News from You

Are you retiring and/or moving? Did you win the Lottery? Let's hear from you! We suggest brief notes--maybe not volumes. Send us good clear photos through e-mail or "snail mail." We will mail hard copies back to you.

**Please keep in mind that what you post becomes accessible to ANYONE on the Internet, not just classmates!

Romanowski & daughters	Armstrong, Wassenhove, Peck & wife, & Tanner
Seitz & Hamiltons	Tanner, Aguirre, Polios (with Romanowski and Buracker in background)

On a recent trip to Cuba, Gib DeKoster and Karen Davidson visited schools, community projects to help the locals, organic farm, tobacco farm, eco-community reserve, and Museum of Literacy. We had a walking tour of Havana, went to Ernest Hemingway's home, saw colonial-era architecture (many buildings being restored) and went to a canon firing dating from 1519, which occurs nightly.. We enjoyed music each day at lunch and most evenings.

After the tour of 8 days, we boarded a local bus for a five hour trip to Cienfuegos and Trinidad and visited with grandaughter, Dr. Stacy. She had just graduated medical school and is now back home in Roatan Honduras to take further education for a specialist field. Submitted by Karen Davidson

Gib DeKoster and Karen Davidson with a statue of Cuban musician Beny More, in Cienfuegos, Cuba.
For more pictures, go to this web album.

MHS '59er Rodger Kramer recently received a "Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of the years of dedicated service to the Hearing Impaired and the Iowa Hearing Association".

It was presented in Des Moines, IA by the Iowa Hearing Association on April 20, 2012.

Congratulations, Rodger!

Bob and I met with Tom Genn in Vienna Friday night! We had a wonderful time catching up after all these years thanks to the reunion booklet which listed his e-mail address. He lives there; we were vacationing. Thought you might like to see the photo...

Sandy Schurter

Photos from March 26th Lunch @ HyVee:

Lunch with former teachers, Nachbaur and Dye!

Three 2012 Web Photo Albums are posted!

Nancy was serenaded by the guys on her 71st birthday party.

See photos

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"Grease" at Circa '21 & Jim B's B'day

See photos
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MHS '59 Brunch in Florida

See photos
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January 2012

Ken Riceman was feeling
very "Presidential"
at the Ronald Reagan Library.

Ken said, "The plane at top
is an actual 707 that Reagan
used during his time in office and is parked inside the library and is open for tour. That is my Nixon,
'I am not a crook' pose."

Which two of our classmates
just got married?

Norm Aguirre
and Janice Payne!!

Check out this link for more photos! PreDemolitionKitchenParty

MHS Class of '59 had a space at the Geneseo Flea Market on August 27th.
Only 8 or 10 class members donated items, but we were able to clear about $250.00
for our scholarship fund. We hope to have more participants next year.
Keep us in mind if you have items you no longer want or need.
Contact Nancy Ross Polios about possible donations.

"TRAVELING 59ers"
Nancy Ross Polios, Carole Carlson Bloeser, Chris Calvert Hoerrmann

Carole has a home on Seabrook Island SC, so the trio had a great time checking out the local attractions.

Moline High School
Hall of Honor 2010 Induction Ceremony

January 15, 2010

Two of the six honorees were Class of '59 members!
The night's program gave the following information about their professional
achievements, community service, and positive influence on the lives of others.

STEVEN COMBS Class of 1959
Steve Combs' lifetime of dedication to the sport of wrestling has been rooted in education. Not only did Combs continually promote his own knowledge through college and graduate school, but he instrumentally changed the face of wrestling on a national level. Combs began his pursuit of education and wrestling in Moline, where he was captain of the Moline High School wrestling team. Although wrestling at Moline didn’t result in much public recognition, his experiences inspired Combs to work harder to achieve his goals. Each year at the University of Iowa, he improved his skill and recognition as a collegiate wrestler. Combs placed third in the Big Ten as a sophomore, second in the Big Ten as a junior, and finally won the Big Ten Championship in his senior year (1963). That same year Combs placed second in the NCAA National Wrestling Championships, but that didn’t satisfy his passion for the sport. He continued to develop his skills as a Greco and freestyle wrestler and was honored with the National Freestyle Champion and Outstanding Wrestler Award in1966. He then earned a spot on the United States Olympic Freestyle Wrestling Team of 1968. Continuing with honors, Combs was inducted into the Illinois Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1975 and was named National Wrestling Man of the Year in 1978.

Although Steve Combs continued to earn wrestling awards and honors throughout the next three decades, his most profound contributions to the sport often go unrecognized. In the face of Olympic turmoil in the late seventies and early eighties, as Executive Director of the United States Wrestling Federation (1974-1980) and USA Wrestling (1981-1985), Combs as instrumental in gaining recognition for USA Wrestling as the National Governing Body for wrestling by the Olympic Committee, In addition to his tireless efforts with USA Wrestling, Combs also worked with six other wrestlers renowned for their athletic reputation and training styles to identify what are now known as the “Seven Basic Skills Of Wrestling.” These basic skills, coupled with information on exercise physiology and sports psychology are the training platform on which wrestling programs across the country are based. The “Seven Basic Skills” model has been so successful in training young athletes that several other Olympic training programs have adopted it for use internationally. These contributions, along with authoring two books on wrestling, Coaching U.S. Kids Wrestling 1980), and Winnipeg Wrestling (1980), have made Steve Combs a remarkable sports educator and inspiration to generations of athletes.
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ROBERT VOGELBAUGH Class of 1959

His dedication to the Quad City community spans three decades of service. Known affectionately throughout the community as “Mr. Thanksgiving,” Bob Vogelbaugh’s generosity to those in need has been the hallmark of his philanthropic endeavors. He founded the Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner in 1970 and has maintained this tradition for almost four decades. The Moline American Legion further recognized his “outstanding contributions to the elderly and needy of the community” in 1976. Vogelbaugh continues his dedication to the homeless and less fortunate in our community, as evidenced by a citation of appreciation from the Department of Illinois VFW in 1987, his recognition from the Moline Masonic Lodge in 1991, and the William Booth Award of the Salvation Army presented in 2009.

In addition to his humanitarian efforts for the less fortunate, Mr. Vogelbaugh’s dedication to the Quad City community extends to the advancement of its youth, as well. In May 1987, the Cooperative Education Programs of Rock Island High School noted his service to the development of youth.

The Moline Council PTA awarded him for his kindness and service to people of the Quad Cities in 2005, and in 2006 Vogelbaugh was presented with the Admiration Award for working with youth by the United Way of the Quad Cities. He has served on the Moline School Board from 2005 to the present, acting as both Vice President and President during his tenure. In 2007 he was also awarded the Moline High School Coolidge Campus Partnership Award.

Modern Woodmen of America noted Vogelbaugh’s “conscientious and dedicated community service,” and the City of Moline awarded him for his exemplary services to the community. Bob Vogelbaugh has spent a lifetime improving life in the Quad City area, and his continued devotion is precisely what prompted his selection as the River Cities Reader Number One Volunteer of the Quad Cities (2009).
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SSee our "Web Albums" for all the photos taken at this event.

November 2009--Don Sullivan sent this update titled "SINCE LEAVING MOLINE IN 1959"

Considering that I did little to distinguish myself in high school, it is unlikely that many 1959 graduates will remember me. After leaving Moline for Northwestern University, I married Suzanne Hoskins, my college sweetheart, and together, we raised two daughters and a son. After 45 years, I am still in love with her.

I began my career in advertising in Chicago and one month before my 35th birthday became President, CEO of Ketchum Advertising, a national advertising agency headquartered in San Francisco. During my 10 years in that capacity, I created national TV advertising for Bank of America, Clorox, Levi Strauss, Pillsbury, and others. In 1984, I was fortunate to work on the re-election campaign of President Ronald Reagan and even more fortunate to meet that great Illinois native. In 1986 I wrote the advertising campaign that introduced Acura, the first line of Japanese luxury cars.

Following the Acura launch, I moved to J. Walter Thompson Co., the oldest and one of the largest multi-national advertising agencies where I served as Vice Chairman. In that role, I worked with multi-national clients in 16 countries, serving 25 Fortune 500 companies including Ford, Kraft, Northwest Airlines, Verizon, Miller Brewing, Unilever and others.

Sue was one of the first women to become a postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church and holds her Master of Divinity from CDSP Seminary in Berkeley, Ca. Having established a street ministry in Marin County, CA, she was recognized by President Reagan as one of ten Volunteers of the Year in 1986.

Over the years, Sue and I have lived in Evanston, Barrington and Lake Forest, Illinois, San Francisco and Carmel, California, Manhattan, NY, Venice, Italy (twice, briefly) and currently Annapolis, Maryland. We spend summer and fall months at Reynolds’ Ranch, a property in northwest Montana, adjacent to Glacier National Park, that we purchased in 1981.

After retiring, I wrote three novels, (only one published so far) and learned to fly. Sue and I have enjoyed flying our twin engine Beech Baron throughout the country. We are currently licensed lay ministers in the Episcopal Church and, in that role, have founded a church in a remote area of northwest Montana. We tutor inner-city kids in Annapolis and are involved in numerous church outreach programs to help those who need it.

Sue and I have been blessed with a wonderfully exciting and fulfilling life, one I never could have imagined while attending that “new” high school on 23rd Avenue. We thank God for our continued health and strength, our children, grandchildren and our many friends around the country. We wish all of my Moline High School classmates of 1959 the same.

Donald Sullivan

August 2009: We received two photos from Sharon Safe McCool, but we're still waiting on a note to add!

Hi Vicki, My name is Marywayne Yohn. I have just been going over the website of the Class of '59. I saw a lot of familiar names in the e-mails and would like to have mine added, if possible. It is: Marywayo@aol.com

It was such fun reading about the lunches and seeing people I don't really recognize except for the names. I am looking forward to getting the Reunion Book when it comes out. I am sending in my money and a note.

I was back to Moline for an overnight years ago and didn't know where I was! I was with my brother, David and his wife, and we went around this interchange and our third time around we were laughing so hard my brother could hardly drive! Moline has definitely changed.

I think the website is delightful. This is the first time I have checked it out. I'm looking forward to getting in touch with some friends. Thanks for the memories.

Marywayne Yohn

June 8th, 2009: This note and two great photos came from Terry (Schultze) Braaten:

June 2, 2009: Here's a note from Dick Romanowski. We've enjoyed seeing him at some recent Monday luncheons and the Moline HS Building Open House.

5/25/09 Just received this great shot complete with caption from California!

"You want looking good? Here is looking good! At Liz Livingston Hogan's home in Palo Alto, CA. Ginny Jones, Alan Larsen, Terry Hogan and Liz Livingston. All looking forward to making a command appearance at the 50th reunion in Moline."

5/11/09 Classmate Neil Olsen and his wife Carol were visiting the Q-C and joined the "Lunch Bunch" at the new Moline Hy-Vee.

5/1/09 Do you remember classmate Mike Wilder? He sent a note and these two current photos: