Gators Class of 1967: Gone But Not Forgotten

Greetings, Gators!

If you try the link in the righthand sidebar for postings about our late classmates, you will be disappointed. At this time, it will take you to a generic page that won't work for you.

That's because I used to post obits for our classmates on my own website, which no longer exists. Sorry about that.

However, I do still have those photos and obits. It will take some time, but I plan to repost those obits and add more to this blog. If things go as they should, you will be able to find those obits listed as posts on the sidebar. Or you could find those postings by simply googling or binging the classmates' names.

I hope to eventually post obits for all our deceased classmates. And I'll be asking for more info - and possibly photos - from you.

I'll also be asking about classmates whose whereabouts are unknown or unconfirmed.

You can reach me at alana.miltak.baranick@gmail.com.

Thanks for your patience and help.

- Alana Miltak Baranick

2010 Happy Holidays to and from Gateway's Class of '67

Front l-r: Paula (Nuchols), Bonnie (Gardner), Kathi (Hawkins), Kathie (Mason), Peggy (Loughner); middle l-r: Artie Trunzo, Marti (Wilkinson), Judy (McCluskey), Mike Cima, Tom Kunkle; back l-r: Shirley (Veasey), Tom Gallo, Dianne (Ilgenfritz), crazy Sam Viggiano waving for all of us!!

The Gateway High School Class of 1967 Reunion Committee, pictured above, recently met for a holiday celebration at the home of Mike Cima.

They send seasons greetings on behalf of the Class of '67 to one and all.

You'd better get ready! Tim Billings may be coming to your town!

Tim Billings and his wife, Ruthie, are both fully retired now and have embarked on a 2-3 month retirement road trip.

Their route includes places where relatives and old friends live, as well as tourist attractions. The destinations, length of stay and times of departure are incredibly flexible. They don't have to stick to a strict schedule and, by golly, they aren't going to! After all, they're retired!

After leaving their home in New Jersey on July 12, 2010, they visited relatives in Boston, Mass., and Keene, N.H. Not sure what all they did before making their way to Grove City, Pa., where Peggy Loughner Fisher, the leader of our Gator pack, lives. (Peggy took the photo above.)

Then on July 18, they came to Cleveland, Ohio, where they visited Alana Miltak Baranick (that would be me) and went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Peggy and Dianne Ilgenfritz Brudney met the gang there after taking a side trip to Medina, Ohio, to see classmate Darlene Schwartzmiller Jones.

The Billingses headed south toward Columbus, Ohio, after that, but made a quick adjustment when one of Tim's Vietnam buddies was out of town. The last I heard, they were taking a detour to do the tourist thing in Kentucky.

Tim has promised to share stories from the road on this blog. And you know he's a wonderful storyteller.

Keep checking back to see what he has to say. We'll do our best to mention his new blog posts on Facebook.

As I understand it, Tim and Ruthie will be traveling through Illinois, Minnesota (where Tim's brother, Phil, lives), Montana, Washington State, California, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas (where they'll see our classmate Jay Lehman), Missouri, Alabama, Virginia and Maryland.

They'll check out Yosemite, Sequoia and Carlsbad Caverns national parks. They'll visit Memphis, New Orelans, Roswell, N.M., and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., before returning to Jersey.

Contact Tim, if you want to see them when they get to your neck of the woods.

"I know many retirees who spent years planning great adventures for their retirement, yet never managed to do them," Tim said a few weeks ago. "So we are going to start retirement with a bang, and this time I get to see our great country without hitchhiking!"

Remembering our deceased classmates on Memorial Day 2010

Below are the names of late members of the Gateway Senior High School Class of 1967, whose 1967 surnames began with O-Z, including Army PFC Ron Stephenson, who was killed in Vietnam. Click Ron's name below to read more.

We've grouped together others alphabetically on previous blog items.

We will gradually add photos to go with most of the deceased classmates names and links to obituary/tribute pages in the coming days.

GATORS, GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Rory O'Leary (May 8, 1949 – Sept. 18, 2009)

Donald J. Powers (Died January 10, 2007)
Deborah Shushereba Holmes (Oct. 29, 1949 - June 19, 2005)

Craig S. Smith (Aug. 14, 1948 - July 14, 2000)

Janet Stamm Dal Lago (June 27, 1949 - Aug. 18, 1996)
Ronald Stephenson (Oct. 14, 1948 - Jan. 20, 1971)
Elizabeth Torch Cheripka (July 10, 1949 - Feb. 10, 2006)

Stephen Walters (April 21, 1949 - September 7, 2007)

Donna West Campbell (May 12, 1949 - December 18, 1988 )
Nancy Wilson Walters (???)

Glenda Winkelvoss Holmes (Died Nov. 19, 2007)

Gary Zummo (1949-1968)

Remembering '67 Gators on Memorial Day 2010

Below are the names of late members of the Gateway Senior High School Class of 1967, whose 1967 surnames began with H-N. We're grouping others together alphabetically on the previous and next few blog items.

We will gradually add photos to go with most of the deceased classmates names and links to obituary/tribute pages in the coming days.

GATORS, GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Winifred Hickey Herring (Aug. 30, 1948 - April 20, 2003)

Barbara Hileman Croasdale (Sept. 30, 1949 - Nov. 28, 1983)

Theresa Hysong Behr (Aug. 22, 1949 - Jan. 4, 2009)

Patrick M. Kelley (March 8, 1949 - May 11, 2006)

Jon Klingensmith (July 15, 1949 - March 14, 2005)

Jeffrey Koester (Aug. 30, 1949 - April 15, 1992)

Susan Lathom Randolph (Sept. 7, 1949 - Jan. 15, 1999)

Harry Lauffer (May 31, 1949 - April 1975)

Alex Lawson (Aug. 2, 1948 - Sept. 15, 1985)

Dennis Lichtenfels (Sept. 2, 1949 - March 1985)

Stanley Bruce Lindquist (Dec. 15, 1949 - June 21, 1997)

Victoria Matakas Dunn Fisher (Feb. 19, 1949 - July 19, 2002)

Robert Milne (Aug. 8, 1948 - Nov. 5, 1994)

Remembering our late classmates on Memorial Day 2010

Below are the names of late members of the Gateway Senior High School Class of 1967, whose 1967 surnames began with A-G. We'll group others together alphabetically on the next few blog items.

You can click on some names to read obituary tribute pages. We'd like to do the same for all of our classmates. If you can help with this, please email alana.miltak.baranick@gmail.com.

We started posting high school portraits here and will gradually add more photos in the coming days.

GATORS, GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN


Alan R. Bennett (Jan. 3, 1948 - Nov. 19, 1996)

Robert Bertera (June 21, 1949 - June 9, 1997)

Earl Bittner (1949-1972)

Fred Bowes. ( Died July 12, 2003)

Tim Brendlinger (July 2, 1949 - Jan. 9, 2000)

Tom Cain (Oct. 24, 1948 - Dec. 19, 1997)

Roseanne Campos Corey (Died Nov. 21, 2007)

Rosemary Ciufo Brown (April 23, 1949 - Oct. 10, 2006)

Robert Corbelli (Feb. 9, 1949 - Dec. 13, 2004)

Richard Crouch (Dec. 15, 1949- Jan. 18, 20/02)

James Domboski. (Aug. 9, 1949 - Nov. 11, 1998)

Cathy Duff Dornin (March 12, 1949 - Aug. 23, 1998)

Joseph Falkowski (Nov. 10, 1949 - Nov. 30, 1994)

Dona Jean Farmer Baker (died Jan. 25, 2010)

Patricia Frohn Balash (June 25, 1949 - Aug. 16, 2004)

Gary Graham (July 29, 1948 - June 12, 1990)

Gateway Class of 1967's 2010 Picnic at Idlewild Park in August

Circle Friday, August 13, 2010, on your calendar. That's the date of this year's class picnic, which will take place at Idlewild Park in Ligonier, Pa., and coincide with Italian Days.

Visit the Idlewild Park website - http://www.idlewild.com/ - for park information and see the impressive Italian Days schedule, which may be updated periodically, at http://www.idlewild.com/park_info/ItalianDay.php.

Peggy Loughner Fisher and Artie Trunzo will provide more class reunion picnic details as they become available.

Florida reunion 2010 - including cruise - in the works

Judy Gibson Brumfield of Gainesville, Fla., and John Safran of Bradenton Beach are organizing a reunion in Florida for Gateway grads from the 1960s to be held in the fall of 2010.

They are aiming for a reunion cruise, but they need your input to get the best fares and to make decisions that reflect what the classmates want. And they need this information no later than Dec. 15, 2009.


This is only a survey to find out who might attend and whether they prefer a 3-night cruise, 4-night cruise or 2-night stay at a hotel.

For information, visit http://www.gatewaygators.net/reunions.asp.

Or contact Peggy Loughner Fisher, the Class of 1967 reunion chair, or Alana Miltak Baranick, class blog administrator, whose email addresses are provided in this blog's header.

Of course, I you know how to reach Judy or John, go for it!

Rory O'Leary: 1949-2009

Rory O'Leary, a beloved member of the Gateway Senior High School Class of 1967, died Sept. 18, 2009.

On the left is Rory's senior picture from the 1967 Portavian, our high school yearbook.


On the right is a snapshot of Rory that was taken during our 40th Class Reunion Weekend in 2007.

We're looking for more photos, comments, anecdotes and anything else we can get - even video - to incorporate into his online life story for our "Gators: Gone but not forgotten" tribute pages.

You can add comments to this post or send stuff to me (Alana Miltak Baranick) via email at alana.miltak.baranick@gmail.com.

Thanks.

A glimpse into our collective future????

Young @ Heart's version of The Ramones song, "I Wanna Be Sedated."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyS61DM1vyU

Mystery photo: St. Michael's Catholic School in Pitcairn?

As many of you guessed, this is a class photo (probably 8th grade) taken at St. Michael's Catholic School in Pitcairn of folks who, for the most part, went on to graduate from Gateway Senior High School. (See bigger photo in previous post.)

Let's break the photo down into sections to try to get a better look at these kids while identifying them.


















In this enlarged portion of the picture are, left to right, bottom row: Billy Scherrah, Patty Gregg, Mark Waibel and Father Maher; second row: Sister Mary Brenda, Mike Cima, Kathie Mason, Larry Gisi and Janet George; top row: Ricky Siebert; Freda Litzinger, Wayne Rullo and the late Vicki Matakas.




















Here are, left to right, bottom row: Mary Jane Di Cecco, Anthony Fasano and Jean Behe; second row: Becky Manovich, Ralph Jenko, Judy Gibson, Mark Wojton and Sister Agnes Louise; top row: John Safran, Gloria Solak, Charles Sipe and Teresa Shoup.

How well did you do in identifying these people?

Janet George (now Janet Knight), who provided this photo, isn't sure about Sister Mary Brenda. I suppose it has something to do with those fashionable outfits nuns wore back in those days.

I'm looking forward to hearing the "long story" about the "infamous" Sister Agnes Louise.

Janet reports that Becky Manovich moved to Minnesota soon after this picture was taken. Gloria Solak moved to California. Some of the classmates are still in touch with Gloria.

Does anyone know what happened to Patty Gregg and Jean Behe? Neither are pictured or listed with our senior class in the 1967 Portavian.

During our 60th Birthday Celebration Weekend in June, some Gateway/St. Michael alumni attended an event at St. Mike's. I've heard that Peggy Loughner Fisher took pictures that will be included in the reunion package she's assembling.

In the meantime, this blog is open to reports about that event, stories about St. Mike's (good or bad, including the one about the infamous nun) and other nostalgic photos, newspaper articles and memorabilia.

You can add to this discussion by using the "Comments" option below or by posting new blog items. (To obtain blogging rights, contact Alana Miltak Baranick at alana.miltak.baranick@gmail.com.)

Who are these people?

Can you guess:

• who these people are?
• when, where and on what occasion this photo was taken?
• and why members of Gateway Senior High School's Class of 1967 should care?
  

Answers will be coming soon. In the meantime, feel free to post your guesses below under "comments."

V. Lee Harrity found

It was great to see so many old classmates in June, but the one person who had been on my mind the most over the years was Mr. V. Lee Harrity. He came to teach choir at Gateway in time for us (11th Grade, I seem to recall), and I thought he was magic. He took a mediocre bunch of high school singers, and turned us into quite a finely tuned instrument, often challenging our comfort zone with very sophisticated pieces.

For senior year I was set on getting into the madrigal choir (more of that wonderful, challenging material), but it just didn't fit with my academic schedule, so I took mixed choir - I took it by the horns. I was lucky to assist Mr. Harrity a few times, and he taught me to conduct.

After the reunion, with the smart sleuthing of Phil Billings, I had his phone number, and gave him a call one evening. We knew that shortly after we'd graduated he'd married, they'd had a daughter, and he had a Christian choir that seemed very popular and respected. On the internet were also reviews of the choir from Texas, and that's where we found him.

He sounded very upbeat - exactly as I remembered him - and said he'd heard about the recent reunion. He indeed is still conducting his choir. I had a delightful half hour chat with him. The one sad note is the loss of their daughter to cancer just a few years ago. He remembered our class as being a particularly talented bunch of students. And he was very pleased to hear how music had remained part of my career.

In fact, in my building (Performing Arts Lodge, Vancouver) we're holding a first meeting on Thursday evening about forming an in-house choir (we have a theatre, and a garden, on our top floor).

And if the urge hits you, Phil and I have V. Lee's number.

After the reunion, I also heard from Amy (Brill) Rafferty - we've now tracked down 3/5 of the original Poor Boys from the Talent Troupe; the other we're in touch with is (Mag)Gie Parsons.

Ellie O'Day
survivor of the 2009 west coast heat wave

Gators have coffee at Monroeville Mall - Saturday July 25, 2009

After the breakfast at Eat 'n Park (see previous post), Dana Comito, Larry Gisi's family, and I met at Gloria Jean's Coffee Beans at Monroeville Mall.

It was a humorous hour-and-a-half visit. We had lots of fun scratching (and winning) lottery tickets.

If Larry's family hadn't been there (by chance) Ed (Janet's husband), Dana, and I would have been the only Gators to share coffee. Maybe we all have great karma.

It was an unbelievable accidental reunion with the Gisi's! That was the amazing discovery.

I had my Portavian, and Tawnie (Larry's wife) wanted to see a few pictures. Her Dad is such a happy, outgoing man. He went to an eyeglass store, but first asked us to stay until he returned.

We did some "scratchies", and Tawnie had to keep going back for more tickets that we had won!

Dana mentioned that she has been "all over" on business trips with her husband. However, she couldn't stay long.

I hadn't seen her for more than 42 years. We both attended St. Michael's -- along with Mike Cima, Artie Trunzo, Kathy Mason, Judy Gibson, Judy Miller, Mary Jane DiCecco, Mark Wojton, Mark Waibel, Ralph Jenko, John Safran, Anthony Fasano, and Freda Litzinger.

I was disappointed that Kathy and Freda just could not be in 2 places at the same time.

Breakfast at Eat 'n Park on Saturday July 25, 2009

Becky Richard-Maley (right), Tom Kunkle, and I (Janet George Knight) met at Eat 'n Park in Monroeville for a chat.

Becky attended the all-class Pitcairn High School reunion events during the week.

In the future, these Pitcairn reunions will be held every three years.

What luck! ! My two family reunions had been planned for the same weekend.

Remember Patti Bartels?

Judy Gibson Brumfield writes:

Patti Bartels McClung and I met after 43 years on Sunday in Daytona and talked non-stop for 8 hours! It was so good to see her.

She left Gateway in 11th grade to move to Murrysville and then to Atlanta, so she did not graduate with us.

Pictured here are Patti, left, in blue, with Judy, right, in red.

Breakfast at Eat 'n' Park before coffee at the mall

Kathie Mason Bolton asked that we post this as an extension to Janet George Knight's previous post about the coffee:

Eat 'n' Park at 9, and Gloria Jeans for coffee at 10.

Have fun, Gators!

INVITATION TO MEET FOR COFFEE ON 7/25/09

Hi Gators,

Some of us are planning to meet at Gloria Jean's Coffee Beans (I assume it's still there.) in the food court at Monroeville Mall on Saturday. I want to be there around 10:00 or 10:30 ish. If you are in the area, please come by and visit. You may want to bring your favorite photos to share and a camera. Look for any of the above faces. Janet George Knight

Would you believe? More Birthday Pix!!!

Joyce Crispin Johnston, pictured here with her arm around Wendy Cook Bair's shoulders, and her husband/classmate Rick Johnston, wearing glasses and pictured below with Mark Waibel, understand that it's not too late to send pictures from the Gateway Class of '67's 60th Birthday Weekend. Take note, Gator shutterbugs!

The Johnstons traveled from Lantana on the Atlantic coast of south Florida to celebrate our collective birthday.

Rick and I had a great time, Joyce reports.

The photos above and the one at the right depicting (left to right) Bonnie Gardner Hillier, Ellen Lewis, Ron Quaglia, Cheryl Lang Powell and Judy Duffy Roman were taken at D'Imperios on Fri., June 5, 2009.

This photo of three lifelong friends was taken at the Wooden Nickel on Sat., June 6, 2009.

Joyce explains: The one picture with me in the middle is of Sherry Jacobs Kline (on left) and Christine Grey Davis (on the other side).

Sherry didn't graduate with us but went to school with us all from 2nd grade til her family moved after the end of 9th grade. She attended another reunion many years ago and knew some of those who attended the party.

The three of us lived in Turnpike Gardens and played together all the time.

I met Sherry in 2nd grade and Chris in 3rd grade.

I keep up with Sherry twice a year on our birthdays. It was great having both attend the party.

Battle Hymn of the Baby Boomers

This video, which Jay Lehman found, seems appropriate for Gators who have turned or are about to turn 60.