"Laughter should dimple the cheek, not furrow the brow."
Bob Packard
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Bob Packard
I worked as a senior buyer for Riley Power in Worcester for 45 years. I am married to Kathleen O’Brien, and we have three children and four grandchildren. We live in Princeton. Although I have a few health issues, I enjoy skiing, hiking, fishing and gardening. When we travel, we enjoy going to Newburyport and state park or ocean destinations. My memory of Wachusett is time spent with Kathy O’Brien and friends. |
Birthday Bash - August 20, 2017
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Bob and Kathy (O'Brien) Packard
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"Let the farmer forever be honored in his calling."
Rich Palmer
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Rich Palmer
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"Gentle ways are best."
I grew up in Sterling, and lived in Worcester for about five years when my husband and I first married. In 1975 we moved to Rutland, where we still live.
In the late 1970’s I spent a number of years as a “Big Sister” in Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Worcester County, including doing a radio interview for WTAG with my little sister. Even though the initial commitment to the program was one year, she and I remain friends and still keep in touch. She has a family of her own.
While working full time, I attended Quinsigamond Community College on a part-time basis, and graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Administrative Office Management. The majority of my working career was in the medical field in secretarial, administrative assistant, and residency coordinator positions.
I am now retired, and enjoy family, genealogy, reading, bicycling, and traveling.
In the late 1970’s I spent a number of years as a “Big Sister” in Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Worcester County, including doing a radio interview for WTAG with my little sister. Even though the initial commitment to the program was one year, she and I remain friends and still keep in touch. She has a family of her own.
While working full time, I attended Quinsigamond Community College on a part-time basis, and graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Administrative Office Management. The majority of my working career was in the medical field in secretarial, administrative assistant, and residency coordinator positions.
I am now retired, and enjoy family, genealogy, reading, bicycling, and traveling.
Nancy (Patterson) Hennessey
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Nancy and Paul Hennessey
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Birthday Bash - August 20, 2017
"The sweetest essences are often confined in the smallest glasses."
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Audrey (Pearson) Cronin
I still work at Unum Insurance Group, in Worcester, where I have been for 32 years. And I still live in Auburn, never having moved out of Massachusetts. However, I traveled to East Africa, South Korea, El Salvador and the Rose Bud Indian Reservation in South Dakota while I was on Mission Trips. I am married, with two children and four grandchildren. Our younger son and his family live with us. We have two Angora rabbits, and use their wool for hand-spinning. I sponsor a 4-H rabbit club through our adult club in the Central Massachusetts Rabbit Breeders Network. And I am active in the church. |
Audrey Pearson
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Audrey Pearson
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Steve Pelletier and wife at the Birthday Bash - August 20, 2017
"If he is not joining in the fun, he's making it."
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After Wachusett, I attended WPI and graduated in 1969 with a degree in Chemical Engineering.
Shortly after graduation, I rode my Triumph motorcycle to California, where I spent 4 years working at cement plants in Colton, CA and Tucson, AZ. I left the engineering world for the next 16 years, crafting sterling silver jewelry, while traveling extensively throughout the US, Canada and Mexico. In 1979 I moved back to Spencer, MA and returned to work as a programmer, but continued traveling, mostly to the Domincan Republic and Mexico. In 1996 I started a new company with a past co-worker, designing and building tablet counting machines for the pharmaceutical industry. I am still working. I still live in Spencer with my wife Sandy and our cat Crayon. Our winters are spent in Gulfport, Florida. Looking forward to seeing our old classmates! So many great memories of Wachusett, but I think the best was the day we carried Andy Fay’s car into Mr. Dauphanais Spanish class, and he taught us the words for the different parts of the car. Definitely came in handy during my travels! 
Sandy and Fred Perrone
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Alfred Perrone
Fred Perrone
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Birthday Bash - August 20, 2017
Buddy Perry
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"Ambition has no rush."
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"He'll go a long way, for he's on the right track."
Chip Pettis
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Chip Pettis
After receiving several advanced degrees using the benevolent G.I. Bill; a number of years at Norton Company in corporate transportation, an adjunct professor at several colleges, and a corporate move by Land Rover of North America to their US headquarters outside of Washington, DC in 1994, we settled near Annapolis, Maryland and have been enjoying the Chesapeake Bay lifestyle. I continue to work part time as a consultant with Pettis Education. We have traveled often for business and pleasure throughout the USA. I am still running competitively, and enjoy driving my 1996 Porsche 911 in autocross competition. We live in a golf community and golfing is my biggest challenge. Our daughter, Heather and two granddaughters age 13 and 10 live in Hermosa Beach, California and our son, Ben lives in Baltimore at the Inner Harbor. We have been married 48 years and are currently training our new puppy, Putter! |
Chip and Norma Pettis at Pinnacle Peak trailhead, North Scottsdale, AZ. January 2015
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Chip and Norma Pettis at the reunion.
"If knowledge be the mark, to know thee shall suffice."
Jacqueline Pratt
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Jackie Pratt
After graduating from WRHS, I graduated from Carnegie-Mellon, in Pittsburgh, PA. Next I worked in New York City in public relations for pharmaceutical companies. I moved to Baton Rouge, LA, and graduated from Louisiana State University Law School. I worked in the oil and gal industry until 1982. My daughter was born in 1983 and I moved to Cape Cod. I worked at grant writing, but eventually became a certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor. I was employed by Gosnold, Inc. for several decades, until I retired for health reasons in 2012. I had a hip replacement, but developed MRSA. Many surgeries later I ended up in a wheelchair, without a hip. I am not a good traveler and will regret not seeing all my WRHS classmates. My daughter is a 31-year old trauma nurse practitioner at Grant Hospital, Columbus, OH. She will be married on August 27, 2016 in Falmouth. I am very proud of her. Post-retirement I have become an advocate for disability rights. I grow flowers, tomatoes and herbs. I do foster care for cats. And I have recently begun doing public relations and grant writing applications for local non-profits. Having always been a reader, I devour five or six books a week (heavily murder mysteries, but also non-fiction of all sorts and cookbooks.) |
Jackie Pratt
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"Let your countenance be pleasant, but in serious matters, somewhat grave."
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Kathy Price
I majored in anthropology at Cornell and then went into the Peace Corps in West Africa for two years (using my French – thank you, Mrs. Ives!). Later I worked for a small newspaper in New Jersey (as the classified ad department), and then got a Master’s in geography and cartography from the University of Michigan. I did freelance drafting for Arrow Maps, and later joined the National Soil Survey program with what is now the USDA-NRCS for 25 years as a cartographic technician and manuscript editor. I also did volunteer work, weaving, oil painting, gardening, and working with stained glass, as well as being a Reiki practitioner for 20 years. My favorite places to travel are Italy and Ireland, where I like to photograph landscapes and old stonework. After retirement in 2015, I moved to a semi-passive-solar, modular home near Bath, Maine. I am now having a great time establishing new gardens, quilting, reading, and taking another stab at oil painting, though I am coming to believe this is a pastime devised by sadists in order to torment the less-talented. I try to live simply, minimize my impact on the planet, and do as my cat commands. Favorite Wachusett memory: vacation to Cliff Island, Maine, with a group of friends. As for my health: so far, so good! |
Kathy Price
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Kathy Price
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Ann (Prouty) Kokernak
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Hubby, Gerry, and I, during our 48 years of wedded bliss, have been blessed with two wonderful children and 5 equally as wonderful grandchildren whom we adore.
We have lived in Sterling for the past 34 years and enjoy active roles in volunteering for various town politics and community events. Most of my productive working years (23 of them) were as a legal secretary for the law firm of Bowditch & Dewey in Worcester. Semi-retirement was as an admin asst for the Town of Sterling, Dept of Inspectional Services (better known as the Building Dept). Although I struggle a bit with rheumatoid arthritis, it is not enough to hold me down. Happy 70th! |
Ann and Gerry Kokemak at the Birthday Bash - August 20, 2017
