We need to lead off with A.J. Murphy mentioning that he’s a granddad:

Was in New Orleans last weekend and got to connect up with Jim Quern and his daughter Kelly. Had a nice visit with them and our son Andrew and his wife Jennifer, along with our first grandchild that arrived in early July. Wow – a new job description that we will have to get used to! Heading back into New Orleans for the Labor Day weekend for my oldest son Sean’s wedding. There will be a few KP’ers there that we will see.

In June, Lee Forsgren announced to job colleagues:
I will be departing HBW Resources. On Monday June 19th, I will be going into the Administration as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water at EPA. Administrator Pruitt made me an offer that I just could not turn down. My responsibilities will include all of the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, the landside implementation of the Oil Pollution Act, the Invasive Species Act and the Clean Water/Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Funds plus other assorted duties as assigned. I will be spending a major part of my time over the next year repealing and replacing the “Waters of the United States” regulations.

Matthew Bucherati shares:
The Bucherati family continues to grow rapidly and we have been very blessed. My oldest daughter, Ellen, gave birth this winter to her second son, Samuel. He is Sara and my seventh grandchild. With our youngest daughter only getting married last year, we still hope for a couple more grandchildren. Between our four children, their spouses and all the grandchildren, we just hit 17 in my immediate family. Hard to believe but a lot of fun at holiday gatherings. Sara and I will be celebrating our 33rd anniversary very soon and have just passed completed our 25th year of living here in North Carolina. I also just had my 31st anniversary at Pepsi Cola and am actively starting to plan my retirement. We will stay in NC forever and plan to move full time to our mountain house in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I wish the very best to you and the rest of our class.

Wow Matt! 17 in your family and I’ve got just me (unless you include my two housemates).

Rick Boudiette writes:
My mantra is, “Never do a good job in West Africa. They’ll just keep sending you back.” After a multi-year assignment in London on loan to SIGTTO, Chevron kindly returned me to West Africa effective April of this year. My fifth project in West Africa finds me as a resident of Soyo, Angola, seconded to Angola LNG as Marine Manager. Soyo is an old Portuguese port located at the mouth of the Congo River. No ice hockey but I have been able to find a place to skate now that my shipment has finally arrived. I’ve a multi-national staff of Angolans, Europeans, Indians, south Africans, and Aussies performing roles of marine pilots, dredging advisors/technicians, marine inspectors, and VTS operators, as well as a fleet of tugs and marine service craft. We coordinate ship movements and cargo (LNG/Propane/Butane/Condensate) loading at the terminal; manage vessel traffic for the entire port; maintain the Navigational Aids, and plan/contract dredging operations for the port. There are seven project LNG Carriers dedicated to the project: three steam and four dual-fuel/diesel-electric. I helped design all seven and was project manager for the construction of the three steam ships. Come visit – we have three types of venomous cobras and really huge lobsters! Otherwise, see you at our 35th next year.

Dan Rohde adds:
Carrie and I are out in SEA visiting our oldest daughter and son in law (Krysta & Matt Zangle USCGA 2011) who were assigned to SEA last year.

We made plans to visit with Peter (KP 86) and Marianne Lindsey (Sailing Team buddies) and after an awesome boat tour of Port Madison Bay (Bainbridge Island) we were met (while docking at Suquamish for dinner) by John Kimmerlein. What a great surprise.!!

Art Burns says:
I retired from sailing effective May 1st. Grace and I celebrated my retirement from going to sea while “going to sea” on a Smooth Jazz Cruise out of Venice, Italy. Not once did they call my cabin due to reduced visibility or heavy traffic! We have Jazz cruises booked for 2018 and 2019 already.
I’m busy with projects around our home, volunteering at the VA hospital, and enjoying nature. I promised myself at least a year for catching up on stuff then I might look for part-time work if I’m bored.

John Diegoli relates:
It has been about 18 months since my retirement from the FAA. My eldest daughter Hannah graduated from the University of Wyoming last May and is currently working towards her master’s in accounting. My son Eddie just enrolled in American River JC in Sacramento and his twin sister just started her college career at Mississippi State. My wife and I are officially empty nesters. I am keeping busy doing part time flight instruction, ski patrol and lifeguarding.

Ray Christensen finishes up:
…And so the graying of ’83 continues. I want to say something profound like “let’s stay young forever”, but I’m past gray and have already been bald for years. Actually, yesterday was my fastest 5 mile run in almost 2 years! Bloodwork showed that I was low in iron and taking a supplement gave me more energy almost right away. Meanwhile, I donate blood every 3 months or so when the blood bank calls to say that a kid at A.I. DuPont Children’s Hospital needs fresh blood for surgery they’re having. Talk about laying on the guilt!
Stay young!
—– Ray Christensen

 
Rick Boudiette – – – – – – – – – – – – – Christopher D’Angelo at his daughter’s wedding

From left; Peter Lindsey (86), Matt, Krysta, Carrie Rohde, John Kimmerlein, Marianne, Dan Rohde

John Kimmerlein, Carrie & Dan Rohde

Retirements, Graduations, Golf… We’ve got it all for you!

Group photo shows John O’Brian, Kevin Fauvell, Bumper Kunkle, Tom Bodman, Dave Ferchau, Bill Higgins, Dan Hicks, and John Ayres ’88 at Tom Bodman‘s retirement luncheon.

Art Burns shares that “effective 1 May 2017 I’m retired from American Maritime Officers after 27 years! I’ve got a few projects around my home to keep me busy for a while. If I get bored I’ll turn to volunteer work, travel and community college classes.”

Bob Bennett‘s daughter Meghan graduated from Annapolis.

A.J. Murphy was doing some work in FL again and with a little coordination, was able to arrange a fun meeting with Yvette Smith Piggott and Jim Goulden on 2 APR. Spent a lot of time catching up and talking about KP friends as well.

Brian Foy shared some photos from the May D.C. Outing where he ran into Susan Pawlukiewicz and Bob Ross. Brian also heard from Joe Ertolacci who told him he’s on the West Coast and has become part of the Columbia River Chapter. Great bunch of guys and always a pleasure to visit with.

Steve Keating contributes:
It has been great to read about the exploits and achievements of our USMMA classmates over the years. On the personal side, I’ve been married to Cynthia for the past 34 years. We have one daughter, Kate, who is a rising sophomore at the University of Mary Washington (UWM) in Fredericksburg, VA. Kate plays violin in the UMW Philharmonic and has performed with both Tony Bennett and Kristin Chenoweth. On the professional side, I have been working as an attorney for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) for the past 14 years doing mostly international law, Safety of
Navigation-related maritime law, and intelligence oversight. There is a great bunch of Kings Pointers at NGA:
Keith Alexander ’81, Keith Dominic ’99, plus others who have retired: Ed Besecky ’82 and Karen Besecky ’80, Walt Holtgren ’78 and Steve Debrecht ’78. I have been on a year-long National Security Law Fellowship at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy doing guest lecturing and working on research regarding maritime territorial disputes (South China Sea) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Overall, it has been an awesome experience. I do miss going to sea, but I can always go sailing in the Potomac or the Chesapeake!

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a celebration for Dr. Kara Garrott, who had just received her PhD in Bio-Medical Engineering, based upon her work in cardio-electropsyiology (Wow) from George Washington University. Kara is the daughter of Bruce Garrott and his lovely wife, Debbie. I shared a cold one with Bruce and family on the way to a class at the Georgetown Law Center. Bruce is the Director of Safety and Facilities at Coastal Construction Products in Florida. Bruce is also an avid cyclist and world traveler. Bruce and Debbie make an awesome team and are blessed with one daughter a PhD and another daughter, Mikaela, a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy! I am attaching photos of Bruce and family.

I have also recently heard from Rudy Lupton, who retired from the Navy after a long and distinguished career and is going to serve in senior management at Military Sealift Command. Thanks for your service, Rudy!

Steve recently heard from Rod Knecht. Rod is happily married with two daughters, Amy, a student at Grove City College, and Kelly, preparing to head off to college. As you can see, Rod remains active in maritime issues!

Ronda (Whitaker) Cobb gives my web design business a plug:
Re-connected with Del Lewis at a convention in Las Vegas. That led her to re-connect with Ray Christensen and he is building her new web site. Your feedback is welcome on www.RCMoneyCoach.com
I hope this finds everyone doing well.
Ray makes a good web site and is branching out to mobile apps as well, in case you want to know and he’s too shy to tell you. I’m doing OK, my kids are grown, and there aren’t any grands yet. What about you guys?

Keep the hits coming! Post at our Facebook Group if you have something to share. Stay healthy!
—– Ray Christensen

John O’Brian, Kevin Fauvell, Bumper Kunkle, Tom Bodman, Dave Ferchau, Bill Higgins, Dan Hicks, and John Ayres (’88)

Bob Bennett with daughter Meghan

Jim Goulden, Yvette Smith Piggott, A.J. Murphy

Brian Foy, Susan Pawlukiewicz, Bob Ross in DC

Bruce Garrott & Steve Keating

Rod Knecht

A.J. Murphy interrupted partying:
A quick update from the Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans. Was able to connect with Yvette Smith Piggott and a bunch of her krew at Iris parade on 25 FEB, including her daughter Carolyn and Rita Keenan Arndt ’80. They were just getting ready to roll and were looking forward to a good time!

Bob Bennett posted a photo at our class Facebook page of himself with Mike Logan in Nashville.
I had to swipe it since it’s so good.

Brian Foy reports from D.C. in December:
John Rhatigan and I took this photo at the Capitol Hill Club in DC after a long day of delivering Kings Pointer magazines to Congress and trying to get the Midshipmen back to sea!

Brian Foy reports from Las Vegas in March:
Just returned from Las Vegas and my first KP Blue-Gray Golf Outing at Revere Golf Club in Sin City. Must say it was better than I expected! Over 170 golfers and 200 attendees. The weather was sensational – even a bit chilly, but great for golf. So good to see two fellow classmates (and deckies to boot): Bob Ross and Joe Walsh. Bob is an IT Manager with the Fairfax County Public School System and living in Chantilly, VA. Joe is a law partner with the firm Clyde & Co., and based in Newport Beach, CA. The three of us had a blast and with the help of the son of a KP ’59 grad we managed to scrape our way to -11 score, which unfortunately was only good for about 5th or 6th place. Oh well, needless to say…the smack, brews and laughs were flowing as we fondly recalled our days at “the zoo” in between very questionable golf shots.
Pics: That was at the ’86 Dinner at Ri Ra Irish Pub at Mandalay Bay. Please edit out the photo bomber).

I would like to make a pitch to ALL members of the Class of ’83: come to the Las Vegas Outing. Let’s increase our representation. The Class of ’86 had over 60 attendees and they have made this event an annual reunion. Very impressive. While 60 would be a huge stretch, let’s shoot for 3-4 foursomes next year! You will not regret it. Remember…”what happens in Vegas…”

By the way, it is official. After nearly 29 years in the world of healthcare, I now work full-time as an independent contractor for the USMMA-AAF. My responsibilities as Legislative Outreach Coordinator encompass representation of the USMMA Alumni Association & Foundation, the alumni and all legislative and policy issues affecting Kings Point and the Midshipmen that flow though Congress, DOT and MARAD. It is an exciting opportunity and I am looking forward to reconnecting with classmates and fellow alumni across the country. I will be in Washington, DC on a regular basis. Classmates can reach me anytime on my cell: 304-871-0888 or at . Please reach out to me with any close relationships (personal or professional) you have with members of Congress as I am assembling a Key Contact list to enhance our advocacy both in DC and back home.

Looking forward to the next ’83 golf gathering at Myrtle Beach!

Thank you, Brian! Parties and politics are fine, but I’d like to see a few more grandkid pics. If you don’t receive my quarterly emails begging for stories, please send me your email address along with a couple of lines of news. Take care!
—– Ray Christensen

A.J. & Gretchen Murpy with Yvette Smith Piggott and Rita Keenan Arndt ’80

Bob Bennett & Mike Logan

Brian Foy & John Rhatigan in D.C.

Joe Walsh, Bob Ross, Brian Foy + son of KP’59 grad

Brian Foy & Bob Ross in Vegas

Foy, Ross & Walsh