BCCHS Class of 1963 50th Reunion: REUNION UPDATES

Looking Forward to the Reunion

This picture from Jim Hickey and Christie Gerharz Gorman echoes all our sentiments. Thanks, Jim and Christie.

The reunion committee is overjoyed at your response to the reunion and the number of classmates attending. Thank you for your enthusiasm and positive responses and we promise an enjoyable time for everyone. Friday night has 72 attending; Saturday brunch number is at 55; Saturday evening has 74 attending.

New registrations received include Christie Gerharz Gorman, Dan Geiger and Michal Healow Gilpin.

DOOR PRIZES AND GIFTS

Danita Kelly has donated several items as door prizes. Along with donations from Rickard Ross, Lana Pavelis Bittner and Linda Pavelis LeBrun, several very nice gifts will be given away. Barb Wegner Teigen has made personalized gifts for all attending classmates. Please take the time to thank them for their generosity.

GOLF OUTING

There is still time to sign-up for the golf outing to be held September 13. Contact Tom Kennedy at cconnection16@bresnan.net for more information.

BIOGRAPHIES

Carol Chapman Brown

Mike and I will not be attending the reunion since we will be in Billings the first week of September and must return home.

Most of you will probably not remember me as I didn't graduate from Central. If you went to Holy Rosary or St. Pius you might remember me. After my parents' divorce, I couldn't afford Central. I spent my junior year in Wisconsin with my grandmother. She was ill and needed someone to stay with her. My senior year I attended West High in Billings.

I attended Eastern for awhile and worked for the Novasios at the 10 cent Hamburger Shop where I met Mike Brown, BCCHS Class of '60 (Dan's big brother). We married in 1967. After Mike finished college, his first job was in Forsyth. We lived in Helena after Mike started working for the federal government and then back to Billings. In 1972, he transferred to Fresno, CA and we have lived here since. Fresno is a great place to live because of the weather and its central location - only three hours from the ocean.

We have two daughters, Lisa born in 1967 and Michelle born in 1969. I was a stay-at-home mom until the girls started school. After volunteering at the school, I got a job as a teacher's aide for several years. During that time, I also took several classes at the local city college in business. I went to work full-time for the federal government in 1980. I was a tax examiner and then a secretary. Mike traveled frequently with his job in internal audit and then the computer branch and I was able to join him a few times. Washington, DC was my favorite.

We are both now retired and enjoying ourselves. We are very active at Holy Spirit Church as sacristans, Eucharistic Ministers, readers and anything else our pastor needs doing. Mike helps with most of the funerals. I became an Altar Server at age 62 (week days only).

Our daughters both became teachers. Our oldest, Lisa moved about six years ago to Whidbey Island near Seattle. She home schooled her three children and taught special classes at the home school organization in Oak Harbor. She now works part-time for her church coordinating youth education. Her husband Keith is an RN at the hospital in Anacortes, WA. Besides their three teenagers, Melissa, Megan and Joshua, they have three foster children and are in the process of adopting the first one, Madison, age 4.

Our daughter, Michelle teaches first grade here in Fresno. I volunteer in her classroom once a week and enjoy watching how good she is at teaching.

Since retiring, we have been doing a lot of travelling. Besides our yearly trips to Montana and Washington State, we have been on trips to Ireland (twice), France, Italy, the Baltic Sea, Spain, Portugal, England and Scotland. Our pastor, Father Eric, sets these trips up so we visit lots of churches.

I will be thinking of all of you the weekend of the reunion and know you will have a wonderful time.

Mike & Carol (Chapman) Brown

Christie Gerharz Gorman

Greetings to all my Class of '63 classmates. It is amazing to believe we graduated 50 years ago. After graduation, I went off to the University of Portland with five fellow classmates. I married my husband Tom shortly after graduation from UP. Our first years were spent in San Diego, CA and Boston, MA courtesy of the U.S. Navy. It was during that time our first daughter Molly was born. Leaving New England, we settled in the Northwest. We were blessed with two more daughters, Maggy and Mary. We lived in the Portland area for 14 years and in 1986 we had a mid-life crisis. In the space of about 12 hours, Tom took a position as CEO of a small independent telephone company in Washington and we made the decision to send our first daughter half way across the U.S. to attend college. We have been in the Olympia, WA area since then. We have had a great life.

Shortly after sending our last child to school, I had several jobs. I retired after 20 years as a Human Resources Coordinator for a school district. It was an extremely rewarding career. Tom hung up his telephone in 2008. We now enjoy our six fabulous grandchildren, traveling to many interest places and just chilling as retirees. Tom is a car enthusiast and I have pursued my creative side. I love to quilt and design jewelry.

Our daughter Molly is married to Peter and they have Bridget, 18 and Daniel, 11. They live in the midwest. We wish they lived closer but we are able to see them frequently. Maggie is married to Charlie and they are parents to Leah, 5 and twins Charlotte and Thomas, age one. They live in Portland and have a second home on the Oregon coast where we gather as a family and enjoy all the Pacific coast has to offer. Mary is married to Matt and they are parents to Finn, 2-1/2. They love living the Seattle life.

Like all of us, we have had our share of curve balls that always make life interesting. They just make you treasure all the good times and keep our perspective in line.

If the reunion is anything like our others, I know we will have a fabulous time. I look back on my Central years with lots of fond memories. We have a great class and catching up with classmates is always enjoyable. See you in a few weeks.

Christie (Gerharz) & Tom Gorman

Christie (Gerharz) & Tom Gorman & grandchildren

Christie (Gerharz) & family

Dan Geiger

I moved from Bridger and attended Fratt 8th grade and just our freshman year at Central. I still made a lot of Billings friends. Sophomore year, Jerry Keating and I decided to go to the Passionist Fathers Seminary in Missouri. Jerry lasted two weeks and I stayed two years. In the meantime, my parents moved to Great Falls where I finished my senior year at GFC.

I went to the College of Great Falls then got a counseling degree from Eastern in Billings in 1970. Got married, had two daughters, Marie 39 and Keri 37. I divorced and got remarried in 1995 to Diana. She has two kids, Lyon 41 and Sara 38 and between us we have five grandkids that are like magnets, a special time in our lives.

I had the bounty to care for my parents Frank and Anna in their last days which allowed them to pass on at home. I learned a lot and grew from the experience.

I spent 25 years in counseling and then specialized in hypnotherapy. I have been fortunate to be able to help others over the years. In 1998, Diana and I volunteered at the Baha'i World Center in Haifa, Israel for three years and loved it there and traveled every back road in Israel. 2002-2003, we traveled around the world stopping in four continents and 15 countries doing volunteer work for the Baha'i Faith. Always love to travel and count about 40 countries since high school. I like the back alley travel and usually stay with families. Sometimes I set up small clinics in a school and provide therapy for folks without resources and do the therapy with a translator. Yes, you can hypnotize someone with a translator. I treat folks who can't find help through traditional western medicine, lots of neurological, PTSD, depression and most every physical ailment. If you're really interested, Google - Dan Geiger hypnotherapy.

The past four years I have been spending a month in Mongolia and a month in China teaching hypnotherapy at clinics, universities, etc. and having a private practice. About 50% of my practice is now on Skype or by phone with folks scattered all over the world.

Diana works with women on personal issues, service projects with the Baha'i Faith and enjoys doing interior decorating from hut to palace when we travel.

My last adventure was: Google, Peking to Paris Race. My next adventure is driving from Germany through Siberia to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia next spring, about 7,500 bumpy miles and hopefully not too many mosquitoes.

I still work a day or so a week but try to spend my time on the ski slope, backpacking or just being a duffus. Will probably continue working part-time until I'm 95 as it gives me an avenue to travel and provide service.

Just finished my memoir and get ready for this; it's titled "Bless Me Father for I Have Sinned - Tales of Confession". And yes, some of you are co-culprits.