I still own Airfoil Impellers, a cast aluminum fan manufacturer here in Texas, where I've worked for over 30 years now. Time flies when you are having fun. At the same time, I've been a heavy investor in the stock market. I was writing a book on investing that was almost ready for publication, then the October meltdown of the financial market hit like the sting of a bee, and the book was garbage. I still have it on the computer, and making revisions almost daily. We'll have to see what happens over the next couple of years.

I'm still divorced, have two sons, 26 & 14 (imagine that! 12 years between kids) and still have a better relationship with the ex now that we're divorced. We still have a close relationship, and agreed that the kids would always come first. Seems to work! The 26 year old (John) is fulfilling his dream in Computer Animation. He has worked on big screen films like Everyone's Hero, Shrek, Enchanted, and The Wild just to name a few. What a thrill to be in the theater, and watch the credits to see your son's name on the big screen.

Seth, my 14 year old is also artistically talented. He is also into cameras, and asked if he could come to the reunion to take pictures. So everyone smile when he hits you up for your picture. He is doing it for Ellen, so she can take life easier this year.

After living here for 32 years I have not found any replacements for the two longest words in the Texas Language, which are "sheeeeeeeeeeeet" and "godaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam". See Y'all in Columbus!

CATHY BUSBY - My family moved to California when I was 16, so I didn't graduate from UAHS, but I grew up there (Wickliffe, Hastings and UAHS). I was one of a pack of girls who did everything together, and some of my fondest memories are of our Girl Scout troop (not considered "cool" in junior high but we had too much fun to care). I am planning to see many of those "girls" at the 40th reunion. I also hope that those who can't make it will see this posting and email me.

1967 was a great year to move to California, and although I cried nonstop for my Arlington friends the entire first year, I quickly got into the lifestyle of sunshine, beaches, hiking, fresh fruits and veggies, and the LA music scene. After graduating from a gigantic open-air-campus high school, I had a few years as a free spirit in the coastal canyons of southern California, riding horses by day and exploring the jazz-rock fusion scene by night. Then I decided I needed to find a discipline I could focus on. Geology has been my passion ever since.

I got to Berkeley after all the excitement had died down, but it was still a fun place to get a BS degree, and it was super-intense academically. I paid my own way through college by giving haircuts to dogs. From there I got a fellowship to go "Ivy League" for a PhD at Princeton. The proximity to NYC also allowed me to informally study the ballet world at one of its greatest zeniths ever. Now my oldest daughter is a dance critic. My PhD research consisted largely of back-packing in Sequoia National Park, making geologic maps. I was lucky enough to get a professorship straight out of graduate school, so I had tenure in the bag when I gave birth to my three children (in my late 30's). A brush with death at 40 (breast cancer) made me more determined than ever to live life big.

I have been on the faculty at the University of California at Santa Barbara for 26 years now. I take students and other professionals on field excursions into remote areas all over the world, and I like volcanoes the best. I really wish there were a lot more women in my field, but I would choose field geology all over again anyway. My three daughters are my happiest and greatest achievement, but Earth exploration is my biggest interest. I am a total travel nut. We just got back from a sabbatical year in Granada, Spain, taking flamenco dance lessons and improving our Spanish (oh yes, and studying rocks). Please visit my geology website here. See you at the reunion!

VICKI DOWNS McCULLOUCH: It all started with a terrible year in the 6th grade with a teacher named Mrs. McQuire (I'll tell you about it sometime), I fell behind in schooling and eventually failed the 8th grade. In the summer of 1969, however, I took summer-school and I managed to catch up and graduate in 1969. It was such an embarassment to have failed the 8th grade that I was determined to finish with the class of people that I had gone from Wickcliffe, to Fishinger, to Hastings, and finally to U.A. with.

After graduating, I went to Ohio State School of Cosmetology. During that year of schooling, I met my husband to be (Rich Roman). I was married July of 1971 and graduated a month or two later from cosmo. school. I worked as a cosmetologist until I started having children in 1974. We had 7 children (6 boys and 1 girl) and were married for 33 yrs. We split up in 2004,and I was divorced from him in 2006 (his choice), and met a wonderful man (Ed McCullouch). After dating for 2 and a half years we married in September of 2007. He is a 20 year Navy Vet, divorced with 3 older children. He is a truck driver for MBM Customized Food.

After being a stay-at-home mom for 13 years (in my first marriage), my license had expired for my cosmetology (I didn't know, because we had moved and they lost track of me), I began working part-time for Lawn Surgeon as a secretary (14 years now), Victoria's Secret as a material handler (14 years) , and Skyline (11 years) as a server. I also play (rhythm guitar and sing) in a rock band called "Hilljax n Jillz" and I drag race a '72 bigblock Nova. Ed got me into the drag racing thing in '05, and I'm addicted. We have no children at home, so we come and go as we please and have a great time traveling in our RV, going to dragstrips, and doing gigs with the band. Life is good! Especially because we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!

PATRICK DYNES Being involved in organizing our UAHS Class of 1969 35-year reunion has confronted me with trying to understand the importance of place in my life. I have lived in Columbus/Upper Arlington for half of my life and have spent the other half of my life elsewhere. I have concluded that my growing up in Upper Arlington, and what I learned about how people should treat one another and what is important in life, has been the most important influence on my adult life. This conclusion about the importance of place on the way I approach the world and life is not a surprise to me.Probably the most significant event of my early life was during the year when I would have been 8th grader at Jones Junior High, I spent the year at in Cairo, Egypt with my family while my father was a teacher at an Eqyptian University and with the United Nations. Although my suburban Upper Arlington life was my baseline for all I knew about life, and frankly continues to supply me my core values, this international experience really influenced me to want to explore different cultures. Ever since that year I have created opportunities to travel in other cultures either as a tourist or via business travel. I have learned lots in these other places and one of the most important things I have learned is that I still judge the quality of life in each place I visit or live against the Upper Arlington standard. I have learned what a high standard it is and how charmed our early lives were. Looking back my only regret in high school was that I did not play sports because when I did play team sports later in life I created friendships that continue and will endure for a life time. Like many other classmates I went to Ohio State, finished in 1973 and went on to Indiana University for graduate school. After receiving a Masters Degree Philosophy there it was time to get a career and I came back to Ohio State in 1976 and enrolled in the School of Public Policy and Management. I finished in 1979, moved to Washington, DC, and went on to work at the U.S. General Accounting Office--a congressional support agency that prepares reports for congressional committees. It has been a good fit for my ecclectic interests and I'm still there after 25 years. Most of my career I have worked on financial services issues--international finance, banking, securities, and insurance. My education in the Upper Arlington School system was really first rate and I think that much of my success, approach to life, and satisfaction can be attributed to my upbringing there. I have lived in various neighborhoods in Washington, DC, northern Virginia, and Los Angeles in the second half of my life and in each of these communities I am always judging the quality of life by how it compares to Upper Arlington. Patrick has been taken out of Upper Arlington but the Upper Arlington will never be taken out of Patrick!

UPDATE 2008: OK, it's time to be reflective and update the autobiography that I wrote 5 years ago. I'm hoping I will not write anything that no one wants to hear or that swerves into bogusness. I have reread many of my classmate's autobiographies and am challenging my facile brain by creating this update. I'm so proud of my class mates because all of you seem to be doing great. We were given much and much was expected of us. There were some big brains in our class. One thing I am sure of is that I am worried about the security of our country now that Ken Pfeiffer has retired from our military-Columbus may be sacked soon. Most have had multiple jobs, lived in many places, and alas more than one spouse. Many original marriages seem to have ended. How did love's majesty evaporate? As we get older I think most of us do a better job of adjusting our expectations about what is going to happen in life. Perhaps we get better at admitting our ability to control events around us is lower than we would like. Someone said that the greatest lies are told before the marriage, after the hunt, and before the election. I believe this person. My life, or journey of discovery, thankfully continues. In my autobiography written for our 35th reunion, like most of you, I talked about my educational matriculation, international travel, and how my experiences growing up in Upper Arlington determined how I view the world. Glad I wrote it because someone who was unbiased would not be as effusive as I could be about myself. This is the beauty of autobiography. Real biography is the revenge of small people on big people. But like a stone in a river of time, I have changed. In spite of what I am writing here I, as a matter of principle, try not to be self-absorbed or prone to hyperbole. So how am I different now that I have aged 5 more years? I see the answer to this question every day when I look in the mirror and get on the scale. I feel like I'm playing a bit part in some low budget vampire movie. Yikes! If anyone has any good ideas about how to slow down the deterioration and increasing girth I am all ears. Let me ask you this-why are overeating and alcohol the preferred means of escape? My life's drama has had its share of comedy, farce, and luckily very little tragedy. I would characterize it as La Dolce Vita. By this I mean the sweet life and not the movie-although come to think of it from what little I remember about the movie I would like to be standing next to Anita Ekberg as she jumps in the Trevi fountain in Rome. See, having a big imagination can be a good thing. I think I am in denial that I am 57 because I don't think I am ready to enter the last stage of my life-our post-season. Increasing age has certainly brought on nostalgia. I'm already reading way too many obituaries and thinking that I am more virtuous because I outlived that guy or that this guy's life was much more interesting than mine. If I could change myself to be the younger me I would as long as I could bring what I know now with me. But, alas, I can't. Someone said that when you get old it is what is inside that matters and people stop caring about how you look. That guy was lying! I'm really enjoying learning from others around me and seeing my children grow and develop their own personalities. Luckily their personalities seem well balanced. Have I been successful in my quotidian life? When answering this question it is useful to have multiple measures of success because if you score low on one measure you can just conveniently ignore that one. I love checking back in with my tribal homeland in Upper Arlington to see what is going on! Even though it looks physically much the same, I know the people have changed and grown wiser. Sometimes at night between sleep and awake I can go through the door into my childhood in Upper Arlington and everything is as it was-people, sights, and sounds. Our 40th reunion is a time for celebration. Like a bird flying home for the winter I find comfort in coming home too.

KATHY HART SIGRIST I graduated from Kenyon College in 1973 with a BA in Psych. and was married in August 1974. Chuck and I have 3 sons. Our youngest son (23) was married in 2008 – it is a thrill for me to have a daughter-in-law I dearly love. David & Katie live in Wisconsin where David is attending Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (to be a Lutheran pastor). Our 2 older sons live in Arlington, VA. Stephen (28) is sr. research associate at Investment Company Institute in DC and working toward PhD (Economics) at George Mason Univ. Michael (32) teaches Philosophy at George Washington Univ. and is scheduled to defend his dissertation in August; he is engaged so next summer I look forward to gaining another beautiful daughter-in-law. My husband retired last year. Next month we will celebrate our 35th anniversary in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida (our honeymoon spot).

Even though my body tells me I am not 18 anymore -- I am having trouble comprehending it’s been 40 years since I graduated from UAHS! It is fascinating to read about the varied and interesting paths my classmates have traveled during those 40 years. A big thank-you to Ellen for keeping up our class’ great website and to those who contribute to it. I will not be able to attend this reunion, but hope to make it to the next reunion. In the meantime I will keep up with class news via the website. (How DID we live without internet?)

We do not have any children. We raise and train dogs. Originally, we raised and trained Alaskan Malamutes, the big sled dogs. Although they were always our pets first, they were show dogs, sled dogs and did weight pulls. The dogs got old, passed away and we just got older! From there we started raising and training guide dogs for the blind. In a job interview, a perspective employer asked what have I done in my life that I am most proud of and I told her raising and training guide dogs. I still think that is what secured the job offer! We have trained 8 dogs and I'm very happy to say all 8 became working guide dogs which is above the national average as only about 40% become working guides.

We moved to Tucson in 2000. We dearly miss family and friends, but we love the weather! Don't feel bad for us when you hear on the national weather that it is 112 in Phoenix as Tucson is generally 10 degrees cooler. The heat isn't all that bad because the humidity is single digit unlike Ohio with 80 degree temps but 90+ humidity. There is nothing better than mornings and evenings during the summer in the desert.

BETH MADDEN SALIMBENE I just wanted you to know that Jim and I officially retired from the Wendy's business after being franchisees for 18 years. We sold all of our restaurants and now have to decide what we want to be when we grow up:) We will celebrate our 25th anniversary in 2007. Wow, time goes fast! I also wanted to give you and my fellow classmates an update on our children. Nicholas (22 years) was commissioned into The United States Army as a 2nd LT. by Senator John McCain at the OSU graduation in June. He will leave for Ft. Benning this Friday, with hopes of pursuing Rangers or Special Forces. He is scheduled to leave for Korea next year.

Michael graduated from The American Musical & Dramatic Academy last month and will begin touring with The American Family Tours as Bob Cratchit in "A Christmas Carol: The Musical." This is a children's theater group, so if anyone is interested in attending, I can provide the cities and dates and perhaps complimentary tickets. He will tour NY, NJ, PA, OH, LA, MS, NM, and TX. Presently he is appearing in a Broadway Workshop (there were 550 auditions only about 10 actor/singers selected for the cast) in Sleepy Hollow: The Musical Adaptation at the York Theater on Nov. 2nd. Michael will also appear in Law & Order Criminal Intent with Vincent D'Nofrio (he plays a disgruntled teenager) this season and regular Law & Order. He also completed a movie called Gracie, directed by Reese Witherspoon, which will be out in spring 2007.
Mary Elizabeth (Michael's twin) is a sophomore in pre-med at The University of Dayton, where she is being trained as an EMT and is even driving the ambulances, which we find hysterical since all of us are a bit afraid to drive with Mary:) She has been shadowing physicians in the Columbus area and working at the OSU Madden Center of Excellence for Parkinson's Disease (which my parents founded) during her summers. I would love to hear from any and all classmates. Life is short and way too precious not to hear from old friends. God bless you all.

JULIE MAY JONES I still live in Upper Arlington. I have taught school for many years in Columbus Public, and in Upper Arlington; in regular ed. and in special ed. Presently I'm teaching a first grader at home for Southwestern Schools. He has a rare medical condition and will never be able to attend public school.I am increasingly interested in child advocacy issues as they pertain to special education services. I met my husband ,Everett, when we attended Capital University. We adopted three special needs sons-two of them with immune deficiencies.Our middle son, Zach, had an extremely rare immune deficiency and died in October of 2001 after battling three years of complications from a ruptured appendix.We miss him a lot. Oldest son ,Tim, lives and works in Grandview. Youngest son, Nat , will graduate from UAHS in 2005.He plays several Special Olympic sports, and has also played on the UA football and track teams.

2009: Here is a quick update on our last 5 years. Oldest son Tim got married in October of 2005, and he and wife ,Christy presented us with our first grand-daughter in April of 2006. Kacey is now 4 and has a little sister,Kaley, who turned 1 this past March. They live near us and we adore them. Nat graduated from UAHS in 2006,so we decided to sell our house on Guilford Road. We moved across the river to The Lakes at Mill Run and love it here. I serve on the condo board, and take care of our gardens. We like the area so much we purchased a second condo -this time at The Millington- for Nat to rent from us. I retired from teaching and work part-time at The Paper Flower at Tremont Shopping Center. It is owned by Lesley Beeson Tate.We do weddings,flowers,and custom stationary work. Come visit us!My husband Everett is still a District Manager with Huntington Bank.

JOHN NEALE

Interestingly, while I have not lived in Ohio since 1977, my Consulting business has brought me back to the state numerous times in the past decade. In 2001, I began work on a project with the Division of Oral Health (DOH) of the Ohio Department of health. Over the next two years, we created a website designed to help Safety Net Dental Clinics (i.e., non-profit clinics that serve the uninsured and Medicaid populations). The Safety Net Dental Clinic Manual at DentalClinicManual.com has been up and running since 2003 and has helped thousands of clinics around the world improve their operations. We continue to get several thousand hits on the website and several thousand downloads from it each month. I wrote and am responsible for continuously updating 2 of the 5 chapters of the manual, on Clinic Operations and on Quality Assessment, and will soon be adding a 6th chapter on Clinic Sustainability. Since 2006, I have also been working on the Oral Health Capacity Building Project, another project in partnership with the Ohio DOH and several charitable foundations in Ohio to improve the capacity and sustainability of Dental Safety Net clinics in the state. This project has brought me back to Ohio 3 to 4 times a year since then to review clinics and develop performance improvement plans to help then keep their doors open. To date, I have reviewed 17 clinics around the State serving over 200,000 people who have no other access to dental care. Remember, Oral Health Isn't Optional. My wife Susan and I have no children. We currently have 2 dogs, 1 cat, two miniature horses, three pygmy goats, and some chickens. My wife is the true animal lover in the family and volunteers as the Director of the Spay/Neuter Program for the San Juan Animal League, a local animal welfare non-profit.

In my free time, I have become a runner (I did the Columbus Marathon in 1987), bicyclist, and triathlete. In 1998, I was the Rocky Mountain Regional Masters Champion at the Olympic distance triathlon for USA Triathlon, the national sanctioning body. Last year (2008), I succeeded in crossing the #1 item off my bucket list by competing in and finishing an Ironman triathlon in Tempe, Arizona (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run).

KEN PFEIFER: Kenneth R. Pfeifer, a top performing Account Executive and Recruiter for Stone Search Services, Inc., has a long record of success in management, sales and leadership within the business community and the US Armed Forces.

Prior to beginning his career at Stone Search Services, Ken developed his client-centered approach to business in the Insurance Industry. With ten years of experience as a multi-line insurance agency owner and fifteen years in large corporate property and casualty insurance. Four of those years as a Vice President for Frank B. Hall of Ohio, Inc. the 5th largest international brokerage firm in the world. He has learned to understand the needs of small business owners and large corporate clients. Ken has many years of experience creating customized solutions which exceed the expectations of his clientele.

Ken's has successful experience recruiting management and staff professionals across industries which include Professional Services, E-Business, Software Development, and Financial Services.

During his 30 year military career, Ken earned the rank of Brigade Command Sergeant Major and has extensive Leadership Identification and Development experience. Ken's last 14 years in the Army were spent as a Command Sergeant Major, holding that position in 4 different commands, 2 battalions and 2 brigades. He was deployed from both brigade commands, first to Kosovo as the Command Sergeant Major for Task Force Medical Falcon IV, in 2001 for 8 months, and then to Ft. Polk, Lousiana in 2004 as the Command Sergeant Major for the Mobilization Training Command for 14 months. He is certified to deliver all Army non-commissioned officer Professional Leadership Development courses, and has received numerous awards and commendations including three Meritorious Service Medals and six Army Commendation Medals. Ken retired from the Army in 2007.

Ken holds an undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University, and has received his Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC) designation and he lives in Dublin with his wife Dawn and 13 year old daughter Sarah.

STEVE SIMS - I goofed off until I joined the Air Force in 1975, and ended up in Co Spgs, CO, working inside Cheyenne Mtn at NORAD as a computer repairman. I eventually received an education, being graduated from Univ of Co/Colorado Springs in 1988, with a double major (English/Interpersonal Communication), and minors in Journalism and Geology. Since graduation, I've worked as a consultant/technical writer for various companies, mainly Regional Bell Operating Companies. I've been with BellSouth (Atlanta) since 1998. I moved from Co Spgs to Denver in 1992, and lived in Littleton, CO from 1993-1995, until I "went on the road" as a contractor. I moved to GA in the summer of 1998, after working in CA for nearly two years, and AL for a year. I've been divorced since 1999, but am remarrying next month (June 12). I have two children (a son, Kai, just turned 10, and Melissa, who will be 9 in July) who still live in CO with my ex-wife. They will be with me this entire summer (here in GA). Hopefully, the courts will give me permanent custody this summer; it's been a five-year fight to gain custody. I guess this is the time to brag (as there is little else I can brag about...) During the years 1971-75, I raced motorcycles off-road (Enduros, Hare Scrambles, Trials competitions). In 1976, I tried hang-gliding--until a close friend nearly died in a hang-gliding accident. In 1977, I was certified in sky diving. From 1977-1983, I mountain climbed, and toured the U.S. and parts of Mexico by motorcycle. During the years 1983-1993, I became heavily involved in caving (as we who do it, call it!), traveling to many states and exploring/mapping many caves. I became certified as a cave (SCUBA) diver in 1989, and was pictured in the April, 1991 National Geographic magazine (featuring Lechuguilla Cave, in NM) on the title page (I am the caver climbing the rope). I've also been in several caving video productions that have been nationally televised. In 1993, I rappeled the deepest open-air pit in the world (Golandrinas, in Central Mexico; 1200' deep). In July, 1993, I married--and that ended nearly all of my high-risk activities, as I focused on being a proper husband and father. I deeply love my children, who are largely patterned after me (they love high-risk activities, and are very adventurous), and would be proud to show them off at the reunion...but my new wife, I, and my children are taking a three-week + vacation, driving/sightseeing through the western U.S. during the reunion period. We will end up July 18 in WI, salmon fishing, before coming through Columbus on our way back to GA.

JOHN WILLIAMS : In June, 1969 I couldn't wait another second to get out of UAHS and out of my house. I was rebellious and looking to spring free of what I perceived to be the bonds holding me back. I left UA and I left family and I left the state and started the course to what would become my life. I moved to Michigan to attend Michigan State University. I pursued a degree in Finance, spent a summer as a chef in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and another summer in Europe freely traveling on a Eurail pass. Back in the USA I found a job in banking and then pursued a Masters Degree in Management. Throughout my life I have been a compulsive volunteer. Kiwanis. Salvation Army. Main Street. Cub Scouts. Boy Scouts. Soccer. Baseball. Crisis Intervention. SCORE and Chamber of Commerce. I left banking in 1995 after 20 years and pursued my dream to own my own business by purchasing a manufacturing company. I have had highs and lows. I have been almost bankrupt twice but have persevered and love what I do. I love the manufacturing process and love seeing the results of what I build. I recently retired after 11 years as the local scoutmaster and proudly recognized six Eagle Scouts graduating from the Class of 2009. I have been married 33 years and have two sons and one grand daughter. I recently started two new businesses and am optimistic that the best times of my life are ahead.