I have been lax in getting all your fine notes into either a Notre Dame Magazine article or a Class Newsletter

March 2011.

Classmates,

I have been lax in getting all your fine notes into either a Notre Dame Magazine article or a Class Newsletter. Bob Keeley kindly offered to help with the several years of notes from you all, and the assembly of this newsletter. Thank You, Bob for doing this project. Possibly some phone numbers and/or email addresses are out of date, and if so, it will provide you an opportunity to correct them in your profile on myNotreDame.nd.edu Reading through these pieces, I think we will all agree, we have some wonderful classmates filled with goodness, some also with incredible stories. And we are a blessed group—The Cadillac Class of 1960.

First some notes about our deceased classmates.

John J. Quinn (Phila PA 19114, ph: 215-677-2692), retired now from teaching, sent word in March 08 that his beloved wife Teresa passed on, from cancer March 1, 2007. Teresa and John had been Vetville residents. He reminded us that he has a son Bill (now married to Missy) is now 51 for any of us who “think you’re not getting older.” First son Bill was born at St. Joe’s hospital in South Bend, baptized by Fr. Ed Murray in Sacred Heart Cathedral. Teresa will be missed by Bill and Missy, son Dan and grandchildren—Patrick, Meghan and Katie.

Edward John Trombetta died January 27, 2008. Ed was a former Secretary of Commerce and Community Affairs under Florida Gov. Reubin Askew. Prior to that, Ed had served in the Florida House since 1970, was a veteran of the Marine Corps. He was a member of Good Shepherd Catholic parish in Tallahassee. He is survived by a sister, two brothers, three children and two grandchildren. We received this word from his daughter Molly (Mrs. Bruce) Buehler of Tallahassee.

Edward F. Kness died the last week of January 2008. He was an engineering grad, a captain in the US Air Force, a collector of 1940s and 1950s Lionel model trains, especially O-guage. “When he was a kid, he had a very large layout in his home. In recent years, he liked displaying them and setting them up for the grandchildren at Christmastime,” reported his son Timothy Kness of Boston. He is survived by his wife of 47 years Kay (Garrison) of Baltimore, a daughter, two more sons and five grandchildren.

Barb Wilke, wife of Henry ‘Rusty’ Wilke, sent word that Rusty died Feb 21 ’08 of acute myeloid Leukemia as a result of chemo treatments. He had chemo 11 years ago for Hodgkin’s and also suffered from Parkinson’s for the last 10 years. Barb says she enjoys the class’ emails and thanks us for staying in touch.

Ron Sandford‘s wife Jean (Roseville CA; Ph: 916-782-9237) sent word that Ron had died March 27 2008 of cancer. Jean informed us that she and Ron were married 43 years with 4 sons and as of that date 7 grandchildren. Ron had worked for Allied Signal for 30 years, most of that time in N.J., before being transferred to Hollywood CA . For their retirement years Jean and Ron worked part time as travel agents. Jean and the family had a terrible year in 2008 as their son Jeff also died of cancer three weeks before his father.

Edward Linn Heartfield informed us his wife Chris had died. He also wrote that he would miss our 50^th reunion. Linn and Chris have four children. Linn is at [e-mail]

May their souls rest in peace and their families rest in the knowledge their deceased are at peace.

Other news
Sept 05. Jerry Sachsel informed us that after 43 years of teaching and coaching, retirement is “absolutely wonderful.” Since he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, he has become active in that organization. At age 66, Jerry joined a golf club where everyone beats his pants off though he now plays 3 to 4 times a week. His wife Jean reports she is glad he is out of the house. Also, he sends his dues into Terry Keating. In 2007, Jerry updated to say he is working with academically challenged students with their study skills.

As of March 2007, Sandra and Francis X. Distel are living in Wilmington MI where he is retired.

JoAnn and Joe Kloecker wrote in March 07 and again in March 08. He reports he has never in 47 years received an ND publication sent to him from the University. The only thing he has ever gotten is my notes here. Joe and JoAnn are living in St. Louis. In November they hibernate until May 15 in Ocean Ridge FL.

In April 2-007, Patrick Heenan wrote he’s been retired 10 years and after living in Maryland for 41 years is living in Wellman Iowa. His avocations are golf, the American Legion and the Washington Redskins alumni. His story of recovery from his car accident in 11-77 is a miracle story. In Iowa on 12-23-07 he got married to his long ago physical therapist and has “begun a new life with my soul mate, Sharron. I am very blessed.”

Nestor Weigand reports that he is still “working seven days per week. If I were smarter or richer, I could do what most of you do.” He owns P.J. Weigand & Sons and lives in Wichita KS.

3-6-07. Al LeSage has been married to Joyce now for 46 years. Al and Joyce have two daughters, and two granddaughters and one GREAT granddaughter. They live in San Diego where he is president of Passport Media Co. His client is Princess Cruises so he has lots of cruise itineraries and perks. His words: “I can’t retire or I lose the ‘perks’ …besides, it is still fun after 28 years of running my same company.”

March 07. Bob Miles lives in Bradenton FL. Bob retired from the car rental business after 35 years. Two of his five children graduated from UND, sons Chris ‘83 and Todd ‘88. Bob enjoys his time with his 14 grandchildren.

March 07. Mario Mauro and his wife Joanna are happily living in Naperville IL.

March 07. Pete Bonastia wrote from his home in N. Caldwell NJ that he is the ‘managing member’ of United Realty Companies, LLC. He has been married to Bobbie for 44 years. Their son Chris is a CUNY professor and has published by Princeton Press a civil rights history “Knocking at the Door.” Bobbie and Pete’s son Pete runs an ad agency in Hoboken. Like Jerry Sachsel, our classmate Pete enjoys golf and following the Irish.

March 07. James J. Callahan is retired; he and his wife Claire (Lyons) live in Topsfield MA.

March 2007. Bob O’Neill wrote in to say his jumper from the corner was still working but not as well from 3-point range as before, yet better than his golf game. Bob and Alfa live in Palisades CA. Besides working on his golf, Bob is Senior VP Legal and Business affairs for EMI Music.

March 07. Joanne and Art Velasquez from Palos Hills IL tell us big news: the U of Illinois at Chicago Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies has inducted him and 25 others into its Chicago Area Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame for 2007. Art: “We started with absolutely an idea, to take a very humble commodity that was a staple from the Aztec Indians in Mexico, something that my ancestors were using to exist, and to introduce it to the general market…and it became something that was different from whatever the general market had grown up with before. “ Art and Joanne’s Azteca Foods products are in 25,000 supermarkets and over 5,000 restaurants. Art grew up on Chicago’s South Side, married his high school girl, and earned a bachelor’s in Architecture from UND and his MBA from the U of Chicago. Art and Joanne also support the Chicago Club’s scholarship efforts. Can’t do better than that.

March 07. Joe Bardenheier and his wife George Ann are in Essex CT. In 2006 they traveled to Kammam India for a surgical mission. He performed half a million dollars worth of surgery. He stated, “What great people the poorest of the poor are.” At the time he wrote, he hoped to retire in mid 2008. Joe believes that Pat Roache and Terry Smith have packed a lot into their lives. Of course we think Joe has too. NOTE: In a follow-up email this November, Joe informed us that his wife “is doing well at this time. Thanks, Joe.”

Apr 07. Thomas Gaffney was scheduled to move to Eagle River WI after spending nearly a year in the lovely weather of Chicago due to a brain tumor and consequent surgery. Tom reports that Katrina wiped out his Mississippi address. In September, Tom gave us his new add: 322 Sherburne St. #7, Eagle River WI 54521. Tom wants to say hello to Mary and Gene Dolan.

Apr 07. Keith Malcolm is retired; he and his wife Frances are living in Louisville KY.

Apr 07. Larry Kyte is of-counsel with FrostBrownTodd, LLC and he and Marjorie are living in Cincinnati.

Apr 07. Edward J. Kfoury, a retired 30-year veteran of IBM and former division president, has been appointed to the Board of Advisors of VirtualAgility. “VirtualAgility WorkCenter delivers easy-to-use, quick-to-install solutions for creating interoperability and business continuity in government and industry.”

Apr 07. Robert Weingart is a financial planner in Troy MI who enjoys reading, dancing and golf.

Sept 07. Ed Murphy and his wife Janet spent two years in Vetville after their junior year marriage. Unfortunately, Rocket Ryan, Pat Dubbs and Bill McMurtrie came over too often to “borrow” their beer. Janet and Ed figure the three suspects owe at least $125.45 apiece, at 8% per annum for 51 years, that comes to a skillion dollars and they want it now.  Ed also wants to know the whereabouts of Tim Sullivan, Rich Mann, and Guillermo Vivado. Janet reports that she helped Ed through Georgetown Law and pass the bar and then encouraged him to practice law. Along the way they created 3 children and 12 grandchildren. Ed’s a partner now in Murphy Co. -- a lumber company. Reports Ed, “Life is good.”

Sept 07. Nicholas J. Healy and his wife Jane wrote us in 2007 of Nicholas’ incredible position as President of the newly founded Ave Maria University, Ave Maria FL.

Sept 07. Lawrence (Larry) Wartha has moved within the city of Aztec NM to 707 Little Rabbit Dr. New zip is 87410-2097.

Sept 07. Mike Lodish and Judy gleefully reported they visited in Boston in September 07 staying with Bob Pietrzak and Annie White. They saw Don White and others of the usual suspects. Mike’s news flash: Dave Hurd’s daughter is getting married in Ohio (no word yet from Mike on where or to whom). Mike reports his pride in his 6’3”, 15 year old grandson who is carrying a 99 average and playing ball for Brother Rice HS in Bloomfield Hills MI. The rest of Mike’s news-worthy note is written like the great doc he is—totally illegible. Mike is a general surgeon and surgical oncologist. Mike and Pat Heenan went to U. of Detroit HS together.

Oct 07. Richard W. Quinn and Patricia live in Middleton RI where he practices architecture. In September he and Patricia attended a weekend “Congress on New Urbanism” at ND. As of September 07, the Quinns have a new granddaughter—Kyle Ann Quinn.

Dec 07. Bruce Cosacchi received a special recognition from FBI headquarters Quantico VA for his writing of the Seattle Chapter news in the newsletter for retired special Agents of the FBI. Our spyfellow 0052 reported this to us as Bruce is too ‘umble to write it himself. Agent 0052 went on to praise Bruce for being a lifelong musician of top caliber and always good company at retired FBI conventions. Bruce also helped organize the ND Alumni band performances at the 2008 Washington (Ty vs. Charlie) and 2009 Stanford away games. Being the great grandpa that he is, Bruce manages to feature one of his grandsons on drums or trumpet at as many occasions as he can.

Dec 07. Ed Meyer and Joni are settled in De Pere WI. Ed reports they just finished a 67 day cruise from the North to the South Poles. He is retired and playing golf.

March 08. Paul Hundt sent along some great tips for classmates who are suffering from prostate cancer. In 2008, I sent that on to a few classmates. For those who want to get some real advice on how to handle these surgical issues from Paul, can reach him by cell phone [phone]. (NOTE: My typist reached him 11-26-2010 in London and Paul affirmed his willingness to talk with any classmate. Also he can talk about the wonders of London [“I’ve been to London to see the Queen” said Christopher Robin once upon a time] and occasional visits sitting around the LaSalle Hotel ‘back in the day’ talking with our great ND profs.)

Mar 08. Mario Mauro and Joanna (Joni) are still in Naperville IL. Mario has been assisting the ND Club of DuPage’s (IL) TAP program with North Central College and Benedictan U. He and colleagues prepare tax returns for low income families. Accounting profs from the two colleges train the tax preparers. Their work this year resulted in some $150,000 in refunds. Mario by chance met Tom Grojean’s nephew and he caught up with Tom Kemp at Molly (Mrs. Dick) Belmont’s funeral. Molly and Joni graduated nursing school in 1960. The Mauros and Belmonts have been friends ever since. Dick Belmont and Mario attended St. George HS in Chicago taking up, rumor has it, the last two spots in the graduation roster.

Mar 08. Paul Mulcahy and Ann are living in Clearwater FL. “No more winters to worry about,” says Paul. They were planning to take their family of 19 on a cruise that summer. Paul is self-employed and enjoys fishing and travel.

Mar 08. Declan O’Donnell and his wife Linda wrote from Castle Rock CO. Dec has enjoyed quite a ride in law over the years. After graduating from ND and then U Michigan Law school, Dec became a staff assistant to Governor John A. Love of Colorado. In 67 he started a trial law practice; after 40 years of success in that, he moved to estate, wills and trusts. In 75, he joined AA and then started a half-way house for addicts and alcoholics called Stout Street foundation. The foundation and half-way house have grown to become the largest therapeutic community house in the region. Most recently, Dec began doing outer space law and is now the editor and publisher of Space Governance Journal which covers outer space law and policy.

Mar 08. Marianne and Tom J. Kelly live in Glenview IL. He practices law with Pederson and Houpt.

Mar 08. Fr. Rivers Patout, everyone’s favorite chaplain, is still alive and kicking in Houston. We of course aren’t the only ones blessed to know Rivers. He is also pastor of St. Alphonsus in Houston in the Diocese of Galveston-Houston and the chaplain of the Port of Houston. “The Port of Houston is busier than ever. The seafarers’ worst enemy (Homeland Security) will soon require all workers and any visitor to have a TWIC card to go near a ship in a secure area. TWIC equals Transportation Workers Identity Card” and is a difficult restriction for the seafarers. “ “I recently celebrated my 40^th anniversary in the priesthood.” His next trip was to be to “the Galapagos where I will visit the iguanas and tortoises.” (Lucky creatures) His parish launched a $2.2 million community center. Also, he was elected to the diocese’ Presbyteral Council to “help tell our new Cardinal what to do.” (Poor Cardinal)

Mar 08. James Rich is retired and living in Middletown NY.

Mar 08. From St. Louis, we get word from H.R. (Mick) Redohl that he and Gloria are happily living. Mick retired in 2004 after 30 years with the Employers and Management Association. After raising their five kids he and Gloria are blessed with 16 grandchildren, all living in the St. Louis area. Recently they traveled with Carol and Paul Perona to Israel. “Gloria and I were married between soph/jr years at ND and lived in Vetville which is no more. Thanks Joe for handling all the info from classmates. “

Apr 08. The town of Pt. Pleasant Beach NJ is glad MaryJane and Bill Reilly live there. Mary Jane is president of the Women’s’ Club and Bill serves on the Zoning Board and 3 town committees. Their seven grandchildren “love to come visit us, especially since we live at the beach” writes Bill. The two are also active with the ND Club of Jersey Shore .

Apr 08. Rev. James Connelly, csc, is assigned to the U. of Portland OR, a Holy Cross Fathers’ university.

Apr 08. William A. “Bill” Quinlan is self employed as a free lance writer, writing for The New York Times affiliated newspaper called The Ledger (Lakeland FL) and living in Haines City FL. He wrote that he is “looking forward to a trip to Rwanda later this year to write the story of the genocide survivors.”

Recently, he enjoyed a visit with classmate Carol and Les Brownlee.

Apr 08. Dolores and James Russomando are living in North Caldwell NJ. James is VP of sales for Capollo Distributing Co. He restores ‘muscle cars’ and loves sports paying close attention to the Yankees, Giants and of course ND.

Apr 08. No stack of mail from ‘60 guys would be complete without a note from Joe Drago, NYC’s favorite story teller. Still FVP for Merrill-Lynch, Joe and Concepta are married 43 years with three kids and 7 grandchildren. Poor Concepta  was swept off her feet directly from Ireland by the New York Italian Bard. Joe reports, I “stay in touch with Jim Lynott, Gene Dolan (now in Ft. Meyers), Phil O’Reilly (too much) and get the best emails from Steve Barry… If ever in NYC, please contact me; always happy to see a 1960 Domer. “

Apr 08. Jacqueline (Jackie) and Bob Simpson. A double Domer, Bob is retired from Valuation Research Corp where he was Exec VP. Bob and Jackie live in Lebanon NJ. Their two boys are in their 40s already. Bob has done extensive travel in his job over the years in Europe, Australia, China and Latin America and even added some adventures. He climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, walked the Machu Pichu trail (Peru) and trekked in Antarctica; also did a road bike trip through France, 800 miles over 3 weeks. He wants to reconnect to classmates Frank Jones, Alan McCusker, Joe McCarthy, Jim Eggert, Jack Hosted, and Dan Schuster. Bob is sorry that he will miss the 50^th.

Apr 08. One of our class’ hardest working pre-meds, Rich DiDonato reported in. He and Judith Ann are living in Cary NC wonderfully close to their 4 children and 11 grandchildren. Their two sons graduated ND , one in 88 and the other in 91. Rich is a retired physician enjoying reading and computer time.

Apr 08. From Ft. Myers FL we heard from Don Pins. Don sent in a contribution to our 50 year class gift which he asked be kept anonymous. He made the check out “to Notre Dame in Thanksgiving to the Blessed Mother for watching over all of us and in remembrance of the CSC community and my classmates who helped make my time at ND a fulfilling experience. Charlie Priester, Dick Imming, Fr. Ted, Fr. Joe Barry, Dr. J. Oesterle, Gene Hracho, Joe Long, Mike Driscoll, John Weglinski, and Ed Shea come to mind.” Don has kept in touch with Charlie Priester and Dick Imming “and that friendship has been greatly appreciated.” Don lives in the warmer part of the year in Oak Brook IL

Apr 08. Mary Ann and Don McGann are in Joliet IL. Don sent in the most interesting story of all. Don graduated ND and married his grade school sweetheart in 62, joined the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern RR in 65. He retired from there when E J & E owner US Steel moved the whole operations unit to PA. Don lists 12 kids, two of them college grads, one of whom is a Fulbright. And one just born in 07. He’s on RR Retirement since 98, had a stroke in 03, open heart chest surgery in 04 and both legs amputated below the knees in 06. Mary Ann has been teaching, since graduating from St. Francis College (now university) in 1960, delivered beautiful babies, had a liver transplant in 92, and is still going! (Don is very, very proud of his wonder woman). Don is active in their parish. Finally he says: “I don’t smoke any more, but I still drink beer…. I won’t be at the reunion—give everyone my best.”

Catching up, almost finally—This Year.

May 10, 2010. Ted McCourtney and his wife Tracy made some wonderful news earlier this year. Ted is an architecture grad with us and sits on the Board of Trustees of ND. Tracy is a grad of Penn State. This spring, the couple donated $1 million dollars to Penn State U. to endow the George Winfree Professorship in American History. According to the Penn State release, preference will be given to a faculty member working in the Richards Civil War Era Center in the College of Liberal arts. Tracy got interested in her family’s ancestry esp. around the Civil War era after hearing a lecture at Penn State about Pickett’s Charge given by Prof. Carol Reardon, a military historian. Tracy was prompted to do more research on George Winfree her great-grandfather and his role in the charge and his later war time imprisonment, plus his further signing of his allegiance to the US at the war’s end. Long time supporters of Penn State’s College of Liberal Arts, the McCourtneys endowed the chair. The first appointment to the chair is Prof. Carol Reardon.

May 10. John Cihak and his wife Donna live in San Diego. John hand-wrote their news, “Long ago I took Latin instead of typing—sorry now.” They have just returned from a cruise to Mexico and a side trip to Copper Canyon. John ‘s brother Bob followed him through ND and graduated in 62. Both brothers enjoy travel. John also enjoys hunting and golf.

May 10. Charles Geiger has retired from his work as a doctor all these years. Professionally, Charles now does Marine and Western Art --oil, Pastel, Pen/Ink—from his studio at 3500 Paradise Dr, West Bend WI 53095. Judging by his business card, Charles does beautiful work. He can be reached at 262-338-8775 or [e-mail]

Sept 10. John Maher Indiana trombonist brought his two sons to the Stanford game to show them his old haunts and introduce them to his alumni Band friends. John underwent a multiple by-pass operation a few days later and was recovering well as of the last report. The Alumni Band missed his trombone (a lot) and his jokes (slightly). The other ‘60 lower brass regulars (always Maher’s audience) namely, Jake Marhoefer, Paul Barela and Dave Roller voted 3 to 2 to send John a ‘get-well’ card. Paul Marto, a Band alum returning regular from the drum line, did not find his way back this time. When not in attendance, our 1959-60 Band President, Paul is always missed.
Typed and assembled by Bob Keeley.