Phil was a wonderful, and wonderfully funny human being; a meansch as it were. Very caring and warm. I remember having many laughs in a shared class - I can't even recall it now, but in said class he presented a short story that he had co-written with Jay Bailey, another kind soul. Both are missed.

Posted on: Jan 28, 2025 at 12:04 PM

Posted on: Jan 28, 2025 at 12:03 PM

Posted on: Jan 28, 2025 at 12:03 PM

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2019 - REUNION DATE / TIME / OTHER EVENTS SET

CONFIRMED ATTENDEES FOR THE CLASS of 1979 40th ANNIVERSARY REUNION UPDATE (Taken from the Facebook class reunion page). NOTE: Link to the actual Facebook page for reunion updates can be found at the end of this post.

ATTENDANCE CONFIRMATION UPDATE - AUGUST 5, 2019

"NOTE: A text list now replaces screen capture image. LIST COMPILED AUGUST 05, 2019

Because the list is growing - a good thing - I have decided to parse the Excel sheet into two segments - those who are CONFIRMED as attending and those who have NOT YET confirmed.

The first list is pretty straight-forward (CONFIRMED) and really needs no explanation. The second list ""NOT YET CONFIRMED") is a bit trickier in that these are names that have come to me as 'maybe' and through various sources, be it messenger, email, text or whatever.

So...going forward I will likely stick with this format instead of the screen cap of the Excel sheet.

Without further ado...oh, and sorry for the poor formatting but as the French say...mais...c'est la vie. There. I have pretty much exhausted my French vocabulary.

Oh, before you peruse this list let me apologize in advance to anyone reading this should they be on the wrong list. Send me an IM / post something ...maybe send a text...whatever works and I'll remedy it.

CONFIRMED

Alexa (Duncan) Laura
Anderson Jan
Babcock Diane
Baker Dave
Barker Scott
Blackman Wes
Brink Brian
Chandler (O'Donnell) Bridget
Daigle (Hatton) Dacia
David Loretta
Downey (Federau) Karyn
Ehlinger John
Federau Mike
Gauger Greg
Gibbs Scott
Gregory (Mavromatis) Nitsa
Hall (Lesjack) Tammy
Halpin Michael
Hensen Mark
Holden Karen
Homan Mike
Hoogenboom (Rottman) Barb
Hoppenworth (Hafner) Annette
Hueftie (Knowles) Lori
Hultgren Anne
Jay Mark
Johanna (Clark) Mary
Jorgensen Mark
Kasten (Yoshonis) Elaine
Lancour Paul
Larson (Mattern) Julia
Lennon (Miley) Natasha
Lentz (Wylie) Carol
Lofgren (Chamberlin) Beth
Mackey Griffin Tammy
Marmon (Blend) Patricia
Mattern Julia
Merschman Lori
Momeyer (Bailey) Cathy
Norhoff Todd
Olson Tom
Prins (Fishman) Sherri
Seltzer Mark
Sheufelt (Mitchell) Kathy
Small (Dietrich) Carolyn
Smith (Baker) Patti
Southwell (Ayers) Sandy
Story Bret
Thibaudeau Marc
Tower Susan
Trebing David
Zuhl Tom
(Keeley) Beth
Crane Beth
Erbes Mark
Gilmore Tom
Hall (Anstead) Tonja
Hatton Jennifer
Jones Bob
Keeley Tom
Macon (Levi) Susie
Potchen Mike
Smith Keith
Sutherland Margo
Taylor Annette

NOT YET CONFIRMED (but rumored to possibly be coming...not substantiated...kinda-sorta-mostly-in-a-way-but-not-really-known-if-they-will-materialize-for-the-event type thing...)

Crane Beth
Erbes Mark
Gilmore Tom
Hall (Anstead) Tonja
Hatton Jennifer
Jones Bob
Keeley Tom
Macon (Levi) Susie
Potchen Mike
Smith Keith
Sutherland Margo
Taylor Annette

The OTHER list.

It's enormous. That list comprises those who were in the class but for whom I have heard nothing at all. I think I am current on the names, but keep in mind that we had somewhere around 340 in our class...which is why I have been asking for help in contact the others - others for whom you may have some contact details.

Thanks...

Mark

Here's the URL. If you are on Facebook please refer to that page as I maintain the page for the reunion and only post bits and pieces on this page. Anyway, here's that URL: https://www.facebook.com/Okemos-High-School-Class-of-1979-40th-Anniversary-Reunion-408039329971215/

REMINDER. 40th Anniversary Reunion, Class of 1979, September 14, 2019 - RE-POST...

This is just a repost of the reunion announcement for those who are a) not on Facebook, and b) may have joined THIS site after I had posted the announcement here.

By the way, if you know someone who is generally hard-to-reach but who would likely want to attend, please spread the word. I'd really appreciate it.

Details are below. Original text follows:

"Class of 1979 40th Anniversary Reunion, September 14, 2019, East Lansing, Michigan.

Greetings all. Sherri Prins suggested that I post a link here for other people in the class who may not frequent Facebook. Bret Story, Wes Blackman and I have been working to try and pull all of this together. We're using the home page as touchstone for all information regarding the event. I will try however to occasionally post some of the details here. That said, it's much easier to just maintain the Facebook page rather than this site as well.

For those of you who ARE on Facebook (but who may not regularly check goings on there) here is a link to the home page for the event:

https://www.facebook.com/Okemos-High-School-Class-of-1979-40th-Anniversary-Reunion-408039329971215/
Additionally, I will update the Facebook page as events are added and more (hopefully) useful information has been added. There's a fair bit of what should be fun stuff shaping up for that weekend.

In the mean time, the 'rough details' are as follows:

WHERE: The Coral Gables, East Lansing, MI.
WHEN: 7:00 P.M. (approx) to ?

I honestly hope that those of you who are not on Facebook can attend the event. If you don't want to be on Facebook but would like to know more, please email someone in the class whose email address you have and they can perhaps do a copy and paste from the page for you.

In the mean time, here are two key announcements taken from the page

"REUNION UPDATE: MSU GAME TIME ANNOUNCED, September 14, 2019

The MSU / ASU game time has been officially announced as 4:00.

This means that the once tentative date for the reunion is now a FIRM date: Saturday, September 14, 2019. Reunion to start 7:00-ish at The Coral Gables in East Lansing, Mi.

Some have asked why the date was changed from September 20 to September 14, and the answer is that it was largely a matter of venue availability (The Gables was not available on the 20th but was available on the 14th). Additionally, on Friday, September 13 Okemos will have a home game against DeWitt, so if you are coming into town on Friday and would like to make that, keep that in mind (we may post a separate thread about that).

We will announce more details later today and into the night about accommodations, events, restaurants and so on.

I spoke with Bret earlier today and we both feel bad that some of you have said the date cannot work for you. That is truly unfortunate and we wish that everyone could make it. That said, it's just not possible to pick one date that accommodates everyone

Bret and I are working hard to pull together all of the details as quickly as possible. However, we agreed that if someone else feels strongly that this is a bad date / poor timing etc and would be willing to coordinate everything, we're willing to step aside and hand over those responsibilities.

For now, mark your calendars for the 14th of September, 2019. Again, more updates later today / tonight.

Thanks... Mark Jay":

OHS '79 40th ANNIVERSARY REUNION ROLL CALL (originally posted on the Facebook class of 1979 40th anniversary reunion page).

FOR THOSE READING THIS WHO ARE NOT ON FACEBOOK - if you could let me know here, on this thread, that would be helpful. We're trying to get an accurate count.

Please see below.

If you are planning to attend the September 14, 2019 reunion please let us know on this thread. Also, if you would let us know the number of people in your party - trying to get an estimated count.

I'll re-post this from time to time and put the names in a list so that we have an accurate count.

EDIT: If you know of someone who is planning to attend (but is not on Facebook), can you please list them here as well?

Thanks... Mark

OHS CLASS of 1979 REUNION UPDATE (JUNE 26, 2019) - HOTELS

NOTE: This was originally twice-posted on the 'official' Facebook page for the reunion, but I know that not everyone is on / likes using Facebook.

So, here's a post about hotels if you plan on coming to the reunion, specifically to see if there is enough interest in securing a block of rooms at the Hampton Inn in Okemos (Okemos Road, north of Jolly).

So please take a look and let me know either on this site, or on Facebook if you prefer.

Again, the URL for the reunion page is: https://www.facebook.com/Okemos-High-School-Class-of-1979-40th-Anniversary-Reunion-408039329971215/

Thanks...Mark Jay (SEE BELOW RE HOTELS)

REPOST #2 of 2 REGARDING HOTELS

PLEASE NOTE: Some of you have inquired if a discount might be available.

The answer is "maybe". I'm not cracking wise with that - we're trying to gauge the level of interest from those attending, thus this post (and the original).

Bret Story mentioned to me that if enough people were interested then he would try to make arrangements for the discounted block of rooms to happen.

If there's insufficient interest we'll drop the idea.

So, if indeed you ARE interested, please respond "YES" so that we can get a tally.

Okemos High School Class of 1979 40th Anniversary Reunion
Published by Mark Jay · June 11 at 4:57 PM ·
IS THERE INTEREST IN A ROOM DISCOUNT?

Putting this out there to gauge the degree of interest...here goes.

It's possible that rooms could be booked as a block with a corresponding discount. At present the Hampton Inn (Okemos and Jolly Roads) seems like the best bet. We're thinking of trying to secure a block of 20 rooms or so as a start.

Here's the URL for the hotel: https://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/…/hampton-inn-an…/index.html…

IF YOU THINK YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED please reply with "YES" below. That way we can investigate the possibility as well as know how many room we could try to secure..

I will also post a few links to hotels in another post, but I wanted to keep this one separate..

At present the Marriott in East Lansing has rooms, but it appears that a block of rooms can't be done.

Posted on: Jun 12, 2019 at 3:20 PM

OHS '79 REUNION DAY ACTIVITIES UPDATE

Hey all...I pulled this from Facebook to give you an idea of something else happening that day before the reunion. If you like a good time - and I think being the class of 1979 most of us like a good time - then check out this announcement.

Please note that I can't really post everything from the Facebook reunion page...but I figured this was a good one to post here as it would provide an opportunity for more of us to see one another, even before the reunion.

"TAILGATE / PIG ROAST - MUNN - SEPTEMBER 14, 2019. EAST END OF MUNN ICE ARENA.

OK, so here's the thing...

Tom (Tommy) Magee and Tim McKearney (both are OHS '75) put on a pretty nice tailgate each year situated at the east entrance to Munn Ice Arena.

Bret mentioned this in a thread elsewhere on this page but I wanted to give more details about it.

YOU'RE INVITED:

Tom is cool with OHS '79 peeps coming to hang at the event. So, in light of that...consider yourself invited.

WHEN:

Come and hang starting (I am guessing) as early as 9:30 A.M. Tommy and Tim are always there super-early as it takes a long time to roast a pig. They usually time things to that the food is ready to eat about an hour or two before game time.

THE MENU:

Pig is provided by Tom and Tim (who get there at dark-thirty to start cooking).

Beer is also provided.

Sides / Appetizers / Desserts line the tables that are also set up (this is the pot-luck / buffet part).

I'll be there with my 'rolling mixology cart' for those seeking an alternative to beer.

WHAT'S IT LIKE?

It's a cross between a tailgate, pig roast, and pot-luck. So people either bring something (it could be anything) or make a modest donation to the kitty. Since many of you will not be in a position to make / bring a dish just throw $5 or $10 into the kitty to help cover the costs.

BUT WHAT ABOUT OTHER GAMES?

TVs are set up under the awning of Munn so that some of the other college games can also be shown before the MSU game. There are tables and folding chairs set up. For those of us not attending the game the TVs allow it to be viewed right there.

The TVs also pretty much always show ESPN's College Game Day, which makes for a nice warm-up.

WHO'S THERE?

You'll likely see people from OHS '75 of course as that's Tommy's class, but also OHS grads from other classes have a tendency to make it there as do MSU grads who also attended OHS. It's its own sort of mini-reunion every year; I think Tommy and Tim have put this event on for the last 15 years or so. Of course, MSU students wandering by often end up participating as well.

AMENITIES:

A bonus is that because Tom is the Equipment Manager for the Spartan Hockey Team, people at the tailgate have access to Munn, so indoor bathrooms are available - which is always nice, plus it is kind of cool to check out where the Spartans play.

DOUBLE SECRET BONUS (rather than double-secret probation):

I always try to bring some of my homemade limoncello and arancello (these are Italian liqueurs based on lemon and orange) as well as various types of liquor and mixers. I do this as I like to provide an alternative to beer for those who prefer that sort of thing...so that's my contribution to the event. If that thing is your bag, baby then just look for me (in case you do not remember me or recognize me I will be the large man near a rolling cart / coolers most likely mixing some drinks for others) and I'll be happy to mix you a drink.

It's a lot of fun and a great chance to hang with OHS / MSU peeps from various classes.

So, if you're looking for something to do on Saturday during the day as well as have a place to hang and watch the game, come on by the east end of Munn."