Classmate Judy (Becker) Bryant shared some exciting news about her plans with her husband Dave Bryant for the summer.
Dave and I head out June 14 for Europe, returning Aug 5. A week in London, a few days in Paris and Switzerland, and then on to Florence where I’m teaching in a University of South Florida (USF) Summer Abroad program. USF bought my airplane ticket, puts us up in an apartment, pays a meal allowance and even pays my summer salary.
I’m feeling anxious since I haven’t finished preparing the class which will cram 15 weeks of material into 6 weeks. Plus I have no information about the arrangement of my classroom, available technology, etc. Dave keeps assuring me that I’m a pro and can adapt! My class is M-Th so we’ll have long weekends to explore.
I asked Judy if the rest of us can “tag along” on her adventure, and she agreed to share her adventure with us as long as we “gently remind her occasionally” during her trip.
We wish Judy and Dave all the best on their journey, and we know Judy will do a great job with her classroom duties.
Classmate Jackie (Dague) Nicholson has brought us all great joy this week, doing her “honorary press agent” thing for classmate Paul Roberts, our class’s Bluegrass Troubadour.
Paul will be appearing in the Sharon Center Bluegrass Festival on June 26, the Kalona Bluegrass Festival on July 22-24, and the Backbone Bluegrass Festival July 29 -31. See the gallery below for details.
Sharon Center Bluegrass Festival 2022
Kalona Bluegrass Festival 2022
Backbone Bluegrass Festival Flyer
Backbone Bluegrass Festival Schedule
Paul will appear in all of them as a member of The McPunk Brothers, The Great Bluegrass Herons, and Banjoy.
If you are in Eastern Iowa this summer, be sure and check out these events. You won’t be disappointed!
Mike “Hans” Hansen, 70, passed away unexpectedly at his home on Thursday, May 12, 2022.
Born October 18, 1951, in Iowa City, the son of Bud and Berniece “BC” Hansen, Mike lived and worked in Iowa City his entire life. He attended City High School his sophomore and junior years where he was a member of the Little Hawk Marching Band and when school boundaries changed, he became a proud West High Trojan in the school’s first graduating class of 1969. His class was very close, and his female classmates lovingly nicknamed him “Bubbles” and the guys called him “Hans” which stuck as reflected on his license plate, “Hans 1”. Mike played basketball for West and after high school he was a regular at the scoreboard table at home games. He played slow pitch softball in Coralville for the Time Out Coaches Corner and the Sports Column and wore #1 as the team pitcher. He attended the University of Iowa and was a loyal Hawkeye fan and an avid follower of football, baseball, and men and women’s basketball.
Mike was a coach at heart. He loved kids of all ages and enjoyed coaching little league baseball for his nephews with his brother-in-law, Phil. He was an assistant coach of 9th grade junior high boys basketball and coached a westside AAU traveling basketball team, the Sun Devils, who won the state championship in 1973-75. Those kids now adults, remained close with Mike and have lasting memories to cherish with their former coach.
Mike served as Administrator / Secretary of the Iowa City Moose Lodge from 1982-1993, later moving to a job where he spent the majority of his working career in pricing at Plumbers Supply in Iowa City. Before fully retiring, Mike worked at Dodge Street Tire until 2020.
He was a longtime member of Iowa City Moose Lodge #1096 and deeply committed in his service to several lodge committees. Mike was named District Moose Legionnaire of the Year in 1995. He received his Moose Fellowship Degree in 1996 and earned his gold jacket and Pilgrim Degree in 2003. He was District 2 President from 2000-2002 where he was recognized as District President of the Year. Mike was most proud of his leadership in the Lodge Ritual Staff from 1999-2009 where he competed in 9 State, 10 Midwest regional, and 11 International competitions. He placed 1st individually in 9 State competitions, was a part of eight team championships, and was named outstanding Ritualist in 2003, 2006, and 2007. His other individual and team awards are too numerous to mention.
Mike is survived by his sisters, Sue Hansen (Tom Van Coillie) of Fairfield and Soni Harney of Iowa City; nephews, Brock Harney (Heather) of La Crosse, WI and Drew Harney (Sarah) of Tiffin; great nieces and nephews, Nora, Conor, Jack and Cole Harney; several aunts, an uncle and cousins.
His parents and grandparents, his brother-in-law, Phil Harney and several aunts and uncles preceded him in death.
I had a chance to connect up with Coach Gary Hollingsworth in a few weeks ago at the appropriately named “Hollingsworth Relays” track meet at West High. He is now 80 years old and still looks like he could beat anyone in a 400 meter race, plus he hasn’t aged a bit!
He is still active as an official at University of Iowa and West High cross country and track meets. He was also recently inducted into the Iowa High School Track and Field Hall of Fame. I was able to visit with his son Matt, also a West High graduate, and his grandchildren, who are attending the University of Colorado.
Coach “Holly” has been one of the most influential figures in my life and it was great to see him again.
Our daughter (31) and family have recently moved form Phoenix to Helena, Montana. A little farther to see the grand kids, but beautiful part of the country. Son Chris (34) is still in Phoenix and working on cars, RVs, and motorcycles. Tami (Thompson ’74) and I are just getting older!
Nothing else new. Hi to all and, of course, thanks again to you for keeping us all connected!
In two weeks, on April 30th, I will be retiring from the shoe repair (cobbling) business. I began in the summer of 1969 and am ending in the spring of 2022 – about 53 years.
I decided I had better retire while I can still pull my own boots on! We also downsized to an apartment in a suburb of St. Paul, Maplewood MN.
About 10 years ago, I had inquired to RedWing shoes about buying Rogers’s Shoe Repair in Iowa City and bring my machinery down. They said I had to become a full time RedWing dealer to restart his business.
Well, I sold most of my machinery to a shop in Marion, IA, so maybe I can visit my machinery on the way to the next reunion (or not). It’s a big job moving our household and closing my shop in the same month. Hopefully we will find everything we packed to move into our apartment by the time to celebrate our 48th wedding anniversary.
Dave, if you will, please share the link to the article that was published about me closing. By the way, the writer of the article is from a small town south of Mason City, and she wrote the first article about me starting my business, same paper.
Just a quick note! Patrick Vaughan and his wife Claudia Rojo visited us this week for the St. Paul Winter Carnival, ” The coolest celebration on the earth” as they say! We had a fun, fun time celebrating winter a birthday and carnival! We were in the parade and enjoyed many other activities, as we embraced winter and the cold!! Great to see them and still thawing out!!
Kevin and Lynne Megan
Pat and ClaudiaPat and KevinLynne and KevinAll Four
Berniece Ann “BC” Hansen, 94 passed away peacefully after a short illness on Monday, January 17, 2022 at Legacy Pointe senior living community in Iowa City. Berniece was born in Madison County and grew up in Winterset, Iowa. Her mother died when she was a young teen and her father worked for Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression as she and her siblings persevered through many of life’s challenges. She was tough yet kind, gentle and compassionate. She attended Winterset High School and played guard on the girls’ basketball team, was a cheerleader and named Homecoming Queen her senior year. Berniece met the love of her life, Bud Hansen, in Winterset and after World War II they were married in 1947 and moved to Iowa City. She established an in-home daycare where she lovingly molded children’s’ lives for decades, including her two grandchildren. Berniece became known to many as “BC” which was a name created by her daycare children who had difficulty pronouncing her name, Berniece. Many of her daycare children and their families have continued to be an important part of her life long after going to “BC’s House”. BC and Bud were avid Hawkeye fans and were season ticket holders for football and men’s basketball. One of their favorite Hawkeye events was attending the Rose Bowl in 1982. At the time when they gave up their season tickets for football, they enjoyed tailgate parties for every game at their daughter’s house. They remained season ticket holders for basketball until just a few short years ago. They were also loyal Little Hawk fans at City High following their grandsons’ sports of football, wrestling, and baseball. BC and Bud were long-time members of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Iowa City where they once served as deacons and BC was active in the women’s ecumenical bible study group. The couple also looked forward to every Saturday morning to join their friends at Hy Vee for breakfast. BC continued this tradition after Bud passed away in 2018 up until the onset of the pandemic in 2020. They were also faithful patrons of Pagliai’s Pizza and Midtown Restaurant every week. In 1985 and 1989, BC and Bud landed their dream job of becoming grandparents and were blessed with two grandsons. One of the highlights of their lives was being the ring bearer and flower girl at their youngest grandson, Drew and Sarah’s wedding in 2017 just nine days after becoming great grandparents to Brock and Heather’s daughter, Nora. BC and Bud celebrated 71 years of marriage in 2018 when Bud passed away just seven days later. BC will be remembered as a great woman who cared and loved deeply. Those left to cherish her memory include her son Mike Hansen and daughter Soni Harney of Iowa City, and her daughter Sue Hansen (Tom Van Coillie) of Fairfield, Iowa, grandsons Brock (Heather) Harney of La Crosse, WI and Drew (Sarah) Harney of Tiffin, IA, great grandchildren Nora Claire and Conor Vincent Harney of La Crosse and Jack Philip and Cole Michael Harney of Tiffin, sisters-in-law Ruth Dorrell of Winterset, IA, Darlene (Graham) Crow of San Antonio, TX, and Shirlee Hansen of Portland, OR and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bud; her parents, Warren and Rachel Dorrell, sister Margaret and brother-in-law Lenard Binns, brother Rex Dorrell all of Winterset; son-in-law Phil Harney of Iowa City, sister-in-law Arlene and brother-in-law Carroll Troyer of Iowa City, brothers and sisters-in-law Melvin and Viva Hansen and Vona and Jack Willis all of Des Moines, IA; and brother-in-law Jack Hansen of Portland, OR. The family wishes to express its sincere appreciation to the medical team of doctors and nurses and the palliative care team at UIHC, and the care team at Legacy Pointe and Iowa City Hospice during BC’s final days. We are beyond grateful. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Iowa City Hospice and because of BC’s love of children and the Hawkeyes, the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.
Rodica’s memory is of a University of Iowa faculty member who meant a lot to her.
Don Gurnett was a professor and scientist at University of Iowa and he made huge contributions to space plasma wave physics.
UI had a plasma instrument on every single JPL spacecraft and Don and Bill Kurth came to JPL on a regular basis to attend project science group meetings. It was always heartwarming to see how University of Iowa, where I had received my undergraduate and graduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy, were both present in my life. Don and Bill always stopped to say hello and chat with me. Perhaps there are other West High alumni who knew Gurnett or had him as a professor at UI.
Martin Andersen shared this email with us recently:
Dear David,
I am grateful to you for your industry in keeping the West High class better connected. To that end, for some reason I woke up this morning thinking about my 8th Grade West Jr High and 12th Grade West High orchestra director and chamber music coach, Dr. Raymond Comstock, with whom I was also a colleague in the Cedar Rapids Symphony for several years. I looked him up today on the internet, and was saddened to find that he had just passed away on December 14, at age 85. I have always had fond memories of his gentle, positive approach to nurturing students in the love of music.
We have shared Ray’s obituary on our In Loving Memory page as a tribute to this fine man.
