Another Colonist Olympian Identified! 1968 Grad Completed in Speed Skating in ’72 & ’76 Olympics

February 11, 2018 by

The AHS Alumni Association recently learned of another Anaheim High graduate who competed as an Olympic athlete, increasing the Colonist Olympian count to six.

Thanks to research by CIF historian John Dahlem, a former AUHSD coach and principal,  the AHSAA is now able to share information about Olympic speed skater Charles Andrew Gilmore, a Class of 1968 graduate.

Gilmore honed his skills as a speed skater at Glacier Falls Ice Arena as a member of the Anaheim High Skating Club.

In 1967 he won the US Junior Championship. In 1969, at the US-Canada meet, he won the 1,500, and placed second in the 3,000 and all-around.

He competed in the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, placing 20th out of 28 positions in the 5000 meter. In 1976, he competed in the 10,000 meter at the Winter Olympics held at Innsbruck, Austria.

Click here to read more about other AHS Olympians.

Filed Under: Alumni Spotlight Tagged With: , , , ,

Anaheim High Celebrates Its Olympic Athletes

February 3, 2018 by

With USA athletes earning a record number of medals in the 2016 Summer Olympics, the AHSAA thought it was time to highlight Anaheim High’s own Olympic athletes.

Anaheim High’s legendary swim and water polo coach Jon Urbanchek, himself an Olympic swimmer, is in Rio now as a special assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team, a position he also held in 2012.

He was head coach to the 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympic teams. In total, Urbanchek has coached 44 USA Olympians with 11 Gold medals including four world record holders.

Inducted into the Anaheim Hall of Fame in 2011, Urbanchek served as Anaheim High’s swim and water polo coach between 1963 and 1978, an era when his Colonist teams achieved CIF championships and All American honors.

After leaving
his native country of Hungary following his participation in the 1956 Olympic Games, Jon received a scholarship to the University of Michigan where he contributed to three NCAA Championships in 1958, 1959 and 1961.

A true legend among swimming coaches, Urbanchek was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame on July 6, 2008.

Barbara McAlister - Diver July 23, 1962 X 8550 credit: John G. Zimmerman - staff

Barbara Ellen (McAlister) Talmage on the cover of a 1962 Sports Illustrated

Barbara Ellen (McAlister) Talmage from AUHS Class of 1959 became a championship diver who won seven Senior National Titles, took a gold medal in springboard diving at the 1963 Pan American Games and represented the U.S.A. as a diver in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics. Her image has graced the covers of both Sports Illustration and Life magazines.

Sowder_Sid001Sid Sowder Freudenstein from the Class of 1963 carried the flag in the 1968 Olympics as co-captain of the Men’s Gymnastics Team in Mexico City. As a UC Berkeley student, Freudenstein won many invitationals, PAC 8, regional titles and national and international awards. In his senior year in 1968, he tied for first on floor exercise, and his team won the NCAA Championship.

At Anaheim High, he won many competitions, mostly on tumbling, floor and vault. In his senior year, he was the High Point Man (closest to All-Around) at the Southern California State Championships.

After ending his competitive career, Freudenstein returned to school at the University of Colorado (CU), earning a PhD in physics. While finishing his degree and raising a young family, he became head gymnastics coach at CU in the fall of 1976. Later he became chairman of the physics department at Metropolitan State University in Denver.

Track and field athlete Rick Sloan from Class of 1964 competed in the 1968 Olympics, placing 7th in the decathlon and becoming the fourth American in the sport to exceed 8,000 points. Rick Sloan senior photo class of 64

At UCLA, he became the first Bruin to exceed 7-feet in the high jump when he vaulted 7-1. An injury prevented him from competing in the high jump and vault in the Olympics, but his fate was sealed when a coach talked him into competing in the decathlon. Afraid to high jump on his bad leg, Sloan had only one practice jump before the Olympic tryouts, but he somehow cleared 6-11 ¾ to set a world record decathlon high jump record and make the U.S. team.

KIT SALNESS - AHS SWIM TEAM '72

Kit Salness-Howser – Class of 1972

He parlayed his experience as a decathlete into a life-long career as a track and field coach. His career culminated as the men’s and women’s track and field head coach and the dean of Washington State University’s coaches. He retired from WSU in 2014 but said he had more coaching in him.

While he never returned to the Olympics as an athlete, Sloan is well known internationally in the multi-events circuits because of his 14 years as coach for four-time world decathlon champion, Olympic champion and former world record-holder Dan O’Brien and because of his mentoring of Olympic heptathlete Diana Pickler. He’s also coached the late Gabriel Tiacoh, the quarter-miler from Ivory Coast who won an Olympic silver medal in 1984.

Kit Salness-Howser from Class of 1972 was a nationally ranked platform diver and a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic diving team that was supposed to go to Moscow in 1980, but didn’t because of the U.S. boycott. Kit was inducted into the Anaheim Hall of Fame in 2004.Do you know of any other Anaheim High alumni who have participated in the Olympics? Let us know by emailing anaheimalumni@yahoo.com.
Once A Colonist, Always A Colonist!
Filed Under: Alumni Spotlight

Happy Birthday to Centenniel Colonist Martin Geissler

December 23, 2017 by

Happy 100th birthday to Martin Geissler from Class of 1936. He will become a Centennial Colonist on Dec. 24, 2017.

He lives in Temple, Texas, now but lived most of his life in California. Martin graduated from Anaheim Union High School in 1936. He held odd jobs until he was drafted in the Army in March 1941. He was discharged in Jan. 1946.
In December 1945 he married Aline Schroeder who graduated from AUHS in 1938. They were married for 66 years and have four children, 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
For 20 years he owned his own orange juice business. In retirement, Martin and Aline spent time with family, traveled and volunteered their time and talents with Mobile Missionary Assistance Program (MAPP).
Filed Under: Alumni Spotlight Tagged With: , , , ,

AHS ’62 Grad Brings “Man Trouble” to Stage

September 8, 2017 by

Arthur and playwright David Macaray (’62) has brought “Man Trouble” to Fullerton’s Stages Theater in the form of two one-act comedies “Food Court” and “Discount Murder.”

His two newest playlets, playing through Sept. 16,  feature his signature quirky characters “whose oddities bounce off one another like pinballs, yet whose issues and problems reflect the concerns of everyday Americans,” according to a review in the OC Register.

A ninth-generation Californian and son of Larry Macaray (’36), David has written for the LA Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Huffington Post and other publications. Among his novels is a work recently published about his time spent as a Peace Corps volunteer in India in 1967-68. As a playwright, he has had more than a dozen stage plays produced.

Click on this link to read an interview with Macaray about his work and plans to write his first novel.

 

Filed Under: Alumni Spotlight

Another Hall of Fame Honor for Davini from Class of ’65

September 5, 2017 by

AHS Hall of Famer Ron Davini from Class of 1965 is receiving another Hall of Fame induction, this time from his alma mater, Arizona State University.

Davini, one of the most decorated baseball student-athletes in ASU history, will enter the ranks of the Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame at an Oct. 13 luncheon in Tempe. Click on this link for more information or contact Tony Grandlienard: 480-727-7446 or tgrandli@asu.edu.

As ASU’s starting catcher in 1967, Ron Davini was instrumental in the Sun Devils’ second National Championship as his .409 batting average at the College World Series earned him Most Valuable Player honors.

Ron also led the Sun Devils that year with a .311 batting average and a school-record .992 fielding percentage en route to picking up 1967 College Baseball Player of the Year recognition by the Columbus, Ohio Touchdown Club.

A two-time all-Western Athletic Conference selection, Ron was a first-round selection of the Chicago White Sox in the 1969 Major League Baseball January Draft-Secondary Phase and played five professional seasons.

Following his playing career, Ron became one of the top high school baseball coaches in Arizona, serving for 28 years as the head coach at Tempe Corona Del Sol and Tempe McClintock.

Click here to read more about this outstanding AHS graduate who is a great supporter of Anaheim High and its Alumni Association. Congratulations Ron!

Filed Under: Alumni Spotlight, Hall of Fame Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Anaheim High’s Connection to Jerry Lewis

August 22, 2017 by

A bit of fun trivia has come to light with the recent death of Jerry Lewis. Did you know that Anaheim High has a connection to this comedy great through Class of 1933 graduate Marie Wilson?

Katherine Elizabeth “Maybelle” Wilson – a.k.a. Marie Wilson –grew up in Anaheim. An inheritance helped her fullfill her dream of becoming a Hollywood starlit. Maybelle dropped her family nickname and transformed herself into radio, TV and film star Marie Wilson, a voluptuous blonde bombshell who earned three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Marie earned national recognition for her role in “My Friend Irma,” the title role of a radio series that became one of the most popular shows of the late 1940s. The radio show evolved into a TV series from 1952 to 1954, which then led to two movies titled, “My Friend Irma” and “My Friend Irma Goes West” featuring the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

More about this famous Anaheim High graduate is available via this link.

Filed Under: Alumni Spotlight Tagged With: , , , , ,

Class of ’57 Bill Otta Inducted in Tennis Hall of Fame

July 24, 2017 by

Former Saddleback College tennis coach Bill Otta, an Anaheim High Class of ’57 graduate, has been inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Hall of Fame during an enshrinement banquet held May 25, at the  University of Georgia campus during the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships.

Otta, who spent 25 years coaching tennis at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, was one of the original staff members at Saddleback when the college opened its doors in 1968, being hired as the first athletic trainer while also teaching classes in first aid, health, sports medicine, and tennis.

The college started its tennis program prior to the 1975 season with Otta being hired as the first tennis coach.  He spent 22 years as the men’s tennis coach, capturing 17 conference titles, 10 Southern California regional titles, and eight state championships.  He also spent three seasons as the women’s tennis coach, winning two more conference titles.

During a 34-year career at Saddleback College he spent 25 years coaching tennis where he amassed an overall record of 447-87 (.837 winning percentage) with 19 conference titles.  In addition to numerous conference Coach of the Year awards, he was named the ITA Community College Coach of the Year in 1990 and the California Community College Coaches Association Coach of the Year in both 1991 and 1996.

He has previously been inducted into the Cal State L.A. Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 and the California Community College Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2002.

Of course, Bill was a standout tennis player at Anaheim, lettering four years. He went on to play for Fullerton College, where he was a conference champion of the FC championship teams in 1957 and 1958. He also played on the conference championship teams at CSU Los Angeles during 1960-62. His first coaching job was with AUHSD Magnolia High School from 1963 to 1967.

In addition, Bill co-authored a book on tennis with UCLA Coach Glenn Bassett entitled “Tennis Today,” a textbook for tennis classes at the college level.

Congratulations Bill!

Filed Under: Alumni Spotlight Tagged With: , , ,

Artwork Donated by Artist, Collector Larry Macaray – Class of 1938

February 11, 2017 by

Lawrence “Larry” Macaray (’38) – artist, teacher, art collector and author –  has contributed several pieces of art from his vast collection of work he amassed as proprietor of Anaheim’s first art gallery and as a world traveler.

Larry represented Californian, as well as national and international artists. An arts professor at El Camino College, his career also included serving as the Torrance Press-Herald Arts and Travel Editor. His award-winning art has been displayed at galleries and museums in California and throughout the nation.

The professionally framed pieces available for auction (shown below) include limited edition wood block prints by Yosida Hiroshi, regarded as one of the greatest artists of the shin-hanga style. Two of his pieces are available: “Tsurugaoka Hachima Shrine” and “Hirosaki Castle” from the “Scenes of Sacred Places and Historic Landmarks” series.

Another highly collectible piece is a Salvidor Dali plate signed etching of Cervantes valued at $500.

All three pieces are avaiable for bid (starting at $100) by contacting anaheimalumni@yahoo.com.

Filed Under: Alumni Spotlight

Class of 1960 Stan Vosburg – Engineer & Award-Winning Aviation Artist

February 5, 2017 by

Anaheim High’s Class of 1960 graduate Stanley Vosburg is an artist with a unique and warmhearted approach to aviation art.

His limited edition print series, “Home Front Aviation,” embodies a nostalgic look at America’s love affair with military aviation during the 1940s.

Stan’s realistic narrative style and impeccable historical fidelity, make his period paintings a window into one of aviation’s most exciting eras.

A native Californian, Stan spent much of his youth in Southern California which, in the mid-1950s, was a national focal point of aviation with numerous aircraft manufacturers and military airfields.

A stress engineer in the aerospace defense industry for 30 years, Stan originally turned to painting as a means to relieve stress and serve as a diversion. Stan’s early successes convinced him to take his painting more seriously.

After discovering the American Society of Aviation Artists, Stan merged his love of aviation with his desire to paint. Encouraged by other aviation artists, he has started to develop his own approach to aviation art, one that combines history, aviation and the human interface that makes aviation so important to all of us. With images quite different from the main stream aviation art, Stan has found a unique niche that satisfies both artist and collector.

Stan began producing and marketing limited edition prints of his works in 1995. One of these works, “Impressing the Night Shift,” was recreated in “living art” during the Laguna Beach Pageant of the Masters’ 1999 millennium season. In 2008, Stan’s latest painting, “Lightning Lady,” won the ASAA award for Women’s Contribution to Aviation and third place in Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine’s annual art contest.

Stan has donated two of his framed prints to the AHSAA to auction as the 2017 Golf Classic, Dinner & Auction. Thank you, Stan, for your support of “Old AU.”

See more of his work at www.stanvosburg.com.

Filed Under: Alumni Spotlight Tagged With: , , , , ,

Anaheim Grad’s Reconnection to Culture Inspires A Celebration of Life – “Viva Los Muertos!”

November 2, 2016 by

“Embracing death gives more meaning to life. Embracing life gives more meaning to death.”wp_000749

Peter Perez has taken on new lives and lifestyles throughout his existence. His first life was that of an immigrant’s son who used his artistic talents to buy a one-way ticket to New York after graduating from one of the country’s best art schools.

From fledgling artist growing up in an Anaheim barrio, to Madison Avenue superstar, Perez has now metamorphosed back to his cultural heritage to become a renown Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) creator and curator.

“The Day of the Dead celebration awakened deep personal roots that had been lost and forgotten,” said Perez. “Spanish, my first language, and a connection to my native culture, had been erased at an early age.”

Peter Perez '57 was on campus for a recent celebration of the historic Anaheim vs. Downy CIF Championship game. He was on the LA Coliseum field as a yell leader.

Peter Perez ’57 was on campus for a recent celebration of the historic Anaheim vs. Downy CIF Championship game. He was on the LA Colliseum field as a yell leader.

Perez recently related his story to students at Anaheim High School, his alma mater. He told them about being renamed Peter from Pedro and being forbidden to speak Spanish. His story is especially relevant to Anaheim High’s performing arts students who see Perez, a Class of ’57 graduate, as someone from their own background who became a successful artist despite the odds.

“Be the best at what you do and success will come naturally,” he told the classroom of students who are staging a Nov. 5 Dia de los Muertos festival to raise funds for future productions.

Along with showing slides of his artwork (he is donating several pieces to the event’s silent auction), Perez shared the history of Dia del los Muertos and how he has used his art to make political statements, as well as a way to express loss in his own life.

peter-perez-art-workThe introduction of a City of Anaheim Day of the Dead celebration was, in fact, sparked by the death of his nephew, an Anaheim resident who died in a motorcycle accident in 2009. Initially not embraced by city officials, Perez persisted and, with the help of the Anaheim Heritage Council, Arts Council, Downtown Association and several volunteers, a new tradition was started that has evolved into celebrations being staged throughout Orange County.

For Perez, the opportunity to paint and explore the life of the dead has resulted in solo shows, group exhibits, and serving as a curator for fiestas, art and altar exhibitions for the largest Dia de los Muertos celebrations in the nation. He has also introduced the celebration to India and Australia. Most recent is his Dia de los Muertos installation at the Sonoma County Art Museum.peter-perez-day-of-the-dead-3

“The ancient cultures believed that you died three times, once when your body ceases to function, a second time when your spirit leaves your body, and the final most tragic death, when you’re forgotten,” said Perez. “Through my art and my involvement with Dia de los Muertos, my nephew and others I’ve embodied in ofrendas (altars) throughout the world will not be forgotten. Viva Los Muertos!”

What is Dia de los Muertos?

El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) has been celebrated for nearly 3000 years in Mexico, Central and South America. This observance honors those who have passed before us and keeps their memories alive. It is celebrated Nov. 1st and 2nd, All Souls and All Saints Days. It has evolved into a cross-cultural event, with traditional roots, that invites all to participate. Altars (ofrendas) are created and decorated with photos, food, drink, marigolds and the favorite things of the person being honored. For a more complete history, click here.

Filed Under: Alumni Spotlight Tagged With: , , , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »