Following
are the bios submitted so far by our fellow classmates. If your bio
is not listed, we hope you will consider sending us one for everyone to
enjoy. If your bio is listed here, and you would like to update it,
please forward the update information to Rick.
Ann Bailey Fait . . .
Living in Carlsbad,
California
Currently doing lots
of Volunteer work and working as high school tennis coach
Married to Bill
(Amphi 1967) — three children and two grandchildren — our children are all
married, employed, and live in the San Diego area
Hobbies and
interests: tennis, quilting, babysitting grandchildren
Club tennis, church
activities, Board of Directors Caring Residents of Carlsbad (supporting
shelter for homeless men)
Donna Gene Baitzer Lee
. . .
After high school, I spent one year at the U of A before marrying Skip Wheeler (Amphi
'63). We lived in Tucson and Phoenix, and had two daughters. Laney is now
thirty-eight, and Janis is thirty-one. Each of them has two children
—
a boy and a girl!
—
and they all live in the Seattle area, as do I now. Skip and I were divorced in 1976; he and his wife, Sylvia, also live in this area.
I spent all of my "career" with what we used to call, comfortably, the phone company. Boy, has that changed! I was with Mountain Bell in Phoenix, Tucson and Denver. When I remarried in 1986, the company had become U S WEST, and I moved my job with me to the Seattle area. We actually live in a town called Sammamish, but who would recognize that (with the exception of Susanne, Kay, and
Janet?). After almost twenty-seven years with the company, I retired in 1999 as a product manager and have never looked back.
My husband, Matt, has two sons, and we share a total of nine grandchildren. Doug lives in La Quinta, California, and Dwight lives in Litchfield Park. We don't get to see those grandchildren nearly as often as we'd like. The age range of the grandkids is
twenty-six to two, so we have lots of variety!
Matt is an electrical engineer by training (BS from U of A and MBA ditto) and retired from what used to be Hughes Aircraft in Tucson and Boeing here. He owns some rental properties in Tucson and is actually there more often than I am. Matt is a native Arizonan, born and raised in Benson.
My great love is needlework: sewing, cross stitch, quilting, and knitting. Both of my daughters are Creative Memories consultants, so you can guess that I've added scrapbooks to my hobbies. I also do some rubber stamping, because we send a LOT of cards!
Let's see: nine grandchildren, four children, four spouses, assorted siblings, many
friends —
you add it up!
We love the Pacific Northwest, and I only miss the people in Tucson. My sister Barbara, Amphi '65, still lives in Tucson, but we usually end up meeting at our mother's place in Pismo Beach, California! My brother Les, Amphi '66, lives in Des Moines, Iowa.
Previous reunions have been good experiences, and I'm really looking forward to seeing people who haven't attended before.
Glenda Baker Yates .
. .
Living in Wynne,
Arkansas
Cosmetologist
Three children and two
grandchildren
Hobbies and
interests: antiques, cooking
Donates
complimentary wig services
Sharon
Bartenslager Giles . . .
Living in Mobile,
Alabama
Buys, remodels, and resells homes
Married to Lloyd
who owns a chimney business (builds, repairs, cleans) — one child
Hobbies and interests: travel, boating, reading
Bill Belt . . .
Living in Arizona
High School Teacher
since 1968
Married to Nancy —
one child
James Bryant . . .
Living in Gilbert, Arizona
Electrician
Served in the U.S. Navy from 1963-1966
Hobbies &
Interests: Fishing, travel
Married in 1972 to Delia, a 1965 graduate of Sunnyside. Four
children —
three boys and one lovely lady —
and three grandchildren. I am an electrician, and owned my own
electrical contracting company in the 80's. My wife and I have traveled to Europe many times, as well as Canada and Mexico, and of course the USA. I am looking forward to retirement in
two or three years. I have been in the Phoenix area for the last fifteen
years. Looking forward to the reunion.
Donna Leigh Burris
Scott . . .
Living in
California
I was voted Best
Actress and really did go on to become an actress ... married a popular
actor (Lonesome Dove, Fried Green Tomatoes, Butch Cassidy) named Tim
Scott who was inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame for the series, Ned
Blessing. I worked as a dancer / Gold-digger on the Dean Martin Show
to put myself through Court Reporting School. I am still a reporter. My
husband died in 1995 and I have reinvented myself as a singer, (Blues, a
little Country, an a little Cajun, hopefully a lot of Soul, Standards)
and have a CD coming out in December. I have a daughter, Marisa, and a
Golden Retriever, Savannah ... I live in southern California and own a
reporting agency. We specialize in high profile cases. I look forward to
hearing from all Panthers or Wildcats.
Mildred
"Kay" Carroll Creech . . .
Living in Sumner,
Washington
Homemaker, Secretary,
Bookkeeper, Real Estate
Married to Ken —
two children and four grandchildren
Hobbies and
interests: travel, Race Car driver
Roger Carter . . .
Living in Tucson,
Arizona
Self employed,
currently in the laundry business
Married to Cheryl —
two children
Hobbies and Interests: hiking and cycling
Southern Arizona
Hiking Club, Tucson Bicycle Club
Mary Christine
Chesney Johnson . . .
Maried Fred Johnson
in 1967
No children
Teacher for
thirty-one years — now retired
Hobbies: cooking,
Internet, crossword puzzles, reading mysteries, history, and traveling
Fred was in the military, and I had just finished my senior year at U.
of A when we married in 1967. He was stationed in Thailand for a year,
and after he was discharged, we moved to Eugene, Oregon. I got my master
degree in music in 1970 from the University of Oregon. My first career
was teaching music, but then in 1982 I returned to school for a
certificate in the elementary grades. Since then I've taught thirteen
years in middle school and finished my career in fourth and fifth grade.
I'm presently filling out my retirement years with substitute teaching,
and I'm a adjunct professor for Northwest Christian College, supervising
student teachers in the greater Eugene area. Fred retired in March from
the real estate appraisal business. This has given us much needed time
to do home improvements. My father died in 1988 and my mother now lives
in Santa Barbara, California.
Susann Coate Petras .
. .
Living in Trinidad, Texas ( Southeast of Dallas on Cedar Creek Lake)
Graduated from the U of A in 1967, and married Gary Petras.
We have lived in Seoul, South Korea and Munich, Germany, as well as Dallas, Texas during Gary's
twenty-five year career with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. Our two sons live in the Dallas area. I did not have a career, but worked mostly as a teacher's aid or substitute teacher.
My main hobbies are gardening (vegetable and fruit as well as taking care of the landscape) and playing bridge. I help Gary with his projects when he needs an extra pair of hands. We look forward to seeing many classmates at this reunion.
David Cockrum . . .
Living in Alpine,
Texas
Professor of
Psychology and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Sul Ross State
University
LT. US Army 1967 -
1969
Married to Sally —
two children
Hobbies and
interests: Amateur Radio
Chairman, High Frontier
Residential Treatment Center
Marilyn Dalrymple
Brill . . .
Married to George for
thirty-two years —
three
children
Dietitian —
work in a Family Clinic at a Seattle Hospital
Hobbies and Interests: Bicycling around Washington State, (especially the
Seattle area), knitting, crocheting, quilting
Investment Club, Handwork Group
Our three children are twenty-four, twenty and eighteen. Our oldest son is in
the Air Force training to fly fighters, and the other two are in college and working. We love Seattle
— we have the best summers in the world
with only a few hot days. For Christmas 2000, the five of us spent three weeks in Italy. One week in Rome for Christmas, one week in Venice, and
one week in Florence for New Years. George travels for his job, and we had accumulated a lot of frequent flyer miles. I have traveled with him to England, Scotland and Puerto Rico, combining vacation and business.
We plan to retire in the Seattle area, but may make frequent trips to a condo in
Tubac, Arizona (our next favorite spot).
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion.
Judy Davenport
Slankard
Living in Phoenix,
Arizona
Domestic Engineer,
loving Gramma, Mother, Wife
Married to Bill
Slankard for thirty-nine years — four children and nine grandchildren
I was adopted, and
on my 50th birthday our son and daughter-in-law found my birth family.
I now have three brothers and birth mother still alive. It has
been a wonderful experience and I'm getting ready to spend two weeks
with them.
Hobbies and Interests: I teach crafts and cake decorating in my home
Area Captain for TOPS
Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) and volunteer at a nursing home by our
house.
Jean Dick Fox . . .
Living in Pagosa
Springs, Colorado
Third Grade Teacher
Married to Ken Fox
(Catalina 1963) — three children and five grandchildren
Hobbies and
interests: Water skiing
After high school I
attended the U of A for a year. I met Ken the summer of 1963,
started dating in 1964 and married in 1966. The summer of 1964,
Pepper, Mimi and I worked at Disneyland for three months (had a blast!).
After that I attended another year of college at the U of A, but decided
to get married instead of finishing there. After Ken graduated
from the U of A, we ended up in the Air Force, where he became a fighter
pilot. That lead us to twenty years of traveling, and three great
children — two girls and a boy. I did manage to finish up my
teaching degree through Arizona State University. During one of
our tours, we came through Pagosa Springs, Colorado and fell in love
with it. We bought property in 1968, hoping to come here after
retirement. Lo and behold our dreams and prayers came true.
We have now lived here for fifteen years (longest we've been anywhere!)
and I have ended up teaching here full time. As for our kidos, we
have five grandchildren from the two daughters — three grandsons and
two granddaughters. They are the best! We are blessed to
have three of the five here in Pagosa, and the other two live in Ft.
Collins, Colorado. Our son, Jim, is still not married yet — but
we're hopeful.
