THE SCRATCH SHEET
(REVIVED) Vol. 2, April 27, 2005
In this issue:
A. Plans for the 45th reunion. May 20-22, 2005
B. More “Mighty Masters” found.
C. “Till our hearts be still”:
a. Ed Coccagna
b. Bob Himmelrich
c. Judd Johnson
d. Dave Paulson
e. Jim Ritchie
D. Contributing to the Hum
Reunion Committee:
Rocco D’Amico: 301-229-0834 email
Ed DiRomaldo 215-365-5965
Dennis Gries 941-927-3757; email
John Kane 215-343-5769 EMAIL
Ron Saracini 352-237-9690
A. Plans for the 45th Reunion
GC60 45th REUNION
LOCATION: Radisson Hotel Valley Forge
1160 First Avenue
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406
610-337-2000
ROOMS/RATE: 20 Rooms have been blocked under Girard College Class of 1960 Reunion
$109.00 + tax per room
DATES: Rooms blocked for following dates:
Friday, May 20, 2005
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Same rate will apply if you need rooms for Thursday or Sunday
nights. I did not blocked any rooms for those nights but there
should be some available. The earlier you call and make your
reservations, the better it will be.
ITINERARY:
Friday, May 20, 2005
800AM – Golf Outing at Melrose Country Club ($120.00)
(Anyone not signed up but interested let John Kane know.)
4-12PM Hospitality Suite at the Radisson. The suite will be open before and after the get together at Adam Deveney’s. It will be Byob.
7:30PM – Get together at Adam Deveney’s home on Valley Forge
Mountain. 1739 Quarry Lane, Valley Forge, 610-783-7165. We will
have the affair catered .
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Founder’s Day at the Hum
Meet on campus (anyone who may need a ride, we can coordinate at
Adam’s house the night before). Chapel service is at 9AM. Class of 1955 gets to march down the aisle. Note: we will attempt to hang around the Coccagna tree and bench, which is in the general vicinity of the NE corner (closest to the D& S) of the long gone Banker’s Hall.
12PM Alumni Box Lunch in the Armory
Valley Forge Tour.
We will be setting up with the Valley Forge Visitors Bureau a tour of
Valley Forge National Park for the wives, etc. (For those who do not
wish to go to the Hum.) If anyone would like to take the tour they need to let John Kane know. Also, there is complimentary service to the King of Prussia Mall from the Radisson Hotel.
3 PM Hospitality Suite at the Radisson.
We will have a suite at the hotel, which will open at 3PM, and will be available for just hanging around until the wee hours. This will be a BYOB and Food deal, but you can always call the hotel’s room service. It will be available even during dinner, for anyone who chooses not to join us for the dinner/show.
6:30PM Dinner/Show:
$44.00/person includes tax and gratuity.
Lily Langtry’s Victorian Restaurant and Showplace at the Radisson.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
900AM – Meet for Breakfast prior to departing for home.
Logistics for the Weekend
Rather than charge individually for the catering at Adam’s house, and the cost of the hospitality room we hope to cover those costs through individual donations. The reunion steering committee has contributed $500. If you are able to contribute please let John Kane know. Any excess will be placed in the Class of 60 fund. For those attending the dinner show, John has to know the count of who will be attending no later than May 13th and the payment by May 16th to Lily Langtry’s. Please forward payment to him at 1678 Rockcress Drive, Jamison, PA 18929. If you are late with it, do not worry, it will be covered and you can pay him at Adam’s. But he does need to know if you’re planning to come to dinner.
Dress for the weekend: casual for all events. If you’re a suit and tie guy, feel free, but casual is fine for all functions.
FINALLY IT IS CRITICAL THAT YOU INFORM JOHN KANE IMMEDIATELY IF YOU PLAN TO: 1) COME TO ADAM DEVENEY’S, 2) WILL VISIT THE HOSPITALITY ROOM ON SATURDAY PM, AND/OR 3) COME TO DINNER ON SATURDAY EVENING. ALSO PLEASE SEND THE COST OF DINNER, AND ANY DONATION YOU CAN MAKE TOWARD THE PARTY AT ADAM’S, AND THE HOSPITALITY SUITE ASAP.
Final details on the Reunion, with maps, and instructions will be sent out in Volume 3 of the Scratch Sheet around May 15.
B. More “Mighty Masters” Found
Dennis Gries, “the genius of genealogy” has been pounding the internet, and calling all over the country, with help from Ron Saracini. Here is his latest report.
GIRARD COLLEGE – CLASS OF 1960 – REPORT – Winter-Spring 2004-05
This is a report of a quest to locate the several classmates not present on a recent GCAA alumni membership list.
After accounting for the one death, and the three “associates” on the list, we have 63 members at about November 1, 2004. Using the 102 classmates in the Steel and Garnet, there are 39 to be accounted for.
As I started this project again, I knew of 15 deceased, which is three more than my last report in Oct 2000. Two were noted at length in the email chains of our class: Ed Coccagna and Bob Himmelrich, both in 2004; and I quickly located the death of Manny Sheitelman in Dec 2000 (only shortly after I visited him at the VA hospital in Coatesville).
This left 24 members to be brought up to date as I really got into research. Since John Gearhart had become actively known, and provided a new address, we then had 23 remaining. The searching and calling, etc. has located and contacted all but 9. The located and contacted ones are bolded (maybe I should get part credit for Ed Shockowitz).
I need to add that the search found one more deceased classmate, and another who was on the GCAA list has been reported as deceased, for a total of 17. A supplemental schedule has them in some detail. For completeness, perhaps we should have a “In Memoriam” list that would have the full dates, and a bit of other information.
At a point, I was spending too much time searching, and bothering too many people who were not correct, so I spent $20 on Intelius access for 24 hours. That was critical in giving me solid leads and eventual contacts with almost a dozen classmates.
So far only Bob Franco and Ken Werley have asked not to be contacted in the future. All others have given oral permission to release the non-public information. As we get closer to 2010 (thinking positively), perhaps contact can be attempted, if only by mail, to see if a change in heart is possible.
Please note that there are no thumbnails for the following:
Pretty well located but still need a personal conversation: Chachkin (North Jersey), Ross (South Jersey), Sosinski (Wyoming Vly PA). More likely than not located… Santilli (Bucks Co PA). Not found using available resources Johansen (last=MI), Kutchera (last= MD- maybe), and Wert (last = CA). For all three, the database info is a year to three years stale.
1. Joseph Charles (Joe) Baji is at 4206 Yosemite Drive, Ocean Springs MS 39564. Phone 228-872-1534. Joe returned my call on Feb 15. He had a career in the Navy, and then one in electronics with a defense contractor. Married in Scotland in 1964, and the father of two children, and granddad of four. Email is . His brother was the musical director at Girard for several years before John went on to other activities.
2. Donald Albert (Don) Beck had listed himself on Classmates.com but has not been responsive to emails from Rocco D. (we must remember that this is a database with email addresses valid at the time of entry, and if the email address changes, the message will not go through and there will be no reponse). I finally located him at 3458 Colony Point W, in Nashville TN 37217, phone 615-399-7617, and after repeated tries through the phone ID system, connected with him on Feb. 10. Don had a banking career, and now has taken a hobby into a fishing rods, etc. business. His business website is www.fishermansblessing.com, email and his home email is , but due to spam issues, emailing to his website might be better. Don confirms that my messages to both were received.
Don married first a long time ago, and has a 30 year old son, and a second marriage about 15 years ago. He has been in touch with Joe Baji, and will be sending me Joe’s email shortly.
3. Victor John (Hector) Carlson. Spoke to Victor on Feb 9. He was an engineer with the Navy until retirement a short while ago, and has recently married for the third time. Three children from his live apart. His address is 3001 E. 2nd Avenue, Durango CO 81301; phone 970-385-8639. email is (his wife’s account). Vic is happily enjoying his Colorado retirement.
5. Robert David (Franks) Franco – I spoke to a neighbor, on Feb 16, and she confirmed that the Francos lived next door, and agreed to pass my message and phone number to them. Bob called me on Mar 7th. He is fine, married since 1989 to his present wife, gives his best to his Girard Classmates, esp. Cohrs, Culver, and I forget who else, and is saddened by the loss of the several classmates to date. However, he does not want his address, etc. shared (I do not have caller ID), and says that he knows where to call, i.e. the GCAA or me if he wishes contact in the future.
6. Leland Charles (Lee) Giannini – a real security specialist – noted criminal investigator (FBI), and Certified Protection Professional. There is one special commendation about him found by using Google, and his professional affiliation.
Spoke to him at work on Feb 7, 2005 (469-524-4700): Lee will be married 40 years later this year, and has children and grandchildren. Home address is 6706 Charlmont Circle, Dallas TX 75248; and work (no home) email is (in Irving TX).
I failed to get his home phone number.
7. Richard Lee (Dick) Hemmerle – found him easily and spoke to him on Nov 6. He’s just a short hop up US 41 from me at 6320 14th Street SW, Bradenton FL 34207 . Phone is 941-727-9499. He tends to work evenings. Cell phone is 941-685-0538. He was divorced in 1974 and has not remarried. Has a daughter, age 40 – married in North Carolina. Says he’s in good health, and sounds in very good spirits. Has a computer, but never uses, so email is not a real option.
8. Paul Stephen (Paul) Jayne – was last on the GCAA list not that many years ago.
Found him at 608 Stratford Ave, Woodbury Heights, NJ 08097, and phone 856-384-6144, and spoke to him on Feb 9. He’s retired with three children out and about, and married about 35 years ago. Hey, Eddie D – he remembers almost going on a honeymoon with you. Email is
9. Michael Frank (Mike) Lane. Located at B3 Tudor Court, Eastampton Township (Mount Holly), NJ 08060-3349; phone 609-702-9977. I left a message on Fri Feb 11, and Mike called back on Sun Feb 13. We spoke on Feb 14. Mike’s email address is . He was in the military for some years, and eventually into art and architecture. Thrice divorced, he is currently unmarried. Eastampton Twp is around Mount Holly. Mike responded:
Hey!
Peace and goodwill to all you guys!
"By the stars, what means this,
that honored and loved friends of past well gone
who traveled with me as treasured ghosts
should once again take on solid form and happily
advance the weary day into rich and hearty night?"
God bless.
Mike Lane
10. Michael Francis (Mike) Messina. Spoke to him on Feb 9. He’s a snow bird >> in Marco Island FL 34145 at 866 Robin Ct in the winter – phone 239-393-0572, and 3 Blue Flax Ln, Langhorne, PA 19047; phone 215-752-5544 in the summers. He started his career as an engineering tech writer with GE and Raytheon, and went on to own a computer data processing business in New Hampshire, which he still owns. Email is .
11. Edward Yarnell (Ed) Miller went to UofP, and then earned a PhD from Harvard. I found him (by using search engines) at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, NY, where he is a Professor of Mathematics. His voice mail did not work (718-260-3386), so I spoke to the Dept Admin Asst (Jane at x 3505) who said he has not programmed it. She confirmed the physical description as we last remember it, and after leaving an email to Ed at , I spoke to him on Feb 10. His home address and phone are 218 Rutland Road, Brooklyn, NY 11225-5374; and 718-693-5109. Ed has been married for many years, and has two grown children out of the house.
12. Stansbury Charles (Stan) Minemier is better known as Stan. From what I see from Google, he is involved with the American Culinary Federation as a member, and has organized and volunteered in fund raisers to stop hunger, and apparently spends time on the golf course. I tracked him down on Nov 9, and he called back, said he was the one, and said he would call later, which he did and we chatted for awhile.
Stan lives at 104 Bryars Court, Lexington SC phone is 803-356-5809 email (his employer – a milling company where is a sales manager). Stan’s wife by second marriage is Pat. His first marriage ended with one child – Todd 37, and he has two step-children (41,40) from his second marriage in 1974.
13. Carl Robert (Carl) Sehl was located in Phila at phone 215-924-9662 on Feb 10. Carl is at 6564 N. Mascher Street, Phila 19120. Speaking to him, and he sounds great and happy; he was married in 1966, and has two grown daughters who live in the Phila suburbs. His most recent vocation is a sculptor and artist with works at a Philadelphia gallery. Carl has no email.
14. {{Edward Paul (Shock) Shockowitz}}. I called brother Bernie of a later class. Ed lived in CA, where his mom died, and married Irene Stronge many years ago. I spoke to Irene very briefly and the divorce was some 30 years ago (c. 1974). There was a child from Irene’s previous marriage: Christopher - stepson (now about 38 – but apparently formally adopted); and a child by their marriage: Susan I. Shockowitz (born Feb 27, 1973 in Santa Clara Co, who was in the Folsom (CA) High class of 1992. Susan/Susie married ---- Ricci. The Folsom HS class historian has passed my email on to Susan, but there has been no response. They live in San Leandro (near San Jose) CA Ed remarried to Rae and had son – Nathan, now still in his teens. Ed apparently deserted them, and is believed to be living as a “mountain man” in Shasta Co CA, near or about Redding or Igo. Bernie’s email is and phone is 814-466-7380. I have not been able to establish direct contact with any of the children, if only for the purpose of being updated on their father for our records.