Click on this logo for my next, and final, career.
The highlights - and lowlights - of fifty years.
I spent a year and a semester at North Central, did something stupid, and was invited to join the military. It wasn't the life for me, although they did pay my way to Germany. I made it to Rotterdam on one trip, tried skiing at Garmisch, and got as far south as Naples on one two-week leave.
I took an overseas discharge and headed to South Africa. In Heidelberg, I had become barhopping buddies with a merchant marine officer who, it turned out, was a native of Germany who had emigrated to South Africa with his mother at 16. We stayed in touch after he went back to work, so when he went ashore for good he invited me down. What the hell, I figured, why not? Probably now or never. I'm probably one of very few class members who have been to Zimbabwe (when it was still Rhodesia) and swam in the Indian Ocean.
I spent six months there, plus a couple in Germany as a civilian, and hit stateside in the summer of '65. While I was soldiering, my family had tried to lose me by moving to the Cleveland area. I tracked them down, however, and I've been an Ohioan ever since.
I never did go back to get a degree, and have never had a "career". I've been an accounting clerk, DJ/newscaster, pinball repairman, carpet cleaner (including part-owning my own business for ten years), computer tech, and big rig driver. I've moved from Cleveland to Columbus to Cleveland to Columbus to Toledo, where I've lived since '81.
I got married in '66. I got divorced in '75 and remarried in '76. I got divorced in '89 and remarried in '93. I got it right the third time.
Although two marriages didn't last, they each produced two children. Altogether, my four kids are the pride of my life. They are smart, stubborn, clever and opinionated. Some of the best times I've ever had are when we all got together, as adults, and I listened to them reminisce and play off each other. (A lot of the time they make fun of the old man's eccentricities, but I can handle it.)
Tracy was born in '66. She was already out of high school when her mother and stepfather decided to move from Cleveland to Phoenix. She opted to move in with us in Toledo and attend the U. of Toledo. She ended up an IT major and excelled at it. (She was also a candidate for Homecoming Queen.) She met her husband, Brad Loetz, there. They both went on to get MBA's. After a few years of working for others, she started her own company in EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) consulting in Columbus, which Brad joined a year later. Tracy was named Young Entrepeneur of the Year for the Columbus Region (I think by the Chamber of Commerce) about eight years ago. Visit their business site at Remedi.com.
Tracy and Brad have two adopted sons who will turn 10, Evan, and 8, Austin, this summer.
Carter came along in '72. He made the move to Phoenix with his mother at 12, married a Phoenix girl, and will probably call Phoenix his home forever. He got a part-time job at Target at 16, took to retailing like the proverbial duck to water, moved up the ladder after high school graduation, and was a store manager at 29 - youngest ever in Arizona, one of the youngest nationally. He has since left Target and is now a store manager at Kohl's. He is married to Lynette. After umpteen years of part-time college, she got a degree in computer science a couple of years ago, and is now teaching. They have one daughter, Madison, who is 12. Watch for her on the LPGA tour in about ten years. Carter also has a son from a previous teenage relationship, Brennen, who turns 18 this year.
Katy and Kelly are my "Irish twins", so nicknamed because they came along just a year (and ten days) apart, Katy in '76 and Kelly in '77. Also, their mother is pure Irish.
Katy graduated from Ohio State, then did a Peace Corps stint in Armenia. The Jane Addams school within the U. of Illinois, Chicago campus, offers full rides in social work studies to PC volunteers. Full rides being a good thing, that's where Katy got her masters in social work. She has been employed in various Chicago social service agencies ever since. She maintains an ongoing debate with herself about getting a doctorate. She lives near Logan Square, loves the city, and is a managing member of the Blue Ribbon Glee Club, a 20-plus-member group that adapts punk rock songs to their almost-acapella format. Google them for more.
Kelly, like her father, has a lot of college courses but not the patience to get a degree. She has bounced around various jobs, mostly in office management, always seeming to make a good living. However, her most glamorous stint was about five years spent as first, a nanny and then, as personal assistant for Lauren Holly - roughly '02-'07. It started when Lauren was living in Lake Forest. When she got her gig on NCIS, the family moved to L.A., and Kelly went along. Ah, the backstage stories, and the world traveling. On the downside, it was a 13 hour, 7 days a week job, so Kelly finally left for the (more) normal world. She headed back to Chicago, is assistant manager of a medical placement service, and lives on the south side.
Ileen, another full-blooded Irish lass, is my third and final wife. She shares my appreciation of jazz and blues, but also likes Barry Manilow and Broadway show tunes. We like to travel near and far, always finding some wineries nearby to visit. Other hobbies we share are murder mystery dinners, hiking in national parks, and hitting any available outdoor craft shows. She has her own set of four children, all of whom are great kids and doing very well. We call the photo on the mantel our "eight is enough" wedding picture.
I bought a motorcycle in '72, sold it in '74, and waited nearly 35 years to get another. I now have an old 1980 900cc Honda to wrench on, customize, and ride.
I have been taking sporadic stabs at a career as a "voice actor", planning to market myself hard this (past) summer. If it goes well, believe me, you'll hear all about it at the reunion. My web site is barryhoward.net.
I like to think I'm in great health for my age. My joints are holding up well, so I'm still playing pickup basketball and co-ed wallyball. The doc tells me he tries real hard to find something wrong during my checkups, but can't. My parents have both made it to 93 (as of this writing), so I give them all the credit. They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary this year. That boggles my mind.
Like most of us, I marvel at how fast 50 years went by. Let's hope we all see each other at the 60th.
Barry "Beaster" Groves
Back in '63, stationed in Heidelberg, I took a leave and traveled through Switzerland and Italy with my German/South African buddy and his American girlfriend (a civilian working for the UN). He provided an MGA, I borrowed extra bedrolls from other soldiers. We spent two weeks cramming 3 people into that 2-seater, and all the gear on the trunk lid, sleeping wherever we could (getting chased out of a farmer's field once in Switzerland). We did stay three days in Rome and three in Naples. I ran out of leave at Naples and took a train back to Heidelberg - they went on to Greece. Lordy, all the memories you generate in a lifetime.
Left - In St. Peter's Square, Rome. Right - The muddy chariot, somewhere en route.
Barry Groves - questionnaire
Part 1 - personal
My autobiography would be titled "The Beach Bum Who Got Stuck in a Parka".
Relating to "hidden talent" - First, I should have been an industrial designer as a career. Second, my slight propensity for acting is leading me to a career in narration/voice acting.
I've turned out more like my Dad.
One thing my kids are sick of me pointing out is that some of the best poets of the last half-century are writing song lyrics. In the category of "proverb, quote, philosophy of life" I therefore submit the following -
"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose" - Kris Kristofferson
"The nearer your destination, the more you're slip-sliding away" - Paul Simon
and my favorite:
"But it's all right now, I've learned my lesson well
You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself" - Rick Nelson
I/we have done some traveling (apparently not like Randy), but so many places have been so impressive that it's hard to single out one. I'll go with the ruins of Pompeii.
I have 4 grandchildren, and my wife has 5, so together that's .... uh, give me a moment here ... uh, a bunch.
"Accomplished something I never thought I would?" Geez, I haven't accomplished a lot I thought I would!
I'm still working part-time.
Part 2 - memories
My favorite memory is summers at the pool.
I'd like to visit the "little store" next to Ellsworth school, but only if it was still the way it was then (when I was about 9 or 10).
Cool cars? I wish I had my '55 Chevy back, but Ray Hanlon's '56 Chevy gets my vote.
Fashion statement - around 8th grade-freshman year, pink and black (or pink and charcoal).
Eccentric characters - I remember Kaiser the postman/bodybuilder/sun lamp devotee, and the guy (whose name I've lost) that owned the grubby little auto repair shop on School St across from where the North Central library went up.
My first job was delivering Fuller Brush. Favorite TV shows were I Love Lucy and Maverick.
Special memories - Friday night dances at the Y, and the red British driving caps the '59 basketballers wore.
Chobar's was the favorite place to eat, because it was open all night! In second place was the Downers Grove Big Boy.
On Sundays, the family went to church around 10, picked up a Tribune at the Rexall, and (usually) had a big Sunday dinner. After that, what we did was weather-dependent.
"How I Spent My Summer Vacations" - Little League, Pony League, painting our picket fence, and always, whenever possible, at the pool.
One thing not addressed in the questionnaire, but a powerful memory for me, is my neighborhood. It was all I knew, so of course I took it for granted. But since, I have realized that it's uncommon for so many families with identically-aged children to live in such proximity.
On our block - actually, just a half-block - were me, Peg, Heather and Pat. I think we were all there by the age of 5. Three of us had little brothers that were five years younger, with various siblings in between. Within a block, or two or three, were Mary Ruth, Caryl, Dave, Roger and Randy (and Randy's little brother). Ball game in the lot next to Heather's - or down by the cemetery - no problem; you could always find playmates. I loved climbing the tree in Pat's back yard. In the winter, the two best sledding hills in town were a block away. In the summer, Peg's front yard drew more fireflies than I have ever seen since.
I think all of us in the Columbia Street Gang, and our families, and our nearby friends, should be grateful for such a great neighborhood. Many years later, I know I am.