Gretchen Fathauer:
CLASS OF 1964
Lake Forest High SchoolClass of 1964
Lake forest, IL
Gretchen's Story
My twin brother, Ted, died suddenly at home on January 20, 2013. He had had seizures since he was 18, and he also had asthma. It sounded like his death resulted from a combination of these two things. It is hard to believe, as he seemed to be doing so well. He had all kinds of plans for the future.
He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1968. He went to work for the National Weather Service right after graduation. For a short time he worked for the Weather Service in MD, but he transferred to Alaska, and worked there for 42 years; the last 35 years he was in Fairbanks. He dearly loved Alaska, especially Fairbanks. He also had a great attachment to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. He supported the arts locally, including Opera Fairbanks and the Fairbanks Symphony, and the Salvation Army.
In 1981 he married Mary Ann Neesan, whom he was introduced to by mutual friends originally from Lake Forest.
He loved his work, which was his passion. He earned a master's degree in the summer of 2012 from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He recently retired from the Weather Service, but was really looking forward to starting work on his PhD. at University of Alaska this fall. He also served on a number of boards in Fairbanks, and supported the arts there.
=================================
I am also sorry to say that our classmate Barbara Epmeier George died of lymph...Expand for more
oma November 7, 2013. She was always busy being a professional intervener on behalf of the public interest at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). She also testified before the California state legislature a number of times. One example of her views about wanting to promote renewable energy sources like wind and solar, as opposed to nuclear power plants: youtube.com/watch?v=B8pW5X8C0uk This video, BTW, was filmed this spring in her home. She's been renting a guest house in Fairfax, CA, for several years, and living very simply. She'd been based in the San Francisco Bay area for a long time. All her time and resources went to her causes. She was dedicated to the public good for decades, and was a crusader for social justice, clean energy, women's causes and community choice electricity. For a while many years ago she was going all over the country putting on a dramatic presentation protesting nuclear weapons. Her web site, which is still up, describes some of the causes she believed in: womensenergymatters.org She told me she had cancer this summer, but she felt optimistic that alternative treatments were working. Then I got a call from one of her friends that she was dying, which was quite a startling thing to hear after she sounded to upbeat during our last conversation. She was divorced, and had no children, but she did have many close, supportive friends.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Photos
