Class Bulletin Board

Dave :

This is the obit and tribute to my wife Tami Thompson’s (Class of 74) dad, Tommy.  A lot of our classmates new him.

Don

Here is Tami’s dad’s obituary, offered as a tribute to his life:

George Edward “Tommy” Thompson III, of Iowa City, Iowa, passed away Monday, March 18, 2013, at his home.

Tommy was born October 13th, 1926, in Waterloo, Iowa; son of George Edward II and Maria “Mary” (Koloc) Thompson. He married Charlotte K Thompson on June 6th, 1950, at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Iowa City. He and K raised their two children, Tami and Stephen in Iowa City.

Tommy was an avid Iowa Hawkeye fan, attending 751 football games since his first game in 1938. He was a great supporter of the Iowa Wrestling Team and crafted numerous championship belt buckles over the years. Tommy loved Hawkeye athletics, football, basketball and wrestling! He was inducted as an honorary letterman in 1986.

Tommy grew up and attended Catholic School Cedar Rapids, IA. He joined the Ice Capades in his late teens, skating until a fall that broke his shoulder, putting an end to his skating career. After skating, Tommy served stateside in the U.S. Navy as a pharmacist mate during WWII.

He was a pro golfer and attempted to join the pro tour. In the early 1950’s Tommy and K owned and ran Tommy’s Golf Range, next to the Iowa City airport, until a required airport expansion forced their closing.

Tommy joined the Cherry Burrell Corp. in Cedar Rapids as a toolmaker/welder and worked with them until his retirement in the early 1990s.

Tommy is survived by this two children, Stephen Thompson and his wife Molly (Shannon) of Eagle River, AK, Tami Rinehart and her husband, Don of New River, AZ; four grandchildren, Michael Thompson and Stephanie Powell and husband, Edward, Christopher Rinehart and Nicole Irving and husband, Nicholas; two great- grandchildren, Lawrence “Holden” and Shayla Powell, his sister, Patricia Eichenberg of Albuquerque, NM; as well as many nieces, nephews, and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents and wife, Charlotte K Thompson (Fisk) in 2001.

Hi Dave,

I am in Iowa City for my mom’s 84th birthday today. My flights were delayed last week due to the snow storms raging in this area. But once I got here, I was able to go x-country skiing with Jean, Jay, Beth and Victoria a few days later. Pictures below, sent from my sister, Beth’s iPhone.

All 7 siblings are here! Great times. We drove past 704 – 12th Ave house the other day and thought of you.

Hope all is well with you and yours, weather and otherwise :). I have been enjoying your emails and updates so much!

Warmly,

Becki

Betsy (Elliott) Stough shared a story from Sports Illustrated about a wonderful thing she will be doing for her brother Bob in February. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers the first week in February.

Dave,

Just writing to let you know my mother, Melva, passed away early Friday morning, January 11th.  She was going strong at 93, and lived alone in the same house my parents bought in 1951.   We are so grateful she was in no pain and did not linger.   Her visitation is this Tuesday, January 15th, at Lensing’s on Kirkwood from 4 to 7 and the funeral mass starts at 10am at St. Mary’s.    She was an inspiration to us all, as she lived life to the fullest until she died.

Thanks,

Bill

Bill gave us permission to post his mother’s obituary as a tribute to her life.

Melva Eileen Petrak, 93, of Coralville, died at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City on Friday January 11, 2013, surrounded by her family, under the care of Iowa City Hospice. Visitation was Tuesday January 15 from 4 -7pm at Lensing Funeral Home, 605 Kirkwood Avenue, Iowa City. Funeral Mass was celebrated at 10 am Wednesday, January 16 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Iowa City. Burial followed at St. Joseph’s Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to either St. Mary’s or to Iowa City Hospice.

Melva was born Sept. 3, 1919 in Oxford, IA. She was the daughter of James and Winifred Cooney Leeney. She was the second of five Leeney daughters; Vivian (Hedges), Bernice (Kron), Mary (Kallaus) and Marge (Thormann). She graduated from Oxford high school in 1938 where she also played basketball. Melva obtained a nurses aide certification through the U of I where she worked in pediatrics for two years.

Melva moved to Detroit, MI. where she got a job at Chrysler as “Rosie the Riveter” working on airplanes during the war. When the war ended she worked on Chrysler cars.

Melva married Richard Petrak, of North Liberty on April 29, 1944. After eight years in Detroit they returned to Iowa City in 1951 and purchased a home in Coralville ­ the only home they ever lived in. They had three children; Ann, Bill and Mike. She worked at Oaknoll for ten years and worked at Hillcrest Dormitory for 14 years.

Melva enjoyed bowling and also liked playing cards, especially Euchre. She liked the Cubs and the Hawkeyes. She was a member of the Coralville Rec Center’s exercise group and she lived independently until recently. At age 81 she traveled to Ireland with family to celebrate her Irish heritage. At 85 she went to Scotland. At 90 she celebrated with a large party at St. Mary’s. Melva recently traveled to Denver with family to celebrate Thanksgiving with all of her children and grandchildren. She enjoyed her Coralville neighbors, including longtime friend Julie Weidner.

Survivors include her children Ann (Kevin) Satterly of Coralville; Bill (Cindy) Petrak of Waukee, IA; and Mike (Missy) Petrak of Denver, CO. Grandchildren include Ryan and Nicole Satterly, Jacob and Nate Petrak, and Hannah and Nick Petrak. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Richard and her four sisters.

Cheri McCabe Hochstetler’s father passed away on the 8th of January, and Cheri gave us permission to post her father’s obituary as a tribute to his life.

Lawrence Edward McCabe, 81, longtime Coralville resident died at home Tuesday, January 8th surrounded by his family. Funeral Mass was celebrated at 10:30am, Friday, January 11th at St. Thomas More Catholic Church with Reverend Edmond Dunn and Reverend Thomas Doyle officiating. Burial will be in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, friends may contribute to the Lawrence McCabe Memorial Fund or to St. Thomas More Church.

Larry was born June 23, 1931, in Cosgrove, Iowa, the son of Edward F. and Mary E. Murphy McCabe. He attended school in Cosgrove and in 1946 the family moved to Coralville. Larry was a 1949 graduate of Iowa City High School. He married the love of his life, Janet Webster on June 30, 1952 in Oxford.

Larry was a mechanic and then became the service manager at Burkett-Rhinehart Motors. In 1967 he purchased the John Deere dealership, McCabe Equipment Inc, which he owned and operated for 34 years.

Following his retirement in 2001 Larry drove a school bus for First Student in Iowa City and Regina schools and was a driver and greeter at Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service.

Larry was a Coralville volunteer fireman for many years and was a member of Iowa City Rotary and Knights of Columbus. He served on the Coralville Recreation Commission and had been on the board of directors at Uni-Bank & Trust.

His greatest joy in life was his children and grandchildren. He was a tremendous husband, father, and grandfather. He loved summer vacations boating with them all at the Lake of the Ozarks and winters snow skiing in Colorado.

Special thanks to Iowa City Hospice, especially Angelika for her tender care and support.

Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Janet, their two daughters, Cheri (Kim) Hochstetler of Tiffin and Julie McCabe of Coralville, seven grandchildren: Abby, Ashton, & Cameron Kacena, Rachel (Jesse) Rohret, Damon (Gina) Knowling, Shelly (Tyler) Kopriva, Steve Hochstetler, and 2 great granddaughters Elsa and Lena Kopriva; his sister Betty Donohue; numerous nieces, nephews, extended family; and Angel (nicknamed Rooster), his beloved maltese who never left his side.

He was preceded in death by 5 brothers, Clem, Joe, Frank, Bill, & Bob; four sisters, Connie Leeney, Marie and Regina McCabe, & Eleanor Donohue.

2012 Holiday Greetings from The Bryant Family

This was a year of many developmental transitions. Ben became a teenager, Sam assumed some of the responsibilities of emerging adulthood, and Judy lost her father, thereby becoming part of the older generation for that side of the family.

Ben completed his Eagle Scout project in September and should be applying for Eagle rank promotion soon. He is competing in soccer (his team is undefeated as of this writing) and participating in his school’s band and jazz band, track team, spring math league, and Junior Honor Society as a straight “A” student taking three high school credit courses in 8th grade. Ben advanced his tuba skills at band camp last summer and attended a week-long program for gifted learners, both at the University of Tampa. He also spent a week with our scout troop at summer camp in the Georgia mountains and, with Sam, completed a week of scout youth leadership training. Both he and Sam performed this month in the annual Tuba Christmas concert in Zephyrhills. Ben participates energetically in many social groups. He amazes (and often aggravates) us by simultaneously navigating homework, texting, Facebook, and Skype.

Sam turned 16 and obtained his driver’s license. Earlier in the year, his Grandfather Sam decided to stop driving and gave his car to Sam. He and Dave had an adventuresome road trip driving the car back to Tampa, including a stop at the Corvette plant in Kentucky. Sam has enjoyed the autonomy of driving to school and to practices for his high school’s award-winning marching band. Sam’s greatest adventure was a summer trek at the Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico. This backpacking challenge of over 70 miles in 10 days required months of preparation and conditioning. That included taking various long hikes and running the stairs of a skyscraper downtown with heavy backpacks since we have no mountains to train on in Florida. Sam was elected to be the group’s crew chief. Just a couple weeks after he returned, Sam was on another plane bound for Michigan State University as a delegate to the National Order of the Arrow convention. (OA is Boy Scouting’s honor society to which both Sam and Ben have been elected.) It was quite a year of scouting accomplishments with Sam being recognized as the District’s top youth for his service to Scouting. Sam’s skills as a mature, planful leader and thoughtful citizen are clearly emerging.

Dave continues his polygraph business and working part time for the police department. He attended a week of forensic polygraph training in Denver in April and was re-elected to the board of the Florida Polygraph Association. He just had an article on interrogation published in the American Polygraph Association magazine. During the Republication National Convention, Dave was selected for a security detail driving U.S. Senators. He was assigned to Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming. Being politically like-minded, they got along well. The Senator broke with protocol and introduced Dave to Sen. John McCain and gave him passes so Judy, Sam, and Ben could attend the final night of the convention where they witnessed speeches including Clint Eastwood, Marco Rubio, and Mitt Romney. It was an 83 hour work week for Dave, but there was no place he’d rather have been for this historic event even though he was profoundly disappointed with the results of the election.

Judy finished her 31st year as a psychology professor at the University of South Florida (and eighth year as director of one of the doctoral programs) and co-chaired her 35th Yale reunion. Although those milestones should make her feel terribly old, trying to keep up with the boys keeps her feeling reasonably youthful, albeit tired. She served as the scout troop’s Committee Chair and is active with the advisory councils for both boys’ schools and the high school band booster organization. Last August she and Ben attended the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association meeting in Orlando. Judy had administrative responsibilities and Ben presented a poster describing his science fair project about students’ backpack weights.

Rommel the wonder dog turned 9. He’s slowing down some, but still enjoys guarding the house, stealing food, and traveling with the family. This year we took a spring break RV trip to Cedar Key and a summer trip to visit friends and family in New York and North Carolina. Along the way, Sam had the opportunity to check out potential colleges.

As busy as this year has been, we look forward to a 2013 with even more adventure. Life is filled with highs and lows, challenges and opportunities. We hope you will make the best of yours too.

Jackie passed on this note from Paul and Julie Roberts:

Hello,

Merry Christmas. Hard to believe its that time of year already. Once again we will be doing the program on two different weekends. The first one, Dec 9th, is at our church Sharon Center United Methodist. The next weekend, Dec 14-16 will be up in Main Amana at the Iowa Theatre Artists Company. A flier for each is below. Hope you can make it to one or the other, or both. They are similar but not the exact same “friends” both places.

Thanks,

Paul and Julie