Kerry O'Boyle

Kerry O'Boyle wrote in, and tells us:
"The basics are that I've been married and living in Chicago since 1999 when I left the Navy. Two boys (5 1/2 and almost 3). Two cats (by marriage). House. yard. yawn".

Debbie DeVoe-SF Chronicle Article

Former NG English teacher Dick Friss sent this to Clint Stewart (who has now been located in Salt Lake City), and Clint forwarded it to me. It is an opinion page article by Debbie DeVoe that appeared in the SF Chronicle today. Friss says: "Check out the writer! Last I knew she was living/working in Japan. Now in Nairobi, Kenya? If any of you know give her my best regards."

Act now to save the hungry
Debbie DeVoe
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
I've looked hunger in the face - or to be more exact, in the faces of hundreds of Ethiopian children. Due to consecutive failure of rains, farmers in many pockets of southern and eastern Ethiopia have no crop to harvest. Combined with a spiraling rise in food prices, thousands of families are now left with nothing to eat.

The Ethiopian government is taking action to address the impact of this year's drought by distributing emergency food rations and setting up feeding sites for malnourished children. But more help is urgently needed.

At one site I visited, 200 children were receiving therapeutic milk and treatment. In tents thrown up on church grounds, family members cradled their sick children who lay unmoving in their embrace. One mother pulled up the shirt of her young daughter to show me her matchstick-thin arms and jutting ribs. Another grandfather lovingly supported the back of his grandson's head as he fed the child sips of milk from a plastic syringe. The boy, who looked about 5, simply didn't have the energy to take in food any other way.

Through feedings every three hours, these children are incrementally regaining their health. Staff from Doctors Without Borders is on site to care for the most severely malnourished. Missionaries of Charity sisters are also preparing meals for the children's caregivers and distributing weekly rations to struggling families who so far have been able to stave off malnutrition. Each week though, the number of people arriving at this site and dozens of others like it continue to grow.

Many of the pockets most affected by drought this year are within some of Ethiopia's most productive agricultural regions. These poor farm families are made up of hard-working people who are usually able to grow enough food to meet their needs. Fighting to overcome considerable obstacles each season, sometimes they lose the battle.

In recent years, the Ethiopian government has made considerable progress increasing the country's agricultural capacity and assisting those most at risk of not having sufficient food. A program started in January 2005 coordinates the efforts of donor agencies and partners to provide supplemental food to 8 million of the neediest people. The hope is that with a few years of support, these families will be able to build sufficient household assets and food stores to weather future crises without tragic results.

This year, however, Ethiopia is shouldering the heavy burdens of another drought as food and fuel prices rise. The global food crisis is weighing other countries down as well, driving the need for massive food assistance worldwide in the short term, near term and long term.

Late Thursday evening, the U.S. Senate passed a supplemental appropriations bill that provides almost $1.9 billion in emergency food assistance and cash to respond to the hunger crisis worldwide. This amount is very generous, but longer term funding is also needed to increase overall agricultural production.

The U.S. government now must ensure that this emergency aid arrives where it is needed as quickly as possible. Any delay could have horrific consequences.

Debbie DeVoe, a former San Francisco resident who grew up in Walnut Creek, now serves as Catholic Relief Services' regional information officer for East Africa based in Nairobi, Kenya.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/02/EDU811I3N8.DTL

This article appeared on page B - 9 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Eliana Ben-Zeev

Designer Eliana Ben-Zeev displays one of her designs at the Le Meridian Hotel on February 23, 2004 at Beverly Hills Red Carpet Oscar suites, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images)

Eliana has worked as a costume designer for the film "Spark" (1998) starring Terrence Howard and is a wedding dress designer. According to this article, she is based in L.A. Her website does not have any info on it, so I'm not sure if she is still in this line of work.

DESIGN DIVA
Eliana Ben-Zeev inspired by Hollywood of the past

By Sharon Mosley
Copley News Service

DESIGN DIVA -- Designer Eliana Ben-Zeev creates a look of sultry romance in “Marlene,” a bias crepe satin-charmeuse gown inspired by Hollywood’s golden age. CNS Photo courtesy of Eliana Ben-Zeev.
Whether she’s designing for divas on the opera stage, actresses parading down the red carpet or brides walking down the aisle, Los-Angeles based designer Eliana Ben-Zeev finds inspiration for her unique dresses in her artistic background.

“I love the feeling that I’ve interpreted an idea -- be it from a piece of art, a song or even a random object or pattern -- and turned it into something that others feel beautiful in,” she says.

Ben-Zeev, who launched her couture eveningwear and bridal collection in 2002 to “fill a void in the market with dresses that were different but still timeless and beautiful,” grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She attended Clark University near Boston, where she received a bachelor’s in business management, and later graduated from The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles.

Before starting her own design house, Ben-Zeev worked in costume design, construction and styling in opera, theatre, film and television. Her unique bridal gowns reflect her passion for historic stage design -- especially “Old Hollywood” that evokes a modern elegance when she combines the glamour of the past and then adds her own artistic expression developed from years of experience. (She also has a new cocktail-dress collection for the mother-of-the-bride.)

“Old Hollywood is a time remembered with style and glamour, and it is really impacting the bridal industry,” says Ben-Zeev, who has consistently worked with various historical time periods to make her dresses distinctive.

“I bring together various past eras with a contemporary twist,” she says. “That’s my concept overall.”

A gown in her spring collection, “Irene” is influenced by a combination of the 1880s and 1950s Hollywood, while another bias crepe satin-charmeuse dress, “Marlene,” is influenced by the 1930s.

Ben-Zeev’s passion for historical detail is expressed in her sophisticated gowns that are enhanced with unusual detailing.

“For example, I use beads, Swarkovski crystals, fresh-water pearls, semiprecious gems all in a unique way,” she says. “I implement them into the gown more as jewelry than embroidery accents.”

On several gowns in her current collection, necklacelike strands of crystals and pearls become part of the dress. Gowns retail for $2,000 and up; cocktail dresses begin at $800.

Color does play an important role in Ben-Zeev’s design work. After all, historically, many brides have had a colorful past.

“I love using a hint of color as an accent to bring a gown to life,” she says, “and I’m glad that American brides are beginning to explore the beauty of color.”

John Barry

Hey Jeff,

I stumbled upon your blog the other day – what a great idea & very cool that so many people have found it already. I have been out of touch with just about everyone from NG over the last twenty (two!!) years, but I was able to make it to the 20th reunion in '06 – at first I hadn't intended to go, but I was inspired by my wife's 20-year reunion a few months before, and just couldn't resist ours! It turned out to be an incredibly fun time – I can't wait until the next one! It was interesting seeing so many people I hadn't seen in YEARS and seeing how everyone had aged since high school. Amazingly well, I might add – I have heard all the reunion horror stories, but in our class everyone looked pretty fabulous! (just wait till the 50th!!) I ended up hanging out with some really cool people & had a great time, and got a chance to spend some time & get to know some of our alums I didn't even know in high school. (I think some of them didn't even go to NG but just crashed the party, but they were a blast to hang out with anyhow!!). I did not take many pictures at the reunion - wish I had taken more, but I do have a few to share. Attached is a shot of myself and Kerry Breen at the party – it was a blast seeing her again, and to also hang out with Sue Lockyer, who I didn't even really know in high school. I also have a couple of pics of the crowd waiting for the group photo that never came out! (At least we now have a shot of the back of everyone's head!). It was hilarious seeing the old pic you posted of Sue's kitchen with John Weisel & Rich Jursich sportin the flannel shirts. How it brought me back again! It must have been summertime or Weisel probably would have had his Derby jacket on as well!

After high school, I went to college at Saint Mary's over in Moraga, living in the dorms & spending most of my time partying & going to Dead Shows, occasionally showing up in class. My college girlfriend Nancy & I ended up moving to Los Angeles and getting married in the summer of 1991, where we have lived for the last 17 years. We adopted a beautiful baby girl named Monica in 1991, who is now 10 (going on 25!!) and will be in the 5th grade next year. My wife Nancy was the recipient of a Kidney-Pancreas transplant in 2001, a fairly uncommon procedure at the time, which effectively cured her of her juvenile diabetes and she has not had to take an insulin shot in over seven years, when it used to be several times a day. Although her transplanted kidney failed in 2006 & she is currently on dialysis & hoping for another transplant, the pancreas is still going strong. Her illness has been tough at times, but also helps us appreciate the time we have together & make the most of every day we have. Life is too short for all of us... For most of the 90's, I worked in the computer industry, both at a small computer & audio/video rental company in Burbank, as well as spending several years in the IT department at Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, which was pretty cool & quite an experience. After my daughter was born, I decided to get a real job (ahem) and went to work for a commercial escrow company in downtown LA (www.comescrow.com) where I have been for the last 10 years (time flies when you're having fun!!), where I work as an escrow officer & specialize in 1031 exchanges. I spend most of my time these days hanging out at home and enjoying life in what little free time I seem to have these days! Attached is another picture of myself, my wife Nancy & daughter Monica taken a few years ago in Manhattan Beach.

Excellent idea again, Jeff thanks for putting this together – what a great way for people to keep up with each other & be able to post comments & stuff! Hopefully it will get even more to the next reunion & we can all party till dawn... (or at our age until about 10:30 or so..)

Anyone feel free to email me at johnnyrocberry AT gmail.com

Hope everyone is doing well - happy 40's!!

John Barry

Group shot, with Kristin Hicks getting excited


Kerry Breen and John Barry

Emails, but no posts...

OK I have about 10 or 15 people who have emailed me saying hi but have not yet sent in a bio. You know who you are! I know you are all furiously typing away at the perfect summary, but in the meantime, send us a paragraph and a picture telling us what has been going on! Otherwise, I might have to make stuff up about you having 8 kids. Oh wait, that one is actually true, but I can't say who (yet).

Northgate Marriages

Here are the Class of '86 intra-Northgate marriages that I know about so far. Let me know in comments if there are others:

Michelle Degan and Ken Wirfel
Lisa Bien and Rick Smario
Dana Hinkle and Jamie Finegold ('87)

Reunion Photos Part IV

Thanks to Mike Sela for his contribution of photos.

(1) Lesley Chiu

(2) Debbie DeVoe and Rodney Centeno

(3) Mark Schmidt and Diptendu Samanta
(4) Dan Moore, Bill Paris


I also found another one online from the reunion set:
(5) Debbie DeVoe with Gary's wife, DeeDee, and Dave DeVoe's wife, Stacey

Reunion Photos: The Next Generation

Many thanks Don for sending them along. I'm sure there are others out there that we would all love to see. Actually, now that I am looking at this more closely, photo #5 below clearly shows Debbie Devoe snapping a picture. Debbie, send us some photos!

(1) Don Dornblaser (DD) and Lora Deily

(2) Heather (Darnsteadt) DeWitt, DD, Tina (Buschiazzo) Kane

(3) DD with Lisa Dorman

(4) Caryn Gribbon and Charlotta Johanneson

(5) Charlotta Johanneson and Kristin Hicks

(6) DD and Tina Cassano

(7) Ludwig Salvador and DD

UC Berkeley

Was UC Berkeley the college with the most NGHS alums? How many NGHS '86 folks went to Berkeley? Here's my list, let me know in comments if there are others:

Chris Bowhay
Clint Stewart
Mike Sela
Mike Bonetti
Carolyn Kempker
Cristella Chu
Mark Graham
Michele Plourde
Matt Carter
Charlotte Ng
Kathy Perzel
Rodney Centeno
Katrina Menzigian
Don Reeves
Brian Duckering
Mike Noh
Debbie DeVoe
Dave DeVoe
Lynn Hodges
Serena Hong
Jim Clark
Tracey Long
Mike Radakovich
Dave Stafford
Jeff Keys


Up to 25! so far, out of 368....

Carolyn Kempker

So many of you remember Carolyn "Spike" Kempker for her outstanding volleyball skills at Northgate. In fact, she is the only member of the class of '86 to be inducted to the Bronco Sports Hall of Fame. She apparently went to Cal Berkeley (see next post) and continued playing. As of 2007, she is ranked #6 and #7 all time on their list of Total Blocks in a season. If anyone has her email, please forward it along.

Reunion Photo Wrapup

OK I think that's all of them. Thanks to our anonymous commenters, I think we have correctly identified everyone. Please let me know in email or comments if there are mistakes, or if I need to change your name, or if you would like to add the name of your guests, etc. Also, if anyone has other candid photos from the event, please send them along, as I'm sure there are some folks who were present (Trief?) who are not shown here.

Finally, there are many people who were at the reunion who have not yet written in with updates, so if you are in contact with these folks, please encourage them to send us some news.

Bacher, Hazen, Sela

Elizabeth Bacher, Brian Hazen, Mike Sela

Morgan, Matthews

Jeffrey Scott Morgan, Kristin Matthews

Stashyn, McGhee, Tobias

Michelle Stashyn, Maureen McGhee, Julie Tobias

Gandhi, Schutz

Akshai Ghandi (2nd from left), Beth Schutz (2nd from right)

Murphy, Degan

Russ Johnston, Mollee (Murphy) Johnston, Michelle (Degan) Wirfel, wife of Ken Wirfel.

Richardson

(unknown on the left), Christi Richardson

Zawadzki, Donaldson

Karen Zawadzki, Jim Donaldson

Bonetti, Gribbon

Mike Bonetti, Caryn Gribbon, (unknown)

Devoe, Johannesson

Dave Devoe, Charlotta Johannesson

Breen, Stiefvater

Kerry Breen on the left, Mark Stiefvater on the right

Lockyer, McDounough

Sue Lockyer, Larry McDonough

(If anyone has Larry's email, let me know as his old address is bouncing)

Carter, Neville

Matt Carter, Mike Neville

Potts, Moran

Laura Potts on the left, Laura (Moran) Wilber on the right

Holm, Moran

Brian Holm, Laura Moran (on the right)