At our reunion in June Rick Ranger completed his recent term as our class president. He will continue on as newsletter editor, a position he has executed with unmatched dedication, passion and skill since 1984. In September at Class Officers Weekend the College honored Rick with the 2014 Class President of the Year Award for classes 26 years out or more in recognition of his achievements and service as president of the Class Presidents Association and as leader of our class for the past five years. After Dartmouth Rick graduated from the University of Denver College of Law and passed the bar in Colorado but joined the ARCO Oil and Gas Co. and began a career of more than 30 years in oil and gas operations in six states and Canada. Today Rick lives in Washington, D.C., where he works for the American Petroleum Institute with a portfolio that includes analysis of legislation, regulation and policy affecting exploration and production activities. He has a particular focus on domestic natural gas, western U.S. and Alaskan/Arctic operations, endangered species and oil spill preparedness. Rick and his wife, Catherine, were childhood friends but didn’t start dating until the summer of 1975. Catherine (Duke ’78) graduated from the University of Colorado Law School. Their son Owen attended Pepperdine University and earned an M.B.A. from George Washington University. Owen lives nearby in D.C. and works in financial services in Bethesda, Maryland. Rick and Catherine are Nationals fans and take advantage of many leisure and cultural opportunities that Washington and the surrounding area offer.


Jerry Bowe and his wife, Eleanor, a graduate of Colby-Sawyer College, did such a wonderful job organizing our reunion that we promoted Jerry to class president. Jerry has asked that all classmates make sure the College has a valid email address for them to facilitate class communication. He also requests that any classmate interested in serving on the ’74 executive committee contact him at gbowe@ceoexpress.com. Jerry and Eleanor live in California near their daughters Stephanie (Wellesley ’99) and Gretchen (Amherst ’01), who are both English teachers in the Bay Area, and their sons-in-law. Jerry and Eleanor have five grandchildren, four boys (4, 4, 3 and 1) and one girl (2). Jerry attended Tuck and has worked in consulting and in executive management at manufacturing and service companies. He is currently CEO for his third Berkshire Partners company, Vi-Jon Inc., located in St. Louis, Missouri. Berkshire Partners acquired a majority share of the company in 2006 and Jerry joined Vi-Jon in 2011 as CEO. He also became chairman in 2012, splitting his time between St. Louis and California. Vi-Jon is a manufacturer of private label personal care products as well as some of its own health and beauty products, including Germ-X, the hand sanitizer. The company is currently for sale, and Jerry hopes to stay on as CEO after the transaction closes.


Be safe and send news.


—Rick Sample, Retreat Farm, 1137 Manakin Road, Manakin Sabot, VA 23103; samplejr@msn.com