Scroll down to see Erin Gantt video

Bumper Kunkle leads off:
I finally convinced my wife to sell our NJ house.   We are now in TN full time.   I was driving down here every couple of weeks to check on the house but won’t have to worry about that anymore. My wife and I just got back from a trip to St Louis and Branson MO.  I wanted to see the Cardinals play in Busch Stadium and wanted to go to Branson to see some country performers.  I’ll be heading to NY in September to see the Mets play the Phillies.   It’s tough being a Mets fan!  We’ve gotten to use to saying “maybe next year”.

I still keep in touch with Tom Bodman.  He and his wife Sue are in Montana right now.   They travel from Florida in their RV to see their daughter and to enjoy the great sights in the US.

I also keep in touch with Steve Dear.  He is in Singapore while one of his ships is shipyard.

Tom Aufiero is still maintaining a residence in NJ and NC.  I think he prefers is home on Lake Norman but his wife is working for Lockheed in NJ.

Pete Brennan is also a resident of NC.  He and his wife moved from NJ  over a year ago.

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Bob Ross tells us:
I’m retired and living in Rehoboth Beach now. Had the opportunity to meet up with Mike Safina who’s been here for 4 years. He invited me to the 100th anniversary of the christening of the OverFalls light ship. He’s the president of their board. Here are some pics from the event. First time I’ve been on a ship in a while.

Kurt Larsen shares:
I retired from ABS after almost 30 years in November 2018. I’ve been enjoying retirement and Lisa and I decided to stay in The Woodlands, TX. We bought a motorhome which we do some travelling in. The grandkids love it! I see some of our classmates who live in the Houston area especially when a classmate comes in from out of town. Rick Boudiette was here a few months ago and we met up at Karbach Brewery for lunch with Arthur Murphy, Mike Booth, Mike Curtiss and Kirk ‘82. Missed the last reunion due to a business trip, but won’t have that problem for the next one!

Mark Faller proudly writes that his daughter, Caitlyn (Faller) Rerucha, was recently deep selected for Lieutenant Colonel. Caitlyn is a physician in the U.S. Army and is seen here after a HALO jump at Fort Bragg. “When your kid makes O-5, that makes us relics.” Prost – Mark

Bruce Garrott’s photo op:
We stumbled upon this street while on a REI Bike Tour of the San Juan Islands, this past June.  Debbie had to capture the moment.  It was serendipity that I was wearing a KP jersey!

Ed Fairbairn shares:
Jeff Kalb is retired from Whirlpool for about a year now.   Jeff & Joanne visited us back in October. Also Mary and I are new grandparents to Rosemary Bella Fairbairn, August 4, 2021.  Parents Steve and Antionette Fairbairn live outside of Dallas TX, in Crandall, TX.

Maureen McKeever notes:
Life in Pittsburgh is just fine. I’ve been working and going to Stamp Club meetings. We just had our annual show and I got a ribbon for my exhibit on stamps I’ve collected during my travels – OK, so it was for “Participation”, but I was thrilled! We had a “Disney Day” at work and here I am with my Eeyore hat on, with my boss Crissy in her Star Wars light-up mouse ears. Finally, here’s a picture of the clouds over the Allegheny River – they look like whales! I hope everyone’s doing well, staying safe and I look forward to the reunion!

Chris Cioni reports:
Coming to you from the land of smoke and fire …

Chris Hart, AJ Murphy, Chris Cioni, Mike Curtiss & George Toma in Houston[/caption]The stars were in alignment on my recent business trip to Houston (Pasadena to be exact).  Mike Curtiss was on pilot duty that week and we hoped to meet, if his vessel schedule allowed.  Turns out that Mike was free one night, so he reached out to others in the area and we were joined by AJ Murphy, Chris Hart and George Toma!  Mike pulled in on a big Harley with his shades, shorts and the wind blowing in his hair.  AJ lives quite a ways north of Pasadena and Chris & George are still busy with careers, so it was so great that they could meet on short notice.  Great conversations about things new and old!  Aside from the reality of our sixth decade, all are happy and healthy.  There are a fair number of us in the Houston area, so I’m already looking forward to my next trip in Oct.

I’ve also had a couple of long chats with other classmates recently.  Spoke with my one time roommate Jim Romeo.  Jim and wife Jeanie live in northern Virginia, where Jim retired from NAVSEA (or one of those naval engineering groups) last year.  Jim’s still very busy with his freelance technical writing work and attending various tech trade shows.  My second catch-up was with Doug Barlow.  Doug and his wife Mita live on the coast between Seattle and Bellingham WA.  Doug had sailed for a number of years before launching his own venture in plant-based nutrition.  As with all classmates, the conversations are easy and interesting as though we haven’t been long out of Victory gate.

I hope all is well in your life and want to thank you for your commitment to keeping us all connected.

Craig Ellixson turned lemons into lemonade:
Furloughed from PortMiami at the onset of the Pandemic when the cruise industry crashed. Jettisoned the Port life of round the clock hours and moved to bucolic PA. Something that most of you take for granted like sleeping in a bed every night was now granted to me at 60! As several of our classmates have observed, I took the unconventional step of moving from Miami to PA in the winter. But we built a brand new home and life is sweeter than ever living next door to Hershey. Experiencing all four seasons for the first time and three day weekends every week. Life is good…

Ray Christensen dropped up to Philly to watch Erin Gantt perform 11 songs at Philadelphia city hall courtyard on a hot Sunday afternoon in June. She made KP and the Navy proud!!

Thanks to Leo Carling for reaching out to a couple “missing classmates” for me.

View Summer 2021 Online

Frank Liantonio starts the party with a photo of Rick Boudiette, Jim Quern, himself and his oldest daughter Marissa at a couples baby shower at his home in April.
“She’s due in June, and Kim and I are excited to welcome our first grandchild. We also have the wedding of our daughter Gianna to look forward to in January of 2022. It is nice having Rick in New Orleans full time, now that he has finished serving his time in Angola. It’s also pretty impressive that the three of us at least got one part of the “uniform of the day” right — the reunion issued rain jacket!”

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Brian Foy can always be counted on for a full report:
Ray…greetings from sunny St. Augustine my fellow USS “Tuna Boat” alum! After 13 months of being “stuck” in Florida, I made my first trip to DC the week of April 19. That trip coincided with the KPI OceanConnect Blue & Gray Washington, DC Golf Outing, held on April 21. That’s where I ran into Chris Thayer, Mark Smith and Bob Ross (see pic). While Mark and I worked the event, Chris and Bob “tore up” the course…literally. A cold front passed through and lowered temps to the low 50’s with steady 30 mph winds. It was a chilly day to say the least. I hope Mark weighs in to tell you how he has become an expert in the art of hitting a marshmallow off a golf tee! Mark is retired and loving life as a Grandpa; Bob and Chris can see retirement “just over the horizon.” It was great to see those guys.

On my drive south back to Florida, I stopped in Richmond to see Sean Connaughton, a fellow 5B plebe, and we toured his empire at the Virginia Health & Hospital Association, where he serves as CEO. By all accounts, Sean is kicking ass and taking names in Virginia Healthcare. He still lives in the DC area and commutes to Richmond every week. Joining us for dinner was Art Espey, who I had not seen since graduation. See pic. Art enlightened me with his travels the past 30+ years, including some meaningful years in the Marine Corps, which have served him well. He lives in the Richmond area. Lots of laughs and shared memories and Sean graciously picked up the tab.

Several weeks ago, Art Murphy texted me and said that he and his wife were going to make an east coast trip and he wanted to connect. So, while staying in the Jacksonville Beach area visiting friends, Art drove down and met Jim Goulden (coming from Orlando) and I at a seafood shack in Palm Coast. Great times and laughs. Art has finally retired from the daily grind but still lives in Houston and stays active with his real estate empire. Jim is crushing it with his company and has now been in Orlando nearly 20 years. See pic. The real story here is two engineers inviting a deckie to dinner and everyone getting along. Maybe Congress can learn from this…maybe. After Jim left for Disney, Art and I talked about the benefits of Navy Reserve Retirement for another good hour. “Such a deal!”

I hope to get back to my regular DC trips after labor Day. Let me know if you are ever in DC or St. Augustine area and we’ll get together.

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Mark Smith sent a picture from the April DC golf outing that Brian mentioned above. Then in May, he attended the 6 Bears & A Goat Brewing Company reunion, posting photos to Facebook:
Great beer, food and reminiscing. Big thanks to Mark Faller for the hospitality. Great to see Mark Faller, Rex Gundle, Quentin Franklin, Bob Ross, Bill Dunbar and Ed Fairbairn. Ed had to leave before we got the pictures. Should also say thanks to Rex for getting this organized.

It was a beautiful afternoon and we sat outside and reminisced about KP and jobs and events since we graduated. Lots of laughs to go with the great beer and munchies provided by our host Mark Faller. Mark runs a very nice operation and the place was hopping that afternoon/evening. It was great to catch up with the people that were able to make it. Hopefully next time we can get a bigger crowd.

Mickey C never misses a party:
Jeff Coons’ oldest daughter Kaitlin married Rob Astorino in a garden wedding in suburban Louisville this past weekend. Jim Quern and I rocked the house and made 83 proud. It was great hanging out with Jeff and Sherrie Coons and Jim impressed the grooms family so much he’s now in the Father of the grooms will. Just in case anyone needs entertainment at their next wedding Jim is retired and makes himself available.
Jeff adds, “Turns out they’re making a movie about Mickey and Jim’s visit to Kentucky. It’s called Good Swill Hunting.”

Bruce Garrott announces “I have some great news to share, my daughter, ENS Mikaela Garrott earned her Navy “Wings of Gold” on May 7th @ NAS Corpus Christi. Our family was there to share in the occasion, which was the squadron’s first winging, since COVID restrictions began last year. She will fly the E-6B Mercury, in the fleet.”

Lisa Fields relates:
Gary (’82) and I just had a lovely trip to California vacationing with Brian Winget, Jeff Fout, John and Bob Grimaldi, and their significant others. It is true that the greatest thing to come from our time at KP is our lifelong friends!

Kevin Brofford provides the next generation of military leaders:
Greetings from graduation weekend at the Ohio State University! I am really happy to report that I had the honor and privilege to administer the Oath of Office to my son, Ensign Evan Brofford! I squeezed myself back into my blues and was able to keep it all together for the entire ceremony! (Which was better than I did six years ago when I swore my daughter into the Air Force!) It was a wonderful graduation weekend at OSU, albeit quite soggy on graduation day. Super excited that Evan’s next duty station is Pensacola, Florida for flight school! (Just like his old man!) Quite honestly, this was one of those events that makes me realize how old I really am! I can remember our commissioning day like it was yesterday! Back when we were this young and energetic! Boy does time fly!

Erin Gantt shared “I am scheduled to perform at the Welcome America festival at City Hall in Philadelphia on Sunday, June 27, 2021. I will be singing inspirational & patriotic music in two, 30 minute sets in the afternoon. It was supposed to be the 1940’s trio that I sing with (for 1 hour) but the other two ladies backed out of the commitment.”
Ray Christensen posted the info to Facebook, so maybe we’ll gather some classmates to hear her perform!