1961
In 2019, Tom Barnard ’61, P’60 retired from actively practicing the law after 55 years, though he continues to teach Employment Law at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) Law School and in the M.B.A. program at Baldwin Wallace University (BWU) in Ohio. He also continues to serve as an arbitrator for Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA). As the faculty at Puget Sound, Tom finished teaching his spring courses for CWRU and BWU online, proving, he says, that “it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks.” He’s now taking senior scholar classes online, and he reports that his wife requires him to change out of his pajamas before attending class.
1965
In November at the Diocesan Convention in Riverside, Calif., Jim Alexander ’65 was lauded with the title of the honorary canon of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles by Bishop John Taylor. Jim was nominated for this award by his rector, Rev. Dr. Greg Kimura, who describes him as “the exemplar of a servant leader,” noting that “He gives tirelessly on the local and diocesan levels, deflecting credit to others, and bringing a deep spirituality to his work, in and out of the church.” Jim celebrated his 26th year as building administrator at St. James Manor in August and also serves on Diocesan Council, the Program Group on Mission Congregations, and the Diocesan Disciplinary Board. His contributions to the congregation also include multiple terms as president of Deanery 1, serving on the bishop search committee, and driving a 160-mile round trip to perform his ministry, which he has done for the past 20 years.
1967
Jerry Ramsey ’67 retired from his job as a teacher in Tacoma Public Schools in 2017 and is now living in Tacoma at The Weatherly Inn. He lives independently since his wife, Elaine S. (Perdue) Ramsey, died in October 2019. Jerry says his health is decent, but he is battling a rare disorder called hemochromatosis, which requires him to have one pint of blood tested each week to check his ferritin levels. In terms of how he is managing this condition, Jerry says, “So far, so good!!” He enjoys spending his time serving as a collections committee volunteer at the Tacoma History Museum, and also offers free monthly Tacoma history lectures and a weekly scenic bus tour of the city for his fellow Weatherly Inn residents. These events are open to the public, and Jerry mentions that they are both very well attended by his neighbors.
1968
Jim Hopper ’68 graduated from Puget Sound with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration and recently retired from a successful career spanning more than 30 years in the real estate industry. He held the role of managing broker at Windermere for more than 20 years, during which time “The Hopper Team” received multiple awards, including 24 features in Seattle Magazine as a “Five Star Real Estate Agent” recipient. Jim’s career also includes more than 10 years of service as lead chaplain for South Snohomish County Fire and Rescue. Although his work at Windermere kept him busy, Jim’s desire to serve in a more purposeful way led him to take on this additional work. While serving in this role, Jim responded to more than 800 traumatic death and fire calls and to calls from first responders to assist victims at the scene of trauma and crisis situations. He worked with recovery crews during the extended response to the Oso mudslide and the incident at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. Jim and his wife, Judy, have enjoyed more than 50 years of marriage and live on Camano Island.
Bill Ransom ’68, author of poetry, short stories, and science fiction novels, released his latest book from WordFire Press, Brother Blood Sister Death, in January 2020. The book introduces twin hybrid vampires with serious sibling issues. Bill’s science fiction/speculative fiction titles include Jaguar, Burn, and Viravax, and he co-authored (with Frank Herbert) the three novels of the Pandora Sequence: The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect, and The Ascension Factor. His Learning the Ropes (Utah State University Press), a hybrid collection of poetry, short fiction, and essays, was billed as “a creative autobiography.” Three of Bill’s short stories from this collection have been selections of the PEN/NEA Syndicated Fiction Project: Uncle Hungry, What Elena Said, and Learning the Ropes. These appeared in the Sunday magazine editions of several major U.S. newspapers. Bill’s poetry appears in additional anthologies and literary magazines, such as Conversations Across Borders, Weathered Pages, Oregon Literary Review, Portland Review, New York Quarterly, New Mexico Magazine, Seattle Review, New Poets of the American West, and more.
1971
Karen Robbins M.Ed.’71 earned her master’s degree in early childhood education from Puget Sound and has gone on to become the author of numerous educational children’s books. She recently published two titles through Schiffer Books. Flags Across America is a look at flags through the diverse eyes of Americans, co-authored with Dale Baskin and released in 2018, and America’s Flag Story is a children’s book beautifully illustrated by J. James and released in March. She is particularly excited for the timely release of her most recent publication during this election year, and reports that it has been endorsed by Col. Gail Halvorsen (a.k.a. “The Berlin Candy Bomber”).
1975
Marcia Campbell ’75 reports that she’s “doing well, all things considered, and—like a good friend of mine adds to the end of the often-used phrase—as long as I don’t consider ALL things.” She and her wife are comfortable in their new home in Des Moines, Wash. Their daughters are close by and taking good care of their moms. Marcia wants to give a shoutout to Katie Johnson ’75 for all the work she put into reaching out to members of the Class of 1975, and says she’s looking forward to the now-rescheduled class reunion in summer 2021.
1976
Laura Inveen ’76 retired as a judge of the King County Superior Court after serving in that role for 27 years—longer than any other female judge. Her career also includes past service as president of the Washington State Superior Court Judges Association and presiding judge of the King County Superior Court. She has received numerous awards, including the Washington State Bar Association’s Outstanding Judge Award, the Washington Women Lawyers President’s Award, and the University of Washington Law Women’s Caucus Distinguished Alumnae Award. Laura has joined Hilyer Dispute Resolution as a private mediator and arbitrator and serves as vice-chair of the University of Puget Sound Board of Trustees.
1977
Gary Scott ’77 earned his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Puget Sound before embarking on a successful military career with the U.S. Air Force. Gary book and film festivals, and by encouraging writers and creatives to go into the community to lend their expertise. “One of the things I wanted to do when I came here was to work together,” Paul says in the article, “to throw the windows and doors open to everyone. We need each other.”
1985
J. T. T. Wilcox ’85, P’12 shares this update: “Kathy ’87, P’12 and I still live on the farm between Harts Lake and the Nisqually River. I worked for Wilcox Farms as the chief operating officer and chief financial officer before leaving that work in 2007. Kathy got her master’s in education while we operated a processing plant earned his pilot wings and went on to fly F-16 and A-10 planes. He notes his experiences flying 32 combat missions and leading more than 50 aircraft attack packages over Iraq during Desert Storm as among the highlights of his military career. During that time, he also witnessed many surface-to-air missiles and antiaircraft artillery attacks against his squadron. During his 20-year career with the Air Force, Gary received several awards and honors, most notably two Distinguished Flying Crosses and three Air Medals. Following the completion of his military service, Gary moved with his wife, Kathy, and three sons, Garrett, Drew, and Kevin, to Puyallup to begin his second career flying the Boeing 737 for his hometown airline, Alaska. He was based in Anchorage and Seattle and flew to destinations nationwide. Gary notes that his favorite trips were those through southeast Alaska and all over Hawai`i. Now retired after a 46-year flying career and logging 21,000 flight hours, Gary looks forward to home remodeling, RV trips, visiting family and friends, and playing the tuba.
1978
After his time as sports information director at Puget Sound, Matt McCully ’78 went on to write a book, The Legend of Luke Daisy. The work is a fictional account following a group of friends growing up in the 1960s and ’70s Northwest. Matt says, “It’s a story of friendship and faith, meant to generate laughter and tears.” The book highlights the group’s ability to overcome various challenges, including bullies, tragedies, and asking girls out, as they strengthen their bonds. While at Puget Sound, Matt was a writer for The Trail and a member of the Loggers’ 1976 national championship basketball team. He says he had fun writing the book and incorporating some of his Puget Sound teammates as side characters. To his fellow alumni, Matt says, “Go, Loggers!”
Steven Walker ’78 is the managing director and founder of Amfas International, a global contract provider of manufacturing and engineering services for component design, building tools and dies, and rapid manufacturing. Along with his wife, Ginny, Steve has lived in Memphis, Tenn., for 25 years. Together they have raised two children: their daughter, Kayla, a Beale Street pianist and director for the Iris Orchestra, and son, Andy, an anesthesiologist at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis. Steve and Ginny enjoy making frequent visits to their college friends in the Pacific Northwest.
1981
In December 2019, The Collaborative magazine highlighted Paul Grondahl ’81 as a “Game Changer” in his role as director of the NYS Writers Institute, which he has held since 2017. The article emphasized Paul’s contribution to adding vitality to the institute, namely through launching near Eastern Washington University and has now taught in Yelm Community Schools for 15 years. I was elected to the Washington House of Representatives in 2010, and am now serving as House minority leader.”
2003
In December 2019, Patrick Karjala ’03 graduated with a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa. His thesis focused on using virtual reality to help teach Native Hawaiian noninstrument celestial navigation, also known as wayfinding. In 2018, partial work of his thesis was published in MIT’s PRESENCEjournal. Patrick also shares that, in relation to his thesis work, he was honored to be selected as part of the crew on the sister vessel Hikianalia for the voyage of the Hōkūle`a as part of the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s 2020 Tahiti sail.
After six years in the role of vice-principal at Waimānalo Elementary and Intermediate School in Waimānalo, Hawai`i, Cherilyn Mayumi Inouye ’03, M.A.T.’05was named interim principal of Ka`elepulu Elementary School in Kailua, Hawai`i, in August 2019, and was officially hired for the position in January 2020. Cherilyn writes: “Ka`elepulu is a small school, serving 213 students in grades K-6. There is a strong sense of community among students, staff, and families. I am excited to start my first principalship with an amazing staff, including fellow Logger Laurie Ines ’88, who is our academic coach.”
2006
Greg Groggel ’06 served as executive producer on the film Olympic Dreams, starring Nick Kroll, which premiered in March 2019 at South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. The film was shot on location at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Games. Greg helped bring Olympic Dreams to the screen through his role as director of original programming at the Olympic Channel. For more about the film, see olympicdreams.movie.
2007
In summer 2019, Travis Titus ’07 quit a job in engineering and started Titus Adventure Company, an adventure vehicle rental company in the Denver area. Titus Adventure Company specializes in mountain-ready vehicles to help guests get outdoors better and easier. The company rents Toyota SUVs and trucks, such as 4Runners and Tacomas, rigged with rooftop tents and camping gear for fun and easy backcountry experiences. Travis encourages Loggers to check out the possibilities at tacrentals.com.
2012
Caitlin Bovard ’12 is the owner of and a counselor at Authentic You Counseling in Denver, specializing in LGBTQ+ and sex/intimacy issues. Caitlin credits her work at The Trail for setting her on her life’s path. She writes, “As the founder of The Happy Trail [section of the paper], I am happy to report that writing a sex column for The Trail truly changed my life. I studied pre-med classes and studio art, but after my experiences with the column, decided instead to pursue a master’s degree in clinical mental health therapy from the University of Northern Colorado in
Denver. I now own a private practice and am a few months shy of becoming a licensed professional counselor and getting my second certification in sex therapy. I see couples and individuals, and absolutely LOVE what I do—and am accepting clients in the Denver area.”
In July 2018, Darcy Nelson ’12 moved from Tacoma, Wash., to Denver, where she has been growing her skills as a songwriter and live performance musician. She recently created two live music videos for competitions including NPR’s Tiny Desk contest for unsigned musicians and a cover challenge contest, hosted by 303 Magazine, a Denver arts and culture media outlet. Darcy writes, “I’m using my songwriting during this time of uncertainty to share encouragement and optimism with my community and recently wrote a blog post about music as medicine that complements my recent cover video.”
2014
Evan Herlocker ’14 was recently appointed executive director of At-Home Care Company in Ames and Des Moines, Iowa. After graduating from Puget Sound with majors in Spanish and business, Evan worked for HomeChoice Senior Care as director of operations and minority owner for 10 years, until the business was sold. He was subsequently approached by the parent company of At-Home Care Company, Briggs Home Care, and was offered the position of executive director. Evan shares, “I continue to use the skills I’ve learned from both degrees in a variety of ways: communicating in Spanish with clients and employees while analyzing trends and helping to develop processes on the business end. I credit much of my career success to the invaluable lessons learned at Puget Sound!”
2019
In February 2020, Justine Jones ’19 showed her art at Gathering Space Art Gallery at Bellarmine Preparatory School. Justine’s art uses a variety of painting styles, often showing subjects through an interplay of distortion and realism. Justine writes, “I hope to combine psychology and art to more fully understand their differences, but also to understand how much they play off one another and allow for a unique perspective on the world.” See more of Justine’s work at justinejonesart.wixsite.com/work.