Kathy Thesing Ramdin

After graduation Paula Powell and I boarded the train north to begin our college adventure and briefly became Spartans at San Jose State. Our paths separated and I went to Mexico City College and Seattle U. (a Jesuit co-ed school---I think I was looking for someplace safe) leaving with a BA in English and a teaching certificate. I became a "Valley Girl" again, attempting to teach 8th graders in Woodland Hills. In 1965 I married Ken Ramdin who I met in college from Trinidad in the West Indies (I think I was looking for someone exotic). We moved to Saint Louis MO. I taught high school while Ken got a Master's Degree in Social Work. In the 70's we settled in suburbia (Rancho Bernardo, a planned community in San Diego). We raised our children, Peter and Leela, and did the usual----coached sports teams, forced the children to go to CCD and went to lots of neighborhood parties. A plus was my parents' move to nearby Escondido. I returned to school and became a landscape designer. We have four grandsons---ages 7 to 3, who we enjoy for limited periods of time. Since Ken's retirement (much too early) we have been semi- vagabonding. We backpacked through Europe with Eurorail passes (about 30 years later than most people) for two and a half months. We toured around the US for five months. Liking the Desert Southwest, we moved to Chandler AZ (We were looking for something different......but it's a dry heat)! We experimented with the "simple" life for nine months (without electricity or paved roads) living in our one room cabin on the Sea of Cortez, south of San Felipe in Baja CA ,and recently wandered around the Southern Hemisphere visiting some beautiful South Pacific Islands, New Zealand and Australia . Returning to San Diego, we try to maintain. I still love to take classes: French 101, Ceramics 100 (both 3 times) and Yoga for years. I've discarded macrame for my new hobby---making friends in the wine aisle @ Trader Joe's and getting advice on value oriented (cheap) wines. I'm very grateful for my family, friends and all these healthy years...looking forward to our reunion. With the words of the Spanish toast, I wish you "Salud, dinero y amor, y tiempo para gustarlos". (Health, money and love, and time to enjoy them)

POSTED BY KATHY THESING RAMDIN

Mary Jo Livingston Kinney

As a committee member for planning our 50^th reunion, lots of good memories are being recalled. I remember our graduation ceremony at the Starlight Bowl, feeling elated, and thinking I was on top of the world !

That fall, I enrolled at San Diego State College as a Home Economics major. After a year, I returned home and worked as a bookkeeper for Security Pacific Bank while I planned my April, 1961 wedding to Mike Kinney. We honeymooned in Yorktown, VA for six months, while Uncle Sam stationed Mike at Ft. Eustis. Then, JFK extended Mike's duty for one year because of the Berlin Crisis……..

Son Jim was born in 1962 and daughter Peggy was born the next year. We bought the house next door to my parents, and really appreciated the love and helpfulness of my mom and dad. After five years, we out grew the house and moved from North Hollywood to Sierra Madre. (adjacent to east Pasadena) This is a unique little town of 12,000 people, nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Mike and I have volunteered with many organizations.

I took classes at Pasadena City College, and finally got my AA degree at the age of 43. In addition, I managed the small office for Mike's electrical, motor control business. After 13 years of "work place togetherness", I found an accounting position at Santa Anita Race Track.

Since I was still yearning to get my college degree, I enrolled in the University of Redlands' satellite program for working adults. Finally, at the age of 51, I got my BA in Business Management. Yeah !

My career at Santa Anita made 20 years fly by. I retired last year to spend more time with family and friends. For enjoyment, I like photography, reading, and 7 a.m. lap swimming.

Son Jim (46) lives in San Diego, and Peggy (45) lives in Agoura Hills. My three grand sons (15, 5 and 3) make me a very "gooey grandma". Camp Kinney sessions at our house are a tradition and exhaustingly fun !

I value my Providence friendships, and look forward to our reunion when we can weave together our memories of more than 50 years!

See you in March----

Mary Jo Livingston Kinney

POSTED BY MARY JO LIVINGSTON KINNEY

Almita Jimenez Bey-Carrion

After eight years at Saint Finbar and four at Providence, I attended the University of San Diego College for Women for two years. Although I was accepted by Northridge University for my Junior year, my life took a turn. In 1961 I joined the Army, taking my Basic Training in Alabama, then was stationed at Fort Eustis, Virginia. This was before the Civil Rights Movement, so quite an experience being in the South. Seven months after arriving in Virginia I met my husband-to-be, Rueben Carrion, who was born and raised in Newton, Kansas. Our wedding day was all arranged and scheduled for Nov. 10, 1962, but the Cuban Missile Crises broke out. Rueben was sent to Florida and I spent what should have been my wedding day morning crying in the shower. After things settled down, Rueben's CO, who felt bad that we had to cancel our wedding, allowed him a five day leave back to Virginia. We were finally married in the Fort Eustis Catholic Chapel on November 17, 1962. We lived in Williamsburg for awhile and at the end of 1963 moved to California to make our home. We've been happily married for forty-six years, have five grown children (three adopted), ranging from age 44 to 33, and six grandchildren ages 22 to 4. During the early years of our marriage we were also foster parents.

Since my Senior high school year, when I taught Catechism to children in a downtown Los Angeles parish, I have always been active in our parish, wherever we happened to be living. I've been President of the Legion of Mary, Co-Director of RCIA and Lector, for instance. Around age forty-two I returned to college, getting my B.A. in Religious Studies from Mount Saint Mary's College in Los Angeles. During that time I also completed a two-year Archdiocese of Los Angeles' Certification Program for Spiritual Directors and have been a Spiritual Director for over 25 years. After completion of my B.A. it took me seven summers to achieve a Master's Degree in Spirituality from Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA. This required that I stay at Santa Clara U. for six weeks each summer, which I never could have done without the love, encouragement, and support of my wonderful husband and our five children who were still living at home. I graduated at age 52 with my M.A.

In 1988 the Passionist Congregation of Priests and Brothers hired me to be on the all-priest retreat team at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, CA. Prior to beginning my employment with the Passionists they sent me to Catholic Theological Union in Chicago where I was able to take two summer classes and meet with other lay people from around the country who were involved with the Passionist Congregation in one way or another. We were given a grand tour of Chicago, a visit to the Provincial House, and each evening our group met for further immersion in the history and ministries of the Passionists around the world.

I was the first woman to be on the retreat team in the history of Mater Dolorosa and had to preach (yes, preach!) every weekend during the retreat season, which was September to May. The weekend retreats were mostly for men, although we had about 4 women's retreats a year. The men had a challenging adjustment to make when a woman became part of the retreat team after sixty-plus years of "no women" on their retreats. Most accepted this paradigm shift; some few never did. During my years at Mater Dolorosa, apart from my ministry of Spiritual Direction, I provided special programs at the retreat center, primarily for women, but also a prayer group for men. Once a year I conducted a Day of Prayer and Reflection at Saint Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo, for parish secretaries of the L.A. Diocese. I was also privileged to assist a Passionist priest in conducting a pilgrimage to Italy during that time, visiting the holy places and shrines of several Passionist saints. My years at the retreat center were some of the most enriching years of my life.

Rueben was able to retire at age fifty-five after twenty-eight years with United Parcel Service. That was fifteen years ago. We moved to southern Nevada (Pahrump) in 1994 and in 2001 we moved to Gardnerville, in northern Nevada, where we live now. Gardnerville is an hour south of Reno and a half hour from gorgeous Lake Tahoe. Our valley is nestled against the majestic Sierra Nevada mountains where forest, lakes, rivers and waterfalls abound. At an elevation of 4,750 feet, we are blessed with the beauty and diversity of the four seasons. This is an ideal location for nature lovers such as Rueben and myself who like to spend as much time as possible outdoors hiking, bird-watching, and RVing. Two winters ago we took up snow-shoeing. We're proud of the fact that our small property has been designated a wildlife habitat, having complied with the specifications to be so designated by the National Wildlife Federation. Between January and December we attract at least 24 species of birds to our property.

My hobby is nature photography and earlier this year I won First Prize for a photo I took of a Bald Eagle last March. Bald eagles come down to our valley ranches to feed on the placenta of newly born calves. Local shops have sold my photo greeting-cards and some of my larger photographs.

At present Rueben has a four-day-a-week job at one of our local hotel/casino's as casino cashier. He's always been a people-person, so loves this job were he deals with the public. As always, I continue to be involved in our parish. For six years now I've facilitated two programs: Women's Scripture Sharing and a Contemplative Prayer Group for women and men. Five years ago I was elected Dean of the Nevada Chapter of Benedictine Oblates which is affiliated with the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia.

Sister Cecilia Mary was my piano and choral teacher during my years at Providence. I grew very close to her, as well as to Sister Alphonsa Maria, both being significant influences during my high school years. So much of who and what I became I owe to them. I stayed in touch with Sister Cecilia Mary after I graduated, exchanging many letters, which I still have, and an occasional phone call. A few years after I married she came to visit Rueben and I in our home. We had two children by then. When she was dying of cancer I flew to Seattle to see her. During that visit I also saw Sister Esther who had taught me, my brother and sister at Saint Finbar. I also got to see my 2nd and 4th grade teachers: Sisters Bernadette and Catherine.

Unfortunately, Sister Alphonsa Maria passed away not long after we graduated, so I never had the opportunity to thank her for all she did for me. Not in person, anyway, though many times in my prayers and heart. Academic non-achiever that I was (I hated school back then), it was at her insistence and intervention on my behalf to the Mother Superior of USD College for Women that I got accepted to that wonderful school. My grades didn't warrant admission to any college, nor did I want to go, but Sister Alphonsa Maria somehow believed that what had to happen was for me to continue my education, somehow shed my cocoon along the way, and the butterfly would emerge. She was right, against all my resistance and protestations. She spoke with my parents about "her plan for me," so between the three of them, off I went to USD to live and study for two years.

It's been wonderful to read about some of my former classmates here and I hope we hear from many more. However, it has deeply saddened me to read the names of our dear classmates who have passed away. May they be living in the joy of God's eternal love.

Our five children are scattered between Las Vegas and southern and northern California, making it difficult to get everyone together. However, I can include here a photo taken this past Thanksgiving weekend of our three daughters, the boyfriend of one, three of our grandchildren, Rueben and myself. Missing are our two sons, three grandchildren, and the son-in-law who took the photo.

With fond memories and best wishes to all,

Almita Jimenez Bey-Carrion

snowfall6@msn.com

POSTED BY ALMITA JIMENEZ BEY-CARRION

Carol Ann Rando Irsfeld (part 2)

I sure am enjoying reading what everyone is up to these days, but in reading, I realized that in my haste to get my bio posted last August, all I wrote about the present was that we retired to Alaska and we love it. True, but we are busy too.
Both Peter and I are CASA volunteers. CASA is short for Court Appointed Special Advocate. CASAs work with children who have been removed from their home, usually from abuse or neglect, and are in foster care. We visit the children and make sure they are getting the services they need; we CASAs are the squeaky wheels and mostly fill in the cracks and do those things an overloaded system isn't able to do. In short, CASAs stand up for abused and neglected kids.
We also do a lot of traveling, just about all family related. We are both blessed to still have our dads; Peter's dad is 96 and mine is 98. We visit them at least every three months, and also visit our kids and grandkids.
Our life is full and we enjoy every day, thankful for the blessings of family, friends and good health.
Carol Ann

POSTED BY CAROL ANN RANDO IRSFELD

Caryl Harvey Prati

When I graduated I was one of 7 classmates to enter the Sisters of Charity of Providence. I was very confident that this was what God wanted me to do with my life. Fr. Throckmorton taught classes on the sacraments. One afternoon during the sacrament of Marriage class, I "heard" a message that I would better serve Him in marriage. That was the farthest thing from my mind and it took me into my second year to request to return home in 1961. From 1962-1964, I studied nursing at LAVC. I didn't meet my spouse, John Prati, until Friday, June 13, 1969. We married November 8th, and we started our family without any waiting too, Sylvia. David was born in 1970, MiShell in 1972 and JoAnne in 1974. All of them are happily married and college graduates. As you can see in the photo, we have four grandchildren. We lived in MI for 28 years and our son, Aimee, Steven, Jacob and 1 yr. old Sarah live there. JoAnne, Red and Morgan live in OK and will soon gift us with a fifth grandchild. MiShell and Glenn are in the Seattle area and have gifted us with 2 "grand-pups".

Nursing has been a blessed profession for me. That was another thing that I didn't think I'd like. Interesting how life develops, isn't it? I earned a BSN in 1984 and a MSEd in 1994. I am still active in nursing, as a part-time paid parish nurse at our church, St. Andrew Catholic Church in Moore, OK. I joined several colleagues in forming the statewide Faith Community Nursing Association of OK. We actively promote parish nursing throughout the state. OKC is a good place to retire. It is a big, little city with lots of community activities: theater, a philharmonic, Museum of Art, sports galore, and a developing downtown. The cost of living is very affordable e.g. gas just dropped to $1.91 this past week! Do you remember when we had gas wars at $.10 per gallon in the 50s? $2.00 would fill up your car. We have learned to listen attentively for the tornado warnings in May and October and take our tornado precautions.

By the way, Cecile Condemi Fraley and I just got connected. She lives in Owasso, outside Tulsa, OK, about 2 hours from OKC. She wants to come for our reunion. We hope to get reacquainted now that we have found each other. How about that ...two PHS graduates in OK!

I can't imagine living 67 years of life without Our Lord. I'm so grateful that our parents brought us to Baptism and into this Catholic Christian life. Oh, I sadly separate myself at times like everyone else, but I am confident that I "have not here a lasting home" and try to live every day with Him. When I moved to OK in 1999, I made a decision to reflect on Scripture before reading the sports section in the morning. It's not easy to do in this college town! Yes, I'm still a jock at heart. I read the sports and John reads the comics. But, I last played competitive softball when I was 44. Once you start trying to put God first, it's not so hard to Let Go and Let God". it sounds like many of you know this too.

I'm looking forward to seeing you in March 2009.

POSTED BY CARYL HARVEY PRATI

Sylvia Livoti MacAller

After I graduated from Providence, I got a summer job at the Bank of America before I entered Immaculate Heart College. In September 1962, I was hired on as a Champagne Lady for the Lawrence Welk Show. I would perform every Friday and Saturday night at the Hollywood Palladium and do the live television show every Saturday. My dad was the Concert Master on the show and Lawrence loved to publicize the fact that we were father-daughter. I got the opportunity to travel a bit and loved doing the show.

I stayed on the show for 2 years. I also sang in the St. Charles Choir in North Hollywood where I met my husband George. We were married in 1963 and started our family right away.

Gina was born in 1964, Christine, 1965 and Michelle, 1967. I was a stay at home mom and with 3 little girls, my days were filled. I still sang as much as I could doing voice overs and performing as much as I could. Singing has always been my passion.

In addition, I joined the St. Joseph's Guild, Children's Hospital Auxiliary and started the Celebration Company, a children's musical company.

Our daughters were all a year apart and when it came time for them to enter college, we realized that we might need a supplemental income to get them through. They entered Loyola Marymount University one year after the other. I got a job as an Administrative Assistant to the President of a Real Estate company in Woodland Hills. As part of my job, I got very involved in the development of Warner Center, chaired a Deed Committee for the City of Los Angeles, served on the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce and was asked to chair the Loyola Marymount Parent's Advisory.

In 1989, I got my real estate license and went directly into Commercial/Industrial real estate; my background in my community afforded me the opportunity to meet many business people so I had a great client base. In 1994, I joined TOLD Partners in Woodland Hills, a boutique brokerage where I am currently. In 1996, I made Senior Vice President/Partner.

God has blessed my life. I have a wonderful husband of 45 years, three happily married daughters and 7 gorgeous grandkids, my health, and I still sing as much as I can. Life is Good!

POSTED BY SYLVIA LIVOTI MAC ALLER