Notes from the Class of 1964

The National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver honored Lynne Vincent Cheney (MEngl’64), wife of former vice president Dick Cheney, as the 2012 Citizen of the West. She was recognized at the stock show’s signature dinner on Jan. 9. Lynne is the author of Blue Skies, No Fences (Threshold Editions), which is about growing up in the West. She lives in McLean, Va.

The nonprofit Home Builders Institute appointed John Courson* (Fin’64) president and chief executive officer. He formerly served as president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, was chairman of the California Housing Finance Agency under former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger from 2004-08 and participated in international housing initiatives led by the White House and the U.S. Treasury Department.

*Lifetime member

Author John Greenwood (A&S’64) wrote the book Passing the Test: Combat in Korea, April-June 1951 (University Press of Kentucky). It emphasizes the tactical operations on the front lines while examining U.S. and United Nations strategy and the operations of the Communist Chinese and North Korean forces. John lives in Annandale, Va.

The Predator Ridge exhibit at the Denver Zoo was dedicated to CU President Bruce Benson* (Geol’64, HonDocSci’04) in May. He chaired the zoo’s board during three of its most active years, which included a capital campaign to build more exhibits. The ceremony was attended by about 200 guests, including his wife, three children and 10 grandchildren. The $27 million exhibit is called Bruce D. Benson Predator Ridge.

*Directors Club member

For the past 20 years Boulder resident Dave Carlson (PolSci’64, MA’69) has been a staff member of the Boulder County food bank, Community Food Share, where he is in charge of its various garden projects and fruit orchards. A consulting arborist, he has his own company, Carlson Tree. Dave writes he looks forward to a trek to Nepal in the spring with Friends of Nepal, a returned Peace Corps volunteer group.

A lawyer in Steamboat Springs, Colo., John Grassby (Phil, PolSci’64) practices law of business formation and capitalization, commercial transactions, oil and gas and commercial real estate. John taught U.S.-Mexico relations at CU Denver in the ‘90s and wrote many columns on related subjects. His first novel, Calcutta Sunrise (Nebbadoon Press), was published in June, and he expects the sequel, Mexico Sunrise, to be released in 2013.

He has worked for large corporations, run his own businesses and taught business law at Southern Oregon University, yet Dennis Powers (A&S’64) writes his prime interest is writing books. He has written help books, legal books, maritime books, fiction and nonfiction. Dennis’ last two books published are e-books: A World Within Worlds and The Deadly Seas. Dennis lives in Ashland, Ore.

A lawyer in Steamboat Springs, Colo., John Grassby (Phil, PolSci’64) has a focus on corporate and international law. John taught U.S.-Mexico relations at CU Denver in the ’90s and wrote many columns on related subjects. His first novel, Calcutta Sunrise (Nebbadoon Press), was published in June and was submitted to the Annual Awards Program of the “Colorado Humanities Center for the Book.” The novel follows a freighter during India’s independence from England in 1947 and partition into India and Pakistan.

Couple Arlan Gadeken (EngrPhys’64) and Mary Stevens Gadeken (Edu’64) returned from a two-week Rotaplast Mission to Karikal, India. Rotaplast is a Rotary International organization with the goal of “saving smiles and changing lives.” They were among eight volunteers who assisted 15 medical personnel in performing 67 free cleft palate, lip revision and burn release surgeries. Arlan sterilized instruments while Mary assisted the post-anesthesia care nurses working with patients and parents. The Gadekens are retired and live in Kennewick, Wash.

Marty Coffin Evans* (Engl’64) stays active in the CU-Boulder community. She does freelance writing for the Coloradan magazine, covering alumni across the country. She also serves on the College of Music Advisory Board. She and husband Robert Trembly II (Fin’70) live in Boulder.

*Directors Club member

Jeannie Doepper Thompson* (Zool’64) and Jack Thompson* (Hist’64, MA’70) built $1.6 million in combined gifts to trigger a new $2 million jazz studies program endowment in March. To recognize and honor them the program will be renamed the Thompson Jazz Studies Program. The couple serves as Boulder campus chairs of the CU Creating Futures fundraising campaign. Jeannie also serves on the College of Music Advisory Board and as an ex-officio member of the Alumni Association board, offering insight and guidance. The couple lives in Boulder.

*Lifetime and Directors Club member

Lawyer and political cartoonist Carlton Stoiber (A&S’64, Law’69) consults on international and nuclear law from Washington, D.C., where he and his wife Susanne Alexander Stoiber (A&S’65, MPubAd’67) have lived since graduating from CU. In the spring they rafted and hiked the Grand Canyon with the Colorado Mountain Club. Carlton is chair of the Nuclear Security Working Group of the International Nuclear Law Association. He has been a political cartoonist since 2006 and his cartoons have been published by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine. He is editorial cartoonist for 1540 Compass, the web magazine of the United Nations Security Council Committee that implements UNSC Resolution 1540 on weapons of mass destruction.

Jay Jacobs (A&S’64) published The Widow Wave, a nonfiction courtroom drama. The book attempts to address many questions non-lawyers have about the justice system by telling the story of a high-profile case Jay was involved in as a young trial lawyer. He thinks of his days at CU fondly, calling them “some of the happiest of my life.” He lives in Coupeville, Wash.

Pete (Mktg’64) and Mary Moore (Edu’64) Rabbitt were eagerly awaiting their 50th class reunion during Back to Boulder Homecoming Weekend. This year also marks their 50th wedding anniversary. Pete and Mary have two daughters who also graduated from CU-Boulder, Kelly Rabbitt Krill (Comm’86) and Katie Rabbitt DeLine (Fin’87). A third generation of Rabbitts recently joined CU: Jeffrey DeLine is a freshman in the business school.

At a luau at Hanalei Bay, Kauai, last fall Boulder couple John Meadows (A&S) and Lindalu Parker Meadows (Art) celebrated their 50th anniversary with their four children and six grandchildren. After working for Coors for 35 years, John took a job with the CU athletics department for five years. He is now an agent for college women’s basketball coaches. The couple continues to live in Boulder.

Joby Jenkins Patterson (Psych, MArt’70) has produced a book, Norma Bassett Hall: Catalogue Raisonné of the Block Prints and Serigraphs, the first comprehensive publication of printmaker Hall’s work. It reproduces more than 110 of her illustrations. Joby lives in Eugene, Ore.

The Health Mart Healthy Living Tour traveled to Pueblo, Colo., to honor Jim Sajbel (Phar) with the Health Mart Community Healthcare Excellence Award. Jim opened his pharmacy, the Prescription Shop, in 1969 and has placed emphasis on personalized care for his patients ever since. Jim also is on the board of directors for Rx Plus Pharmacies, where he advocates for legislation that will improve the pharmacy industry.

Madonna C. Lyons (Art) closed her popular Grand Lake, Colo., Onahu Lodge Bed and Breakfast after 27 successful years. Madonna, a retired elementary art and kindergarten teacher and award-winning plein-air painter, teaches watercolor workshops throughout the West. Her book, My Kawuneeche: An Artist’s Journal in Rocky Mountain National Park, was released in spring 2015. She resides in Grand Lake and Littleton, Colo.

The first female president of both the American Bar Association and the American Law Institute, Roberta Cooper Ramo (Hum) was given the inaugural Award for Professional Excellence by the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession this spring. Previously Roberta had been appointed by the U.S. Senate to serve as co-chair of a committee to review governance issues of the U.S. Olympic Committee. She is a partner at Modrall Sperling, the largest New Mexico-based law firm.

In June, Albuquerque attorney Roberta Cooper Ramo (Hum) received the highest award of the American Bar Association, the ABA Medal. She was the first woman to head the association. She works in New Mexico for the law firm Modrall Sperling, concentrating on mediation, arbitration, business law, real estate, probate and estate planning. Roberta also was the first woman elected president of the American Law Institute, in 2008, a position she remains in today.