Classmates

Louise Morris (Schaefer)

Then Then
Now Now
Children: 5
Occupation: Retired
Comment: I cannot believe it has been 50 years since high school graduation.  My life has had good and bad times, and I have been blessed with more good than bad.  I am a widow, retired and living in North Carolina.  The first 10 years after graduation I worked in Hunterdon County at Flemington-Raritan Schools, Hunterdon Occupational Training Center as an  instructor, the Administration Office for the County.  I served on the County’s Construction Board of Appeal and Mental Health Board.   Moved to just outside of DC, worked for the National League of Cities and opened my own Association Management consulting firm.  I managed 9 non-profits, doing board organization, office administration, conference and event planning.


I married in DC and had an instant family of 3 step sons.  I have five step grandchildren and six great grandchildren.  I have two daughters.  Angela, a graduate of Elon University, and she is a Senior Program Manager at Oxford University Press.  Mary has a Pharmacy Technician Certification, and is a graduate of Wake Tech.  Mary is married and has two and a half children.  She is due the end of October, beginning of November.


I am enjoying my retirement.   My favorite activity is taking care of my grandchildren.  I also like cross stitching, reading and baking.

Randy Motz (Motz)

Then Then
Now Now
Children: 4
Occupation: Musician
Comment: My wife Georgia and I live in Germantown, Maryland, just outside Washington, DC. I am a Native American flute player and regularly perform at assisted living facilities and senior centers in the communities near where we live. In our spare time we backpack, hike and travel extensively. Upon my wife’s retirement, we will be living fulltime in an RV traveling around the country.

Susan Olenick (Bartron)

Then Then
Now Now
Children: 4
Occupation: retired
Comment:

How to explain 50 years in a few words is difficult. 


I have two sons in their 40's and 5 grandchildren from my marriage with Craig Thornton and a daughter and son who live in Asheville, NC from my marriage to Charlie Olenick. For close to 40 years I have lived in the Corporate world working at ETS, Chubb Ins, and ADP.


I finally found my forever guy, Joe, about 12 years ago. We found St. James Plantation through a colleague and decided it was time to get out of NJ.    St. James Plantation is an amazing place with 4 golf clubs, a marina, restaurants and 5 miles from the beach. We were both very lucky that we got permission to work remotely and we continued to work during the first year down here. It was a great way to gently move into retirement. Now we are having the time of our life.

Al Osmun

Then Then
Occupation: Retired
Comment: After starting school in Miami, I finished up my degree at the University of New Mexico and wound up staying in the Southwest. My career spanned 20 years at General Electric Aircraft Engine Group and ended up at Honeywell FM&T, a sub contractor to the Department of Energy.  I met and married Elizabeth my wonderful and talented wife of 40 years, an accomplished potter and electrical engineer, here in Albuquerque. No kids, but a string of great dogs that keep us occupied.  Now that we're retired we're both are actively engaged in trap shooting (clay birds) and travel New Mexico and Arizona to compete in tournaments. (not surprisingly, Liz wins more than me!) We also like taking frequent trips to the ocean ,travel in general, and fly fishing mountain streams. We're totally fans of the Denver Broncos and of course the Yankees.


Wishing all my old classmates well and hope life is good.


 

Joan Perkins (Perkins)

Then Then
Children: 2
Occupation: Retired Teacher
Comment: One college and two graduate degrees later, poetry is still my passion. The high point of my week is attending workshops at Hugo House in Seattle with other poetry obsessives, where we read and analyze each other's work and ruminate on fine points of form and meter.





My favorite jobs were teaching AP English at a small girls' school in downtown Honolulu and poetry-writing workshops in the Hawaii public school system. I'm convinced that middle school students are the world's most inventive writers. They'll try anything!





My greatest adventure was a research project at the British Library. I had a contract to write an introduction to a poem by a seventeenth-century woman writer, but when I analyzed the prosody in her manuscripts, I realized that the poem had actually been written by someone else--her dad.





Some feminist scholars made some inaccurate attributions back in the late-20th C when they were anxious to prove that women had a literary tradition. Hey, ladies, we have Emily Dickinson! 'Nuff said.





In 2014 my son Levi talked my husband and me into moving to Pittsburgh while he completed a degree in computer science there. "Mom," Levi said, "it will be fun." And it was.





Levi's job with Microsoft brought us to Seattle, where we are dazzled by the lakes, the mountains, the forests, and the gardens.





My son Alexei followed in mom's footsteps and became a writer, publishing an award-winning novel in--wait for it--pidgin English. He is the successful writer in the family!





I estimate that maybe four people read my essay on John and Mary Evelyn's prosody (the editors), and six read my dissertation: the committee and my husband, who was kind enough to proofread it and write "Stunning!" on every page. So yeah, Lex is the real writer.





Those are the highlights of the last fifty years. I will spare you the low points, though there were many, and some were tragic. But tragedy is another genre!





I can't believe how many of you posted pix of yourselves from 1968. I couldn't find them if I had them. Most of my more recent photos are with students, and I can't post them without their permission. So unless or until I muster the energy to iron my jeans and blow dry my hair, you will just have to picture me looking exactly as I did in high school--except very, very old.














 

Alex Pichacz

Then Then
Children: 2
Occupation: Retired General Contractor
Comment: Graduate of Parsons School of Design. Lighting designer for stage shows. General Contractor in all phases of construction. Married to MaryAnn, 35 yrs. Two children, one grandchild.

daniel reinke

Then Then
Now Now
Comment: hello everybody,





thanks so much for the invite for the 50th wow,how times fly


after school i played 2 years of semi pro football with the jersey oaks.however


i got my but kicked..so for the next 40yrs i worked forJ&J in controlled substance.i retired in 2009.i then took a partime job at enterprise.


but my main love has been TRAINING GERMAN SHEPHERDS,they have been 


very succesfull.boating has always been a fun time traveling down to kentucky.


so i'm looking forward to meeting a lot of friends till then...dan

Lissa Richardson

Then Then
Now Now
Comment: Sorry I could not greet you in person, but I am traveling to Ireland for my sister Gail's 70th this week.


  Sometimes I forget we are old until I see that gray hair in the mirror!  Having said that, my 60's have been the best years of my life.


  Unexpected turns:  I am single, I am childless, and I am mostly very, very happy.


  I never expected my life to feel so sweet, as I have been through periods of depression and am an alcoholic in recovery for over 31 years.  I spent my first career as a teacher of English and a school counselor right at Hunterdon Central, then retired and have been teaching at Rider University and in private practice as a counselor, counselor educator, counselor supervisor, and coach since 2006.


  Quiet, sun, solitude and nature are my restoratives, and I spend the winter in Naples, FL where I enjoy kayaking, teaching Zumba, and a generally slothful lifestyle.


  Shout out to Babs Van de Weghe, who is still my friend and who took me under her wing when I moved to Hunterdon County in 1965. love you, my heart-friend!


  Blessings to everyone.

Carole Rumpf (Rigas)

Then Then
Children: 2
Comment:      Wow! Fifty years, packed with school, marriage, travels, children, work--a lifetime of events since HCHS '68.


     My late husband, Lew, and I married in Dec.'72 and spent over 3 years living in Germany, where he served in the US Army.  We traveled far and wide, throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa--great memories!


     I was a stay-at-home mom for many years and returned to teaching in 2000.  I currently teach high school Spanish in Westchester County, NY, and anticipate retiring in 2019. I am blessed to have a son, daughter, son-in-law, and two precious grandsons.


     Traveling continues to be a passion, which I hope to pursue even more in retirement.  I also enjoy playing Bridge, cooking, reading, and cross-stitching.


  








 

Bobbi Schildt (Ball)

Then Then
Now Now
Occupation: Retired teacher/ volunteer
Comment: Looking forward to our 50th reunion!  I look back fondly on my high school years.  Some of my favorite memories include challenging classes, clubs,dances at Stanton grange and Turntable Junction, fun with friends, the Senior class trip and finally getting my license after three tries (thank you Kevin Campbell)!  Although I have happy memories I also remember it as a very tumultuous time in terms of our country and all it faced as the sixties came to a close.





I studied Secondary Social Studies at at Bloomsburg State and after receiving my degree I taught with Janet McGuiness for one year at Readington School.  In the early 70s I married  and moved to  Arlington Virginia where I taught students various social studies classes.  I taught over 3000 students from seventh grade to young adults  at a progressive public school there...H-B/Woodlawn. Loved teaching and writing curriuculm for several museums.  My main area of interest in terms of research is Freedman's Village..a camp for freed slaves that was established in 1863. 





I retired in 2004 and moved to Southern California with my husband Rick. We have RV'd from San Diego to Alaska and back, visited the Polar bears at Churchill, Manitoba and most recently visited Belgium and the Netherlands to see the flowers and windmills. 


I enjoy photographing nature.  My other  hobbies include going on day trips, water aerobics  and helping out mainly with the friends of the library. When possible I love to get together with old friends.  I also like to bake and study genealogy using Ancestry.com.   Even though I live in SoCal.. I will always be a Jersey girl at heart!  See you in June!