Donn Ylvisaker:
CLASS OF 1972
Sunset High SchoolClass of 1972
Beaverton, OR
Donn's Story
Wow, what a difference 40 years makes! I am quite certain that I knew everything there was to know in the world when I was 18 years old. In fact, noone could tell me anything (the least of which was my parents) because I knew it all. When I think back at all of that vast storehouse of knowledge, and how much I have forgotten over the years (I must have because I am learning it all over again!), I can't quite get myself to believe it. I guess it's one of those age related traps we all fall into over the years.
For instance:
1. I remember my mother telling me that I would regret not having my senior picture taken for the yearbook. But, I knew everything then, so I knew that she was wrong. Now, after 40 years of forgetting everything, I do regret it, but ... oh well! At least with this website, I can post a pic of myself from my senior year, if I can ever find one. Not that it would be worth looking at, but I'd actually like to, because there was a big difference in the length of my hair between my yearbook picture as a junior (which is presently posted on my profile) and my senior year, when it was halfway down to my waist. So, if I find something, I will post it, and it will be my senior picture.
2. I also remember my parents chewing me out on a regular basis for skipping school during my senior year. But that was the year I bought my first car, and it was more important to me (and some friends) to go tooling around in the hills near Skyline and Cornelius Pass during school hours. And, since I knew everything, I didn't need to attend class. And my grades as a senior were pretty much reflective of my attendance, but that didn't matter because I knew everything. I also remember my parents encouraging me to take the SAT. But again, since I knew everything, I decided (unilaterally by the way) that I didn't need to, because I was never going to college anyway. So, three years later, a couple of things happened in my life. One was that I must have already started forgetting things, because I was really starting to ponder college (I guess to re-learn what I had forgotten). The other was when I was passed over for promotion at work by the general manager's son (who sat around and didn't do squat all day long) and that actually led to my decision to go to college. But, because I never took the SAT, I had to rely soley on my grades, which were barely enough to graduate high school. And, guess what? There wasn't a 4 year institution anywhere that would look at me. So, I decided to play their silly little game (actually I had to) and I enrolled at PCC to get my grades up.
Well, I guess that was a little tongue in cheek, but when I look back at some of the silly decisions I made in my adolescence, I really have to laugh at myself. ...Expand for more
To finish the story, however, I attended PCC for 5 straight terms, from the fall of 1975 to the fall of 1976, and then transferred to Washington State, where I graduated in 1979 with a degree in accounting. And since graduation, I have worked in public accounting, the first 4+ years at a large ("Big 8") international accounting firm, Peat, Marwick, Mitchell (now KPMG), and since 1984 in private practice as a CPA.
In 1986, after 14 years of bachelorhood, I finally met the love of my life, Patty Reeder, and we married in 1988. Patty was actually with me at the 15 year reunion in 1987, but we weren't married then (it took her another 10 months to drag me kicking and screaming up to the alter!). And, it has been a mutually beneficial relationship, because for the last 24 years, I have lived in marital bliss and Patty has learned that she could take her levels of tolerance to record heights. To give you a little information about my wife, if you have ever been on Sauvies Island and driven down Reeder Road, past a spot called "Reeder Beach", Patty is one of the Reeder daughters. Her great-great grandparents homesteaded that property in 1850 and she is the fifth generation of the families that have lived on that property. She is a 1976 graduate of Scappoose High School and a 1981 graduate of Oregon State, and yes, for the annual WSU-OSU football game, we dress the car up with crimson and gray pom-poms, orange and black pom-poms, door magnets from both schools, car flags from both schools, I wear a crimson shirt, Patty wears an orange shirt and we get the funniest looks from people on the freeway as we drive to the game.
I am writing this in late May, 2012, and will update it as I go on with life. The only class reunion I have been to so far is the 15th (I guess my reunion attendance kind of mirrors my classroom attendance in my senior year, now that I think about it). I am hoping to come to the 40 year reunion this September, because I see a lot of names of people who I remember and would like to see again. But, I do have a scheduling conflict as I referee high school football now and there are games that Friday night. I should be able to get out of working a game, though, as I have been refereeing football since 1986 and believe that I have enough tenure within our association. The scheduling process begins in about a month and I will find out then if I can skip a game that Friday night. If I am able to come to the reunion, I really am looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up on peoples lives over the last 40 years. If anyone wants to contact me before then, I'd love to hear from you. They won't let me post contact info here, but you can find my office number in the yellow pages. Just look under the Y's!
Cheers!
Donn
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