CLASS OF 1985
What We’ve Been Up To…
(Biographies)
Glenna (Haggen) Barlow
I work for Merrill Lynch Trust Company and am a Trust Officer in the Estate Group. At any given time I am
settling 35-45 estates located anywhere from the west coast and eastward all the way over to Ohio,
Michigan and Illinois and south through Texas.
I'm currently residing in Houston, TX - where I've lived for about 2 years. I moved from the Austin, TX area
- and have lived there for at least 10 years (I can tell I'm getting old when I can't even remember how long
I've lived places!). I married Kevin Barlow in 1998 and have 2 step children now 14 & 19. He is a born and
bred Texan. It took me a while to figure out his "accent", but now I understand when I talk to my friends up
north that I've acquired a bit of that accent myself. I do have the occasional "y'all" pass my lips (although I
do try to control it).
Beyond Texas (I do consider this a truly "foreign" experience) I lived in Thailand while serving in the Peace
Corps (right after college) and seemingly had a somewhat different experience than the one Lori Laws had
in Sierra Leone. I used to LOVE getting her letters about tropical mind rot while I was trying to teach the
wisdom of eating "alternative proteins" to starving children while planning my next silk-buying excursion.
Interesting fact - did you know 100 grams of ants has 7 grams of protein? Didn't learn THAT at Whitman,
did you? Traveled home through India, Nepal, Europe & the UK, then after bopping between the coasts for
a number of years (DC, CA and WA), found myself in Texas and haven't done much traveling since. Did
get the opportunity this summer to visit Japan and visited my sister Kathy (also a Whittie).
In a nutshell, that's about it. I'm sure there's more happening in my life than just the above (at least I HOPE
so), but that's the Reader's Digest condensed version.
Ruth (Lawrence-Berrey) Beckwith
After graduating from Whitman with my Biology degree, I moved to the big city of Tacoma, went to
University of Puget Sound to finish my teaching endorsement. I have been teaching Biology ever since
and I love it. I am currently at Mt. Tahoma High School (the beautiful new one) and staying busy as
Science Department Chair, A Gates Small Schools team leader, Science Department Chair and I am in my
9th year as ASB advisor and I am in charge of dances, assemblies, fundraising, etc. Needless to say I am
extremely busy at work. I then go home to relax, no wait….I have 6 and 3 year old girls! My husband, Ray,
and the girls and I are always busy with dance, gymnastics, playing, jumping on the bed (not me, of
course). Life is good! Can’t wait to see everyone at the reunion.
Susan Buxton
Since graduation, I determined that being a ski bum was fun but not sufficient to provide a year-round
wage. So, I went to law school. Little did I know that in order to make a living as an attorney, I would
undertake problems that others caused and expected me to fix. I do not think that the law school provided
its students with the proper notice of this fact which often leads to burn-out and confusion resulting in the
overwhelming desire to subsist as a ski bum somewhere! Nevertheless, I persevered and became a law
clerk to Judge Roger Swanstrom, of the Idaho Court of Appeals, then to Chief Judge James A. Redden, of
the United States District Court of Oregon.
In 1990, I went into private practice in Boise with Davis Wright Tremaine since I had to leave the more rainy
environs of Portland to return to my more arid hometown. I can take snow, not rain. I then joined four
others to form our own law firm in 1993 with a practice in land use, water, local government and natural
resources law. Paul Turcke, ’87, is one of my partners!
In 1995, I married Grant Walden, an avid WSU fan, who regularly convinces me to drive from Boise to
Pullman on fall weekends to watch football. We have a 5 year old daughter, Mckell, who just started
kindergarten and is the light of our lives! I have volunteered for Whitman by serving on the Alumni Board
since the fall of 1999. I held the office as the Vice-President, and then President of the Alumni Board from
2001-2005 (2 years for each). It has been such fun to work with and meet so many fabulous Whitman
alums who volunteer their time to assist the College. Whitman Alumni are certainly a remarkable group of
people. I joined the Whitman Board of Overseers in 2006 as the Alumni Board’s representative.
I am anxious to see everyone from the classes of 1985, 1986 and 1987 at this year’s fall reunion!
Vince Caster
I'm working (and living check to check) in NYC in Operations at The Manhattan Club. I have been living in
and rennovating an old house in Peekskill for the last 5 years. I'm married (Amelia) and have 2 children,
John-4 years old and Julia-1 year old. I'm a 1988 graduate of The Neighborhood Playhouse of the Theatre
where I studied with Sanford Meisner and Robert X. Modica.
I will not be able to attend the reunion. Hello to all and apologies to all my friends.
Marjory "Gigi" Deibel Earle
The "Pimp-mobile" will be returning to Whitman yet again. Since graduating from Whitman, the car has
stayed in family ownership while the red Jimmy was replaced with another red Jimmy, "Jimmy II" - some
things never change. I have added an "Ice Cream Car" to the fleet, a blue '68 Dodge Dart convertible,
named for taking kids to get ice cream on warm summer days.
I received a masters in Public Accounting from the U of Wa, earned my C.P.A. and did the public
accounting thing for a while, then spent a few years in accounting at Alaska Airlines. For the last nine
years I've jointly owned and operated a small alarm company, Froula Alarm Systems, in Seattle with my
husband, Chris Kelly Earle. If you know any young people not Whitman bound that would like a career in
the skilled trades, please send them our way!
Our daughter, Alexis is entering 7th grade attending Eckstein Middle School and our son, Stuart is entering
4th grade attending Laurelhurst Elementary School. As a family we spend the summer season boating and
camping (and me gardening) and the winter season at the ice rink. Stuart will be in his fifth year playing ice
hockey for Seattle Junior Hockey Assoc. and Alexis will be in her second year playing ice hockey on an all
girls team (Western Wash. Female Hockey Assoc. for which I am the board Secretary). Chris has now
picked up hockey for himself as well.
Looking forward to seeing all at the reunion.
Jay Humphreys
I teach Health & Fitness at University High School in Spokane and coach basketball at Shadle Park High
School in Spokane. I've lived in Spokane since I graduated from Whitman. I've been the head basketball
coach at North Central High School & University High School and assisted at Spokane Community College
as well as the coaching I'm doing now at Shadle. I've been married for 20 years to my wife Debbie & have
two kids: Zack, 16 and Jenna 14. I received my Masters in Education from Whitworth College in 1993.
Michelle Keith
Bio coming soon…
Mike Loucks
After graduating, I messed around for a few years trying to figure out where I belonged. I stayed in Walla
Walla until the end of 1985 (not wanting to leave) and finally left and went home to Seattle. I worked for an
industrial plastics supply company in early 1986, and then went to Graduate School at Florida Institute of
Technology (Melbourne) in September of the same year. After deciding that wasn't going to work, I left and
went back to Seattle again, this time to spend a year working for a Title Insurance company.
After having my fill of that for a year, I tried graduate school again, starting in January of 1988 at the
University of Colorado, Boulder and finally started to figure things out. I got my Masters degree
(Aerospace Engineering) in 1991 and was working on my PhD but my funding ran out, and I took a job with
an aerospace company in Boulder, CO. After working for them for 2 years operating satellites and
designing spacecraft trajectories, I founded my own company, Space Exploration Engineering in 1995. I've
managed to keep myself busy designing orbits for satellites and teaching others how to do this since. It's
been 11 years now. I teach classes all over the US (and sometimes outside) on space mission design.
In 1994, I married my wife and best friend Trudy, and we have 4 kids, Talia (17), Hailey (9), Wilson(7) and
Joely(5). In 2001, we moved from Loveland, Colorado to Friday Harbor, WA in the San Juan Islands. I
have a small office in Friday Harbor where I work (about 1.5 miles from my home), I live in a wonderful
place, with a great family and have fun and exciting work. I have to travel sometimes more than I'd like, but
when I come home I'm in a place most people come for vacation, with a family I wouldn't trade for anything.
My Dad and I still have season tickets to the Seahawks (yes, we went to Detroit!) and life is good.
Jay Murphy
I feel very fortunate. My wife, April, answered an ad I put in the Univ. of AZ newspaper 20 years ago (grad
school). We met and hit it off that night, and she moved in with me the next day! (Actually, it was an ad for
a roommate.) Since then, we've enjoyed many years of traveling, working on our careers and being with
one another. Eight years ago, we had triplets (3 girls, not identical: Sarah, Sydney, Sienna). We are home
schooling them and simply having a ball! (www.murphy.home.name for early photos).
After I received a Masters in Systems and Industrial Engineering from Univ. of AZ in ‘88, I worked for
Oracle Corporation for 12 years as a database application software design consultant which took me to
many parts of the country/world. Thankfully, I'm now home full time, running my own small consulting
company. I get to work closely with my father, which is very enjoyable and rewarding. We invent things,
lease office space, develop land, run a cattle ranch, and more. Our current project is to design and build a
multimillion-dollar cultural theme park here in Phoenix.
I keep myself busy (as if I'm not busy enough already) volunteering as an usher at the Orpheum Theatre in
Phoenix. We love to ski, travel & play.
I'm enjoying hearing about everybody else, and look forward to seeing you all at the reunion.
Guy Noll
I officially graduated from Whitman in 1986 according to the diploma I received after finishing the 3-2
engineering program at Columbia U, but still feel that I'm a member of the class of '85. I figure I was lucky
in three very significant events in my life that follow chronologically; 1 - finding and getting into Whitman, 2 becoming a NOAA Corps officer on a hydrographic ship, and 3 - meeting and loving my wife, Kathleen. I
feel that one event naturally led to the next, and am fortunate in having three wonderful children, two girls
(14 and 13) and a boy (11) who are also a natural progression of that love. We all live in Richmond Beach,
Washington, where we moved in 2004 so I could return, for a third time, to sea duty on the RAINIER. My
nineteen years with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps has been
very rewarding, even the eight spent at headquarters, and being Commanding Officer of a 231-foot survey
ship is an exciting challenge, though it may shock some of you who remember me as being a bit more
radical than a stereotypical member of a uniformed service. We've lived in Rockville and Garrett Park,
Maryland; Mill Valley, California; Seattle; Charles Town, West Virginia; and I've mapped waters throughout
southern Alaska and Washington. I have become somewhat an expert at hydrographic surveying
technology, great fun for a physics major, even though I have not found time to attend to a complete
Master's degree program. That may have to wait until I retire from NOAA, perhaps before embarking on a
second career based in Seattle, or perhaps before returning to headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland to
strive for the top position of Admiral of the NOAA Corps. Life is too rich to confine to any one outcome, or
perhaps the probabilities can only be described in complex equations, as we learned in Dr. Pengra's
quantum thermophysics class; in any event, it's darn hard to figure out what will happen next.
I look forward to visiting with fellow reunion attendees, or at least reading about what's been happening in
your lives. I also can't wait to try some of those great Walla Walla wines in the native terroir (who knew you
could make a living from making alcohol in Walla Walla? Doh!)
Colette (Tompkins) Richman
After graduating from Whitman, I attended a training program at the VA Hospital in Portland, OR, where I
was trained as a Nuclear Medicine Technologist. I worked for a couple of years at Virginia Mason in
Seattle, when I decided to go back to school and earn a pharmacy degree. (What's one more student
loan?) Right before graduating from University of Washington School of Pharmacy in 1991, I met my
wonderful husband, Kelly. Two years later, we were married, and four years after that we were blessed
with a wonderful son, Cameron. When my son, was in kindergarten, we decided to leave the rat race in
Seattle, and head to my home town, Walla Walla! For the past 3-1/2 years we have enjoyed being near
family and friends and raising our son in this great town! I am employed by Tallman's Pharmacy on Main
Street, surrounded by wine tasting rooms everywhere I turn! I stay extremely busy, working full time, and
keeping up with a 9 year old son, who lives and breathes sports! My husband is a basketball and golf
coach at my high school alma mater, DeSales, so if we are not at Cameron's sporting events, we are at his!
I am looking forward to the reunion! See you there!
Susan Schomburg
Bio coming soon…
Glen Segal
After graduating from Whitman, I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and went to work with General
Electric and GE Capital. From there I went to business school at the University of Chicago. Having had
quite enough of the mid-west and the cold, I moved to Washington DC where I served as a management
consultant for four years. In 1994 I regained my senses and moved back to San Francisco where I started
working with technology companies. I have been banging my head against the wall with various software,
communications and semiconductor start-ups over the last eight years. I have spent the last three years
with Accellion, a software company located in Palo Alto.
In 1996 I married Lauren and now have a nine year old boy, Zach, and a seven year old girl, Lindsey. I
spend much of my free time playing with them and coaching their soccer and little league teams. Any real
free time is spent skiing or running on dirt, with a pavement exception for an annual jaunt in the hood-tocoast relay.
Ed Swan
The Fall after graduation, I headed to Massachusetts to work for MASSPIRG, a Ralph Nader-like
environmental and consumer group. At the same time Linda Barnes '87, with whom I would later be
married, went to China with the Whitman in China Program. We came back to Walla Walla the following
Fall so that Linda could complete her senior year and I worked doing community organizing with senior
citizens in Walla Walla and Tri-Cities. When Linda graduated, we moved to Seattle and got married. Linda
began her healthcare career while I put in over a decade of organizing for community groups, social
service agencies and city government.
Our first son Garnet came along in 1998 and shortly afterwards we moved to Vashon Island, across the
water from Seattle. Vashon has got to be one of the greatest places to have kids and raise a family. Our
second son, Leander, was born at home in 2000. I became a stay-at-home dad, gladly giving up a long
commute involving running for the bus, catching the ferry and picking up our car to drive for an hour.
Over the years, my bird watching hobby grew increasingly serious. I began writing a column for one of the
Vashon newspapers on birds and the local ecosystem after moving to the Island. Those articles served as
rough drafts for my book the Birds of Vashon Island published in 2005 and currently sold out. I'll reprint in
late 2007 and hope to simultaneously release a new book on birds and environmental change in the
Tacoma and Pierce County area, including Mt. Rainier National Park. If all goes well, I'll spend the next
several years publishing a series of books on birds and changes in their habitat for a number of areas of
Washington.
I'm looking forward to seeing you all at the reunion. Linda can't make it because she is traveling in Africa
for a month as part of an AIDS prevention study she is working on for UW.