1990

I was delighted to hear from Drew Freeman in 2003. I’d last seen him years ago when he’d headed off to Venezuela to teach windsurfing. I’d lost touch with him since then (an unfortunate dearth of Venezuelan windsurfing junkets in my career), and was so pleased when Drew resurfaced in the United States. Since Venezuela, he’s returned to high tech, doing some consulting, and is now in charge of business development for a small software company on the West Coast. He also married Mimi, became a stepdad, and developed a regular beach volleyball doubles game on his lunch breaks. The man knows how to live. You can probably get pointers at drew.freeman@onsettechnology.com.

Monica Lorick '90 and Madeleine

Also, wonderful to hear from Monica Lorick. She sent an awesome photo of herself and 18-month-old daughter Madeleine. Monica wrote: “I drew the short straw after I got married and ended up in Geneva, Switzerland. My husband, Norman Williams, works for a Swiss biotech, so we’re a “local hire” family and are here for the duration. (Or at least until I’ve had enough and pack up and move back to the States. Norman keeps asking for an extension and I keep relenting, but next year it’s going to take really, really nice jewelry!) I’m now staying at home with my 18-month-old, Madeleine Claire Williams. She’s adorable, funny, chatty and a real handful! She’s probably the most demanding boss I’ve ever had and definitely the most irrational! My French is progressing, but I fear that eventually Madeleine will become my translator.

“Geneva is a terrific place to have kids even though we’re far from family. The international community is quite large and diverse and we have friends from all over, which is lots of fun and makes for very lively parties. Neither my husband nor I are outdoor people, so the natural splendors of Switzerland are lost on us, and I do miss big city life terribly. Fortunately, Geneva is centrally located. Provence and Bourgogne are an easy drive away, and we’ve spent many weekends in the U.K., Italy and Spain. And, whenever I need to get my big-city fix in a hurry, I hop in the car and drive to Lyon, France, for good shopping and great restaurants. If you’re ever in the neighborhood, holler! MLL827@usa.net.”

Dennis Valdes sent an email with a Web address that includes great photos of his family. He wrote that 2003 was “another year of business expansion. Our Print Town group of companies is expanding beyond newspaper printing, getting into magazines and other commercial products. Meanwhile, Inquirer Publications has grown from three newspaper titles to five, and we just launched our first magazine.” You can check out Dennis’ photos and family news at www.sea-princess.net.

The key word for Bob Toy is busy! He even kept his update short and to the point: “My family (wife and three kids ranging in age from 10 to 5), work (managing price structure and customer Web experience for a $2 billion business unit) and God (street ministry, marketplace ministry and more) fill every hour. No complaints!”

Greg Casagrande checked in to say that his organization, South Pacific Business Development, located in Samoa, is helping its clients meet the challenges brought about by Cyclone Heta. Greg also reports that the U.S. State Department published an article he wrote in its journal, and that he traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh, to speak at the Asia-Pacific Microcredit Summit.

And, finally, I’m so sorry to leave this update with tragic news, but I did want to let those of you who’d lost touch with Janet Lee know that she passed away in 2003. Eve Jelstrom, ejelstro@obius.jnj.com, had been close to Janet and wrote partly “that Janet had passed away in October after a recurrence of cancer that she had been fighting for over seven years.” Eve is in touch with Janet’s husband Curtis and let him know that he and their whole family are in our thoughts and prayers. Janet was such a special part of our class and experience at Kellogg. It’s hard to let go of that radiance of hers.

Hope 2004 is treating all of you well.