Class Note 1988
Lance High, his wife and three daughters (twins age 16 and a 14-year-old), have lived in Singapore since July 2012. Lance manages a team of lawyers and staff for Caterpillar. Lance’s twins are taking SATs and picking colleges and his youngest entered high school this fall. “Living in Singapore adds a complex layer to the college search process, and we find ourselves planning very carefully in order to maximize our short time in the United States this summer.” Some remarkable family experiences include the opportunity to feed orphans in India and raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “I’ve tried to teach my girls the importance of prioritizing organizations such as this—being passionate about a cause, whatever it may be, is so much more fun than apathy.” They’ve bungee jumped in New Zealand, ridden elephants in Thailand and hiked the Great Wall of China.
Kate Lilienthal also lives in Singapore, with husband Mark Inkster ’85 and three kids. “Not sure where to start—maybe 17 years ago when Mark asked me to marry him and in the same breath announced we were going to China. When, exactly, he didn’t know. But if I wanted to tie it up with him, China would be part of the deal. Paris, London? Nope—China.” Four years later Kate, Mark and two small children were China-bound, where Mark worked for eBay and Kate started a parenting magazine. Three years later Kate, Mark and now three kids moved to Singapore. “It’s been expensive, hard, but after all this time our strange lifestyle, with a foot on two continents so different from each other, seems normal. When we graduated there was so much that I never would have imagined. Like, ‘Around the girdled earth they roam’ wasn’t just a catchy line!”
Karl Engkvist and wife Aja have lived in Hong Kong since 2012. Despite missing his stepdaughter (studying at University of Nevada, Las Vegas), Karl is “thoroughly enjoying life in Asia. Most of my career has been focused on business development for education companies. One of those brought me to Beijing in 2003. After a few years I returned to the United States, but, missing the pace of change in Asia, came back. I’ll start a new job in September that will involve developing stronger partnerships among universities seeking to prepare their students for the global economy. Recent fun excursions have included diving in the Maldives and hiking in Qinghai, one of China’s least-known provinces.”
Paul Bartels, also in Hong Kong, wrote to me from Heathrow after visiting friends and relatives in England and Ireland (including Catherine Rainey). Paul has lived and worked in Asia since graduation; first, two years in Japan teaching English, then Hong Kong to do quality-control work for an import company. Next, he started his own trading company, that has sold many different products, “including selling millions of shoes to Russians before the 1997 financial crisis.” Paul now also runs a retail mail-order catalog business in Australia. He had lunch with Melinda Harrington in Australia in April. Paul continues to play ultimate Frisbee, representing Hong Kong at regional tournaments, mainly in Shanghai, Bangkok and Manila.
Bev Hagerdon Thakur, based in Manila since 2006, worked as the chief of party for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. Bev has traveled widely in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. She sees Paul and Bob Haskins in Hong Kong several times a year. Bev is transitioning to a consultancy position and looks forward to working and traveling in other regions as well this coming year.
—Jere Mancini, 34 Wearimus Road, HoHoKus, NJ 07423; d88correspondent@gmail.com
