in Texas, Thailand, Korea, California, Wyoming, New Jersey and Alabama - finally graduating from the AF to the "real world" in '93 and backing into computers. We now live in Vacaville CA, halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento, where I baby-sit a small computer network for the FAA. My first wife passed away suddenly in '85 and left me with 3 pre-teens, who I tried to raise by myself. Bad move! Got remarried (to an ex-biker chick), made one more, and now have 2 through college and one in the Air Force. I enjoy reading, playing with computers, authoring web sites (as a hobby), walking with the local Volksport club.

After graduation I spent one year at Union Junior College, but my head wasn't in it and I was invited not to return. We all remember the Sixties and I dove into the deep end - Civil Rights Movement, Peace Movement, Environmental Movement. The years took me through one marriage and into a second. The first left me with a wonderful daughter, Tisha, now 34 and practicing medicine in Jacksonville, Florida. The second marriage, to Lorna, has lasted 25 plus years. And I finally got a college diploma in 1978. Professionally, I found that I could contribute most to the things I cared about - and make a good living - by being a fundraiser, which I have done for 28 years. Ten years ago, Lorna and I picked up everything and moved to a tiny town in Southwest Minnesota where our live style is more peaceful and a lot cheaper. But my neighbors tell me the New Jersey accent is not quite gone. In 1999, I fulfilled a life long ambition and published my first novel, which actually might become a movie. Visit with me at my web site http://www.themadhatter.net and share a drink with me at the reunion this October.

Ellen writes: I taught 5 year old Kindergarten in Aiken, SC, for 28 years, retiring 2 years ago. Now that Rick and I are both retired, we spend our time with our family – we have 5 grandchildren - traveling, gardening, and collecting Blenko glass. We have just opened a booth at a local antique mall selling mostly hand-blown glass. We look forward to traveling abroad again and more cruises, some with our family.

As I think back over the forty years since I graduated from CHS, I am proud of many of the things I have done. However, I am most proud of the family Ellen (Wynn to most of you, CHS’63) and I have created and nurtured together – our own marriage, our three children Jennifer, Eric, and Tim, and our five grandchildren Allison, Craig, Jonathan, Cameron, and Anna. Considering the times we have lived through and the pulls of society during these 36 years of marriage, it is a testament to the strength Ellen and I have found in each other that we are still married.

I retired a year ago after teaching math and computer science at the University of South Carolina Aiken for 30 years. I started the Computer Services Division at USCAiken in 1973 and was its director for 25 years. As director, I was responsible for overseeing the growth of USC Aiken’s computing and phone infrastructures. When Hurricane Hugo hit South Carolina in 1989, I started and continue to lead LATCH, a volunteer group that re-roofed over thirty senior citizens’ homes in Berkeley County (2 ½ year effort) and has been repairing seniors’ roofs and roofing Habitat for Humanity houses in the Aiken area ever since. For my efforts in Berkeley County, I was recognized as the outstanding State employee volunteer of the year by South Carolina’s State Budget and Control Board. I have been active in the Lutheran church since 1969 and currently sing tenor in St Paul Lutheran’s choir. I maintain a family web page http://huston.members.atlantic.net . Ellen and I enjoy collecting Blenko art glass, educating people about Blenko, traveling, cooking, and being a part of our family’s lives – all of which we do together. We give talks about Blenko and have created two public exhibits of Blenko from our private collection – “Blenko Art Glass – 1930’s to Present” ran for six weeks at the Aiken County Historical museum and “The Colors of Blenko” ran for four weeks at the Aiken County Public Library. Our most recent undertaking is selling hand-blown glass at a local antique mall (Swan’s). As you might suspect, our business, Bright and Beautiful, specializes in Blenko.

Graduated Syracuse University with B.A. in Political Science, married Cherie, a NYC girl I met one summer at Highland Lakes, NJ (Dick Duemmler also had a summer home there). Spent a brief time working for the State of New Jersey while studying for my M.B.A. at Rider College. Tried politics...East Windsor Town Councilman for one term. Three children later decided to move west and spent the 70's in Fort Collins, Colorado with Mike Bass, his brother Steve and although I didn't know it, Joe Blaha. Mike and I spent a short time together in the insurance business and then lost touch until I found him again 30 years later thanks to the Internet, down in Sarasota, Fl. near Barry & Gail Davidson Ziegler, but that's another story. What a truly small world this has become. Two more children later, we returned East so I could except a position with Eastman Kodak. We settled in Middletown, NY for 15 years to raise our kids not 10 miles from where Cherie and I had first met. I got an offer from Kodak to take early retirement (downsizing) and after my mother passed, we moved my father, Rudy (remember The Colony Deli across from the Peppermint Room?) and built our dream home on a golf course in Wallace, NC, 30 minutes from the Beach. Hey Fred how about joining Gary Tabat, Rich Rubenstein, Ron Farb and I on the links Saturday, re-union weekend and show us that great form? Cherie and I still work, but we play golf every chance we get. This year I won the Senior Division Club Championship after recovering from total knee replacement surgery April, 2002...a consequence of a pick up basketball game after wrestling practice sophomore year which ended my athletic ambitions. We now have 5 grandchildren: 1 boy and 1 girl by our son Jonathan (Colorado born) in Las Vegas, 2 boys by our oldest daughter Veronica in Buffalo, NY (GO BILLS!!!) and 1 boy by our middle daughter Christine in Cape Coral, FL. So many great places to visit and so little time. Although we both still work, we love to travel and took another cruise last October to celebrate our 35th Anniversary...see picture, and have a May time share in Aruba. In September we are spending a week with friends in the the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, October with Class of 63 after a golf week in Myrtle Beach and then Christmas in Buffalo...GOD HELP US! I am also active with my church as Cantor and a member of the Knight's of Columbus, Rotary Club of Wallace, NC and River Landing Senior Men's Golf Association. My family has 3 generations of CHS graduates. My parents Rudy Klempa, Class of 1936 & Olga Mirkovich Klempa, Class of 1938 (the 1st class to graduate from the existing site), Rick Klempa (Me), Class of 1963 and my youngest daughter Colleen Marie Klempa, Class of 1995. I look forward to seeing those I haven't seen since the 30th and some others I haven't seen for even longer (Mike, Jim and Paul I hope you make the trip).

From Brian Lav

After graduating college in 1969, the events in my life are pretty much a blur. I got married and divorced. I started several businesses that were all marginally successful except for the money part... and I traveled around the country quite a bit.

Currently, I am living in rural New Jersey with my wife Mary Beth and daughter Alexandria. I have just recently completed a photography textbook titled: Zone System. I continue my long affiliation (since 1976) teaching photography at Parsons School of Design in NYC. As of this fall, I will also be teaching photography at Drew University. Professionally I service several commercial accounts and creatively I photograph the New Jersey landscape, my daughter Alexandria, and the events in my life. My photographs are represented and can be viewed at The John Stevenson Gallery in NYC.

My roles vary, but they are all related to and reinforce my commitment and passion for teaching and pursuing photography.

     After graduation, I attended George Washington University, graduated in1968 and got married to a medical student at GW. He later became a gynecologist Subsequently, we had four children. two who are twins. I woke up one day, late in my twenties and decided to have a career. I began by selling real estate. but four years later decided to take a different route. I began teaching at George Washington University, helping women return to the job market after childbirth or divorce. This was the seventies, when women made 40 cents on the dollar compared to men and these women were referred to as displaced homemakers. I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology and obtained the degree.   I became a very strong advocate for women, and went into private practice In Bethesda, Maryland for many years. We raised our children in Potomac, Maryland

       I used to run into Jean Reuch, who sat behind me in homeroom, for all four years at CHS at various swim meets and sport events for that our children participated in. don't know if any of you remember that she got engaged the night of our graduation Ten years ago, my husband and I left the D. C area for a more relaxed life in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. After many years as a therapist, two years ago I began selling real estate again as a buyers agent. I My husband is retired and we play a lot of golf.   Life is good. Two of my children are married, and two are single.

      Time flies. Sorry I can't attend the reunion. I hope all of you have a wonderful time and treasure the moments

      I will say good by but would love to add two of my fondest memories. During high school I loved Hubbies Brown's class, Law and Geography. Many of us remember times we spent with Hubie Brown. Who ever thought he would become such a national sports figure. I remember coming home from college, visiting him and his family. He told me you can be anything you want, just have a vision. I also fondly remember visiting with Betsy Wells and her pet snake. To this day overtime I see a boa constrictor I remember the snake roaming around Betsy's room. I am still afraid of snakes

As the oldest of the Rubenstein twins (by 7 minutes), I remained on the East coast after high school graduation while my brother Ron has been in California for more than 30 years now.

After graduating with a BA in Journalism from Rider College (now Rider University) in Lawrenceville, NJ in 1967, my wife, Phyllis, and I settled at the Jersey Shore as I began an 11-year teaching stint in Lakewood (for one year) and then in Jackson for the next 10. I taught middle school math in Jackson where I also coached baseball and wrestling and started the school's school newspaper and club. We lived most of the 11 years we spent there in Toms River, where I maintained my love for sports writing as well by working as a sports writer and columnist for the Freehold Transcript and then with the Ocean County Observer and Asbury Park Press. We had two wonderful children, a boy, Michael Scott, in 1969 and then our daughter, Rachelle Sloan, in 1971. Each has blessed us with two grandchildren, three girls and one boy.

My journalism background then earned me an opportunity to go into business as I accepted an invitation to join CRC Chemicals in Warminster, PA in 1978 as their Director of Racing Operations and Public Relations. I managed the specialty chemical manufacturer's motor sports marketing programs for five years in NASCAR, SCCA, NHRA, CART, IMSA, Unlimited Hydroplanes and some regional disciplines and brought the firm's public relations efforts in house after years with
an outside agency. The company decided to look for bigger and better things and ended its racing programs in 1982, but with racing starting to catch on in America thanks mainly to ESPN TV, I took my experience and remained in the industry by first working for a racing sanctioning body in the Syracuse, NY area and then for a big marketing agency in New York to manage Miller Brewing Company's NASCAR program from 1984 to 1987.

We then moved to Matthews, NC, an eastern suburb of Charlotte, in 1988 as I opened a small motor sports marketing agency with two partners that represented the outside interests of some of NASCAR's biggest names at the time - Dale
Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Bobby, Donnie and Davey Allison, Harry Gant, Geoff Bodine and Kenny Schrader. I remained in the partnership for five years before going on my own in 1992 with an agency called On Track Marketing, Inc. I remain
President and CEO of that organization today. Our specialty remains professional motor sports but instead of managing the off-track activities of drivers we concentrate the majority of our time as consultants to corporate sponsors in event marketing and strategic planning, and in also providing a variety of marketing support services directly related to their sponsorships.

Ironically, my brother Ron came to us in 1999 and inquired about my agency serving as a sales rep for his company, AIS Custom Uniforms in California. It began with our people selling to minor league, independent and college baseball teams in the Southeast, and that has successfully moved out to where we now represent the company over the entire eastern seaboard. In fact, we have both left AIS and taken our experience to a new company, Diamond Sports. I am sure
that Ron will fill you all in his bio, especially since he cannot attend the 40th reunion.

Our son and his family remain close to us as they live in Charlotte while our daughter and her family reside in Rockland County, NY (Stony Point) where our son-in-law Chris is soon to be elevated to a lieutenant's post with the NYPD.
My wife and I are in great health and are looking forward to seeing everyone in October as we attend with good friend Ron Farb and his wife Diane.

From RON RUBENSTEIN
Following graduation I attended New York School of Visual Arts (a school of NYU), and graduated in 1966, taking a job as a designer of magazines and books for Scholastic Magazines & Book Services in NYC. I also married my wife Ilene (Schwartz) from Linden in 1966. Moved up to Coordinator of Visual Projects for all of Scholastic and our daughter Marta came into the world in 1967, and son Jeff in 1969, while we were living in our first home in Cranford. My wife and I got the bug to move the West Coast in 1970, so I became Corporate Art Director for Weider Publications, who were moving to Woodland Hills, CA. This is a real long and nasty story, which only proves that muscle builders do grow muscles between the ears as well, but we got to L.A. in 1971, buying our home in Chatsworth, in the San Fernando Valley, which would be our home for 39 years.

Worked as a freelance graphic designer in L.A. , as well as assuming Art Director duties for a couple publishing companies along the way, before opening my own Design and Marketing company in 1975. I specialized in college and professional sports, which opened many doors for me, and became a fixture amongst all major L.A. sports organizations (Dodgers, Rams, Lakers, Clippers, Angels, Aztecs, etc.) as well as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1980, and the Summer Olympic Games in 1984. This led to co-creation and development of The Big League Decathlon Challenge which we sold to NBC in 1985, with a two year run.

Eventually hung up my graphics shingle to enter the exciting world of custom athletic uniforms in 1985, in the manufacturing arena, initially in a partnership which included NFL Hall Of Famer Joe Montana (America International Sports) in Huntington Beach, CA, which became Adventures In Sports (AIS) with a new partner in 1987. I was COO and Exec. VP Marketing & Sales for AIS until I left the company in 2003. The pinnacle of my work at AIS was supplying many MLB teams, plus as Official Supplier to Affiliated Minor League Baseball, not to mention many other major companies such as NIKE, Reebok, and Adidas. My brother Rich became our East Coast representative, doing an amazing job, and we enjoyed working together for the first time. And we didn't even claw or bite one another.

My love of sports also continued in an officiating capacity, for high school basketball in New Jersey, plus baseball umpiring, which continued following my move to California, where I eventually strung together a 24+ year career as a high school, college, and summer collegiate baseball umpire, which continues today.

During my apparel manufacturing years I continued to design new logos, identity packages, uniforms, and merchandising programs for more than 100 minor league baseball and hockey clubs. I followed my 15 years at AIS with a short stint with Diamond Sports, then four more years with Victory Custom Athletic. Then it was time to semi-retire.

I still dabble in a range of sports related projects as a marketer and consultant, and my wife and I decided it was time to move to a retirement community (Sun City, Palm Desert, CA) in the Southern California desert in January 2010. My wife retired from Cal State Northridge as an English Professor, and Writing Consultant after 30 years, but has taken a part-time job at College Of The Desert to keep active. So much for us both retiring. I'm trying to play golf, and even a little softball, plus umpiring to stay active. We have six wonderful grandkids, but do not see them nearly enough, because they are so spread out. Ilene and I travel as often as we can, having seen the United Kingdom, Italy, and Greece, though my wife has been to other countries I haven't traveling with friends. We have been going to Hawaii together over the Christmas holidays for 30 years now, which is still paradise to us.

From Susan Weber Eaton

After graduation, I went to Kutztown State for two years and majored in Art. After I married Dave Eaton (CHS '61) we had 2 children. Kim (married and gave me a granddaughter, Kathryn - now 8) and Rob (34, single, computer programmer for Lockheed Martin). Dave and I divorced after 12 years but still remain good friends. Several years later I met Dennis. We were together for 10 years before he passed away - leaving me 2 more daughters (Heather, now married and Bella 2 years old) and Jodi (recently married and pregnant). In 1996 Rob, Kim and family and myself moved to Colorado. Rob brought me out here for vacation years before and I "vowed" that when the time was right we'd move. Can't think of a better place to live (360 days of sun), although, I do miss the ocean. I've done a variety of things since I've been here. Owned a store, sold insurance, make jewelry and buy and sell junk. The last two are my favorites and still keep me busy. I was thrilled to hear about the reunion, unfortunately I won't be able to attend. Hopefully, there will be "reviews" and stories on the web page afterwards. Hope you all have a wonderful time!

I’m looking forward to the reunion, and would like to especially thank our terrific reunion committee for doing such a great job.

From James Zachary:

(Jim's biography is in the form of answers to a Lehigh reunion questionnare)

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