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WESTERN HORIZON COUNCIL BAY AREA WEAL LIFE MEMBER CLUB
2013 – 2014
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
COMMITTEES
PARTICIPATION BOB ROLUFS 408-253-3213 [email protected] SOCIAL GEORGE ANNINGER 408-243-4804 [email protected] FELLOWSHIP JACK MIOTKE 408-253-5708 [email protected] FUND RAISING JACK DORFMAN 408-268-3462 [email protected] MEMBERSHIP MEL JOHNSON 408-258-6784 [email protected] INFORMATION RALPH FITZSIMONS 510-794-6179 [email protected] NEWSLETTER EDITOR
SHERRY LYNN RIDDLE 408-251-3234 [email protected]
PRESIDENT RALPH FITZSIMONS 510-794-6179 [email protected] VICE PRESIDENT CLARENCE MILLER 408-377-3558 PAST PRESIDENT KAY VIRGILIO 408-227-3168 SECRETARY PATRICIA BLOOM 408-224-1450 TREASURER GIL MOTHERSHED 702-302-5063 [email protected] ASST TREASURER DAVID MORE 408-371-5473 [email protected] MEMBER-AT-LARGE HAROLD WONG 408-257-1063 [email protected] MEMBER-AT-LARGE GEORGE ANNINGER 408-243-4804 [email protected] MEMBER-AT-LARGE JACK MIOTKE 408-253-5708 [email protected]
2
BAY AREA WEAL LIFE MEMBER CLUB NEWSLETTER
2013 Issue 2
June 2013
BAY AREA WEAL
MONTHLY LUNCHEONS
Reminder: The charge for the luncheon is $16.00.
Usually each person also puts in $1.00 for a ticket
used for the money drawing at the end of the lunch.
There is also one free ticket for the door prize
drawing, and signing a slip for a free lunch
drawing.
Every first Thursday of the month except for July,
those who have a birthday that month, write down a
number from 1 to 10, and the one closest to the
number chosen by the club president gets a bottle of
wine. There will be highlights of the previous
Executive Board Meeting.
Three Flames Restaurant www.3flamesrestaurant.com
1547 Meridian Avenue
San Jose, CA 95125-5316
(408) 269-3133
Ralph Fitzsimons, BAWC President
April:
For our April Pioneer luncheon on 4-4-13, we had
barbecue pork ribs, pasta and veggies, which were
very, very good. We had 16 attendees, including
Pat Lappert, who just dropped by to say hi, and had
to leave before our lunch time. Pat is spending a lot
of time in Los Angeles taking care of her son. The
$10.00 money prize was won by Nick Papson, and
the free lunch was won by Bob Nakamoto. There
was only one April birthday person present, and
that was Howie King, who got the bottle of wine.
We have not had a spring luncheon in the last
couple of years, and we have no plans at present to
re-start it.
May:
There were 13 attendees at our May Pioneer
luncheon, where we were served talapia fish with
lemon and capers, along with mashed potatoes and
mixed vegetables. The money prize was won by
Dave More, who also got the birthday bottle of
wine for being the only May birthday person
present. Ed Ball got the free luncheon after Howie
King declined the win since he will be in Hawaii
vacationing at the time of our June luncheon.
June:
Our June luncheon at the Three Flames Restaurant
had 14 attendees. We were served cutup London
Broil steak with mushrooms, Anna Potatoes and
mixed vegetables. The money prize and birthday
bottle of wine were both won by Dan Slattery. The
free lunch was won by Nick Papson.
There will be no Pioneer luncheon or board meeting
in July. Hope to see even more attendees at our
August luncheon.
Ralph Fitzsimons
President, WEAL Club
3
NOTE FROM OUR
PRESIDENT
How quickly we have reached halfway through
2013. There doesn’t seem to be enough time to
squeeze in all of the things that we want to do. This
is also true for our pioneering activities as we get
older, our families get larger, and we find ourselves
in a time balancing act to get involved all that we
would like to do. Knowing all of this, we would
like you to consider sharing your travel plans,
family milestones, and other interesting tidbits of
information from time to time that we could share
with all of our members. This will keep our
WECO/AT&T/Lucent family more involved and
energized. This also goes for sharing and
supporting our WEAL Club with your collection
and donation of aluminum cans and plastic bottles
or monetary gifts to help our charity work.
Finally, we would love to have more of you attend
our monthly luncheons. Your attendance at our
board meetings would also be welcome and useful
to get your ideas on club improvements, revenue
methods for our charity work, as well as any of
your concerns regarding our Pioneering work and
activities. We hold our board meetings once a
month on the 3rd Monday of each month (except
for July) at 9:30am at Carrows Restaurant at 910
Saratoga Ave. in San Jose near Williams Road.
Please let Sherry Lynn Riddle at
[email protected] or contact her by phone
(408)251-3234 or me know about your travels
family celebrations, etc., so that we can include
them in our future newsletters to share them with
our club members. Also, please let Jack Miotke at
[email protected] or contact him by phone
408-253-5708 or a board member know about any
members who are sick or have passed on, so that
she can send out get well or sympathy cards and let
our concerned club members know.
I look forward to seeing you at our monthly
luncheons and board meetings.
Ralph Fitzsimons
WEAL Club President
FAMILIES SERVING THE
MILITARY
For those who would like to contribute to the Care
Packages for our troops. The following things are
needed: travel size toiletries, funnies, pens, writing
paper, envelopes, and greeting cards with
envelopes, playing cards, condiments, and hard
candy. The above items can be given to Helen Loyd
at the luncheons or contact her at
[email protected] or call 408-251-3234.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have received your care packages and cards.
Thanks for supporting us.
We appreciate it.
SGT Morris, Donte' E
2-22 Chaplain Assistant
OBITUARIES
In Memory of
David Mills Scott
November 16, 1934 - June 4, 2013
Obituary
4
David Mills Scott
Nov. 16, 1934 - June 4, 2013
A beloved Brother, Husband, Father, Uncle, &
Grandfather passed away peacefully in San Jose
with his family by his side. A longtime resident of
Milpitas, David is survived by his brother Roger
(Gay), his sons, Ted (Kathy) & Terry (Cathy) and
grandsons Alex & Andrew. He was predeceased by
his late wife Marlynn last June. David's career at
AT&T (Western Electric and Lucent) spanned 42
years, after which he was very involved with being
an avid golfer with SIR Mission Trail Branch #35.
A memorial service will be held at Lima Family
Milpitas-Fremont Mortuary on Tuesday, June 11 at
10:00AM. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that
donations be made to the Santa Clara County
Humane Society, as dad cared deeply for his many
cats.
Received a call from Rick Rickert’s son this
morning, he passed away this morning at the age of
90. His address is to be sent to The Rickert Family
at 1035 Locomotive Way, Sparks NV 89434
Nicholas Papson
Last Chance to Participate in NRLN 2013
Survey
The National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN)
is providing a final reminder that if you have not
already participated in its 2013 online survey your
input is needed before the survey closes after
Wednesday, May 15th. There have been responses
to the survey from 7,475 individuals. The NRLN
would like to reach at least 10,000 participants, the
level of participation in the 2012 survey. Please
access the survey today.
Click here to access the questionnaire. If you have a
problem accessing the survey by clicking this link,
copy http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/nrln2013
and paste it into your computer's Internet browser.
Or you may go to the NRLN website's home page
at www.nrln.org and click on the link to the survey.
Your responses will be valuable to the NRLN
Board, Retiree Association and Chapter leaders in
planning the 2013-2014 Legislative Agenda
initiatives and setting future directions and priorities
for the NRLN and your Retiree Association and
Chapter. It will also provide the NRLN with an
expanded understanding of issues regarding retirees'
pensions and benefits plus retirement security.
When completing the survey, note that a number of
the questions have multiple sub-questions that
require a response. Questions with an asterisk
require an answer before advancing to the next
page. Please understand that forcing you to respond
to a few questions is crucial to our getting valid
survey results about vital issues that affect you.
Please don't miss this opportunity to provide your
input, take the survey today. Results will be
compiled in total and by retiree group to provide
Retiree Association and Chapter leaders insight into
the opinions of its membership. Combined results
will be published in the summer edition of the
NRLN FOCUS newsletter that will be posted on the
NRLN website at www.nrln.org around the end of
June.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to
participate in the survey.
Bill Kadereit, President,
National Retiree Legislative Network
GET WELL
March:
A Get Well card was sent to the following:
Pat Gill – loss of eyesight in one eye
Kay Virgilio – cell removed
Tony Virgilio – leg surgery
Clarence Miller – eye surgery
Carol King – knee
Ozell Walton – heart ailment
Roger Piazza – triple by-pass
June:
A Get Well card was sent to the following:
Ed and Sharon Loeffler
5
QUICK & EASY RECIPE
READY IN 35 mins
Beef and Broccoli
Ingredients
1 pouch UNCLE BEN'S® Whole Grain Brown
Rice
2 cups broccoli florets (blanched)
1/2 beef sirloin steak (thinly sliced)
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 cup water
Non-stick cooking spray
Directions
Servings: 4 person(s)
Prep Time: 6 min
Type of Dish: Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish
Cuisine: Asian, Chinese
ABOUT THIS DISH
This an Asian-inspired classic that brings together
the wholesomeness of brown rice, the green
goodness of broccoli and the sheer yumminess of
tender beef.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Spray a large skillet with non-stick spray
and sauté the beef until browned
2. Add the garlic, green onion, broccoli and
soy sauce; sauté for 1 minute
3. Squeeze pouch to break apart rice
4. Tear open pouch and add the rice and 1/2
cup water
5. Cook until rice is hot and combined with
other ingredients and serve
ROSTER CHANGES
George Anninger:
Larry Buckreus: [email protected]
Ed and Sharon Loeffler:
7249 Hickory Ave
Orangevale, CA 95662
Email: [email protected]
Pat (PJ) and Margaret Sullivan: 209 Apache Mountain Lane Georgetown TX 78633 Phone: 512-943-9211
E. R. Ferguson:
175 E Remington Dr Apt 121
Sunnyvale Ca. 94087
Phone: 408 738 8251
E-mail: [email protected]
Glen Duke: E-mail: [email protected]
NOTICE
Important Update on American National Life
Member Benefit
Effective May 7, 2013 Pioneers has discontinued the
member benefit life insurance program offered through
American National Life (ANICO).
This does not impact members who have purchased
policies, however new policies are no longer available
under this plan.
We are working to secure a new partnership in order to
provide a life insurance program to our members. Details
will be released as soon as they are available.
Calene Muller
1157 Redoaks Drive
6
San Jose, Ca 95128
408 248-5004
BAWC ROSTER
If you would like for us to send you a hard copy of
the Roster it can be done by sending a check for $5
to Sherry Lynn Riddle at 2872 Lausanne Court, San
Jose, CA 95132. It is important that the check be
addressed to: TELECOM PIONEERS.
Once you receive the roster please check if all your
friends are listed. If you see someone who you
think would like to be included for mailings and
reminders, send their name and data to: Sherry
Lynn Riddle at [email protected].
Habitat for Humanity – Home Repair Program
This brought to you by one of our BAWC Pioneer
member – David More
Please see page 13 for further information.
TRAVELING PIONEERS
John Kalmeta and his wife just returned from ‘10
wonderful days’ in Maui. Prior to that trip they had
visited Lake Oswego Oregon for a graduation by a
grandson.
Not long after John return to California Howie King
and his wife left for Honolulu.
Vinnie and Mary Ellen Libero will be doing quite a
bit of travel the last half of this year. The first trip
will be to Connecticut to the sister of his wife Mary
Ellen and a trip in the last of the year to Hawaii.
Hawaii has always been very popular for the West
Coast crowd. Later this year Pat and Roger Piazza
will be leading a group on a 15 day cruise from San
Francisco to Hawaii and back. They’ll leave on
October 4 on the Grand Princes. If you like sea
days, the trip will be 5 days to the island, circle and
visit the islands and 5 days return.
If you would like more details they can be reached
on 408-448-6500 or [email protected].
Terry and Dennis Archuleta will be attending a
Family Reunion in July at Lake Tahoe.
And if all works well, Bobby Jurgeleit will be in
London, England in December. Among all the
things to see will be a performance by Andre Rieu.
You can get a good view of Rieu by checking out
one his many appearances on Utube, he is
magnificent artist.
Jack and Mary Miotke will be visiting St. Louis in
July. Howie King, hearing of a previously visit to St
Louis asked, “What did you do? Lose a bet?”
They’ll be visiting relatives. This visit follows one
to a place in Carmel rented by his son and family,
which is right on the beach. Talk about extremes.
Now, after all those wonderful, wonderful vacations
we hear from Pat Anninger. We asked about her
cruise to Alaska. She writes, “We got back from the
worse cruise to Alaska imagined!. We’re looking
forward to seeing George at the next lunch.
Cathy and Jack Dorfman recently returned from a
trip to spend time with their daughter in Colorado
Springs. While many visits can be classified as
social, this one was different in that Jack and Cathy
acted as caregivers while their daughter dealt with
breast cancer.
JOKE TIME .
A lawyer and a senior citizen are sitting next to
each other on a long flight.
The lawyer is thinking that seniors are so dumb that
he could get one over on this guy easily.
So, the lawyer asks if the senior would like to play a
fun game.
7
The senior is tired and just wants to take a nap, so
he politely declines and tries to catch a few winks.
The lawyer persists, saying that the game is a lot of
fun...."I ask you a question, and if you don't
know the answer, you pay me only $5.00. Then you
ask me one, and if I don't know the answer, I will
pay you $500.00," he says.
This catches the senior's attention and, to keep the
lawyer quiet, he agrees to play the game.
The lawyer asks the first question. "What's the
distance from the Earth to the Moon?"
The senior doesn't say a word, but reaches into his
pocket, pulls out a five-dollar bill, and hands it to
the lawyer.
Now, it's the senior's turn. He asks the lawyer,
"What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes
down with four?"
The lawyer uses his laptop to search all references
he can find on the Net.
He sends E-mails to all the smart friends he knows;
all to no avail. After an hour of searching, he finally
gives up..
He wakes the senior and hands him $500.00. The
senior pockets the $500.00 and goes right back to
sleep.
The lawyer is going nuts not knowing the answer.
He wakes the senior up and asks, "Well, so what
goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with
four?"
The senior reaches into his pocket, hands the
lawyer $5.00, and goes back to sleep.
You know you're going to send this one on.
Don't mess with seniors!
CLUB NEWSLETTER
FYI: you also can find the Weal Club Newsletter on
the New Outlook Pioneers Website, which is
www.newoutlookpioneers.org.
When you are in the website you will click on the
arrow for Chapters, and then click on the arrow for
Chapter 137, and next click on the Bay Area Weal
Club Newsletter. Select the Issue you want to see
and you will be taken to the Newsletter document.
This is put together by Sherry Lynn Riddle the
Newsletter Editor
RENEWAL TIME FOR HARD COPY
NEWSLETTER
Renewals for hard copies can be done by sending a
check for $5 to Sherry Lynn Riddle at 2872
Lausanne Court, San Jose, CA 95132. It is
important that the check be addressed to:
TELECOM PIONEERS.
LRO NEWS
NRLN Needs Your Personal Testimonies on
Retirement Hardships
In 2009 and 2011, the National Retiree Legislative
Network requested that NRLN Grassroots Network
members provide personal stories about hardships
they had encountered during their retirement. Many
of you responded and each time a 20-page
document was created and presented to members of
Congress and their staffs during the NRLN's
meetings in Washington, D.C.
The testimonies were also shared with reporters and
some of the stories, with permission from the
individuals, in articles and a book titled “Retirement
Heist: How Companies Plunder and Profit from the
Nest Eggs of American Workers.”
The NRLN once again wants your stories to
distribute on Capitol Hill along with its proposals
for protecting Social Security, Medicare, pensions
and benefits.
Because many members of Congress are proposing
legislation that would reduce Social Security and
Medicare, please share with the NRLN how
important these benefits are to you. How do Social
8
Security and Medicare make a difference in your
life? Also, if you are experiencing a health,
emotional or financial hardship such as, but not
limited to, the following please share your situation
with us. Email your "testimonial" by June 15, 2013
to [email protected] .
* Your employer-sponsored health care insurance
has been eliminated and you don't have health care
coverage because it is too expensive to purchase at
your age and you are still a few years away from
being eligible for Medicare.
* Your employer-sponsored health care plan has
been reduced and you no longer have a limit on out-
of-pocket costs (catastrophic coverage) and your
dental and vision coverage is gone.
* You must decide between buying your medicines
or purchasing food or making your mortgage or rent
payment.
* You are cutting your pills in half to make them
last longer because they are so expensive.
* You are paying very high prices for a brand-name
prescription drug and this has changed the life you
had expected to live in retirement.
* If you are taking Advair, Lipitor, Nexium,
Plavix, and/or Prevacid, please let us know how
much you are paying for a 30-day supply of each
prescription drug. These drugs are the top sellers in
the USA and we need to determine how much the
prices vary across the country and how the prices
compare in other countries.
* Half or more of your pension and/or Social
Security income is going for doctor and/or hospital
bills and prescription drugs.
* Your pension plan was eliminated and it is tough
to live on your Social Security check.
* Your company went bankrupt, and when your
pension plan was taken over by the PBGC you
suffered a significant reduction in your pension.
* Your company has eliminated your life insurance
and at your age it is too costly to replace it or
insurance companies won't accept you because of
your health.
* Your company life insurance was part of your
retirement financial plan and you are fearful about
how your spouse will survive financially after your
death.
I think you get the idea of the type of personal
stories we'd like to include in our packets. Often,
the emotions caused by a real life story will
motivate a member of Congress to take action when
facts and figures do not. To gain greater credibility
with Senators and Representatives, we ask that you
allow us to include with your story your name, age
and city and state where you live.
If you will take the time to share your personal
hardship story for consideration to include in the
NRLN's packets, it will help us show our elected
representatives the need to pass better laws that will
protect your retirement security. Of course, the
NRLN would welcome you to come to Washington,
DC to tell your story to your elected representatives
in person. Details about our October 6 – 9, 2013
lobbying event will be in the NRLN Summer
FOCUS Newsletter. You will be sent an email
when the newsletter is posted on the NRLN website
home page at www.nrln.org .
Thank you in advance for helping us tells your real
life story.
Last Chance to Participate in NRLN 2013
Survey
The National Retiree Legislative Network (NRLN)
is providing a final reminder that if you have not
already participated in its 2013 online survey your
input is needed before the survey closes after
Wednesday, May 15th. There have been responses
to the survey from 7,475 individuals. The NRLN
would like to reach at least 10,000 participants, the
level of participation in the 2012 survey. Please
access the survey today.
Click here to access the questionnaire. If you have a
problem accessing the survey by clicking this link,
copy http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/nrln2013
and paste it into your computer's Internet browser.
Or you may go to the NRLN website's home page
at www.nrln.org and click on the link to the survey.
Your responses will be valuable to the NRLN
Board, Retiree Association and Chapter leaders in
planning the 2013-2014 Legislative Agenda
9
initiatives and setting future directions and priorities
for the NRLN and your Retiree Association and
Chapter. It will also provide the NRLN with an
expanded understanding of issues regarding retirees'
pensions and benefits plus retirement security.
When completing the survey, note that a number of
the questions have multiple sub-questions that
require a response. Questions with an asterisk
require an answer before advancing to the next
page. Please understand that forcing you to respond
to a few questions is crucial to our getting valid
survey results about vital issues that affect you.
Please don't miss this opportunity to provide your
input, take the survey today. Results will be
compiled in total and by retiree group to provide
Retiree Association and Chapter leaders insight into
the opinions of its membership. Combined results
will be published in the summer edition of the
NRLN FOCUS newsletter that will be posted on the
NRLN website at www.nrln.org around the end of
June.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to
participate in the survey.
Bill Kadereit, President,
National Retiree Legislative Network
NOTICE TO MEMBERS
If you are paying your dues by credit card, go to the
Navigation Bar at the top of the LRO home page
and click on MEMBERSHIP SUPPORT, then
access the DUES INFORMATION feature. Or click
here. You will be directed to the credit card
payment option. Our recent Dues letter incorrectly
advised that the payment button resided along the
left hand margin of our Home Page. We apologize
for the inaccuracy.
MAIL BAG
Ed and I have had several health issues in the last 3
years.
Last June Ed had knee replacement and it was the
worst knee his surgeon had ever seen because of the
degeneration. He was recovering pretty good from
that but it has left him with a decided limp and
because of osteoporosis in his back left him with an
unbalanced walk which I think will require a walker
for the rest of his life - barring a miracle from the
Lord.
He was quite recovering from the effects of that
surgery when in Oct he lost about 11 pints of blood,
coming out faster than they could put in - because
of a leak in his colon. After 10 days in ICU it
finally stopped on its own (they could not find the
leak) and left him much washed out and extremely
weak. It has been a long slow recovery but is much
improved. He is advised it could happen at any
moment again as he has had part of his colon
removed (diverticulosis - several years ago) and
still suffers from weak pockets in the rest of his
colon.
I was laid up for a year and half because of cellulitis
in my feet and had to keep them up - I got a new
disease "buttitis" but am much recovered and doing
well.
We have not been able to take our RV out for about
5 years and have resigned ourselves to selling it.
This summer we are actually up and about enough
to finally get working on the property more so that
is a good sign.
Thank you again for the email - Ed may have
another reply later - he is resting now and he seems
to do a lot of that lately (at 83 years old).
Their address is:
Ed and Sharon Loeffler
7249 Hickory Ave
Orangevale, CA 95662
Bill Seger: Replied to our email and said that he is still
working for Farmers Insurance--- primarily in
commercial policies. He’s now been with them for
several years. “My office is now in Brisbane, a
relatively short commute from Lombard St. I have
2 granddaughters (both at Cal Poly in San Luis
Obispo) and a 12 year old sports nut grandson that
keep me busy when we get together.”
Betty Gallagher: In a telephone conversation with Betty Gallagher
we confirmed her address is still in Broomfield,
10
CO. She also told us her daughter Sharon just got
married for the first time in December. She lives in
San Rafael, and before that, she lived in Mill
Valley. Sharon is a Pilate’s teacher, and she still
dances in shows in San Francisco. Betty’s other
daughter, Shannon, lives in Broomfield, not far
from her and her son Michael is no longer the
young boy. He’s 53, and still lives in Tennessee.
Phil Roerig:
Congratulations to Phil Roerig. On February 1 he
became 90 years old. He celebrated in Las Vegas
with two sisters and son-in-law/daughter, Phil and
Phyllis Gonzales. The icing on the cake was hitting
a $1000 jackpot. Phyllis went on to say, “Phil and I
are still very involved in our wine making and it is
going very well. We got 425 bottles from our 2010
crop and it won a bronze medal at the Mid-State
fair this year. Our current crop is looking great and
if we can keep the birds and deer out of it we
should get about 600 bottles’ and “So all is pretty
good here. If you are ever in the Central Coast area
you should get in touch. We are only a half hour
away from Hearst Castle, in the heart of Central
Coast wine tasting and not that far from Pismo
Beach. We'd love to have you or anyone we know
visit’. She’ll be sorry she wrote that when everyone
shows up at her door with an empty wine glass.
Dennis Archeletta: Dennis Archeletta answered a question about his
address and said, “Yes; our address is correct and
just to make sure our phone number is: (408) 350-
0070. I have had a pace maker installed back in
November. I was passing out too many times and at
first they thought it might be my Blood Pressure
medication. During my stay at El Camino Hospital
my heart stopped beating for 14.5 second …..thus
the pace maker.“
Stan Drengacz: One of our former club presidents’ is Stan
Drengacz. He and his wife, Pat, moved to Arkansas
to be near their daughter. “Just to let you know that
we are doing well and we are very happy that we
moved to Mountain Home, Arkansas in 2004. We
have enjoyed going to see our four grandchildren
play football and basketball. They are now young
adults with college degrees and the youngest will
graduate from high school this year. Their mother
is a nurse and their father is retired from the Navy.
Our oldest daughter and her husband are in
California operating their Gas Detection Business.
Stan and I are active in our church and sad to say
our Pioneer Club is now just a social club.
The scenery here in Mountain Home is beautiful!
This is a great place to move to even though we
loved San Jose, California.
Now tell us about what you have been doing. We
would love to hear from you!
That is what has been happening in our world! Stan
and Pat”.
So, if you want to send them a note, their address
is:
1296 Pebblecreek Dr., Mt. Home AR, 72653.
Their email address is [email protected]
Pat and Maggie Sullivan: Another retiree, also with a ‘suddenlink.net’
address, was Pat and Maggie Sullivan in
Georgetown Texas. A few years back they packed
up their motor home and moved to Texas to be near
several of their children and their families. Pat and
Maggie have 10 children. We asked, “did you
decide to move instead of having more kids in
California?’ Pat ignored the poor joke and went on
to say they just sold their fourth motor home. It
sounds like they are settling down. Their email
address is:
Frank Attteberry:
You may remember the episode when Frank
Atteberry and his wife nearly died in a sailing
mishap off Australia. We asked where he was now
and he wrote to say, “We are living in our older
condo in Paitilla; a wonderful place, part of Panama
City, but on the ocean. We can hear the waves
crashing ashore down below; we are on the 11th
floor and our patio overlooks the Japan
Ambassadors’ residence.
Two months ago I began having gastro problems
and finally had a colonoscopy; last one was 15
years ago. It showed a medium size tumor; so
immediate surgery and then a second due to
leakage and hint of infection. 9 days in the hospital,
5 in ICU, 2 surgeries and now the Pathologist
shows zero cancer left; guess I have beaten the
11
beast. Ellen wanted to take a photo of me in ICU
with all the several IVs, nose tubes, etc. and post on
facebook as a poster reminder to get your
colonoscopy!!!!
The surgeon, hospital and all here in Panama was
terrific. All paid by my British Heath Insurance,
BUPA, total bill $23,000.
Best Regards, Frank”
George Allen: The last time we heard from George Allen he was
living in Los Banos and was fairly busy working at
Home Depot.. He wrote to say, “…many things
have happened since our last communication... I
made Master Electrical Specialist at the Home
Depot. In order to earn that, I had to have a C10,
Electrical contractor's license, which I studied for
and passed the State License Board Exam.
Commensurate with that, I began working a full
time schedule. That has kept me pretty busy, so my
Ham Radio has suffered a bit. I'm still involved
with the local radio club, but not to the level I had
been.
We just got back today from visiting my mother in
Indiana -- she's 97, so I guess I'm cursed with
longevity... On that note, let's go back to June of
2009. It was a bad news/good news thing. Bad
news was I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma
- bone marrow cancer. Good news was: it's
treatable - So I underwent chemo for about 2-1/2
months. Good news was: it kicked the cancer back
into remission... Bad news is: it (the chemo) caused
neuropathy in my feet. That got better, so I went
back to work. (it was driving me crazy to be sitting
on my keister).
Then in late June of last year, I started to notice a
pain in my chest whenever I did some strenuous
work. It was diagnosed as "stress induced angina"
and I was scheduled for and underwent an
angiogram on Friday, July 6th. They found a 90
percent blockage and I underwent a double bypass
the following day! That was a Looooonnngggg 2-
1/2 month recuperation - which was worse than the
surgery - itself! But I'm now back to work and
taking it a bit easier than I was. . .
Best regards, George & Sylvia Allan
Roger Piazza & Tom O’Hare:
That leads into a note that Roger Piazza and Tom
O’Hare both joined the zipper club this past year.
That’s the club of those who have had a bypass and
the name refers to the scar left on the chest. It’s one
of those bad news, good news operations. The bad
news is that it hurts. The good news is……. well,
you all know what the good news is. Tom had his
surgery almost a year ago and Roger earlier this
year. Tom is back at 100%, Roger is still
somewhere a bit under that number. As George
said, it takes a long time.
Skip Gast: From Skip Gast we hear “Doing my best to get
back to so called fighting weight. Christmas Eve I
suffered another heart attack, so for the last three
and a half months I've been going to Card. Rehab 3
times a week. Other than that I personally feel
living is great and I have more activities and new
friends than we had in the Bay area. Only because
they keep dying off. Skip
Bobby Jurgeleit:
We seem to have gotten into a place of aches, pains
and operations That being the case, we can read
what Bobby Jurgeleit has been doing.
“I’ll be 77 Saturday. (June 8) I look in the mirror
and I don’t look a day over 85.
Everybody calls me Sir and holds doors open….
pisses me off. About a month ago Veronica had a
heart “event”; newspeak for an attack. She’s still
being evaluated, sees her Cardiologist this week.
The only thing new with me is kidney problems. I
now have, in addition to all the other specialists, a
nephrologist in my life. One of the kidneys is
barely functioning; the other is holding its own. .
There’s been no reoccurrence of the cancerous
growth that was removed from my chest cavity six
years ago. I go to an Oncologist about every four
months.”
more details they can be reached on 408-448-6500
Terry and Dennis Archuleta will be attending a
Family Reunion in July at Lake Tahoe.
And if all works well, Bobby Jurgeleit will be in
London, England in December. Among all the
things to see will be a performance by Andre Rieu.
You can get a good view of Rieu by checking out
one his many appearances on UTube. Magnificent
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artist.
Jack and Mary Miotke will be visiting St. Louis in
July. Howie King, hearing of a previously visit to
St Louis asked, “What did you do? Lose a bet?”
They’ll be visiting relatives. This visit follows one
to a place in Carmel rented by his son and family.
Right on the beach. Talk about extremes.
Ed and Sharon Loeffler:
“Thank you for asking about Ed. He will much
appreciate the email.
Ed and I have had several health issues in the last 3
years.
Last June Ed had knee replacement and it was the
worst knee his surgeon had ever seen because of the
degeneration. He was recovering pretty good from
that but it has left him with a decided limp and
because of osteoporosis in his back left him with an
unbalanced walk which I think will require a
walker for the rest of his life - barring a miracle
from the Lord.
He was quite recovering from the effects of that
surgery when in Oct he lost about 11 pints of blood,
coming out faster than they could put in - because
of a leak in his colon. After 10 days in ICU it
finally stopped on its own (they could not find the
leak) and left him much washed out and extremely
weak. It has been a long slow recovery but is much
improved. He is advised it could happen at any
moment again as he has had part of his colon
removed (diverticulosis - several years ago) and
still suffers from weak pockets in the rest of his
colon.
I was laid up for a year and half because of
cellulites in my feet and had to keep them up - I got
a new disease "buttitis" but am much recovered and
doing well.
We have not been able to take our RV out for about
5 years and have resigned ourselves to selling it.
This summer we are actually up and about enough
to finally get working on the property more so that
is a good sign.
Thank you again for the email - Ed may have
another reply later - he is resting now and he seems
to do a lot of that lately (at 83 years old). “
Our address is:
Ed and Sharon Loeffler
7249 Hickory Ave
Orangevale, CA 95662
CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON
Information about the Christmas Luncheon will be
in the September BAWC Newsletter.
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IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION
A-L BENEFITS CENTER
1-888-232-4111 A-L ANSWERS WEB SITE
www.benefitanswerplus.com
AETNA DENTAL
1-880-2205479 (DMO) 1-800-220-5470 (PPO)
www.aetna.com
UNITED HEALTHCARE (UHC) GROUP MA PPO 1-888-980-8227 (TTY:711)
www.UHCRetiree.com/alcatel-lucent
UHC ENHNCED & STANDARD POS
1-800-577-8539 UHC TRADITIONAL
INDEMNITY
1-800-577-8567 MEDCO RX NOT MEDICARE ELIGIBLE
1-800-336-5934 www.medco.com
MEDCO RX MEDICARE ELIGIBLE
1-800-230-0512 www.medco.com/medd/alu
(TTY: 1-800-716-3231)
METLIFE LIFE INSURANCE
1-888-201-4622
MEDICARE INFO PARTS A,B,C & D
1-800-633-4227 (TTY: 1-877-486-2048)
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
1-800-772-1213
(TTY: 1-800325-0778)
YOUR BENEFITS RESOURCE (YBR) WEBSITE
http://resources.hewitt.com/alcatel-lucent
A-L PENSION SERVICE CENTER
1-866-429-5764
(TTY: 1-866-429-5765)
LRO WEBSITE
www.lucentretirees.com
LRO BENEFITS E-MAIL ADDRESS
SHIPS CONTACT INFORMATION
1-800-medicare www.medicare.gov
This is on line and also in Spring Edition of LRO Newsletter which they should have received.
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