Class Bulletin Board

In Memory of Bobby Elliott

Brenda (Schrock) Bradley let us know that Betsy (Elliott) Stough’s brother Bobby passed away recently. Betsy has given us permission to post his obituary as a tribute to his life. Please remember Betsy and her family in whatever way is right for you.

Robert (Bobby) Elliott

Robert Joseph Elliott, loving son, husband, father, brother, grandfather and friend, died peacefully surrounded by his family Saturday, July 8, 2017 in Iowa City. He was born May 6, 1953 in Iowa City, Iowa to Chalmers “Bump” and the late Barbara Elliott.

Bob grew up in Iowa City and Ann Arbor, Michigan, graduating from Iowa City West High School and the University of Iowa in 1976. At Iowa, Bob was twice named a football Academic All-American, was Phi Beta Kappa and a Rhodes Scholar candidate his senior year. He was named a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete and a finalist for the Draddy Award as the nation’s best player-student. In 1975, Bob was Iowa’s Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient and awarded the Hancher Finkbine Medallion for Campus Leadership. Most importantly, Bob met the love of his life, Karen Jo (“Joey”) Grant at Iowa. Bob and Joey were married June 19, 1976 and enjoyed 41 wonderful years together.

Bob was a leader in the national Kidney Foundation and Donate Life America bringing awareness and helping raise thousands of dollars, especially through Team Scoop and Score.

Bob devoted his life to serving as a mentor and coach to countless student-athletes. In his over 40-year career, he was committed to excellence and integrity, sought to bring out the best in everyone, and instilled a sense of hope to all he touched. He was a champion and warrior who was steadfast, dedicated and selfless. His memory lives on through the men and women who loved him throughout his great life. He finished his championship season Undefeated and Unbroken.

Bob’s pride and joy were his wife, children, grandchildren and family. He is survived by his devoted wife, Joey; son, Grant (Jessica); daughter, Jessica (Kyle); his magnificent grandchildren, Levi, Robin, Gideon, Elizabeth, Alice and Elijah; father, Bump; brother, William (Janice); sister, and kidney donor, Elizabeth (John); sisters-in-law, Jeri, Carol (Dennis), Nancy (Ron); nieces, Melissa (Matt), Jill (Steve), Erin, Jaycie, Madeline; nephews, Tom (Erika), Jeff (Tiffany), Sam (Nina), Jeffrey (Sarah), John (Stephanie) and Michael (Kady) and the many extended family, friends and football sons. .

The family would like to thank the wonderful doctors and nurses whose dedication allowed him to pursue a career that he loved, positively influence young people, and enjoy a full life with his cherished family. We would like to especially acknowledge the care that the family received from The Bird House Hospice Home of Johnson County.

Services celebrating Bob’s life will be held at 10 am Saturday, July 15, 2017, at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City (doors will open to the public at 9:15am). A time of fellowship and light refreshments will be held following these services at Hancher. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to The Porter SELF Foundation at sbpselffoundation.org. Also, please consider donating blood at RedCrossBlood.org or registering to donate organs and tissue at BeTheMatch.org or DonateLife.net. For an opportunity to share a thought, memory, prayer or condolence please go to the funeral home website at www.gayandciha.com.

West High Class of ’73 – Albuquerque Chapter

First off, a brief update on the Wilhite family. After two years in Anchorage, Alaska we moved to Baltimore in July 2013 where we lived for about a year. In 2014 we bought a home in Albuquerque and I returned to a former employer who had relocated to Milwaukee. I commuted between Milwaukee and Albuquerque for about a year. In April 2015, I returned to my former company in Anchorage, and have been commuting between there and Albuquerque. They are kind enough to let me work from home about half the year, so I make the commute “only” five times annually.
A few weeks ago, while I was up in Anchorage, my wife Sue (McLaughlin, Regina Class of ’77) was at a neighborhood party. She was chatting with a woman who had also moved to Albuquerque from Maryland a couple of years ago. Sue mentioned that she had grown up in Iowa City, and the other woman noted that her husband lived in Iowa City back in the 1970’s. Turns out her husband is our classmate Bob Cole, and they live about two blocks away! Talk about a small world.
Bob and I ran into each other a couple of weeks ago while out walking. We did some catching up and reminiscing about West High, our classmates and time in the band. We are looking forward to getting together again soon.

 All the best to everyone!

 Cheers!

Chris Wilhite

Ruth (Jurgens) Noth’s Next Steps

Dave – take care and glad you knew what to do! Interesting coincidence that this happened to one of our secretaries at work just this past Tuesday. Detached retina and for the 2nd time in the same eye, so they sent her to Iowa City.  Tom had that happen, too in his mid 40’s, and both eyes had cataract surgery before he was 48!
Well, Dave – I train my new replacement this week and next, and then once again for one day on the 28th and then I’m retired!  Feels pretty good so far. Took me a solid day to put away everything I brought home from work. The new person in my Nutrition job will be housed at a different building so I’ll train her over there.
I’m facing ankle surgery. I know I’ve written you many times about my foot/ankle issues and surgery is next. They finally diagnosed it and the specialist feels it’s what has caused many problems over the years, but is now bad enough to show up on MRI and is the culprit – and needs surgery to repair. We were hoping I could postpone for at least 3 years, but the cortisone wore off after 4 weeks. I’ll likely schedule it for mid July. Non-weight bearing for 8 solid weeks and then therapy, but will be good to have it done at last and hopefully enjoy retirement.  It’s called an OCD lesion – loss of bone and cartilage in the front of my ankle – they drill holes all over the bone nearby and your body naturally will produce new calcium and scar cartilage, and hopefully enough to fill in the gap which will get rid of the pain and limping.
It would be nice to be pain free after 5 years of off and on problems and many summers of sitting more than standing or walking!!!
My parents celebrate their 65th June 17th. The whole family will be home in early July to celebrate. Was hard getting everyone’s schedules to meet all at once, so early July is when we’ll celebrate it.  My only niece and her 2 kids will stay two weeks while her hubby has to be in D.C., Mike and his girlfriend from Colorado will stay for a week, Chris and Jordan are local, my sister might come from Nevada for several days, and then I’ll have my surgery.
About all for now.  23 years with Linn-Mar schools – 20 managing the computerized lunch system.  It was a great ride. I loved it most of the time, but time to take care of mom and dad as they age more. They just turned 83 and 87 last month and are well – slow but still very active.
Feel free to share this with the group, and take care buddy!  Hi to Bobbi!
Ruth

In Memory of Rita Huber Erbe

Debbie Dee let us know that Tom Huber’s mother. Rita passed away recently. Tom has given us permission to post her obituary as a tribute to her life. Please remember Tom and his family in whatever way is right for you.

Rita Huber Erbe, 93, of North Liberty, died Saturday, May 27, 2017, at the Bird House, Hospice Home of Johnson County, Iowa City, surrounded by her family. A gathering and celebration of Rita’s life will be from 5 to 8 p.m. June 28 at the Kirkwood Room in Iowa City. A private family burial will be at St. Joseph Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Mercy Hospital Foundation, the Mercy Hospice Unit or the Bird House in Iowa City.

Rita was born Aug. 17, 1923, in Cresco, Iowa, the daughter of Patrick and Eva O’Brien. She graduated from Lawler High School. She married Donald Huber on Aug. 18, 1941. They had three sons together, Terry, Tim and Tom Huber. Don died in 1968. She married Fred Erbe on July 23, 1976 in Iowa City.

Rita loved big band music and enjoyed playing the piano while entertaining friends, dental students and family throughout the years. She was a member of St. Mary’s Church.

Survivors include her husband, Fred; and her sons, Terry and his wife, Diane, of Alexandria, Va., Tim and his wife, Barb, of Fruit Port, Mich., and Tom and his wife, Anna, of Barrington, Ill. She also is survived by five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her first husband, Donald Huber; and her brother, Joseph O’Brien.

The family would like to thank the Bird House and its staff of caregivers for the wonderful care and love provided in Rita’s final days.
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.lensingfuneral.com.

A Vision Related Public Service Announcement

I’m sharing this news as a public service announcement, because I want everyone to know how important it is to immediately seek help from an ophthalmologist if you see a sudden increase in “floaters” or “flashes” in your vision. These can be signs of issues with your retina which respond well to treatment if caught early.

I’m home today, awaiting the next step in a process. I have a condition with my eyes called “lattice degeneration” and I am prone to retina detachment. Yesterday morning I suddenly saw a lot of new “floaters” in my eyes. Actually, they looked more like the ribbons that the rhythmic gymnastics athletes use, like a teeny little gymnast was performing in my eyeball.

I have already had laser surgery on this eye to reattach my retina a few years ago, so I knew “the drill.” I left work immediately, called the ophthalmologist for an emergency appointment, and Bobbi brought me to his office. He sent me immediately to a retina specialist. This event was worse than the last one, because the doctor could not see my retina due to the cloudiness in my “vitreous humor.” I’m going back today for a followup appointment, and hopefully he will be able to see what is wrong.
As I said, I’m sharing this in the spirit of letting you know how important it is to get this treated right away.