ClassNotes

Allan Nicholson '60 and wife June traveled to Daytona Beach, Fla. in April for Allan's 60th high school reunion.

Bob Maloney '60 reports that his oldest grandson, Brett Davey, will be attending SCU this fall as a 4th generation Bronco. He is preceded by great-grandfather Joseph Madden '24, grandfather Bob, and parents Len '84 and Cynthia '85.

Ron Li '60 was named a senior HomeLoan consultant at Central Pacific Bank. Li, who joined Oahu sales team, has more than 30 years of mortgage lending experience. He was previously with American Savings Bank, where he served as a residential loan officer. Prior, he worked at Metlife Home Loans, First Horizon Home Loan, Washington Mutual, North American Mortgage, Security Pacific Mortgage, and All Pacific Mortgage.

John Johnck '60 attended his 60th Reunion from the 8th grade Class of 1952 at St. Vincent de Paul, San Francisco, Calif. First gathering ever. He lives in So Lake Tahoe, Russan River, and S.F. and is retired. Go Broncos!

Bill Regan '61 serves as the president of the Order of Malta for the Western Association. The order in the western U.S. has over 750 members who contribute over 50,000 hours of hands-on service to the poor and sick.

William Regan '61 is the president of the Order of Malta Western Association covering 13 western states. 

Max Oliva, S.J. ’61 was recently featured in the Las Vegas Review-Journal for the success of his "attention-getting" ministry, Ethics in the Marketplace. Through short talks to business groups, full-length seminars, or individual sessions, Fr. Oliva works with businesspeople—Catholics or non-Catholics—to try to sort through quandaries they encounter in the office: How should a businessperson deal with a larcenous partner, lay off people to satisfy cash flow necessities yet not crush the spirit of the former employees, or handle a contract dispute with a client?

John Hall ’61 writes: “I recovered from malignant melanoma during the past three years, am now healthy again with good blood results. Wrote a just-published book, Beating Cancer Can Be Fun, [filled with] cancer surviving strategies for first-time diagnosed cancer patients, available as an e-book on Amazon or Nook at Barnes and Noble or as a hardback or soft. If you know anyone with cancer, have them call me regarding the nutrients and supplements I take to stay healed. I still am an active therapist for kids and adults, just contracted with TriCareWest to counsel traumatized veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan."

Ernie Giachetti '63 is a longtime general practice dentist in Cupertino and was recently awarded the Medallion of Distinction by the University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry.  It is the highest annual award given by the dental school's alumni association for contributions to the school, the profession or society in general.  Ernie and wife Marcia live in the San Jose area with their children, Stephen '96, Jennifer '98 and Michael. 

Daniel C. Flynn '61 is doing volunteer French-to-English translation and English language training for medical staff at Medecins sans frontires (Doctors without borders) Brussels. He also leads several English language conversation groups in Verviers in eastern Belgium, where he and his wife Kate McNally live.

Lawrence F. Terry '57, J.D. 62, retired Judge of the Superior Court, and his wife Anna Marie Terry (College of Notre Dame '58) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on August 8, 2009, with a special Mass followed by dinner with family, classmates, and friends at the Adobe Lodge.

Judge Lawrence Terry '57, J.D. '62 was honored by the Santa Clara County Medical Association at its annual awards banquest held on June 8, 2010, at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, Calif. He was selected to receive the association's annual citizens award in recognition of his significant contribution to the health field. Judge Terry was instrumental in establishing the Drug Treatment Court in Santa Clara County which has gained State and National recognition for its innovative work in introducing treatment and recovery in criminal drug cases.

Mike Riley '62 has earned the certified Wealth Strategist designation through First Allied Securities.  Riley has lived at Lake Tahoe for 15 years. 

John Massa '62 writes that he got bored. So he "started two new businesses in agriculture, one in farming, and one composting and application company."

Bill King ’62 was named an Honored Vaquero during the 2011 Vaquero Show and Sale at the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum in November.

Along with his brother, Chuck, the Kings were born to be ranchers. Family roots link the brothers to Santa Barbara’s early Spanish settlers who owned and operated many large ranchos in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, as well as the original de la Guerra and Orena homes in Santa Barbara.

Though their family urged them to enter professional careers, they were determined to be full-time cattlemen after attending college. They launched the King Brothers Cattle Company and leased a 6,000-acre ranch near Parkfield in southern Monterey County.

“We thought we knew something about working cattle, but the years we spent in Parkfield showed us just how much we didn’t know,” Bill said. “At one branding Chuck and I roped a calf, but the ground crew ignored us. After a while, we realized that we were too far from the fire so we dragged the calf closer and the ground crew went to work. We’d still be there if we hadn’t moved closer!”

After three years, the Kings returned to Los Alamos and bought their mother’s herd and leased the family ranch. They expanded their cattle business as they married and began families, leasing several ranches, most notably the San Julian Ranch that had family ties.

In 1973, Chuck sold his interest in the cattle company to Bill and obtained a real estate license. Bill worked for Glen and Raymond Cornelius, much-respected local cattle traders and ranchers.

“They taught me a lot about the business end of the cattle industry,” Bill said.

Bill and his daughter Jenny still operate King Brothers Cattle Company. Jenny’s husband Luke Hardin and Bill’s son Billy cowboy for the family cattle operation. Bill’s daughter Katy also helps out on a regular basis. For the past 12 years, Bill and Jenny have also run the receiving station in Buellton for the Templeton Livestock Market, helping fellow ranchers to ship their stock to market.

For decades, both King brothers have been active in the Cattlemen’s Association at the local, state and national levels. They have served on the state and county boards of directors. Bill is a past president of the Santa Barbara County Cattlemen’s Association and in 2007 was honored by the Santa Barbara County Fair Board as Livestock Producer of the Year.

Chuck and Bill continue to participate in the tri-county Fiesta Rodeo events in Santa Barbara. They won the team penning in 1970 with neighbor Ted Monighetti and have placed in a number of the events throughout the years.

In 2005, both were honored by the Fiesta Rodeo Board as Honorary Vaqueros for their years of involvement in the rodeo as well as their contributions to the local cattle industry.

Bill and Chuck contributed photographs and documents on their family history for a book titled Reminiscences of Early California, written in 1932 by their great-uncle Dario Orena but published only this year by Dibblee Hoyt and Bob Isaacson.

“This wonderful book describes the way Vaqueros really lived,” Chuck said. “Dario provides a clear picture of life on the vast early California ranchos. He was born in the mid-1850s and died in 1937, so his life bridges the Mexican era and modern times. He describes everything from hunting grizzly bears to braiding a reata. Most of the action takes place in the Los Alamos and Santa Ynez Valleys as well as the Cuyama Valley. It is a great book.” The book is published by Muleshoe Press, is available for purchase at the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum, 3596 Sagunto St. in Santa Ynez.

Stephen D. Home '62, MBA '66 writes, "Still alive and working full time as a Financial Planner with MetLife, and continue to keep in touch with many of my class mates. Two grandchildren to talk about, just ask. I am currently living in Palo Alto."

Freshman Dorm: Day Student/Off Campus

Ronald C. Diebel ’62 writes: “Living in San Jose ‘significant other’ Nancy and three cats. I have been practicing medicine for over 40 years.”

Phil Abel '62 is still living in Winnetka, CA with his wife Pat. They have four grown children and six grandchildren. Phil still repairs computers part time, while he waits for a second kidney transplant at age 71.

Freshman Dorm: Nobili

Jack Walsh '63 writes, "Married to my wife, Patty for 49 years. We have five children and 16 grandchildren. Still working in my own business and enjoying good health. Life is good."

Freshman Dorm: O'Connor

Lawrence A. Specchierla ’63 writes that he retired in 1999 after a 36-year career in financial management with Texaco, Inc. He lives in Palm Springs, Calif., with his wife, Maureen (Harty) ’65, and is the co-president of the Palm Springs Alumni Chapter that covers the Coachella Valley. He spends his time playing golf, traveling, recruiting high school students for SCU in the Coachella Valley, and coordinating the AARP Tax Aide program in Palm Springs. He and his wife will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year. They have three grown children (two graduated from Santa Clara), three granddaughters, and two grandsons who all live in California.

Edward Maffeo ’49, MBA ’63 and wife Joyce recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with family and friends at their residence in Erie, Colo., including their great grandchildren,  Alexandria and Eli, ages 4 and 2.