A.J. Murphy leads off:
Met up with Chris Cioni and Mike Curtiss while Chris was in for a work trip.  It was great to catch up at a late dinner as Mike had to dock a ship and make it to the restaurant.  Being retired is a lot easier!

Then on Mar 20, was out on a boat in Galveston with friends and was able to coordinate a quick hello as Mike Curtiss was getting off the pilot boat after taking a ship out of Houston.  We were able to get a picture on the pilot boat to send in!

A.J. adds, “I was able to give the oath of office to my son Sean as he was promoted to Commander this month.  It was even better to be on board the BB 35 USS Texas in the shipyard in Galveston getting repaired!”

Mickey C texted to say that Tom Aufiero dropped in town to Jupiter (FL) for lunch in January. Sue and Tom Bodman joined Tom, Mary Kay and Mickey.

Quentin Franklin posted in Winter edition of Chris Thayer’s retirement from MSC after 40 years and now includes a photo. Our chief mate from our first sea year, Flip Walters ’75 told tall tales of our vibrant youth.”

Craig Matteson shares:
This past September I attended my 40th college reunion at Kings Point. Great to see everyone and some for the 1st time since June of 1983. Bruce Garrott inspired me with the awesome KP Bike jersey and Kevin Fauvell reminded me I could still do it!

So, the exercise began and last weekend I finished a Sprint Triathlon! Was 4th in my age group …! (There were only 4 of us but it sounded good). And I truly didn’t finish last. Great 1st step in what is my desire to be healthy again! Thanks Bruce and Kevin …!
ACTA non VERBA …! CEM

Brian Foy is always on lookout: “Two recent 83 classmate sightings in DC. I saw Willie Barerre yesterday at the Maritime Sail-in. I just ran into Doug Waldman a few minutes ago in front of the Supreme Court.”

As Craig Ellixson posted on FB, “Long weekend for those who could make it. Rich Surratt was the master planner & George Toma celebrated his 63rd birthday with mostly wholesome activities.” Tom Heberle and Stueart Mill rounded out the party.

Chris Cioni sends:
Writing from my layover on the way home from Houston (working at Calpine). I had diner and good conversation with AJ Murphy while in town for business.  AJ came down from Spring and introduced me to some wonderful food at a restaurant called Josephine’s.  OG gulf coast dishes that I’ve never had!  AJ is fully enjoying retirement – boating, grandkids and traveling around the gulf.  I think I’ll be joining that club soon too.

I look forward to my Houston trips to catch up with AJ, Mike Curtis (he flew out the day I flew in) and others.  Hope all is well with you in the running world!

Michael Donnelly:
Jane, my wife of nearly 37 years, and I moved to a nice place near the beach in Rhode Island back when Covid hit. It was finally time to get out of Connecticut.  I am able to work from home, which is nice. I see all of my classmates retiring, and that has got me thinking hard about retiring this coming year. In my spare time I umpire baseball/softball games and root for the Baltimore Orioles with Chris Thayer and Randy Johnson. Photo is of me getting an award for Marine Insurance at graduation. Pretty much a consolation prize, but I still have the watch 🙂

(left) The one and only time I had been in the Officers Club in my 4 years at KP. It was some form of awards dinner.
(right) The list of the attendees

Bruce Garrott rolls on:
Debbie and I spent 2.5 weeks in France in April, visiting Burgundy, Provance and the Loire Valley.  The highlight of the trip was the Backroads Bike Trip through Provance.  Our daughter Kara, and her husband Jeff joined us on the bike trip.  They had more fun they imagined, too!  The trip included a ride up Mont Ventoux, but the “Le Mistral” winds from the north, made the climb unsafe, since the winds in the valley were 20 gusting to >30 MPH, and the winds halfway up the mountain were >50 MPH.  Le Mistral lasted for several days, dropping the temps into the 50’s and making riding more challenging.  The picture of me sporting the latest KP bike jersey has Mont Ventoux in the background.

Ray Christensen hopes you’re all having a fabulous summer! When you post something juicy on facebook, send it to me too! Can you help me attain current email for any of these missing folks: Mark Allen, Roger Foster, David Garnet, Steve Grose, Steve Kohlhoff, John Labdon, Jim Marlin, Bob Nickey, Chris O’Connor, David Tobin or Bill Winget (among others)?

Art Burns gets us underway:
Ray, here’s a photo of Rose and Paul Zubaly with Grace and me in Tagaytay City, Philippines taken March 1st. Paul lives in Metro Manila and we are visiting Grace’s brother and sister-in-law in Lipa City. It was great catching up! Not only were we Second Company Plebes together, I was Captain Paul’s Chief Mate for a few years in the late 1990’s.

Mickey C texted to say that Tom Aufiero dropped in town to Jupiter (FL) for lunch in January. Sue and Tom Bodman joined Tom, Mary Kay and myself.

Jim Goulden announces:
My youngest Jillian married AJ Conklin in Orlando on March 2 in a beautiful outdoor ceremony followed by cocktails and reception in a gorgeous setting near Orlando, Florida.

In attendance were my KP brothers and their wives who have given me unconditional support over the years: Donna and John Carbone, Mary Kay and Mickey C, Anne and Jimmy Quern, Elaine and John Rhatigan and Jeannie and Mike Keane.  We celebrated all evening long and continued on into the night after the formalities were concluded.  I’ve known these guys for 45 years and they are my closest friends.  We’ve grown together through raising our kids and now count 15 grandchildren among us.  Our long friendship will endure forever.

Quentin Franklin texted to say that he attended Chris Thayer’s retirement from MSC where he was “chief of ops, I believe.” Also featured there was their chief mate from initial sea year, Flip Walters ’75. “We told tall tales of wooden men and iron ships!”

Al Reeves is our top class correspondent in this issue:
Hi Ray – as always thank you for all you do for our class.  You can rest assured it is greatly appreciated.  As always I want to continue to mention Brian Foy who does so much for our school and in my humble opinion gets a small fraction of the credit and honor he deserves.  Well I am a grandfather and have attached a “4 generation picture” which I am quite proud of.  It makes you understand what is truly important in life.  I am in touch with a group of classmates and have come to truly understand how blessed we were to have all come together from all walks of life.  I will go quickly and if I leave anyone out I promise it’s not on purpose.  Jim Goulden is hanging tough and is a man I look up to.  Tom Heberle retired and moved to Vegas of all places. Tom is one of my dearest friends.  Scott McCauley is still in Australia and very successful – another dear friend and unique character.  Rich Surratt is coordinating a small group get together in Vegas this May (who else would you want to coordinate anything – he is the Father of FAC after all).  Kent Morton is hanging tough and building his dream home – I have come to know and respect this man and appreciate his friendship. Stu Mill is retired and focused on physical fitness at all levels – I always call Stu when I have an extra roll of blubber I’m trying to lose! Craig Ellixon actually settled in PA within 15 miles of my entire family near Harrisburg and looking forward to seeing him soon.  Scott Brueggeman lives in Austin and never calls me but I will always forgive him because he is Bruegs after all!!  I had a great a great conversation with Mark Suter who is doing great with his family in Long Island.  Mark and I go back to day one plebe year, as is our school case he went A and I went B, and so it goes.  Can somebody please tell me another person who could go through plebe indoctrination fresh off ACL surgery and never once complain?  Tough dude!  At the reunion Bumper Kunkle gave me Nat Agrippina’s number which I had been searching for I don’t know how long.  He was my Plebe year roommate.  Well now we are in regular communication and he is doing wonderful as a Chiropractor in Atlanta.  Talk about a wonderful man! I know I’m missing guys so I apologize in advance.  Thanks again Ray for all you do.  One last thing – Dan Russell is never to be forgotten ever.  The greatest of men.

Chris Hart reports:
I’m finally getting around to sending you this photo for some Class of 1983 news.  This is Jon Kjaerulff, Tom Aufiero, and Chris Hart at the WW II Museum in New Orleans on December 1, 2023.  We met up while attending the International Workboat Show in NOLA.  And we enjoyed some fine hospitality from the New Orleans KP Alumni Chapter when they hosted a happy hour with many classmates and old friends attending.

Thanks to all for periodically responding to my requests for news and photos! If you have any contact info or knowledge of or even rumors about these classmates, please tell me since they’ve been off my radar for some time: John Burns, John Cataldi, Lisa (Taylor) Cripps, Jeff Fout, John Green, Eric Jorgensen, Ed Napoli, Chris Shirley, James Wei (among others).

Our Reunion Coordinator Mickey C leads off:
“What a great time seeing folks during Reunion weekend. For some it’s been quite a while since you’ve made it back. Let’s make it every five years going forward! I really appreciate the help folks provided and was very proud of the Class Gift effort led by Randy Johnson!
2028 is right around the corner.”

After our fabulous Homecoming weekend, A.J. Murphy headed north:
My trip post-reunion brought us to Maine. Was able to connect up with classmates Eileen Heneghan as well as Steve Nicholson and wife Priscilla. All are doing great and Gretchen and I appreciated spending time with them!

John Kimmerlein noted online that “We did not make it back to KP, but Jim Storey, Steven Kimmel, Mark Lund and I got together at a local KP event and marked or 40 years post-graduation!”

Maureen McKeever can’t get enough of KP football:
On November 18th I attended the 2023 ECAC James Lynah Bowl Game in Washington PA where the Mariners played Washington & Jefferson College. The Mariners played well but were up against a good offense and lost 46 – 21. There were a lot of football parents there from all over the country, and it was fun to talk to them and learn about their sons’ experiences at Kings Point. It was disappointing that there did not appear to be anyone from the school administration in at-tendance. This means that I saw 3 KP games this year, the most since 1st Class year! (I am count-ing the Coast Guard Game on TV.) I worked at the polls (as I have done since 2013) and am an-ticipating a bigger crowd next year for both elections. I am still so happy about attending Home-coming this past September and seeing everyone. I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year! The photos are of me at the football game, along with our far-ranging classmate Bob Bennett.

Joe Bishop posted on Facebook:
Had a great visit to Jacksonville and St. Augustine last week and got to catch up with Scott O’Connor and Brian Foy on Thursday and Friday, respectively. I do love catching up and am so sorry I missed Homecoming this year. I’ll be trying harder for 2028, that’s for sure.

Steve Keating shares this fascinating update:
I am sorry to have missed the 40th Reunion for the Class of 1983. Looks like it was a great event. Many thanks to the organizers!

For the past twenty-plus years, I have been working as an attorney for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), formerly known as the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, and prior to that the Defense Mapping Agency. My portfolio includes representing NGA in interna-tional negotiations and advancing NGA’s Safety of Navigation mission. It is a privilege to be a public servant working with other Kings Pointers in both NGA and other agencies supporting national security.

NGA has a strong connection to the maritime industry, as it produces nautical charts and other products used by merchant mariners across the world. Since 2019, I have served as the United States Observer to the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Advisory Board on the Law of the Sea (ABLOS), and in October and November of 2023 I was invited to speak about Crowdsourced Bathymetry (CSB) and its nexus with the Law of the Sea. CSB offers a cost-effective method to help international efforts map the seabed by the year 2030 by leveraging echo sounding data collected by vessels complying with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). CSB can advance worthy objectives to build a digital model of the Ocean, which are complementary goals of the United Nations, the IHO, and the USA. CSB also can contribute to situational awareness and change detection in highly trafficked channels involving pilotage and towing. In November, I was honored to speak about CSB at the 2023 Map The Gaps Symposium held at the beautiful Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. Other speakers included IHO Director Luigi Sinapi, Challenger Deep Ocean explorer Victor Vescovo, and Fabien Cousteau (grandson of explorer Jacque-Yves Cousteau and world-known Aquanaut in his own right).

Ray Christensen wishes you Happy Holidays and a fabulous start to 2024!
I don’t plan to ever fully retire from my web design gig since I enjoy helping small businesses attract customers. Besides work, I keep busy with regular visits to family in the Catskills, volunteering with my Knights of Columbus brothers, encouraging people to stay fit as president of my running club and begging you guys to get me in touch with our missing classmates (please?). While I’m patting myself on the back, I’ve also donated 10 gallons of blood since 9/11. I’ve been in the same house for 30 years. If you’re passing thru Delaware on I-95, I’m just a few miles from the exit. Here’s a photo of me helping my brother Ken Christensen KP’87/88 boil maple syrup.

On October 6, we lost our classmate Doug Barlow. Please read his obituary in this issue and see photos on our website. I welcome you to email me something to add there. As his daughter noted, “Dougie” lived an adventurous life!