Linda (Melloon) Briscoe-Knight

Hello Everyone……

I am so sorry I won’t be able to see you this year – which is very disappointing. The last time I saw most of you was in 1992 I think, which was great fun.

I have continued my real estate career in

Palm Springs, San Francisco (Bay area) and London.

I am lucky enough to have two abodes - 

one in San Clemente, California and one in London (my husband, Charles is English). I have been fortunate to assist him with his golf/travel media business and have been to many interesting places around the world.

I have a wonderful daughter, son-in-law and 3 grand-daughters who live in Northern California. They all love the sport and social activities.

It is a very exciting summer this year in the U.K.

with the Queen’s 60 year Jubilee and all the events (musical, festive and cultural) of the Olympics.

My deepest sympathy goes out to our classmates that are no longer with us.

Many thanks to all of you that organised this event, and

I hope you have a fabulous time - wish I could join you for a bit of cheer and a round of golf.

Warmest regards,   

Linda (Melloon) Briscoe-Knight

Amanda, Ella & Ciana - My Granddaughters

Charles(left)with friends getting ahead of himself at the President's Cup - Royal Melbourne GC,  Aus.

Lj- Botswana Camping Safari

Lj - Great Barrier Reef  "Saying hello to JAWS Down Under"

Shawna & Steve - My daughter & son-in-law

Lj - Beiteddine Palace in Lebanon 

Lj- The National GC, Melborne, Aus.

Joe Nadenicek

Greetings Class of '72,

Well, what to say - I'm still single - I'd think I'd be quite a catch - I've still got all my own teeth and I'm fully vested in a civil service pension, but then I guess you've got to consider the whole package.  I'm closing in on 35 years of public service with the state of South Dakota - I've been a deputy state's attorney, assistant attorney general, a tax collector and spent the past 23 years as general counsel for the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources.  I'm on a few state boards - I'm the environmental rep on the State Emergency Response Commission - the SD rep to our multi-state radioactiv waste disposal commission - and I'm on the state board responsible for changing the names of geographic features in SD with offensive and culturally insensitive names (don't ask - I'm sure there's some karmic payback).

Some people say I'm no choir boy, but for the record I do sing in the Oahe Presbyterian Church choir here in Pierre - a natural baritone, but I usually end up singing tenor - my fellow choir members say I'm usually unrestrained by any particular part, anyway.  I play the guitar, bass, mando and uke - proobably almost as well as your average water color painter paints.  I still turn a few laps in a swimming pool now and then -- I'm the oldest part-time lifeguard at the Pierre YMCA (it's nothing like Baywatch).  Most years I ride a few thousand miles on a motorbike - I hit the rally in Sturgis most years, to check out the bands, if nothing else - this year is Skynard at the Buffalo Chip.

If you are wondering what I look like these days, you'll just have to come to Memorial Park and see.  I'm really looking forward to getting together with all of you and catching up.

Very Best Regards to All,
Joe Nadenicek
107 S. Adams Ave.
Pierre, SD  57501
605 224-4903 (Home)
605 773-3836 (Work)
Joe.Nadenicek@state.sd.us

John Conkling

Hey am I really this old. I see fellow classmates(not you) around town and I wonder : Do I look that old? I saw a woman at the park and thought that she looked kind of old, but then I thought wait I could be older than her. Wow, I never think of myself as being that old.....More to come.I am not done yet.....

Lori (Watchorn) Thomas

Forty years is a lot to condense into a couple of paragraphs!  After graduation, I went to USD, where I met my husband, Frank.  We got married in 1976 and our only child, Allison, was born in 1981.  In 1988, I got my law degree and Frank got his PhD in marriage and family therapy from Texas Tech in Lubbock.  Since then, I've been practicing insurance law with a large law firm in Fort Worth.  Frank is a professor at TCU, in addition to his private practice and speaking engagements all over.  Growing up, Allison was into dance but she ended up getting a degree in wildlife management from Texas Tech.  After years of working with animals, she's decided to go back to school for a nursing degree. 

My parents are still in Yankton so I get back there occasionally.  I always marvel at the changes -- and how things seem to be the same nevertheless.  I am sorry I won't be able to attend the reunion.  It would be so much more fun to catch up with everyone in person.  But I wish "all y'all" (that's what 3 decades in Texas has done to me) well and hope to be at the next one!

Robin (Wiese) Remund

I'm sorry that I won't be able to attend, due to another commitment that weekend.  

News--Married Dan Remund of Wilmot, S.D. in 1974; two sons--Derek (1984) and Christopher (1988).  Both are now married, but no grandchildren yet.  As Dan spent his career in the army, we've lived in San Antonio, TX (3 times); Augsburg, Germany;  Leavenworth, KS; Aurora, CO; New Brighton, MN; and now in Larkspur, CO, where we'll probably stay.
I used to enjoy getting to Yankton fairly often to see my parents, until my mom moved to Sioux Falls a couple of years ago to be near my sister.

Thank you to those on the committee who have planned the reunion!

Vickie (Larsen) Kaiser

Hi Everyone,

Where to start....I was married 3 months after graduation to John Kaiser, had a beautiful daughter in 1975, and a handsome son in 1978.  I worked and lived in Yankton till 2007 and then we moved to Spearfish to be by our kids and grandkids.  My daughter married a guy with 3 kids and they had 2 together.  She has done a wonderful job raising 5 kids.  My son and daughter-in-law are still waiting for the adoption of a child.  Shortly after moving out here, I got a divorce.  I work at Queen City Regional Medical - in medical records and really like it.  I haven't been to a reunion at all so I'm looking forward to this one!

Vickie (Larsen) Kaiser

Kathy (Heindel) Bonino

Hello to everyone!  My life's journey for the last 40 years...where to start.  I was married just before graduation to Gene Novak.  We had 10 years together and had 2 wonderful kids.  After our divorce, I moved to Colorado Springs with the kids.  I started working at a company here at the end of "81".  I am still with the same company today.  It is a good & interesting job. I remarried in "87" and had a third child in "91".  All of my kids are still in Colorado.  My oldest 2 children have given me 6 wonderful grandchildren.  They age from 1 1/2 years to the oldest who just turned 13.  I bought my first home in 2005.  The yard and upkeep of the house keeps my very busy, as do the grandkids. 

I get to Yankton each summer to see my little sister, her kids and grandkids.  It is always fun to visit and see all the changes in Yankton.  There have been a lot.  Love the new bridge, but miss driving over the old one!  I am so excited to see everyone who can make the reunion.  Will be fun to hear what everyone is up to, talk about school times and see how we all have changed.  See you all in July.  It will also be my birthday so I will have two things to celebrate!  -- Kathy (Heindel) Bonino