Alumni Snapshots

Inquiring minds want to know …

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JAMES ADAMS met his wife Sandra at a disco and they have been married for 40 years. Their daughter is a nurse practitioner cardiologist, their older son an electrician, and their youngest son is in insurance. They have four grandchildren (3 boys and 1 girl) and three great-grandchildren (2 boys and 1 girl). He is still working as a manager of a senior mobile park. His greatest accomplishment was surviving the Vietnam War, meeting his wife, and having all the kids in his life.

CECILIA OLGA AGUIRRE SHEEHAN met her husband, Tom Sheehan, in 1970 and then he moved to Palm Desert. They reconnected 28 years later and have been married since October, 2002. They have a total of four children between them: her two are Patrick (45) and Daniel (29). His are Tara (35) and Anthony (34). Between them they have 8 grandchildren, ranging from 2 months to 22 years old. Cecilia has been retired for 8 years, and does whatever she feels like doing! No favorite memories of Burbank High, but tons of great memories.

CAROLE AIKIN HUTCHESON grew up in a family of teachers, so it was no wonder that she became a teacher, too, and her children continue the tradition. She attended Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA her freshman year, then transferred to the University of Kansas along with her future husband, Dean Hutcheson. They were married in May 1971 on campus in the University Chapel and are in their 48th year of marriage!  Read more …

KATHY AU CROSIER has spent her entire career in Hawaii, working as a church musician, organ recitalist and teacher. She was married to Carl Crosier, a fellow musician for 37 years before he died of pancreatic cancer in 2014. She has one son, 35 years old, who works as a network engineer in North Hollywood, CA and a 15-month-old grandson Read more …..

 

TINA BARNETT left Burbank after the 11th grade and graduated from a high school in Montana. She now lives in Idaho, but has also lived in Spain and Cuba. Tina graduated from nursing school in 1980 but is now retired, spending time with gardening, sewing, and collecting antique sewing machines. She considers raising two children while going to nursing school as her greatest achievement. She remembers BHS as a lot of fun, after going 4-1/2 years to a girls school—going to a coed school was a big change! Unfortunately she has no pictures from high school as they were all burned up in a fire at her mother’s house.

SALLY BARTLEY MOSS met her husband through friends at a sports bar in Palm Desert, CA. They have been married for 22 years; no children together but her husband has one son. Sally has been “Mom” to dozens of dogs (!), currently they have Luna (beagle) and Winston (standard poodle). She spent two years at Cal Lutheran and got a B.A. at the University of Idaho and a Masters in Education from the University of Idaho specializing in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling. “I’ve been very lucky to have traveled all over the world on business and pleasure. So now I spend my time keeping fit and healthy, so I can enjoy the rest of my life doing the same thing.” She says that she is so proud to have been able to use her education to help others navigate their way through the world of business. She says she was very shy in high school, and spent a lot of time with Camp Fire friends camping and learning about the world.

BEVERLY BLAIS MOOSMANN met her husband, Bob Moosmann, on a blind date and they have been married 32 years. Their son, Max, is 31 and their daughter, Katie, is 29. Both of them were married this summer. Max is in advertising and a competitive sailor. Katie is a manager at Houzz and also enjoys sailing. Read more …

ROLAND BLEITZ met DeeDee, in ski club. She was teaching in Burbank and her principal was Roland’s 4th grade teacher. He has 2 boys, but no grandkids yet. His sons live in Santa Ana and Los Angeles. He is too busy to own pets, but likes dogs and cats. Roland attended Valley Junior College, Cal State Northridge, Pierce Junior College and Otis Art Institute. He is retired, but still plays a lot of softball, in addition to fishing, restoring antique tractors, traveling, and loves the outdoors. His greatest accomplishment is raising a loving, no problem family… with some help, of course! He was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame. His favorite teacher at Burbank High was Peter LiPera and his Western Civ class.

LYNN BOYCE has lived in Columbus, OH since graduating from Burbank High. She received a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Master of Arts in Education (Social Studies) at Ohio State University, then got a non-degree educator certifications in school guidance. She is a school guidance counselor and plans to retire by the end of 2018. She writes: “I have worked as an educator for both the Ohio Dept of Youth Services (youth corrections) and the Ohio State School for the Blind. It has been nice to have been of some help to students moving on into adulthood……..several students from the correction years turned it around to make good contributions to society with families, jobs and several college degrees!” Her favorite memory of Burbank was of the football team win over Burroughs that fall of 1967. “I was up into the wee hours that morning and my parents (especially mom) did not make fuss!”

STEVE BURNS does some acting work when and where he can. He writes that his greatest accomplishment since high school has been in academia, where he did well and has done well since. He became a lawyer then lost his license to practice in 2010. He says, “Ashamed of myself for that but trying to get my license back. Nil desperandum. Have to be honest here because what is the point otherwise! Otherwise my life has been a matter of good and bad fortune, but in the main I am largely responsible for all that I have done and not done. The details are too nasty, or even worse, tedious and boring, to write about here. Read more …

CRILLY BUTLER met his wife Takami Sato Butler while he was living in Japan, training in the Japanese martial art of Aikido. They have been married for 34 years. Their son, Nicholas Rush Butler is the multitalented apple of his eye: captain of his high school soccer team; concert pianist; actor; writer; professional sushi chef; restaurant manager… Read more …

DONNA CANZONERI WRAY met her husband, John Wray BHS’68 on the band/drill team bus going to the first football game senior year. Married August 1972. They have 2 daughters. Jaisha works in cyber security for the State Department in DC. Karleen works at UCLA Ronald Reagan Hospital where she is a Child Life Specialist.   Read more …

TOM CARTMILL met his wife, Lynn through their parents who were friends. Tom and Lynn have three Golden Retrievers. Tom received a BS in Aeronautics but is now retired, enjoying time with family and friends. He says that his favorite memory of Burbank High was the victory over Burroughs in football in November 1967. Since moving away from Burbank, Tom has lived in Reseda, West Hills CA, Anchorage AK and now resides in Lacey, WA.

VIRGINIA CASTRO HAMILTON met her husband Michael, at work. They have been married for 35 years. Her older son is a sheriff and has 2 children. Her oldest daughter graduated at Cal Poly Pomona and has just moved to North Carolina to be with her fiance. Her youngest daughter traves with her fiance in their RV and lives in Taos, NM as an artist who makes jewelry. Virginia worked at Glendale Adventist Medical Center for 35 years and retired December 2017. She started painting on canvas and has done portraits of her family and pets. She loves gardening, sewing, camping, taking road trips to national parks and botanical gardens. She has always enjoyed taking pictures of nature’s beauty. She has joined the Burbank Senior Center where she takes an exercise class and takes day trips. She feels her greatest accomplishment is having three beautiful children. Her favorite memory of Burbank High was playing sports and biology class.

ROBERT (BOB) CHAMBERLIN was an award-winning photographer for the Los Angeles Times before he took a buyout and retired in 2016. He had a part of four Pulitzer Prize awards at the Times as a photographer and an editor. In his 45 year career, he saw the civil war in El Salvador and Baby Doc Duvalier in Haiti just before he died. He met his first wife, Diane Lynch, while studying Spanish in Guatemala in ’88 during the civil war there. He proposed to her during a trek in Nepal in the Annapurna region. Read more…

JEANI CHIAROLLA CHAMBERS met her husband Don 47 years ago and they have been married for 45 years. She is most proud of her kids: Their oldest son Brian is a librarian at Occidental College and his wife, Kate is a family therapist. Brian and Kate have two girls, Ramona, 8 and Rosie, 6. Daughter Christy is a stay-at-home mom with her twin 6 year old boys, Nathan and Jayden. Christy’s husband is the Public Information Officer for the Burbank Police Department. Youngest son Matt is the Assistant Principal of Instruction at John Burroughs, and his wife Jacqui works at the Norton Simon Museum. Their son Elliott will be 1 on May 1st. Matt is completing his doctorate in Educational Leadership at USC. All three of Jeani’s kids attended Burroughs. Jeani went to work for Pacific Telephone as a Customer Service rep after graduation —says it was her best education ever! She left in 1975 to raise kids, then worked for 18 years at John Burroughs College/Career Center. She is enjoying her grandkids, friends and some road trips. She loves to bake and cook, and is happy to have the time to do that. She joined the Burbank Magnolia Park Optimist Club which keeps her busy, in addition to watching the youngest grandson once a week. Favorite memories are the Food classes at Burbank High and hanging out with friends.

CHRISTINE CULLEN BARTLETT met her husband in 1970 at Cal State University Northridge. They married in 1978 and were married for twenty years. Unfortunately they divorced in 1998. Chris has a son, Mathew, 36 , and a daughter, Amy 34. Mathew served in the Army for twelve years, during which he was deployed twice to Iraq. He graduated from the U of Montana, Missoula, with a degree in History, and Military History. He has just recently returned to school, to earn his Masters. Amy graduated from Cal State U, Long Beach, with a degree in Cinematography. After working in that field for a bit, she went on to work for Apple, as a computer Genius. She was then hired by Disney, for a new IT department they were forming. She is now buying her father’s business, because he is retiring. Busy kids! Chris has two grand- fur babies, her daughter’s two dachshunds, Rudy and Joey, “So cute!” Chris graduated from CSUN with a degree in art. She is now retired and spends her time in physical therapy, recouping from two surgeries that she had in May. Her greatest accomplishment since high school, is “the two wonderful kids that I raised. They’ve grown up to be wonderful young adults!” At Burbank High, she loved her art classes and drill team. She used to get so many demerits from Mrs. McCall, for wiggling too much!

CATHY DIBBLE PERFECT met her ex-husband in 1972 and didn’t believe his last name was “Perfect.” Yeah right! “Let me see your driver’s license,” she quipped. They married, had three great kids, and pursued any number of hair-brained business ideas. She tired of that and divorced in 1995. It was amicable and they agreed to keep their children’s interests foremost in the decision-making. Read more …

ANNETTE DINOLFO BENNETT with her husband, TOM BENNETT’68 have four kids: Todd 45, Chad 44, Trista 41 and Tanner 31; and ten grandkids Dylan 19, Cole 16, Chase 15, Jenna 14, Emma 11, Blake 9, Dayton 9, Hallie 4, Caden 4, and Ronin 2, making for a very proud grandma and grandpa! Annette now spends her time caregiving and babysitting, after a career as a hairdresser. She has too many favorite memories of Burbank High to mention!

CHUCK DUFFY did not graduate from BHS but attended Emerson Elementary, John Muir Junior High, and the first year at BHS before his family moved. Chuck writes: “Seeing many of the names on the attendee list has brought back long forgotten memories.  It is also sad to see the names of those who have passed on.” Chuck met his wife Kelly on an airplane 38 years ago. They have only two kids, no grandkids, plus two large Maine Coon cats. Chuck attended Humboldt State for two years and then graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 1972. The two years at UCSB were “a real interesting period that I would have preferred to avoid: riots, police, and tear gas. To quote WC Fields, ‘On the whole, I had rather been in Philadelphia.’ ” Chuck “bounced around in my twenties and had 29 addresses by the time I turned 30.” He is now retired and enjoying it! He spent his career in the fire service, culminating with a seven-year tenure as the Washington State Fire Marshal. He also served 20 years in the Air Force Reserve. During his twenties, he was a ski bum and volunteer fire fighter in Vail, CO, a flight attendant for Continental Airlines, and a labor on a drilling and blasting crew during the construction of I-70 through the Rocky Mountains. Life was not dull! His favorite memory of Burbank High were the kids he grew up with, which included Steve Irey and Kathie Wagner who are both gone. Click here to see the flyer from Chuck’s retirement as State Fire Marshal.

DEANNA DUGGER BERGMAN met her husband, Randall, while both of them were working at McGaw Laboratories (IV solutions) in Irvine, CA and they have now been married for 41 years. He is a Mechanical Engineer and was working in the Maintenance Department, Deanna was the Office Systems Supervisor. Read more …

JOHN FERGUSON met his wife JoAnne Quinn on a blind date for an Army-Navy Football game in 1968. They were married in 1973, after his graduation from West Point and have been married ever since. So, they have known each other for 50 years and married for 45 by the time of his high school reunion.  Read more …

NANCY FRISCH SILVERMAN, with her husband, Glenn, have three children, including a set of twins. They first had a set of boy-girl twins and four years later had another boy. They also have five grandchildren total. Their daughter Gina has blessed them with four children who live 10 minutes away, aged 1, 5, 9 and 12. Their son Jesse and his wife live in Annapolis MD and have one daughter, 3 years old. Nancy went to UCLA for her freshman and sophomore years. She then transferred to UCSB for only one quarter, wishing to return to the Los Angeles where her then-boyfriend (and now husband) was attending UCLA. By that time, Nancy had decided to pursue a degree as a speech pathologist. She enrolled at Cal State LA which offered that major, receiving a BA. She then went on to attend SUNY Geneseo in upstate New York, for a graduate program, where she received her masters in speech and hearing services. Nancy has been retired for 7 years now after working for 37 years as a speech therapist. As a retiree she watches her four grandchildren two days a week. She attends yoga classes and walks for exercise. She also belongs to a book club and a movie group that meets monthly. She attends a weekly Torah study group and is active in the Women of Reform Judaism. Nancy feels her biggest accomplishment has been to provide speech and language services to thousands of children and to be a loving wife and mother. Her favorite memory of BHS is as a speaker at graduation.

ROGER GUGGENHEIMER met Pattie Crossen in a chatroom 18 years ago. He attended California State University in Chico in 1984 and is retired from teaching. He now spends his time hiking, swimming, playing the guitar, scuba diving, and traveling internationally, especially during the winter to Southeast Asia. His greatest accomplishment is traveling to more than 20 countries—and loving it. His favorite teacher at Burbank High was Mr. Fecht whom he had for 11th grade history. He also loved the photo lab, even when it wasn’t officially open.

TOM HAINES is proudest of his children: four kids, six grandkids, and “one kid made it to doctor.” He also has five dogs! He is a graduate of Pierce College and has lived in Reseda, Valencia, Burbank and Boulder Creek (all California), and now lives in Peyton, CO. He says he is “retired playing with toys.” His favorite memory is that of the Burbank v. Burroughs football game in our senior year.

KIM HARRINGTON met his wife Suzann through an old Navy buddy in 1992.Sue has always been in sales and Ron was one of her clients at Roseville Communications. She had complained to him that she could not find the right guy and Ron immediately called Kim at the studio. They met halfway between Emeryville and Roseville, CA for dinner and the rest is history. Read more …

SHARI HARTWIG ST. MICHAEL moved to Santa Barbara shortly after graduation, experienced the interesting ‘hippie’ movement short term—it was not for her. She dabbled in college at Mount St. Mary’s College, although interesting, found college was not for her. In the early 1970’s she lived in Europe by herself in Fiumicino, Italy for 1 ½ years 2 blocks from the beach on the Mediterranean outside of Rome where she worked. Read more …

JACKIE HAYES STEEN met her husband, Steve, while attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. They married in 1972, two weeks after college graduation. After graduating from Cal Poly, they lived for 10 years in Walnut Creek, then built a home in Danville in 1985. They are proud of their 3 kids: Brian, Erin and Clay—all are smart, kind and gainfully employed! They also have 6 grandkids, ages 5-12; one born each year for 6 years. “They are the delight of our lives, and any time we can spend with them is golden. Jackie is retired from Jack in the Box where she worked at their Regional offices for 12 years and loved it. “I would say our 3 kids are my greatest accomplishment. They are all enjoyable as adults; hard working and level- headed.”

SUSIE HEKLER has two kids, grown and living on their own, plus an 11-year-old pit bull named Kingston. She left west LA and moved to Olympia, WA two years ago. She is now retired, hanging with friends, walks a lot, reads lots, and dabbles in painting. As for her greatest accomplishment, Susie writes, “Well, I’m still alive and living a good life.” Her favorite memory of Burbank is “all her friends.”

TERI HILL CLARK. Teri says that her name is so short (Teri Hill) that she started using asterisks over the “i’s” in the 5th grade when autograph books were brought to school. She said her name was so short and boring that she just had to jazz it up! She married Jerry W. Clark (BHS’67)—there were two Jerry Clarks. Hers is the one with glasses!  Read more

 

SHARON HIXSON BURRIS was married in 1981 to John Burris and divorced in 2009. They met at Security Pacific Bank. Sharon has three children: twin sons, Gregory and Matthew and a daughter, Katherine. After graduating from Burbank High, she has lived in Los Angeles, West Covina, Glendale and Bainbridge Island, WA. She graduated from Cal State LA with a BA in Childhood Education. She is not yet retired, although she is getting Social Security. She has her own cleaning business and works part-time. She writes: “I truly enjoyed being a mom and had great adventures with my children. They are amazing individuals and people comment all the time about what nice people they are, especially their significant others.” In high school, Sharon enjoyed being part of the religious group of students. Recently Sharon wrote: “I went to Benjamin Franklin Elementary School, which no longer exists, but was torn down for a fire station.  Our house was between Empire and Thornton Streets, down from the airport. All the students in that area went to Luther Middle School and our friends went to Burroughs, except for us. Going to Burbank High School was difficult at first because of it being a new school, but also not knowing many people.”

GREGORY HORTON with his wife, Paulette, has a daughter who is a Los Angeles police officer and a son who is an Army Ranger. They have four dogs, one store bought and three rescues. He says he graduated from the “school of hard knocks,” and spends his time learning to play the banjo and remodeling the house. He also coached youth rugby. His favorite memory of Burbank High were Friday nights at Bob’s Big Boy after the football games.

SKIP (WRAY) JOHNSTON met his wife, Sandra, at church where he was her kids’ youth director. “We don’t recall a whole lot about our first meeting. Neither of us was looking to re-marry. Neither of us was particularly impressed with the other. We got over that. We’ve been married 20 years.” Skip has 4 kids, 2 stepkids, and 11 grandkids. On most days, they’re all eminently brag-able. His son lives in Seattle. He has a daughter in NYC and two daughters still in the SFV. Read more …

MICHAEL KATZMAN produced the 25th and 50th Reunion Videos. Michael has worked with digital graphics since 1989, taught introduction to animation and gaming, and when not teaching high school English, taught video and theater production. His current long term video project is digitizing and editing 25 years of VHS tape from Lincoln and Bravo high school. Read more …

ROXANNE LEKO LEWIS says that her favorite memories of high school would have to be her friendships with Robin Neklia Smith and Jodi Tillotson Huddleston, toilet papering homes and cruising Hollywood Blvd. She also liked to go to Sorrento Beach in Santa Monica; and had a great time in drill team, learning and performing routines weekly. She remembers her algebra teacher, Mr. Ansalome, embarrassing her in 1st period because she was just coming out of drill team and sometimes forgot to hook the back of her dress! Roxanne is widowed after 41 years of marriage to Tom Lewis, whom she met in the 9th grade at Scott Drugs. She has two children, a daughter and son, and four grandchildren, plus three dogs. She got her BA from Cal State LA in Home Economics and a special education credential from CSUN. Now retired since 2011 from the Burbank Unified Schools, she moved to Wisconsin to be closer to children and grandchildren, and works on the farm, landscaping and line dances 3 days a week. She says, “I loved teaching students with special needs and I think I brought a lot to the classroom and my students’ lives. I am still in contact with some of them. We raised two beautiful children and were married for 41 years to the same person.”

GAIL LEONARD is currently raising puppy #22 for the Guide Dogs of America (GDA) in Sylmar. She received teaching credentials in standard elementary and special education visually impaired from CSULA, and got a master’s at Azusa Pacific. She is retired from teaching but spends her time raising guide dog puppies, including visiting schools, organizations, companies, etc. to promote Guide Dogs of America.

STEVE LeSUEUR is not a member of the Class of 1968.—in fact he is in the Class of 1970 and is planning on crashing our 50th Reunion! It won’t be the first time—he also came to the 45th Reunion and is friends with 1968 classmates. Jim Ranshaw says he plays baseball with Steve a couple of times a month. Steve has been married to Kathy Reeder for 32 years. They  met at a library where she was working with a friend of mine from Brighton Street in Burbank, Jean Ann McMurrin (sister of Bill McMurrin). Steve has a daughter, Samantha, living in San Diego with her husband, Chris, who is stationed there in the Navy. His son Danny lives in Asheville, NC, with his girlfriend. “No grandkids to brag about.” Steve and his wife are retired and are doing some traveling. He is working on a family history project, but before he retired he was a magazine editor and freelance writer. “I’m still working on it,” is how he answered the question on his greatest accomplishment since high school. His favorite memories of Burbank High include “Lots of good friends and many excellent teachers. Luckily, a faltering memory helps me forget the more embarrassing/stupid/’thoughtless things I did. (Also, luckily, we did not have Facebook, Twitter, etc., to save those unwanted memories.) Appreciate my teachers more and more as I grow older (even the ones who seemed not to like me.) Love corresponding with former teachers via email and seeing them at reunions.”

LARRY LEWIS’s favorite Burbank High memory is graduating! He received a Bachelor of Science and is almost retired—spends his time remodeling his house, skiing, sailing, and traveling. His significant other is Jean, whom he met when an old boyfriend introduced them. Since Burbank, Larry has lived in Hawaii, Mammoth Lakes and currently calls Laguna Beach home. He says that his greatest accomplishments have been qualifying as a worldwide sailing captain, a world class ski and snowboarder, a wine connoisseur and a builder of buildings.

LARRY MARAK is a third-generation Burbank homeowner. He met his wife, Melissa BHS’72 at Valley College at a German Club function. They have been married 42 years, no children. Larry received his BA at SFVSC (now called California State University Northridge), and a Master’s from UCLA in 978. He retired December 2015 from Burbank Water and Power and is active in his church and in board wargaming. His greatest accomplishment since high school has been visiting ancient sites all over the world and seeing a total solar eclipse at Foz do Iguasso. He remembers the excitement of reading Latin for the first time at Burbank High.

SHARON MEARES COMMINS met her husband, Steve, at UCLA on a blind date and they have been married 44 years. Steve is Associate Director for Global Public Affairs and Lecturer in Urban Planning at the Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA. His job involves traveling and they have had fabulous trips abroad (and more than once) to Great Britain, Australia and Belize. They have a daughter, Melanie, who is a writer and activist. Their son, Justin, is a soccer coach who also works with special needs kids. They have three cats and one dog—a pittie—all rescues. Sharon writes: “The dog is a princess. She saved my daughter’s life when we had a house fire back in 2010. She gets whatever she wants for the rest of her life. We also lost two cats in that fire so our present trio are spoiled beyond belief. Oh, and the very fat and lazy turtles in our backyard pond.” She graduated from UCLA with a BA in Anthropology in 1972.  Read more …

PATTI (TRISH) MOLLOY VOSPER met her husband, Bill, at church, were engaged three months later and have been married for 43 years. They have two children who are both married so now claim four children. Kristie and her husband David live in Calabasas. Kristie works for Compassion International and David in Finance. Greg and his wife July live in Cardiff by the Sea, he has his own business growing and selling low water plants. They have two amazing children Lily (4) and Clark (2). She attended Pierce College and graduated with a BA in Psychology then completed an Elementary Education Credential. She is now retired and works out at the Burbank YMCA, spends time with grandchildren, travels, reads, and volunteesr with Jobs Daughters Bethel 97 here in Burbank and with a group in Arcadia. Trish taught in the Burbank Unified School District for 32 years, with 26 years at Emerson Elementary! She had the pleasure of investing in teaching many children and parents over the years. Her proudest accomplishment is her family, her children and grandchildren. She remembers the 1967 Burbank/Burroughs game, Backwards Dance, Dance Performance, Prom. Disneyland, Mr Hall and choir, and many friends!!

BONNIE MOODY RAPP met her husband Dave Rapp, a John Burroughs student, while they were both working at KFC. Somehow they got past the rivalry, even though Dave threatened to lock her into the freezer. They have 2 children, both of whom are teachers, 3 grandchildren and 1 great-granddaughter. Read more …

DEBBIE MYERS SCHMIDT met John Schmidt at Grace Community Church and has been married for 36 years. Their son Jeff is 34 and has 4 children – Jordan/15, Braydon/9, Emmalyn/7, Camden/4. He is not only a superintendent for Centrex Construction but is, at this moment, fighting wildfires at Taylor Creek fires on the Rogue River as part of the Army National Guard. Their son Stephen is 32 and “is our cancer thriver. He went through Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a senior in high school and now works in the pharmacy at Kaiser in oncology. Weston/4 1/2, Raegan/2, Ryder Kensley will be born right before the reunion – so that I can still come. :-)” She writes that “Growing up when we all did I paid no attention to long-term goals and how those things we all ate would make a difference in my life later on…..The knowledge I have gained in the relationship between nutrition and disease/or lack of it is invaluable. I also have come to love building relationships and connecting people in business. When you love what you do it’s not really a job— what is important is building relationships and connections.” She says her greatest accomplishment is “Giving my life to Jesus Christ – raising our sons.” Her favorite memory is “Coming to school early in curlers for drill team and flags—NOT!” She also remembers newspaper drives.

BETSEY NASH met Marci Powers while playing on the Hot’n Tots softball team in 1966. Marci was older and had just graduated from Bellarmine so they’d never met before. They became fast friends that summer; Betsey went back to school and Marci got married. Fast forward 24 years and Betsey got a message from Marci asking whatever became of her. Marci was living in Thousand Oaks and Betsey was in Shell Beach so they reunited in Santa Barbara a few weeks later, and have been together ever since. Read more …

RICK NYBERG met his wife Joyce Hawkins in 1969 in an English class in college, making for almost a 50 year relationship and a 47 year marriage. They have two sons. “I would love to report in on a gaggle of grandchildren, but our two sons are not cooperating in the matter. I have begged them to consider not waiting till I am too old to take grandkids backpacking. Read more …

JANET OGLE KAMI met her husband, Mark Kami in Santa Cruz, 22 years ago. They have two dogs: a French Brittany and Shiba Inu. Janet is a sole practitioner Certified Public Accountant in Wyoming and balances work with ultra trail running and playing in the College Symphonic Band. She says her greatest accomplishment since high school is “Maturing.”

KATHY O’RELL SCHAEDLER has been married to Gary Schaedler BHS’65 since February 1969, meaning that they have been married for 49 years! They were introduced in April 1968 by fellow classmate DiAnna Morris Hawkins. They have a 42-year-old daughter, Jennifer who has been married for 18 years but has no children—she “will always be the light of our lives.” Kathy has lived in Burbank her whole life and worked for the Burbank Unified School District from 1968-2005 when she retired. Husband Gary retired at the same time after 30+ years in the movie industry doing special effects. They stay busy doing many things: traveling with their fifth wheel; going to car shows with their 1956 Chevrolet pickup; plus they are active in the Kiwanis for Fun Foundation in Burbank and are members of the Road Kings, Warner Bros. Retirees Club and work with the Aktion Club of Burbank. Kathy feels that her greatest accomplishment since high school is “having a successful and loving marriage with my best friend and raising our daughter together.”

SUSAN (SUE) PARKER EASLEY has been married to John Easley since 1969, making it 49 years of marriage on September 27. They met during her senior year while he was at Navy training school in Vallejo CA. After spending 30 years in the Navy, moving around every three years, they settled near Pensacola, FL for retirement. Read more …

KAREN PARRISH RAPPORT met her husband, Chick Rapport, in the fall of 1970, while undergrads at San Diego State. His roommate and her roommate were close friends from the same city. They have been married since April, 1974 and have “3 beautiful, awesome daughters ( and 3 great sons-in-law), and 10 grand children, so far, ( 7 boys and 3 girls), Read more …

GEORGE PARSONS has been married to wife, Kathy, for 37 years, whom he met in grad school. They enjoy traveling, especially on Viking cruises. They have three sons, Blake (34) in Bellingham, Ross (31) in Brooklyn, and Jonathan (27) in nearby Portland. No grandkids yet. They also have a troublesome terrier named Henry. Read more …

RANDY PRESCOTT. Randy now lives in Alexandria, VA. He has been married to Diane Marie Prescott for 30 years—they met at Jet Propulsion Laboratory where she was a CalTech Software Engineer. Altogether he has five children: four daughters and one son. His oldest daughter, Tracy, received a PhD in PT from USC. … Read more …

JANET ROBBINS THOMSEN has two daughters, Dana and Christina,  and three grandchildren: 2 girls and a boy, plus a Shih Tzu named Snuggles who was a retirement gift and is queen of the house. Her youngest daughter is married to a twin and they have 3 wonderful children, ages 5, 9 and 11 and two Saint-Bernards. Janet studied to be a teacher, earning four different teaching credentials. She attended California State University at Northridge, earning a Home Economics degree and credential. She taught at John Muir Middle School for 10 years, moved to Simi Valley, then went back to Northridge where she earned a Reading Specialist Credential. She again went back to school where she earned a Business Education credit all. She worked at Simi Valley High School from 1990 -2013, teaching Accounting, Recordkeeping, Computer Keyboarding and Virtual Enterprise. Daughter Christina followed in Janet’s footsteps and is a teacher. While working on her credential she was a guest teacher for Janet, and then when Janet retired, she was a guest teacher for her daughter. This year, there were three generations working in Janet’s granddaughter’s classroom. Janet’s oldest daughter, Dana, is a pet lover, especially cats. She enjoys traveling and fell in love with Alaska. Now she’s retired and spends her time volunteering in her grandchildren’s classrooms, in addition to quilting, traveling, and taking day trips with friends. “Retirement is wonderful. I’ve traveled some and hope to do more in the future. For the last 5 years I have worked in my grandchildren’s classrooms. I attend a weekly Shepherding group at my church. I love to sew and started to quilt 3 years before I retired, I belong to the Sew Busy Quilters at Simi Valley High School , which create baby quilts for the staff newborns, and beautiful opportunity quilts which earn money for scholarships, for graduating seniors. To date, $13,000 has been given to our seniors. My greatest accomplishment since high school would be completing my education and becoming a teacher. I enjoyed being being in the classroom, imparting information, and watching the students take and use the information and grow in knowledge and becoming wonderful adults.”  Her favorite memories of Burbank High include Friday night football games, going to Bob’s after the games, the dances, Prom and Grad night.

DALE RUBIN went to law school and became a criminal defense attorney. He is only semi-retired and can’t seem to walk away. He has been married to his wife, Lydia, for 33 years and they have 4 children together, 2 girls, 2 boys, all college graduates and thankfully working. Dale and his wife also have a four-year-old beagle named Gibbs. He feels that his greatest accomplishment since high school are his children. He says “they are all brilliant and take after their mother.” His favorite memory of Burbank High was working on the school newspaper, Hi-Life.

NORM SABIN met his wife Pat at a friend’s house in Glendale and has been married for 43 years (in February). They have three children, Daris, Kelsey and Zak, and two grandchildren with twins on the way in May. They also have two great-grandchildren, Judah and Luke, born in January. Norm went to the University of Colorado and Emory Riddle where he obtained a Bachelor of Science. He got a law degree from Read more …

GREG SANDERS took a long and winding road through BA, MA and PsyD and works full-time as a psychologist, adjunct professor and is in private practice on the Hawaiian island of Lana’i. He married Peggy Hahn in 1969 and divorced in 1974. He married Sharon Liden in 2000. He has two daughters, one son and five grandkids—all healthy, wealthy and wise! After graduating from Burbank High, he lived in Little Creek, Read more …

CAROL SANDOR met her domestic partner in October 1977 at a barbecue gathering in Ventura. She has a bonded-certified pharmacy technician license but is now is fully retired after 30 years with the Ventura County Medical Center.  She spends time sharing summer/winter backyard garden harvests, exploring new sights (traveling), is fighting back health issues (weight), and is keeping up with the Joneses by putting in new recycled sod! She likes making and keeping kindred spirits with classmates.

BOB SANFILIPPO has been married to his wife, Linda, for 34 years. They met at church. They don’t have any grandkids yet, but their oldest, Brian, is a drug and alcohol counselor in Jefferson City, MO where he graduated from Lincoln University. His younger brother is married and is a fireman/paramedic in Richardson, TX, just outside of Dallas. Bob and Linda have a crazy and lovable Springer Spaniel, their 5th Springer in 30+ years, who loves the snow in winter and swimming in the Spokane River that runs behind their house. Bob graduated from UC Irvine in 1972, and became a CFP with a “mediocre” career until he retired 2 years ago. He now plays with the dog and does a little traveling. His wife retired a couple of months ago so now things will be more interesting.

BARBARA SEBERN ROWE met Robert Rowe in New Hampshire in 1984 at a Christmas party. Five years later they married and raised his two daughters together. He worked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. After his retirement they did a little traveling to other states though mainly to his family cottage on Lake Sunapee in the center of NH. Read more …

JOHN (CHRIS) SENGERS met his wife, Donnita, when he sold his Porsche to a pilot living in Texas. He drove to Texas to complete the sale, where Donnita was working for his cousin. They were married a year and a half later—and that was 36 years ago. They have four really great grandkids: “2 are handsome, 2 are pretty, all are smart and curious.” He is still working as a corporate jet mechanic and says about his post-secondary education: “Don’t do what I did.”

SALLIE SHELTON THOMAS married a classmate, John Thomas ’68, whom she met at graduation and were married September 11, 1969. John died in June of 2013, three months before their 44th wedding anniversary. They have two sons, Kory, who lives in Ojai, CA and Toby, who is in Redwood City, CA. Sallie has a pet desert tortoise which she’s had for over 35 years. She was enrolled for a year at Cal State University Northridge before she was married. After having children, she returned to school, taking classes at Valley Junior College, Mission Junior College then back to CSUN as an Early Childhood Development Major. Now she is happily retired although she had a job she truly enjoyed. In 1975 she began teaching at Burbank First United Methodist Church Nursery School and in 1990, was asked to replace the retiring director. She remained in that position until her retirement in September 2006. She wrote: “I have always felt if I could make a difference in someone’s life I would have fulfilled my reason for being on this earth. I was honored to have a career where I was able to have a positive impact on children and families. I have remained friends with many of those families and enjoy seeing my former students graduating high school, going off to college and starting families of their own.”However, her greatest accomplishment has been her children. They are very different from one another and she loves their individual personalities. They have both grown into caring, compassionate men that she is proud of. Thinking back to Burbank High School, she remembers fondly drill team, football games, Friday nights at Bob’s, cruising Hollywood Blvd., good friends and lots of laughter!

STEVE SIEGEL met Lissa Thompson on eHarmony 10 years ago. The two of them combined have four wonderful children and seven grandkids. He says he can’t stop learning: he has an MA in Educational Psychology, MSOD in Organizational Learning, plus “much learning by the seat of my pants!” Steve is semi-retired and is currently writing a book about corporate culture, facilitating groups of teachers and teens at the Museum of Tolerance, and becoming a CASA volunteer. He still does part-time business consulting. He says his greatest accomplishment has been to start a school, preschool and summer camp in Agoura Hills, serving thousands of kids for more than twenty years. He remembers attempting card stunts at football games at Burbank High.

MARIANNE SIVICK LAIR sold Ronald Lair an office chair twenty years ago and they still have the chair! Sadly, Ronald passed away on May 17, 2015. They had no children, but have had as many as 7 dogs and a cat in bed with them over the years. Now it’s just 3 dogs and 2 cats. She has lived in Las Vegas, NV and in Austin, TX for the last 32 years. She attends dog shows in her retirement—her greatest accomplishment has been showing her dog, Winston, a Yorkshire terrier.

FRED LEE STENSON retired in 2008 and again in 2012 but got bored and needed a project. He has a Sailing Master’s license and takes groups sailing around the world, in addition to working as a home builder. He is most proud of having the ability to mentor several young people in the construction industry. Read more …

DONNA SWEDBERG received a Bachelor’s degree in English from San Diego State and a Master’s degree in Library Science from San Jose State University. She has lived in Santa Cruz County since 1976. She retired several years ago and is active in several organizations, including a women’s service organization called Soroptimist. She has been a member for 30 years and serves as their treasurer and webmaster. When she is not busy with that, she loves to research genealogy, make jewelry, read and play on her computer. One of her greatest accomplishments is having worked for theSanta Cruz Public Libraries for 35 years before retiring. Most of that time she was a reference librarian at the largest branch in downtown Santa Cruz. By the time she retired, she was supervising the reference department at the Central Branch and co-managing the branch with my counterparts in the Children’s Department and the Circulation Department. Another accomplishment would be owning her condo in Capitola. She has lived in it for 30 years and paying off the mortgage was a day to celebrate!

TONIA SZILAGI MAPSTON was married 45-1/2 years to Darrell Mapston, who died November 16, 2015. She is engaged to George Frigerio ’68 since May 16, 2018 and they have planned a wedding in Texas on May 23, 2019. She has four daughters: Danielle and Tara, Iowa … Nicole and Tiffany, Oregon … eight grandchildren, four girls, four boys, ages 3-17, another grandson due 1/6/19. She has a pet, Bailey, a 12-year-old golden cockapoo granddog who lives with her on the hill in the country on her two acres, 22 miles west of Portland, OR, 45 minutes from the coast. Tonia received a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon in Psych/Soc/Anthro! Plus she took some grad school courses. She is “retired and loving it” as of 6/19/14, and spends her time traveling in and out of the country, visiting children and grandchildren, relatives and friends. She also spends time remodeling her home in Banks, OR which she and her husband built in 1975-1976. She is now busy planning her wedding in Texas next spring, in addition to a two month cross country honeymoon and George’s move to Banks, OR. As for favorite memories of Burbank High, she writes: “Lots! It was also all good! But now that I am engaged to old friend and classmate George Frigerio, I would have to say how he pestered me constantly in the Biology Lab Office, where I was working diligently for Mr. Buckner, when he was supposed to be delivering AV films to classrooms! Pest! LOL!”

TOM TANKSLEY now lives in Las Vegas. He writes: “Your latest probe hit me at a time when I had already been thinking about the past and feeling very fortunate. I want to take this opportunity, probably long overdue, to express my gratitude to the class of ’68 and to Burbank itself for what it meant in that part of my life. Read more … 

JANET TEAGUE has no spouse or significant other but enjoys spending time with friends and family as often as possible. She has had “wet pets” —pond fish, primarily large goldfish. She did both undergraduate and graduate studies in Spanish at California State University, Northridge, with additional studies at the University of Granada and the University of Madrid, in Spain. She became an early retiree, unexpectedly, when she became my mother’s full-time, live-in caregiver, until her death several years ago, Now, she participates in a variety of activities in the community where I live (Beaumont, CA). She excelled in university studies in Spanish, made the Dean’s List, and was given the opportunity to study at the University of Granada, Spain, became a charter member of Phi Beta Delta, an honor society for international scholars, graduated with honors from CSUN, and did graduate studies in Spanish at CSUN and at the University of Madrid, Spain. All of this led to an opportunity to teach Spanish at CSUN, working with professors who had been her mentors. She enjoyed my studies, especially in Spanish, and had a great opportunity to tutor students from various Latin American Countries in English, while learning about their countries and cultures. She also enjoyed attending football games and having fun with friends at Bob’s Big Boy after the games.

JANENE VERGE FERGUSON met her husband John C. Ferguson ’67 at Burbank High whom she describes as “super handsome baseball player.” They met at the Westward Ho restaurant after a Backwards Dance sitting at a round table for 5 couples. Janene was a junior and John was a senior and both were with other dates. Read more …

CAROL THOMPSON COOKE STEPHENSON WALTER was Carol Thompson at Thomas Jefferson and John Muir Jr. High; and at Burbank High School she was Carol Cooke. She met her husband, Dave, at the mailbox (“We were neighbors!”). Her son Jim would have been 53 this year, but passed away in 1995. “He was a handsome and very sweet man,” and a father of two. Carol’s oldest daughter Julie has been an RN for 20 years, and lives in Oregon with 2 children. Her youngest lives in Palmdale and works for Northrop. Carol was born in Burbank and moved to Santa Clarita where she is retired and does a lot of crafts, hobbies and gardening. She feels her greatest accomplishment was being married and having her first child at age 15, then having her third child at age 41! Being at Burbank High and taking care of a baby was hard, but she had a lot of fun, and learned a lot about life.

JODI TILLOTSON HUDDLESTON (widowed) has four kids, two boys, two girls, 11 grandchildren 3-1/2 great-grandchildren and 2 cats! Since graduation, she has lived in Glendale, Simi Valley, Moorpark, and now Fort Collins, CO since 1993. She attended San Fernando Valley State College  (now known as Cal State University at Northridge) and worked at CSU for 4 years in the Physics Department. She is still working and provides support for Damage Recovery for Enterprise Rent A Car. She is most proud of her kids (of course!) and has no bad memories of Burbank High—mostly were good.

JOHN TODORA met his wife Liliana Vargas in Mr. Laris’ Spanish 3 class in 1967—they were married in 1973 which makes 45 years. They have two children, Susan and John Jr., and two grandchildren, Frankie and David, and one mutt dog, Sunny. Their Rottweiler mix, Buck, just passed away. John graduated from Cal State University Northridge in 1972. He is now retired, “doing as little as possible.” His greatest accomplishment since Burbank High has been his family, and managing the best paper company in Southern California in 15 years. His favorite memory of Burbank High was meeting his wife, Lily.

ELIZABETH “BETTY JO” TOTH ROBERTS met her husband Carl Roberts at Marie Callendar’s Pie Schop in Burbank on San Fernando Road. She was a part-time waitress working her way through college (Cal State Northridge), and Carl transferred in as the new Restaurant Manager. They started dating in late 1969 and married September 25, 1971. They just celebrated their 47th anniversary. They have two sons, Eric, age 38, and Marc, Age 33. Both are working full-time, very athletic and continue to play baseball. They also love fishing and their parents’ passion for traveling. “No grandchildren yet, but we’re hopeful. Maybe someday. They have 3 cockatiels and 2 box turtles, all rescues. Betty Jo attended Fullerton Junior College and Cal State Northridge, got her Associate of Arts Degree in Teaching, Series 6 and 23 FINRA Licenses. Betty Jo has been a corporate conference planner for Pacific Life Insurance Company in Newport Beach for the past 25 years—she is still working full time with no immediate plans for retirement. Hobbies are traveling with friends, gardening, and reading when time permits. They are always remodeling and decorating their home. Personally, her greatest accomplishments have been raising two amazing sons; being married to a great guy for 47 years; and having the honor of being a caregiver to her beloved (now deceased) parents and mother-in-law. Professionally, she feels she has had a fabulous career that has afforded her many unique opportunities for personal and professional growth plus traveling to unique destinations. In August she received the 2018 Employe of the Year Appreciation Award and she believes her greatest accomplishments are still yet to come.

JAMES VILLASENOR met Beverly Myers (BHS’70) on a blind date and now has been married for 42 years. They have two sons, two daughters with one grandson and 4 granddaughters. James got his AA degree on the G.I. bill after serving in the USN for four years. {1968-72} He retired in 2013 as a P.W. Supervisor for City of Burbank. He enjoyed seeing much of South East Asia while in the Navy, raising his family and grandkids, and likes being able to enjoy retirement.

KAREN WALTHER BERG met Larry Berg, her husband of 25 years. They met at the youth group at Emmanuel Lutheran Church when they were 15 or 16 but got together in 1993 after her previous marriage ended. She has some great grand nephews and a grand niece and a German shepherd named Trey and two tuxedo kitties named Izzy and Willy. She went to LA Valley college, then got a Bachelors of Education at the University of Hawaii, and did a 5th year at UC Irvine. She is now retired but still does subbing occasionally in the bilingual elementary school where she was employed. Her greatest accomplishment was “raising a wonderful son and writing a bilingual ebook. She writes: “I really enjoyed high school, no really bad memories. I especially enjoyed the dances. I think I went to them all, except for our prom. Should have bit the bullet and stayed with THAT guy till after prom🤣 !”

KEVIN WHITE has been married to his wife Pegeen for 29 years. They have 3 daughters 4 grandkids, “all awesome even including the 2 son in laws.” They also have a “big black lab and cat who owns the big black lab.” Kevin calls his post-secondary education “lacking,” and he and Pegeen have lived in Studio City and Santa Barbara for 38 years. He is recently retired and figuring it out; doing lots of road biking. His greatest accomplishment since high school is his family. Of Burbank High, Kevin remembers cutting classes and going to Zuma Beach with friends on a warm school day—out of the box for someone who usually followed the rules.

WAYNE WILLETTE retired from the practice of law in 1995. His wife, Lesli, and he purchased a beachfront home on the North Shore of Oahu in 2009 where they currently live. Their eldest daughter, Jordan, just recently passed the AZ  and CA bars and is currently practicing law in Arizona. Their youngest daughter, Blair is enrolled a pharmacology and cancer biology PHD program at Duke University. Due to prior commitments, regrettably, Wayne and his wife will be unable to attend the October 2018 Reunion.

JOHN WRAY met his wife, Donna Canzoneri, on the bus to the first football game of senior year, 50 years ago. They have been married 46 years. They have two daughters: Jaisha, 36, who lives in DC, and works for the State Department. She is currently assigned to the National Security Council at the White House. Karleen, 30, lives in El Segundo and works at UCLA Reagan Hospital in the Pediatric Operating room as a Child Life Specialist. They have no pets. John attended Pierce College, San Luis Obispo and got a degree at Cal State Northridge in speech communication. He is now retired after 36 years with the Glendale Fire Department, and spends his time fishing, refereeing basketball, football and soccer. His favorite memory of Burbank High was getting to do senior year with Donna.