Old friend and fellow classmate Bob Briggs ('58) and wife Nancy Paddock Briggs ('56) will be at their new home in Florida at the end of June, so they will not be joining us at the 2002 alumni reunion. Bob graduated from SUNY Albany in 1962 and then earned his master's degree at the American Institute of Foreign Trade in Glendale, Arizona.  He spent three years in the Philippines with the U.S. Peace Corps and worked for an American company in Taiwan for another three and a half years.  Following that, Bob  taught for twenty-eight years in the Penn Yan and Canandaigua school districts.  He served six years on the DCS school board and two years as Dundee village justice.  Bob retired in 1999 and moved with wife Nancy to Florida in 2001.

Nancy Paddock Briggs graduated from cosmetology school in Elmira and worked as a self-employed beautician in Dundee for thirty years. She also worked at Westinghouse in Bath for seven years and, after retiring from cosmetology in 1990, worked on-and-off part time at the Glenora Winery and at the Main Street Restaurant in Dundee.  Nancy and Bob are the parents of Kelly Smith Opelt, who lives in Dundee, and Adrea Briggs of Sarasota, Florida.  They are the grandparents of Lauren, Cameron and Logan Opelt.

If you would like to contact the Briggs, their address information can be found on our Membership Roster page.  [05/13/02]

Joe Kelley ('61) spent 27 years in the U.S. Army and army reserves following graduation.  He worked as an electrician until 1992, when Joe and his wife bought Froggy's Country Store on Route 54 south of Penn Yan.  His family consists of four children, two stepchildren, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  Joe's hobbies include hunting, fishing, boating and bike riding. He belongs to the Yates County Sportsmen's Association, the Keuka Lake Renegades (a black powder club) and the Barrington Community Church.
 

If you would like to get in touch with Joe, his address information can be found on our Membership Roster page.  [05/10/02]

Nancy Long Carruthers ('83) went to cosmetology school, Pauline's School of Hair in Elmira, for two years following graduation in 1983.  After passing her exams, she began cutting hair, and this year Nancy is celebrating her nineteenth year in the business.  She now operates her own beauty shop called Nancy's House of Hair in her home on Seneca Street.  In 1989, Nancy married Ray Carruthers, and the couple have three children:  Anthony, age 11; Zachery, age 10 and Steven, age 7.   The family enjoy camping, movies, swimming and, with three boys, of course, fishing.
 

 

Check our Recollections page for Nancy's thoughts on growing up in Dundee and attending DCS.  Should you like to get in touch with her, Nancy's address can be found on the Membership Roster page.   [04/14/02]

Dean Webster ('64), who found us here on the Web, tells us that he went into the U.S. Navy just a week after graduation and spent the next four years traveling the world.  He got married shortly after getting out and has two children, a boy and a girl, both now in their early thirties.  Dean worked for Seneca Foods (now Northland Cranberry) in Dundee from 1976 until 1999, when he became disabled on the job.  He is now retired but, as he says, not by his own choosing.

Dean would like to hear from friends and classmates.  His address, e-mail address and telephone number can be found on our Membership Roster page.   [03/21/02]

Robert 'MAC' Plante ('82) of Pensacola, Florida sends along the following via e-mail:

"After graduating in June of '82, I reported to the San Diego Naval Training Center, where I began my service and my current profession as Master of Arms for the United States Navy.  This mobile security force job has taken my wife of ten years and myself throughout the third world and the U.S.  I have worked in many familiar places such as Sicily, Panama, Cuba, Tokyo and San Antonio and even in some not-so-well known places.  I do and have done various taskings of force protection from law enforcement, investigation, intelligence gathering, personnel protection to training and communications.  I think those foreign language and typing classes from high school would really be welcomed, if I had to do it again.  I'm looking forward to retiring this year.  We're not sure where yet - the wife likes the New York area, but I prefer Connecticut.  I'm not sure what I want to do next - maybe work in the computer crimes field or work for myself in the real estate profession.  It reminds me of the beginning, when I was in high school and had to figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.  It's kinda right where I am now . . ."     [03/14/02]

Dora Randall Howell ('41), daughter of Perry and Sylvia Phillip Randall, had three brothers and one sister.  (See sister Daisy's story below.)  Dora married Charles M. Howell in 1943, and the couple had three children, two boys and a girl.  The family resided in Rochester from 1943 until 1972, while husband Charles worked at a state hospital.  After both retired, they came back home to build a little retirement home on Chubb Hollow Road near Penn Yan.  After Dora's husband passed away in August of 1994, she sold the home and moved in with sister Daisy on Walnut Street in Penn Yan.

While living in Rochester and raising her family, Dora did volunteer work in the nurse's office, in the administration office and as a crossing guard at the local school.  She was also very active in the Brighton Reformed Church and in Boy Scouts with her sons.  After her youngest son turned fourteen, Dora went to work in a cookie factory as a baker.  She particularly enjoyed working there during the holiday season.  When son Randy reached sixteen, she began working for Stromberg-Carlson in the installation department.  She stayed with the company for ten years before retiring and moving to the Penn Yan area in 1972.  After Dora and husband Charles returned to the area in 1972, she began doing volunteer work helping patients at Penn Yan Manor nursing home.  She later started a service helping the elderly to stay in their homes by providing necessary help with cleaning, doing laundry, etc.  Dora enjoyed this work for some twenty-five years, but when her husband became ill, she stayed at home and cared for him.  

Dora enjoys crocheting, knitting and reading, and she serves as historian for the DCS Alumni Association.

Read Dora's thoughts about growing up and attending school in Dundee in our Recollections section.  [11/06/01]

Daisy Randall Hall ('44) currently resides with her sister Dora Howell ('41) in Penn Yan.  The Randall sisters also had three brothers, all children of  Perry and Sylvia Phillips Randall.  Daisy's graduating glass in 1944 during World War II had only twenty-seven members.  Daisy, who was widowed in 1992, was married to Charles L. Hall for forty-six years.  The couple had ten children, twenty-six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.  They made their home on a farm in Chubb Hollow until Charles' death in the early 90's, when Daisy moved in with sister Dora in Penn Yan.  Today Daisy continues to do volunteer work at Penn Yan Manor, a nursing home, as well as at the "Once Again Shoppe."  She has participated in activities at the Second Milo Baptist Church for more than fifty years.

You can read about Daisy's memories of growing up and going to school in Dundee in our Recollections section.  [10/14/01]

Dorothy Walton Bodine ('41), who now lives in Penn Yan, worked as a waitress in Dundee following graduation from DCS.  She stayed with her aunt and uncle in town during the week and returned to her family home at Shannon Corners for the weekend.  She later obtained employment with Remington Rand in Elmira, where Dorothy served in quality control as a typewriter inspector for two years.  She susbsequently married Charles N. Bodine, and the couple had four children, two boys and two girls.

Read more about Dorothy in our Recollections section.  [10/14/01]

Dave Tetor ('61) of Clinton Corners, New York earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture from Cornell University in 1965 and began his career by working as a soil scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  From December 1965 through the end of 1969 Dave served with the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of captain.  For two years he commanded 275 men in a large data processing unit in West Germany.  In January 1970, he began a career with Cornell Cooperative Extension which lasted until his retirement in December 2000.  Dave was agricultural program leader for Herkimer County for two years and for Dutchess County for twenty-eight years.

Dave served on the Pine Plains school board (six years; past president), as well as with the following organizations at various times:  the Dutchess County Tourism Board (past co-chair), Dutchess County Industrial Development Agency, Dutchess County Land Conservation Board, Dutchess County Farm Bureau Board, Dutchess County Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board and the Pine Plains FFA Advisory Board (treasurer).  He is a member of the Stanford Grange and served as Stanford town supervisor for four years.  Dave also coached Taconic Little League for ten years.  

You can read more about Dave in our Recollections section, and his address information is included in the Membership Roster, if you would like to contact him.  Read comments made by Barbara Dobbin Sweet ('61) at Dave's retirement dinner in our Bulletin Board section.  [08/19/01]

During the 1993-94 academic year Astrid Stahl, YFU exchange student from Germany, stayed with the Kofler family in Starkey.  Our old friend Joe Kofler gave us Astrid's e-mail address, we contacted her and she responded as follows:

"After my exchange year at DCS in 1993/94, I returned to Germany to finish the German high school, which took two years.  Afterwards I went to university, the Euopean Business School in Germany (near Frankfurt) to study business administration.  I just graduated from that school in June 2001 with a diploma which is the German equivalent to the MBA.  During these five years at university I had my second opportunity to study abroad.  So I spent one semester in France (fall 1998), and for the spring semester in 1999 I returned to the United States to study at Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management in Arizona.  In summer 1999, I worked in the automotive industry in Michigan for two months, and of course, I could not miss the opportunity to return to Dundee to visit the Koflers, my host family during my exchange year at DCS.  This second stay in the United States gave me the experience of living as a graduate school student and to get to know the American work life, which added greatly to my experiences as a high school student.  Right now I am preparing for my professional life, since I start working as consultant at a small IT services firm in Germany this September.

I regret that I was only able to stay in touch with the Kofler family and not with any of the other great people whom I met during my exchange year.  I feel sorry that the only full name of a classmate I remember without consulting the yearbook is Christina Baley, but I also have lost contact with her.

If anybody still remembers me, I would love to receive an e-mail (AstridStahl@ global.t-bird.edu) or a traditional letter at:  Astrid Stahl, Nove-Mesto-Platz 12, 40721 Hilden, Germany."  [08/15/01]

Siegler Couch ('60) of Enola, Pennsylvania spent nine years with the U.S. Navy following graduation.  While living in Alabama he also served nine years with the Air National Guard in that state.  Siegler married wife Nancy on July 3, 1971, and the couple have two daughters.  Michelle and husband David live in nearby Mechanicsburg, as does their other daughter Megan and her husband David.  Megan and David are missionary candidates with ABWE with possible field service in Portugal or Brazil. Both daughters attended Pensacola Christian College.  Michelle was on staff there in the Abeka Books print shop.  Wife Nancy is a middle school teacher at Harrisburg Christian School.

Siegler is currently employed at Home Depot in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.  However, he is a graduate of the American Laundry-Linen College at Eastern Kentucky University, and he spent many years in that industry while living in Alabama.  He was a charter member and past president of the Alabama Association of Institutional Linen Management, past district director of the National Association of Institutional Linen Management, and institutional linen manager of the year in Alabama in 1989 and 1992.

Siegler remarks that he continues to be amazed at the number of people he meets who have gone to college with DCS alumni - Tom Wignall, Carolyn Knapp and Anita Witter for examples - and others who have visited Dundee and the surrounding area.  "Such a small world we live in!"  [08/15/01]

Tarja Pisila Maenpaa ('86), an A.F.S. student from Finland, recently found our web site and entered a few comments in the guest book.  We e-mailed her to ask if she would care to tell us more about life in her native country since graduation and leaving Dundee.  It is apparent from her response that she has many fond memories of DCS, Dundee and the many friends she made during the year she spent with us.

"I'm Tarja Maenpaa (used to be Pisila).  I joined the class of '86 for the senior year as a Finnish foreign-exchange student.  What a year it was!  After returning to Finland I studied computers and software programming.  I worked as an adult educator for a few years.  During that time I also got married (in 1992) and had a son (Roope, 8 years old) and a daughter (Roosa, 7 years old).  Like so many others, our family went through a divorce almost three years ago.  I have now found a new companionship  with Jouni, and we're starting a new home together with him and one more daughter (Sara, also 8 years old).  I'm now working as a project manager.  I still enjoy "wollyball" and watching "TeeWee" :)  (Remember my pronunciation back then?)"

Please refer to our Recollections page for Tarja's thoughts on attending DCS and the many friends she made there and in the community.  Below we have reproduced a page from the 1986 Highlander showing Tarja as she participated in various activities at DCS during her year with us.  [07/27/01]
 

On June 30th the Windmill Farm and Craft Market, located on Route 14A just north of Dundee, celebrated their fifteenth anniversary.  The day was filled with a variety of activities and special guests, including the DCS steel drum band Symphonic Steel (see our DCS Today page.)  Among those participating in the festivities was Norm Willis ('55), one of the many regular vendors at the Windmill.  Norm sells a variety of his own beautifully hand-crafted items of wood at his booth called The Top Shelf.   Your editor can personally attest to the quality of Norm's workmanship, since one of his custom cabinets has adorned our kitchen some years now.  [07/15/01]
 

Duane Ballard ('69) attended Corning Community College for a year following graduation.  He has worked for the Knapp & Schlappi Lumber Company in Penn Yan for the last thirty years.  On August 30, 1975, he married wife Robyn, and the couple have two sons:  Benjamin, born December 27, 1979, and Thomas, born November 1, 1984.  Duane's hobby is buckwheat farming.

Check our Membership Roster page, if you would like to contact Duane.  [07/15/01]

Dorothy Axtell Parmelee ('45), who now resides with her husband in Geneva, recalls picking berries and grapes in the Dundee and Penn Yan areas following graduation.  Married in 1946, the couple raised three children.  Besides being a homemaker, Dorothy served as a 4H club leader and regularly participates in church activities.  Her hobbies include sewing, raising flowers and working on church bazaars.The couple like people and enjoy getting together often with family and friends.  They also travel whenever possible, particularly to the New England states.

See our Recollections page for Dorothy's thoughts on growing up and attending school in the Dundee area.  [07/10/01]

Gladys Emery Aston ('41) of Lake Dallas, Texas attended SUNY Brockport for one year following graduation.  She spent twenty-two years in airport management at the Elmira-Corning Airport prior to moving to Texas with her husband in 1979.  The couple had three children, eight grand-children and eleven great grand-children.  Widowed since 1991, Gladys currently works part time for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and the United Way in Denton, Texas.

You can read Gladys' thoughts on growing up and attending school in Dundee on our Recollections page.  If you would like to get in touch with her, you can find her address in the Membership Roster.  [07/07/01]

Pauline Shrauger Barrett ('41) lived in Wayne for forty-three years, serving as postal clerk there for eleven of those years. Following her husband's death, Pauline moved to Horseheads for nine years, then went on to North Carolina to live with her daughter.  Today Pauline keeps busy participating in activities with the Center for the Blind.  "We go bowling, do crafts, play bingo and even go to Myrtle Beach and take the 'gambling boat' out for a day of gambling."  She also enjoys listening to books on tape supplied by the state of North Carolina.
 

Check our Membership Roster if you would like to contact Pauline.  [07/07/01]

Pauline Bassett Jamison ('57), who spends most of the year in Bonita Springs, Florida, says she loves the sunshine, fishing, swimming and all the other water activities along the Florida coast.  During the summer, however, Pauline does return to the Dundee area to her residence on the Old Glenora Road.  Following graduation Pauline drove a school bus for twelve years and then worked at Corning Community College until back surgery forced her to retire.  Her two children live near Pauline in Florida.

See Pauline's thoughts about going to school in Dundee in our Recollections section, and check the Membership Roster if you would like to get in touch with her.  [07/07/01]

We had the distinct pleasure of meeting and chatting at some length with Lt. Col. Wilbur L. Morgan ('34) at the 2001 Alumni Association reunion.  Prior to the event he had sent us a detailed account of his very interesting life.  We present his story here in his own words.