Mary Parra Segura

Hello everyone!

 I can’t believe 40 years has gone by!  I haven’t been to many of our reunions so let me tell you what I’ve been up to all these years! 

Right after graduating, my sister Lettie and I went for one year to Sagunto, Valencia, Spain.  It was a wonderful experience that taught me to appreciate more my family and my country.  We got to travel a bit around Europe afterwards. 

            Then I went to La Sierra where I got my Bilingual (Spanish/English) teaching degree and began my teaching career.  I’ve been teaching now for 33 years and it’s not a job, it’s my passion!  I’ve taught mostly grades 1-4 and for one year, grade 6.   A few schools I’ve taught at are San Fernando Valley Academy in San Fernando, CA, Saguaro Hills SDA Christian School in Tucson, AZ, and I am currently teaching grade 3 at San Gabriel Academy in San Gabriel, CA.  My goal is to not only inspire children to do their personal best academically, but foremost to give their hearts and dedicate their lives to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I was very privileged to be able to teach my two daughters in school, and if the Lord permits, I will be my grandson’s teacher next year when he’s a third grader.

Shortly after my teaching career began, I met the man of my life, and my best friend, Armando Segura.  We got married on Thanksgiving day in 1984.  We have two daughters, Crystal and Erika, a son-in-law, Sam, married to Crystal, and one grandson, Joshua.  My husband is a retired machinist and is a wonderful blessing to me.  Since I work and do tutoring two hours every day after school, he is our cook, runs the household, and is the family auto mechanic.   And let me tell you, he puts most women to shame with his cleaning and his chile rellenos!!

Many of you remember my parents who worked at TAA for many years.  My father, such a loving, living example of a dedicated Christian, passed away two years ago this June.  All of my brothers and sisters were here with him his last days. Before he passed away he told us of his desire to start a “Daniel G. Parra Memorial Fund” with the purpose of helping others achieve their lifelong dream of a Christian education.  We have fulfilled his wishes.  To view a fundraising letter, please see the attachment at the end of this article.  My mother lives in Glendale, AZ, and is doing well.  She rides her adult tricycle often and just bought a Teeter machine, which promotes inversion of your body for health.  She gives many lectures on health to many of the Spanish SDA churches in the area.  She will be 85 years “young” this October!

            My favorite activities are traveling, music, arts & crafts, baking, camping, swimming, and spending time with my family.  Can’t wait to see you all!

 ************ ************ ************

Daniel G. Parra Memorial Fund

A humble man who made it his goal to obtain a quality formal education for his children. Now it’s our turn to help others do the same.

Dear friend,

On June 11, 2014, Daniel G. Parra passed away with few possessions to call his own. Still he died a wealthy man for he had the love, admiration and respect of his family and friends. In his 85 years he dedicated his life to God and family. He faithfully loved his wife, cared for his mother, supported and educated his five children, and responded eagerly to God’s calling to teach the much he had learned through constant reading and personal experiences.

In his last days Daniel asked that we, his children, remember him by helping others obtain that formal education he desired but never had – although he made certain that we did. He expressed a special concern for those from humble beginnings who, like him, have a deep thirst for learning, but little means to afford schooling because of their family’s circumstances. He knew, as do we, that by helping even one young person who deeply embraces Godly values, we would be helping the entire family enter into a long-lasting, life-changing promise for their future. In response to his request, we have established the Daniel G. Parra Memorial Fund in his honor to accomplish his last wishes.

Now it’s our turn to ask you to help us make Dad’s dream come true. Your generous donation to the Daniel G. Parra Memorial Fund will help a few deserving young people find that their educational dreams can come true. Together we can make an investment into their futures that will reap great rewards for whole families.

We appreciate your help and would be happy to provide you with a receipt upon your request. Your donations are fully tax deductible.

Sincerely,

Mary Parra Segura

Lettie (Parra) Hylarides, Secretary/Treasurer: 

360.540.0355  

Box 124, Silvana, Washington 98287

parramemorialfund@gmail.com

Danira Parra, President: 

815.252.2230

Class reunion cartoons

Doreen (Schneeman) Nimmo Sutton

Mark and Doreen Sutton

Hello, fellow class members of the great class of '76!

I've seen many of you throughout the years at reunions or otherwise, so I will just do a brief highlight, as I unfortunately will not be attending this momentous occasion...so sad about this!

My daughter is (gasp!) 36 and living in Florida, with her loves, both human and canine.  I am about to have a third "granddog" in about a month, a brindle Boston.  I make it a point every November to visit her for at least a week while I am already on the East Coast for court reporter association board meetings, and we were able to spend last Thanksgiving in Florida.  Of course, the one year I decide to do a run, there were 27-mile-an-hour winds...

My son is now 18 and recently moved to Nevada and lives with my brother.  He is an amazing kid.  He wanted to venture out on his own before attending college and police academy.  It was very sad indeed, the only consolation being I am going to have a guest room! :-)

Mark is doing well, and has taken up road biking.  In the short time he has been riding, he has logged over 2,500 miles.  He is now my biking coach.  He is looking forward to retirement in a few short years.

It is an especially busy but enjoyable time for me with my association work, running, teaching, mentoring at my church and for court reporting students -- oh, and working!  Lots of travel around this time of year, which is one reason for my absence this weekend. 

Know that I will miss seeing all of you, and will be thinking good thoughts and saying prayers for safe travel.  What a fabulous reunion it will be when our Lord calls us home and we never have to say goodbye!

Love you all,

Doreen

Doreen Sutton, RPR, CSR, CR 

DS Reporting, LLC

www.ds-reporting.com

Class reunion photos from the past

2011
For Christy's entire 2011 class reunion photo album, visit this link. (It's in Facebook, but you can view it even if you don't have a Facebook account.)  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1939310643051.112329.1250959874&type=1&l=9453558b7c

2001

1986

1976

Cyndi (Huber) Wallace

Hello to all!

Lots has happened to me in the last 40 years, as it has to all of us! In 1980, I became a registered nurse, and after working in patient care for many years, started down the path to management/ hospital administration.

I got married very quickly after graduation, and as many of you predicted at the time, the marriage did not last. Charlie Laspe and I divorced in 1996, but not before we had two spectacular children, Joey (now 34) and Alicia (now 31). They are my greatest accomplishment, hands down. Christy Robinson helped nurture their musical abilities by teaching them piano for several years, and they continue their love of music to this day. 

Carol Driver, Cyndi Wallace,
Cindy DeLand, Bonni Polyak,
LeAnn Crawford

Both of my kids were blessed to be raised in close proximity to the kids of some of our graduating class-Mike and Cindy DeLand, Roger and Carol Driver, Bonni (Brown) and Glenn Polyak. My kids consider these kids like siblings, and it was so wonderful to have the support of people I had known since I was 13, as we were trying to maneuver the scary and unknown waters of growing kids to adulthood.

In 1998, I married my second husband, Scott Wallace, and moved to Cedar City, Utah. We had a wonderful life together for 8 years, but he unfortunately passed away in 2007 of a massive heart attack.

In 2006, I became the Chief Nursing Officer at the local hospital here in Cedar City. I am single, and live in a quaint little bungalow built in 1940 with my two dogs, four birds, and who knows how many fish…

Joey is a Nuclear Engineer in the Navy, married and stationed in Albuquerque—no children yet. Alicia is married and lives in Canberra, Australia, with my three grandchildren and son-in-law. She works part time as an educator at the National Zoo and Aquarium. Although I don’t live close to either of them, I see them frequently.  I love to travel, and have been to China, Costa Rica, Alaska, and many other of our states. I go to Australia twice a year as well.

Life is good, and I feel blessed to reach this point in my life. I am looking forward to seeing all of you at the reunion and hearing about your adventures.

Class of 76 reunion party

Sinai party scene from "The Ten Commandments" film.

April 2, 2016, from 3-8 pm.
Party will be at the clubhouse where DeLands live, at 15555 Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd, Scottsdale, AZ 85260.
Map from Thunderbird campus to DeLands' complex.

Wear casual indoor-outdoor clothes. Valley high temps can be 75-95. And breezy, so be sure to glue your toupee tightly. 

Bring food (side dishes, desserts) if local, and/or contribute to the grocery $$ bucket. 

If you have pictures, bring on a USB drive to plug into laptop connected to big-screen TV. If you can make a video of classmates at the party for those who aren't able to attend, that would be great. Christy can embed the video in the class blog.

Complex  includes a pool, BBQ grills, a kitchen, and indoor/outdoor seating. We will be keeping it simple with grilling burgers/grillers and hot dogs/vege-dogs. If anyone who lives in town would like to make a side dish or dessert or appetizer, please let Bonni know. 

PLEASE RSVP by March 25 so we may begin shopping. We need to know if you prefer vegetarian food.
Bonni @ 928-242-0607
or Cindy @ 602-540-6506

If you're interested in dinner out on Friday night, call Bonni.

Official Thunderbird alumni weekend events: http://www.thunderbirdacademy.org/new-page-1/

Lisa Vickery Ruffner

Hi Everyone!

Wow! Hard to believe it's already been 40 years! Soooo, a little about me....

I am a widow, I lost my husband Jon Ruffner on Aug.15, 2012.

I and my almost-39-year-old son Jonathan have lived here in South Carolina for almost 10 years. My 35-year-old daughter Johanna lives in Colorado. My son-in-law is a Captain in the Army Reserves. 

I'm a grandmother of four, ages 4 months, 3 years, 13 years, and almost 17.

Granny Ruffner in her
little black dress.

 
I'm a former childcare teacher and I paint cartoon-themed murals. We also had a music ministry called Praise 3 and would play to nine nursing home facilities a month. We would do concerts for the White Memorial Medical Center (Los Angeles) and Loma Linda University Children's Hospital.

Lately, just trying to get by and make life count every day.

 
♡♡♡♡♡♡

Sheila Ramos

Sheila, center, with daughters

Since leaving TAA, I got married and had two daughters, Tabitha and Casey. I worked in a preschool for awhile and then after 10 years of marriage, I found myself a single parent with two small children.

For the next 30 years, I worked in retail, the last 19 years as manager for Sally Beauty Supply, which I really enjoyed. I won a lot of trips to Cancun, Riverar Maya, two trips on cruise ships to Bahamas on the Royal Caribbean, and went to Catalina Islands and Ensenada on the Carnival Cruise. Really cool.

In June 2014, I had to leave SBS because of my health. I had been living in Yuma and I moved to Williams, Arizona. In April 2015, I was diagnosed with ALS. I’m doing good—I have a slow progression of the disease, considering I had the symptoms for the last five years, which was misdiagnosed. I have my "toys" to help me get around. Great doctor and his team at Barrows Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

 

I plan to be around until at least 90. I wake up every day blessed to be alive. I’ve been married for the last 24 years, and from my daughters we have six granddaughters and one grandson who happens to be the youngest. So I am very truly blessed.