East High Class of 1962

Deanna Polad (Gill)

Then

Now

Birthday:January 31, 1944 City:Lehi State/Prov.:UT Occupation:Retired Marital Status:Married No. of Children:6

From Deanna:

After reading all of our classmates' successes, exotic travels, accomplishments, titles, talents, occupations, professional associations, educational achievements and community involvements, I have come to the conclusion that I am extraordinarily ordinary. I am so impressed with everyone. It just proves the greatness of EHS Class of '62!

I did not go to college, but I was hired as a legal secretary for an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Utah right out of high school, thanks to skills acquired at East High.

My high school sweetheart (Francis Gill, EHS Class of '60) and I married in 1964. I continued to work for the state for another year. My husband graduated from the U of U and taught junior high school science in Granite School District for thirty-one years and retired in 1999 with all of his mental faculties still intact.

During the years of child bearing and rearing, I was able to stay home with our children and worked at temporary office jobs when the need arose. We were blessed with six children, one of whom is deceased. We now have eleven grandchildren. What a joy our family has been for us. After our youngest child was in school, I went to work full time for a labor union as an administrative assistant for twenty-three years and retired in 2008. We lived in Salt Lake six years, Sandy nine years, South Jordan twenty-seven years and now in Lehi for the past six years.

My husband and I have served a thirty-month LDS Church service mission at the Family History Library in Salt Lake, and we just began another service mission at the Family History Training Center in Orem.

Life is good. We have good health with just a few minor maladies. All of our children live nearby, and we enjoy being with them.

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Elvona J Anderson (Goeckeritz)

Then

Now

City:Salt Lake City, UT State/Prov.:UT Occupation:Working part time for a financial planner Marital Status:Married No. of Children:5

From Elvona J :

I worked for a podiatrist for seven years, and have now worked for a financial planner for eleven. I only work on Fridays so I can take care of three of my grandchildren.

We have five children, three sons and two daughters, who all live here in Utah. Our two sons live across the street from us, so we see our grandchildren a lot. We have 13 grandsons and 4 granddaughters, and a great-grandson who will be one in February.

I am so glad my husband and I have had the opportunity to travel. We took our family to Germany when they were young when the Berlin Wall was still up. It was quite an experience for all of us. Raimund and I have gone five other times to Europe. The last time we spent time with his sister and her husband in Berlin, where they are serving a mission. We also have been on two cruises, which is my favorite. We went once to Alaska and once to the Panama Canal. Yellowstone and the sand dunes are another family favorite. We enjoy snowmobiling and 4-wheeling and try to have a lot of fun.

We have had some big trials also in our lives. Raimund was diagnosed with renal carcinoma in 2006, but he is a fighter. He has gone through chemo and radiation, and is still fighting. Keep us in your prayers. This has been one of the hardest things in my life—to see my sweetheart and companion go through this sickness. We will not give up. I am not shy like I was in high school, and I have learned a lot through these experiences.

My husband served as Bishop twice, and it was one of our joys in life to serve our Heavenly Father. He is also writing a book about his life to share his life in Germany, and what he went through growing up.

My thoughts for the future are that my husband and I have many more years together. I live one day at a time. I hope to see you at the reunion this year and will be looking forward to further information.

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Dennis N/A (Robinson)

Birthday:January 08, 1944 City:Montclair State/Prov.:CA Occupation:Psychologist Marital Status:Married

From Dennis:After EHS I went onto Univ. of Ut. for a B.S. and M.S., and I was active in Phi Sigma Kappa. I joined USAF and I was commissioned 03/1969 and served until 04/1974. I returned to Utah while applying to Grad. School. and was admitted to Univ. of Arizona, Dept of Rehab. (Rehab. Psychol. Program) receiving a Doctorate (EdD) in 1979. I married Sherry Lee Smith (Ph.D.) in 1978, and together we moved to Peterborough, Ontaria, Canada to work as a neuropsychologist, Dept. of Psychology, Peterborough Civic Hosptial from 1980 to 1984. We relocated to Pomona, CA. in 1984 where I worked as a Clinical Director at Casa Colina Rehab. Hospital in the Brain Injury Transitional Living Program until 1987. I then served as the Clinical Director for Hope Southwest Institute for Brain Injury in Phoenix, AZ. to 1989. Finally, I started private practice in Medical Psychology and Neuropsychology to the present.
Avocationally, I served two terms as president of The Pomona Valley Pilots Association and annually fly in the first airshow of the year in the U.S. (Cable Air Fair, Upland, CA.).

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Bonnie Bronson (Bryner)

Birthday:January 29, 1944 City:Salt Lake City, State/Prov.:UT Occupation:Homemaker Marital Status:Married No. of Children:5

From Bonnie:Life has been good to me! East High was the best school to graduate from, and you may have noticed, that many East High graduates marry each other.

I married Wally Bryner (one year ahead of me at East), graduated from the U of U in Psycology, and then stayed home to raise 5 wonderful children.

Wally was a Obstetrician Gynecologist at Bryner Clinic. He was a great doctor and my best friend. He is now retired and we get to tend grandchildren and bug our kids.

We had the privilege of living in Mongolia for 2 years when Wally was a Mission President for the LDS Church. Loved it there!

Some of the wonderful things that our kids are doing are:

*daughter-- became a nurse,
*husband-- owns his own furniture manufacturing business
*daughter-- creative sewer
*husband-- in Afganistan, fliesApache helicopters
*daughter-- well known YA author and received a Newbery Honor for one of her books.
*Husband-- Computer genius
*Son-- Partner in computer business
*wife--Fabulous artist

I can tell that I'm getting older and I want to be able to enjoy all life holds for me.

I hope we all will be strong and healthy for many years to come.

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David Clegg

Birthday:October 07, 1944 City:San Rafael State/Prov.:CA Occupation:Attorney/Real Estate Broker Marital Status:Married

From David:
Hi To Everyone

After leaving East High, I graduated from the U. of U. and then headed for San Francisco to work for Irving Lundborg & Co. - a stock brokerage - where I met my wife Diane. I then attended the University of San Diego School of Law, and practiced law in San Francisco. I am currently a real estate broker in Larkspur, Ca.

Diane works for Thomson Reuters in San Francisco. In 1973 we married and have lived in the same house for 37 years. We are both active in our Episcopal parish in Corte Madera. Diane is head of the Altar Guild and I have been Senior Warden and the Treasurer. I have traveled extensively and been to all the continents except Antartica. Most days I manage to either play racquetball or hike in our beautiful Marin hills.

Our avocation the past 20 has been working with service dogs for Canine Companions for Independence, a non-profit organization that provides highly trained assistant dogs to people with disabilities. For CCI we have fostered countless pups and dogs, raised 3 puppies, and whelped 10 litters of pups.

We currently have Pearlie (our retired breeder), Adriana (our active breeder), and Enid Rose who we raised but she didn't graduate. These 3 precious dogs are absolutely the light of our lives.

I remember my years at East High with fondness - we truly had a great class. I am looking forward to our Big 50th Reunion and reminiscing with my fellow classmates. My thanks to the members of the Reunion Committee for all their planning.

Cheers, David

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Pat Wilson (Banta)

Then

Now

Birthday:November 04, 1943 City:Salinas State/Prov.:CA Occupation:Retired Marital Status:Widowed No. of Children:2

From Pat:Oh my goodness - can I say “fifty”?? I was thinking that was my age, still! Reading through some of these wonderful stories made me procrastinate adding anything to the page.

I do look back to a wonderful childhood and fun high school experience - even though my greatest dream of making pep club never came true! A’Cappella was a rich and rewarding experience, though.

I’ve spent my married life in California, raising two kids and teaching math part time at the community college.

I’ve been fortunate to have been surrounded by good friends now that I am alone, and those adventures have taken me to Baha (petting baby whales), Hawaii, DC, with Prague and Budapest to come. Priority travel includes grandchildren in Texas and California whenever possible.

Life is good, and I’m looking forward to our reunion in September.

Thanks, committee, for all your work, and for a great website.

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Milt Thackeray

Now

Birthday:June 13, 1944 City:Holladay State/Prov.:UT Occupation:CPA Marital Status:Married No. of Children:7

From Milt:

Following graduation from East, I attended the University of Utah, graduating in 1968 with a B.S. in Accounting and in 1969 with a Masters of Business Administration. In between freshman year at the U and graduation, I served an LDS mission in the West German Mission. Upon returning from my mission, I married Sandy West (Olympus) who I had met in Freshman English at the U. She has been a great friend and companion to me and has played a large part in any success I have had. After graduating, I went to work for an international accounting firm and have had many challenging and interesting opportunities.

In the late 1970’s, we moved with our five children to Brussels, Belgium (Waterloo) where we spent three years. I had the opportunity of working throughout Europe as a European Liaison Partner for our firm and had some exciting adventures in countries like Iran, Greece, and Yugoslavia. We were able to travel extensively as a family and experience the beautiful sites and diverse culture that Europe has to offer.

One of the most memorable and joyous experiences we had while living in Belgium was that of adding another child to our family. Although I wouldn’t say that government-run healthcare would make our highlight list, at least mother and child survived the experience and are doing fine. After returning to the U.S., we completed our family adding another son to the five boys and daughter that we brought back with us.

During my 37 year career in public accounting, I have had many rewarding and challenging opportunities to serve in professional organizations. These provided opportunities to develop lasting relationships with people around the country and receive some professional recognition. Some of these include the following:
·         President, Utah Association of Certified Public Accountants
·         Chairman, Utah State Board of Accountancy
·         Chairman, State of Utah Legislative Compensation Committee
·         President, University of Utah School of Accounting Faculty Advisory Board
·         Member, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Governing Council
·         Utah representative to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy
·         Member, University of Utah School of Social Work Community Advisory Board
·         Treasurer, Eighth National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect
·         Outstanding CPA, Utah Association of Certified Public Accountants
·         Alumnus of the Year, University of Utah Beta Alpha Psi

As I have grown older, I have come to value family and friends and the relationships we have and recognize that being a friend, a mentor, and providing support is truly one of the most important things we can do. I still value the many friendships I made while at East High.

I found that I like to be busy, and went back to work after a couple of years in retirement. I am currently the CFO at Central Utah Water Conservancy District. Sandy and I enjoy spending time with our 7 children and 19 grandchildren and divide our time between Salt Lake, St. George, and traveling. I look forward to seeing all of you at the reunion.

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Verden Dent

Then

Now

Birthday:December 03, 1942 City:Oak City State/Prov.:UT Occupation:Retired Marital Status:Married No. of Children:7

From Verden:I returned from the mission field in Brazil, in June 1965 and married a hometown gal from Lewiston. We have seven wonderful children and have 15 grandchildren. We will be married 46 years in April.

I returned to California to court my wonderful wife and worked there and managed a 46 unit apt. complex. We moved back to Hurricane Utah and ran a boys home for a few years. Moved to Lewiston and worked at a cheese plant, USU, and had my own business for number of years. I finally went to work for Utah Power and worked for them in Kemmer, Wyoming, Hurricane, Utah, Mudlake, Idaho, and Delta, Utah, where I retired and then was called back on contract for a few more years.

We have a wonderfuli little place here in Oak City with a large garden, 30 fruit trees, cattle and chickens. I have done a lot of singing and solo work with my music over the years with my wife at the piano for me. I do not do much of that any more as my voice has started to become quite raspy as of late.

I have had many callings in the church. The most memorable was being the Young Mens Pres. in Hurricane and then in the Bishopric. For the last seven and half years my super companion,my wife have been working at the Manti Temple as ordinance workers and love every mintue we are there. This has been the most delightful and inspirational calling we both have had.

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Marilyn Murphy (Berwind)

Birthday:July 15, 1944 City:Belmont State/Prov.:NC Occupation:Retired Marital Status:Widowed No. of Children:1

From Marilyn:Life has certainly been an adventure since we all left East High back in 1962.

I moved east to Rochester, NY in 1964, and in 1965 I married the nicest man in the world, Chuck Berwind. He worked at Eastman Kodak and I at Xerox until we had a little girl, Julie, in 1972. I was a stay-at-home mom for a few years, then went back to school and on to work (at Kodak) in 1985.

Over the years we enjoyed raising Siberian Huskies. We had much fun showing them and also training them for dogsledding. We ran a team for years, enjoying the winter wonderland of upstate New York.

My husband passed away 17 years ago. Our daughter was in graduate school in NC and decided to settle down there (here!), so when it was time to retire, I moved to the Charlotte, NC area.

My working years were exciting, challenging, and fun. Xerox provided 7 years of busiess experience during its expansive growth years. My time at Kodak was in technical publications and marketing communications in the Printing & Publishing and Professional Photography Divisions. I got to travel, work at trade shows, support photographic workshops, and meet with some of the best photographers in the industry. What fun!

I've been blessed to have opportunities to feed my creative side by studying and teaching adult education classes in art and to work as a professional wedding photographer. I came late to quilting, and enjoy that creative outlet as well.

I'm so pleased to be living here in NC with mild winters (I still have one dog sled in my garage, but it never gets used any more!) and near my little family--my daughter, her husband who is from England, my 4-year old grandson, and a new baby expected to arrive in April.

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Annette Whitney (Wells)

Now

Birthday:August 13, 1944 City:Salem State/Prov.:UT Occupation:music teacher Website:www.gordonwells.net Marital Status:Married No. of Children:8

From Annette:

After we graduated from East High I attended the University of Utah, graduating with an Honors Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance.

I took a position at Madison High School in Rexburg, Idaho teaching choral music for one year and then moved to New York City, where I studied voice with Florence Barbour, a vocal coach at the Metropolitan opera.

During my second year in New York I met Gordon Wells and we were married in July of 1969. We lived in Salt Lake City where Gordon practiced law for about a year. We moved to Santa Barbara where he practiced for almost 8 years. He wrote his famous home gardening book, “Successful Home Gardening” in 1977.

Gordon and I moved our family to Vacaville California to attend UC-Davis and he completed a Master’s Degree in Plant Science in 1980. By that time we had 6 children.

We started practicing law again and Gordon's firm, Wells, Call, Clark, Bennett and Clawson, is still one of best civil practice firms in Solano County. In 2009 my husband wrote “Successful Home Gardening, Second Edition” and created a set of 6 DVD’s of his lectures which can be found atwww.gordonwells.net (cheaper) or at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

During our married life together we have raised eight children and now have 27 grandchildren. My life has revolved around the family but I have remained involved in music, especially choral music throughout the past 42 years. While living in Vacaville I was involved in establishing a yearly community Christmas performance of Handel's Messiah which still continues.

We moved to San Diego County for three years thinking of retiring there. We then moved to Salem, Utah (near Provo) where we have lived for 8 years to be near our three youngest daughters and their families.

For the past year we have been serving a proselyting mission for the LDS Church in Glendale, California. We have really enjoyed this opportunity to serve others.

After our mission we plan to build a home in Vacaville, where we lived for 25 years and raised our family, and stay near our oldest daughter for the rest of our lives. Gordon served for 9 years as a Stake President there and it feels the most like home to us.

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