First of all, I have to say that I am glad we elected Paul as class president for life. He and the rest of the core group have done a great job over the years of keeping tabs on us and organizing reunions. I didn’t attend any until the 40^th, but it was great and so was last year’s. If you can make it to the 50^th, you really shouldn’t miss it.

And now, for a brief history of my life since high school: Bette Casey and I both graduated from Michigan State. We were married in September of 1967 and divorced in October of 1977. In the intervening years, we moved to California and struggled mightily. For most of that time, I was an independent sales rep in the gift and decorative accessories business. Bette (now Elise) and her new husband (thirty years!) and my new wife and I (thirty years!) all still live in California. Bette and I had two sons who live nearby. The oldest, Jeff has a sweet wife and two beautiful daughters. They usually come for dinner on Sundays. Our second son, Steve often comes too. My wife, Susan and I have three more children, the youngest of whom – our only daughter – is now 20 and attending college locally. She wants to be a dental hygienist. Bette and I are still on good terms and we see each other a couple of times a year.

I have been in sales all my life. I started out selling typewriters (remember them?) for IBM. For the last thirty years, I have been mostly in the contract furniture business, working for dealers and small manufacturers. It has been pretty good to me. Although as I approach retirement age, I can see that working for a real company with retirement benefits would have been nice. I don’t think I will be able to retire until I’m 100! In fact, my brother-in-law and I are starting a new business: commercial landscape maintenance. I enjoy my life though; I love being in front of customers, trying to help them make good decisions. I’m afraid that if I retired, I would go to seed pretty quickly.

My wife Susan is a bit of an athlete and she keeps me on my toes. Last August we hiked from the valley floor of Yosemite (Happy Isles) up to the top of Half Dome (14 miles up and back via the Mist Trail past Vernal Falls with a vertical elevation change of 4,800 ft.). It was quite a trek – not for the feint of heart. I love golf and get out as often as I can. When I was in the Detroit area last fall, I played Cherry Creek; what a nice course.

If you haven’t already, I hope you will write a brief personal history yourself. I know I speak for your classmates when I say, we all enjoy reading them.

Dear Classmates of 1963.



I have written a book entitled, ASSORTED NUTS, A FAMILY ALBUM which was released to major bookstores and online websites (i.e.: Amazon.com) as of November 17, 2009. I hope you will read it.

It is a humorous memoir which includes my experiences with the quintessential dysfunctional childhood, three husbands, breast cancer and alcoholism. (Yes, I did say humorous). It also includes several chapters about my life at Brownell Junior High School and good ole GPHS. Deane Malchie Preston, Janey Walker Meade, Karen Amluxen Harlan, and Jan Wenzel Rehmann all make cameo appearances.

For the thirteen of you that might actually remember me, my name is Sandy Chapel Bax. If you buy my book, THANK YOU. If you like my book, please make a note on facebook.com so I can show the bookstores how popular I am when the release date arrives.

You can purchase a pre-released copy now by logging onto: http://www.assortednuts-sandybax.com Wishing you tears of laughter. Sandy