Steve Keating leads off with:
As most of us are going stir crazy on telework or temporary furlough due to the Corona virus pandemic, many people have taken to exercise in open places. After Easter, I was riding my bicycle on the Mount Vernon Trail in Alexandria. I saw this guy running in a Red Kings Point Shirt, and it was Sean Connaughton! Now its been 37 years since we graduated, and Sean looks great, like he hasn’t aged. As for me, I have even less hair than after sitting in “the Huff’s” barber chair that first time in the summer of ‘79.

Sean is doing very well, spending time between his home in Old Town, Alexandria, and his work in Richmond, as the President and Chief Executive Officer at Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.

As the picture shows, we maintained our “social distancing” as we caught up on friends from KP. We fondly remembered Kerry O’Neill, who sadly passed away recently.

I am happily working as an attorney for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), representing the Maritime Safety Office and negotiating international agreements. The work supports safety of navigation for the Navy, merchant marine, and mariners in general. NGA employs numerous Kings Pointers as well as other maritime academy graduates.
When not working, I love to mess about in small boats on the Potomac River. Attached is a picture of my sailing canoe with its new mast fabricated by the Alexandria Seaport Foundation, an outstanding organization that provides at-risk youth with the opportunity for apprenticeships in boat building and repair.
I hope that all our Kings Point brothers and sisters stay healthy and safe during this challenging time.

Maureen McKeever reports:
I have been getting through the quarantine by going into work everyday. I work for Dollar Bank in Pittsburgh in Card Services, answering the phone and helping people who have lost their cards, had fraud occur, and the like. Most of my teammates are working from home or remotely, but I wanted to go to the office, Many of my customers are now jealous that I get to drive to work. Traffic is now starting to build up a little as things start opening up. I have missed going to lunch with friends and going to Stamp Club meetings, but am otherwise doing well. I have been watching all of the Fast and Furious movies (somehow I missed them) so now I have some really interesting ideas on how to drive in the city. I am also working in the yard as the flowers bloom and the leaves come out (and all that pollen, too!).

I got a couple of really nice masks made by my old roommate Lisa Barcus Fields – very stylish! I have attached a picture. I also have 2 photos taken on a TM that the Glee Club took on September 12, 1982 to the Statue of Liberty, one of me and one of you [Ray Christensen] with the World Trade Center in the background.

One last photo – Jerry Spanier, Mark Allen, Bill Rupy and Kevin Brofford at Halloween in 1979 up in 7th Company. I hope that you and all of our classmates are doing well and are being safe.

Scott Douglass notes being grounded by the pandemic:
Final flights. I retired as a Captain from the USCGR in 2009 with 30 years in uniform (20 years active, 6 reserve and 4 at the academy) and now it looks like I’ve made my last flight with United Airlines. This pandemic has been DEVASTATING to the Airline Industry with 90% of the planes on the ground world wide. It is amazing to see airplanes parked nose to tail for 2-3 MILES on closed runways because they have run out of taxiways to park them on. Who would think you’d be furloughed with 23 years seniority!
Fortunately, Sandy and I have saved and planned well. We’ve essentially completed our international travel bucket list, spending two months/year traveling for the last 5 years (New Zealand 4 times). We moved into our retirement home last October (Del Webb’s 55+ Sun City, Palm Desert community with an unbelievable amenities list for active retirees). We were very blessed that our San Diego house sold in the middle of the pandemic which freed up the financial resources for a 6 year early retirement (pilots are mandatory retirement at 65). I used the recent down time to catch up with classmates: John Grimaldi, Brian Krenzien and Ed Fairbairn who were doing well and staying healthy. I’m also mentoring Al Reeves‘ future son-in-law in his Coast Guard career pursuits. Look me up if you’re in the area – it’s looking like I’ll have 100% leisure time now.

Rich Colonna checked in with “No real news, except for the full beard and 100’s of miles I’ve hiked.”

Bumper Kunkle is at bat:
“I’m down in Jupiter, FL visiting Sue and Tom Bodman and going to a few spring training games. We saw the Mets and the Cardinals at both of their stadiums. I think the Mets have the nicer venue (it doesn’t hurt that they have a Jim Beam Bourbon bar!). Have a great spring/summer. [Ray says Let’s Go Mets!]

Meanwhile, in another part of Florida, Dave Ferchau and Larry Migliozzi enjoyed watching that other NY baseball team.

From Ray: This column was submitted early May, so I pray that the world and your family are leaving the worst of the pandemic in our wake. Business for me has actually been healthy and my family has been well. Notify me when you do something exciting or get together with classmates or if you’ve got news or email address of Andrew Dywan, Steven Kohlhoff, Daniel Morson, or Thomas Watt, just to mention a few.
View color photos at KP83.org.

Our hearts go out to the family of Kerry O’Neill, who passed away 12/26/19. Bumper Kunkle and Tom Aufiero shared some memories with me and I’ve copied his obituary to KP83.org. Kerry’s career kept him overseas for a number of years before returning to his home town in upstate New York in late 2018. All are welcome to submit photos or remembrances for his page on our site.

John Carbone shares some happier news (adding to photo in Fall issue):
The usual KP ’83 suspects traveled to Philly to celebrate with Mickey & Mary Kay Cunningham at their daughter Sarah’s wedding- the company of good friends and the drinks were flowing which made for a most successful evening!

Here’s a recent photo of Bob & John Grimaldi, taken on John’s front porch in NJ.

John Prien writes:
No recent classmate sightings for me in Atlanta. I do; however, have some great news – our second oldest child Ben was just accepted to Georgia Tech (where his sister Madison is a Junior and CEO of her sorority). The two oldest have followed me to GT (she is business and he will study engineering). 2 more to get through the college admissions process – hopefully I can sway one of my other two boys to give Kings Point and/or the military a try.

Class of ‘83 at KP-Philly Chapter Tailgate at Army-Navy game. Dave Ferchau; John Rhatigan; Dan Hicks; and Brian Foy. Many thanks to Dave Wickersham ‘93 and John Brennan ‘93 for hosting and coordinating. Brian happens to be wearing jacket featuring the ship he and Ray Christensen did a tour of duty aboard starting in 1983.

Speaking of college football, Frank Liantonio submits:

Here is a photo of Jim Quern, Rick Boudiette, and my wife Kim tailgating at LSU in November of 2019 before the beat down of Texas A&M on the road to a perfect season and the national championship. While none of us attended LSU, the Quern and Liantonio children have earned at least 8 degrees from the school, so we’re definitely donors. It has been great to have great friends like Jim and Anne nearby and having our kids grow up together. And having Rick around now when he’s not in Angola (the country, not the Louisiana State Penitentiary) is a nice bonus.

Stan Cutler “had a great time with my long-time KP roommate Joe Chaput at his son’s wedding in Tavares!”

By the time this column is in print, a new book by Del Lewis will be published and available at Amazon.com. With a title of “Get Your Ship Together”, you know you’ll want to grab a copy!

Have a pleasant Spring.

View magazine online

Mark Suter shares:
I was lucky enough to catch up with Craig Ellixson last week in Miami for dinner during “Spice week”. We had a fabulous dinner at Il Mulino and a great view of the beach. Craig filled me in on his trip to South Africa earlier in the summer and we caught up on families, work, etc.

Mathew Bucherati sent a photo displaying how his family continues to grow:
We held our family reunion at our mountain house this past fourth of July including Sara, myself, our four kids, their spouses and our seven grandchildren. There were actually 17.25 of us there since my youngest daughter, Rosie, is pregnant with her first and due in January. We have been so blessed as a family. I am still enjoying my career at Pepsi-Cola, now in its 34th year. I have been doing a tremendous amount of international business travel in recent years, so it almost feels like my sailing days again except much nicer ports of call. Sara tags along on many of these trips as well. Retirement is probably not too far off and Sara and I look forward to living full time in the Blue Ridge mountains of NC.

A.J. Murphy writes:
We have been trying locally to get some folks from the class together here in Houston for a catch up outing. Earlier Mike Curtiss was playing a big part in pulling some of us together and I was able to have a great visit with both Scott Hart and Mike Curtiss at a coffee shop in town.

With schedules being what they are, we were finally able to pull one together and four of us got underway on the lake just north of Houston – Kurt Larsen, Mike Booth, George Toma and myself. Sent along a selfie of the crew that day that included puttering around, some swimming and lunch up at the lake. We later adjourned to my house for a grilled dinner and more K.P. stories. But we were able to add one more to the group as Mike Curtiss was able to join us as well for the evening as the vessel traffic in Houston allowed him a bit of a break. We are hoping to rope in a few more classmates in Houston as we go further down the road, since Al Reeves, Mark Salinas and Tom Lightsey are also here.

Brian Foy continues to meet up with classmates regularly:
Hey Ray…I made it back to Homecoming this year and hung out with Chris Cioni, who was in town from the left coast visiting family. We walked the campus on a picture-perfect day, visited the Memorial Arbors (thinking about our deceased classmates) and even toured the Kings Pointer. Chris got to spend some time with his Dad, who was ill and has since passed away as of this writing.

While I was recently in San Diego, I reached out to Del Lewis and we met for breakfast. Del is doing great and says he occasionally sees Dan Baerman, who also lives in the San Diego area. Del and I reminisced about our years at KP, including plebe year in 5th Company, where the fun all started. After San Diego, I headed back to Washington, DC – my home away from home. I have been in touch with Sean Connaughton and Lee Forsgren and we are planning to get-together once our three schedules properly align.

I plan to spend the holidays at home in St. Augustine. If any classmates are passing by on their way to points south, give me a shout!

Mickey Cunningham spent lots of quality time with his daughter Sarah:
September 7th our youngest was married in Philadelphia with a strong showing from KP grads. From right to left are Barb and my cousin John Coleman ‘78, John and Donna Carbone, Mike and Jeannie Keane, Jim and Anne Quern, me and my wife Mary Kay, my sister Cathy Kirby and her son Aidan (Kevin Kirby ‘94), Kent and Julie Morton, Jim Goulden. In spirit and missed by all was John and Elaine Rhatigan who were unable to join us.

Erin Gantt was the first to alert me that Rich Colonna appeared in the CBS Sunday Morning show on 11/10. Link is on our website for “We, the People: Mary Whyte’s portraits of 50 veterans from 50 states” Rich appears at about 5 mins 18 seconds into the story and he is one of the 50 veterans whose portraits are in the exhibition.

May our whole class have a super holiday season and great start to 2020!