COW CHIPS

Dear Bubba stopped in yesterday, says hidy and tosses this at me: “Hey, Hugie, have you ever noticed that whenever you dial a wrong phone number that the line is never busy.  I can’t figger that out.  But I do have a nice recipe for all your pals today.  That is, those who might enjoy chocolate.   Ya take about a cup of good old Hershey’s chocolate sauce and put it on the stove to heat up.  Then you add about ¼ cup (give or take) of JIF CREAMY peanut butter and let it melt in the chocolate.  You can make a hot – fudge Sunday with this, or just drink it, which is what I do.”

Back in the 1950s when with IBM in South Bend, I was assigned the Studebaker Corp.  There I met Bob Rieffel, an executive in the accounting department.  Later, we both retired to Florida.  He lived about 40 miles South of us in Jenson Beach.  It was then that I was introduced to his passion.  His thesis follows:

ITS TIME TO MAKE A FINAL ADJUSTMENT TO OUR CALENDAR BEFORE THE 21ST CENTURY ARRIVES

Our present 365 day perpetual calendar involves 14 different patterns that are utilized over a 21 year period. This clumsy arrangement could be changed to a simple, in effect, 3 month permanent calendar by not recording one 24 hour period (2 periods for leap years) each year as a separate day but create two 24 hour days. Since, theoretically, all commercial endeavors would cease during these periods, they could be inserted on the last week end of any quarter but preferably December each year and June for leap years. They could respectively be called "World Peace Day" and "Free Spin Day".
     This could be accomplished by eliminating 5 days, namely, the 31st days of January, May, July, August and October and setting up 4 days, namely, February 29 & 30, June 31 and September 31.
      The only thing that would change in this proposed calendar would be the moon cycles and the various religious seasons and Holy days which are based upon them.
      This would be an opportune time for the theologians of all religions to syncretize their doctrinal beliefs and set up specific dates for their various seasons and Holy days.  It is believed that this change would go over a lot better than no fish on Friday did.
      Just think of all the advantages of such a change and you will find that they far outweigh the encumbrances.
      Certainly others have dwelled on this but let us finally do something about it and get the job done before the year 2000.
      This is like propagating trees.  We will be doing it for all future generations of humanity.
      Below is a sample of what next year (1989) would look like if a change like this were to transpire.  Future years would be the same.

From Brendon Miles ‘56 - - - Subject: Disaster Northern Plains style-contrast this with some other recent natural disasters - Those from this part of the country (Louisiana, Mississippi) can appreciate this.

North Dakota News
This text is from a county emergency manager out in the western part of North Dakota after the recent snow storm.

WEATHER BULLETIN

Up here in the Northern Plains we just recovered from a historic event - may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" - with a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to tens of thousands.

FYI:
* George Bush did not come....
* FEMA did nothing....
* No one howled for the government...
* No one blamed the government
* No one even uttered an expletive on TV...
* Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit.
* Our mayors did not blame Bush or anyone else.
* Our governor did not blame Bush or anyone else either.
* CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC did not visit - or report on this category 5 snow storm.
* Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.....
* No one asked for a FEMA House Trailer....
* No one looted....
* Nobody - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something
* Nobody expected the government to do anything either
* No Larry King, no Bill O'Reilly, no Oprah, no Chris Mathews and no Geraldo Rivera
* No Shaun Penn, no Barbara Striesand, no Hollywood types to be found
* Nope, we just melted the snow for water
* Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow-engulfed cars
* The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny
* Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snow-bound families
* Families took in the stranded people - total strangers
* We Fired up wood stoves
* Broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns
* We put on an extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die"
* We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized, by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sitting at home' checks.
* Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early...we know it can happen and we are prepared ahead of time to deal with it ourselves.
"In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% of most of the world's social problems evaporate."
 

You may recall that when we started to sponsor our annual all class Florida reunions, the Jesuit Partnership in Milwaukee volunteered to shoulder the expense of printing and mailing the invitations.  I gave this a lot of thought, but in the end I yielded to their seemingly very kind and timely offer.  Several of you (including my wife, Lauretta) said, in effect, what will be the payback?   Well, we have discovered it.
     I slipped a couple of ringers into the list as a test.  Recently one of my ringers called to tell me that he got a mailing from the Wisconsin Province people in Milwaukee. 
    We last used them, I think, for the 2004 reunion in Orlando.  At that time I asked their front man, Jack Paquette, to be sure to destroy our mailing list after its use.  I received assurance that that would happen.
When I reported the ringer story to Paquette recently, he responded that he had archived our file, and somehow, it had “accidentally” gotten used.  So to all of you who received a copy of “Jesuit Journeys” recently and had not requested it, you have our apology.  Again, I have asked Paquette to destroy our file, that we did not wish to be archived anywhere.  But if they use it again, my little ringers will show up on schedule, and we will once more report it to you.
     In the past we have advised you that if, or better, when Campion Forever ceases to exist, any residue cash would be sent to this organization.  This is part of our agreement with the IRS to gain tax exempt status.  (charity)  That has been changed as of now.  Without a lot of loud disagreement, I would like to have Sister Ann Halloran’s inner-city Milwaukee enterprise receive this benefit.  No idea how much we are talking about, but whatever is left after paying the bills will go to Sister Ann.

The following newspaper article was published after the infamous “poem” appeared in the 12/13/1969 Campionette.  This is part of the package sent to us by Father Bill Mugan* from the St. Louis Jesuit Archives.

* Fr. Mugan is now retired in Milwaukee.

COURIER-PRESS

12/24/1969

     From the ghetto to the classroom, from the pulpit and the printed page, the everyday slang and language has turned a White Christmas at Prairie du Chien into a Black Issue of misunderstanding and concern.
     A poem written by a black student at Campion Jesuit High School here has hit this white community of 5,600 people and has raised more controversy than most residents can recall.
     The poem, "To Pig With Love," was written by a senior black student from the ghettos of St. Louis, Mo., and published in the Dec. 13 issue of the "Campionette," a student news magazine which is circulated on campus. What was shocking to most residents was the offensive vocabulary, and the publication of the poem has created racial unrest here.
     Currently there are 25 black Students among the 500 in the private, all-male high school.
     While reactions in town were those of dissent and anger, the reaction of the Rev. Robert Hilbert, S.J., president of Campion, was more tolerant.
     "While I do not think that the Ette was the place for that kind of article, I do think that anyone who is stuck on the language is missing the whole point," he said. "The words have a sociological meaning for the blacks," but quite a different meaning to whites.
     He compared the poem, which was an expression of anger and frustration, to Biblical passages written during a period of oppression of the Jewish people.  Its writing, he said, was triggered by the slaying of two Black Panther leaders by Chicago police.
     Of the on-campus relationship of the 25 black students and the 400 plus white students, Fr. Hilbert summarized: "I can deny that we have had the kind of organized obstruction of the school that you read about.  I can deny that the blacks, as a total group, have tried to separate themselves from the whites.  I cannot deny that there is tension."  He also admitted that "tension has been greater in the last few days than in the past two years."
     Several fist fights between white and black students were reported early last week, shortly after the publication of the "Campionette."  There were no other reports of physical confrontation.
     Reactions among some residents here suggest don't talk about it, let things cool down.'  The city has been relatively free of white-black friction and would just as soon return to that status.
     Fr. Hilbert and Fr. G.F. Lucey, S.J., principal of Campion, described the poem's author as being "one of the more highly respected students in the school. . . a leader" who has "Integrity," and is "aware" and "pleasant."
     At least three churches used "To Pig With Love" as a basis for sermons Sunday.  Again the suggestion was repeated, 'let us be concerned with what is said rather than in the manner in which it is said,' and emphasized that the language which appeared is part of the black vernacular even though it may be shocking to a white community.
     Below a picture of “The Poem’s” author, Harold Brooks, and another piece of his work from the 1970 yearbook

     "The Black brothers at Campion are so mellow, they know what's happening, they walk their walk, they talk their talk and they do their thing. That's no lie brother! They are really bad. (Oh, yeah!) Black experience? They've had it. White rhetoric? They don't need it. The Panthers, Black nationalism, the cultural revolution. Yes, they can rap. They can rap very hard. Look out whitey, they will blow your mind."

    — Hal Brooks

PRIEST REVIVES CAREER OF HELPING

    (From Andrew Zinkle ’60)

     He still doesn't need a last name. Sting. Cher. Father Gene.  Gene Jakubek's  name lives on in Milwaukee 12 years after he left town for good in the midst of a sex scandal.
     The agency he founded in 1968, Father Gene's HELP Center, is still run solely by volunteers and is still taking in unwanted clothing and giving it away free to the poor and otherwise needy throughout the Milwaukee area.  Father Gene's portrait is hanging in the lobby.
    And Father Gene has bounced back in Omaha, where he's on television and radio every week with his church chats called, as they were on TV here for years,  "The Answer Is Love."
     "I'm very happy.  I thank God I can work," the once most beloved Catholic priest in Milwaukee said in a telephone interview Friday.
     Jakubek is 78 and gets around, mostly by wheelchair because of back troubles dating to a fall in the shower in 1990 and even before that to a football injury in the seminary. He lives in Jesuit quarters at Creighton University.
     He was happy to talk but did not want to discuss the mess that caused his religious order to whisk him out of Milwaukee, or share how he was able to pick up the pieces of his life.
     "The superiors and I agreed not to talk on this at all.  Only God knows the truth on this whole thing," he said.
     "Jakubek confesses to affair," said a Milwaukee Journal headline in June 1989.  He admitted being involved in a sexual relationship with a woman 24 years younger than him, but he denied he was counseling her at the time.  He also admitted giving her $50 to $80 a month during the course of their five-year relationship.
     If you were in Milwaukee in 1989, you probably remember the shock and sadness and disappointment that met the announcement.  If this holy man had feet of clay, then the rest of us had no feet at all.
     He was a popular motivational speaker who donated his speaking fees to the Jesuit Seminary Guild.  He was chaplain to the Milwaukee Bucks.  He was on the board of the MACC Fund, a position he holds to this day.  He was raised in Milwaukee and grew up to be our version of Fulton Sheen.
     And then he was gone just like that.  At the time, he tearfully told columnist Bill Janz he wanted to come back to Milwaukee, "but only if I'm welcome.'"
     He has never returned, he said.  Asked if wants to, he said, ''This assignment is Omaha and until the provincial tells me otherwise, I'm here."
     These days, Jakubek says Mass every day and does face-to-face counseling with individuals and couples and families.  He runs retreats and missions.  Tapes of his inspirational messages are still available for sale.  His hobby, he said, is collecting "gems and jokes," and he's compiled more than 2,OOO pages of them.
     He has survived his sin and seems to be thriving.
     His HELP Center (that stands for happiness for the elderly, lonely and poor) could use a little help.  Deacon Don Borkowski, executive director, is sending out a call for volunteers on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
     "When Father Gene was here in Milwaukee, and he had a TV program, the place was overrun with volunteers," Borkowski said.  Now the number is down to about 20, about half of what's needed.

     The center is at 5919 W. National Ave.  If you can help out, call      Don at (414) 258-9023.  You could volunteer beside Cal Bruss, a retired sheet metal worker who was filling orders for men's clothes when I visited last week, or Hattie Bakula, who has been at the center long enough to remember the days when Father Gene would pop in.   
     Father Gene writes a column that appears on the front of the HELP Center's regular newsletter.
     He's a priest who stumbled.  Then he got up on his clay feet and went back to work.

     Peter Carey S.J. ’48 sent us this rather interesting tale about some CHS relics that were recently installed at the new Conference Center at Belarmine Hall:
      The Chicago firm of Giannini and Hilgart was selected to install stained glass windows in the small chapel door and conference center doors in the new building.  The glass used in the doors has a long history.  It was originally part of the many stained glass windows in the large Chapel at Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.  These beautiful windows date back to approximately the 1880' s and were obtained by Loyola University when the high school closed.  It was necessary for additional glass to be added to the windows by Giannini and Hilgart in order to fill the openings in the doors.   We are pleased that these beautiful windows have been taken out of storage and now have a new home at Bellarmine.  Click here to see a few pictures of the windows when they were in our Chapel.

A RATHER IMPRESSIVE RESUME

 53-54         Mgr., Cochrane Foundry
 54-58         Corps. Of Engineers, USA & France
 58-61         Sr. Partner, Stephenson Walsh & Associates. USA & France
 61-2000     York International Corporation
                   61-64        Mgr. Licensing & Acquisition
                   64-65        Assistant to President
                   65-67        President, York, England
                   67-69       V.P. International Operations
                   69-78        President, York Europe           
                   78-86        President, International Business Group
                   86-88        Group President; Applied Systems & Refrigeration Worldwide
                   88-90        Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy
                   90-2000    Consultant

OTHER:
'Who's Who in America';  'Who's Who in the World'
Activities:
Rose Tree Fox Hunting Club, Saut du Cerf Stag Hunting Club, Country Club of York
MIT Memoire:
Life at Phi Gamma Delta
Quadrangle Club, Beaver Key, Swimming Team
Professor Taylor's special courses in Metallurgy
Inter - Fraternity Council
Reflections :
I married Christiane in France during my Army days. Since then we have lived in Paris, New York, London and Geneva returning to New York in 1978.  Had a great career.  Currently; live in France 4 times 6 weeks per year where we are busy looking after our small farm.

George Dorsey ’55 offers this info:

     I just learned that Fr. Cletus Pfab ‘55 is celebrating his 50^th anniversary as a Jesuit !  What a big accomplishment!
     I received a copy of the magazine “Company, the world of Jesuits and their friends”, summer 2006 edition.  After page 16, I found a glossy foldout “Celebrating Service to God.  Please join the Wisconsin Province in honoring our Juibilarians.”   Fr. Pfab was highlighted.   It stated that he entered the Jesuits on August 25, 1956.   He is a member of the Miguel Pro Jesuit Community.
     I just phoned Cletus to congratulate him.  I was already aware that Cletus had spent many years in Mexico, and in working with the Mexican community. (I heard that when Cletus heard a Mexican speak, he could tell, by the person’s accent, which Mexican province the person came from.)   
     I asked Cletus about the Miguel Pro Jesuit community.  Cletus explained that Blessed Miguel Pro was a young priest who was martyred for doing his priestly duties, in violation of dictums of the government of Mexico, about 1927.  After a revolution about 1917, the new government of Mexico had seized ownership of all the church properties and forbade the priests and nuns from openly performing their church role.  These rules were relaxed some in the past 10 or 15 years, if I understood Cletus correctly.  So the Miguel Pro community ministers to the Mexican community in Milwaukee.  Cletus has also served at the Casa Romero retreat center for Hispanics, near Milwaukee.  Cletus also mentioned Christo Rey and Christellatto.  It was news to me that the church had ever been oppressed in Mexico.
     Cletus recalled the movie “The Mission”, starring Robert DeNiro in 1987 or so, that portrayed efforts of the Jesuits in South America, in the late 1700’s, to protect the indigenous peoples from exploitation by the colonial powers.  This got the Jesuits in hot water with the colonial powers, who successfully pressured the Pope to suppress the Jesuits (if I got that all correctly.)  This is part of the story about why the Jesuits were suppressed, from about 1775 to 1815, in nearly all countries.
     The magazine also mentioned Aloysius F. Schmitz, S.J, for 60 years in the society.  Cletus confirmed that Fr. Schmitz was indeed our math teacher at Campion.
     Cletus’s contact info is: 
Cletus Pfab, S.J. / 
1325 N. Jefferson St #814 /
Milwaukee, WI   53202
(414) 272-0143 / 
CLETUS dot PFAB at MARQUETTE dot EDU

SORRY TO REPORT THESE OBITS

Mike Lochner ‘60
Jerome Kozlowski ‘50
James McGeever ‘39
Joe Fuller ‘49
Jerome Hamlin ‘48
Anthony Pusatera ‘51
Frank C. Nieman ‘36
Francis Waickman ‘41
John Langenfeld 56

John Langenfeld’s (‘56) family sent us this obit notice.  Can’t help showing it to you.  Wish I knew him. I never drove a Healey, but I did own a TR-3 Triumph for a few years. — AH

John N. Langenfeld, age 67, of Elkhart Lake died, unexpectedly Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2005 at his residence.
     He was born Aug. 2; 1938 in New Holstein, a son of the late Edward and Edith (Bell) Langenfeld.
     John graduated from Campion' High School in Prairie Du Chien and received a degree in history from St: Norbert College .
     On Feb.3, 1967 he married Carolyn Stone; she preceded him in death on Oct. 3, 2002. 
John loved British cars and sport car racing.  He had a love for racing his fully restored Austin Healey.  John was a longtime member of the. Road America Board of Directors, a member of the Sports Car Club of America since 1965, The Vintage Sports Car Drivers Association and a member of the Elkhart Lake Service Club. 

CLASS OF 1950 REUNION

     The class of 1950 celebrated their 56^th reunion in St Louis the weekend of June 9 ­– 11.  John McKenna writes:  St. Louis is a lovely place to stay.  St. Louis has more parks than most major cities.  Forest Park is four times larger than Central Park and was the highlight of Sunday afternoon for Camp Kersten and me.  Most of the attractions were close to downtown.

     There are more free attractions in St. Louis than practically any major city, including the St. Louis Art Museum, historical Courthouse where the Dredd Scott case was tried and two lovely Basilicas evidenced in the important history of the Catholic Church and Jesuits in the development of the St. Louis metropolitan area.

In attendance were:  Larry Barmann, a  retired tenured professor of history from St. Louis University and our Knight yearbook editor joined us on Friday night.  Fr. Ev Diederick SJ, now retired in St. Louis and who orchestrated the Sunday Mass.  John Edelman, a fellow Antigonian and graduate of St. Norbert’s is still a working salesman in the North Chicago suburb area.  John Fitzpatrick, a retired General Motors sales manager and recently retired pawnshop employee from Louisville was there for Saturday and Sunday.  Tom Gilmore of classical honors and basketball fame and the only student to beat Fr. Carl Reinert, the principal of discipline, in H-O-R-S-E as a freshman.  Tom felt he should have been the starting guard for Mel Nicks as a junior with Bob Meyer but he and Coach had diverging opinions.  Skip Hauer, manager of the football team our senior year and now a tour guide for the Rocky Mountains and Southwest areas of the country and his younger brother Dave Hauer (’51) now of San Quentin, California (not on the inside) with John and Lorraine Hozian our former leader in awards for youngest looking, most children, most grandchildren and the youngest freshman, ever, at Campion…..a tender 12 years old.   Bill Ibe and Mara Paine, when not busy with the reunion activities spent much time trying to figure out the bus system to get to the Botanical Gardens on Saturday afternoon.  Camp Kersten, Conclave president, champion debate team and national forensic state oratory winner in his 3^rd and 4^th years handled the emceeing honors with panache.  Bill and Romona Knierim  made the trip from Jacksonville, Florida in spite of health issues.   Marty and JulieKing (’51) from University City, a suburb of St. Louis, rode the MetroLink in for every event. 
Julie is the sister of Wilford Rice, a deceased member of our class.
Fr. Ed Maginnis, from Regis in Denver, retired and still on top of his game.  Dr. John McKenna, now retired but very busy as director of medical services for a retirement facility, writing articles for the local newspaper, planting Christmas trees and bike riding with wife Elsa around the United States and several foreign countries.  Charlie and Jane Meehan of nearby Manchester who should be a "professional reunion organizer", this being the fourth he has put together.  Bob and Jane Meehan from Omaha (how is it that twin brothers have wives with the same name ). Joe Nebel and Gene Nevins SJ drove down together from Chicago and Pat O'Beirne came in from San Diego and will spend a few days in the Champagne/Urbana area where he has roots.  Joe Powers, also from Chicago and Joe and Irene Schroeder who have made all of the previous reunions.  Bill and Phil Ramacciotti ('51 ) drove-in from Omaha and headed to Colorado after our reunion.  Bill Snyders SJ from Belize was so helpful in the church arrangements and making sure that our Jesuit mentors got to all the events.  Jim and Barry Walsh from Longboat, Florida.  Jim, a retired district attorney is still very busy with pro bono work and his wife, Barry, a busy writer.

1950 Lads
1^st row: Fr. Bill Snyders, Chuck Meehan, Fr. Ed Maginnis, Joe Nebel, Dr. John McKenna
2^nd row: John Edelman, Bob & Jane Meehan, Julie King, Bill Ibe, Bill Knierim, Irene & Joe Schroeder, Tom Gilmore
3^rd row: Dave & Skip Hauer, John & Lorraine Hoxian, Barry Walsh, Camp Kersten
4^th row: Fr. Gene Nevins, Joe Powers, Marty King, Jim Walsh

6^TH ANNUAL FLORIDA CHS ALL – CLASS REUNION

My computer tells me that there are quite a few of you that have not helped us financially since 2002 or 2003.  We know that the memories ain’t what they used to be, so this is a bit of a nudge.  If you are interested in what we do here, please send a nice little contribution soon.  Those who have not done so before the April’07 newsletter will be unceremoniously placed in our nice warm Florida Jug.  Sorry to have to do this, guys, but we must reduce spending or increase revenue whenever we can.  Postage and printing and our website continue to cost a bit more each time.  Thanks for your help.

Until next time, my best regards to all of you - - - and hope your holiday season is wonderful.

Aaron Huguenard ‘47