Extended Class Notes
Lasting Friendships Formed 45 Years Ago
It began in 1967 at Colorado State College (now UNC) with six couples living in married student housing on the 13th floor of Turner Hall and studying for graduate degrees; going out for pizza every Friday night and then playing charades until the wee hours of the morning; taking weekend trips to the mountains; going to Cheyenne Frontier Days together and the dog races in Denver. Some of us studied year round while some were there only in the summer. These friends whose homes are now in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio and Colorado have held regular reunions at various locations in those states since 1971. We’ve supported each other in sadness and heartbreak. We’ve lost one wife to cancer, another to divorce and two of our children have died suddenly and tragically. We’ve supported each other through serious illnesses many times across the miles that separate us physically, but we come together every three years to meet, eat, laugh and cry. We are all retired now, have had brilliant careers and our children are grown. What began as six couples with no children evolved to six couples with 14 children and now includes our many grandchildren. Who would have thought that we would still be together, caring for one another all these years? All we can say is that we have been blessed by our dear friends in more ways than we can say.
—Edited submission from Paul and Janice Workman
Pictured (left to right): L.J. Menzel, Dick Menzel (MA-68, EdD-74), Cable, Wis.; Gail Rasmussen (MA-70), Allen Rasmussen (MA- 70) International Falls, Minn.; Jan Bocke, Joe Bocke (EdD-70), Quincy, Ill.; John Lundgren (MA-69), Ruth Lundgren, Castle Rock; Paul Workman (MME-68), Janice Workman (MA- 68) Anna, Ohio; Phil Esten (MA-69, EdD-78), Mary Esten, LaCrosse, Wis.
David King
David King (BA-65, MA-69), Encinitas, Calif., fell in love with opera at a very young age thanks to The Little Theatre of the Rockies; the retired teacher grew to love the genre even more as a student at Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado). King’s self-proclaimed obsession has led him to opera houses in Moscow, Russia, London and Paris to name a few. His most recent adventure? A trip to the “Teatro Amazones,” an opera house in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest. King also found time to represent his alma mater with a bold Amazonian accessory (that’s him holding an anaconda, above).
Read King’s account of his experience.
Frank Carbajal
Frank Carbajal (BA-61), an all-conference baseball and basketball player at UNC and retired basketball coach, was inducted this year into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame.
Born and raised in Greeley, the UNC Athletic Hall of Fame member started playing baseball and basketball at age 10. He credits his eighth-grade coach and student-teacher at the time, Sam Schauerman (BA-51, MA-52), for providing his first chance at organized basketball.
“Sam realized I didn’t have basketball shoes for our first intramural game, so he gave me an old pair from his trunk,” Carbajal says. “He gave me my first basketball, too.”
After high school graduation, he played baseball at Trinidad Junior College for two years before starring in baseball and basketball for the Bears.
During his 44-year career, Carbajal coached high school in Moab, Utah, and El Camino, Calif.; collegiately at Fresno State, Santa Barbara City, De Anza and Hartnell; and served professionally as a scout with the Utah Jazz.
“That award was the ultimate in honors, and I don’t think I could have accomplished it without the help of past teammates, coaches and kind people I have met throughout my life.”
—Katie Owston, senior Journalism major
