1984

Greetings! This is my first contribution as class representative, and it has been great fun, reconnecting with a bunch of you guys! For all of you out there who we haven't heard from, please drop us a line during the summer so we can share the news in the fall. Since 9/11, the theme among many of us has been family and friends.

Starting on the West Coast, I heard from Joan Bolz Cleary, who lives in the San Francisco Bay area. She has been married for 13 years, and has two children, Allison (10) and Paul (7). Her life revolves around the kids and their activities in and out of school. "They even find uses for a type like me with a 'business background,' which means I can manage to keep a project list and a budget at the same time. In meetings when I present a flow chart of actions to be taken, the room goes quiet with an awed silence. The curriculum director at the children's school asked me to give a seminar on project management - I guess there is some skill base there that is useful to our schools." Joan is still in contact with former business associates, "a world which seems like a different galaxy after managing a household for the last five years." Joan reports that she and her family saw Philippe Laratte and his family in Paris last summer and then hosted his niece on a visit to the United States.

Barb Vass, also living in California, has been working at Dole Foods (Westlake Village) as marketing director for the last eight months after spending an amazing 10 years at Nestlé! The Dole move has been great for Barb and her family, as she is only five minutes from home and three minutes from her boys' school. The boys, who are now 6 and 9, keep Barb running as "they seem to make all the all-star teams, plus they are in karate and tennis, and they play saxophone and chess." During her free time (does she have any?!), Barb plays USTA tennis and loves to garden. Her husband, Mike, is still at Warner Home Video, running the marketing group. Barb has been in contact with quite a few fellow alums, including Kathy Hust Lund and her family, with whom they ski; Birgitta Hanan in New York; and Lynette Barnes Hinch in Chicago. Barb would love to hear from us. Her e-mail address is bhvass@yahoo.com.

Wendy Weiss Kritt reports from Chicago that she is still enjoying Kraft and is very busy with her two girls, Jessie and Amanda. Both are playing softball and will be going to overnight camp this summer. While at the FMI conference, Wendy ran into John Petrakis, who informed her that Steve Keller is back in Chicago. So Steve, write in and give us the details!

Matt Schulutheis writes to say that he has worked as director for Credit Suisse First Boston for the last year and a half. Previously, he worked for DLJ Inc. for nearly 12 years. Matt still resides in Winnetka, Ill.

Mike Kennedy reports that his successful health-care technology leasing business at Comdisco was sold to GE recently. He is no longer with GE, and is taking the summer to enjoy the kids and be Mr. Mom while his wife, Carla, finishes up her Kellogg MBA in the executive program. What a great guy!

Pete Fawcett, who married Christina Schmidt '86, happily relates that they have a baby girl, Kate, who was born on Feb. 15. She joins her brothers, Jack (9) and Tom (6), who are very excited to have a little sister! Pete also just had his 15th anniversary at Heitman Capital Management, a real estate investment management firm.

On the international front, Sadashi Suzuki has recently made a career move to the biotech industry, joining Affymetrix, a DNA chip developer/ manufacturer. He began his job on May 13 as general manager in Japan. On the home front, Sadashi has just built a new custom home in the suburbs of Tokyo. He and his wife are in the unpacking stage!

Angel Rodriguez sends in greetings from Mexico City, and reminds us that if anyone is in Mexico City to be sure to look him up! He regularly gets together with the Mexican group - Carlos, Arturo, Martha and Fernando. On the home front, Angel and his wife, Elena, are proud parents of 1-year-old Mariana. Angel says she has changed their life and that they are having the best time with her!

Big news in from Kai Hammerich in Denmark. He and his wife have just become first-time parents. Alexia was born April 6. As a proud dad, he relates that Alexia is "truly beautiful, very intelligent and charming." He took some time off after she was born and is now back at work at Russell Reynolds. On the work front, he also has great news. He was recently elected to the global executive committee at Russell Reynolds in New York, while still running the European technology sector at the Nordic office in Copenhagen. The good implications for those of us who live near the NYC area is that he will be spending more time in the city.

On the East Coast, Dwight Hilson and his wife, Mindy, are actively involved in their daughter's school. Samantha is now in 5th grade and is an aspiring writer. Dwight's company, Goldhil Home Media, is doing very well. His company is a leading producer and distribution of video and DVD programs and has enjoyed rapid growth, particularly in health and fitness programs. Steve Palmer is still working in real estate finance and securitization with Greenwich Capital Markets in Greenwich, Conn. He works on transactions with Steve Plavin, who is with Capital Trust in NYC, and runs into Pete Fawcett, Tom Gerlach and Bob Underhill in his real estate travels. Not surprisingly, Steve is very involved in his boys' sports teams. They have three children - boys Russell and Will and a daughter, Sloan.

As for myself, I put marketing consulting on the back burner for the last two years to be at home with the kids. We have two children, Anjalie (10) and Ryan (8). Both are on soccer and lacrosse teams, and play tennis and piano. I am involved in the school reading programs, and coach our sons' soccer team with my husband Patrick. On the community front, I am helping various organizations (for example, The Children's Museum and our church) on marketing and strategic planning initiatives. In my leftover time I work out, and in the warm months I garden.

That's what I know for now! Please do call or send e-mail to me or Alisa with any news so that we can include it in the fall. Have a great summer!