In 1977 Lorraine Iverach and I were married. We decided that working for 30 years before retiring was a bad idea so in 1980 we ìretiredî for a couple of years and traveled around the world. If you keep going east long enough you do eventually get back to where you started. We visited some 30 countries and had a wonderful experience. Upon returning to Winnipeg I worked for Futros Equipment designing mobile oil-drilling equipment and after a year, I returned to the Health Sciences Centre where I still work. I design, build and maintain devices for disabled people to help increase their independence.

In 1982 daughter Jennifer was born, then sons Christopher in 1985 and Benjamin in 1988. Jennifer is currently doing a double major in English and Anthropology at U of Winnipeg and she works as a guide at the Manitoba Museum. Christopher is entering Engineering at U of M in the fall and Ben is finishing grade 9. All 3 kids attended French immersion schools in St. Vital. Lorraine taught junior high for many years and now does contract writing through our company, IBIS (Iverach-Brereton Integrated Services) when she is not volunteering at the kidsí schools. We like to spend time at our cottage on West Hawk lake where we swim, SCUBA dive, canoe and hike. For 10 years I taught SCUBA at the U of M. We have a small motorhome for ìsoftî camping and we also backpack/camp in winter and summer. I am a Scout Leader and my sons are still active as a Scout and a Venturer. The 3 of us are hoping to complete the Mantario hiking trail this summer. I cycle to work in the summer and bus/walk in winter. A home workshop and home/cottage renovation and repair occupies a good deal of my time. My high school interests of photography and music have moved on to the children. We have trunks full of photos, and the kids all play in school or community bands with a collection of instruments including oboe, bass/contra bass clarinet, flute, assorted saxophones, voice and piano. I still give my clarinets the occasional workout, especially at Christmas.

So it seems I must catch you up on 40 years in the life of Susan Humphreys! After Grades 5 and 6 at Queenston School (which was also my Dad’s elementary school) I attended J.B. Mitchell Junior High, then Kelvin. I spent the next four years at U. of Manitoba perusing my B.Sc. in Agriculture and running into Kelvinites off and on. As far as I know I was the only Kelvinite in Agriculture, so I made a lot of new friends. There I also met my future husband, an Ag. Economics major. I graduated in 1973 and travelled in Europe with a fellow Ag. grad. On my return I trained and travelled with an Agriculture Canada programme and subsequently took a job in Calgary a year, working in the area of pesticide and livestock feed inspections. Skiing was great, the job was lousy. I transferred to Winnipeg and got an Ag Canada job working for the potato specialist here, doing field inspections and virus testing. In 1975 I married Alan Bell, also a Winnipegger, and resigned from my job when the babies started coming. It turned out to be a 19-year maternity leave (I’m sure Anne Phillips would be appalled) and devoted myself to raising good, happy, responsible kids. The jury is still out. I’ve been active in our community, church and schools with the usual gamut of committees, boards etc. Volunteering in elementary and junior high got me interested in teaching, and I’m now a teaching assistant and have worked with Grades 4 to 9 students for the last 5 years.

Alan and I have four children: Carolyn, 23, Lindsay, 22, Brian, 19 and Kevin, 16, hockey players all. None have left the nest, which is just north of Winnipeg. Alan owns a business, Superior Agri-Systems, which designs, installs and services automated livestock feed systems and grain handling systems, and keeps him busy about 17 hours a day. Our family has enjoyed summer holidays at Victoria Beach and Kenora, winter ski trips, hundreds of hockey and soccer games and tournaments in six provinces, and frequent extended family gatherings. I’ve been a runner for about 12 years but never anything serious until last year. Thanks to Grant Mitchell and his 50th birthday marathon idea, I ran my first half marathon, then limped for two weeks. I loved it. I also ski, play ringette and hockey in the winter and enjoy roller-blading, hiking and camping in the summer. If Alan ever retires (or even if he never does) I would love to travel and perhaps get involved in third world development or literacy projects.

Here’s to a wonderful reunion, with many thanks to Grant and Nancy for all their determination and hard work!

Looking through the yearbook has brought back many vivid memories of the times we shared. In retrospect, the myriad of experiences we had at Kelvin was really quite remarkable. So, maybe it isnít all that surprising to see how divergent the paths have been that we chose to follow.

After graduating from Kelvin I decided to go to McGill. I suppose I could justify that decision by saying something like, ìthe science program was top notchî. But the reality was that I chose McGill because Montreal sounded like an exciting place to live. And, it was ñ the people, the sights, the culture ñ they were all wonderfully different and new. Along the way I did get an honors degree in biochemistry. I also took the opportunity to sing and act. (I made sure no one knew that I played the violin ñ I didnít want to risk being put into the orchestra pit again!)

I also met my future husband, George, at McGill. We married in 1972, just before graduation. With all of our joint earthly belongings fitting into the trunk of a rental car, we drove to Chicago, and settled into marriage and graduate school. I had been accepted into psychology, George into the M.D./Ph.D. program. The next few years were an incredibly exciting time for me. The fields of pharmacology, neurochemistry and psychiatry were all converging and I was studying with the man who had pretty much set it all in motion.

After receiving my Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, I transitioned to become a member of its faculty, in the department of psychiatry. The next five years, doing research into the neurochemistry of psychiatric and neurological disorders ñ schizophrenia, ALS, Huntingtonís Disease ñ was an experience that I would never trade. However, by about 1980, I saw ìthe error of my waysî and enrolled into the Business School. I think I probably had the dubious distinction of being the only full time faculty member and part-time business student at the time.

After getting my MBA, I decided to leave academia and enter the private sector. Over the next dozen or so years I worked, in various capacities, for large pharmaceutical companies such as Abbott, Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy (the latter two merging to become Novartis). During those years I designed sales/marketing campaigns for new drugs, prepared strategic evaluations of new business opportunities, and prepared plans for the development of new therapeutic drugs. The latter experiences would prove to be invaluable.

In 1990 George and I became co-founders of a venture-backed pharmaceutical company, Pharmavene. The Companyís focus was to develop improved versions of existing products (i.e., drugs that could be dosed less frequently, were more effective or had a better side effect profile), or to target existing drugs for new indications (e.g., addictive disorders, bipolar disorder, etc.). In 1997 we received FDA approval for and launched our first product, an anti-epileptic drug, Carbatrol. On the heels of that was Adderal XR, a drug for treating children with attention deficit disorder. In 1997 Pharmavene (by now employing about seventy people) was sold to Shire.

I would not be honest if I didnít say that I take tremendous pride in my work in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry, particularly in building Pharmavene. The products Iíve helped develop have made a significant impact on the quality of many peopleís lives. And, in the case of Pharmavene, my efforts led to the creation of a new, self-sustaining and vibrant business.

I also take tremendous pride in my two children ñ Katherine (ìKatî), twenty and Andrew (ìSpotî), seventeen. They are anything and everything a mother could hope for ñ bright, beautiful and insightful. Kat is on scholarship in an honors program in science at the University of Maryland; Andy is applying to programs in architecture.

In 2000 I set up my own consulting company. As a consultant Iíve worked with several startup companies, helping them develop their business strategies and write their business plans. Iíve also started to cultivate interactions with the Federal Government. My last assignment was to write a ìWhite Paperî for the ìOffice of National Drug Control Policy ñ Office of the Presidentî.

In my ìoff timeî, I have started writing a novel, ìFootprints in the Snowî. Yes, it is a ìlove storyî (set in Switzerland.)

George died in 1996; I havenít remarried. I live in a lovely home in Potomac (just outside of Washington, DC). I have been blessed with good health, good friends, and the where-with-all to travel and live a gentle existence. My life has been filled with happiness, as well as with sorrow ñ but, I have no regrets. When I graduated from Kelvin I could not have envisioned what an absolutely wild, often scary, mostly wonderful, but ultimately all-consuming roller-coaster ride it would be.

I look forward to sharing in your intervening life experiences and remembrances of our days together at Kelvin when we meet again in June!

After Kelvin, I took a degree in English at Queenís , then moved to Toronto to go to med school and Iíve been here ever since. I specialized in Internal Medicine and Cardiology but practiced this only briefly before moving on to something called ìInsurance Medicine.î
In 1981 I went to a Canada Day brunch at a friendís and bumped into Chris McCulloch (aka Junior Barnes), whom most of you know as he played in bands with Pybus, Hillman and Bowles and also made a movie called ìThe night they killed Artî which a number of you are in. I used to think he was pretty cute when he played in ìthe Crittersî but I had scarcely seen him since. A year later we were married. Everyone who knew us both (thatís you guys) agreed it would never last, but we seem to have made it through the first 20+ years more or less unscathed.

We had some pretty hectic years: two hyperactive standard schnauzers, two babies; load them all on a plane to Winnipeg every Christmas along with all the presents, three saxophones and a couple of trunks full of Barnes costumes, flash powder units, sparklers and something unbelievably called ìFire from Allahî. Good thing there were no explosive detectors at Pearson in those days.

The last thing we ever expected was that we would become hockey parents but we were dragged into it by our kids and since we were in it decided we might as well contribute. For the last 6 or 7 years both Chris and I have devoted thousands of volunteer hours to running the Etobicoke Dolphins Girls Hockey League. This has led to considerable curtailment of Barnes gigs but we are hoping to phase ourselves out of this after next year once our daughter Denise leaves for university.

Our son Mike graduates this year from Trinity College School in Port Hope where he has been a boarder for the last 3 years. A gifted writer, Mike is also dyslexic and it has been a huge challenge for him to acquire the skills he needs to use his talents. Being Mikeís advocate has taken up a large part of my emotional energy over the last 15 years. Its also what Iím most proud of.

My job as a consultant in the Insurance industry was pretty ho-hum for a few years but has become much more interesting now thatís itís possible to access the world medical literature instantly on-line. I get asked interesting questions and I read about them and come up with answers, so basically I am getting paid to learn.

In 1969 Mike, Ian, Jack and I went to Newfoundland for ìReach for the Topî. They took us to a place called Carbonear where we visited a kennel where they raised Newfoundland dogs. I was enchanted by them and decided that some day I would have one. Thirty-two years later, ìWinstonî joined our family. Now at 2 and 1/2 he weighs 170 pounds and doesnít seem to have stopped growing.

I hope some of you will look me up if you are in Toronto or at least send me an e-mail at judybeamish@rogers.com and tell me about yourselves and about the reunion.

While I was completing my B.A., I met Gregg Humphreys (B. Comm., U. of Manitoba). We worked for a year after graduation, and then bought a van and headed south to Central America.It was an amazing trip, rich in MesoAmerican history, culture, and okay, cervezas, too.

Touring B.C. on the way back, we decided to move to Vernon. Gregg pursued his love of flying (hang-gliding, sailplaning) and I got involved in art projects. Together, we enjoyed exploring the Okanagan Valley, camping, skiing and hiking.

Sadly, in 1984, my mother died suddenly, in Calgary. I became my father’s main caregiver while he battled Alzheimer’s Disease, until his death in 1990.

After 8 years in Vernon, we made the move to Victoria…what a great decision. We love it here, provincial politics notwithstanding! Gregg continues to work in insurance adjusting, and now has his own company. I am working part-time in a small art gallery, and volunteer at a municipal archives.

In the mid-90′s, I was fortunate to be able to go back to school for three wonderful years, and receive my Diploma of Fine Arts. There, I started painting 3-D pieces, which I still prefer, and have sold via retail and commissions.

Over all this time, we have enjoyed many trips, including frequent visits to the Yukon, where my sister Janet lives. I try to return to the family cottage at Clear Lake each summer, and it was there that I celebrated my 50th Birthday.

Here in Victoria, I sing in a choir at U. Vic., paint, read, garden, walk, and recently have become familiar with nailers and saws as we build a cabin on Thetis Island, accessed by ferry from Chemainus, an hour north.

I dug the lifestyle and the people, and managed to play decent drums. It turned out to be my profession – I’ve been playing drums professionally ever since. In ’75 I became disenchanted with my future in the Winnipeg bar scene, again drifted, again stumbled – this time into the world of jazz and latin music in Montreal. The city has treated me well over the years. I’ve been blessed with a successful career and have travelled extensively, playing good music of which few of my Queenston classmates will ever have heard.

Managed to conquer my shyness too. Celine and I have been together 19 years; her daughter Katia was 6 when we began our relationship, and in November gave birth to Mathilde, who is delightful. So life has been good to me. Outside of playing music, I enjoy cooking and languages.

I formed a contemporary jazz vocal group called The Merlin Factor in the 80s; the group has managed to continue over the years, performing sporadically where-ever we are able. Besides playing drums and arranging the group’s music, I write the lyrics for our repertoire, in collaboration with diverse composers. This spring we will release our 4th CD.

In ’96 Celine and I decided to investigate music scenes elsewhere, and left Montreal, living for one year in New York and three in Toronto before returning. The quality of life in Montreal is higher then the two larger cities, and my professional connections here make an already difficult professional milieu a little easier. So we are happy to be back. The future? Tough business to predict; fortunately – or perhaps not – these days everybody else seems to be increasingly in the same boat.

I began by running for school board for the Winnipeg School Division in the 1988 by-election and came in second. Yes, there were more than two running! Next I taught in the literacy program, canvassed for the Salvation Army, the Kidney Foundation and the Humane Society. I walked dogs for the Humane Society and wrote character references for adoption (they all passed!).

My wife and I traveled not only across Canada but also to Portugal and the U.K. While in the U.K. we stopped in Plymouth for a few days. It was a nostalgic moment for me – I had not been there since September 1943. Our escort group sailed to the Bay of Biscay and never returned.

I ride a 13 speed mountain bike (at one speed), downhill ski, cross country ski, paddle, and swim three times a week. I have my favorite book store close by and another in Toronto.

Life is busy with two grandsons here (I play road hockey every Friday) and a granddaughter in Toronto.

Since 1981, my wife, Clara Hirsch (also from Winnipeg but in her case from the famed North end), our two wonderful boys (Jake who is 20 and at U of T and AJ who is 18 and waiting to hear about University for next year)  and I have spent a very rewarding 22 years in the Foreign Service. We have had postings in Mexico City (1983-85), New Delhi (1989-92) and Washington, DC (1997-2001). Clara has taught (she has degrees in Fine Arts and teaching) and I have done political work abroad. In Ottawa, I spent most of my early career in in the Legal Bureau doing international law. Before heading to Washington, I was the Director of our Mexico Division and I’m currently the Director General for North America where I, together with half the government, do Canada-US and Canada-Mexico relations.

Clara is also at the Department where she spent the last year working in the Consular Bureau with the Canadian families of the victims of Sept. 11.

We are about to face the empty nesters syndrome which we find quite hard to believe since we still feel like we’re about 28.

I am a professional artist living in Toronto.  But it took me a while to figure out that that was what I wanted to do.  After high school I did an honours English degree at the U of M and then went into Fine Arts.  I was married by then, to Michael Brotman, who was three years ahead of us at Kelvin.  We travelled throughout Europe and Israel for a year before settling in Toronto.  I then got my B.Ed. from U of T and began teaching high school Art and English.  I don’t know how Rudi did it.  I hated it — not the students (they were fun and challenging) but the institutional regimentation.  After stints at the University of Toronto Fine Arts department as well as artist-in-residence in many schools, I ended up teaching at the Royal Ontario Museum, where I am a specialist in the art and social history of ancient civilizations.  I teach three days a week which allows me to carry on an active studio art practice.

I work in drawing, painting and printmaking.  I exhibit primarily in Canada but have also been included in group shows in the US and Ireland.  This spring I have three exhibits, a three-person show in Montreal, and solos in Toronto and Dawson City, Yukon.  I was awarded an artist residency in Dawson last summer and fell in love with the North.  So I’m going back with my artwork to lecture, give a workshop, and canoe and hike.  I am also politically involved in Toronto’s art community.  I have sat on the board and executive of an artist-run centre for nine years and this year was the acting chair.  Our centre represents 150 artists and besides mounting exhibitions and offering educational programs, we have been involved in fighting landlords for fair studio rents and conservative governments for support of artists and the arts in general.

Michael and I have three children, all of whom are at university now.  Michael is a child psychiatrist in private practice.  Before kids, we used to go wilderness camping.  Our goal was to hit every provincial and national park in Canada.  With the kids, we took very long driving and camping trips: to Utah and Colorado, South Dakota, the Maritimes, British Columbia, South Carolina and New York state. We’ve been caught in three tornadoes.  And now that the kids refuse to be seen with us in public, we are continuing our Canadian park quest.  Last summer we added Kluane national park to our roster.