Vic YOAKUM's wife, Patti, died 13 March 2001 of a heart attack. Born 20 November 1936 in Pasadena, CA., Patti Krebs grew up in Palo Alto and graduated from Colorado Women's College in 1958. Services were at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Redondo Beach, CA. At the fu­neral were Greg BOYINGTON and June Colgan, Bill ZERSEN, Tony LONG, Earl and Pat VAN INWEGEN, Charlie and Mercedes THOMP­SON, Charlie ZALESKI ('59), and members of the family.

The Beltway Boys celebrated Founders' Day April 6th at the San An­tonio Restaurant in Rosslyn, VA. (They used to hold luncheons at Gampy's, but they lost their license after Tony BURSHNICK held last December's meeting there.) Surprise: Mexican food! Deke JOHNSON was in town, all the way from Idaho, where his nom de guerre is "The Babe Ruth of the Auto Parts Biz in Boise." D.K. spoke semi-eloquently and much too long about the raptures of becoming a VFW member, while the aggregation listened with bated breath. Then Mike (Roach) LOH provided an explanation of why the AF Chief had asked Mike CARNS ('59) to head a group to look at the Academy Honor Code; our own Mike is part of another group which came up with additional rec­ommendations. (See photo of those attending.)

Hodson, Weinaug, MacArtney, Fischer, Burke, Alnwick, Lalime, Loh,
DK Johnson, Burshnick, Al Johnson, Les Querry and de la Cruz (kneeling)

Ralph and Darlene LALIME spent three weeks in Hawaii with son Chris (up from Australia), and son Jay and his bride, Aimee (over from Virginia Tech). They stayed at the following: Marine Base Kaneohe, the Hale Koa, AFS Bellows cottages on Oahu, a time-share near Kona, Kilueha Military Camp, Barking Sands on Kuai, and Waikiki. Their 25-year-old son Jay had his colon removed in January, which put a damper on some other vaca­tion plans. And Ralph's nearby D.C. neighbor, Bill HODSON, celebrated his retirement from teaching at the National Defense University with a party on the 101 of March. Along with wife, Fran, were many, including Tony BURSHNICK, Ralph, Bill and Linda GOODYEAR, Jerry and Betty DE LA CRUZ, John and Lorna MACARTNEY. Bill plans to continue teach­ing math at Marymount College.

This update from Dave LUCE (Radio Club 1): "I'm working as corpo­rate medical director for WPS, which is an insurance company here in Madison, WI. After the AF, I went to medical school at UCLA, practiced in Oregon for 13 years and southern California for 15 years. My wife, Marilyn, and I more or less raised four kids; the oldest is in medical school at Creighton, and plans to go into the AF; the youngest is at Cal State, and plans on racing cars if someone else pays for it. I was unable to go to the last reunion due to illness in the family, but we are looking forward to the 45th. I still fly light planes as an alternative to long drives."

Bob and Jane ODENWELLER visited Dave (MD, JD) and Pat REED in New Zealand in April while on a 28-day trip from southernmost South Island to within 100 miles of northernmost North Island (with camera buff ODENWELLER lugging four cameras, and making periodic stops to buy more stamps for his already burgeoning New Zealand philatelic col­lection). Dave goes "down under" every January, and spent this year un­til 6 July in his sailing yacht "Curiosity," stating that his craft is "oak-bot­tomed, copper-sheathed, and utterly seaworthy." Bad weather kept them in port in Whangarei on North Island during the visit. Dave wrote: "Pat and I bought a house here. Couldn't resist, with the strength of the U.S.$ --we got a lovely place for about a fourth of what it would cost in the States. We're now applying for Residency Status, which means we'd live here eight months a year. I passed my Commercial Glider Pilot license in Boulder, and now soar over the Rockies. I got reciprocity for my USA powered license, and have been flying Archers and 172s."(R: Talk about double Paradises! Summers and Falls on a verdant isle, sailing his yacht, living in a waterfront home with swimming pool and overlooking Bream Bay. Followed by Summers and Falls in beautiful Boulder, soaring thermals at 24K, and Academy football games. NO winters!).

Top photo—The Old “Curiosity” Ship. Bottom photo—Bob and Dave well acnchored

Dean Franklin VIKAN (Archery Club 2, 1) couldn't make it to our 40th reunion because of his wife Phyllis' bad leg. She'd dislocated her shoul­der in a fall after suffering a minor stroke in 1998, then had surgery which resulted in a "Bum Leg"--that's a medical condition meaning she had no control over her leg (she's now holding steady, and uses a walker in strange places). In an earlier life, Dean spent 25 years in the AF and retired in '85 as a Bird Colonel, and wrote: "I retired from Lockheed-Martin in Georgia in 1997 after 12 years working on the F-22 project. Came back to my hometown of Fosston, MN, and built a house across from the farm where Phyllis grew up. We have two children, both of whom spent time in the AE Todd's a project manager with KPMG in Fairborn, OH; he and wife Shelby have two sons. Wende married Jeff Sheets--son of classmate Gary SHEETS--and he and wife, Sylvia, live in Franklin, TN with their five children. After coming back to Fosston in '97, I bought The Thirteen Towns newspaper, which my father ed­ited and published from 1937 to 1987. At the same time, I was director of Economic Development for Fosston's Development Authority through the end of 2000. Phyllis and I graduated from high school here, so I've essentially `closed the loop' on moving around the world."(R: Dean sent me copies of his paper. He's got a neat life--perhaps, a "retro existence"--living in his hometown with his childhood sweetheart, operating a great newspaper, and pillar of the community. (R: Can I have a job as a reporter Dean? Wait a minute. Don't you get snow? Lots? Frigid winters? Never mind).

Fosston’s Very Own Horace Greeley

Mr. Answer Guy. You remember him--I hired him (or is it her?) to answer your questions. In the last issue (Spring, 2001), the childhood photo is not a classmate! Repeat: It is NOOO-body! And in the Trivia-'60 question--Who was our first classmate to fly a mission in the Vietnam War? Mr. Answer Guy said it was Andi BIANCUR. Turns out that Dave SWEIGART (Bowling Club 2, 1) was first (if you count TDYs). Dave was in Danang in Feb '62 for 30 days and in Saigon for 179 days beginning in Sep '62, flying combat support missions in C-123Bs with TDY rota­tion out of Pope AFB called Muletrain and Sawbuck Two (Dave added that '59er Eddie ROSANE was in the original Muletrain deployment, and may be the first grad to set foot in Vietnam).

By the time you're reading this, we'll have trounced National Champi­ons Oklahoma in this season's football opener on Labor Day. Natch! For more winners, take out a few number two or three pencils and mark these dates on somebody's calendar: September 29-AFA @ San Diego State; October 6-AFA @ Navy; November 3-Army @ AFA; November 24-AFA @ Hawaii. The day before beating San Diego State Sept 28th, Earl and Pat VAN INWEGEN invite you to Friday night dinner at their home in La Jolla, CA-call Van @ (858) 729-0123, or co-hosts Phil and Grace MEINHARDT @ (858) 792-3752. Tailgate before the game is hosted by Mike QUINTON ('62)--quinton@quintonpetixcom. Then the Beltway Boys have their tailgate before and after the AFA-Navy game Oct 6th around Ralph and Darlene LALIME's Tioga minihome--give Ralph a call at (703) 569-7187. When Army comes to the Academy Nov 3rd, we've arranged a Mini-Re­union, with a $72/night rate at the Radisson Inn Thursday thru Sunday (call Scott Hoover at 719-598-5770 and tell him you're in the "'60 Party"). The agenda includes a Friday night party at the hotel, GLAZA's tailgate Saturday at 9a.m. (featuring Terre-haute cuisine, and booze), rout of Army, dinner at the Radisson Saturday eve for classmates and families, Sunday brunch, and an afternoon social. Call GLAZA at 1-800-670-8745 for tick­ets, and Rosie to sign up for the weekend. Then there's the game in Ho­nolulu Thanksgiving Saturday, a vacation and football the same trip.

Remembrance of Things Past. Ran across this note from the Dodo of early 1960: "For Sale--1960 Class Pin w/Sapphire Guard. Need $ for Roaring '20s Blast. See FRIES-12th Squadron." So much for sentiment. 'Bye from the Rose.