Jeff Kalb and Ed Fairbairn start us rolling:
We spent the week in Hilton Head biking, beach, pool and pickleball in mid-May. A great week to catch up along with our wives, Joanne Kalb and Mary Fairbairn. A chance to show off the awesome KP bike jersey on the trails of Hilton Head. Jeff and Joanne are in Cleveland Tennessee, Jeff is retired engineer at Whirlpool. I am still a support contractor at CACI, supporting MSC N71. I’ve been working with Mike Palmer from our class the past few years who was at MSC N71 and now retired working for Emprise Corporation on the same contract as CACI.

Phil Muller is also riding:
Becky and I went on a bike trip to the Algarve in Portugal and met up with Kirsten Wolfe McGonagle ‘85 and Peter McGonagle ‘84. We had a terrific time and enjoyed catching up since we had last seen each other on or around 1983!

Michael Donnelly reported from a small alumni gathering in Rhode Island on March 16th. Rex Brewer ‘82 was kind enough to host us at the Wickford Yacht Club. It was a nice event and there were even 2 people older than me there!

Lifted this Facebook photo of Rex Gundle & Mike Curtiss.

Susan Pawlukiewicz submitted “a great photo from the May Kings Point DC area golf outing at Westfields.” Brian Foy and Chris Thayer joined her.

Within the same week, Brian texted that “literally within one hour of your email, I run into Kevin Brofford going through security at JAX airport.” Kevin is a corporate pilot.

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Al Reeves celebrated his daughter’s wedding and made the day even more special by adding a class reunion to the festivities:

Well Ray I just completed the happiest day of my life with the help of my buddies from Kings Point! My daughter Allison was married to the love of her life in the northern part of Houston and I was blessed to have 7 KP classmates join me in that celebration. I want to say a few words about each in no particular order.

Scott McCauley honored me by flying in from Australia – we sailed together and have always been friends but I had not seen him since graduation!! What a treat he gave me by making the trip.

Tom Heberle and I also did a sea year and he came from Hawaii to help me celebrate. Is there a better man than Tom on the planet? If there is please point him out!

Chris Nixon came and as always made it a better experience just by his presence. His glass is always half full and I envy his outlook on life. He is the guy you always want around!

Jim Goulden honored me with his appearance. I have always looked up to Jim (no pun intended) and I am so proud to have him as a friend. He also somehow saved half my relatives from missing the ceremony but I’ll let him tell that tale!

Kent Morton was there and he is another classmate I look up to in so many ways it is hard to imagine. As I get older I grow in admiration for wonderful classmates like Kent! A gentleman in every way.

Stu Mill arrived and he is yet another terrific man. I always remember how smart Stu was as an Engineer at KP and it drove my career decision to never be a line Engineer for a career and have to compete with guys like him and Surratt😎. So I went into Operations at GE and things worked out!

Craig Ellixson was there and I knew him the least but I believe he and I will become much closer for reasons I won’t get into here. What a great guy to have for a wedding and party!!! He brought so much fun and joy that it was really incredible.

Well Ray the guys will be sending some more pics and maybe some words but I want to tell you that the words Kings Point Spirit live on my friend!!!!

Kent Morton adds:
Al said he was going to send you a note on his daughter’s wedding and KP attendance. I’ll add a few comments that Al might have missed as he was doing dad chores both before and after the event. Tom Heberle, Chris Nixon, Stu Mill, Craig Ellixson, Scott McCauley, and myself hung out on Monday. Unfortunately, Jim Goulden had to leave that morning. Great day on Lake Conroe in a pontoon boat. I note that as much as we tried to impress the young man who provided the orientation with the qualifications of this particular crew, he barely stifled a yawn. Water sports were followed by a fine steak dinner hosted by Al at a local restaurant. And no trip to Texas would be complete without a stop for brisket, which we made on our way to all our flights on Tuesday. Congrats to Allison, Jake, and Al for the special day.
        

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See more photos at the online version of this column at www.kp83.org Speaking of websites, here’s one I recently built that is transportation-related: AmericanTransport.com
Our 40th Reunion is next year. If you’d like to assist in any way, please contact Mickey Cunningham at

Pete Lafontaine shares good news:
My wife Judi and I had an extra special Thanksgiving this year. Not only were both of our sons and their wives able to join us on Cape Cod this year for our first Thanksgiving together in several years, but we also recently became grandparents for the first time and were able to spend some quality time with our grandson Louis.

Our son Trevor recently ran a 2:20 marathon at the California International Marathon in Sacramento. He ran a personal best time by four minutes and so now if he he can knock two more minutes off his time he’ll qualify to compete at the next U.S. Olympic Trials.

Maureen McKeever had a busy fall:
Wilkins Township had its Bicentennial in 2021 and we had big plans – which all went overboard when Covid started. We ended up having a parade in September, a 5 K Run in October (no, I did not run – I helped) and a huge fireworks show in November. It was really fun to ride on a float in a parade – my first time! Every other parade I was ever in I was in a band. I also got to visit my brother in Haverford in September and we went to Longwood Gardens. The winter was quiet, and now my employer is (again) making plans to bring all of the work-at-home people back. I have been in the office the entire pandemic. I hope everyone is safe and well!

Stueart Mill reunited with classmates in November:
I returned today from a trip to Tampa to meet up with friends from KP: Scott and Glenda O’Connor, Bill Sliker, Maria & Jon Kjaerulff.  They were in town for a Navtech Conference for pilots. We tried to get the old crew from the T-boats together as shown in the old photo from ‘83, but Chris Hart wasn’t able to make it, so we held a space for him in the recent photo. Jon and Bill and I had a nice tour of the American Victory Ship floating museum which is well worth a visit. Everyone seems healthy and happy, and we are looking forward to our 40th reunion.

Bumper Kunkle has been getting around:
I’ve been busy traveling and settling in here in Tennessee.

I went to Daytona to see the race with my wife, Maria, daughter, Allison, my sister Miko, and her husband Wayne.  Allison and Wayne are race fans and their birthdays were on race day so we decided to go this year.

I finally got to catch-up with Stu Mill while we were there.  He lives in Ponce Inlet so we met for dinner on Saturday.  Stu is doing well.  He’s retired and stays busy as a parttime yoga teacher, riding his bike, and all the typical things retired folks do.

I spoke to Steve Dear (’85) a few weeks ago.  He bought a property in Chico, CA close to where his youngest daughter goes to school.  Steve is always on to go but I hope to catch up with him sometime soon at his new home.

Bumper also spoke to Tom Bodman a couple of weeks ago.  He and Sue are back in Florida for a while but I’m sure they will be headed out on the road again soon.

A.J. Murphy shares some pictures from Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where he met up with Yvette Smith Piggott right before the start of Krewe of Iris parade.  Additional photo from a family party…withYvette and Jim Quern.

Tony Hartman was invited to and spoke at the March for Life events in both McAllen and Schertz, Texas this year.

Meanwhile, Ray Christensen participated in March for Life in Washington DC on a frigid January day. Peace!

Brian Krenzien takes on a key position:
I’ll be starting a new job as the DHS attaché to the US Embassy in Poland and the TSA representative for Eastern Europe. I’ll be handling aviation security issues for an AOR that includes: Poland, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Ukraine, and Russia. I’ll be moving to Warsaw for this position in the fall (hopefully late October).

Rick Boudiette shares:
I held a small remembrance for the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the ITB Oxy Producer in late September. The original plan for a dinner on the actual anniversary was postponed due to the slow recovery following Hurricane Ida. That said, it was a very good dinner – Kim & Frank Liantonio, Anne & Jim Quern, as well as a few others who were available (Frank/Kim’s eldest daughter and SIL; one of Jim/Anne’s sons, and a former Chevron colleague living in NOLA). Everyone, including Frank/Kim’s new grandson, got a commemorative lifejacket koozie! It was interesting to go back and review the legal issues associated of the sinking, commercial contracts, salvage, and eventual “new” construction event using the cargo section of the surviving section. Paul Ricci and I were engine cadets onboard the ill-fated vessel. Peter Kanellos KP52 was Master; Fred Murphy KP70 was Chief Officer, and Peter Davis KP81 was Cargo Engineer. No injuries, just a very good sea story! What wasn’t captured in any of the legal reviews, but probably more notable, was the question from the top deck in Wiley Hall when Paul and I were repatriated: “Why didn’t you sew your sea project into your lifejacket?”

At our last reunion, I was still a resident of Angola working for a Chevron Joint-Venture as Marine Manager at an LNG export terminal at the mouth of the Congo River. In mid-2019, I convinced management to make the job rotational (I was the only Operations person, including the Angolan nationals, who was resident) and made my home in New Orleans. As luck would have it with the pandemic, a 4 week rotation in March 2020 turned into a 23 week lockdown in Soyo. That was enough; I took a package from mama Chevron back in February this year as my Angolan visa was expiring. Hence, despite Ida and the fact that I have to drive 2 hours one-way to Lafayette to ice skate, I am easing into retirement life in New Orleans and filling any free time walking rescue dogs at the local animal shelter.

Back in July, I made a road trip primarily to see my siblings in NYC for the first time since the pandemic. Made a few detours and was able to catch up with Priscilla & Steve Nicholson and Pete Feeney (KP88) and his wife Nanette in Maine, and Mary Kay & Mickey Cunningham in Baltimore. The second pic is of Pete, Steve and me navigating the Androscoggin River one Sunday afternoon.

Deacon Bob Grimaldi announces:
My wife and I became grandparents for the first time, James Maverick Wooten born 11/12/21, 9 lbs 2 oz, my daughter Sara and son-in-law Josh Wooten, yippi! all are well.

Phil Custer surfaces:
Since I have been off hook since grad a lot has happened but not sure that much of it would be very interesting.

Jeff Kalb brings us up to date on his adventures:
Hard to believe it will soon be 40 years since graduation! Here is a quick snapshot of what has happened since 83′ and a pic of my family.
After graduation I moved to Clearwater, Fl. I met Joann playing tennis (my dad actually introduced us!), we dated for 3 years and got married in March of ’87. I spent 10 years with Honeywell Space and Strategic Systems Group doing HVAC designs, building clean rooms, fire sprinkler system and process piping designs for our assembly areas. We adopted our first daughter, Hannah, born January ’94. We moved to Cleveland, TN in August of ’94 as I started working for Maytag Appliance Corporation. We adopted our second daughter, Megan, born September ’97. In 2006 Whirlpool Corporation bought Maytag. I spent a total of 27 years at our manufacturing plant in Cleveland, serving in numerous roles – Manufacturing Engineer, Lean Manufacturing Engineer, Warehouse and Inventory Control Manager, Materials Planning Manager, Cost and Quality Engineer and lastly as a Quality Lead before retiring September of ’20. Hannah got married in 2016 and Megan in 2020.

We are blessed with 2 amazing son-in-laws, Matt and Cole! No grandchildren as yet, just grand dogs and grand cats! Since retiring Joann and I have ridden many Rails to Trails including the Virginia Creeper, The GAP (Pennsylvania), Silver Comet (Georgia), Pinellas Trail (Florida) and others. We love playing pickle ball and play wherever we go. We also felt the Lord leading us to get deeply involved in helping the homeless and low income folks living in Cleveland which has been quite the journey but rewarding.
So there you have it, 38 years in one long paragraph! Attached is the pic of the fam. My cell is 423-595-0985 if anyone is in the area.

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Ray Christensen takes a road trip! A grade school buddy asked me to drive to Florida with him in November. We visited friends and relatives of his in NC, GA and FL.
I was unable to get together with Matthew Bucherati in Winston-Salem, since he was assisting his son in recovering from an auto accident. We did a phone visit instead. He’s busy keeping track of his kids and grandkids and looks forward to retirement from Pepsi in the near future.

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I was able to enjoy a long lunch with Brian Foy in St. Augustine and got a tour of his golf course home that he and his wife Karen are very happy with – especially since a couple of their kids have moved nearby!

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