Class Notes: 1953
Virginia Zachery, B.A. ’53, M.A. ’55, married George Erikson Miller from Atlanta, Georgia in 1955 and together they raised six children in Hillsborough, California. Widowed in 2005, Virginia moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where she lives independently. She currently has 13 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She is an acrylic artist and poet.
Class of 1953 classmates are invited to sign up for the virtual lectures schedule for this fall: June 9 and August 21st, both at 1-2 pm. Lectures will highlights on the state of Cal today.
Information will be included about the Golden Bear Luncheon during Homecoming October 6th 11:30 am for classes celebrating 50th reunions and beyond – that includes our Class of 1953 70th reunion!
Gary and Coralee George Mueller have lived at The Forum at Rancho San Antonio in Cupertino for the past 15 years. The pandemic has afforded them time for lots of reading, walking, listening to music, and doing Zoom and Facetime calls. Now fully vaccinated, Coralee and her husband look forward to light at the end of the tunnel.
Chip Wray lives in rural Sonoma. His family includes four children, all in their 60s, ten grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Chip looks forward to increased mobility after a hip replacement this summer.
Bob Tanem continues live broadcasting of his weekly radio show, Bob Tanem in the Garden, Sundays at 9 a.m. on KSFO.
Patti Paine Whisler, a resident of Seattle, WA since 1963, was program manager for the City of Seattle, working with neighborhoods to strengthen their relationship and impact with city government. She retired in 1992. Patti served for a decade on the Council of Historic Seattle. It’s hard to believe that in just two short years our class will celebrate its 70th year since graduating from Berkeley.
Joan Egeberg Hancock, on the eve of her 90th birthday, sends warm wishes to all our classmates. Joan lost her husband this past year after 57 years of marriage. He taught at Stanford, within walking distance of Big Game, so she was torn supporting both teams! Joan has three sons, living in Brooklyn, New York; State College, Pennsylvania; and Dakar, Senegal, and eight grandchildren. She recently sold three of her narrative folk paintings online through Blue Skies Studio.
Class Secretaries: Beth Mott, 14 Mariposa Dr, San Luis Obispo 93401, bethmott@charter.net; Ollie White, 292 Hacienda Carmel, Carmel 93923, ollie@razzolink.com
Dr. Alan Scott earned a bachelor’s in medical sciences from Cal and a medical degree from UCSF. The New York Times reported that he had “a surgical internship and residency in neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota, followed by a residency in ophthalmology at Stanford University. He was a founding member of the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco and the institute’s senior scientist and co-director for over two decades. In 1978, Dr. Scott first injected the powerful paralytic Clostridium botulinum into the eye muscles of a patient who had undergone retinal detachment surgery that had left his eye pulled to one side. The procedure succeeded and refined one of the world’s deadliest poisons into a life-altering treatment. While his focus on the drug was always solely therapeutic, he was amused by its future use as Botox. Dr. Scott, who came to be called ‘Father of Botox,’ died on December 16, 2021, in Greenbrae, CA.” Jeanne (Young) Johnson, as she is about to enter her 90th year, sends warm wishes to classmates, especially of Oldenburg and Peixotto. She resides in Kirkland, Washington, and retired from the Edmonds School District as a high school teacher and principal. Family, traveling, golfing, and community activities have filled Jeanne’s life.
Class Secretaries: Beth Mott, 14 Mariposa Dr, San Luis Obispo 93401, bethmott@charter.net; Ollie White, 292 Hacienda Carmel, Carmel 93923, ollie@razzolink.com
