45-Year
Class of 1963
Volume 45, No. 8
May 2008
Dear Classmates!
Time is flying by so quickly. Less than two weeks remain until we have our reunion on campus. All has been prepared. I hope that golfers will have contacted John Monson (threeputt1941@embarqmail.com) if you want to golf on Friday afternoon. Please keep on hoping for nice weather on Friday and Saturday (especially Friday) since we will have a tent set up on the patio of the president’s residence for our social gathering and dinner. The patio overlooks the Arboretum and is glorious if we have nice weather!
CAMPUS NEWS
New Gustavus President Announced
The Board of Trustees of Gustavus has elected Jack R. Ohle
to be the College’s 15th president.
Ohle, currently the president of
Gusties Gather! Hosts Needed
Gusties around the world are called to gather on Sunday, September 28. The Alumni Board is designating this day as a day to intentionally connect with other Gusties. Want to do more to be connected with Gustavus? Sign up to host a Gusties Gather! event for your neighborhood or with your friends.
Grant Received for Science Education
Gustavus has recently been awarded $1 million for science
education over the next four years from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
in
Celebrating 25 Years of Phi Beta Kappa at Gustavus
In April, Gustavus celebrated its 25th anniversary as a Phi
Beta Kappa institution. Phi Beta Kappa
began during colonial times, in 1776, when its members secretly met to discuss
revolution against the British throne.
It was the first Greek society founded in the
Join other Minneapolis/St. Paul area Gusties for a
once-a-month morning cup of coffee and breakfast while getting an update on
Gustavus. The group meets the third
Wednesday of each month
Your Gift is Twice as Nice from May 1 to May 25
The Gustavus Alumni Fund goal is to raise $1.95 million from
8,000 alumni donors by May 31. So far
6,100 alumni have contributed $1.5 million toward our goal. The Gustavus Board of Trustees has created a
$50,000 challenge match for any gift to the Gustavus Alumni Fund from May 1 to
May 25 to help achieve the goals. Take
advantage of this 1:1 matching opportunity to DOUBLE YOUR GIFT by
Athletics
Softball clinched a spot in the MIAC playoffs and
Julie Mahre became the Gustavus career hits leader with 207 hits. The men's tennis team is the MIAC
regular season and playoff champions and will be appearing in the NCAA
tournament for the 15th consecutive year.
The women's tennis team won its 17th consecutive MIAC Title. Junior Lisa Brown finished seventh in the javelin
at the prestigious Drake Relays with a career best effort 156 feet, 5 inches;
she was the only non-Division I competitor to finish in the top ten and broke
her own school record by nearly two feet.
Brown's mark of 156-5 is the best mark in Division
Alumni Awards
Announced
The Alumni Association announces the following 2008 awards selected by the Alumni Board of Directors.
Greater Gustavus Award - Given to those who by
deed, have notably advanced and aided
Jim and Susan (Pepin) Peterson ’64 ’65
Distinguished Alumni Citations - Recognizing outstanding and exceptional professional achievement:
Craig Johnson ’69, bishop, Minneapolis Area Synod,
Talmadge King ’70, chair, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine.
Barbara
First Decade Awards - Recognizing early professional achievement:
Miho Ihara, senior consultant, CPCS Transcom Limited.
Jason Smerdon, Barnard Environmental Science/Mellon
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Environmental Science,
The Greater Gustavus Award and Distinguished Alumni Citations will be presented at the Alumni Banquet on Saturday, May 31 and the First Decade Awards will be presented during Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 4.
Upcoming Alumni
Events
Gustie Breakfast - May 21, featuring Sports Information Director, Tim Kennedy
Class Reunions - for 50-Year Club, 1958, and 1963 - May 30 and 31
CLASS NEWS
I have had several of you respond to my invitation to
provide news for the class letter. Thank
you to Wayne Burmeister, Judy Magnuson Peterson, Marcia Day Anderson, and Claudia Hayden Schroeder for sending
news. It makes for such interesting
reading. I also suggest that you go the
Gustavus website (www.gustavus.edu),
click on alumni, click on Class of 1963 and see the beautiful horse that
WAYNE BURMEISTER
Greetings ’63
classmates,
It’s
It took me a while to
bolster the nerve to attend another reunion.
The last one I attended was the tenth―I won a bottle of Geritol
for having aged the most. Having my trophy
bride with me, (she looked 15 years younger, but is actually only 5 years)
eased the torment of the award. I saved
it for many years with the intent of giving it back at a future event. It went to the landfill when Connie and I moved
in 2001, the year I retired.
Perhaps that award
helped me to think and act young in spite of my appearance. Here comes the braggy part. After turning 50, I competed in downhill
skiing for several years at the
The first years at
Gustavus were difficult for me. Most of
you seemed to quickly adapt to the academic and social life. I was scared of failing academically and was
socially inept. The class size was more
than ten times larger than my high school class. I joined the business fraternity instead of a
social frat. I enjoyed the beer busts,
but seemed to be more concerned than anyone else about being caught. The second semester of my senior year, I was
finally of age, but job hunting demanded any extra time. I blew my one chance at gaining some self
esteem. No one told me that I would be
awarded the Wall Street Journal Award for...at the Awards Banquet. I didn’t bother to attend. Dumb, huh!
Instead of starting my
job in June as most grads would do, I went to
In 1965, my minor in
math paid off. Thank you Prof. Kaufmanis
for intimidating each class member at the chalkboard. A job as a computer programmer was the start
of my 36 year career in data processing―now known as information
technology. After several years and
different companies, and moving into management, I again seemed to go against
the wind. I was “given” employees who
were talented but not performing according to some other manager’s
expectations, i.e. free spirits, unmanageable, over-the-hill, etc. Thus started the group to manage the
proliferation of a new phenomenon―personal computers. Those little machines were considered a
scourge by many computer techs.
In
retirement, I have taken on woodworking.
A friend accuses me of making my projects difficult because of my added
ornamentation. This hidden need for
artistic expression eventually surfaced in the form of a carved carousel
rocking horse. The horse is not just a
toy, but something I hope will be passed on to future family. After a year and a half, I finished it four
days before Christmas. There are brass
plaques on the frame with the horse’s name, “Imagination,” a plaque for each
“blessed rider” and several blanks. The
night after I finished it, I was awakened by the need to tell future riders
about the horse. While my poetry may not
be eloquent, I hope you enjoy it. My
lowest grade was from Prof. Suderman. I
wish I could take that most dreaded English Literature class again.
This wood once living,
now quiet and still
Awaits a young rider to
climb the next hill.
She’s more than wood and
paint and glue.
Made with chisels and
rasps and love just for you. Using
pictures and patterns the daunting task grew.
Overwhelming it seemed, my talents so few. The first chips like sawdust, too small to be
seen. My confidence blossomed; you’ll
see what I mean. “How do you know where
to chisel the wood?” Was queried by
friends in the neighborhood. With a
stolen phrase I wryly replied, Just imagine a horse is somewhere inside. Align the chisel with grain of course; then
cut away that which isn’t the horse. A
year and a half had quickly gone by Before the horse acquired an eye. Then painting ensued and triggered
elation. When a fevered dream named it
IMAGINATION. Kids need a horse, a horse
made for rocking. But not plastic nor
one that fits into your stocking. Young
riders imagine astride a wood steed, evil in shackles, the good to be
freed. So driven was I with a project
like this, future riders will know that I do still exist. Not in my body and blood as before, but in
you, I am yours evermore. Now you know
why I started this job, my ego, it’s true, turned the right knob. To open a door that spans all time, I see
your smile and hope you see mine.
Hope to see you at the
Reunion, Wayne Burmeister, 27 Fairview Trail, Waunakee, WI 53597
608 850 5940 wburmeis@hotmail.com
JUDY (MAGNUSON) PETERSON (Spouse - Owen ’60)
We’ve lived in
Menominee located in the Upper Peninsula of
I transferred to the
Gustavus Nursing Program from
However, during the
summer of 1962 (due to my transfer to Gustavus) I returned to St. Peter to take
some classes. There I met my (future)
husband, Owen ’60, who was back on campus doing some biology class work. We were both from the U.P. of
Michigan―had friends in common, but had never met. The timing was right―and we fell in
love! That summer we experienced
Gustavus in a whole new way! This time I
lived in good old Johnson Hall. Swede
Park, Mineopa Falls, the Holiday House, rides around the town and countryside
all had new meaning. My living in
Rundstrom and getting to know so many juniors and seniors my sophomore year was
a great connection to people Owen had known when he was on campus as an
undergraduate. We were married in the
summer of ’63. Three of my nursing
classmates were in our wedding.
Over the years, I’ve
actually had more contact with Gustavus grads from Owen’s era than my own. In any case, our memories of and connections
to Gustavus are important and cherished.
My brother, Jon ’67, his wife, Diana (Gunvaldson ’71), and their
daughter, Samantha ’01 are all graduates of Gustavus
I worked for about
four years before we had three children.
Then I was a stay-at-home mom for 11 years. When I returned to the work force, most of my
nursing career was in public health and geriatric nursing. Owen was a high school science teacher and
coach. We both tried a new path for five
years (1997-01) as co-managers of a low-income HUD senior housing
facility. It was good being on the same
schedule: interesting and sometimes
challenging working together in the same office and building! Our children are all married and have great
spouses (so we feel we have six kids.)
We also have six grandchildren.
Our two sons and families live in northern Virginia and Chicago. Our daughter and family live in our
neighboring town and we do some babysitting for two grandkids here. It’s the greatest! O has a flexible part time job driving
de-icing trucks to airport destinations all over the
Neither of us has been
back for any Gustavus reunions so we are really looking forward to this one!
CLAUDIA HAYDEN SCHROEDER
Hello Classmates,
I am so looking
forward to seeing many of you at our 45th class reunion. Ye gads!!!
45!!
I’ve enjoyed the
letters some have written for our class letter sharing life experiences and
perspectives. Most impressive. I know many of us have not had such vast
experiences, but have contributed to the world in our own positive ways. I know that my life has been blessed and rich
in important ways. I enjoyed teaching
little children, I married a wonderful guy and had two daughters who married
great guys and gave us six grandchildren.
We lived in
