Bruce Schaefer:
CLASS OF 1959
Miramonte High SchoolClass of 1959
Orinda, CA
Oscar F Smith High SchoolClass of 1967
Chesapeake, VA
Colegio Americano High SchoolClass of 1959
Caracas,
Bello Monte High SchoolClass of 1959
Caracas,
American SchoolClass of 1959
Mexico city,
Bruce's Story
Life:
Born in Berkeley CA in 1942, went to Emerson elementary school for 1st, 2nd grades. Lived in Bombay India 2x, went to Walsingham House School there. Returned to US, to Akron OH, in 1951, attended King Elementary School thru 6th grade; teachers were Miss Leach and Mr. Ensworth. Went to Simon Perkins Jr. High 1 semester, moved to Berkeley again, went to Willard Jr. High 1 semester then moved to Mexico City.
Attended American School [Colegio Americano] there 1.5 years, learned Spanish, had a couple of best buddies: Scott Ransom, who went on to become a wildlife cinematographer, and Tommy Long from Texas. Loved Mexico, great memories from that place.
Returned to Berkeley in 1955, went to Willard again thru 9th grade. Friends from then included Chip Gash and Duncan Pennel (guys I walked to school with each day), Gene Downey, Bob Harwayne. Used to go to St. Johns Church at lunchtime, smoke cigarettes in the doorway of the side entrance: Kit Gibbs, Paul Walker, John Bolander, Gash, Pennel.
Moved to Caracas Venezuela in 1956, went to Colegio Americano for 1 year. When my father died down there, we returned to CA and I graduated from Miramonte HS in Orinda in 1959. Went to St. Mary's College in Moraga CA for 2 yrs, took 2 yrs off to work and travel Europe, graduated from San Jose State in 1965. [**I just added St. Mary's. See notes below **]
Married in 1966, moved to VA to join the National Teacher Corps program run out of Hampton Institute there. Taught psychology at Oscar Frommel Smith HS 66-67 [see notes below]. [God help those kids!], taught another year in E. Orange NJ, returned to CA and lived there, in Concord, Orinda, and Walnut Creek for the next 20 yrs.
Work life is pretty simple: worked for GSA in San Francisco 1970-'80, for Control Data Corp. '80-'84. Got laid off, began a series of scrambles for work: Accountants Microsystems 18 months, Henco Software 9 mos, Data911 5 mos, First Deposit Bank 1 yr, little software company in Orinda half year...
Hilites of that time: divorced after 10 yrs, became custodial parent of 2 boys for the next 10 yrs, then sold the house and contents in CA, bot a motorhome and drove it across the country. Shipped it to Europe and traveled there for 5 months looking for a place to live. Gave up on that, came back to settle in DC area in 1993.
Began internet dating ...Expand for more
in 1996, eventually went out on 126 first dates; met Renee on date 125. Married in 2004 [wedding in Paris], after 25 yrs singleness. Have never been happier! Love the area too, but miss CA weather sometimes.
Drop me a note, would love to hear from HS friends or Oscar Smith students from S. Norfolk VA.
Re OSCAR FROMMEL SMITH High School, I taught Psychology there one year ['66-67], 2 classes of jrs and srs, in the afternoons. I suspect I graded too easily; HUNDREDS of kids signed up for Psych the next year, only to find I'd moved on to another school. Some names I remember from that year were:
Buddy Capehart - a brilliant kid
Shelton Horton - tried smoking banana peel scrapings...
Larry Cuffee - the only black kid in my 2 classes back then
Tommy Curtis - an artist in NC these days, I believe
Bobby something - was going to East Carolina State when he got out
Can't remember any others for sure... Mrs. Britten, who took the classes to the library on Wednesdays when I had teacher training classes. Mr. Peele was the principal in those days.
*** 1959-1961 St. Mary's College, Moraga CA ***
Ah yes, the lost years. I went to this all-men's Catholic college 6 miles from home because they accepted me before I'd applied. It also cost only $400 a semester for a 'day-dog', a commuter student such as I. I don't recall much about this period except the big sendoff party held at our house in our basement in spring of 1961 to say goodbye to all the guys who were not returning for the spring semester. Our house was chosen because it was off-campus. Plans were for stag movies, hookers from Oakland, gals from Orinda, booze galore. The hookers didn't appear, but all the rest materialized. My God, what a party: guys dancing cheek to cheek with guys, girls coming to the house thinking it was a party and fleeing for their lives. I hung my first BA that nite at a carful of gals as they pulled away from the house.
Anyway, the Christian Brothers at school soon learned about the movies [they were shown in several dorms in the days after the party] and a full-scale Inquisition was conducted. Eventually one guy was expelled [Jay Donaldson, I believe, from Sacto] for providing the films, and 12 of us were told not to come back the next year. I hadn't planned to anyway, but it was still emblematic of my tenure at that great school.
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