Category: 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 Washington most mornings in the summer, am happily divorced, and have two daughters who also live in Seattle. The Pacific Northwest has many opportunities for outdoor adventures which has been a big part of my life. I have become a student of Buddhism which has gotten me through challenging times. Do look me up if you are near Seattle.

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 had 3 sons—Nick, Rob and Chris.
• First academic faculty position at Washington University in St. Louis. Stumbled upon a great new technology and was one of the first academic surgeons to do laparoscopic surgery.
• Recruited to Northwestern University in Chicago where I was later named Chairman of the Department of Surgery for 12 years.
• In Sept. 2020 (heart of pandemic) took on the position of Chair of Surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix. My job is to accelerate the development of a start-up academic department.  Although Phoenix is wonderful in the winter, it’s a bit toasty in the summer, so we have a home in Flagstaff where I must commute each weekend to see Cindy and our pets…
• Now have 3 grandsons and 1 ½ granddaughters (due Sept) in California
• Picked up golf (a game I love to hate) and pondering retirement (2 years, age 70?)
• How fast this 50 years has flown by—wish I could see you all in June!!

Regards,

Nat (personal email natjsoper@gmail.com)

Dear All!

With my warmest regards, here is my “Howdy”!

1. After graduation from West High I enrolled in the University of Iowa.
2.  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 permanent reality.
3. I read “Autobiography of A Yogi”, said to myself, “This is it!” and signed up for the lessons recommended by Paramahansa Yogananda.
4. Before receiving the lessons, my Mom suggested I and my girlfriend, Denise Philips, start Transcendental Meditation.  We did!  (1974)  We liked it!
5. However, then the lessons from Yogananda’s organization, The Self-Realization Fellowship, arrived and I quit TM and started their program of meditation.
6. Denise continued to practice TM and signed up for an “in residence” course during which the participants do an extra meditation in the morning.  THANK YOU DENISE!
7. Fortunately, I decided to join her on the course.
8. I saw Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on videotape and coupled with the experience of extra meditation, had a conversion experience!
9. Totally sold out to TM!
10. Realized the Self in December of 1994 and started reading a book entitled “Vasistha’s Yoga” (the second “s” is pronounced “sh”) translated by Swami Venkatesananda (available on Amazon).
11. If I were on my death bed, the last words I would say are, “Read ‘Vasistha’s Yoga’ “.

I would also like to deeply apologize to each and everyone who was hurt by the profoundly ignorant, uncompassionate, and blindly egotistical behavior during my high school years! 

Happy 50th Reunion!
Mark

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

Dave’s Voicemail Howdy

Dave’s Written Howdy

After West High I went to the U of I where I got a bachelors degree in Physics and Chemistry. I joined the Nuclear Navy when I graduated college, and spent 6 years there serving as an officer on board a nuclear submarine. 

I left the Navy in 1982, and worked at a nuclear power plant in Plymouth MA for 22 years. During this time I married my wife Bobbi and we had two kids – Henry and Bessie. They are all grown up now and we have three grandsons: Isaiah, Tayne, and William.

I left the power plant in 2005 and worked for two big nuclear power plant vendors, doing safety and severe accident analysis work for Framatome (France) and Westinghouse. I retired last July and am loving the “life of leisure”.