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Panzer Notes
Bill Kirchner '32 has kept friends and classmates informed with a newsletter he's been doing for 20 years. His list is sadly getting shorter, but many are active and enjoying life. Bill and his wife live in Palm Desert, Calif. near their son and daughter. Bill reports that Jo Cohen Casagrande '31 plays golf and cares for the plants and flowers around her home. Many of us met this wonderful woman at Panzer's final reunion. Grace Torres Scafatia '31, who lives in Florida, is quite active caring for her home and still participates as a kegler (bowler).Ed Bradley '50, chairman and CEO of the New Jersey Fitness and Sports Foundation, received a happy 74th birthday greeting from President George Bush. Ed recently returned from a cruise that included a trip through the Panama Canal. He also received word that he is a candidate to be a torch carrier in the relay for 2002 in Salt Lake City. Congratulations, Ed!
Rose Marie Battaglia '51 recently spent two weeks in Las Vegas and two weeks in California visiting relatives, and then went back to Las Vegas, where she met with Flo and Lou Peragallo '49, and Marge Salamini Egan '59. Rose Marie then left for Hawaii to cheer on Penn State in a women's basketball tournament. Keep going, Ro!
Joe Bongiorno '52 and his wife, Dorothy, are a traveling pair. They spent part of the winter in Florida, then, with the arrival of spring, headed for Italy. Upon returning to the states, they rested, packed again and headed out on a motor tour through the Carolinas and Savannah, Ga. Joe sends greetings to all his classmates.
Bob O'Conner '50 and Carol Maurer O'Conner '56 also are staying busy. The South Carolina weather provides great opportunity for one of their favorite sports, tennis. Carol was a volunteer at the Family Circle Tennis Classic, where she assisted players before and after matches. We're sure it was a job well done.
Panzer friends are enduring. Randie Cummings '53 and Renee Yerg '53 can attest to that. To celebrate 49 years of friendship, the pair is looking forward to a reunion in Sedona, Ariz. Renee is active as a professional dance instructor and choreographer in the Phoenix area, and Randie is a talented recording star with Vanderbilt Productions in Florida.
Ann Ward Jenkins '56 is another gal who travels the globe. She recently toured China and then traveled to Africa for a month with daughter, Lisa. After all that travel she needed some rest…in Hawaii!
Pudge Kinney Delaney '56 is always involved in training of some sort with her wonderful Bernese Mountain dog, Rudi. She recently entered him in an Obedience Fun Run. It came down to a tie with a Rottweiler so the judge called for a run-off. Come on…you didn't for one second think the Rott won, did you? Not long after, Pudge was visited by Carol Maurer O'Conner '56 and husband, Bob, who were touring the Seattle, Wash. area with their son.
Linda Komonieski '81 and I kept that Panzer spirit alive when we, along with friends, participated in a Workshop for Women at the Meadowlands with the N.Y. Giants. More than 300 participants kicked, ran, tackled and passed in groups lead by the Giants players. A tour of the locker room and romp through the tunnel that leads onto the field was a special treat. The evening was topped off with a scrimmage, parting gifts and a certificate for the completion of Giants Football 2001. The best part was that the proceeds from this evening went to breast cancer research.
After 40 years, Elayne Daniels Singer '57 contacted "Panzer Notes" to let us know she is alive and well. Living in Oregon, Elayne enjoys hiking, rafting and bouldering with her son, daughter and grandchildren when they get together. Elayne's daughter lives in Colorado and her son resides in Texas. Elayne can be contacted at frandsing@bendcable.com.
Rosemary Lamb Groszman '57, our Disneyworld addict, has once again enjoyed the annual trek to Florida. Before retirement, a group of teaching colleagues traveled to Disney every year during their school vacation. Now the lucky retired ones are off on their own when the crowds are not there.
Doris Nielsen Miller '57 traveled to the state of Washington to help daughter, Paula, a veterinarian, move back to New Jersey. To add enjoyment to the long trip, they leisurely toured the national parks and other scenic areas on the way back east.
Marge Huen Gardiner '57 has retired after 11 years at St. John Vianney High School. Her husband, John '55, having been retired a bit longer, has been extolling the advantages of retirement to Marge. Now they can travel without time restrictions, starting with a recent trip to Florida where they visited family and friends.
Susan Kastenberg Slinger '61 teaches health and sex education at South Plainfield Middle School. Though she loves teaching, retirement is sounding good and may come as soon as three years. Susan and Ron, her significant other, enjoy rollerblading, skiing, theater, concerts and traveling. They spend time between their Boca Raton, Fla. and Lake Hopatcong homes with activities they also share with grandchildren. Susan and Ron are close friends with Roseanne Sussman Goodstein '59 and husband Bob '61. The foursome, which does a great deal of traveling, toured national parks out west over the summer. Roseanne and Bob lead a life of travel, theater and concerts. Along with a love of playing bridge, Bob writes "sonnepoems" for fun and offers a program of public participation.
After graduating, Deb Janowski '78 entered the business world due to lack of available teaching positions. After 18 years, the opportunity to teach presented itself and Deb went for it. She is a teacher at the T. Baldwin Demarest School in Old Tappan. She also coaches seventh- and eighth-grade basketball and softball.
Graduates who would like to get in touch with Hazel Wacker can do so directly by dropping her a line at 208 Essex Meadows, Essex, Conn. 06426.
Send news for Panzer Notes to: Lois Madden Kelly, 28 Stag Trail, Fairfield, NJ 07004 or e-mail ldkpanzer@aol.com. Please put "Panzer Notes" in the subject line.