Subject: Re: OPEN LETTER TO ALL NON-ATTENDEES
Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2002 15:27:44 -0700
From: David Todd

To: ALL

On Sat, 10 Aug 2002 12:42:00 EDT

Davidweisert@aol.com wrote:

It is though a plea that you take a minute or two and send the group a quick bio of your last 40 years, similar to what Dave Sanderson sent so eloquently a few days ago.

In response to Dave Weisert's plea, here's a brief summary of my last 40 years. :-)

After PHS, I studied chemistry at Illinois and then went on for a Ph D at Johns Hopkins in theoretical chemistry. Ended up taking a job both teaching chemistry and computer science and directing computing at a small liberal arts school in Connecticut (Wesleyan), where I stayed for 25 years. In 1996, I accepted a position as CIO at Montana State, in Bozeman. One of the luckiest things I ever did, besides marrying Karen two weeks before we moved (!). We had a ball in Montana! But as much as we loved the state and its quirky inhabitants, we were open to an offer I couldn't refuse from the University of San Diego in 2000. So we moved down here then. Love the school & work (private, Catholic, sited on a mesa with a view of the Pacific, and well funded, in sharp contrast to Montana State). As CIO, I'm responsible for computing and telecommunications services on campus, and it's a time of lots of changes in the campus culture, which is exciting. Don't like being in a city, and after Bozeman, we're convinced that we're rural folks at heart. But we have to admit that San Diego has a lot to offer as a city, and the climate is unbeatable in the continental US. We could get used to it here. :-)

My mom moved from Peoria to Cedar Rapids in '67, after my stepfather died, and I've been back only a half dozen times since then, for my brother's funeral, mother's funeral, and our 25'th reunion (!), for example.

I didn't have children, but Karen has three, and 3.5 grandchildren. That's not a bad way to have some of the joys of the experience and minimize the grief, by the way. But the result is that we'll end up back in New England in my last career move sometime in the next few years. If the kids move somewhere else, though, we'll go back to Montana. Heck, we could serve as tour guides if nothing else!

Memories. Pickup basketball with Jay at the Van Zandts after school. Cheap gas and cruisin' with the guys. Jim Lightfoot's Packard with the leveling system .... and running the battery down by sitting on each fender in turn. [Actually, I think that was his brother's car ... and he wasn't amused!] Listening to Thiersch play the organ before school. Mike Cook leading the charge on the court. Do I correctly remember the Latin students dressing up in costume? (I didn't take Latin ... was that just a dream?)

Lessons. Now that's an interesting thought. When I'm writing a complicated paper or even letter, I start with an outline. I think I learned that at PHS. My writing was severely criticized by my UI chemistry instructor, which left me pretty self conscious about it, but in my career it seems to have been an asset. I'd ascribe that to PHS. (I surely didn't get it at UI or JHU!) Mr. Bockowitz. I think I really learned to love mathematics in his class -- and have a sense of fun about learning. An appreciation that was heightened by Mr. Van Deventer's class. Mr. Flugel, who encouraged me to continue in chemistry, in which I'd already had an interest. And, of course, Charlotte Ziegler for German, to whom I own my professional name, H. David Todd. At the end of my senior year, she commented that no one knew who this fellow "Harold Todd" was and suggested I figure out some way to make the connection.

I consider myself to have been tremendously lucky to have been at PHS in those years. Good teachers, good friends, and good times. It's distressing to see what kids have to accept in their school systems these days. The teen years are difficult enough without all the drugs, weapons, BMW's, etc. to contend with (remember, I live in San Diego :-) ). We were blessed.

I'm sorry we couldn't make this reunion. I trust we'll see some photos on the web page when you've had a chance to recover from last night. I do look forward to the 50th, and I thank you all for your shared memories.

If you have opportunity to be in San Diego, please drop me a note and we can get together ... or at least I can suggest some interesting things to do in the area.

Thanks again for the shared memories, photos, and experiences!