Zoomers – 9/15/22
Fred Elder convened the session and introduced the topic, Lucky Me, a discussion of reasons to feel fortunate that we are still part of the living human race. Eleven classmates participated, including two new participants – Charlie Howard and Kay Ellen Consolver.
Row 1, left to right: Glenna Stearman Park, Fred Elder, Marilyn Tompkins Bellert. Row 2: David Robinson, Dan Tontz, Charles Howard. Row 3: Mert (Mary) Lancaster Curtis, Lee Ayres, Kay Ellen Consolver. Row 4: Perry Ann Porter, Skip Granger.
Editor’s Note: The following summary is stated in the first person, but it is not a transcript. We don’t have a recording for Zoom 9 and are thus dependent on notes and recall. If your contributions need fixing, contact Marilyn (mbellert@niu.edu).
Charles Howard, La Canada Flintridge, CA. (As a new participant, Charlie got two minutes to sketch what he has been doing for the past 62 years.) After graduating from East High, I visited the 1960 World’s Fair and saw buildings there that changed my life. I studied
architecture at Kansas State for three years and then transferred to the University of Oregon in order to study with an architect whose work I had especially admired at the World’s Fair. I then volunteered for the Peace Corps and worked for two years in a small village in Turkey. Our biggest accomplishment was building a school for young women and men to learn trades. Actually, we had a grant to build a chicken house for 1000 chickens, but that building evolved into the school. No chickens were harmed. Most of my professional work was in civil architecture. My first assignments included the Wichita City Library and the Wichita Collegiate School. Three of my projects won international awards, including one for “the best police station in North America.” I also went into the sailing business, sailing for the University of Oregon and teaching sailing as well as architecture there. My wife Marilyn and I have been married for 53 years.
Kay Ellen Consolver, Litchfield, CT. (Also a newcomer, Kay Ellen caught us up on her life.) When I was five years old, my dad took me to see The Wizard of Oz. I wanted to go to Oz and stay there; I had to
travel. In 1960, I went to Kansas University, graduated, and attended one year of law school. I transferred to the University of Wisconsin, where I completed law school and married a man who had also migrated from KU to UW-Madison. We moved to New York City, where his parents helped me to join a prominent law firm. I wish social media had been available then, since so many East grads were in NYC. For instance, David Kroenlein worked in the same New York City building as I did, something I learned only five years ago. My next move was to join Mobil Corporation in their international practice. For more than 20 years in 65 countries, I worked as an attorney, a business executive, and a CFO for Mobil. I had many adventures, including being held captive by the police in Angola for a day. I loved working with diverse populations. After two marriages that did not work out, I met a man at a fund-raiser where we spent the evening – in true Kansas style – square-dancing. We 
have been happily married for 30 years. In 2002, we moved to London, where we lived for more than ten years. Building on my love of theater cultivated at East High (at left in The Boyfriend), I worked with off-West End productions in London and later with off-Broadway shows in New York. We returned to the U.S. five years ago and are now settled in New England. My husband is on the dementia trip. This is very sad, but he is stable and I feel fortunate to be with him.
Peace Corps Memories: Kay Ellen asked Charlie Howard about his location in Turkey as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Charlie replied that he worked during his first year in a village on the Anatolian plateau. The second year, he moved to Izmir, a beautiful old city on the Aegean coast, not far from the ancient city of Ephesus. Perry Ann Porter recalled that her Peace Corps assignments over seven years were in four countries: Belize, Jamaica, the Philippines, and Bolivia. She agreed that these were wonderful opportunities to learn from people in very different cultures.
Fred Elder introduced the topic for this session, Lucky Me! All of us have lived beyond the average life expectancy for our age group. He asked participants to explain why they felt lucky to have lived so long and what factors they attributed to their success.
Glenna Stearman Park, Montgomery Village, MD. I feel very lucky that the art career I chose provided me with exposure and opportunities to create a wide variety of artwork, teach, curate
exhibitions, and work as an art critic. My art often had political angles, and that served me well. I curated the first exhibition of feminist artwork in Brazil, a wonderful experience that allowed me to visit Brazil several times. I went back a few years later when I was invited to show my own work at another gallery in Brazil. Curating was really fun. One of my projects was called “The Loaded Show.” I looked in California, Chicago, and New York City for artists who were creating something outrageous. The edgy artists I found made up an exhibition that was quite impressive. For an artist to function within a community, you have to exhibit your work. I put together a show of my own work about every two years. Happily, I got to travel for these shows, often totally free of charge. I learned how to write grants and had success with the Caterpillar Foundation, which was making available money for keeping teachers in the field. With awards of $5,000, I could go to Europe to make art. I was able to help other teachers write grants as well. You have to tell your stories so that other people will want to come along. This works for grant-writing as well as promoting art. I make art every day, and it continues to give me great pleasure.
Glenna’s latest story for this website is “Tattoos and Other Body Marking.”
David Robinson, Wichita, KS. I may be the only person on this call 
who doesn’t have a degree in anything. College was not my thing. One of the reasons was dyslexia. I don’t know how I managed to graduate from high school. I still can’t read out loud. Besides that, I was lazy and a procrastinator, an unfortunate combination. Besides growing up in a wonderful supportive family, I was really lucky to join the Army. My Army experience, including a great year in Da Nang, got me organized and confident. After military service, I returned to settle in San Francisco, which was a lucky place for me. I met wonderful life-long friends and am looking forward to a vacation with them in a few weeks. Also in San Francisco, I discovered retail, where I was successful both working in others’ stores and later in operating my own store in Wichita. I still run into my old customers. One told me recently that her mother has refused to shop at the last place I worked (Von Maur) since I retired. I have also been lucky in retirement. Staying active is the key for me. I have to be involved in some kind of activity. I love volunteering at Allen House. This reunion has also been wonderful for me, as I recapture of part of my life and get better acquainted with old and new friends from long ago. And yes, I’m lucky to be healthy. Thank God for the VA.
Read about one of David’s recent adventures, “Honor Flight.”
Dan Tontz, Dallas, TX. My first lucky decision was to choose the right family to be born into. Besides being wonderful people, Tontz
family members live a long time. My grandparents lived into their 90’s and a great-grandmother to 101. She claimed to have seen Lincoln’s coffin crossing the country by rail. Genetics gave me the chance to live as long as I have. However, I was very lucky to have missed head-on collisions, including some when I was sober, a horrible motorcycle accident, and two instances of life-threatening gas leaks. Like many of us, I am lucky to benefit from developments in the medical field, including two asthma drugs that keep me alive day to day. These drugs did not exist a few years ago. Fortunately, my luck has held and I haven’t screwed it up. I made mistakes, but I am still alive. COVID in August was a near miss, but I’m well now.
Dan told the story of his dad’s experience with kamikaze attacks at Guadalcanal in “My World War II Survival Story.”
Charles Howard, La Canada Flintridge, CA. After my Peace Corps service, I went to work for an architecture firm. Invited out with colleagues one evening, I walked into the room and saw a woman. I was really lucky, because she agreed to marry me 53 years ago, and we are still together. In Wichita, I had worked for an architecture firm during first year of college and learned to sail on Santa Fe Lake. We sailed snipes. At that time, the world’s champion snipe sailor was sailing on Santa Fe Lake. Since 1984, we have been living on a mountainside overlooking Los Angeles. I love sailboat racing and have been lucky to compete. I’ve sailed from Seattle to the end of Baja Peninsula. At one point, I came in #2 in my class in a world’s championship competition. I’m very lucky to have been able to do things that I love.
Mert Lancaster Curtis, St. John, KS. I didn’t want to go to college; 
it wasn’t my thing. I worked for insurance firms, occupying myself with numbers, which I do well. I was married to my first husband for 17 years. My lucky day was when I met my second husband. We celebrated our 42nd anniversary this year. My husband had dementia, which is very difficult. It’s been a long summer. He passed away on August 8 and I miss him terribly. Through the years, I have been lucky to collect people, and I enjoy people very much. They keep me going.
Mert’s exceptional quilting skills are on display in “On Quilting” and examples of her beautiful quilts are in the website’s Gallery.
Lee Ayres, Fresno, CA. All of us have been fortunate along the way in order to be here now. I was born into the right family at the righ
t time. First thing that comes to mind is how fortunate I am to have three remarkable children, who had wonderful children of their own and now great-grandchildren arriving. At the moment, I am in the process of placing 110 plants around our home as part of a transition to “water-wise” landscaping. I’m lucky to have the time, mobility, and the right environment for this task. Starting in Wichita, I developed an interest in community-building and have been lucky to find opportunities to make a difference. I am current working with Allensworth, California on a community plan that will be submitted to the Tulare County government. Allensworth was founded by a black Civil War veteran and is historically significant as well as facing many challenges. I can tell you that community dysfunction continues to be common in the U.S. I feel lucky to have been part of making life better in a number of communities.
Lee’s many stories for this website include “The 1960 Mile Relay Team,” about a championship team that succeeded with great coaching, hard work, skill, and luck.
Kay Ellen Consolver, Litchfield, CT. I feel lucky that personally and professionally I was able to follow my dreams. It was lucky to work internationally, and I continue to have friends worldwide. Thanks to social media, we can maintain relationships. I have also been able to mentor younger women, partly through the International Women’s Forum. Artistically, a passion stemming from East High, I have produced shows in London and New York City and served on theater boards of directors. My luckiest opportunity was to meet a man that I have loved dearly. It was my third try, and it worked. I let him be him and he let me be me. He has two children and has grandchildren, so we are part of an extended family. We are both still here to enjoy it. Dementia is such a terrible journey. I love being connected with so many East High classmates.
Perry Ann Porter, Poulsbo, WA. I was very fortunate to be born 
into an intelligent and artistic family. Mom was a PE teacher at East High and at WSU, and Dad was an architect who worked on important buildings in Wichita. Mom took us to northern Michigan for three months in the summers to live in a cabin, participate in all kinds of water sports, and enjoy the great outdoors. No wonder I love the Northwest so much. I taught school in Oxnard, California early on and have taught in other places. I didn’t get married until age 61, when I was lucky to find my soulmate. I have been a widow for four years. Once upon a time I was lucky to own a tugboat previously owned by John Wayne and needed a lot of work, which I learned to do thanks to other boat owners. Unluckily, it took five years of rehab to repair me after an accident in Switzerland. The tugboat was my rehab project.
You can read Perry Ann’s tugboat story at “Cotton 6, the Tugboat.”
Skip Granger, Sun Lakes, AZ. I have been lucky my whole life. Two factors have helped me be lucky – family and timing. Both the family I grew up in and my family today helped me grow up healthy and happy. This year, my family celebrated my 80th birthday with a gathering in Las Vegas. Some of you have seen the video my son Trey made for me. Dan Tontz appears, saying that “Skip is not 80. He is 40, going around for the third time.” Timing has been really lucky for me. During my first year out of law school, I worked for the Kansas Supreme Court and realized that I didn’t want to spend life with lawyers. Then I worked in the travel industry and got to travel and live all over the world. The time was right for development of travel 
packages and other products for consumer travel that I created while working for Pan Am. Around that time, I became reacquainted with Mary Ann. Marrying her was definitely good luck for me and still is. Just as the venture capital business was emerging, I helped put together Menlo Capitol, which led to many good opportunities. I loved wine and I loved travel, so I started a winery, which I really enjoyed. We sold the winery at the right time, just before the pandemic started in 2020 and my long-time partner died. One other factor in my luck has been that the Kentucky part of my family has a psychic streak, which I inherited, and which really helped me many times in my life.
Skip has not yet written a “psychic streak” story, but he has authored 12 stories for this website. See “My Life in Wine” for a start.
Marilyn Tompkins Bellert, Sycamore, IL. Like several of you, I
was lucky to be born into a wonderful, encouraging family that included quite a few centenarians and people who lived well into their 90’s. You can’t beat starting with good genes, but we all were born in the right place at a fortunate time. I feel lucky to have attended East High, where I learned to read analytically, think things through, and write for a variety of audiences. Those skills have been key factors in multiple careers for me. Being lucky also means that I have reasons to bounce out of bed every morning. One of those is a loving extended family. My three children are really fine people. I am so proud of them. They are also really good parents who have generated six interesting kids who give me great hope for the future. I’m also lucky to have settled into a happy second marriage with a guy who enjoys traveling, cooking, reading, and music as much as I do. We also share his three children and five grandchildren. In an important way, the pandemic turned out to be lucky for me. Along with Diane Zinn and Fred Elder, I work every day on this website, which we launched in 2020 with encouragement from Lee Ayres and funding from 30 classmates. Through the website, I have gotten to know more than 100 fellow Aces who have written more than 500 terrific stories about their experiences over the past 62 years. I feel fortunate to know you.
This summer, Marilyn shared memories of a favorite summer vacation spot in the 50’s in “Down to the River.”
Fred Elder, Madison, WI. When we talked last month about influential people in our lives, I talked about my luck having an uncle
who taught me the value of hard work. Like Kay Ellen I attended Kansas University, but if I hadn’t been able to play football, I would not have been able to go there. Coach Barger at East High helped me develop my football skills and obtain a scholarship. I earned a Masters in engineering at WSU and was lucky to get a teaching job there even before I finished the degree. Otherwise, I would not have been able 
to attend graduate school. I later followed (several years later) Kay Ellen to the University of Wisconsin. Again, I got a scholarship to study for a doctorate. Without it, I would not have wound up in Madison. Engineering has been good for me. I have been involved with interesting designs, interesting teaching, and interesting colleagues. Luck has had a lot to do with my path in education. My children and grandchildren are doing exceptionally well, and that also causes me to feel fortunate.
Fred has shared stories of international hiking and biking adventures on the website. His next is “St. Ives to Penzance,” a harrowing story about hiking along the coast of Cornwall. (Note: the link won’t work until 9/21).
Parting Comments
Skip Granger – I hope everyone is vaccinated. I live in a community that is holding a vaccination clinic next week in a ballroom big enough for everyone to come in and get their shots. It is important that we all get vaccinations.
Glenna Park – I figure that we have at least 20 years to go and need to plan for it. I am working on a schedule of what I want to do. Including, of course, making art!
Kay Ellen Consolver – After listening to your stories, I want to note that there is an important factor parallel to what we call luck. I call it “organized serendipity.” It means that you were ready and you recognized good opportunities as they came along. You grabbed them and made good things happen.
Fred Elder and Marilyn Bellert thanked everyone for joining us today and reminded them that their stories keep the 1960 Virtual Reunion Website alive and kicking.
