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Matt Foley

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Divorced
Children: 0
Occupation: Motivational Speaker
So, what have you been doing for the last 50 years?: Living in a van down by the river.
Comment: Looking forward to seeing everyone. Hope the van makes it.

Nancy K French

Marital status: Single
Children: 0
Occupation: Retired

Cate (Cathy) Friederich Murray

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 5
Occupation: Medical writer and editor
So, what have you been doing for the last 50 years?: For the first 10 years after graduation, I lived in Iowa, Minnesota, Utah, and Texas. For the next 40 years, we moved a few more times: Minnesota for 20 years and then Florida, Arizona, Germany, Pennsylvania, and back to Arizona, with lots of time in DMV and northern Washington state.

I still date everything that I've done for the past 40 years by which child I was pregnant with at the time (4 and a bonus baby) and subsequently when each grandchild (13) or great-grandchild (1) was born. With children living literally coast to coast and a husband who doesn't know the meaning of the word retire, I travel solo a great deal. I've been known to roadtrip from eastern Florida to Arizona in 36 hours.

Thankfully, as long as I have my trusty laptop, I have been able to continue my medical writing career from anywhere. Sleep has been a primary focus since the days that sleep medicine ranked scientifically at the level of horoscopes. Now we better understand the importance of sleep and the impact of sleep disorders on quality of life and functioning. I also cover any neurology subject, anesthesia, and cardiac surgery. I've been writing a lot lately about total artificial hearts -- so much has changed since I worked as a CVICU nurse at Mayo 45 years ago, but I try to keep up.

It's too bad that our yearbook photos are in black and white. Many of you would recognize me better with my mass of bright red curls (frizz). The red has turned to white, so I no longer provide that early-warning detection for my temper.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to make the reunion. With our big family, something is bound to come up, but I'll try my best.

Cate (AKA Cathy Friederich) Murray

Kristi Spoth (Fritsch)

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 3
Occupation: retired dietitian
So, what have you been doing for the last 50 years?: I have been truly blessed the past 50 years. There have been losses, my father when I was 20, my first child at less than a month, but I am blessed with a wonderful, loving, and supportive husband, 3 healthy children that chose wonderful spouses. We even had two of the in laws living with us temporarily for several months. And of course, my 8yr old granddaughter keeps me young. My mother is well and active in Ames and turns 97 this year.
After Iowa State (Journalism and Nutrition) where Jeff Swartz’ dad was my advisor, I ventured to Alabama for an internship and graduate school. It was eye-opening living in a different part of the country. I took the opportunity to travel to many places in the South. The cuisine (Collard greens, fried green tomatoes, grits, country ham), was of special interest. I also learned firsthand that even though the civil rights act was passed it did not change the ingrained culture and I also examined my own sheltered not culturally diverse background.
I returned to Iowa and had various dietitian positions at the Des Moines and Knoxville VAs. I met my future husband, Dick Spoth at the Knoxville psychiatric hospital. No, he was not a patient! He was a psychology intern and we played on a coed volleyball team and were in a breakfast club. Besides psychiatric wards, I did home care, weight loss, outpatient clinics and intensive care nutritional support. I was certified in Nutritional Support for over 20 years. After 39 years, I retired in 2017.
Although I am mainly a homebody, especially after COVID, I have been blessed to have travelled. This is in part due to my husband’s conferences, children living and studying internationally, one son’s elite triathlons and celebration of my mother’s 90th birthday by visiting Norwegian relatives. I have been to Australia, South America, St. Kitts Nevis, and numerous European countries. We had an incredible trip to Bulgaria to visit my son’s former roommate and his family. They treated us royally in appreciation of “adopting” their son when he was at Iowa State. Travel highlights were Pompeii and Machu Picchu which I had studied for reports in grade school and were on my bucket list. Kona, and Hawaii for the World Ironman Championship last year was exceptional.
I am blessed with living nearly 40 years in the same house and making it home with my husband. Dick still works at Iowa State. I enjoy swimming, walking in Iowa prairies and state parks, mountain hiking and the condo we share with neighbors in Colorado, visiting National parks and enjoying nature. I love family and friend gatherings. I am an active member in PEO, supporting women’s education and I volunteer at my church food pantry. I have slowed down, but am appreciative of being as active as I am having had 2 open heart surgeries and a valve replacement and I am anticipating a third surgery in the future.
I enjoy reading classmates posts and look forward to seeing many of you in August.

Dave Fullhart

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 2
Occupation: Retired airline pilot, Retired US Navy officer
So, what have you been doing for the last 50 years?: Attended University of Iowa 1973-1977. Married the former Linda Marie Johnson of Des Moines in 1975. Grad school 1977-1978. Active duty in US Navy from 1978-1988 as Naval Aviator. Pilot for American Airlines from 1988- 2018 based at Dallas/Ft Worth Intl. Airport retiring as Captain. Retired from US Navy Reserve in 2014 as Commander. We have two daughters and four grandchildren. We live in Grapevine, TX, about 10 minutes from DFW INTL Airport.
Comment: Thank you to the organizers!

Susan (Sue) Futrell (Futrell)

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 0
Occupation: freelance writer
So, what have you been doing for the last 50 years?: I’ve been in Iowa City since graduation, have a degree in Geography and an MFA in nonfiction writing from UI, and worked in the natural food and sustainable ag industry for many years. My partner Will Jennings--a musician, writer and rhetoric professor and wonderful guy--and I were married in 1996. For the past 15+ years I’ve worked in marketing and program development with a nonprofit in the Boston area (Red Tomato), helping connect fruit and vegetable growers to local markets and working with a network of ecological apple growers. In January I semi-retired; I’m doing some consulting and freelance writing, but mostly really enjoy having time for my own writing, reading, and sleeping!

We live in Iowa City, and until Covid, I was traveling often to Boston and the East coast. Although I’ve always travelled a lot for work and enjoyed it, I’m so happy being home more, and look forward to travelling more for fun. My book, Good Apples, was published by U of Iowa Press in 2017, and led to an opportunity to research apples in Indian-occupied Kashmir; I’m writing about that experience, and hoping to go back.

Will is also retired from teaching at the UI as of last July. His family is mostly in Maine, and mine is in Iowa, including my mom who is 93 and lives at Green Hills in Ames, so now that we're not tied to work, we split our time between Iowa City and our small place in mid-coast Maine. Luckily our cat Ned is a good car traveler. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone--of course I can’t believe it’s been 50 years.

Chris Gammack

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 3
Occupation: Retired

Susan Geist Jones (Geist)

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 2
Occupation: Retired teacher
So, what have you been doing for the last 50 years?: So, I dusted off my ’73 Spirit, and in looking at it I remembered that a good share of my time was spent in the musty yearbook room or in the chlorine-filled dome that housed the Ames High pool. These days I take a lot of pictures on my phone that never get printed, and I watch our grandchildren in the awesome new Ames High pool. Note to self: if you take around 48 years off from serious swimming, building up any distance work is going to be hard—but I’m up to just over a mile, now swimming three or more times a week when possible.

I feel blessed to be living a life filled with family and friends; my mother, Martha Geist, who may have been your 7th grade English teacher at Welch, is going strong at 97; my marriage to Ed and our two lovely, fun, and independent daughters—both married with five children between them; and those five amazing (and also very independent) grandchildren, ages 11-2 ½ who live close enough that we see them often, including Grandma School during Covid restrictions. My other Covid activity was sewing 1,500 cloth masks for hospitals, care facilities and schools. Phew!

I was privileged to have a 35-year career in which every day was different; teaching 5 to 12 year olds was rewarding, empowering, delightful, frustrating, overwhelming, and even wildly unexpected at times. Still, watching children eagerly learn and grow, and the feeling of making a difference in those young lives provided the greatest job satisfaction I could have envisioned.

The hardest part of getting older is the loss of lifelong family and friends; the circle of life has been tough on a lot of us in the last ten years, wishing we had more time with spouses, parents, siblings, and those who have been enduring presences in our lives. In 1973, I couldn’t have known that my pal and our classmate, Carol (Peterson) Sullivan, would be my dearest and most steadfast friend through thick and thin for 51 years. I miss her greatly, and I can only hope you all have been fortunate enough to have had such a friendship.

So, Classmates of ’73, whether near or far—I wish you well. Remember, “The best things in life are not things.”

Scott Gillette

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Single
Children: 2
Occupation: Retired
So, what have you been doing for the last 50 years?: Three enlistments in the Marines followed by a long career in IT. I was a programmer initially, then developed networks (LAN, MAN and WAN) for manufacturing firms, hospitals and financial institutions. I have lived in Southern California, Japan, Eastern Iowa and Nebraska most recently.

Tried marriage a couple of times. I have two beautiful and talented daughters. Finally have a granddaughter.

I have stayed active in a veterans' social group that helps veterans with life skills.

I enjoy traveling when possible and visiting family and friends.

"What a long strange trip it's been."
Comment: I would enjoy seeing people and finding out what all has happened since high school

Vayne Glass (Glass)

Marital status: Married
Children: 2
Occupation: Retired Brick Mason