Bruce Schaefer:  

CLASS OF 1959
Bruce Schaefer's Classmates® Profile Photo
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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Yearbooks

Miramonte High School 1961 yearbook cover photo
1961 Yearbook
Miramonte High School
ORINDA, CA
Miramonte High School 1960 yearbook cover photo
1960 Yearbook
Miramonte High School
ORINDA, CA
Miramonte High School 1959 yearbook cover photo
1959 Yearbook
Miramonte High School
ORINDA, CA
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Reunions
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Jun 27, 2026
Bruce was invited to the
Oscar F Smith High School Reunion class of 66
97 invitees
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Sep 13, 2024
Bruce was invited to the
Buchtel High School Reunion
263 invitees
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Oct 5, 2019
Bruce was invited to the
Berkeley High School Reunion
268 invitees
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Photos

Bruce Schaefer's Classmates profile album
From the Land of Tomorrow Two days ago we ventured forth on our 3rd overseas trip this year; our destination: Japan. This will be another 2-week, top to bottom survey of the country, starting in Tokyo and finishing in Hir
Instead I found this white bottle with a plunger on top. Hello, I thought, must be the Japanese way of adding milk. I was just about to plunge several squirts of milk into my coffee when a gal - another customer - rushed o
The bottle contained, not milk, but hand sanitizer. We ALL got a huge laugh out of that, including the gals behind the counter. And laughing the hardest was Meestah Brooz. 😂 Turns out there were little containers of mil
This is the building standing still.
We went through a market where a lot of people - women and men- were dressed in these traditional costumes. Our guide says said she has a few but only for very special occasions. Too much work, and it takes 2 people to get
We all produced a final effort on silk paper to take home. Gate 1 also put us through classes on sushi-making and gold-leaf wrapping (around a pair of ornate chopsticks).
Our evening sortie into the Shinjuku ‘hood in Tokyo. It’s sort of like Times Square: way out there and a bit edgy. You can spot Godzilla atop the building on the left. In 8 days in Japan, we have heard cars honking only 2
Renee works on her calligraphy skills.
One of our not-so-successful evenings dining out on our own. We found a resto that seated us in these little shoji-screen cubicles: cute. But you had to order via that monitor on the right; not so good. After several fail
One does not touch the geisha. To me, the geisha thing must be like ballet, opera, maybe even country music - an acquired taste. And as time passes, fewer people will bother. We all wished her good luck.
Geishas are NOT prostitutes; they are honored performers, we are told. Ours is 18yo, still in training. As such, she is allowed to put lipstick only on the lower lip. She lives in a boarding house with other trainees and mu
SPARROWS TO EAT?! An offering at a major indoor food market. I thought, my God, do they eat dogs too? I think the answer to that is, no; no dog meat seen, or bugs, or other really nasty stuff like we saw in China years ago.
This is an 8-story stairway in the Kyoto train station. Lights on the edges of each stair layer are synchronized to project moving images for the observer standing at the bottom. A dazzling spectacle indeed - and this is ju
Renee offers the hand of peace, but is ignored. They want food, not friendship. And don’t walk the walk in open-toed shoes or sandals either.
After one of our less-than-successful dinners out, we decided to treat ourselves to a major dessert when we saw these in the window. Mine featured melons and ice cream, Renee’s featured figs. Delicious thru the layers of f
The city park in Nara is known for its deer, perhaps not a great thing. It is home to about 2000 deer and they are everywhere, all at once.
Japanese hotels all offer kimonos and/or pajamas for their guests. Renee vamps in what must be the ugliest garment ever produced, a brown bag of buttons.
We drove to Hoboken for dinner and walked the riverfront, catching the New York skyline across the Hudson. That’s the Freedom Tower (?) in red that replaced the Twin Towers.
AND - this is our elapsed gas mileage when we reached our hotel. I love my blue Honda hybrid! 🤩
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