The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/65892
classnotes Frank (Skip) Pakulski '59 writes, "I'm finally taking a leave of absence from tutoring/teaching duties at the local high school. Pat and I will be taking a needed, extended vacation to Florida shortly. We plan to drop in on some of the other alumni on the way." David Sawin '59 and his wife, Lois, moved from their home of 45 years to Briarwood Retirement Community in Worcester. Larry White '59 is still working full-time as CEO at Friedman Bros. Decorative Arts and living in South Florida. "After my wife's passing, three years ago, I remarried last October. Life is good!" Ray Abraham '60 says, "My brother, Don Abraham '58, and I are spending the winter in Cape Coral, Fla. We live in Don's three-bedroom ranch and play golf several times a week. We belong to Coral Oaks public course and have made many new friends there. We enjoy watching the UConn men's and women's basketball games and all the PGA golf tournaments. Every day is like a Sunday for us." Peter Zilko '60 says, "I'm retired and living in Bonita Springs, Fla., with my wife, Fran. We keep busy with tennis, kayaking, bike riding, and community involvement. Since we live in an HOA community, there is very little need to do outside chores, thank goodness!" Thomas Pantages '61 writes, "I volunteered for the local Medical Reserve Corps. Have been to several meetings and started taking some interesting online courses." Bruce Woodford '61 says, "Barbara and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary earlier this month with a family lunch at the Rusty Scupper in Baltimore. There will be a further celebration in the spring, when we plan to go on a river cruise in Europe." Jim Forand '62, '64 MS MTE writes, "Guess what? After a 50-year hiatus, I've decided to pursue a teaching position at WPI in the MBA program. It is my sincere wish that after 35 years in international business, I might find my way to become a member of the faculty at Tech. I left WPI with an MS and received an MBA at Lehigh University in 1974. In 1976 I moved from a career in metallurgy into the field of intellectual prop- erty licensing business. I look forward to catching up with my classmates at our 50th Reunion." Ralph Johanson '62 scaled back to part time at GRW Engi- neers, where he is vice president. "Still swimming." he writes, "I made the top 10 in the US Masters." Casimir Matonis '62 writes, "My bride of 48 years and I spent a fantastic week skiing in Snowmass, Colo., with the Sun Cities Ski Club ('geezers on skis'). On the way back we stopped in Arches National Park for some hiking." 3 tutoring kids and adults in math at the Allentown Public Library and the local community college. Also joined a jazz workshop to improve the guitar playing skills I never really had. And having a great time giving something back to the 'tute by serving on the WPI Alumni Association Board of Directors." Carl Youngman '64 provides support to Mark Rice, dean of WPI's School of Business. "He's a great leader," Carl notes. Peter Christensen '65 says, "Well, finally received our Prius and have completed a measured mile test run at over 75 mpg! Rather impressive. Hoping to upgrade to a plug-in and link it to our installed solar array. We need to invest more in technology and renewable energy to make the changes that will allow us to slide through peak planetary production of oil with a transfer to other forms of energy. I am happy that WPI is still growing and innovating. Keep up the good work." Peter is an instructor of mathematics, Academy of Design and Engineering, Lake Region High School, Naples, Maine. Bob Craig '63 says, "I'm working full time at Integrity Man- agement Consultants, a small business supporting TSA, GSA, and DHS in acquistion. My role is applying the skills and knowledge I acquired supporting the DoD for many years to these non-DoD agencies." Fred Jacoby '63 is "happily retired—playing golf, racquet- ball, running, rowing sculls, and enjoying six grandchildren. Live near Annapolis and would enjoy having a visit from any classmate that happens to be in the Baltimore/Washington area. Retired from ARINC Inc. after a wonderful career of 36 years. With the proper number of strokes provided to me, should we happen to have a friendly wager, I would love to play golf with any visitors. I belong to the US Naval Academy Golf Club." George Vittas '63 retired from AECOM as global aviation director. He continues as a consultant. Bill Ferguson '64 writes, "After a rewarding career—mostly at Bristol-Myers Squibb in New Jersey— Dee (my wife of 48 years) and I have moved to Plymouth, Mass., where we're happily retired. Over my work lifetime, I have gotten advanced degrees in chem eng and chemistry; taught college chemis- try; worked on new chemical processes for manufacturing; managed design and construction projects; done strategic facility planning for the BMS Research Institute, and, finally, actually designed labs, scale-up plants, and manufacturing facilities. I credit WPI as the springboard to all of this. We have been very involved with our churches along the way. Our three children are enjoying good careers. We are fortunate to have four grandchildren. I particularly enjoy being a home handy- man, and in my spare time, build toys for the grandkids." Maurice Silvestris '64 says, "I've been retired since late 2010 after a career in environmental engineering at a few manufacturing outfits and a few consulting firms in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Trying my hand at volunteering— 66 Spring 2012 Gene Dionne '65 writes, "I've had a couple of retirements and am probably getting close to my third. The first was in 1994, after 26 years in the Air Force, where I was stationed in New Mexico as director of Space and Missile Technologies at the AF Research Laboratory. The second was in 2005 from Lockheed Martin in the Denver area, where I was a program manager and VP, engineering and operations, of the Space Systems Company's classified line-of-business. I'm now starting to taper off from six-plus years of consulting for LM and a few other aerospace companies. Still living in the foot- hills southwest of Denver with my wife of 34 years, Peggy, near our son, Jeremy. We enjoy long-distance cycling, moun- tain climbing, skiing, and adventure travel." Pat Moran '65 says, "My daughter Meg's husband spends every other month in Asia, so I spend half my time in Dallas helping with her two boys, 5 and 1. It's great fun in an exhaust- ing kind of way. My wife, Mimi, and I greatly enjoy spending time with classmates, especially at the annual Mashpee Muster held by Colette and Walt Lankau '64." Mike Oliver '65 has enjoyed 10 years of retirement from IBM, keeping fit with golf, trout fishing, and traveling. He says he and his wife, Patricia, live in Hurley, N.Y., and winter in Hilton Head, S.C., with a congenial group of retirees. 3 Bob Stow '65 reports, "I retired from BAE Systems in 2008 as CTO and senior engineering VP at the corporate office in Rockville, Md., after 40 years with the company. Patricia, my wife of 43 years, passed away from pancreatic cancer in November 2009. While I miss her every day, I have great memories of our life together and continue to maintain close contact with our three married children and our four grandchildren (three more on the way). Retirement is keeping me busy with swimming, rowing, reading, engagement in my local church, and ship model building. I sail my 38-ft. sailboat from my beach house on the Connecticut shore with family