Linda L. Keating (Keating)

Thank you to ALL the HHS Reunion Committee & to EVERYONE for everything that you did & continue to do,, You all made our 50th CELEBRATION such a super fun time & great success! - WONDERFUL seeing you ALL! - Thank you 'everyone' for showing up & for being there. <<The precious forever lasting impression of your sweet, kind & generous character is appreciated more than the mileage of time can express.>> -- Please know how blessed & honored we all feel for knowing such an excellent group of individuals.......With respect & gratitude for knowing all of you,,,Sincerely,,Linda L. Keating. 

Gail Nisbet (Sutherland)

What a complete "Blast from the past (and present)"...both reunion nights were priceless and I am so glad to have been able to attend.  Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to give us this great gift. Thank you for your hard work and diligence, over the years, to our great class of '64

It was such fun to connect with everyone...especially those of you I shared Rosebank, Chula Jr. for a short time, Hilltop Jr. and HHS. What a blessing to have been able to live in such a great small town and never have to move away during my school years.

I loved the venue for our 50th. I lived in CV from age 3 to age 49 and do not remember ever being inside the country club...of course, my memory is somewhat faded. Anyway, it was the perfect spot. The video and memory tables were so fun to see. The food/service was very good and the cupcakes were to die for...just perfect!

Special note: So good to reconnect with Judy Nutz! Hope to see you again soon.

Gail Eileen Dillon (Boone)

Last night was everything I hoped it would be, and all of you on the committee and others who worked on it have my sincere thanks.  To Dick, Laurie, Jim, Jeannie and Tom, it was a joy to have dinner with you.  As I have since the website was set up, I continue to marvel at the connection and sense of abiding friendship that exists among us.  We seem to have made a valuable mark on the world, and I think Hilltop HS did a great job of heading us in the right direction.  Nick and I say thanks to all of you for a terrific evening and I say thanks for the friendships and the memories.

Rosalee May (Rosie) O'Day (Mason)

Hey Jim, thanks for the great pictures.  I hope to get mine posted soon. 

Ditto to all the great comments about the last two nights. Bob, Linda, Merrie, Corine, Gail  -  you are all so articulate.  I wish I could have said it as well as you.   It was fantastic to see everyone and reconnect with old friends and make new ones.  I realized how amazing our Hilltop classmates are, and how they have, in some way or another, made a postive mark on the world.  The stories are all different, some more notable than others in the way of accolades, but all are important.  I know I personally have found the most enduring happiness in my family, friends, and church.

By the way -- The committee has paid for the website for 4 more months -- until January -- so keep on sharing things about yourselves and encourage those who haven't signed on to do so.  Don't feel like you are bragging!  We really want to know what has been going on in your life.  Terrence -- great to hear from you!

We received the news on Saturday (yesterday) about the deaths of Jamie Jo Peplar and Leanne Kozak.  That makes 42 of our classmates we have lost (that we know of).  It was such a shock for me to hear about Leanne Kozak's death due to Lou Geherig's disease.  Leanne and Bob (Proctor) have always attended the reunions, and so I was wondering why they hadn't signed up for this one.  Our love and condolences go out to Bob and the families of all our classmates we have recently lost. 

Once again, great to see you all last night.  You are all THE BEST!!!  And Hilltop still rules -- no doubt in my mind.

Rosalee May (Rosie) O'Day (Mason)

Hey George,

I just had time to look over all your posts about Disneyland.  As usual, you post the most interesting stuff.  I really enjoyed watching the videos on Walt Disney's apartment and the celebration of the 50th anniversary. Keep up the good information!

Bruce Wilson

Dedicated to Terrence (don't call me Terry) out there in The Badlands

In Jimi Hendrix' words ...

 "If I don't see you no more in this world, I'll see you in the next world...and don't be late!"

Bruce Wilson

Dedicated to anyone with scars, hearts and ears.

Bruce Wilson

Dedicated to Adam & Eve

Bruce Wilson

 Dedicated to those who have left this world.

2014

Leanne Kozak (Proctor)

Jamie Jo Pepler (De Marco)

Carl Derrington "Ramsey, Jr. "
 

2013

Thomas Eugene (Tom) Armstrong

2011

Stanley Emanuel Kromydas

Marilyn Jane Thrower (Clark)

2010

Duane Carl Aubol

Marilyn Ann Lankford

Kimberly Alden (Kim) Newell

2009

Linda Lee Boal (Kray)

Jean Elena (Jeanne) Booth (Rex)

Juanita June (June) Doyle (Poukkula)

2008

Bonnie Ray Rundle

2007

Royce Benton "Riggan, Jr. "

2005

George Michael (Mike) Swift

2004

Sharon Elizabeth (Cheri) Kacergis

Gregory (Greg) May

Michael Edward Shadoan

2003

Paul Steven Hall

Theresa Rose (Terry) Tacey

2002

Patricia Silburn (Pressgrove)

2001

Reed Hollenbeck

1999

Johnny Warren Mowatt

1998

Timothy Birrell

1997

Elaine Marie Proulx

1995

Martha Ann Reed

1992

Jennifer Beenfeldt (Humphrey)

Hal Humphrey

1980

Mona Tsiennia Pemberton

1978

Turrie Lila Sturgess (Swift)

1971

Timothy Franklin Fritcher

1966

William Arthur Jenkins

Jo Ann Ledford (Ketner)

1964

Kenneth James (Jim) Probert

DECEASED YEAR UNKNOWN

Robert Allen "Perdue, Jr. "

Frank Matthew Adams

Judith Dunn

James William (Jim) Haegen

Penelope Ruth (Penny) Jenson

Robert Stanton Litchfield

Mary Ellen Frances Miguel

Patricia Ann Stirnweiss

Larry Todd Wells

Rosalee May (Rosie) O'Day (Mason)

Hi Bruce,

Great post on the deceased dates.  I had been wondering about that information, so thanks so much for compiling it.  When I get time, I'll see if I have other dates you don't have and fill that in.  I have also been trying to write down the cause of death.  It turns out that cancer seems to be the leading factor.  Having had melanoma when I was 36,  I look at every day of good health as a real gift.   

Bruce Wilson

Hi Rosie:

Indeed!  You, poor Dave Chalmers and my nephew's wife (video back upstream).

I was sort of avoiding getting into the causes, but perhaps it might help people in being aware of what our risks are.

My recollection is  that there are at least 7 known cancer deaths in our class and a couple that I suspect, but do not know for sure.

I'll just ask. How do folks feel about naming names?

I'll volunteer that I have had a number of pre-cancerous growths removed and one basal cell (ear) and one squamous cell (jaw) cancers.

I'm much more careful about the sun these days and in a way thankful for when I used to work long hours and had to do most of my running at night.

Rosalee May (Rosie) O'Day (Mason)

Hi Bruce & Classmates,

Is it any wonder that melanoma and skin cancers are prevalent in our age group.  We slathered on baby oil and occasionally zinc oxide on our noses and went out and fried.  Those of us who grew up here in Southern California have spent long days in the sun to surf, play beach volleyball, sunbathe (working on that tan), and just hang out without any protection (no sunscreen then).   While those are some of my fondest memories, we now are paying the price.  I know that both Greg May and Royce Riggan died of melanoma, and the only reason I am here is that they caught it in time.  Here is the story:

In 1983, we were in a motorhome on vacation with my parents traveling back east to visit relatives in Pennsylvania.  On the third day, we were approaching the KOA in Tucumcari, NM.  It was a 4-lane divided highway, flat road, broad daylight, but a semi truck driver fell asleep and hit us from behind, pushing us off the road and causing us to roll.  For future reference -- don't try to roll a motorhome.  Miraculously, we all survived even though our son was thrown through the windshield.  All of us had varying injuries.  One of mine was a severed Achilles tendon.  Because of that, I had successive casts on my leg for 4 months.  When they removed the final cast, the doctor looked at a mole on my leg and referred me to dermatology.  Sure enough, it was diagnosed as melanoma.  I remember writing to John Link and asking his advice, and he was very reassuring and kind. Fortunately, it had not metastasized.  I went ahead with the operation and had 2 cm removed all around it, which has left a large hole in my leg.  But it was a small price to pay to be able to see my kids grow up and enjoy the rest of my life. 

Be vigilent, Classmates.  We want to see you at the next reunion!  I've attached a picture of the accident.  What a great example of lemons turning into lemonade!  The first two photos are of the accident scene.  The third is what was left of the motorhome.  I often say that I dodged the bullet twice that year!!

George Bracey Gillow

Prostate Cancer Info

I had Prostate cancer in 2008.  Having regular PSA tests saved my life!!  I am disturbed about all the press and expert opinions that PSA tests are unnecessary.  I believe it is important to have the simple blood test then make a decision.

Bruce Wilson

Hey George:

Most all of us men are destined for it.

I agree that PSA should still be used. I go to UCSD Med Ctr. and they have stopped recommending PSA tests, but it is left as an option for the person to request.

There is an even more powerful combined test developed in Michigan. The last I heard it was only offered at UMICH and has to be requested by your doctor.

PCA3 test - science details here http://www.nature.com/pcan/journal/v16/n2/full/pcan20134a.html

Less scientific discussion here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/27/business/new-prostate-cancer-tests-may-supplement-psa-testing.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

New Prostate Cancer Tests Could Reduce False Alarms

-----------------------------------

A b s t r a c t
ERG rearrangements (most commonly
transmembrane protease, serine 2 [TMPRSS2]:ERG
[T2:ERG] gene fusions) have been identified in
approximately 50% of prostate cancers . Quantification
of T2:ERG in postdigital rectal examination urine, in
combination with PCA3, improves the performance
of serum prostate-specific antigen for prostate cancer
prediction on biopsy. Here we compared urine
T2:ERG and PCA3 scores with ERG+ (determined
with immunohistochemical analysis) and total
prostate cancer burden in 41 mapped prostatectomies.
Prostatectomies had a median of 3 tumor foci (range,
1-15) and 2.6 cm of summed linear tumor dimension
(range, 0.6-7.1 cm). Urine T2:ERG score correlated
most with summed linear ERG+ tumor dimension and
number of ERG+ foci (rs = 0.68 and 0.67, respectively,
both P < .001). Urine PCA3 score showed weaker
correlation with both number of tumor foci (rs =
0.34, P = .03) and summed linear tumor dimension
(rs = 0.26, P = .10). In summary, we demonstrate a
strong correlation between urine T2:ERG score and
total ERG+ prostate cancer burden at prostatectomy,
consistent with high tumor specificity.

---------------------

Vitamin D3 supplementation has a large number of beneficial effects, including apparently impacting prostate cancer. The combination of low dose aspirin (83mg) and vitamin D3 is even more beneficial.

I'd suggest getting your serum D3 measured.

The results of this clinical study suggest that supplementation with vitamin D3 at 4000IU per day may benefit patients with early stage, low-risk prostate cancer on active surveillance, because of the improved outcome (a decreased number of positive cores at repeat biopsy) in more than half of the subjects enrolled in the trial.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23220550

-------------------------------

Madeline Bazzel (Hooper)

Wow Rosie I'm so glad you all survived.  Also your right about lemons and making lemonade.  You never know what waits ahead so enjoy your life daily.

Madeline Bazzel (Hooper)

George glad your giving the information.  You never know who you might help from your own experiences.

Bruce Wilson

Rosie:

You must have been doing something right, because after studying those photos pretty carefully it is amazing to me that you all came through it.

Even more, as you said, most likely your life was saved twice that day. By my cat Buster's reckoning, that leaves you with seven, which is a pretty lucky number.

I'm glad you're still with us, even though we sometimes have our differences of opinion.

Gail Nisbet (Sutherland)

Rosie: that's shocking!!! I am so glad you and your family survived. By the looks of it, that was a miracle. And a second miracle with mole on leg. I have a very good friend who had the "mole" on the back of her leg and her nurse friend said "you ahould get that looked at"....sure enough...Melanoma...she has a big divot in her leg too but just celebrated her 68th b-day. Yeah!

Prostate cancer took my dad in late 1989. This cancer was still in the closet then...sad time for our family.

As for me, I only tell this story to help others. Four years ago I saw "spots" (if you get my drift) and since I hadn't had the monthly in a long time, I was very concerned.  Part of me wanted to ignore it (who likes to jump up on that table) but I went in. Sure enough, it was Uterine Cancer. It was stage 1, grade 1. Very young cancer...Kaiser had me at Zion getting a Hysterectomy so fast it made my head spin. Long story short, I am closing in on the 5 year mark...cancer free.  

Please, to all my classmates: Please get regular checkups and listen to your body when it "speaks". 

Rosalee May (Rosie) O'Day (Mason)

Merrie, Thank you for sharing your story -- very delicately put, and a great message to us women.  So glad you are coming up on 5 years, and wishing you many many more to come. 

Bruce -- here is what you wrote in my annual:

"Rosie, Although we share some opinons and ideas and are miles apart in others, I still consider you as one of my best friends......"  I guess nothing has changed in 50 years, eh?   Glad we are still good friends.

Bruce Wilson

Rosie: Me too.

Nobody guessed the mystery guest. Not from CV, but from our era and (very) rough locale (Palos Verdes). He became famous in the underground comix movement and the photos demonstrate the transformation that some of us went through.  ...Rick Griffin...  (Why the three dots ... check out Mr. Natural's shoes).

Then later,

"He became a born again Christian  in November 1970, which led to fundamental changes in his lifestyle and in the style and content of his art."

Unfortunately his truck crash experience did not parallel that of Rosie..

"Rick Griffin died shortly after a motorcycle accident on August 15, 1991, in Petaluma. He was thrown from his Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he collided with a van that suddenly turned left as he attempted to pass it. He was not wearing a helmet and sustained major head injuries. He died three days later, on August 18, in nearby Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, at the age of 47."

I wonder just where Rick would be considered "a local" today had he lived.

Bruce Wilson

Back in the days before Surfers and Hodads in CV, the town was inhabited by another group: the dread "hard guys".

I have a story, but I'm informed that I need to take a break from this place and ... her wish is my command. So I hope to come back and finish the story down the road apiece.

Were Jim Stark and Plato hard guys? Remains to be seen.

Pretty sure they weren't Surfers - at least they never showed up at the Jetty or Sloughs in IB.

Griffin early work.

Bruce Wilson

Merrie Gail:

I just saw your post. Good for you and good on you for sharing your story.

I'm pretty sure a lot of us don't pay attention, thinking that we are invincible and will live forever. I know that fits me.

A little prodding (OK a lot) from someone close to you (OK Chele) is worth a ton.

For all you past, present or future hodads, surfers & hard guys out there, listen up!

John Carleton Cowherd

Thank you to the committee for all of your hard work in putting together two first class events.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself both nights.  I wonder how many of the guys went home and looked for their "little hammer" shop project or their gold track shoe for winning Metro League cross country championship.  I see from the forum that I missed talking to some of you.  There were just so many people there that we couldn't see everyone.

Hope to see you all at the next one.

Jim Hawes

Rosie & Bruce: You had different opinions in HIGH SCHOOL? Just curious, bid one of you have Mr. Rice and the other Mr. Bookbinder???

Rosie: The photo's of your accident are scary! So happy to hear that you and your family made it out alive.

To All My Classmates: Love the pictures, I wish I had been able to make it to the reunion (family commitments).

I know this may be preaching to the choir....but...Bruce, Gail, George and Rosie are all right on! DON"T mess with cancer! We grew up in a very unique period, the beach and tanning were very important and now our generation is paying the price. I lost a good friend (Jim Serniuk HHS 1963) due to skin cancer. I also had it  about 5 years ago (misdiagnosed by my primary doctor ..."oh that is nothing to wory about"). When I finally went to "the cutter" he asked me if I used to surf or spend a lot of time at the beach as a teenager, I said yes and I remember getting a bad burn on my neck in Mexico one summer. He told me, yup that is what caused it. He said "your generation has a lot of problems, but we can usually save you IF YOU CATCH IT EARLY ENOUGH, we just keep carving off the bad stuff"!

When it comes to doctors, many "middle aged men" (like us) suffer from "MALE PATTERN STUBBORNESS"!!! Your best friends are now your Doctor, Urologist and Cardiologist. Don't be stubborn! Visit them regularly!

Bruce: Look forward to your continued posts! You bring back memories! Surfing the sloughs with Sean Holder, Danny Buzzell (sp?) and having Dempsey in the lifeboat in the TJ river channel standing by! No I wasn't that good but rode one big one on the 2nd reef that I still remember to this day!

Cheers,

Jim Hawes

Bruce Wilson

Mr. Hawes:

As a matter of fact I had Mr. Rice and I do not recall Rosie being in there. Jim Longerbone and Dennis Evans are the two I recall specifically, though, I'm pretty sure Anita Rochmes was with us.

Surfing-wise that's impressive Jim. I surfed there with Bob Hargrove, but not that far out. Biggest waves I ever encountered were with fins only at The Wedge

This isn't me but I was there one day which started out like this and just kept building until it got much bigger, so big in fact that I was afraid to take off and had to wait for it to drop down a bit. It was winter and cold, no wetsuit and I was starting to verge on hypothermia

A professor at UCI (good friend of Dr. Tim Leary) used to do The Wedge on LSD. Another local fellow, John Peck (he acknowldeges this to be true) is the first to ride The Pipeline in a similar altered state of consciousness.

I always struggled with Danny's name too, but it's Bussel. Here's a nice little history of IB surfing and board building I ran across a while back. John Hanks (mentioned in the article) died from cancer a couple of years back and Richard Joly is gone too, but I don't know the cause.

http://imperialbeach.patch.com/groups/sports/p/south-coast-surfboards-an-imperial-beach-original-celebrates-50-years