(January 2002) Mike Johnson and wife Kathleen have just celebrated the marriages of their two oldest daughters.Among invited guests at the December 29 wedding in Vancouver(WA) were Grey and Lillian Whipple. The photo taken at the wedding is of all the BHS gang: Grey, Mike's sister, Sally (Johnson) Barker (BHS'56), and father of the bride, Mike.

After the wedding, Mike and Grey drove to McMinnville to see the "Spruce Goose", Howard Hughes' fabled wooden air transport that only flew once. The next day the Johnson's and the Whipples drove to Bandon on the Oregon Coast to celebrate New Year's eve and New Year's day. Joining them for lunch in Bandon was classmate Herb Schaur and wife Vicki. Herb, now retired, began a career in medicine soon after high school, becoming a Corpsman in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. Following military service, he became a licensed Physician's Assistant. For a period of time Herb and Vicki owned and operated a KFC outlet. Herb's passion is fishing and is a sometime freelance writer for "outdoorsmen" magazines. Herb and Vicki live in North Bend OR and have two children. Vicki is a Registered Nurse.

(January 2002) Bill Walsh (BHS'62) came upon some color film footage of Washington Elementary School taken in years 1947 and 1949. He had it converted to a VHS tape and wondered if he would see anyone he recognized (no success). He has sent the tape to Grey Whipple who after 50 years can't even recognize the teachers, excepting Jack Chappell (principal), Agnes O'Neil (music), Mrs. Carmody (3rd grade), Harriet Brucher (6th grade), Mr. Burns (7th grade), and Mary Hodgins (8th grade).

(February 2002) Grey Whipple visiting Los Angeles was a guest of Jayne (Wright) and Tom Lasley. He reports they are in their new home in Westlake Village and enjoying life with golf and grandchildren. The Lasley's leave this month for a 29 day cruise from Singapore to LA. Jayne transferred to Menlo Atherton High School after her sophmore year at BHS so there is no yearbook senior photo. Grey and Mike (Johnson) are working on inserting a senior photo page for Jayne with her MAHS senior picture.

(February 2002) The accolades just keep on coming. The Mathematics Department at the University of the Pacific has named Mike Johnson's son, Michael, as the Outstanding Graduating Senior in Mathematics. (see above, November 2001)

(February 2002) Last year Alma (Bunce) and Richard Alber travelled to China. The trip was described in their Christmas letter and is reprinted below (with permission). "...the highlight of our year...was our trip to China. We left on September 25th for three weeks in China and Tibet. We went with 14 other people on an Overseas Adventure Travel tour. It was absolutely fantastic--we can find no negatives to report. The people were all compatible. The accommodations and food were all first class. And what an experience to climb the Great Wall, visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, to see the terra cotta warriors, to see the panda bears up close and personal, to tour the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, to cruise the Yangtze River and to see the Three Gorges and the almost completed new dam that will change the river forever, to experience Hong Kong and all its bustle and beauty. China is a vibrant and rapidly changing society. It was a delight to see it for ourselves."

(March 2002) Mike Johnson, George Schroeder, and Grey Whipple make their 2nd pilgrimage to Portland to ride the excursion train pulled by engine 4449, the last remaining steam engine that pulled the Southern Pacific Daylight between San Francisco and Los Angeles. This trip was an overnighter to Bend, OR via the Columbia River Gorge and the Deschutes River Gorge. This train was special because the engine had been repainted red, white and blue, as it had been when this engine pulled the Freedom Train around the U.S. during the 1976 bicentennial celebration. Consequently, thousands of people lined the route to take photos as it passed. It was fun to be part of this little bit of history. We tried to arrange to see classmate Diana (Umland) Bos, who lives in Sunriver (about 20 miles away), but she could not make firm plans to do so. Returning to the train on Sunday morning (after spending a night in Bend), Mike and Grey were in the front seat of the bus, and Mike exclaims, "Look, there's someone holding a sign that says 'Grey Whipple'!. Is that Diana?" Yep. She and her husband had come down to see us off. What a disappointment to only have about 10 minutes to visit. Those folks who live in Oregon sure are tough. The temperature was about 35 degrees when this picture (Diana and Grey) was taken (photo by Mike). We had a wonderful time.

(April 2002) Gil Larish writes: "A few emails ago you asked what I have been doing. This should bring you up to date. Linda and I just came back from a three week tour of Spain and Portugal. We started our trip staying in a castle high on a hill in Cardona, just outside of Barcelona, Spain (northeast coast). We toured the city of Barcelona and the small principality of Andorra between Spain and France. We then flew to the northwest coast of Spain to Santiago de Compostella. We then went by bus to Portugal, visiting the cities of Oporto, Bayona, Batlaha, Fatima, and on to the beautiful city of Lisbon. From Lisbon we headed back to Spain seeing the cities of Seville, Cordoba, Toledo, Madrid, Malaga, Marbella, Ronda, and on to the "Rock of Gibraltar" ( British owned). As tourists, we hit many of the highlights that the cities had to offer."

(April 2002) Mike Johnson's son, Michael, has been admitted to the Ph.D. program in Mathematics at the Pennsylvania State University with the status of University Graduate Fellow.

(May 2002) Mike and Kathleen Johnson and their daughters travelled from Salem and Portland to the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music in Stockton to attend their son Michael's music recital, a requirement for all graduating music majors. Also attending were other family members, friends, faculty members, and fellow college students. Michael, on the clarinet, was accompanied by piano and cello. A reception followed. Among the invited guests were Grey and Lillian Whipple.

(May 2002) Grey Whipple attended the Memorial Day ceremonies at Golden Gate National Cemetery. The keynote speaker was Captain 'Mel' Moore(BHS'47), United States Navy (ret.). Capt. Moore, a navy pilot, was downed during the Viet Nam war on the 99th mission of his career , and was captive at the 'Hanoi Hilton' for six years.

After the ceremony, Grey was invited for lunch at Barb Hewitt and John Basye's home in Burlingame. Barb and John have relocated their business from the Broadway-Burlingame commercial space to their home. Inspite of this, they are still planning to host our 50th reunion Friday night gathering in year 2005. A lot of table talk was about the50th reunion and Grey was urging a first committee meeting in the summer of 2003.

(June 2002) A note from Linda (Berry) Gillispie: "Since last fall, I have been a high school principal, working for the California Youth Authority in Stockton."

(June 2002) During a weekend celebration of Grey's 65th birthday, Mike Johnson and Grey Whipple enjoy a bike ride to Danville for lunch. Joining them (for lunch) were wives Kathleen and Lillian. On the return trip, Kathleen joins Mike for a bike ride back to Concord, and, on the way, a frappuccino at Starbucks.The Johnsons enjoyed a respite from parenting while their daughter, Susan (9th grade), was in Chiapas, Mexico, on a summer youth mission trip with their church.

(July 2002) A note from Dee (Williams) Ropers: "Hi, to all...I know that I have been negligent with my email...partly to computer problems and partly because I have been involved totally with the new house...It had gotten to the point that I believed that I would never be able to send the following message: I'M MOVING!!! on Monday!!! The house still isn't complete, but I have decided to bite the bullet and move into it while they add the finishing touches...My new address and phone number (in San Miguel is available from Grey Whipple). I shall still have the same Laredo, TX mailing address from the U.S. ..I'll try to be a better correspondent once I have moved...promise...muchlovedee." (Ed. Dee lives in Mexico)

(July 2002) A note from Gretchen (Gautsch) Gottschalk: "...Fred and I have moved to Huntsville, TX full time. We put our house, in Lincoln, on the market hoping it would sell in less than a year. Of course, since we were not in a hurry, it sold in less than two weeks. We are now adding on to our home in TX., even though it is only a year and a half old. The summers are hot here, but they were just as hot in Lincoln. Growing up in the Bay Area, I didn't know what hot was until I moved to Nebraska. I have visited the web site and am thrilled to have all the pictures of our senior class. Somehow my senior yearbook is no longer with me....We are fine, and I am really looking forward to our 50th reunion."

(August 2002) Lillian and Grey Whipple have returned from a two week trip to Vancouver BC. They were attending Convergence 2002, an international convention of handweavers. Grey spent 4 days at the University of British Columbia, 4 days in downtown Vancouver, and 4 days at Whistler, an elegant summer/winter resort about a 2 hour drive north of Vancouver. Enroute they stayed a night in Ashland OR and saw Shakespeare's play "As You Like It." One night up and two nights back they were houseguests of classmate Mike Johnson in Salem.

(August 2002) A note from Gil Larish: "...The only two things I learned was that I have not memorized the traffic sign shapes and colors nor did I realize in what areas older folks start to lose their driving capabilities. I am not there yet, thank goodness! The other thing was that our insurance company did not give us a very good deduction on our premiums. We volunteered at the Shakespeare Festival at Sand Harbor 5 miles south of Incline Village and saw Jim Harris at one of the performances. He lives at Dollar Point, Lake Tahoe, in the summer and lives in Reno during the winter. He mentioned that Roger Peterson lives in Montana in the summer and Tahoe in the winter." (Ed: Gil's note was written responding to Grey's certification as an AARP volunteer and instructor for the "55 ALIVE" Mature Driver Education class. Gil lives in Incline Village at Lake Tahoe.)

(August 2002) Bob Clunie's obituary has been added to his Senior Photo page. (Ed. We have also received from Shelley Clunie a biography of Bob's life. It is quite long and will be added after some editing and consulting with her.)

(September 2002) Congratulations to Dr. Mike Johnson, newly retired professor of computer science at Oregon State University. Immediate plans are to work part time supporting the transition of his department into the newly formed Engineering and Computer Science Department at OSU.

(September 2002) We received at note from Lucille (Lu) Chaikin, girls' PE teacher for the Class of 1955. She was kind enough to provide information for our BHS Faculty page.

(September 2002) Burlingame High School has a new Principal, Matthew (Matt) Biggar. Mr. Biggar, formerly an Asst. Principal at Palo Alto H.S., replaces Gerald Arrigoni who has retired.

(September 2002) The Grey Whipples and the Mike Johnsons celebrated Mike's 65th birthday with a four-day gala up in Oregon. They attended a high school volley ball tournament to watch Mike's daughter, Susan, play; hiked five miles(RT) to Lake Pamelia in the Mount Jefferson wilderness area; visited Sahalie and Koosah Falls on the McKenzie River; rode Amtrak to Seattle to shop, have lunch at the Pike Place waterfront; and a frappuccino at the Original Starbucks; and joined 45,000 other walkers in the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure (cancer) along the Portland waterfront. Not bad for a long weekend!

(September 2002) A long note from Rosalie (Herron) Franchini is posted on her Senior Photo page.

(September 2002) A note from Jim Gettins: ..he reports that with wife, Sandi, life is good in the Santa Cruz mountains. Together they dote on their combined six children and three grandchildren. Jim is working on a novel and meets regularly with a group of published writers....They are both looking forward to our 50th reunion...

(October 2002) A note from Deanne (Dahlinger) Pollum. She is glad to be back in touch. (Ed. We do not yet have permission to place her e-mail address on our class website, so if you want to send her a note, contact Grey for the address.)

(October 2002) Some of the Class of 1955 may remember a classmate, Sheila Plant. A recent note from Sheila's sister, Lois, tells of Sheila going to New York after leaving BHS. She had two poems published. When Sheila was 19 she made 12 audio tapes on the subject of phobias which were published in a book. Sheila later married a San Francisco city planner and then in 1958 at the young age of 22 she passed away.

(October 2002) Grey Whipple has become a paid-up member of Classmates.com. That website will allow you to see who is registered but will not let you contact anyone if you are not a member. Therefore, if there are names in other class years that you wish to contact, ask Grey to send a message. This offer is good for 12 months (membership expires).

(November 2002) Membership in the Burlingame High School Alumni Association costs $10 per year, or a one-time fee of $100 for a Life Membership. We encourage you to join. The Association works hand-in-hand with the school administration to enrich the educational process at BHS through funding school activities and equipment, and faculty grants. Several members of the Class of 1955 have become life members and we hope you will join them to obtain your own BHS Life Member card. On this website there is an Alumni News page. The excerpts included there are but a fraction of the news that gets carried in the bi-annual newsletter. Send your check to BHS Alumni Association, One Mangini Way, Burlingame CA 94010.

(November 2002) We have been in recent contact with Bill Knorp. His e-mail address has been posted to the E-mail page. Bill and Judy 'winter over' in Auburn and spend summers at their home in northern Michigan (Omena) on Traverse Bay. We have been under the mistaken impression that the Knorps have been a computerless family. Not so, says Bill. 'We have had one for years!' So now they know about this website and can keep in touch with other classmates. Ed.

Update on the Knorps(11/5): Grey visited Bill and Judy at their home in Auburn. It is a lovely place on a country hillside with a view. Grey took the photo of Bill and Judy which is now part of Bill's Senior Photo page (click on the photo for an enlarged view). In their retirement, Bill and Judy have become the Editors for the Omena (MI) yacht club newsletter. Bill has provided an e-mail address for classmate Reed Baird. So now we are in touch with Reed, too! With permission, Reed's address is now posted on the e-mail address page.

(November 2002) A newsy note from classmate Reed Baird: (with permission. Ed)
Hello Grey (and Bill, too) - Heck yes you can add my name (to the e-mail list) -- BUT only if you put me near the top of the list. How about second, maybe under Altieri??? Thanks a lot for providing me the website address. Really interesting. I will have to peruse it more carefully later on.
I retired 6 years ago after spending 36 years as a buyer for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Lived in our home in Livermore for 40 years this month. When working, I had a 10 mile commute down a Livermore city street to work for 35 years. Of course, that 10 miles counted both ways, including coming home for lunch!
Married Carrol, 2 years my junior, shortly after college (San Jose State) from which we both graduated in 61. She was from Reno, so we take many trips there each year to visit friends and relatives (no - I do NOT like to gamble, so normally stay shy of the casinos). We have two kids, Chuck (36), in the securities business, who lives in Walnut Creek with wife, Dawn, and kids Brendan (5) and Lauren (3). Daughter Christy (34), single, lives in Walnut Creek in the same neighborhood as Chuck, and is a Palo Alto firefighter.
Carrol and I do lots of traveling around in our retirement. No big trips, just a lot of 3-5 day trips to the coast, mountains, etc. We did
hit Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Tetons, etc in Sept. Hopefully, a cruise up the Columbia River next spring. OK - so that's my bio for now. We are in good health, and enjoying retirement to the hilt. Sure hope the same for you. -- Reed and Carrol

(November 2002) A message from Mike McNitt (BHS '56) forwards data for our Faculty Page.

(November 2002) The About This Website page has a new photo you will enjoy. The picture of the BHS main entrance was taken this month just before the start of the Little Big Game. Mike and Grey were added thanks to digital image graphics. It is the same Mike and Grey from the old picture (taken in August 2001). The main building is about to undergo significant remodeling and the front of the school is now barricaded with chainlink fencing. In the end, the original architecture will be preserved.

(November 2002) News Item gleaned from the minutes of the BHS Parents Group meeting, September 11, 2002. Burlingame High School now has an all-time high enrollment of 1370 students.

(November 11, 2002) Burlingame wins the 75th Anniversary Little Big Game. BHS Panthers 20 - San Mateo Bearcats 6. It was a classic varsity football game. Both teams were undefeated and the winner was the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) champion. At the half it was 7-6, the Panthers leading. It was a close game until the 4th quarter when the Panthers scored twice. Burlingame has now won six consecutive LBGs. It was a perfect day for football, sunny and warm. Held this year at Burlingame, the Rally Committees from both schools did a great job of decorating the grandstands. The new artificial turf and all-weather track are beautiful. A new electronic sign posting messages of school activities now adorns the field entrance at Oak Grove and Carolan Aves. And the students on both sides were well behaved and co-mingling with no problem. The Little Big Game tradition began on Armistice Day, November 11, 1927. Including today's results, Burlingame has won 42, San Mateo 30, and 4 games have ended in a tie. This year San Mateo HS celebrated its 100th birthday. The BHS boosters were selling T-shirts with a graphic showing a Panther stomping on a birthday cake with the caption, 'It's Your Birthday, But This Is Our Party'. This year's game was homecoming and alums abounded in the stands.

(December 2002) More Panther Football. This has been a storybook season for the BHS Panthers varsity football team. After defeating San Mateo in the Little Big Game classic, San Lorenzo Valley and Burlingame were seeded 1 and 2 going into the Division 4 Central Coast Section playoffs, . In the last round BHS beat Cupertino, and San Lorenzo also won. On December 7 (in San Jose) BHS will face San Lorenzo Valley in the CCS Championship game. Both teams are undefeated. (Alas, the Panthers were defeated by San Lorenzo Valley and had to settle for a 12-1 season.)

(December 2002) Attending a family funeral in Petaluma were classmates Mike Johnson and Grey Whipple. Also present were BHS Alums Sally Johnson Barker '56 (Mike's sister) and Bill Stevens '84. Bill's mother graduated with the class of '61. (click on photo for enlarged view)

(December 2002) A note from Carol (Baccigaluppi) Clark: "Wish I could say I had some really interesting news, but I do not.. We did have a wonderful trip West last summer...Sacramento, Modesto, Reno, then through Lassen Park, Shasta area, Crater Lake Park ( magnificent) ,and then a Baccigaluppi family reunion in Sun River, Oregon. We just about burned out our rented Intrepid and were grateful when we successfully turned it in in Redmond, Ore. My big bro,
Roger, enjoyed his 50th BHS reunion recently. They had a neat little "yearbook" showing the grads and their spouses and then an address book that looked like a booklet of address labels. ...Wish you all a merry Christmas...

December 2002) A note from Peter Dillaway: "My time is still well occupied with my duties at New Mexico State University, where I have been situated since 1982. I am the Department Head of Accounting and Business Computer Systems. We have approximately 400 upper-division and graduate students in our three programs, and twenty faculty.... I plan to continue for another four years...I remarried in 1995 and we have two great kids; Allison, 4, and Louis, 2.
They're a joy. My wife, Barbara, is a CPA in a regional firm in Southern New Mexico. As to having children at my age, I'm a much more patient parent now than I was earlier. I have two older children, Adam and Sonia. Both are graduating in 2003, from NMSU and Texas Tech, respectively...." (After several years with a big CPA firm in LA, Peter moved to the Univ. of Florida and earned his Ph.D. and has been in academia ever since. Ed.)

Classmate Mike Johnson, on reading Pete's message, shared the news of Peter's recent marriage and offspring with a woman in his office. Her response,"And you have a 14 year-old. You were in one peppy class." (sorry, folks, but that is my kind of humor. ed.)

(December 2002) A note from Joan 'Bunny' (Fieldhouse) Leon: "...this year has been a great travel year for Pete and me. In January we took a 16 day cruise through the Panama Canal. We stopped at ports in Costa Rica, Aruba, Cartagena, Puntarenas, Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas. Going through the Locks was an awesome thing to see.
In May we went to New Orleans for a week to meet up with Pete's shipmates (including my brother, Bill Fieldhouse '54) for the ships reunion. Pete and I had the pleasure of escorting the oldest living recipient of the Congressional Metal of Honor, John Flinn. He lives in San Diego and is 93 years old. He is quite a character. He was on the same flights as we were, so the Navy "turned him over to us" to make sure he had any assistance he needed. The Navy Brass met us at the airport in New Orleans and transported us to the hotel with John. When we got there, the entire Marriott hotel staff was lined up to greet him with a 15 minute ovation. (There wasn't a dry eye in the place!) They have a new military museum in New Orleans called D-DAY. If you are ever in the area, I suggest you stop by. It is amazing.
In July we took our boat down to San Diego and stayed there at one of their marinas. We do this almost every year, so we have gotten to know quite a
few of the marina's boat owners. We went down with several other boats from our Marina in Huntington Harbour. Had a great time lounging around, shopping, and just kicking back.
In September we went to Hawaii for a week with another couple. We were lucky to be able to use a friends condo on Waikiki beach. The weather was
great, quite warm, and we did a lot of sightseeing. As you can see, we have been kind of busy this year. Although I retired 3 years ago, I am still working part-time, as a consultant, for the same company I retired from. It's pretty nice being able to say "I can do some work this month, but not that month." .....

(December 2002) A note from Bob Czapkay responding to our inquiry: "...Thank you for your concern. I am hanging in there. My health could be
better, but my heart is in pretty good shape. The diabetes is the big concern, now. I have lost a little weight, about 30 pounds, since I was at the reunion. Right now is our busy season on the internet website. It will be a madhouse until January, (I hope!) Give our love to everyone and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all...." (Bob and Valentina have an internet jewelry business at http://www.vscjewelry.com)

(December 2002) A current photo of Mary and Jess Undlin is now posted on his Senior Photo page.

(December 2002) A photo of Fred and Gretchen (Gautsch) Gottschalk and their December 2002 Christmas letter have been posted (with persmission) on Gretchen's Senior Photo page.

(December 2002) Re: Senior Photos page. The list of names on the Senior Photo page has now been 'flagged' to indicate when additional photos or news have been added. We are developing a nice collection of current photos and invite you to check it out. Our thanks to Mike Johnson for this enhancement.

(December 2002) A note from Ron Marlin: "...Nice to hear from you. Hope you, Lillian and all of your family have a great Holiday Season. Not a whole lot new here. Closed my main office officially in March and working only out of the house at this time. Trying to improve my golf, still actively involved in tennis and welcomed my 5th grandaughter in June. Talked to Sandy and Gaven (Dunn) who have just returned from a nice trip to Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania....I haven't seen John (Basye) or Barbara (Hewitt) in ages, but living in San Mateo cuts my chances of running into them. Hope all is well with you and, yes, I do visit the BHS (Class of 1955) website from time to time. Keep up the good work..."

(December 2002) Peter Ueberroth's biography now includes the "answer" to a New York Times crossword puzzle definition: "Ueberroth or Ustinov"

(December 2002) Editor's Note: Re Marlene Givens (married name Scally). The postal address, phone number, and e-mail address we had for Marlene at our last reunion are no longer valid. Her last known residence was in Ventura CA. Is anyone in touch with her?

(December 2002) A note from Roger Peterson: "Since I retired in 1977 my life has been 'on the move': living in Montana (fishing), Lake Tahoe (skiing) and Moraga CA. Regards and happy holidays. Proud member of the class of '55" (Roger has provided some photos which are posted with his senior photo. One is of Roger and Gaven Dunn, a comparative photo taken 1954 and 2002. Ed.)

(January 2003) A note from Deanne (Dahlinger) Pollum: ... I visited the Class website Memorials page and could not believe the people who aren't with us any more... I forget the age we are. I just turned 65 last month and had so much fun. I have four children, four grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. And am so grateful to be working and having a blast. I work for a surgeon in a little office here in Tahoe, take appointments, schedule surgeries, and work only three days a week. My husband is a finish carpenter and we really love living at Tahoe. We live right under Echo Summit and can watch the stream of headlights coming into town every night. It is a great place to live but getting crowded..."