BR’s:
The following class notes were supposed to appear in the last edition of the Alumni Review. I was told they will be published in the next Review but that’s another 3 months past our reunion.
Hope everybody had a happy holiday. I’m looking forward to a great year in 2006 both personally (another year closer to retirement) and for VMI. Substantial improvement in our football and basketball programs are just around the corner and I think we will see the beginning of the turn around in ’06. Please keep the faith – we will be better!!
Bill
NOVEMBER CLASS NOTES
Class of 70
William R. O’Connor
302 Desota Drive
Richmond, VA 23229
(804) 754-1161
WROC1970@comcast.net
Toby Keith said it best: “We ain’t as good as we once were, but we were as good once as we ever were”!! What a great reunion, ninety plus BR’s including some first timers, an exciting well played football game, good weather – what else could we ask for! Before we go around the horn, I would, on behalf of a grateful, well fed, well entertained and somewhat blurry eyed class, like to thank all those that were involved in putting on a super affair. Thank you Bob Spore, Ken Schlussel, Ben Dick, Ned Haley, Tom Cooke, Ralph Costen, Herb Braun and Roy/Reed Heddleston – well done, it couldn’t have been better (unless you could have figured a way to give the Keydets three more points). Speaking of well done, Roy you did one heck of a job as our class agent – you’re going to be a tough act to follow. Many thanks to you and Carol for all the hard work, good natured wit and humor and the quarterly requirement of pulling out the unabridged Webster’s. As ‘70’s new class agent my literary style will be a cross between the editorial policy of the New York Times and a third grade primer – I won’t let facts get in the way of a good story and words will seldom exceed six letters.
Here we go-The stars certainly fell on our reunion as all four of our flag ranked BR’s returned with their lovely wives. Carl and Julie Strock, Phil and Allen Anderson, Howie and Barbara DeWolf and Jack and Melanie Kern led our military contingent and did us proud. Given the situation in the world today we should thank God that we have the caliber of leadership that our class produced. Carl, given your somewhat over flowing plate, we were honored that you and Julie could attend. As a personal note, thanks to all in ’70 who decided to make the service their first choice career – there is no more noble profession. HOORAH!!!!!!
It was good to see all the commercial zoomies and wives landing in Lexington. Al and Ann Kirk, Dixie and Jane Walker and Skip and Brownie Carver who I believe are all our active duty civilian pilots, made it back. Al is flying for Delta (recently retired but flying on a call up basis) out of Atlanta. Dixie is a senior American pilot and instructor living in Raleigh but primarily flying out of Dallas. Skip is in Seattle and flies for United. All three spent the weekend killing gray cells trying to figure out how to get the US airline industry back on its feet. If you figure it out fellas, get a patent on it and please pass it on to Washington.
The GOMBACS made a good showing at reunion. For those of you who don’t know who or what the GOMBACs are, they are a group of BR’s who make an annual trip to Myrtle Beach every winter for a week to, ah, er, hmmm, let me see, play golf, yeah that’s what they do – play golf!!! The group includes: Stix Chandler, John Bailey, Dave Schmidt, Mike Snead, Charlie Walker, AC Arnn, Tom Cooke, Herb Braun, Gary Weishaar, Jim Mawyer, Richard Balderson, Tom Massey and from time to time, yours truly. You can always identify a GOMBAC, the bulge in their pockets are one dollar bills!!
“Wild” Bill Gearhart’s date for reunion, Miss Charlotte, had an interesting experience. Seems Charlotte is a mental health professional and after meeting a number of BR’s began taking notes. I thought I heard her say to Bill –“so many but so little time”. Bill’s fellow Roanokers, Bob and Susan Copty and Bill and Ann Richardson are always delightful to see. Sounds like both Bob and Bill have done extremely well with their respective businesses over the years – could retirements be far off? Former Roanoker, Mike Sisler, recently accepted a position as principal of Madison High School which is not to far from Culpepper. Seems that Jim Nelson is on the school board and when he heard that Mike was interviewing for the position gave the Board his unequivocal recommendation. Mike and Lonnie are building a home between Charlottesville and Madison and hope to move in sometime in November. Good luck Mike.
A number of the boys from the left coast made the long trip back east from Oz to recharge their batteries with a little taste of normalcy. It was good to see Bob Grossman, Dave Lawrence and Bill Scherer. I understand that Bob is the proud father of an eight year old. By my LA math that will make Bob 112 when his child graduates from college. Thanks guys for making the long journey.
Speaking of kids in college, we have a boat load of BR’s who have sons that attended the Institute. The list includes the sons of: Kent Schlussel, Chuck Wills, Herb Braun, Ralph Costen, Tom Cooke, Conrad Strickland, Jim Mawyer, Peter Knowles, Ned Perrow, Carl Strock, Gary Weishaar, Bill Bott, Bob Copty, Paul Dickinson, Mike Sheely and Bill Huffman. I apologize if I missed anybody and if I did, please let me know. Also Dads, drop me a line and let me know what the kids are up to and where they’re at.
We had some serious gim duty over Reunion. Ralph Costen, everybody’s favorite BR, suffered a heart attack which resulted in a quadruple by-pass a week before reunion. Ralph was in the hospital for over a week and half and is now home recuperating and chomping at the bit to get back out on the golf course. The only difference between Ralph and Tiger Woods besides the obvious (Tiger plays better), is that Tiger doesn’t play quite as often as Ralph. If you have to be bed ridden, I’m telling you that you can get no better care than from Ralph’s better half, Marsha. Rest assured that Marsha will make sure that Ralph does what he needs to do to get back on the links and to make the next reunion. Ralph and Marsha you were both missed by all! You are in our prayers. While Ralph was in the hospital under going surgery, his son Tripp Costen ’97, wife Jill, gave birth to a baby boy. It was Ralph and Marsha’s second grandchild and first grandson. The boy is named Ralph L. Costen IV and will be class of 2027. By the way Tripp’s wife is the daughter of my roommate Mike “Balls” Sisler. Also on the gim is Tom Campbell who I understand broke his leg just prior to having a knee replacement. Another former roomie, Dick “Bow Wow” Hamlet, who has been hobbling around various golf courses over the past couple of years, is also a candidate for both a hip and knee replacement. It seems like ’70 is going bionic. Good luck guys, we’re thinking of you.
Welcome back Kotter: Three BR’s returned for reunion and to the Institute for the first time since we finished. Lew Reynolds, Bill Chiswell and Bob Moore were welcome sights at reunion. Lew is a professor at NC State in Raleigh and has not changed a bit. Bill is in the boat charting business in the Tidewater area and looked super. I still have memories of Chis sitting in the sinks in a plastic sweat suit with the shower running as hot as he could get it so he could make weight – ah the joys of college. Bob I believe is in Indiana and is doing very well. You all know the way back now and we look forward to seeing you on a more frequent basis.
Received a nice note from “Tappy” Jones who is a chemistry professor at VMI. Tappy wrote to say that he was sorry he had to miss the reunion but that he had some house moving issues to deal with that precluded his participation. Tappy – things have a way of working out. Look forward to visiting you in Lexington in the not to distant future. Bill and Marilyn Huffman were in Richmond in August for the marriage of their son Billy (’00) to Molly August. VMI was well represented with a bunch of Billy and his brother Tommy’s (’02). BRs attending. From ’70 were Herb and Susan Braun, Tom and Jill Cooke and Paula and myself. Bill and Marilyn live in CO but Bill indicated that his company was in play to be acquired and that they were considering moving back east, possibly to Richmond. Willy’s younger son Tommy is engaged to a Richmond girl and expects to be married next April.
Speaking of moving to Richmond, Waite Rawls and his wife Malou have moved back to the capital city. Waite retired from the investment banking world and is now the Executive Director of the Museum of the Confederacy (an absolutely wonderful museum), They brought a 19th century home in the historic Church Hill area of Richmond and are in the process of renovating and hope to have it completed by October.
Received a note from JBC Hill from the left coast. Seems John moved to Santa Barbara as a result of a job opportunity. He is a CPA and seems to be doing very well. Good to hear from you John.
Our other Hill, John Rutledge III (Snake), visited Richmond during the summer and his former roommate, Herbacillius Braun and Susan hosted a Richmond get together at their home. In attendance were Gary and Lynn Weishaar, Peel and June Dillard, Tom and Jill Cooke, Ralph and Marsha Costen and Paula and I. Snake resides in Denver but apparently spends a lot of time south of the boarder (no not that South of the Boarder). He is in the process of developing a Disco / Night Club in Cancun. Snake’s credo is “No siesta only fiesta”. Good luck Snakeman.
It was good to see Lee Moon again and meet his wife Connie. Lee lives in Birmingham and is the deputy athletic director at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Leo has run into Julian Smith (who was MIA at reunion) and Rodney Shu. Lee’s assignment is to get Smitty and Rodney back to Lexington – they have been gone to long.
Warren Grasty sent a note saying that Jay Tice had moved to Jackson, MS and that he has a new baby son. LA math doesn’t compute how old he will be when his son graduates from college. Congrats Jay on the new addition. Donnie Wheatley wrote and indicated that he and Bonnie Van Buren are to be married in Covington on October 22nd. The whole class wishes Wheats and Bonnie a long happy marriage – Donnie you are one special person.
I had a conversation with Chips Lanier about establishing a Class website and he volunteered to design and set up a permanent Class of ’70 website which we can call our own. Chips doesn’t let grass grow under his feet and has already got the site rolling. Our web address is www.vmi70.org. Please feel free to offer any ideas as to what info you would like to see in the site. We will include a permanent “In Memoriam “ section to list all departed BR’s and wives. The site is open and ready for suggestions. Chips – thanks for your time and expertise.
Our Class has been well represented at the VMI football games both at home and away. BR’s and wives that I have run into at various home games include: Peter and Brantley Knowles, Waite Rawls, Bill Gearhart, Steve and Sherrie Craddock, Dick Hamlet, Warren and Liz Grasty, Chuck and Penny Wills, Gary and Lynn Weishaar, Herb and Susan Braun and Tom and Jill Cooke and grand daughter Hailey. I know I’m missing some but our participation has been excellent. A number of BR’s attended the Duke game and played in the golf outing sponsored by the Keydet Club. Al & Ann Kirk, Tom Massey, George and Lisa Ritko and I represented ’70. Herb Braun, Ralph and Marsha Costen and Richard Balderson and Cindy made the trip to Myrtle Beach for the Coastal Carolina game. While at the game Herb and Ralph had a conversation with an individual who turned out to be our lost BR Jerry Keuhn. Jerry has retired and lives in Leland NC. Apparently Jerry is enjoying retirement and has decided to limit his golf to days that end in Y. Good for you Jerry. Please drop me a line and fill in the years. Prior to the Richmond Game the Keydet Club held the annual “Pup Cup” golf tournament to raise money for the scholarship honoring the late Jeff Morgan, former Executive Director of the Keydet Club. Dickie Hamlet and Walt Ivkovitch came down to play and stayed with me for a couple of days as my wife was out of town. Dickie is in the construction business in Va. Beach and .indicated that business has been fantastic. Dick and Dee have two children who live in Tidewater and have a couple of grand kids. Walt lives in Northern Va and works for a privately held company who’s major products are intellectual properties. Walt is in the process of selling the Company in pieces and said that he is probably working himself out of a job. He has two children and a couple of grand kids and can still swing the golf club. Also playing in the tournament was Bill Gearhart who left shortly after the tournament to Va Beach for some personal R&R. After the golf Dickie, Walt and I went to Phil’s Continental Lounge for a couple of pops and ran into Richard “Head” Marshall and wife Penny. Richard Head was Walt’s roommate until he decided to make the world safe for democracy our third class year and joined the Army. He was sorry that he and Penny could not attend reunion but they had prior commitments to their son’s high school sport activities. It was great seeing both. The Keydet Club also put on a fantastic picnic for the Richmond game. Some of the BR’s sited were: Ted & Barbara Durvin (who are now living in Richmond until their retirement home is completed in North Carolina), Dick & Dee Hamlet, the Weishaars, Waite Rawls, the Brauns, Paul Dickinson, the Wills, and the Costens. Great event – awful game!
It has been a long hard road in both basketball and football with respect to wins and losses over the years but change is coming. Over the past five years there have been some substantial improvements that will ultimately start paying dividends down the road in terms of wins and losses. Our class has been a strong financial supporter of the Institute over the years. We have a number of BR’s who quietly give substantial dollars to both the Foundation and Keydet Club year after year. Without continued increased financial participation the job to return VMI athletics to winning ways becomes that much harder. We all want to see VMI excel on the athletic field as it does in the classroom. It is to that end that I am proposing to the Class that we establish a scholarship in the name of “Class of 1970” which will be our financial legacy to the Institute. Our goal is to raise $400,000 by our 40th reunion to establish a fully endowed scholarship. The Class will set the criteria for awarding the scholarship. $400,000 is a lot of money but if everybody participates it a lot less than you think. If we can get 200 BRs to give and additional $400 a year or $33 a month over the next 5 years – mission accomplished. We will be getting the details of “400 for the 40th” out to you shortly.
I am honored to take on the job as Class agent for the next five years. Please write with any news or just drop a howdy line when you get a chance. You all take care and remember the secret of life is simple: “buy low and sell high”. God bless our troops and the Class of 1970.
This looks like a great website. Can’t wait to check it out from time to time. I have been to see some VMI baseball games this year and they look terrific. One of the best VMI athletic teams in years