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CULVER MILITARY ACADEMY Back, back, to Culver days...Old memories how they THRILL me! Dear Classmates, Widows, and friends of the Culver Class of 1957, Greetings from Culver where we are currently experiencing our first real “cold” of the winter. There is a lot of Class news to pass along to you, some good and some not so good. I do want to thank many of you for your quick response to my recent email asking for tidbits of news to pass along to our Class. I received more responses this time than I ever had before and some were from classmates that we seldom hear from. Thanks again. Yours sincerely, Jerry Ney, Scribe for the Class of 1957 Newsy News (in no particular order) Bob Clements (Troop B) reports that he and Marjorie split their time between La Quinta, California and Horseshoe Bay, Texas. He remarks that he is grateful for decent health, is still a stock “junky,” and is trying to learn golf. He says that he loves his two Labradoodles, and is lucky to have an “above average” wife. Bob remarked that Culver means more to him each year which is probably unusual coming from a guy who was last in his class. I’m not certain that he is correct on that fact because I’ve always thought that someone else, unnamed, holds that distinction. Some months ago (Company B) Dave Charlton’s wife Jody suffered but survived an ischemic stroke on their return to Traverse City, Michigan from Chicago. Then in October of ’18 she had a very brief hospital stay where she got a staph infection that required open heart surgery. Dave and Jody sold there Hudson, Ohio condo and moved to a retirement community in Hudson where Jody receives therapy. Dave says that as Jody’s caregiver, he is doing well, works-out 5 days a week and is having an active social life. He is hoping that Jody will be a part of a speech research study at the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in Chicago sometime soon. He reports that Jody’s main issue is speech. She comprehends 98% but has difficulty expressing her thoughts, wishes and concerns which of course is frustrating, but despite all that she is going through, her spirits are high and her attitude is positive. We wish Jody and of course, Dave, the best. Newsy News (in no particular order), continued Mario “Chiqui” Oronoz (Battery B) tells that 2020 didn’t start well for him and Mag- gie as they had a death in their extended family on New Year’s Day. That along with a series of very strong earthquakes just 5 days later with extensive damage on the southern part of Puerto Rico, and still trying to get back on their feet from all those previous storms on the island. Fortunately, these new storms didn’t damage Mario and Maggie directly, but as Tevye in the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof so famously said referring to g-d and the “chosen peo- ple,” I wish for once He would choose someone else! Chiqui also reported that Maggie fell last May, suffered two crushed vertebrae, and is still suffering from that. Prior to Maggie’s fall, they had taken a long trip to Rome, Athens, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria. They are now planning a trip to Brazil’s northeast and the cities of Salvador and Manaus plus a river cruise on the Amazon and/or Rio Negro Rivers. Phill Klein (Company A) had an early diagnosis of a cancer at the base of his tongue last summer and had 7 weeks of radiation treat- ment which hopefully has taken care of the prob- lem. However, this experience was enough for Phill to decide that it was time to retire as well as to sell his beloved boat, the EASY TOO, which he used to ply the waters between Chicago and Michigan and elsewhere. Phill and Maryjane had their usual assortment of trips during this past year which included excursions to visit kids and grandkids. These trips included, but were Phill and Maryjane Klein and Family not limited to, Wyoming, West Virginia, Florida, Jamaica, and the Grand Tetons. Within Phill and Maryjane’s family, son Larry has left his position with the Greenbrier to become the General Manager of The Olde Farm, a private golf club/resort in Bristol, Virginia. Son, Alex is the General Manager of The Grand Teton Lodging Co. in Wyoming. Do you see a trend here? Please contact Phill for your 50% discount at either property, especially during “high” season. Carter Bays (Battery B) retired several years ago as a “Distinguished Professor Emeritus,” Computer Science, at the University of South Carolina. He reports that he has what is generally regarded as the world’s best private collection of early American Sewing Machines. He wrote the comprehensive book on the subject called “The Encyclopedia of Early American Sewing Machines” which is now in its 3rd edition. Carter calls himself a chronic collector and mentions that during his Culver days he collected butterflies. I should say here that I have always gotten very deep into collecting as well, first one thing and then the next. I was an outpatient at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota one time and during some free time I visited a shop that was filled with all kinds of collectables. I was approached by a gentleman who identified himself to be the owner. He asked what I was collecting? I told him that there were too many things to elaborate at that moment, and he said, “that’s great! You must know that collectors live longer.” I’ve always taken that as an encouraging sign. I should live forever, hopefully at least until I finish this damn letter. Newsy News (in no particular order), continued Paul Fouts (Company D) In a prior communication with Paul, I suggested that he drive up to Culver from Indianapolis to see the new Shack. His reply was that in the middle of March he will be getting his “toy” out from the garage and drive it up to Culver to give it some good exercise after its winter nap. His “toy” is his Porsche. I’m proud that he can still get in and out of it as he just had his hip replaced in December. He says that he is recovering well and plans on going to his condo in Gulf Shores as he does each February. Paul with his son, Andy Steve Ellis (Company A) says that all is going great with him. He and Howard Waugh (Band) have been in communication for a short while now, and he and Steve also had a great conversation with Bob May (Company A). Steve is one of those classmates who ap- parently had not kept in touch with many guys over the years, but now I see him on Facebook quite a bit which included being a Facebook friend with Hart Miller (Company A). Steve sounds as though he is now in the 21st century with electronic devices, but he says that his cell phone is of that vintage that he can’t text with it. I was wondering if it’s a cellphone that has a “party line.” Probably not. But it does sound as though Steve’s life has changed a bit to finally getting in touch with some of our classmates. Perhaps the change is due to getting his first grandchild only 3 months ago. He says about that grandchild, “very cute and fun.” Steve says about his health that he can’t complain about it. All is good so far. He hopes that everyone can hang in there for the 100th. Well, let’s see about the 65th first; then we can “go” for our 70th. Howard Waugh (Band) expressed that he was easing gingerly into his 9th decade and was focusing on staying healthy and keeping in touch with family and friends. He and Vilma take a daily 2 mile (almost) walk and try to get to the gym. Vilma is trying hard to keep her weight up to her 100 lb target while Howard is trying equally hard to keep his at 157, his weight at our Culver graduation. He does comment that the weight is distributed a bit differ- ently now. They took only one foreign trip this past year to Denmark for the annual Jazz Festival in Copenhagen. Bill Shaw (Company D) volunteers 8 hours each week to the Braille Institute as a librarian for their books on tape service. He says that if things aren’t tough enough being visually impaired, they have one patron in his 70’s/80’s who commutes twice per week some 80 miles each way to the Institute on public transportation for a class that discusses these books. The man is totally blind and travels alone. Newsy News (in no particular order), continued Fritz Keeler (Battery B) is having a great time since moving to Culver last summer. So far, in the short time that he has been here, he has had 2 cataract surgeries and now has a stress fracture on one foot. Other than these little blips on the radar, he is doing quite well and enjoying himself. Several weeks ago, Jerry Ney (Company D), Mark (Troop A) and Marilyn Lamey, Denis (Troop B) and Judith Drysdale and I, met for a nice lunch and visit at the Olive Garden in Kokomo, Indiana. It was about an equal distance for each of us, so there was no favoritism shown.

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