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.
Rosemary Vansice (Vansice)
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Children: | 3 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | After graduating I worked in downtown Ames at The Grove restaurant through 1975. In 1976 I had a memorable two-week trip to the wilderness of Manitoba Canada where I saw many bears and wolves. In 1979 I moved to Marshalltown and have lived there since. Marshalltown had a major blizzard in 1980; a photo of me and my then 6 year old son shoveling a snowdrift was published in the newspaper. I have three children. Jeremiah, born 1975, is the oldest and lives in Des Moines. Mary is the middle child and lives in N. Carolina. Chad, born 1985, is the youngest and lives in Central Platte, NE. While living in Marshalltown, I have worked at Perkins, Party Pack (popcorn), and in a workshop for disabled. I have had a very exciting life. The photo above was taken in 2000. |
| Share a high school memory: | In highschool I had a job working in the AHS cafeteria kitchen. I was washing pots and pans one day and ran my finger under the sharp metal counter. I still have that scar! l was shy in high school, and didn’t talk much. I do remember my math teacher Mr Impecoven, and also Mr Duea ! I remember my commute to AHS. I got up very early every morning because I took the bus to Zearing and then got a ride from Nevada to Ames. It took me an hour to get to school every day! |
Janet Vidnovic (Brown)
| State / Province: | TN |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | Investment manager |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | Growing up in a college town like Ames was great. I remember walking to school (Crawford and Welch) uphill both ways, the bitter cold of winter and detasseling corn in the heat/humidity of summer. I enjoyed Orchestra, Drama and Newspaper activities, Girl Scouts and CUMC youth group. After graduation in 1974, I only came home to Ames for visits. Since my mother’s passing in 2017, I haven’t returned. After college (Rice) and MBA school (Carnegie-Mellon), I married and settled in Pittsburgh working as investment manager for a wealthy family for 30+ years. In 2008, I started Hill Place Advisors to manage portfolios for additional clients. Nick and I raised two children, a son (39) who lives in Boston and a daughter (35) in Nashville. In 2010, we left Pittsburgh for a small town of 15,000 in the mountains of NE Arizona. We loved living in Payson which is located at 5,000 feet altitude surrounded by the Gila National Forest. Payson has ponderosa forests, over 300 days of sunshine, cool nights, hiking and golf. But when the grandbabies (five ages 3-7) started arriving, Arizona was too far away. We moved again and built a home on 100 acres north of Nashville in 2019. Beyond family, my proudest accomplishment has been as a founder/treasurer of the Aspire Arizona Foundation in Payson www.aspirearizona.com Our original mission was to build a college campus in Payson. (Who doesn’t want to live in a college town?) Although we were successful securing the campus site, a partnership with a university never materialized. AAF pivoted and now focuses on providing access and support for college education to rural high school students. We pay for dual credit courses which allows PHS students to take college level courses and receive both high school and college credit. So far, we have raised more than $600,000 for over 560 Payson students who have earned almost 7,000 college credits! |
| Share a high school memory: | High School memory: I moved from Pittsburgh to Ames twice, in fourth grade and again as a Senior. My Junior year at Penn Hills high school was like being an exchange student. An opinionated Iowa “farm” girl, without an ethnic last name, was quite a novelty. My Chemistry teacher was the basketball coach, and my “research project” examined the chemical ingredients of Mountain Dew and how they could produce a State BB championship. With evidence from AHS reported by the Ames Tribune, I earned an A! |
Allen Wagner
| State / Province: | AZ |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Divorced |
| Children: | 0 |
| Occupation: | Retired Pipefitter |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | I was in the T&I (Trade and Industrial) Program in High School, Thanks to Don Faas, Jerry Swenson, and Paul Olson, I made it out of High School. Worked at Barbers Metal Fab before enlisting in the Air Force. Stationed at Mrytle Beach, S.C. learned to weld some exotic metals in GA and got to weld on the #6 Thunderbirds. Left the Air Force and worked at General Filter in Ames. I was married in 78 and moved to Phoenix AZ. Divorced in 91. Joined local 469 (Pipefitters) and went through Apprenticeship while working at Palo Verde Nuclear Plant for 7 years. Then I worked locally at Intel and Motorola. Then started traveling for work pipefitting at Lockheed Missiles and several refineries in CA, Las Vegas NV, Tehachapi CA, Moses Lake WA, Salt Lake City UT. My last job was in Malta NY a micro chip Plant I do frequent road trips around the states and need to do my 5th to Australia. Medical issues let me retired in Forest Lakes AZ, 7700 elevation |
| Share a high school memory: | I was involved in the T&I trip to Kansas City. Very informative adventure. |
Cheryl Wall (Provow)
| State / Province: | OH |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 1 |
| Occupation: | Retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | Retired now after many years of rewarding work as a nurse ending up as a family nurse practitioner doing neuromuscular medical research at the Ohio State University. Now enjoying traveling with my husband Steve and hobbies of birding and wildlife rehab. |
| Share a high school memory: | I adored Al Wiser, the music director of choir and two musicals, Guys & Dolls, and Pirates of Penzance. As I recall he used to be a radio personality in Chicago where he would start his on air segment with, "It's a beautiful day in Chicago and I hope it's beautiful wherever you are!" |
Linda Welch
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Single |
| Children: | 0 |
| Occupation: | Artist |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | The better part of the last 50 years, was spent living and working on the West Coast, from Long Beach California to Portland Oregon. I spent as much time as I could exploring the beauty each state had to offer and was even able to make several trips to Europe. Along the journey, I received a BFA in Ceramics from Long Beach State and an MFA in Textile Design from UC Davis. Throughout, the pursuit of artistic expression was and still is my primary focus. Coming full circle, I moved back to Ames with my four rescue cats, to provide the support and care in family matters here. |
| Share a high school memory: | The most memorable experiences come from being involved with the fine art department; the arts, choir and theater departments. An inspiring group of students and teachers. |
Robert Welshons
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 1 |
| Occupation: | physician assistant, retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | In the 80’s, I started teaching English at multiple community colleges in the Seattle area and a university across the mountains on the dry side of the state. I remember a professor/friend bitterly complaining once that the elevator “is the only thing in this building with a mind of its own,” which always stuck with me, because it was true there and has been true of every elevator I’ve ever used since. I met my wife in Seattle when I gave her sister, a fellow student in a writing class, a couple grocery bags of vegetables from a stupidly oversized garden I tended with a house-mate (could’ve fed a family of six) and she set us up on a blind date. That, I have to say, was a pretty good garden. In the later-90’s, I abandoned education for medicine, graduated from the physician assistant program at Wichita State, and enlisted in the war against morbidity and mortality (which we’re losing). I took a job in Iowa so our son, born in Eastern Washington, would see his grandparents and his Midwest cousins for more than a vacation-at-a-time, and by pure chance we landed in Cedar Falls. I spent most of my time with a family practice residency training program where I followed my own patients over the long-haul and spent parts of the week taking everything and anything that walked in off the street. Or put another way: scheduled chaos followed by crazier, unscheduled chaos. And it’s true, people will dutifully work all day and about 4:30 decide maybe they should see their doctor about that chest pain they’ve had since breakfast. It happened more than once. Our son did what many Iowans do, had a great childhood, got a good education, and went straight back to Washington state where he works as a flight instructor in a town north of Seattle. Somewhere along the way we decided he needed to grow up with a dog in the house, and we adopted our first of several rescue dogs. One needed the most expensive dog food you ever saw (to avoid a gut problem that made any cost a really good deal). Another had to take Prozac for a raging case of separation anxiety. It worked great, which was good, because otherwise I was going to start taking it. One of us had to chill. And after living with a couple of cats, I’m pretty sure that dogs go to Heaven and cats do not. Sorry, but I don’t make the rules. This seems to hold true for every dog (and cat) I’ve ever met except our current one, who is making us pay through the nose for deciding to buy a dog instead of rescuing one. No way is he going to Heaven unless we can get him turned around. But his heart is good, even if his brain is decidedly not. I have hope. I worked through the worst of Covid and retired 18 months ago. We’re still figuring out what retirement might look like, and we still need to go through the house and throw away at least half of what we own. |
Chris Wheatley (Wheatley)
| State / Province: | MN |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 3 |
| Occupation: | research technologist |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | Hello AHS Class of 1974 It is true that time seems to go faster the older we get! I graduated from Luther College in 1978 with a major in biology. I started working at Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN in the fall of 1978 in a research lab and I am still working in research at Mayo Clinic. I have worked in different research areas studying normal and disease cellular processes. I have also enjoyed working with people from many different countries. The research lab that I worked in the longest was referred to as the UN (United Nations) by friends and co-workers. I have been married to Jeff for 45 years. We have 3 married children and 3 grandchildren. Our youngest daughter and her family live in Minnesota but the other 2 live “out west”. We spend our free time having fun with grandchildren, enjoying the outdoors and we always are working on a house project. I will miss our 50th reunion because we already had a trip planned to Alaska but I’m sure everyone attending will have a great time. |
| Share a high school memory: | Dance with Mrs. Jacobson. Project ECO and science classes with Jerry Dunn, Roger Spratt and Ken Frazier |
Elaine Whiteford (Homer)
| State / Province: | WA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Widowed |
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | retired |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | The highlights of my life would have to be the birth of my two children, John now 44 and Rachel 37. John is married with 3 children, Eli in his first year of university, Kalia in year 11 with nursing studies and Sufjan in year 8. John is working for the Australian Defense Force and lives only 5 minutes from my house. He's a good son who helps his mother when needed. Rachel has 2 boys, is a single mother and a school teacher living about an hour away from me. Jaxon is 12 and now in year 7 which is high school here. Tyson is in year 2 and learning to read. Rachel gave birth to a little girl in 2015 but unfortunately Amity Kayla didn't survive. Rachel is a great daughter now that she's not a teenager. Geoff said she caused all his grey hairs. Rachel often rings me up to see what I'm doing and checks up on me. I was a single parent raising two children most of the time. The other great thing in my life was moving to Australia and meeting my husband Geoff who was the love of my life and soul mate. We married in 2002 because I was reluctant to try getting married again. We joked it was the wedding cake that ruined marriages. Many of you had the chance to meet Geoff on our trips back and he even came to a reunion with me. He was also known as "The Roo shooter". Geoff had a wicked sense of humor and told mostly inappropriate jokes and he knew a lot of them. Geoff and I owned a mechanical workshop for many years and then decided to close it and work for a farmer. I was very isolated in a very small town with only 5 houses so after 3 1/2 years we moved to Moora where Geoff worked for New Holland farming equipment and I worked at the local hardware store and then left to work for a car dealer. We lived 3 hours away from our grandchildren which really upset me so in 2008 we both got a job for a mining company and moved to Boddington staying there for 8 years. During our time in Boddington Geoff found out he had prostate cancer and started treatment. Our boss was amazing and held his job and also hired people to do our jobs during treatments. The staff and mining company also did a fundraiser for us and raised $3,500 which our boss matched so we could have a good Christmas. When we found out there was no further treatment we decided to build a house in Byford. Geoff never saw the house finished and passed in November 2016. Many of you watched his funeral online. Geoff was not only the love of my life but was loved by all my friends and family all over the world. Just so you know the feelings were mutual as Geoff loved you all too. We came back to the states in 2016 so that Geoff could see everyone for the last time to say goodbye. Many of you came to Ed's house to see us which was amazing. When we took trips back to Iowa we tried to add a little holiday for the two of us. We went to Hawaii and enjoyed all the islands. We did a Western Splendor tour to the Grand Canyon. Arizona, Utah and California. We even hopped on the train and went to Mexico. I wanted them to try a Margarita but none of them drank so I had to drink all four of them. We caught the last train back and found no taxis that late at night as they told us would be at the mall. We had just enough money to call the hotel to get one sent. They didn't have a phone book because the homeless people would use it for toilet paper. A security man told us someone had been murdered there the week before and it was a dangerous place. We always had so much fun together. I moved to Australia in 1992 because of the family drama which followed me into adulthood to give myself a better life with my 2 children which has been the best decision I made for us. I'm now retired living in the home Geoff and I built and loving being surrounded with memories of him choosing things for our house. I spend my time helping elderly people as a volunteer to do their shopping and taking them to the doctor and manage medication. I'm an unpaid Carer essentially but I find it very rewarding as it gets me out of my own head. God has brought me to a lovely church family in Byford that have been a great comfort. I joined a bible study group and I enjoy learning more about the bible. I am so thankful for the love and support from Byford Baptist Church and the Lord walking with me. I was even baptized with a full body dunking. I have worked in many different industries such as banks, hospitals, retail, mining, agriculture, car dealers, hardware, pharmacy, country club and food. My biggest accomplishment was when I worked for Younkers as an assistant to the buyer of high fashion clothes where I tracked the designer wear at the stores for customers. I was then transferred to Ankeny in the warehouse where I became responsible for the international products. There I set up a system to pay the invoices saving Younkers thousands of dollars. My supervisor then announced she had put my name into the Assistant Buyers Program and I was accepted. The policy at Younkers was you had to be a college graduate to get in, which I didn't have. I was the first and only one to be accepted. I worked in the handbags then transferred to the Crystal and Silver depart where I finished when I moved to Australia. During my whole career I talked my way into jobs as I was confident I could learn the equipment and the procedures. That attitude got me a long way and in many different industries. I was a children's bowling instructor in Ames for several years and I've been a baseball coach for my kids. I lived in Huxley for 10 years and was very involved with the church being in the choir and teaching Sunday school. I loved to sing but stopped when I got to Australia as my asthma was an issue and so were my nerves. It's a well kept secret so I'm never asked. I am in contact with many of our classmates which I cherish. I even made friends with classmates I didn't know in school. It's been wonderful having Facebook to keep in touch with everyone. For the first time I could walk into the reunion feeling like I was meeting with friends. Great news I will be coming to the reunion thanks to some lovely friends and family. I’m so excited to be there with everyone! See you in August everyone!! Stay well everyone and if you're in my country near Perth in the west please let me know as I have plenty of spare room for your stay and would love to be your tour guide. Kim Marples came down in 2016 just after Geoff passed away and was at his funeral. The following week we did a week of touring around, so ask her how much she enjoyed the scenery. Please keep in touch and enjoy your time together. |
| Share a high school memory: | I took one day of Spanish and then changed to typing which was a good decision setting me up for my career in office work. I was accepted into the Cedar Rapids Hair Styling Academy so I graduated early in January. Unfortunately I decided to get married and never attended the academy. I tell people I'm a wannabe hairdresser. I really enjoyed music and dance. Modern dance and drill team was my favorite. I did really well in Math and English. Wasn't great at art but I've learned a few tricks now and enjoy some card making and folk art painting. I was very shy in school and found it difficult. I don't have much memory of school as I was busy surviving life. I do remember each morning going to the lunch room and meeting up with friends before school which was the highlight of my day. I had good friends that I still talk with today. Please keep in touch and enjoy our time together. I will be thinking of you. |
Greg Wierson
| State / Province: | IA |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Single again |
| Children: | 6 |
| Occupation: | Retired Marine |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | The first year after graduating from Ames High, I worked in landscaping and construction. In 1975, I married our classmate Karen Johnson (my first marriage). The same year, I joined the Marine Corps. I was stationed in Okinawa (Japan), the Philippines, Korea, Sydney (Australia), and for 2-1/2 years we lived at Camp Lejeune (yes, the one that had contaminated water). While there, I caught sea duty for cold weather training. We went to the Shetland Islands and Edinborough (Scotland), Copenhagen (Denmark), Stockholm (Sweden), and Amsterdam (the Netherlands). After returning to Camp Lejeune, I wrestled and won the all-Marine Corps wrestling competition in 1979. I was sent to Quantico (Virginia) to train for the Olympics; all branches of the military were training for the Olympics then. During that time, I was at the end of my service. They wanted me to re-enlist but we decided to leave and move our family to Iowa. It's okay that I didn't pursue the training because the U.S. withdrew from the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. I was honorably discharged from the Marines in 1979. For the following 20 years I was in beer distribution and a part owner/bartender at a pub in Fort Dodge. Karen and I divorced, and I moved back to Ames to help take care of my dad when he was sick. I worked retail in the night shift and my mom worked the day shift so one of us could always be there to help him. He passed away in 1997. I was single for nine years, and then remarried. I am single again; and have been for 22 years. I have six children and 14 grandchildren. My youngest is 25 and still lives with me, so I still feel like I still have parental responsibilities. I worked at Lincoln Energy ethanol plant doing heavy work for 12 years. Then due to medical issues, they sent me out on disability when I was 59. I didn't want to leave work because I liked working, but I had visual and physical problems that disqualified me for the job. Several years ago, I started going to AA. (I'm a friend of Bill, for those of you who know what that means.) I still go once in a while when someone wants to go to a meeting. I spent a lot of time with our classmate Kirk Farrar when he became ill with Parkinson's. We had been friends in high school, but the time I spent with him in his last years was good quality time. I sat with him at Israel Hospice House the night he died. The nurse told me to talk to him even though he wasn't responsive, so I told him about our 45 year class reunion - who looked good at our age, and who didn't look so good. (Sorry about that, but it gave me something to talk about.) My life today: I'm in good shape; I go walking outside, and I go to the gym regularly. (My photo was taken in 2021 when I visited Ames History Museum.) |
| Share a high school memory: | I remember all the great classmates we had. A group of us often had steak-o-ramas at Inis Grove park. Beckley, Strodtman, Orngard, Newton, Pohm, Finnegan, Steve Clark, McRoberts, Coyle, and Farrar. (If I forgot anybody, sorry about that.) Anywhere from two of us to all of us showed up. Sometimes in the early morning, or nights and weekends. I had a lot of fun in those days. |
Paul Wilcox
| State / Province: | MN |
|---|---|
| Marital status: | Married |
| Children: | 2 |
| Occupation: | United Methodist pastor |
| Highlights of your last 50 years: | I attended Cornell college where I met my wife, Gayle, and completed ABA in philosophy and Greek. I attended seminary at SMU in Dallas Texas. I served parishes in Springville, Newton, Harlan, Charles City, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After 37 years as a parish pastor, I was asked by the bishop to join her cabinet and became a district superintendent. We retired in 2021 and moved to Minnesota to be closer to my two adorable granddaughters. We have two children, Nathan Wilcox, who is an architect in Austin, Texas. My daughter, Emily Wilcox Freeburg is married to Eric and is mother to Ellie and Hana Wilcox Freeburg. Besides lots of fun grandparenting, I’ve been enjoying woodworking, wood splitting, biking, kayaking, basement remodeling, and mini Cooper repair! I am looking forward to my third ride across Iowa this coming summer during Ragbrai. We stay active at church, singing in the choir, of course. I also serve as an election official and am releaved not to have to do it in a purple state! |
| Share a high school memory: | My family moved from Ames in 1972, so my memories are limited to just one year at Ames high as a sniveling underclassmen. I do remember wrestling for a place on the junior varsity team. I was so exhausted from challenging the other guys in my weight class, that by Saturday, I was exhausted for the meet. I was doomed before ever set foot on the mat! But the humbling experience moved me to leave wrestling behind and embrace basketball (when I was 30) and joyfully played until I was 60 years old. My favorite memory was the mistletoe dance, which was unforgettable! My best remembrance from classes at Ames. High wasthe honors history class. I can’t remember the name of the teacher, but he was fantastic!! He set my heart and mind on fire for history for the rest of my life. |