BILL ELIAS WILL BE JOINING HIS CLASSMATES IN OCTOBER - WILL YOU?

Photo of Bill Elias
provided by Tony Fadale
Class of 1957













I don't know as yet if Bill Elias plans on joining us at the great 50th Reunion. Tony sent me this picture that I worked on in photoshop. When Bill sends us his biography, I'll edit this entry.
Jerry

JIM GROVE WILL JOIN US IN OCTOBER AT THE BIG NDHS 1957 REUNION

After thinking things over, Jim Grove plans to join us at the 1957 NDHS 50th Reunion.

After graduation from Notre Dame High School in 1957, Jim Grove enrolled in Pierce Community College in Woodland Hills. He studied there for two years and then went to work for RCA Service Company.
At RCA, Jim helped to write an instruction manual for the firing and repair of the Atlas missile. In his words, "I hated it!"

Jim began to test for fire department employment in Southern California. The Beverly Hills Fire Department hired him in March of 1964. In 1978, he was promoted to the position of engineer. He retired from the fire department in 1993, "after 29 years and two riots. What a job!"

"My wife of 35 years, Mary Lou, is Irish, but I married her anyway."
------------ Editor's note: Just wait until Mary Lou reads this! --------------

"We have four kids and eight grandkids." Seven of the grandchildren are boys and one is a girl.

"God has been very good to us. We are able to travel quite a bit."
The Groves attend St Jude Thaddeus church in Westlake, California. Jim works one day each week at Los Robles Golf Course; "Great fun! I see Dennis Borowski there."

"I saw Bill Westmyer a month before he passed away. Bill and I had private pilots' licenses. We flew together a lot. Bill was a good pilot and a lot of fun. I met Bill in the first grade."

"I talk to Bob Gunther, once in awhile. Bob lives in Las Vegas. He knows about the reunion."

"I am looking forward to the reunion."

Jim Grove

EXCITEMENT ABOUT THE 50TH REUNION GROWS.

A message from Tony Fadale.

" The blog seems to be booming. I hope as we get closer
there will be more and more interest in posting pictures, stories, etc.
My wife and I were with '57 grads Gierok, Susca, Elias, DeCoster and
Borowski and their wives over this past weekend (July 28). Rick
DeSantis ('56) hosted a dinner in his vacation home in Ventura. The talk was
hot and heavy about the reunion. The talk covered topics like who is coming,
what are the activities planned, how much is dinner, where will dinner be
held and a lot of stories about the people who they had seen on the blog or
not seen in years. The fact that Rich Marrone will come from Sweden was a
big hit.
Often stories were traded about some of our deceased fellow
grades. I brought all four years of yearbooks ('54 - '57). Interestingly enough
many of the wives looked for pictures of ND boys they dated before they
married their ND grad. Of course they wanted to know what their husband looked
like in those years.
I think their enthusiasm is indicative of what all graduates of '57 are
thinking as we get closer to the big reunion. I took pictures and I will e-mail them to you.
Tony Fadale

BOB SOUZA IS ALIVE!

Bob Souza
Famous California Wine Maker












I just received the following message from Bob Souza.
Jerry fecht

fecht bob souza lives and will be sending pic and current bio soon i really am in the vineyard almost all the time harvest and bottling all occur in the next two months then i get my life back bob souza


note from Fecht

After the bottling, Bob forgot to mention, comes the drinking.
I don't much like St. Paul, but he did say something that I think fits into my pagan philosophy: "A little wine is good for the stomach."

NORM WEST CHECKS IN - HE'LL JOIN US AT THE BIG 50TH REUNION

Our classmate
Norm West
Photo during OSC training
US Marine Corps 1966













On his graduation from Notre Dame High School, Norm West joined ten of his classmates to enter the Brothers of Holy Cross. He was sent first to Watertown, Wisconsin for six weeks indoctrination and then to Rolling Prairie, Indiana near the University of Notre Dame for a year of novitiate.

In August 1958, he and others went to St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas for academic studies and training. Sever of the group stayed at the University to earn degrees. In January of 1961, Norm was sent to Saint Francis High School in Mountain View, California. There he taught classes for a year and a half before deciding that he did not have a vocation for the Brotherhood. He returned to civilian life in August,1962. For a short time he attended Loyola Law School, and finished his degree at Loyola (now, Loyola-Marymount) University in Westchester, California in 1966.

In October 1966, Norm enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and was sent to Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Quantico, Virginia. He finished the school in May 1967.

In June 1867, Norm married Janice Rugg, a graduate of Corvallis High School, Class of 1965). In 1967 he was sent to Vietnam where he served as a supply office in DaNang for a year. "Nobody shot at me and I didn't shoot at anybody either." He then returned to duty at Camp Pendleton in California. In April of 1969 he began work as a recruiter for the U.S. Marine Corps in Los Angeles. He continued his in-service studies and was then sent to the island of Okinawa for a year. He was sent to 29 Palms California and purchased a home in nearby Yucca Valley, where he lives today. After another tour of duty in Okinawa from 1981 to 1982, he retires from military service in 1986.

In his "retirement" Norm West has sold real estate, taught school, and did drug and alcohol abuse counseling.
He re-retired to make use of his G.I. Bill privileges and earned a Master of Business Administration degree and teaching credentials from National University.

Norm and Janice share nine children. Two of their offspring live in Las Vegas, three in Los Angeles, one daughter is an attorney in Yucca Valley, and another lives in Kentucky. They have two grandchildren.
"I have been playing a lot of senior softball in Palm Springs and Palm Desert for a few years. I still have a couple of years on teaching credentials and may substitute teach one or two days a week.

GEORGE BARRY - NDHS CLASS OF 1957 WILL ATTEND OUR GREAT 50TH REUNION THIS FALL. HOW ABOUT YOU?

George Barry (NDHS Class of 1957) and his wife Jacquie.









George Barry and his wife of 49 years, Jacquie will be joining his classmates for our 50th reunion in October. The Barrys share three children and six grand daughters. Three of the granddaughters attend colleges in the South, Georgia Southern, Florida State and the University of South Carolina.

Our classmate George has been retired for the last nine years, spending time with golf, travel, and visiting family and friends. He spent 30 years in the construction equipment industry, the last 19 of which was with the J.I. Chase Corporation (now known as Case New Holland). He retired as the General Manager of Construction Equipment Operations. The Barrys lives in the Royal Oaks Golf Community in Maryville, Tennessee.

George says, "We have maintained contact for all these years with fellow alumni; Gieroks, Arlottos, Souza’s and Bob Laughlin. Looking forward to renewing acquaintances with many of you."

NEWS ABOUT OUR CLASSMATE DAVE HANNA

President George Bush and Dave Hanna

After his graduation from Notre Dame High School, Dave Hanna earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Arizona. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsion Fraternity at that campus. With college finished, Dave entered the United States Navy where he served as a nuclear weapons and guided missile officer. He did a tour of duty in Vietnam.
"David Hanna has been President, CEO, or Director of more than 15 high technology companies. He is Chairman of the Board of Blue Coat Systems and Tropos Networks, and is on the Board of Directors of Handmark Inc. Chairman of Hanna Ventures, Hanna is known for his success investing in early stage technology companies. A former senior executive at IBM, Hanna was honored in 2004 with the first-ever “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Software Council of Southern California and was named “2001 Director of the Year – Early Stage Companies” by The Forum for Corporate Directors. In addition, he received the Software Council’s "1998 Software CEO of the Year Award".

Hanna was Chairman of Empower.org and served on the Board of Directors of Empower America. He was a California Finance Co-Chairman of the Bush-Cheney ‘04 Campaign and also headed up Californians for Thune in 2004.