50th Year Classmate “Howdies” – Iowa City West High Class of 1973

What is a Howdy and why would I do it

We’ve all come such a long way in 50 years and we wanted to give the class a chance to let folks know how your life has gone in the last 50 year, how you are doing, and any reflections you might have on life since West High.

You can email us a text Howdy mail or record a video Howdy and let us know it’s ready.

Here are our Howdies:

Dan Hackmann’s Howdy
All the very best greetings from my fellow classmates of 1973! After graduation from West High: BA in History, with minors in Music and Spanish from the University of Iowa (1977) MA in Spanish and Linguistics, also from the U of I (1979) Dissertation Research at the University of Munich (1986) Ph.D. in Philosophical Theology from the School of ...
Mark Kozik’s Howdy
Hello everyone. After West High, I attended Pomona College, the University of Denver, Drake University, and the University of Miami. Since then, I’ve spent my working career as a tax accountant, tax professor, and tax lawyer, all in Denver. Along the way, in Des Moines, I met Abbie, a fellow Drake student, from Honolulu. We dated for ...
Meg Eginton-Carmichael’s Howdy
If I hadn’t had the drive to to dance professionally I know I would have been perfectly happy to stay in Iowa City, because I love living and working here now. I married a professor of Chemical Engineering and a atmospheric climate scientist in 2023. After thirty five years of singledom I met the love ...
Mary Jo Miller Banwart’s Howdy
I knew I should have written this before an entire group of my fellow classmates sent off interesting, thoughtful and memory inducing Howdy’s…but I didn’t. So, you’re stuck with this update! I don’t know about the rest of you, but it certainly doesn’t seem like 50 years have passed since we graduated. Clearly we don’t ...
Nancy Masbruch Olinger’s Howdy
Fifty years! Seems like I blinked and here it is already. My husband and I had retired to Florida in 2018, which turned out to be short-lived. In December of 2019 he was diagnosed with ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s disease). Hideous disease. We moved back to Iowa in 2020 to be near family and better medical ...
Rodica Ionasescu’s Howdy
Hello Classmates, A lot has happened in my life since I graduated along with all of you from West High in 1973. I enrolled in the University of Iowa to be close to home since I was still fairly new in United States, having lived here for only two years. I studied Physics and Astronomy, undergraduate, and ...
Lynn Hogben’s Howdy
I went to West High for only my last semester in high school. I majored in linguistics in college (Princeton University), but after I took a constitutional law course my sophmore year, I decided to go to law school. I met my husband, Jim Beck, my senior year in college and we have been together ...
Chris Wilhite’s Howdy
Howdy to my fellow Class of ’73 Classmates! After graduation from West High: Bachelor of Music in trombone performance from the University of Iowa. Met my wife Sue McLaughlin (Regina Class of 1977; her dad owned the Annex Bar on 1st Avenue) in 1975 where we were co-workers at McDonalds on Riverside Drive. We were married in 1978 and celebrated our 45th anniversary in ...
Laurel Davies Howdy
Hi West High Class of 1973 It is so nice to be thinking of you talking and dancing and enjoying celebrations at our 50th year Reunion. This is my Howdy essay- Thanks Dave.My name is Lori Davies (Laurel) and I was blessed to go on the U.N. Tour to New York City in 1972 and meet ...
Ruth Jurgens Noth’s Howdy
Hello everyone. 50 years sure has gone by in a hurry. After graduating in ’73, I started working in the fabric industry after trying and leaving college after a year at SUI, Ames. I entered management training with Fabs Fashion Fabrics in 1975 and was shipped off early to Decatur, Illinois before training ended to close ...
Alice Barker Miller’s Howdy
If you don’t remember seeing me much during our senior year, it is because I spent half-days that year taking college classes. I finished my BA at the University of Iowa (Education) following it up with an MA (English). In January 1977 I headed to the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) to study 18th Century English Literature. Those ...
Patti Ampofo Sloley’s Howdy
Hi Everyone A big hello from me to you all. Here’s a bit about what I’m up to… I am married to an English guy l met in my home country Ghana, and we have lived in England since 1985 and have two grown up sons. I have also written two cook books in the last ten years, ...
Deb Nortmann Tyer’s Howdy
Howdy from the rolling hills of beautiful northeast Iowa! Doesn’t seem that long ago that we were fresh faced teenagers ready to go out and make our mark on the world. Steve and I started dating in high school and married in December of 1973. He had enlisted in the Air Force and being young ...
Howdy from Richard Newell to the West High Class of ’73!
Sorry, I won’t make to our 50th anniversary reunion due to some international travel plans. However, here is the story of what I have been up to during these 50 years. After graduation I enrolled in the Univ. of Iowa Electrical Engineering program with my best friend Rich Altmaier. We took almost all the same classes. ...
Paul Maxwell’s Howdy
After receiving my degree from the University of Iowa, I did what any new MBA degree-holder would do: join the Peace Corps? Assigned to the Philippines, the experience was so enjoyable that it began a career in international development. Looking back 50 years, my most fun job accomplishment was the 1988 introduction of computerization to a ...
Rich Altmaier Howdy
I think in the 10th grade our English teacher asked the class what do you want to do when you grow up? Most people didn’t have an answer. I answered “I want to build computers”. Well, my career has been really blessed with my being a part of 10 industrial computer system designs from the ...
Alan and Janelle (Gibson) Huey Howdy
As many of you know, Janelle Gibson and I married the year after graduation, and have been on an adventure ever since. Janelle supported me through college and I joined the Air Force as an officer upon graduation. We endured a posting in North Dakota and it’s winters, but then enjoyed two three year tours ...
Brenda (Schrock) Bradley Howdy
Howdy Classmates, In 1977 I married a guy (Jim Bradley) from the “wrong” side of town (City High) and we’ve been married for 46 years. During our first 10 years of marriage we lived in Houston, Minneapolis, the Davenport area and landed back in Iowa City in 1986. We have two grown kids, Jessica (42) and Adam ...
Arnie and Julie O’Neill Moore’s Howdy
Howdy Class of ’73 I have posted off and on in the past but I just thought I would put out there a quick synopsis of my past 50 years. It is hard to believe that nearly 50 years has passed since many of us have crossed paths. This may well be the last chance that some of us ...
Gene Hartsock’s Howdy
HI EVERYONE my years since 1973 I followed my shoe repair career 20 years, then bought my own shop in 1988. With my photography, I was able to host my own website and was amazed at how much it helped a small business like mine. Shoes came in from all US and MORE! Birkenstock sandals and hi ...
Betsy Hale’s Howdy
Hi West High Classmates! Sorry to miss you all. How to summarize 50 years…??!! I have lived in Seattle since 1977, have a Masters in Social Work and worked for many years in Community Colleges in the Career Development field. Now my work is centered in international development. I swim in Lake ...
Nat Soper’s Howdy
Nat told us that an important family event came up that conflicts with the reunion date. Here is his Howdy Undergrad school at U. of Victoria (B.C.), medical school at Iowa, surgical residency at the University of Utah, research fellowship at Mayo Clinic. Married Cindy Lee (Class of ‘74) in 1978 (45 years this May!), and we ...
Mark Zanger’s Howdy
Dear All! With my warmest regards, here is my “Howdy”! After graduation from West High I enrolled in the University of Iowa. I soon got into psychedelics and was thoroughly charmed by their effects. I believed that the psychedelic experience ought to be the normal experience of life and consequently sought to understand it and somehow make it a ...
Dave Gerlits’ Howdies
Dave wanted to share three versions of his Howdy to show classmates three different ways to say “Howdy” to the other members of the class. You can email your written Howdy to your webmaster, leave a voicemail for your classmates at 319-975-1476, or send your webmaster a video to share. Dave’s Video Howdy https://youtu.be/1qdEwZtGN2c Dave’s Voicemail Howdy Dave Gerlits’ ...