Classmate Profiles
Instructions: Hello, Classmate! Our once-in-a-lifetime GOLDEN class reunion is coming soon, and your classmates hope to see you in August! Even if you aren't able to join us, please share below about your after-high school life (~350 words), favorite high school memory/ies, and include a current photo of just you, with your face and hair - or lack thereof. And although your contact information won't be visible on this website, your classmates can contact you via email by clicking on "send [name] a message" link at the bottom of each classmate's profile. Enjoy reading the profiles!
One classmate per profile. To change your profile click Log in. Username = your email.
Cindy jacobson (Rutter)
| Marital status: | Married |
|---|---|
| Children: | 4 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | After high school I didn't go to college but went into working world! I did get married in 1978 and have been for 45 yrs. My husband farmed and I was a stay-at-home mom to our 4 children 3 girls and 1 boy. I started working at Mary Greeley Medical Center when our oldest left for college and was there for 27 years and retired in 2021.We have been blessed with 12 grandchildren 7 boys and 5 girls, and all participate in all sports, so we are quite busy going to games in our area besides taking little trips to Missouri where four of them live and Minnesota where our oldest grandson played football at Bethel College but graduated this last December! Best highlight is being a grandparent and to love being retired! |
| Share a high school memory: | Mr. Page playing his instrument in class! I think it was a violin. All the boys sitting on rail by stairs! I was done with school in January which I kind of regret now but graduated with the class in May. |
Doug Johnson
| State / Province: | IL |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | Retired from City of Aurora,IL. |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | Married my high school sweetheart, Terri (Ellis) the summer of '76, and no, we didn't have to :-) Move to the metropolis of Slater and lived there for 10 years. Our two sons, Matt and Adam were born in 1978 and 1979. They each are now married and have given us four fantastic grandchildren! In 1977, Terri and I became born-again Christians and have volunteered at church and other organizations throughout the years. We moved to Illinois to the Chicago-land area in 1986 doing Carpentry work until 1988 when I worked for the City of Aurora in the Building/Permits Dept. until retirement in 2019. I am currently now on the Board of Directors for the National/International "Christian Motorcyclists Assoc." Terri and I love to ride our motorcycle and have traveled all over the country on two wheels. Last year, we fulfilled one of things on my bucket list, riding Route 66 from Chicago to California. We had a blast. I will not be able to attend the reunion as we will be up in South Dakota for the Sturgis bike rally (volunteering) and then heading to Minn. for another national Bike rally during this time. |
| Share a high school memory: | watching the scenery go by while setting on the "rail" |
Janet Johnson (Davison)
| State / Province: | WV |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 3 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | After graduation I attended ISU, graduating in Speech Communications. Then it was off to the Chicago area and graduate school, studying Slavic Studies and Bible and Theology. I was headed for the mission field. I did two short-term mission trips to Europe and was applying for full time service when I met my husband Rick Johnson. We headed to seminary in St. Paul to train. We weren’t there long when Rick felt called to small church ministry. So I never made it back to Eastern Europe, but we spent 30 years ministering to churches in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and West Virginia. I worked with the children in the churches writing Christmas programs, puppet shows, vacation Bible schools, and after-school programs. God blessed us with three beautiful children who all live in Iowa. |
| Share a high school memory: | My favorite memories from AHS are from the theater program. I loved working on the plays. The most memorable part of my senior year was when I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. My life has never been the same. |
Roger Jones
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 1 |
| Occupation: | Materials design and testing laboratory technician |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | Graduated from Iowa State and started working for the Iowa DOT in the Construction and Materials Bureau. Worked in several different areas of the bureau and have enjoyed it. Time flies and it has now been 45 years that I have worked here. As the saying goes "I've done my time" and I am now planning to retire this spring(2024). My wife Teresa and I have been married since 1983, and have one son, Todd. I have been a long time volunteer at the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad. It is a tourist railroad located in Boone, Iowa. I plan to continue with the railroad as long as I am able to. We have vacationed in Estes Park, Colorado for almost 25 years, and also the Brainerd lakes area of Minnesota. We also have a camper and enjoy going camping. |
John Kellogg
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Children: | 1 |
| Occupation: | Quality Control / Landscaping / Chef / Manager |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | I attended Iowa State for two years but realized I preferred hands-on work. My first job was working as a Manager of an Athletic Club where I coached individuals on their weight training. My next job I enjoyed learning about cooking and coordinating for large banquets at the Roland Buffet. This opportunity was one of the most important in my life because it’s where I met and married my wife. We had one child, Sean who is now 34. The family enjoyed many summers boating at Okoboji. I love the outdoors so I transitioned into a landscaping business for the next seven years. The following fourteen years I enjoyed working for the First Methodist Church. Then I had a great opportunity to became a Quality Control Technician for PURFOODS. That position gave me my first experiences with workers from other countries which opened my mind and heart to other cultures. My on-going job since 1990 is working for St. Paul Lutheran Church. |
Peter Kempthorne (Kempthorne)
| State / Province: | MA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 3 |
| Occupation: | Educator/Money Manager |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | Upon graduation from AHS, I enjoyed pursuing study of applied mathematics (Harvard BA, 1978), and statistics (Imperial College MSc 1979 and UC Berkeley Ph 1983). In 1979, I married a college classmate (Ev Cochrane was best man!) before heading out to Berkeley. My next life phase was in academics back in Massachusetts. I joined the statistics department at Harvard for three years and then the MIT Sloan School. While teaching and writing research papers my passion was working on statistics consulting projects. In 1992 I started Kempthorne Analytics, Inc. and left academics a few years later to focus on consulting full time. In 1995, a consulting project led to starting a hedge fund -- the start of my next phase as a professional investment manager. During this period, the first hedge fund led to a second. In 1989 the arrival of my wonderful daughter Lucien was a life highlight which continues to this day. After living in Salem, Massachusetts for 10 years, a divorce in 1999 was challenging but resulted in new life chapters. Since 1985 I played weekly in a tennis group, and in 2001 they set up a blind date where I met Catherine Bell. We married in 2002 and shared raising our daughters: Sarah, Amy and Lucien. We bought a house in historic Marblehead MA (built in 1710!). In 2006 my career as a professional investment manager evolved from hedge fund manager to registering as an investment adviser for retail clients. The adviser objective was offering to retail investors investment programs using advanced statistical/quantitative models for asset selection and portfolio management. Then, in 2010, I joined a European hedge fund as a senior portfolio manager and researcher. Catherine and I moved to Cyprus (an island country south of Turkey) and fell in love with the country and culture. After two years we returned to our permanent home in Marblehead. In 2013, I joined the MIT mathematics department to teach courses in financial mathematics and statistics. This work has been extremely stimulating and satisfying, while I maintain my registrations as an investment adviser. Since 2014, Catherine and I traveled to China (Beijing and Shanghai) nine times where I delivered one-month summer courses in mathematics and statistics. In 2019, we decided to downsize. After selling our Marblehead home we rented in Rockport Mass while looking for our next home. At the peak of Covid in June 2020 we moved to our "forever home" in Ipswich Mass. After living in a tight-knit historic district we now have a home built in 2007 on 1+ acre. We love the town and its beautiful beaches on Cape Ann. In 2018 we became grandparents and now have grandson Adrian (5 years old) and granddaughter Ava (4 years old). They bring joy everyday as they live minutes away with daughter Amy. I continue playing weekly in the same tennis group. I have fond memories of AHS: the tennis team at AHS (with Goga Bal), the music friends (Ruth Hollenbach, Kevin Frey) and best friend (Ev Cochrane). Looking forward to catching up with friends after 50 years! |
| Share a high school memory: | Playing on basketball team and then pep band; watching a VW bug be driven into the band room; school trip to France; all state orchestra and tennis team. |
Denise Kepley Wirth
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | The fastest 50 years ever! After attending business college in Omaha, I ended up back in Ames with my future husband. I spent four years at a travel agency, enjoying those perks! Remember the Peach Bowl? The last plane to take off was fogged in, that was the flight my family and friends were on. Thankfully they didn’t hold it against me. When I had my babies, I was a stay at home mom for another four years and then went to work at McFarland Clinic. After 33 years decided to retire early. We have been fortunate to be able to travel to Ireland, Spain and Europe twice and we spend a couple of weeks during the winter away from winter in Iowa. We have met a lot of wonderful people along the way. We are very fortunate our two boys, a fabulous daughter by marriage and three granddaughters (ages 11, 16 and 20) live in Ames. Looking forward to seeing everyone, it will be here before we know it. |
| Share a high school memory: | I’ll have to think on this….so I thought about this. What I remember is hanging out with a lot of great friends and having fun!! Hoping to see a few at our golden reunion!! |
Kristen King (Fawcett)
| State / Province: | PA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 1 |
| Occupation: | Retired Judicial Assistant to Hon. Sylvia H. Rambo, US District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | Attended Penn State University Married Randy S King in 1981 Welcomed the birth of Jordan Fawcett King in 1985 1983 to 2015 - worked for US District Court (Retired) Welcomed the birth of grandson Cayden Kennedy King in 2020 Welcomed the birth of granddaughter Brynley Anne King in 2023 Enjoy family, friends, reading, camping and travel, hiking, biking, kayaking, gardening, cooking, dogs, and almost all things outdoors. |
| Share a high school memory: | Too many great memories to pick just one. The friendships I made growing up in Ames, Iowa have nourished me the past 50 years and I am so grateful to have my roots in Ames, Iowa. It was an amazing time and place in which to grow! |
Kim Koppen (Eschbach)
| State / Province: | MT |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | Real Estate Broker |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | I actually graduated as a junior with my brother's class in 1973. As I recall, at least 15 of us graduated as juniors that year; (all from the class of 74)! I couldn't wait to start college that fall and enrolled in ISU, graduating in 1977. I was hired by Hach Company in Ames and transferred to Colorado the following year. My husband Bill and I moved to Montana in 1981 and have never left. We moved around every six months for several years working in Yellowstone Park in the summers and ski areas in the winter. I settled for a career in real estate after we finally settled down. After owning a real estate company in a small resort town, just south of Glacier Park for 25 years, last year I decided it was time to get out of the biz. I find it pure joy no longer being tied to my cell phone 24-7!! We just returned from a 7-week trip to New Zealand; a country I've wanted to visit since 3rd grade, when our Roosevelt gym teacher showed us a slide-show about the geysers and mountains in NZ. We spend the winters skiing in the Northern Rockies and started teaching our 4 grandkids to ski when they reach age two. We have another one on the way, so we have a lot of teaching ahead of us! The annual trip to the family cabin in Canada on Eagle Lake, is the highlight of our summers! We love meeting up with family and friends and getting to spend time together! Looking forward to retirement! How did we ever have time to work? |
| Share a high school memory: | My sophomore history teacher, (can't remember his name) made me realize how much I loved learning! Paul Sondrol and I took Spanish classes together in junior high and high school. He was Pablo and I was Rosa. We were always trying to figure out how to get out of class. It was a competition to see who got away with it. Ironically, we both ended up with degrees involving Spanish! The last time I saw Paul, the year before he passed, I called him "Pablo" and he called me "Rosa"... |
Jennifer Korb (Townsend)
| State / Province: | IN |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | Hi Friends! Has it really been 50 years? After graduating from Oklahoma State University I enjoyed careers in Shopping Center Marketing/Owning a Catering Business and Hospitality with the Indiana Historical Society.. Currently I live in Carmel Indiana with my husband of 40 years. We are blessed to have our daughter and her family live 10 minutes away. Our son and his family live in Chicago. I am Nana to three beautiful grand children. I love cooking, bible study and enjoy traveling as well as reading and bike riding. Unfortunately I can't be there for the reunion we will be in Greece celebrating our wedding anniversary. I wish you all the best!! Jennifer |
| Share a high school memory: | Slumber parties in my basement Fitting as many people as possible in my Volkswagen VW bug |