Classmates

Churchill Coat of Arms
Churchill Coat of Arms




Winston Churchill High School
Eugene Oregon
Class of 1967
Reunion  August 9, 2025
Greeting and Best Wishes.
Our reunion this year will be held at the home of Gary and Gayle Thorsby.
Gary and Gayle have invited us to their house in the northwest Eugene area.
We will have a Potluck meal, so please bring enough of your delicious favorite picnic treats to share with eight persons. 

Ice will be provided to chill beverages. BYOB!  Fun and games until time to go.

 

When: Saturday August 9th, 2025
Where: Thorsby’s home at 3790 Honolulu Ave. Eugene, OR 97404 
Phone: if lost 541-953-9248
Time: 2:00pm to 5:00pm or later


Please RSVP on ‘Contact Us’ tab above
 

Jim Schneider

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 2
Occupation: Retired
Comment: Have never stopped beliving: married Kathy Miller on December 20, 1969. We have 2 sons, Brian and Jimmy, Jimmy passed away in january 2017. We have 4 grand children. We are very blessed. Graduated from the University of Oregon in 1971 with a Bachlor of Science degree. Taught physical education and coached in the Eugene School District for 2 years. Joined the Eugene fire department in September 1973 and worked there for 21 years. Became fire chief in Clovis California in 1994. Became fire chief in Kent Washington in april 2002. While fire chief, the Kent fire department became the Kent Rfa in 2010, the Puget Sound Rfa in 2017, and I retired from the Puget Sound Rfa as fire chief on august 31, 2017. We are moving back to Eugene in October 2017. I was very lucky to coach high school basketball at Churchill High School for 5 years. In retirement I plan to continue to play golf, coach basketball, volunteer for a veterans organization, and workout so I can attend the 60th class reunion and see all of you again. The class of 1967 was special.

Meredith Smith (Cowan)

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Single
Occupation: CEO
Comment: Meredith (Pinky Cowan) Smith.


I graduated in 1971 from the U of O with BBA in accounting.  I worked for CPA firms for a while then I decided that I didn’t like it because it wasn’t allowing me to consult with the clients and help them grow their businesses.  (I spend time today working with a mechanic teaching him what he need to do to grow his business.  I love this part of working).  I then moved into corporate accounting and worked in the trucking industry, a stock brokerage, a company that created & laid fiber optic cable from Japan to almost our coast line & a construction company building dams & bridges.  I did some temporary work also and found I liked it.  I worked with Nike, Avia shoes, Portland Distributing and went back to most of over & over many times.  The last 2 were always fighting over me, I guess they really liked me to work for them.  The part I liked was that even if I didn’t like the job or the boss I didn’t have to work for them 40 or more hours a week & I could pick which hours & days I wanted to work.  I decided I liked working that way so I created my own company and I am still working that way.   I became an Advanced Certified ProAdvisor many years ago for Intuit (QuickBooks) & I love it.  I have to say I enjoy it though.  What is exciting now is technology has almost caught to what I wanted when I was 30.  Right now I house many of my clients on a server somewhere in the US and they work on their books at the same time I am working on their books without us necessarily knowing each other is even on the computer.  I get my hours when I want them therefore I pretty much “work when I want and don’t when I don’t”.


As far as my personal life I moved to Baker in 1974 and then to Salem then to the Portland metro area.  I live in Beaverton in the middle of Murray Hill right now.  I have lived in the Portland about 45 years.  I have been married twice and I think my picker is broke.  The first was awful and the second even though I did loved him it wasn’t a whole heck of a lot better.  There were some great years though with the second one.  He is now deceased.  We took custody of my second husband’s children when the oldest was 12 & the youngest was 8.  I was a Cub Scout leader for several years and that was really fun.  That caused me to visit more of Oregon & Washington than I had ever done before.  I am proud to say that all my boys earned all their badges & sports awards.  They learned how to build a fire faster than the Boy Scouts they & they actually beat the Boy Scouts in a competition.  That was the last year that the Cubs were allowed to camp with the Boy Scout but I don’t think the fire incident created that separation.  At least one made it to Eagle and I went to his celebration many years later.  Life has tested me and I have tested life.  This summer I have had a bucket list I guess.  I started out in April contacting an old friend that I hadn’t seen in about 45 years.  Surprise he texted me back.  I also went to another client’s concert of hard rock & roll at a pub in Milwaukie OR.  Then I visited Eugene 3 times after not being back there for 10 years.  I came home one weekend and contacted a friend/client and told him if he was serious about the invite to ride his motorcycle it probably should be this summer because I might not be able to ride next year.  He said lets go for the ride and then go out on a jet ski.  I said heck yes.  Then I thought “you almost got killed the last time you were on a motorcycle”.  Oh well we went & I had a great time.   This about as crazy as me trying to ride my 10 speed down the slide when I was 16.  I also contacted one of my stepsons this summer after 26 years.  Oh yeah then there was the reunion which I had a great time at.  Thanks Roger, Rose Ann, Janice and Cheryl for making it all possible.  I don’t think I would have done any of the things I did this summer if the reunion hadn’t happened.  Thank you to all that attended also.     

Jim Spears

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 2
Occupation: Ret - 41 yrs Cummins Partsman
Comment: After graduation I attended the  U of O for a year and a half. I then joined the National Guard and started working full time in the parts dept. at Kenworth and then Peterbilt. Working at Kingsford Charcoal for six months was a dirty job that I left ASAP.  While I worked for Leavitts Freight I met my wife Tonya who lived in Portland. I started working in the parts dept. at the local Cummins Engine distributor in 1971 and stayed 41 years. Tonya and I have two daughters, two grandsons, a grand daughter and two great grand children.

Jeanine Starritt (Lindeland)

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Widowed
Occupation: Retired
Comment: I attended U of 0 and later got my MBA. I had a career in Product Development in the furniture and accessory industry. My work took me to Asia and Europe, as well as across the US. I still have the travel bug, and have continued my journeys after retiring 3 years ago. I love cruising and have taken several birding trips. I am looking forward to a trip to Egypt in October. my husband Joe and I enjoyed ocean racing our sailboat and later motor yachting. I am widowed but have two wonderful stepchildren and four wonderful grand children who I remain very close to. I volunteer at Hamilton wetlands, an army corp of engineers restoration, and for California Audubon doing bird counts. I am currently living in Novato California, just North of San Francisco, but have been spending a week at the Oregon coast each year. I have lost touch with most of my high school friends, but I have the great joy of having a 63 year friendship with another of our classmates, Robert Engrav. We enjoy spending a month or more in Mexico each year. We will both be there.

Jeff Stone

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Widowed
Children: 1
Occupation: Retired Research Chemist
Comment: We will all have 50 years of great stories. Diane Lemery and I reconnected a year ago and are having a blast. Looking forward to seeing old friends.

Ann Whitlock (Yoder)

Then Then
Now Now
Marital status: Married
Children: 2
Occupation: Homemaker
Comment: How did I miss the 10th through the 40th???  Oh well, better late than never.  Looking forward to seeing all of you at our 50th.