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.
Paul Stone
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Divorced |
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | After graduating Ames High, I enrolled at the University of Northern Iowa with the intention of gaining a degree in teaching, with minors in Math and Physics. However, after three years, I became discouraged with my education classes and distracted by the new availability of a mini-computer on campus. Eventually, I spiraled into a depression that made attending classes impossible. I moved to Iowa City and worked at the University Hospital x-ray department for 1 ½ years before returning to school, getting my BS degree in Mathematics, with an emphasis in Computer Science in 1980. I moved to Des Moines and worked for Computer Data Services (CDS) as a statistical programmer and head of a small clerical department providing statistical reports to management. After 3 years I moved back to Ames to work for the DOT as a programmer/analyst. The new IBM PCs that we got to work with had links to the mainframe where the “real” number crunching happened, but they had individual hard drives with a whopping 10Mb of storage (30Mb if you qualified for the BIG drive). I was able to develop my programming skills in several different computer languages, as well as the statistical language (SAS) that I had learned it CDS. During my time living in Ames, I met my wife Keri Holmes, a divorced mother of two, majoring in Safety at Iowa State. We married and I adopted my daughter Cathryn and son Austin. When Keri graduated from ISU, she got a job with the Avery Dennison company in Northwest Indiana. I found a programming job with a small publishing company and we moved to Highland, Indiana. However, the publishing company didn’t really want an analyst and I quickly found a better job with Florsheim Shoes in downtown Chicago. This was a longer commute but more interesting work. Every family has challenges, and our daughter Cathryn was dealing with both bi-polar and borderline personality disorders. Eventually she was hospitalized and taken into state care. Most state systems are not set up for kids who still have involved parents, and so while we tried to keep up with Cathryn’s various placements, we were often left out of the loop. Keri was promoted to a district job and we moved further into Indiana to a small town South of Valparaiso, called Kouts. This allowed Keri to travel for 50 percent of her time and work from a home office when not on the road. She was ultimately working on a corporate level and traveled to England, South Africa, China, as well as around the United States. I eventually tired of the commute (½ hr drive, 1hr 40min train ride, ½ hr walk across the loop, and the reverse to return home each night). I took a job with a consulting firm that placed me with a company that tracked radiation exposure for everyone from dentist offices to nuclear plants. After doing well there for a couple of years, I was transferred to Inland Steel to help coordinate their complete system overhaul that they undertook in conjunction with readying their programs to be Y2K compliant. I worked for my consulting company at Inland Steel through the end of the project, and then was hired directly by the company to upgrade some of their payroll systems that collected multiple statistics on job performance and quality controls. Many of their union contracts used multiple measures across multiple processes to calculate bonus pay for various job types, and how these measures were used changed dramatically with each contract negotiation. I was part of a small team that customized the programs that collected the measures and calculated the bonus pay. It also collected parallel measures for contract negotiations down the line. When Austin was ready to graduate from High School, Keri wanted to retire from her corporate job and return to be close to family in Iowa. We moved to Winterset and I began work for Wells Fargo in Des Moines. We had remodeled the house in Kouts while we were there, so remodeling our 1908 bungalow in Winterset was worth doing as well. Unfortunately, I began having health issues that were compounded by my job at Wells Fargo being disappointingly unlike what it had been advertised to be (much more political than productive). I left that job and was unemployed for over a year as depression compounded my other health issues. I was eventually hired by Nationwide insurance, but I could no longer maintain the focus and concentration necessary to do the kind of analysis work I had previously done. Keri had a half-sister in Hampton, Iowa so we decided to move there and start a bookstore. I worked overnights for a youth home in Mason City while Keri ran the store. Austin got married and had 2 nieces and a nephew (from his wife’s sister) living with him to raise in Webster City. They had one daughter (Rhea) together. My increasing poor health eventually lead to the dissolution of my marriage. I worked at Hardee’s during the week and worked 10 hour shifts during weekends for a company that loaded inserts into newspapers. When I finally qualified for disability, I got the opportunity to move back here to Ames and am happily living in a condominium West of campus. I see Austin and Rhea regularly. I am also in touch with Cathryn’s oldest boy Alex, his partner Katie, and their boy Jerimiah, my great-grandson. Life is good and I am enjoying retirement. |
Dan Strodtman (Strodtman)
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 3 |
| Occupation: | retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | We have spent the last year getting used to being retired. Karen and I have been married for 46 years. We have three children and ten grandchildren. We still enjoy living in Ames unless we are at our lake home during the warm months. We love having more time to spend with family and travel some as time allows. In case anyone is not quite feeling our age my granddaughter is on the AHS winter sports cheer squad. They keep us pleasantly busy. |
| Share a high school memory: | I'm not sure these are the things our teachers would want us to remember from school. My most cherished memory is of all the life long friends I made in school. Especially the ones I made as a wrestler. Looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion. |
James Swan
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 8 |
| Occupation: | Costco |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | Hi everyone. Currently I live in West Des Moines. Work in the restaurant field brought me here over 35 years ago. My wife's name is Claudete and between us we have 7 daughters, one son, and 4 grandchildren. In the past I have had a few businesses and today have settled into something that keeps me physically and mentally sound......depending on who you talk to. I'm looking forward to meeting, sharing, and remembering what brings us together. |
| Share a high school memory: | I often wondered about my homeroom teacher Hank. He spent allot of time going into the boiler room to smoke. It seems he would always come out smiling and in a better mood. ?? |
Susan Taege (Trcka)
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 4 |
| Occupation: | retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | I graduated from Waldorf Junior College and then graduated from UNI with a degree in Elementary Education. I taught for 2 years then subbed for 2 years. I married Tim Taege in 1982 (we have been married for almost 43 years). We have 4 children, 3 girls and 1 boy. I did in-home day care until all of our children were in school, 14 years. After that I got a "real" job. I worked in the Shipping dept of Hach Company as an International packer, packing chemicals and instruments to be sent all over the world for testing water. After 15 years of working the graveyard shift, I moved to the day shift as an Admin for the Shipping Dept. I had a variety of responsibilities ranging from writing work instructions for multiple depts, ordering catering for special events, overseeing supplies for the Shipping dept, ordering clothing for the company and many other jobs. After 24 years I retired in Jan of 2023. We have 6 grandchildren, 4 girls and 2 boys and enjoy going to as many of their activities as I can. During retirement I meet with a group of women from my church every Thurs for breakfast, help distribute food bags through our church, and meet with a small group. I'm in also in charge of organizing a Dads/Kids event each year. |
| Share a high school memory: | I remember we had 2 big trips during our junior year, the UN trip and the Band trip to St Louis. Both were great trips taken on buses, we became experts at sleeping on buses, in the aisles, under the seats, and even a few people in the luggage racks above. |
Fazeela Thompson (Khan)
| State / Province: | CA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 3 |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | I married our classmate, John Walker in 1976 and we had one child, Jeremiah. We have two grandchildren, Isabelle, 11 and Elizabeth, 9. As you can imagine, they are a delight! John and I eventually divorced, and I stayed in California and later married my husband, Todd Thompson. Todd and I live in Oakland, the city across the bay from San Francisco, and have been married for 27 years now. I have two wonderful stepdaughters through Todd. I was a legal secretary for over twenty years for law firms in San Francisco before becoming a clerk in Marin County Superior Court, just north of San Francisco. I retired from court in 2013. I have always been interested in sewing and cooking, and after retirement, I had a chance to get serious about both. I sew bags and quilts in a dedicated sewing room in our house, and I am studying dress-making. I have also become a devoted cook, with an emphasis on Indian food ( surprise!). I also like Italian and French cooking. Over the years, Todd and I have enjoyed international travel. We particularly fell in love with Japan, where we have visited well over a dozen times. I even studied the Japanese language for a while. I feel lucky that I have had generally good health. |
| Share a high school memory: | The boys sitting on the rail. Hanging out in the unpaved parking lot. Viesha. I have always thought that the Class of 1974 was a very special class! Thanks to all involved in organizing this event. |
Senter Timmons
| State / Province: | WY |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 3 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | I graduated from Bemidji State University with a BS degree in Elementary Education where I met my future wife, Phyllis. I taught in Ames for one year as a Second Grade Teacher at Edwards Elementary School before moving to Green River, WY where Phyllis was a teacher. I taught 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades before receiving a Masters Degree in Educational Administration. I was an Associate Principal at Lincoln Middle School before becoming a Principal of Roosevelt Elementary School and Thoman Elementary School at Thoman Ranch. While Roosevelt Elementary had 225 students and 28 staff, Thoman had only 3 students with a full-time teacher who had her own housing provided by the school district on the ranch. Phyllis and I were married in Minnesota in July of 1981. We have three adopted children and two grandchildren. We became foster parents and had 23 children during our 3 1/2 years of this community service. I retired in 2017 after 38 years in education and Phyllis retired in 2019 after teaching for 40 years. We moved to Star Valley Wyoming, surrounded by mountains and 55 miles southwest of Jackson Hole. Phyll enjoys reading, gardening, camping and hanging out with her girlfriends. I stay busy with driving for Meals on Wheels, golfing, barefoot water skiing, camping, hunting and fly fishing. We both belong to a motorcycle ministry called Bikers For Christ where I am Chapter Elder, Wyoming State Elder as well as the Idaho State Elder. We also enjoy getting together every summer with fifty other people for a week trip with our Can Am Maverick Trail group where we ride side-by-sides on 50” trails. We have a Scottish Terrier named Morie. |
Penny Tolle (Martin)
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 4 |
| Occupation: | Retired Caretaker |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | After graduating from Ames High, I had my son Johnny in 1976. I married his father, but the marriage didn't last. After that, I married my true love, John Tolle - twice! We have been married 47 years all told. John and I had two daughters, June (born in 1979), and Jonie (1980). We also have my two stepdaughters from John' previous marriage. We have 12 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren! Our kids now live in Nebraska, Missouri, Nevada (Iowa), and Ames. My life's work has been about caring for children and the disabled. I have worked in a few day care centers, and at Community Life, a home for the disabled. At Community Life, I helped the residents with basic needs, even just helping them calm down. I eventually stopped working outside of our home to be a full-time grandmother. My passion is caring for little kids, and our home is always open to our children, grandchildren, and great-grands, whether after school, providing a meal, overnight, or even living with us temporarily. We raised one of our granddaughters. I have always looked after our grandchildren and great-grandchildren so their parents can work. These kids can drive me crazy, but John and I love them! We even have a swimming pool in the summer, and a trampoline, so neighborhood kids can also have a place to play. John worked as a sanitation engineer for 36 years, beginning with Freel, which was bought out and eventually became Waste Management. He is now retired. In 1993, we lived in a mobile home park when we had the big flood. We lost our home, and I helped to rescue a neighbor lady who would not evacuate with the police; I had to convince her. It was a miracle that no lives were lost in the park. At the time, my mother was managing the Ames Motor Lodge (one of the oldest motels in Ames), and she took us in for nine months. So my family as well as two children from the mobile home park whose parents were unfit for parenting, plus two cats and a dog, stayed in a one-bedroom unit with a living room and “closet kitchen”. It was cozy! John and I are grounded by our Christian faith; I read daily devotions and help the little ones say nightly prayers. |
| Share a high school memory: | Paula Allison and I were smoking in a downstairs bathroom. Before I lit up, the “warden” (I can't remember her name) came in and said, “Put that down!” So I did. Then she picked it up and smoked it! I was SO mad! (I'm happy to report that I quit smoking a year ago - after all these years! It wasn't easy!) I remember some of us used to remove hinges, screws, nuts & bolts around the high school. (Others were involved in those pranks – you know who you are!) If any of these items were found in your locker, you got kicked out of school. Another memory is when Ellen Wessel drew a mustache on a framed photo of someone famous (like a U.S. President) that was hanging in the school library. The administration was furious, and they never found out who did it. Only a very few of us knew about it. And now you all know, too, haha! |
Susan Traynor (Overturf)
| State / Province: | CA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 0 |
| Occupation: | Executive Administrator Retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | Sadly, Susan passed away on June 10, 2024 in California. Susan wrote this bio on March 20 2024 --- After my junior year at ISU, I decided to venture out of Ames. I lived in Vail, San Francisco, NYC and Kansas City. Loved it. So many friends and family visit when you live in such cool places. My Dad laughed as he said “you’ve really messed up my address book”.’ I’ve lived in Campbell, CA (near San Jose) for 35 years. I found my niche as an executive administrator for semi conductor companies. Very challenging and very rewarding. My husband and I are retired. It’s amazing how busy you can be retired. We have done a lot of US road trips, Hawaii, Mexico and Europe. We still talk of those adventures. We love watching sports and are huge Bay Area fans and of Brock Purdy of course. |
| Share a high school memory: | I have Such wonderful memories at Ames High! I loved Spanish class with Mrs. Michelson. Dance with Mrs. Jacobson was amazing. The Ki ya Luah campfire girls, such an outstanding group of girls along with Ellen Landon and Peg Stoll our enthusiastic leaders. We even learned bridge as a group, a game I still love and play. I will always remember the many friendships and fun times. |
Carla Troxel (Tesdall)
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 4 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | Worked,worked and worked some more. Had 4 children. Managed to stay married for 50 years now. Retired ,not doing much these days . |
| Share a high school memory: | Enjoyed the fine arts wing. Had many classes there. Art, drama. Was in a few plays , enjoyed that. |
Nadia Vandergaast
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Single |
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | Retired Veterinarian |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | In a nutshell: I have been a working veterinarian in Iowa City, Iowa for the past ~30 years. (Veterinary class of 1989, Iowa State University). Before this career I traveled, worked at different jobs, saw many parts of this country. After all of that, I was grateful for the chance to fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian and in my long career I have only worked in two clinics; West Branch, Iowa (close to Iowa City which was the only city I would move to willingly) and was there for seven years. The second clinic was the one my (former) husband and I opened in the spring of 1997, in Iowa City proper. Our patients were dogs, cats, and warm-blooded pocket pets. (pocket pets fit in the pocket of your lab coat). We also added three sons and their activities to the mix. We were very busy but also very happy! We closed the practice in July of 2017. Family problems and my father, who was recovering from his second stroke; my family of origin needed as much help as possible, so I went back to Ames. I did some work as a relief veterinarian in the Iowa City area for a short period of time, but it didn't suit my skill set and subsequently I decided to no longer offer that service. As of this time I’m a “retired” veterinarian. (I honestly never thought I would “retire”.) Our sons are grown now and headed to their own adventures and lives. (I even have a first grandson!) I will have plenty of reasons to travel (I still live in Iowa City) to see them. I am looking forward to that. :) |
| Share a high school memory: | I have many Ames High memories; marching band, concert band, theatre (mostly behind the scenes), and the library (of course), drivers ed - and now we have to pay for that privilege and it isn’t inexpensive! I remember trying to learn how to “ski” with those fake cardboard skis down a modest slope; I never did learn how to downhill ski, but I love to cross country ski. I feel that our time at Ames High was wonderful and helped shape the people we have become. I can't wait to see everyone in August; it will be great to catch up and share stories. Click here for AHS 1974 Senior portraits page 200 and page 201 Spirit Yearbook: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahs/53557851141/in/album-72177720303719226/ |