WW High School - Class of 1959

Glenn Weitz

Then

Last Edited:2012-07-11 22:28:04

LeRoy West

Then

Now

Birthday:March 14, 1941 Email:lwest@camasnet.com Occupation:USFS retired Marital Status:Married No. of Children:3 Last Edited:2012-07-11 22:28:05

From LeRoy:

Hello out there,

Just out of school I worked at several places around Walla Walla and ended up working on a ranch S.W. of Umapine for a couple of years. It was there that I met the next door ranchers daughter Jan. We are still married and now have 3 children, 6 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.

I started with the Forest Service in 1964 at Walla Wallla as an Engineering Tech. in 1970 we transfered to Lakeview Oregon where I was in charge of Transportation Planning, Road Location and Cadastral Surveys over the whole forest.
In 1974 we transfered to Kamiah, Idaho where I continued to be in Transportation Planning and Road and Trail Location.

I was able to retire in 94 after 30 years.
While I was still working we had a float trip business on the Salmon River for 12 years, a Drift Boat Steelhead Fishing business on the Clearwater and also a taxidermy business on the side.

After retirement I built 2 log homes and 3 cabins by hand from raw (Bark on) logs. We now have a house in town and a ranch in the foothills where I spend a lot of time. Right now the elk are eating hay with my horses!

We have also had a Country Western Band for the last 20 years. I play guitar and sing and Jan plays drums and sings harmony.

Most of my recreation is and has been centered around the outdoors. I love to hunt and fish.

We live a quiet lifestyle here. It is 70 miles to the nearest traffic light. We cut and burn our own wood, grow a big garden; chase down kill and process our own meat, and catch our own fish. Our children have all had to move away to get started, but have all moved back to enjoy this lifestyle.

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Chuck Wetzel

Then

Now

Birthday:January 06, 1941 Occupation:Semi-Retired Mortgage Loan Officer Website:www.chimneyrockmortgage.com Marital Status:Married No. of Children:2 Last Edited:2013-10-10 18:27:38

From Chuck:

Chuck Wetzel - Deceased

May 9, 2012

Kenneth Whitaker

Then

Last Edited:2012-07-11 22:28:04

Roger Whitney

Then

Now

Birthday:August 21, 1941 Email:whitneys@kingwoodcable.net Occupation:Civil Engineer - Retired Marital Status:Married No. of Children:6 Last Edited:2012-07-11 22:28:05

From Roger:

Comments:

Spouse: Mary

Children: Combined - 5 daughters and 1 son

Grandchildren: 13 ranging from 4 yrs to 19 yrs

Activities/Hobbies: Enjoying retired lifestyle that combines volunteering on the building & grounds committee or serving as an usher or Elder for First Presbyterian Church Kingwood, serving as treasurer of Friends of the Library Kingwood, and serving with my wife as social chairmen for Retired Energetic Couples of Kingwood, with family gatherings, attending grandchildren’s activities and flying kites at Cannon Beach, Ore.

Sarah Aldrich (‘58) and I were married in 1962, and had five children before separating in 1980 and divorcing five years later.

In 1964, I graduated from Washington State University as a civil engineer and was commissioned in the US Army. The Army sent me to places like Ft Belvoir, VA, Pirmasens, Germany, Incirlik AB, Turkey, Ft Benning, GA, Panom Sarakam, Thailand, Chester, IL, Ft Belvoir, VA again, Ft Lewis, WA, Rolla, MO for graduate school in 1971, Huntington, WV, Schwetzigen, Germany, Heidelberg, Germany, St Louis, MO, Baumholder, Germany, and Omaha, NE.

Mary and I met in Baumholder, Germany, where as a registered nurse, she was working as a high school nurse at the time, and were later married in 1985 in Lake Tahoe. I retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Omaha, District, Corps of Engineers in 1986 and we moved to Kingwood, TX where I worked for the City of Houston, Public Works Department, as chief engineer and senior assistant director, of the city’s wastewater operations, retiring for the second time in 2007.

Our activities in Kingwood keep us busy, but we hope to travel more and spend more time with our grandchildren in the days ahead. Retiring is like halftime, it is a time for refocusing on the next phase of our life and how we can serve others.

I am looking forward to the reunion and am saddened by the tragic loss of so many of our classmates before their time.

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Chuck Wickizer

Then

Now

Birthday:December 10, 1940 Email:cbwick2 @comcast.net Occupation:retired Marital Status:Married No. of Children:2 Last Edited:2012-07-11 22:31:20

From Chuck:

Hi everyone

As most of you know, class mate Bonnie Phares and I went together in high school and we got we got married on October 16^th 1959. We will celebrate our 50^th class reunion this year and will also celebrate our 50^th wedding anniversary.

We now live in Tigard Oregon, (Summerfield) a 55 and older retirement complex. Our complex has a golf course which Bonnie and I play often. We love it here and we are very lucky to be able to live in such a nice retirement complex.

Overview of our life.

We have two wonderful sons.

Both sons graduated from the University of Oregon. Go Ducks

Richard and his family live In Camas Washington. They have seven children and six grandchildren. (Good Mormon boy) It is hard to believe that we have seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Richard is a sales representative for The Tapco Group a company in the housing building products industry.

Jay our youngest son lives with his wife Tricia in Beaverton Oregon. Jays wife Tricia is a school teacher. They have no children.

Jay is a property manager for the Harsch Company in downtown Portland

1959-1969

I went to work for the Bon Marche starting in Walla Walla in sales and ended my stay with them in Ogden Utah as Divisional Merchandise manager of all apparel. In those years we also lived in Pendleton Oregon, Richland Washington.

1970-1976

I became a partner with The Broadway department stores, a Jr. Department store operation that had seven stores in Oregon and Washington. We moved to Eugene Oregon where the corporate office was located and I supervised all the buying and advertising.

1977-1980

We sold our interest in the Broadway stores and Bonnie and I opened an updated women’s apparel store in downtown Eugene. Our timing was not good. The eighties recession set in and we closed the store in 1980.

1981-2003

Bonnie was an account manager for Hallmark cards from 1988 to 2003. Bonnie had three accounts that she managed and she enjoyed this job very much.

I went to work for the Emporium department stores in the corporate office located in Eugene Oregon. The Emporium had thirty two department stores located in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California and Nevada. I was the divisional merchandise manager of accessories/cosmetics, intimate apparel and the home division. I was in charge of all buying and advertising of these three divisions. I had six buyers that worked for me and we were in the market on a monthly basis in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Atlanta.

2004-Present

Retired and enjoying every minute of it.

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Linda Williams

Then

Last Edited:2012-07-11 22:28:06

Judy Williamson

Then

Last Edited:2012-07-11 22:28:07

Edith Wilson (Byerly)

Then

Now

Birthday:September 19, 1940 Last Edited:2014-07-01 18:39:47

From Edith:DECEASED

Edith Jessie (Wilson) Byerly, Sep. 19, 1940 - Nov. 30, 2013 was a former resident of Elgin and Wallowa. Only five years old when her father died in 1945, she was one of his seven children.

Edith was very active in the Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was employed in education. One of her interests was food preservation and she was an avid canner.

Survivors include her spouse and her two children and their spouses; four grandchildren and one step-grandchild; and two great-grandchildren. She was also survived by four (biological, half- and step-siblings) sisters, one brother; and her many friends.

Burial was at Lostine Cemetery, Wallowa County, Oregon.

Nora Jane Wilson (Bennett)

Then

Now

Email:frosty@bmi.net Occupation:Retired - Survey Clerk Marital Status:Married No. of Children:3 Last Edited:2012-07-11 22:28:07

From Nora Jane:Spouse: Harold "Frosty"
Children: 2 Daughters and 1 Son
Grandchildren: 3 Grandsons & 2 Granddaughters
Activities/Hobbies: Genealogy, Time with Grandkids

After graduation I went to work for Cascade Natural Gas as a cashier/bookkeeper at the Walla Walla office and also filled in at the Milton-Freewater office when needed.

I met my husband, Harold “Frosty”, Class of ’56, on a blind date in 1960 when he returned home after being discharged from the Air Force. We married in June of 1962 and moved to Pullman in September where he attended WSC (later becoming WSU). While in Pullman I started my banking career as a bookkeeper, posting bank ledgers and customer statements. In April of 1963 our son Frank was born and in May 1965 our daughter Jennifer.

In July of 1966 we moved to Spokane where Frosty went to work tor the Washington Air National Guard as an Electronic Technician. Daughter Becky, our little “China Doll” was born in 1969 with Brittle Bones which is a rare bone disease and most do not live past the age of one. We feel very blessed as she will be celebrating her 40^th birthday in September. We also taught classes on the handling and caring of those newborn who followed and whose parents had no idea what was ahead of them.

We were quite actively involved with the kid’s school activities including band, scouts, campfire, and football. The most challenging being the chairmanships of the “All Night Parties” for Frank and Jennifer.

While in Spokane I graduated from Kinman Business College and continued my career in banking as a proof-operator and working up the ranks to a vault teller and teller line supervisor.

In Nov. of 1985 we left Spokane for Denver, Colorado where Frosty took a position with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and I continued in banking and decided to retire. After a few months I decided to work again and started my second career with the Department of Commerce. Once again we found ourselves very active in Becky’s high school days as I again was President of the PTA and we chaired her “All Night Party” as well.

Frank and Lorilee presented us with two beautiful grandchildren and Jennifer and Tom gave us three. Frosty and I both decided we’d retire and enjoy them. We have two granddaughters and three grandsons who range in age from 20 to 14. Becky has given us three large dogs and three cats. Luckily they live with her at her home!

We moved back to Walla Walla in 1995 to be with family and renew old friendships.

I have been a very active member of Beta Sigma Phi sorority for forty-nine years, have been doing genealogy for thirty-five years and have worked on each reunion since being back. Frosty and I have been able to travel and enjoy time together since he is now semi-retired and not tied to a desk. We have enjoyed visiting our son and his family for a month in Hawaii where he was stationed. We saw places and things tourists never get a chance to see. We have cruised to Alaska and the Eastern Caribbean and have really enjoyed those vacations!

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