Class Notes

In 1958 Boyd Dowler (PE’61) earned honorable mention All-American and first-team All-Big 7 honors as a senior CU football player. He caught 41 passes for 628 yards and six touchdowns in his CU career. In 1989 he was named member of CU’s All-Century Football Team. Green Bay selected him in the third round in the 1959 NFL draft and later named him Rookie of the Year. For these accomplishments Boyd was inducted in the Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame at Coors Events Center last fall. Boyd lives in Midlothian, Va.

Golden, Colo., resident Arnold Wegher (Law’61) received the Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria. As the honorary consul general for the Republic of Austria, Arnold was responsible for matters involving Austria and Austrian citizens in Colorado and Wyoming for 28 years. Arnold practices law in Denver at Wegher & Associates.

When she is not traveling Elizabeth Shellabarger Bayne (Mus’61, MA’66) teaches weekly private voice lessons. She has sung with the Cathedral Choir at St. John’s Cathedral of Albuquerque for more than 30 years. She also is a member of POLYPHONY: Voices of New Mexico, a professional choral ensemble, and CANTAT, a semi-professional Santa Fe group. She lives in Albuquerque.

Sequim, Wash., resident Bruce Busch (Bus’61) married Pamela Gates last June at his home. On their honeymoon they visited several states in the U.S. The couple met while serving on various committees of the Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, Wash.

After graduating at age 19 with honors, Tracy Ann Semmens (A&S’62) obtained her master’s degree in communications from Wichita State University. She has since published several books about language, geography and history, including Intercultural Communication: A Practical Guide (2001); Communicating with Brazilians: When ‘Yes’ Means ‘No’ (2003); Betrayal on Aruba Winds (2018); and Scent of Tahiti (2022). She lives in Austin, Texas.

After attending CU in the 1960s, Noble Milton (A&S’62) moved to New Jersey, where he worked in trucking and in ministry. An avid sketch artist, he once drew Martin Luther King Jr. at a speech in Jersey City in 1968. Noble has six children, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He fondly recalls his time as a running back with the close-knit CU football teams of the early ’60s. During that time, the team protested racial segregation, refusing to play in the 1962 Orange Bowl unless all players could sleep at the same hotel. Noble lives in Newark, New Jersey. He would like to hear from former teammates and can be reached via daughter MiMi Milton at 732-447-8900.

Lew Watters (Hist’62) writes that the Coloradan is “always devoured, and then shared with my six grandchildren.” Every fall, his family gleans apples at the Liberty Orchard in Brookfield, Vermont, to make apple cider using an old 19th-century wooden cider press. After reading a recent Coloradan article about Boulder County apple orchards, Lew wrote that his family hopes to continue the apple cider tradition into the next generation, perhaps even someday owning Liberty Orchard. 

After 40 years of research, Jean-Paul Valette (PhDEcon) and Rebecca Loose Valette (PhDFren’63) published the book Navajo Weavings with Ceremonial Themes: A Historical Overview of a Secular Art Form. Rebecca’s parents were introduced to Navajo rugs by their neighbor, famed archeologist Earl Morris (Psych1914; MA1916). “Their love of these beautiful weavings was passed on to me, and then also to my hus- band,” writes Rebecca. In the 1970s, the couple acquired a Navajo blanket and began investigating its history and origin. Over the next four decades, they assembled a collection of more than 100 ceremonial-themed textiles, published several articles in American Indian Art Magazine and curated two museum exhibits of Yeibichai weavings. 

Frank Montera (Math) was inducted into the California Community College Football Coaches Hall of Fame in March. He completed his 54th consecutive year of coaching in 2017. Frank was a member of CU’s football team in 1959, 1960 and 1961 and a member of CU’s baseball team in 1960, 1961 and 1962. He and wife Kendel (Engl’64) reside in La Palma, Calif.

F. Rodney Drake (DistSt; MD’66) was president of his senior class in 1966. Following graduation, Rodney did a residency in psychiatry and a fellowship in child psychiatry. He is a past president of the Washington Psychiatric Society, the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Society of Greater Washington and the Baltimore-Washington Psychoanalytic Society.

American publisher of biographies Marquis Who’s Who named Charles Harbert (Chem) a Lifetime Achiever. He is co-inventor of the antidepressant drug Zoloft, and led the chemistry team that first synthesized it. After working in pharmaceuticals for more than 30 years, Charles retired in 1999. Since then, he has published four Colorado history books.

Iowa native and renowned NFL linebacker Jerry Hillebrand (PE) will be inducted into the CU Athletic Hall of Fame Nov. 17. Jerry played nine seasons in the NFL for the New York Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University in Minnesota named Anna Lisa Ohm (IntlAf; MGer’79) professor emerita. She has taught at the school since 1988. After graduating from CU, Anna lived and worked in Germany and served four years as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia and Tunisia before earning her doctorate at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She lives with her husband, Stuart, in Saint Cloud, Minn.

Richard George (Engl’62) has published five volumes of his writing on smashwords.com, the world’s largest distributor of indie e-books. The works include a collection of poems, a novel about a man who leaves Colorado for a big city and a book of verses Richard has penned since high school. The titles can be found by searching Richard’s name in the search box of the website.

Joseph Bell (Math), a board member on the International Senior Lawyers Project, was awarded with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland. The official presentation was May 14 at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. The recognition was made for his efforts to further Poland’s economic transformation. While at the law firm Hogan & Hartson he worked pro bono for the Polish government for many years. He eventually established a branch of the firm in Warsaw in 1991. Joseph also was honored for his work as a director of the American Polish Freedom Foundation. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Jean-Paul Valette (PhDEcon) and Rebecca Loose Valette (PhDFren’63) have devoted their professional lives to the creation of language teaching materials, including French for Mastery, Spanish for Mastery, Contacts and Discovering French. For their work they have been honored by the French government. Rebecca is past president of the American Association of Teachers of French and professor emeritus at Boston College. The couple also have a passion for Navajo blankets with
Yeibichai imagery, which led to the publication of their book Weaving the Dance. They live in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

In 1962, Don Meyers (PE’62, MS’65) set an unofficial world indoor record with his successful 16’-1¼” attempt in the pole vault. He was just the fifth person ever to clear 16 feet in the pole vault. After college, Don coached for the Buffs for seven seasons. His accomplishments were recognized this year by his induction into the 2014 class of the CU Athletic Hall of Fame.

In July Risto Marttinen (Hist’62) will compete in the National Senior Games in Cleveland. He will be hurling the discus, shot and javelin. “The ancient Greeks considered the greatest athlete to be the discus thrower. I’ll try to do my best!” he writes. Risto lives in Lexington, Ky.

In the December Coloradan, we incorrectly characterized The True Story of Catch- 22, The Real Men and Missions of Joseph Heller’s 340th Bomb Group in World War II (Casemate) by Patricia Chapman Meder (A&S’62) as a novel. It is a three-part book comparing real-life people to the main characters depicted in Joseph Heller’s bestselling novel, Catch-22.

After reading “A call for courage” in the June 2012 issue of the Coloradan, Risto Marttinen (Hist’62) thanks Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. “As men of iron and women of granite, we laud this recognition and praise,” Risto writes. Although he no longer climbs cliffs and limits his boxing to the bags at the local gym, Risto is the Kentucky gold medal holder in discus, javelin and shot in the 70-74 age group. He lives near his three grandchildren in Lexington, Ky.