Then & Now G-L

Donna Garfinkel Riley

In 1980 I moved to New York, and it's fair to say that is when the story of my real grown-up life begins. Not that the years between that and our graduation weren't part of the story, just not the best part. I graduated from the U of I in Champaign with Bronze Tablet honors (always was a school nerd, right?) and then a Master's in Education, and from there went to work for SRA in Chicago. By June of 1980 I had finished another Masters, this time in Management at Northwestern's Kellogg School, gotten divorced from my college sweetheart husband and was ready to transfer from SRA to IBM in New York.

My parents moved to Oak Park when we were in college and my mom is still there after the passing of my dad in 2007. Many of you will remember my brother George, who was three years behind us. He became a pharmacist like my dad, and he and his wife Lynn raised their two kids in Rolling Meadows. After 31years together, they followed their dream and last summer moved to El Dorado Hills California. So it's all's well that ends well for the south side Garfinkels - hope the same is true for you and yours.We live in a little village north of New York City along the Hudson River and are fortunate to have a home at the beach in New Jersey and an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan as well. Don was also a senior executive of IBM and we retired at the same time, June of 2008. Since then I've had more time to 'give back' and am active on a number of non-profit boards, including the JCC of Rockland County, which looks a whole lot different from our JCC on 91st and Jeffrey! Don is an avid golfer; I'm into pilates and together we enjoy dining out, movies, NY theater and reading. It's been a great ride for me since then. In IBM I moved from Marketing to Human Resources and in the course of 31+ years with the company, ended up in the top 300 executives worldwide, making wonderful friends, traveling the world, and meeting my husband, Don Riley (Donna and Don - very cute I know). And though it took a long time to get there, I could not be more proud of my best accomplishment - our son Ben, who is starting his junior year at Dartmouth College this fall. Email: donnajgriley@gmail.com

Janet GoldmanShlaes

I still live in Chicago – raised my family in the suburbs and love being back in the city again. I enjoyed being married for 27 years and now enjoy being single. I married @ 20 and had a daughter when I was 21 and a son when I was 26. Both my daughter and son are married and I have 4 delightful grandchildren. In my spare time I love to travel on learning adventures which take me out of my comfort zone. The most memorable adventures in the past few years include trekking in Peru and studying David Bohm and the I Ching with an Italian physicist in Pari, Italy. I love to hike, learn, write, travel and meet new and interesting people, but not necessarily in that order. I have created an interesting and definitely non-linear career and am continually surprised at some of my professional adventures. For someone who was not particularly engaged in learning in High School and never really aspired to anything professionally when I was a kid, I have jumped into quite a few formal and informal learning and professional experiences, earning an M.A. and Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Northwestern University and MBA in Finance from Loyola University of Chicago. Certifications include being a Licensed Psychologist and Certified Structural Consultant, with professional experiences in various aspects of the non-profit, finance, consulting, training, educational and counseling fields. Evidently, in the professional area, I was a bit of a late bloomer. I have continually been guided professionally by a “What do I want to learn next?” approach and, over time, this attitude has resulted in some amazing adventures, successes and failures. Some of my professional adventures include: creating a global recruiting and training program for a futures trading firm; creating and managing a micro-enterprise center; structuring and staffing a non-profit fundraising department; writing an Internet career column; futures trading; public relations for touring authors; researching and editing career strategy books; co-authoring Are You Making the Right Decisions About Your Money?; designing and teaching graduate career development courses at Northwestern University and several professional psychology schools throughout the Chicago area; training career and personal development counselors; and, designing, prototyping and analyzing a required career/leadership development course for MBA students. I have no idea what I will be doing five years from now, but imagine that it will be engaging, challenging, creative and, most importantly, enjoyable. Email: dr.jms.planet@prodigy.net

Michael Greenberg

Bowen -- it looked like a prison left over from the Civil War. It was, in fact, for many of us, an incubator in which we were able to survive our teen years with minimal damage. Reading our stories here is like looking at the Enquirer--nobody likes to claim that we are interested in stories of people we haven't seen in 45 years, but in fact we are. So in case anybody is really interested, the past 45 years have been for this Bowen graduate, a spiritual journey, learning more of who I am and how I fit in on this planet. Along the way, I got and have stayed married to the same amazing woman, went to medical school, became a dermatologist, learned to write, published two books (anybody in the film industry looking for the next great movie idea about a doctor with the power to heal who tries to run away from who he is --Brokeback Mountain with the gay sex? LOL), danced in a movie with Kevin Bacon, hosted a live radio show--but all that is what I've done. Who I've become is happy, really happy to be here and to be of service with a vision to bring care and compassion back into healthcare.

Best things I learned at Bowen? Typing (who knew then how valuable keyboarding would be!!) and French (Paris has become my second city and I learned recently after calling her that my French is better than Phyllis Bass', my fourth year teacher).

I am sorry that I cannot attend the reunion due to a prior commitment, however, anybody who wants to say hi can find me at Email: offped@yahoo.com.

Chuck Hamrell

After Bowen graduation, I lived at home the first year of college and attended UICC. We all remember the terrible blizzard that winter of 66-67. Watching the Rose Bowl parade and game, it was 84 degrees in LA and everyone was in shorts and tee shirts. During half time of the game, they gave a video tour of UCLA (who beat Mich. State). The campus was amazing and everyone was sitting around outdoors in summer clothes. That game changed my life! My family, like so many others, was already talking about moving from the south side. I told my family that I was going to transfer to UCLA for the sophomore year. I finished college after 2 years at UCLA and then went on to UCLA Medical School and stayed for internship and residency in OB-Gyn and Infertility at UCLA. In 1977, I started a solo private practice in Santa Monica and at UCLA. I grew the practice over the years to 6 OB-GYN's. I was the OB-GYN department chairman for 10 years and chief of staff of the Santa Monica-UCLA hospital for 2 terms. I practiced for 30 years and retired several years ago, mainly due to back problems because I loved my work. During my career I delivered about 5000 babies. I met my wife in the first year of Medical School and we married in 1971 and just celebrated this year our 40th anniversary. My wife, Miriam (Mimi), is an Israeli who came to LA for a year of college after she was finished with the army. We have been blessed with 3 wonderful sons:Joshua (37), Dani (34), and Jonathan (31). So far, we have 3 grandchildren and are waiting for more. Mimi was a Jewish school teacher and principal for 30 years and then went to Rabbinic school and was ordained a Rabbi in 2003. She has her own congregation in West LA/Brentwwod for the past 8 years. I am actively involved with the synagogue as the "Rebbitzen".

With retirement, I stay busy with family, friends, reading spy novels, traveling, and playing poker several times a week. Throughout my career I have been teaching residents and med students at UCLA hospitals and am an Assistant Professor at UCLA. I still teach residents on a very part time basis at UCLA. I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion and spending time remembering another time and place.. I would love to hear from people. Email: charleshamrellmd@aol.com.

Bruce Handler

Semi retired from years of electrophysiology and cardiology. Started a business training law enforcement and correction officers. Have moved into the world of persons with mental illness, disability, substance abuse and trauma. Live along the lakefront, enjoy bike rides and walking the dog and getting together with family and friends. Email: TKD49@aol.com

Nancy Hochstadter Weston

Hello everybody. I know it’s been a long time, and I am really looking forward to reconnecting with many of you. I currently reside in Highland Park, IL with my husband of 42 years. We have a 25 year-old daughter, Victoria, who is completing medical school. Last but not least, we have a 9 year-old golden retriever named Lily Jane who has a Ph.D. in shedding. I received an undergraduate degree in Sociology at the University of Illinois at Champaign and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. I am happily retired from being a Vice President at the former First National Bank of Chicago, holding various management positions in marketing, sales, and product management. I also taught a variety of undergraduate business classes at the former Barat College in Lake Forest, IL. Current hobbies include walking at Botanic Gardens, cooking, reading, golf, and spending time with friends and family. Email: Nancy.e.Weston@gmail.com

Gail Horn Wood

When I headed off to Oberlin College in 1966, I remember wondering how I could last four years in this tiny college town. Well, I'm still living in Oberlin, OH, a city with a population of about 8600 that turned out to be a safe, low-density place to raise a family as well as to wait out a pandemic. I spent a wonderful 37 years teaching students in grades one to four with most of my career in the Oberlin Public Schools. Husband Reid Wood and I met while we were college students here and are now retirees who enjoy having time to travel and relax while filling our schedules with lots of volunteer work. We're empty-nesters in a big century house after raising two sons. Alex lives just outside Denver with wife Tama and their two teenage sons Daxton and Wyatt who proudly attend Columbine High School. Eli married Tatiana Proctor in November 2019. They live and work in DC and are expecting a son in December 2021. I always enjoy the opportunity to visit with Bowen classmates and I’m looking forward to the September reunion! Email: gailwood@oberlin.net

Dennis Kmiec

Life After Bowen

My next milestone was a degree from UIUC. Facing a dismal job market, a middling draft number, grad school or a Peace Corps assignment, I chose the latter - an adventure in Borneo. In the mid '70's I met Bobbie, married, and completed a Masters at NU while working in the public sector. Did a little traveling, theatre and HR consulting, when in the mid'80's came two children and full-time caregiver bliss. Soon we began to juggle children, teaching and career consulting. That evolved into academic advising at Harper College and joining the Interpreter/Docents at Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio and the Brookfield Zoo. We've been living in Oak Park, IL for most of this time, now preparing for the next adventure. Email: denniskmiec@comcast.net

Curtis Guy Kozlowski (1949-2010)

Curtis Guy Kozlowski, age 62, of Calumet City, formerly of Chicago, passed away on Wednesday, September 15, 2010. Mr. Kozlowski was a long haul truck driver. He was a 1966 graduate of Bowen High School and the Art Institute of Chicago. He was also a proud veteran of the U.S.

Paul Landini

I could not have had more fun at old Bowen High. I loved photography, especially developing and printing photos. What could be better than to have the privilege of shooting pictures for the ‘65 and ‘66 yearbooks? The editors would usually tell me what pics they needed for the publisher’s pick up the next day and I would be up all night printing photos. I loved it! I got to meet so many wonderful people at Bowen.

The summer of ‘67, my best friend, Jeff and I toured Europe for 3 months. We lived out of a car, slept on the ground, and cooked whatever food we could buy inexpensively. We toured 10K miles through England, Ireland, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. We met so many interesting people and it made us appreciate what we have in the U.S. This was especially true when we crossed the wall in East Berlin, where Communist soldiers were still shooting people who tried to escape.

After graduating from the U of I Chicago Circle, I started working for the Social Security Administration in 1971. I am on year 45 now. The last 25 years, I have worked in the Finance Department developing and managing the budget to operate 210 field offices in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and our Midwest headquarters in Chicago. Government budgets have had numerous Continuing Resolutions and more than enough government shutdowns over the years, but to say the least, working the budget has never been a boring job!

Cindy and I have been married for 36 years. We have two wonderful sons, both of whom graduated from college and are employed. Both sons are married and we have two precious grandchildren. Cindy is still working as a travel consultant, which allowed us to visit Mexico, England, Italy, France, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and the Caribbean Islands with our sons. We have a condo in Florida and plan to retire there in the future. Email: P.Landini@comcast.net

Lee London

Retired in March 2019 and moved to Arizona with wife, Shirley London, and our rescued a 6 lb Morkie, Maltiese Yorkshire terrier, Rosie. We've been married 43 years and have no childran. Last 35 years in Chicago lived in Wrigleyville.

Work History: During college at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana began in the late ‘60s working for the Illinois Department of Mental Health, Adler Zone Center, as a mental health worker with emotionally disturbed children. Upon graduation, continued working in mental health for a few years at Reid Zone Center in Chicago at a school for emotionally disturb children.

In the early ’70s worked on a Department of Health, Education and Welfare research project as principal researcher and mid ’70’s as an Evaluation Researcher for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs. In the mid ‘80s was employed as a software tester at SPSS in Chicago. From the ‘90s through the mid- 2000s, I worked as a market researcher for numerous Chicago companies (Information Resources Inc, Britannica, Customer Development Corporation, Experian, Service Master, TransUnion). I eventually returned to working with children/young adults as a Special Education Teacher and Administrator for Youth Connection Charter Schools.

Education: Bachelors of Science in Psychology University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana 1970; Masters in Social Work University of Illinois Chicago 1975; Masters in Business Administration DePaul University 1980; Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology University of Illinois Chicago 1985

Travel: Europe (France, Italy, Greece, England, Scotland), India, United States most states, except Northeast and Northwest).