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1941
Jay
Cawley (known in his earlier days as Harold Jay Cawley)... fondly remembers, with pride, his years spent
at Cass, and what they have meant to him in his lifetime. He was a Printing major back then, and, “it seems
eons ago for the skills that we learned back then are almost all obsolete.” He says, however, that “my vocational
requirements in all my jobs in my later career used those skills and they never left me.” Cold (hot) type and
the whole system of printing changed, and of course the computer made the world change with it.” Jay used his
knowledge of printing and all its peripheral skills in his later work in advertising and marketing, which took him all the
way up to Creative Director for Sears, Roebuck where he dealt with the top leading advertising agencies and media people throughout
the land. “Cass was
like a dreamland. It was everything a student could ask for.” In those days, Jay was on the student council,
and participated in a couple of clubs (one was the HiY club that was affiliated with YMCA downtown, and he worked with them
“in the summers with children of less means and helped them in crafts and sports and field trips around downtown Detroit.”
Jay “lived clear out on the northwest side of Detroit and traveled early in the morning with my father who drove me
and another boy from the next street, on his way to work so that we got to the school about 7a.m!!!” Because he
was so early, Jay would “go into the auditorium and I would go…backstage and turn on all the auditorium lights
so that other early birds could sit and study (or whatever) until school officially opened.” Jay later attended
Adrian College until Pearl Harbor day,
when
World War II broke out, and says, “that is a whole chapter in itself…”
Some of Jay’s classmates were later in his wedding party in 1946. They are gone now, but other classmates are
still around, and he keeps in touch with them from time to time...
Jay was advertising manager for the Kroger Company for the state of Michigan shortly after the war, and later moved to Chicago
to work for Sears as a regional advertising manager. Jay says that working in the Sears headquarters “was a heady
experience and lead to many opportunities until retirement.” Jay now lives in Port Richey, Florida on the gulf
coast with his wife, who attended Cooley High School on Detroit’s west side.
1947
Stewart Rothman...went to Cass from '45-'47, then left to join the Army.
Stewart shares
a few of his unique experiences from those days,
including blowing up his father's garage in '46 with his home chemistry
lab and spreading nitrogen trioxide around the school during class
breaks...Stewart says those experiences spawned
his photography
career, where he has completed assignments in 57 countries to date.
Stewart has several books out,
has operated a commercial photo
studio in Alaska for the past *30-40* years between travels, and hopes
to chat with
someone who attended Cass back in that era...
1948
Bob Danis (Polytech)...is purchasing manager for Qualstar
Corp. in
Canoga Park, CA, a manufacturer of mag tape library systems. Although
not an alum of the *wonderful Cass
Tech music department*, for
recreation Bob plays trumpet/cornet in a Dixieland Jazz group...
1953
Alan
Thebert...entered GM via a Cass alumni contact and put in 30 years
at GM, working for Chevy and the GM Engineering staff,
retiring in '84.
Alan notes that over 9 million vehicles carry parts from his design work,
most of which dealt with
occupant safety. Alan says that is his school
days he "was a real nerd back then, no dating, no dances, working as
auto
shop cleanup boy and tool boy for night school classes, hitchhiking
home around 10:00 p.m., at least 3 nights a week."
Alan now wonders
what proms were like (can anyone help out with their memories? -ed)? He
mentions that he did 10th
grade in AeroMechanics, and a classmate from
those days is now a big gun in Chrysler's (now DaimlerChrylser's) safety
activity. Alan is still doing the auto scene, but now works as a crash
analyst or expert witness. Alan looks forward
to other '52/'53 grads
posting their memories to the site (so do I... -ed)
1956
Edward "Mike" St Clair...A
Mechanical Drafting alum, went to work at GM
after graduation, then spent 20 years in the U.S. Marines Corps. Mike is
now a schoolteacher in San Diego CA, and would like to hear from any
classmates, especially those from ROTC--Remember
MSgt Kunszcig?
What about Abraham Solomon--he was going to Israel to live on a
kibbutz? Mike says that he has lots
of good memories from the school
days, and hope to hear from classmates, His e-mail address is:
estclai1@san.rr.com.
Anyone thinking of a reunion? Let him know.
1957
Ronald Bill...Retired from IBM middle management after 31
years in
software program development. Ron lives in North Carolina, and
looks forward to hearing from some other *old
timers*...
Ronald L. Lepri...is an architect in Troy, MI
1960
Paul Andrew Libke...graduated from the
Mechanical Drafting curriculum,
and remembers Mr. Padelford(?), who taught the foundry class. Paul
spent a couple
years at Lawrence Institute of Technology, and has
worked in the design/drafting field for 37 years, the last 30 at Ford
Motor,
where he is now a senior designer at their design center in Dearborn.
Paul is married and has two beautiful
daughters, Karen Belans and
Wendy Copperstone (current married names) and is now a Grandpa to
four! Paul adds that
he roller skated competitively all through his teens,
and managed to win a couple of national championships, in 1956 -
57,
and used to walk to the Arcadia Roller Rink, on Woodward, to
practice after school every day. He also later played
roller hockey and
was the goalie on the first national championship team in that
sport in 1962. Paul notes that he's
had many interesting hobbies through
the years, including baseball, amateur radio (N8ABA), photography,
woodworking,
and model railroading. He also enjoys renovating old
homes, and plans to do that full time when he finally leaves Ford
Motor Co.
Cathleen
Shaw Zepelin... graduated as part of the class of 1960 with a diploma in commercial art. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree
in Psychology from Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan in 1977 and has been a neuropsychology technician for the last
23 years. She is currently employed at the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare
System.
Ms. Zepelin administers, scores, and prepares for interpretation by a licensed neuropsychologist
a wide range of neuropsychological and psychological tests, which are given to veteran patients and adult research subjects. She has compiled an examiner’s manual for use at the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor
Healthcare System, and is responsible for training pre-doctoral psychology interns and research assistants in test administration
and scoring. Ms. Zepelin also triages testing cases.
Prior
to working as a psychometrist, Ms. Zepelin served as a Program Analyst in the Social and Behavioral Science Unit of the Michigan
Cancer Foundation in Detroit, and was chief research technician and data analyst for the Oakland University Department of
Psychology Sleep Laboratory.
Ms.
Zepelin has contributed to a number of presentations, abstracts, and publications in the areas of sleep research and psychological
testing. She is a member of the International Neuropsychological Society, past
president of the National Association of Psychometrists, and a past reviewer for The Clinical Neuropsychologist.
1962
Jack Halem...is a graduate from the
Automotive curriculum, went into
the U.S. Army in 1966, and spent most of 1967 in Viet Nam. Jack has
an auto/electronics
background and is a ham operator (KA6DLX),
maintaining his own *high level* repeater. Jack has been self employed
since
1982, and ran the U.S. Express auto rally in 1983 (similar to the
"Cannon-Ball rallies" depicted in the movies). Jack
is interested in
finding some of his old buddies, and flames from the class of '62...
R."Carroll" R. Hiersch...writes
that he has a treasured picture of himself
(bass trombonist, Madrigals, symphony band, choir, symphony orchestra)
with:
Paul Riser: (Funk Bros. of Motown)Trombone/ Arranger, Darwyn
Apple, (Violinist,) now with St. Louis Symphony Benny Bonandrini,
clarinet, and Larry Mangan, trumpet, which was taken at the Midwest
National Band Clinic in Chicago, Illinois, circa
1961. Carrol tells that the
photo was taken by Al Barg, a Cassite of the same era, whose work was
prominent at the
Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.
CarrolI would love to hear from anyone in the Cass Tech Music
department
of that era, especially David Levine, one of the greatest
cellists.
Carroll recounts that he does remember Diana Ross
in study hall,
"carrying in her first '45' recording, and it was just before Christmas
vacation. We were in the huge
homeroom, 617 with Miss Becker, the
counselor, and no one could contain the noise of that big room about to
go home!
Diana was asked to sing, and she very quietly started singing
'Silent Night'. In 10 seconds, you could hear a pin drop
after she started
singing acapella, with that voice of hers carrying sweetly through the
room." Carroll's e-mail address
is: randolph@2xtreme.net
1963
Paulette Farr Talley...a Harp and Vocal Grad, is a big time realtor
in New
York City for the firm that is working with Hillary & Bill in Scarsdale.
She'd love to know where old friends
are...Paulette has three great kids,
and for recreation sings in a couple of groups and plays golf. If any alums
are
thinking about moving to New York, or works with, or knows of a big
firm that sends employees there, let her know.
1966
Linda Gleason (Avocational Music)...has been a teacher for 26 years,
currently with the Walled Lake Schools after
15 years in the Detroit
Public School System. Linda is married to Robert McLean, an engineer
with the Saturn Corp.,and
they have married twin sons, 27; Steven,
an ER M.D. at Detroit Receiving Hospital, and Scott who is working
on a M.D./Ph.D.
from the Medical College of Ohio. Both sons have
children, making Linda a grandmother of three, with one on the way.
She
also has a daughter, Katie (14 1/2), who is a freshman at Walled
Lake Central High, who is into *sports, music, and of
course,
academics*. Linda says that there is a group of '66 grads who get
together about twice a year, and that they're
always looking for former
classmates to bond with. You can contact her via e-mail at:
McLean3@aol.com.
Jack
Norhanian, P.A. (Professional name: Jack North)...'sorta retired'
from radio and TV after 31 years in the business. Jack
was a DJ
(starting at WEXL in Detroit), then wrote and directed local TV
commercials (which he still does on a free-lance
basis). Jack also
hosted a late-night horror show in Savannah, GA, the highlight of which
was having as a guest one
of his idols, Soupy Sales. Jack has also done
a lot of theater work over the years, both amateur and professional.
Among
the highlights was an off-Broadway show in the mid-80s and
owning his own mystery theater company in Savannah. Jack is
'lovin'
his new "career" as a tour guide with a horse-and-carriage tour
company there in Savannah.
Tom Burns...is
living in Montana and is semi-retired..he went to the school
of visual arts in New York on scholarship, and worked for
Peter Max in
the early 70s. Tom, who is presently enjoying life as a poet, has lived in
San Francisco, New York, and
Malibu, and published a newspaper in
Livingston, Montana for 11 years.
David P. LaRowe (Vocational Music)... joined
the Michigan State Police
after eight years in public education (band director @ Bear Lake HS
70-73 and Port Huron
Central HS 73-78) Dave currently lives in
Jackson with his wife, Linda, and their two youngest children, Liz (16)
and
Mike (14). Son, Steven (29), is completing his doctorate in
psychology at Florida State University. Daughter, Catherine
(28),
teaches English at Anchor Bay Middle School and lives in Algonac with
her husband, Derek, and children, Jacob
(4) and Abigail (2). Linda
teaches at the Jackson Learning Center where her students range in age
from 5 to 50 and
in ability from significantly challenged to gifted. Dave is
currently the assistant post commander at the Brighton Post.
His
previous assignments include serving as a trooper at the Jackson Post,
working as an instructor in the Training
Division, a trainer in the
Emergency Management Division and as an arson investigator in the Fire
Marshal Division.
Dave can be contacted at larowed@state.mi.us.
1967
Dr Bill Petok...lives in Baltimore, where life is good...
John Gourlay...Says that whoever convinced him to take that computer
course at Cass did the right thing. John
eventually received a Ph.D.
in Computer Science from U of M, and taught for six years at OSU. He
is now working as
a software engineer in Ann Arbor and lives in
Chelsea.
1968
Phil Cherner...is practicing law in Denver.
Terry Priesont...notes that he LEFT Cass Tech in '68 to attend his
neighborhood high school (Southfield High)
to complete his credits
required for graduation. (the judge rules...ok! he gets in the c(l)ass notes
section). Terry
is wondering about the status of a '68 reunion. Terry also
points out that skateboarding was not a crime back then either,
with
John Minetola skateboarding through the hallways between classes...
Jack Kashtan...is a surgeon in Sacramento,
CA
1969
Paul Bennett (Science and Arts)...Was married in 1977. He and his wife,
Daryl have three children,
Jake and Nate (17) and Bethany (8). Paul
and family currently live in Salem MA, where he works as the senior
computer
operator for Putnam Investments. His e-mail address is:
chipshot@shore.net
1970
Debra Wheeler Neisler...is
Program Director, Child Care Services, for
Catholic Family Services in Norwalk CT. Debra initially majored in
Chem-Bio
before transferring to Avocational Music, and was active as
a member of the A and B choirs, Harp and Vocal and the Madrigal
Singers. After graduation, Debra went on to Wayne State, where she
majored in "...bid-whist and fraternity men...(APhiA)".
A self-described
"quasi-radical" while at CT, after Wayne St. she finally found her niche
(for awhile) as a first
line manager in Michigan Bell's marketing
department. After transferring to Pacific Bell in '82 in beautiful Northern
CA, where she met her future husband, Debra decided she missed the
snow and ice, and in '84 went to work for AT*T
in Stamford CT. After
settling down in Norwalk they had two sons, now aged 9 and 7, and
Debra retired from corporate
life. The proud mother points out that her
stepson, who she raised, is completing his freshman year at Drexel. Her
husband
is also "semi-retired" as a manager who was downsized at
Xerox, and they, like most of us, are working and "staying above
water"...
Hubert "Bert" Sawyers, Jr...still lives and works in Detroit, having served as
a Detroit Police
Officer for 27 years. Bert is married to Rosie Marie, with 3
children. One son Hubert III, is a Cass Tech, Class of '98
grad and is
now attending Michigan State University. Another son Stephen, plans to
graduate from Cass in 2002. They
also have a daughter, Katherine who
plans to become a Cass Technician next year. Bert welcomes hearing
from any former
classmates though, "it seems that perhaps we have all
been too busy living in the present to think about the past."
Bert
says that he was "supposed to graduate in June of '69, but, "if I had I
would have missed that great Senior Picnic at
Kensington Metro Park on
October 3, 1969." Every year, around that time, Bert says that he goes
up to the park to
celebrate the end of summer...and reminisce.
1971
Chuck Wozniak (Electronics)...Has worked for a couple of
different
divisions of both Motorola and General Instrument Corp. He is
currently an applications engineer (and webmaster)
at Quantum Data
Inc. (http://www.quantumdata.com), located in Elgin IL. He lives in
McHenry, IL.
Barbara Cherner...escaped
Denver after 23 years, and is a nurse now happily residing on the Big Island of Hawaii.
1972
John Wiley...a
graduate of the Chem-Bio curriculum, went on to Wayne
State where he majored in Chemistry. After 10 years with a
pharmaceutical
firm, and 10 years with BASF Corp. in Wyandotte,
John now lives in Arizona, where he works as an engineer with a large
plastics company.
Christopher Culp (Chem-Bio)...is living in Wheaton, IL, where he works
as a programmer (mentioning
that he got his start in Cass' ancient
computer room), and is enjoying life with his wife Nancy, and their two
children.
1973
Deb Smyre...is in graduate school at the University of Minnesota, where
she majors in social work.
Deb left Detroit in 1978 for Miami, FL where
she lived until 1982, when she moved to Minnesota. Deb is married, with three
children, and has a homepage located at:
http://www.primenet.com/~dsmyre
Steve Guinnane...is concerned with all
the talk of the CT relocating, and
feels that it would be "a terrible shame - further loss of heritage in this
country..."
Steve works as a chemical analyst for HMT Technology in
Fremont, CA.
1975
Kenneth Lynch... recently
relocated back to the midwest from the "Left Coast", and is a systems engineer on the F-15 program for the Boeing Company
in St Louis, MO. Kenneth, with his wife Beverly, and daughters Jana, 13, Aria, 3 and son Nolan, 9, live in Dardenne Prairie,
MO.
Tom Brown...Has parted ways with the U.S. Marine
Corps
after 16 years, most of which he spent as an air traffic controller, the last
few as a Marine recruiter. Tom
worked for Ford Motor Co. for three
years, supporting his (then) new family of three, before being laid off in
1980
and joining the Corps in '81. Tom has recently moved back to the
Detroit area (Redford), and says that he has "a lot to
learn, having been
sheltered in the 'safe' environment of the USMC for 16 years...", and to
let him know if anyone
out there is looking for a "proven leader with a
background in aviation"...
Jim Frazee...a Chem-Bio grad, graduated
from Wayne State, became a
pharmacist, and has been with the Detroit Medical Center since 1989.
Jim, who is "happily
single", is an avid bicyclist, gardener, computer
hobbyist, and the adoptive parent of 2 parrots. His URL is:
http://members.aol.com/rphjim
Jonathan Kruger...and family (Mary, Joel and Jordan), live in Springville
Fl
Darlyn Robinson...still keeps
in contact with her closest friends from CT,
but would like to hear from the others who she has lost touch with over
the
years...
1976
Shelton Johnson...is a vocational music grad, and attended Wayne
State University for a
year in 1977, before transferring to the University of
Michigan. Shelton graduated from U of M in 1981 with a B.A. in
English
Literature, and from 1982 to 1983 served in the Peace Corps in Liberia,
West Africa teaching English. In 1984
Shelton attended graduate
school at U of M as a student in the M.F.A. program in
Creative Writing, and since then
he has worked/lived in Wyoming,
Montana, Hawaii, California, Washington state, Washington D.C., and
Nevada. Since
1987, Shelton has worked as a Park Ranger for the
National Park Service in Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton
National
Park, Great Basin National Park, and N.P.S. areas in
Washington D.C. For the last seven years Shelton has worked as a
ranger/naturalist in Yosemite National Park, and has just completed work
on a website about Buffalo Soldiers in Yosemite
and Sequoia National
Parks, writing most of the content for this site. The URL is:
www.shadowsoldier.org. Shelton
is married and has a little boy.
1978
Howard C. Jordan...works in the semi-conductor industry as a
Training
Coordinator for the AMTEL Corp.... Howard, his wife and three
children live in Colorado Springs.
Ted Jordan...is
the Director for Pyramid Systems
(www.pyramidsystems.com), a company dealing in "experimental
environments", better
known as "virtual reality". After graduating from
CT, Ted attended GMI in Flint, MI, then went to grad school at U of
California - Berkeley (M.S. M.E.-'85). From sunny CA, Ted then came
back to Motown to work for G.M. for a time, then
to Cleveland to work for
Silicon Graphics, before returning to his Michigan roots. Ted and his wife
Cheryl (CT '82)
have been married for 10 years, and have 2 children, a
boy (3) and a girl (1), and live in Plymouth, where they are "still
looking
for the secret to making millions$$ :-) "
1979
Mitzi Stevens (Moyer)... is living in Orlando FL,
where she works as
a programmer analyst for AT*T. She has two children; Justin, 5, and a
baby girl, 1.
1980
Shelia (Williams) Johnson...is a graduate from the Architectural, Civil and
Construction Technology curriculum
(A.C.C.T.), who now resides in
Southern California with her husband of sixteen years, Charles and two
daughters Charlyn
(14) and Jamina (12). Shelia worked for the Boeing
Company (formerly Rockwell International) for 12 years, with her last
assignment working on the International Space Station, Propulsion
Module, which ended in February 2000. Shelia is
a Licensed
Minister and is EXCITED about what the LORD has done for her and
with her!
1981
Karen Griggs
(Moyer)...is working for the Public Service power company
in Denver, CO; she has one daughter, 7-1/2.
1982
Steven
Perkins...was married to Cheryl in 1991...They have two
daughters, Haille (3) and Stefanie (1), and still call Detroit
home.
Steven is literally a member of the "Cass Family", as older sister
Julie ('80), younger brother Todd ('86),
younger sister Susan ('87)
and father Edgar ('56) are all CT grads!
1984
Arthur Thompson...is the owner
of Thompson Computer
Consultants...his wife, Kelly (Shelton, CT '84) is a licensed
daycare provider. They have two
beautiful (!) girls, Katherine
Nicole (6) and Kira Leeann Marie (1). They live in Grand Rapids.
Jeanne Mitchell...would
like to hear from any of the PA people from
'82, '83 and '84..."a close knit group! (you know those performing arts
extroverts...like
an incestuous family)". Jeanne has a "strong aversion
to letting strangers raise my kids", and is on the "mommy track"
in
Southern CA...
Darin L. Paul...is currently working as a Special Agent and Pilot with the
Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI), Detroit Division. Paul was a
Vocational Music curriculum student at Cass Tech and still plays
flute in
his church. He's a graduate of Wayne State University ('90) and Coastal
Aviation Academy in NC ('88). Paul
is the Webmaster for the FBI Agent's
Association (www.fbiaa.org) and the local Livonia congregation of the
Worldwide
Church of God (http://churches.wcg.org/livonia-mi).
1986
Shirley Smith-Powell...a graduate from the Harp and
Vocal curriculum, is
married with no children. Shirley works as a music teacher for a Christian
academy, and wants
to get in touch with any former Harp and Vocal
members, particularly 1983-87 grads. Shirley and her husband live in
Jacksonville,
Fl.
1987
Thomas Waddell...lives in San Diego, CA. Check out his web site at:
http://www.Thomas.Waddell.net
1988
Monica Johnson...graduated from Eastern Michigan University in
December 1991 with a Bachelor of Science
degree in Criminal Justice.
Monica married in May 1992 and became a member of the Nation of
Islam. She has three children
Faakhirah Batool, 7, Sharrieff Shaheed, 5,
and Hamzah Husayn, 2. Monica homeschooled her children for six years
while
being a housewife. The children are now attending school and are
in their appropriate grades. Monica is recently divorced
from her husband
of eight years- who she notes escorted her to the prom, and works in the
Law Department for the City
of Detroit as a Legal Investigator- a job
which she loves! Monica still likes to sing and has performed at different
functions
such as weddings and fund raisers while attending
Muhammad's Mosque #1 on Wyoming. Monica's e-mail address is:
JohnMo@law.ci.detroit.mi.us,
and looks forward to hearing from her
fellow '88 classmates.
1990
Chaundra Frierson...is currently living
in Atlanta, and is heavy into the
reunion planning process (see the Alumni Reunion News page).
1992
Tiffany
Burse...is a systems engineer for Motorola Corp.
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