Alumni Class Notes
The class of 1950
Welcome to Class Notes. Find out what your fellow classmates are up to these days. Share your news and events! Do you have pictures you would like to share? Please forward to lmellor@pharmacy.arizona.edu.
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| 1950s |
Entered: 11/1/07 Bob Dale Thomas ‘50 Still helping Wal Mart a couple of day a week. Anyone else in the ’50 still working? Celebrated 80th in August. Mert (Gloria) and I in fair health and enjoying life here on Dauphin Island, AL. (Gulf of Mexico). |
Entered: 11/1/07 Ed Saba ‘52 Edward and Chrine Saba (married). Have three married daughters and four grandchildren (2 boys and 2 girls). Work at Bashas’ as VP of Pharmacy Manage 65 pharmacies. |
Entered: 10/17/07 Bob Dale Thomas, ‘50 I’m still helping Wal Mart couple of days a week. Anyone else in the ’50 class still working? I just celebrated my 80th in August. Mert (Gloria) and I are in fair health and enjoying life here on Dauphin Island, AL. (Gulf of Mexico). |
Entered: 8/16/07 Hillsboro, OR During my years in pharmacy, I practiced in Alaska, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington. This rolling stone retired from pharmacy 5 or 6 years ago in Walla Walla, Washington. Along the way, Barbara and I have been married for 50 years, raised four children and have nine grandchildren. It was a good career but now Barbara and I have more time to enjoy our children, grandchildren and each other. We moved in 2004 to Hillsboro, Oregon, and live a short walk from our daughter and her family. |
Entered: 9/28/06 William D. Olson, '56 Palm Desert, CA My regards to all my classmates; sorry I am unable to attend the class reunion. I retired from pharmacy in 1987, am in good health at 80 and golf is my game. |
| 1960s |
Entered: 9/20/07 R. Ken Coit, ’67 Walnut Creek, CA Hello to All: I really did not practice very long as a Pharmacist as I left the field in October 1970. While being a Pharmacist, I did take several real estate courses which proved to be fortuitous in the long term. After leaving Pharmacy, I embarked on a series of courses on real estate and investing. Simultaneous to these courses, I sold a multi million dollar life insurance policy to a successful real estate syndicator and later I joined his firm in marketing apartment real estate to investors. That began in 1972, with my first apartment property in Walnut Creek, California. During the intervening 35 years, I have completed my Master of Business Administration at Pepperdine University (1981) and built up a $1.5 billion portfolio of class A California based apartments with my partner, Mark Carter, with about 200 investors. It has been a fantastic run and it has really worked well, especially for the investors. Right! Class mate Scott Nielson! Donna and I married in October 1977 and we have four children, Kristin 28, Darren, 25, Shannon, 23 and Lauryn, 22. All are single and I am still married to Donna. Kristin- Graduated Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of California, Santa Barbara and joined Google in 2001 as employee #418 with stock options at .50 per share. Darren – Engineering Degree University of Southern California, 2004 and currently works for Intel in Portland, Oregon. Shannon - Graduated from the University of Michigan, 2005, and works in Washington DC for Senator Dianne Feinstein. She plans to attend law school. Lauryn – Is a senior at San Diego State University. Life has treated me well, except of course my golf game could be better. I follow Arizona sports continuously and I am amazed with our Dean, Lyle Bootman, how he has really transformed the Pharmacy program and now it is at the new medical school in Phoenix. The four years I spent at the University were truly the most fun, challenging, interesting and the most memorable for me. I wish to thank all of my classmates, professors, and friends for making those four years the best four years of my life! Did I ever enjoy college and I have nothing but great memories from the experience. |
Entered: 9/13/07 Mike Cohen, ’67 Huntington Beach, CA Pat and I have been married almost 46 years. We have one daughter, Kelly who you may remember as the little red head from school days. Kelly lives in Highland, CA and she has a 20-year-old son, Jake who is a student at The University of Wisconsin. We have resided in Huntington Beach for 26 years and love it here. Aside from the crowds, I can't think of a better place to live. Pat is a retired main-frame programmer from Downey Savings and Loan. She retired in 1999. I retired from Long Beach Memorial Hospital in '98 because of Meniere's Disease. It seems to have abated and I feel fine most of the time. We have done a lot of traveling in our motor home with our two Border Collies. The four of us have driven to Alaska twice, in 2001 and again in 2004. Our plan is to go to the East Coast next fall to see the leaves turn red and to do some sightseeing along the East Coast. In the interim, we will be taking many shorter trips mostly in the Western States. We find it a wonderful way to travel. We are looking forward to seeing all of you. |
Entered: 9/6/07 Andy Ware, ’67 Apopka, FL I have been married to my wife, Frances, for 39 years. We have two sons Jacob and Daniel. Jacob is 33 and lives in Denver, Colorado. Daniel is 32 and lives in Apple Valley, California. In 1988, after learning I had Multiple Sclerosis, we sold our Drug Store, moved to Apopka, Florida, and bought an established wholesale greenhouse operation. Prior to the hurricanes of 2004, we had 150,000 square feet of covered growing area and grew and shipped indoor foliage plants (houseplants) primarily to wholesale florists and interiorscapers in the Eastern United States. Florida sunshine and warm winters makes it possible to grow tropical plants year around, something that is impossible in the north eastern states. During the hurricanes of 2004 (we had 3 hurricanes in 2 months) about half of the greenhouses ended up in Oz or somewhere. They disappeared anyhow! Frances and I took the insurance money and haven't rebuilt anything damaged by the hurricanes. We have listed the property for sale and are now looking forward to retiring where they don't have hurricanes perhaps, Arizona. I don't get around very well so won't be able to come to the reunion this time but would like to hear from anyone. Mailing address is P.O. Box 104, Plymouth, Florida 32768; Street address: 2508 Peterson Road, Apopka, Florida 32703. |
Entered: 8/9/07 Jack Allen, '67 Tucson, AZ Bette and I have been married for 45 years as of this September. We have two children, Marc who is 44 and Julia 41. Both are married with children. Marc is a computer engineer and lives in Virginia Beach, VA. Julia is a CPA and lives in Chandler, AZ. I have worked in a variety of pharmacy fields...acute care hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, retail, nuclear, correctional and mail order. I have loved them all. I am still working full-time as a contract pharmacist for the VA at their newest mail order pharmacy here in Tucson. When we are up and running we should be doing about 50,000 prescriptions in an 8 hour day...that’s no typo...50,000. The equipment is incredible as you might imagine. Bette is also a pharmacist and works at St. Mary’s Hospital. No real thought of retirement for either of us...but the day will come. We live at the base of the Catalinas in a lovely area and are very happy. Would love to hear from any of my classmates, so please email me! |
Entered 8/1/07 Wyman Dickerson, '67 Jackson, CA I’ve been married for 29 years this coming August to Karen. We have two girls, Cara age 27 and Jaime age 23. Cara Agustin is employed by the County of Amador in the Planning Department. She received her B.S. from the University of California at Davis in 2003. Her husband Justin is a self employed cabinet maker. Cara has finally made me a grandpa when she delivered a 5 pound 14 oz., 18-1/2 inch baby boy named Talin Jacob. Jaime is graduating from Humboldt State University located in Arcata, CA this May with a B.S. in Anthropology. After graduation she is traveling to Costa Rica to work at the La Suerte Biological Teaching Station. She plans to work for a year after graduation while looking for a school and applying for graduate school admittance in the field of primatalogy. Karen is the Director of Pres-School and Child Care for Calaveras County Unified School District. Karen received her teaching credentials in 1986 and has taught, been a vice-principal, then a principal, prior to accepting the promotion to director. She plans to work four more years then retire. Wyman, on the other hand, plans to work till I drop. I sincerely love my work at Safeway Inc. as part of the corporate pharmacy family my main duties encompass the pharmacy merger and acquisitions field. My “territory” is North America. I have employees in the U.S. and one in Canada. When Karen and I have the chance we love to travel even though I do travel a lot in my position with Safeway. Our big trip for our 30 year anniversary is to live a month in northern Italy in late 2008. Karen’s maternal side of her family is from northern Italy, and she still has family there. In the mean time, we live on four acres east of Sacramento and Stockton in the foothills of the western slope of the Sierra Nevada’s. After traveling, coming home is a deserved respite from the big cities. |
Entered: 11/6/06 Anthony Hutchinson, '66 Palm Desert, CA Anthony has worked at Finley's Rexall in Fontana, CA since 1969. He became owner in 1975 and he is one of seven pharmacists that started Managed Pharmacy Care (MPC) in 1991. |
| 1970s |
Entered 11/26/07 Sam Pinterpe, '70 Huntington Beach, CA In January, 2007, my wife, Karen, retired from planned parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino counties. In October, 2007, I resigned my position as the consulting pharmacist for the afore mentioned organization. I plan to spend as much time as possible in Tucson but can't move there as my wife thinks the summers are too hot. I don't know where she got that idea. |
Enter: 10/4/07 Maura Raffensperger, '77 Oxnard, CA It’s been an interesting ride since graduating; my pharmacy degree gave me many freedoms, including the freedom to do something completely different. I recall my days as a COP student with great pleasure. Remember how we all stayed in the same seats, and the professors moved? After graduation, I moved to Las Vegas, NV, and worked in the county hospital for 14 months. It was a great place to be 22 with lots of disposable income! California was calling, however, and I moved to Santa Monica and worked at Santa Monica Hospital (now part of UCLA) for seven years. While there, I implemented and ran a satellite pharmacy in the OR, and became a clinical instructor of pharmacy for USC, all of which was very rewarding. I began work on a MBA and was asked to write a paper describing where I wanted to be in 5 years. That was an eye-opener! I realized how much I enjoyed teaching and decided to change course entirely and teach science to students before they made their career choice. I ended up teaching high school chemistry and with a MA in Education. Ten years ago, I blended the analytical skills I honed as a pharmacist, the facilitation skills I was taught to run a quality circle at Santa Monica Hospital, and my teaching skills to begin a training and consulting business. I work primarily with owners of small businesses to improve their workflow and time management. I also facilitate small group goal setting/strategic planning sessions. Most of my business comes from referrals, so check out my website, OrganizingRx.com. Dave [a software engineer] and I have been married 19 years. We met 22 years ago in a 10 week Sierra Club Mountaineering class he was teaching. We have no children and still enjoy hiking together. We bagged all 276 peaks over 5000 feet in Southern California, and are currently working on attaining the high point of 49 states [a healthy sense of self-preservation tells me Denali is not in my future.] |
Entered: January 2, 2007 John Pilgrim, '71 Fresno, CA I still enjoy pharmacy and love the changes in the profession. Olivia is still painting and working in the arts. Olivia and I have been lucky enough to start traveling more. We seem to book cruises usually but occasionally we strike out on a wing it adventure. Last summer was special, because we took our three surviving parents for a three week Italian cruise vacation. Life has been very good to us, and we look forward to our next homecoming trip. |
Entered: 10/28/2006 Althea Alderson, '71 Glendale, AZ Althea works as a supervisor at John C. Lincoln Hospital-Deer Valley in Phoenix, Arizona. She has worked there for 35 years as staff and managers. Althea is married to Matt Alderson from the class of 1986, and she enjoys hiking, traveling and motorcycling. |
Entered: 10/28/06 Mario Rodriguez, '71 Tucson, AZ Mario is the manager at Food City (Basha’s) at I-19 and Irvington. Mario and his Wife Irene enjoy traveling. Their favorite way of traveling is cruising. Mario and Irene have two children who are pharmacists, Mario ‘95 and Adrianna ‘97. Their youngest child is a Regis University alumnus in Denver, Colorado. They enjoy spending time with their two grandchildren, Isabella 5 years old and Matthew 3 years old. |
Entered: 10/28/06 Jean Noel, '75; and, Michael Noel, '76 Tucson, AZ Jean is a geriatric consultant pharmacist with kindred pharmacy services in Tucson, Arizona. Mike is a region director of health systems sales for Cardinal Health. |
Entered: 10/28/2006 Patrick McCabe, '75 Bayonne, NJ
Patrick currently works as the staff pharmacist at the Bayonne Medical Center in Bayonne, New Jersey. He has two Daughters Kelly and Caitlin, which are currently attending the University of Arizona. Kelly is studying law enforcement and Caitlin is studying education. |
Entered: 11/2/06 Kirk Wentworth '78 Carson City, NV Pharmacy owner in Carson City for 21 years. Pat and I have two grown daughters in college. Pat is teaching math and I teach snowboarding for the Carson Recreation Program. www.carsonrx.com |
| Jump to: 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s |
| 1980s |
Entered: 4/9/07 Richard L. Green, ‘88
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Entered: 11/7/06 Carilyn Miller (Sawyer), ‘86 Ruidoso, NM We still live in Ruidoso, NM. We have lived here 8 years. My Husband Mark works for Walgreens. I recently moved to Wal-Mart after working for an independent pharmacy for 8 years. He sold so I moved. Our Son Sawyer is 11 years old and in 6th grade. He is into mountain biking, skiing, basketball, and baseball, lucky for he doesn’t do football. Life if good in Ruidoso. |
Entered: 9/11/06 Fred Alan Hirth, '87 Anthem, AZ Where is everybody from the class of 1987??? I have been practicing for almost twenty years now. I have had two patents and working on more. I have a beautiful wife, Nancy and an awesome son, Geoffrey, 16. Love life! Hey, is there going to be a twenty year reunion for us??? Kim, Diane, Gordy, Mark S., Kevin, Dee, James... where the heck is e v e r y b o d y? ? ? Drop a line. |
| Jump to: 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s |
| 1990s |
Entered: 1/28/07 Gregg Cluff, ‘93 Pima, AZ Since graduation I started my own relief company serving rural Arizona. I primarily work for small hospitals contracting at rates approaching regular employee rates. Married with 2 children, I continue to live in the little town of Pima where I grew up. Since graduating in 1993 I have enjoyed working for the hospitals and retail pharmacies in Graham and Apache counties. |
| Entered: 12/16/06
Tim Watson, ’94 Double Oak, TX Family has been living in Dallas for six years after brief stint in Indiana. We have two great girls 4 and 2, who we hope are little wildcats in training. I'm in the pharmacy consulting field working with large employers to design their pharmacy benefit programs. Hope all is well with class of 1994! |
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| 2000s |
Entered: 12/11/06 Courtney Wood, ‘03 Chandler, AZ After 9 years with Albertson\'s/Osco I recently left retail pharmacy for a closed-door environment. Its been really nice. I spend my free time with my husband Michael and my daughters Megan (2 years) and Caitlin (8 months). I would love to hear from alumni. |
| Entered: 8/2/06 Frank Ernst, PharmD, '00; MS, '02 Charlotte, NC I am completing a move from Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, IN, to Premier Inc, Charlotte, NC, as Senior Research Scientist within the Pharmaceutical Research Services function. In this hospital-based research area, I am excited to be able to work also with many more PhRMA organizations, as well as CMS, AHRQ, etc, to help improve patient care and healthcare delivery. All my best to everyone from the UA College of Pharmacy! Frank |
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1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
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