PROMENADETHE GEORGE PEPPERDINE COLLEGE NEWSLETTERSp

ring

2012

ARTICLE LEGEND

SC = Seaver College

GSBM = Graziadio School of Business and Management

SOL = School of Law

GSEP = Graduate School of Education and Psychology

SPP = School of Public Policy

1 More Than a Half Century in Our Schools

Dr. G. Keith Nolan (’50) and his Pepperdine-inspired life of teaching.

2 Awards and Accolades Meet two outstanding GPC

alumni honored by Pepperdine this year.

3GPC Photo Album This issue features personal

photographs of Marilyn (Stultz) Lessin (’53).

4 It Starts with a Boy Ron Phillips (’69) and his

innovative approach to reaching at-risk youth.

6 From the Archives Newly-surfaced treasures from the

life of George Pepperdine and his family.

7 Chiggers 101 Marlene (Gevarter) Will (’55)

shows us that at GPC, some lessons are taught outside of the classroom.

8My Charmed LifeCharles “Chuck” Johnson (’61)

fondly recalls GPC as the birthplace of a fullfilling career.

9Class Notes Brief updates in the lives of

fellow Waves.

9In Memoriam Remembering fellow alumni

recently passed.

10Upcoming Events A look ahead at opportunities

for alumni to stay connected to Pepperdine.

In This Issue

We want to hear from you!The Promenade newsletter needs your stories! If you are an alumnus of George Pepper-dine College, please submit articles about your personal memories of days at the original campus at 79th and Vermont. We are also interested in hearing the interesting stories of your activities since graduation. Share these precious memories with your fellow alumni by sending your story of anywhere between 300 and 1,500 words to the GPC Alumni Affairs office at the following address:

Please also send along any photos you have to compliment your story. We will gladly scan the photos and mail the originals back to you upon completion of the publication.

By e-mail: gpc@pepperdine.edu

By mail: GPC Alumni Affairs c/o: Promenade Newsletter, TAC 311 24255 Pacific Coast Highway Malibu, CA 90263-4348

Promenade Staff

Editor • Matt Ebeling (’99)Graphic Designer • Matt MosherCover Designer • Lizabeth WaldvogelProduction Manager • Jill McWilliamsCopy Editor • Vincent Way

Advisory Committee • Jon Washington (’63), Bob Andrew (’58), Norma (Wade) Young-Mahaffey (’61)

Contributing Writers • Dr. G. Keith Dolan (’50), Marlene J. (Gevarter) Will (’55), Paul M. Wolfe (’65), Marilyn (Stultz) Lessin (’53), Chuck D. Johnson (’61), Kevin C. Miller, Matt Ebeling (’99)

On The COverCLOCkwISE FrOM TOP LEFT: George Pepperdine with his mother Mary on the deck of the S. S. Celtic during the passage from New York to Liverpool, England.

Postcards from Venice, Italy with pressed leaves from Rome.

Detail of pressed flowers collected by George Pepperdine in Palestine.

Detail of souvenir photographs collected in Egypt.

CENTEr: Typed itinerary for George and Mary Pepperdine’s trip around the world in 1928

More Than a half Century in Our Schools By Dr. G. Keith Dolan (’50)

Following my discharge from the U.S. Navy in July 1946, I desired to con-tinue my college education. I applied to Occidental College where I had been stationed as part of the V-5 naval train-ing program. Its enrollment was at ca-pacity with the influx of other veterans, so I began seeking another institution. Fortunately, one of my former high school friends mentioned Pepperdine

as a possible choice. I discovered it was also in the process of beginning its first football team, which I wanted to join. I drove to the campus ( just five miles away from my home) where I was warmly welcomed by President Hugh Tiner, Athletic Director Al Duer, and Coach Warren Geer. I enrolled the following week.

During my freshman year I met fellow students Dene Gold-en (’49) and Ann Craig. They encouraged me to join them in a teaching methods class during the following summer. Even though the class was centered on the elementary level, I was bit-ten. I continued to take other educational classes and it turned out to be a career choice that lasted more than a half century.

Following graduation (1950), I enrolled in a master’s degree and teaching credential program at UCLA. During the student teaching phase, I applied to several districts in Southern Califor-nia and was fortunate enough to be offered a contract at the mid-dle school level in the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District.

I taught mathematics and history for three years before becom-ing the youngest school administrator in San Diego County. At the same time I broadened my classroom experience by teaching GED students at night in the San Diego City Schools.

From 1954 until 1960 I served as the vice principal and later principal of Spring Valley Junior High. ln 1960 I received a phone call from the superintendent of San Bernardino City Schools. He asked if I would be interested in applying for the principalship, and a month later, I became the youngest princi-pal in San Bernardino High’s history.

It was an opportunity for me to try some of the ideas I had em-braced during my doctoral studies at UCLA. My focus there had been on counseling, so I rid my office of the desk in order to meet students and parents on a more informal basis. I also con-tinued the program of meeting parents in their homes which I had begun at Spring Valley, giving me the opportunity to answer many parent questions regarding our high school program.

ln 1962 I was selected by Pepperdine for its “Dolores” Award based on my contributions to secondary education. lt was pre-sented by Oly Tegner who had been the founder of the award.

During my seven years at San Bernardino High School, I want-ed to continue teaching so I was able to teach secondary cur-riculum and administrative credential classes for both Redlands University and the University of California, Riverside. lt was at Redlands that I met Dr. Robert West, the dean of the School of Education. We cotaught a class and became friends for the remainder of our careers.

When Cal State, San Bernardino, opened in 1965, Dr. West became its dean of education, and a year later, he asked me if I would join the staff. I thus became a professor of education and during my tenure there helped create and coordinate the programs of secondary teacher training and the initial admin-istrative program. ln 1986 the university honored me with its Meritorious and Professional Promise Award.

Initially, Redland’s University asked me if I would complete an evaluation of a research program funded by the state. ln doing so, that activity became a secondary career. During the 1970s and 1980s I wrote and evaluated state and federal projects for more that 30 California school districts.

Finally in 1992, I thought it was time to retire so I left Cal State as a Professor Emeritus. lt did not take me long to discover I was not cut out for a sedentary life so I reapplied to the San Ber-nardino City Schools to teach GED classes. Soon I was teaching four days a week for unmarried mothers desiring to complete their high school education. lt was two of the most satisfying years of my life before ultimately relocating to the San Diego area.

Obviously I needed to find something to do so I spent a good part of a year writing a textbook School-Community Relations. Coincidently, Chapman University adopted it as one of its ad-ministrative texts, so when I interviewed there for a part-time position they already knew me. That began a 10-year stint for that university at three of its outreach locations. l served both as an instructor and administrator of its credential and master’s degree programs for future school principals.

It has been a long and varied career and it all began at 79th and Vermont. I thank the University (then a college) for its inspiring staff that got me started. And, of course, there is a special nod of appreciation to Dene and Ann who unknowingly started me on my long career. †

A R T I C L E S 1

Distinguished Alumni AwardThe Distinguished Alum-ni Award—the highest honor bestowed upon alumni by the Universi-ty—is given annually to an alumnus from each of Pep-perdine’s five schools be-lieved by faculty, staff, stu-dents, and fellow alumni to truly embody the spirit of

the University’s mission of purpose, service, and leadership. The Seaver College and George Pepperdine College Alumni Affairs office is proud to announce Mr. Paul A. Perry (’50) as the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award honoree for George Pepperdine College and Seaver College.

Paul’s career of service has impacted youth for decades. For 33 years, he proudly held educator roles with the Long Beach Uni-fied School District in special education, outdoor education, and for students in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Loved by stu-dents, parents, and colleagues, he was honored with the district’s “Golden Apple” Teacher of the Year Award.

He and his late wife, Lois, were a brave, formidable couple hav-ing survived the loss of three out of their four children to cys-tic fibrosis in their teens. Despite such unimaginable tragedy, they found incredible strength to forge ahead, making a huge impact in their community through the YMCA where Paul has remained heavily involved over the years. Paul has served as a camp counselor during many summers at YMCA’s Camp Fox on Catalina Island, led youth groups to Europe and church-building trips to Mexico, and was instrumental in raising funds to build a terrific YMCA facility in Long Beach. His huge, car-ing heart toward the youth of America beats ever strong, extend-ing also to our current Pepperdine students.

Each year, Paul serves the current Seaver students in a variety of ways: volunteering at the “New Student Mugging” event; serving root beer floats to all of the incoming Seaver freshmen; carrying his class year banner annually at the Founder’s Day program; and leading tours of the original campus for students.

Paul is one of today’s biggest cheerleaders for engaging GPC alumni with Pepperdine University, faithfully serving on the GPC Alumni Advisory Committee, attending multiple student and alumni events annually, and getting alumni reconnected to alma mater every day.

Residing in Long Beach, California, Paul has sung in a barber shop quartet for years and still visits assisted living facilities to lift their spirits through song. We hope you will all “sing” Paul’s praises the next time you see him. You might consider attend-ing the Seaver College Commencement ceremony on Saturday, April 28, 2012 in Alumni Park on Pepperdine’s Malibu Campus. During this event, Pepperdine University President Andrew K. Benton will present the Distinguished Alumni Award to Paul on the graduation stage, who will then address the graduates as they prepare to become alumni themselves! After the ceremony, join us for the Waves of Success luncheon (call us for more info at 800-767-2586 ext. 5).

Oly Tegner AwardNamed for esteemed GPC alumnus, Dr. Olaf “Oly” H. Tegner (’43), Dean Emeri-tus, Graduate School of Education and Psychol-ogy, the Oly Tegner Award seeks to honor those GPC alumni who lead lives of purposeful servant leader-ship, like Oly did.

Congratulations to Mrs. Norma (wade) Young-Mahaffey (’61), the 2012 recipient of the Oly Tegner Award!

Her nominators and many other alumni agree that few are as passionate about serving fellow alumni as Norma is. For years, she has been an invaluable asset to the Alumni Affairs office by constantly contacting alumni to gather updated contact infor-mation, often reconnecting “lost” alumni back to Pepperdine. She is largely responsible for the great success of the first “Grand Pepperdine Celebration” reunion (GPC I) and those that fol-lowed. Norma has also loyally served the Associated Women for Pepperdine (AWP) for many years and currently sits on the GPC Alumni Advisory Committee. Her impact on Pepperdine has been felt by many, and I hope you will join me in congratu-lating her.

To learn more about this honor and to nominate a fellow GPC alumnus for the 2013 Oly Tegner Award, please visit www.pep-perdine.edu/olytegneraward or call the GPC Alumni Affairs of-fice at (800) 767-2586 ext. 5. †

Awards &AccoladesA R T I C L E S 2

This ongoing Promenade section showcases your GPC memories told from your own eyes, with a little help from your camera! This issue features the personal photos of alumna Marilyn (Stultz) Lessin (’53).

hoto AlbumPGPC

Now it’s your turN! Send in your favorite snap-shots from your days at George Pepperdine College! Tell your GPC story through these cherished images. “Can-did” shots are preferred. Black and white photos are sufficient. All you have to do is mail your photos to us at the following address:

Pepperdine University, GPC Alumni Affairs, Attn: Matt Ebeling – TAC-311 24255 Pacific Coast Highway Malibu, CA 90263-4348

We will then scan the photos and promptly mail the originals back to you. You may also opt to scan the photos yourself and e-mail them to matt.ebeling@pepperdine.edu.

Please ensure that you scan at a high resolution (at least 300 dpi). Be sure to include with each photo an explanation of whom or what appears in the photo and its significance to you and your personal experience as a Wave! †Photo taken of the Class of 1953 graduation procession

from atop the Administration Building.

There I am on the far right, relaxing with my friends on a patio of the snack bar beside the tennis courts.

With my Kappa Kappa sorority sisters near Marilyn Hall (dorm). From left to right: Aldene (Larson) Whiteman (‘53),

Darle Hansen (‘53), Marilyn (Stultz) Lessin (‘53).

Receiving my diploma from Dr. Tiner on the steps of the Administration Building!

A R T I C L E S 3

The story starts with a Boy.

Not just any boy—he is every boy and every girl. He is at once magical and vulnerable. He is oppositional, demanding, weak, resilient, curious, fearful, naive, wise. In short, he is any boy or girl who grows up in any modern society.

The Boy is the invention of Ron Phillips (’69). Born of despera-tion, the Boy has grown into a series of books (the Splendora Trilogy) and a counseling method that is showing great success rescuing at-risk youngsters in New Zealand.

Through a series of adventures and perils, the Boy leads his fol-lowers on a journey that demands decision-making, ethical be-havior and perseverance. In short, the Boy needs the very same skills that at-risk youngsters frequently lack. The Boy enacts the issues of adolescence. He shows the way, modeling behavior for youngsters who have no good models.

What started as a way to overcome frustration with traditional methods of reaching troubled youngsters has grown into a series of three books and supporting materials called Therapeutic Sto-rytelling Intervention.

At Pepperdine, Ron says he was “not a great student. I danced on the edge.” Then he went to Heidelberg, where he recalls he “played a lot, including a bit of Ping-Pong with Dr. Arlie Hoover (now at Abilene Christian University).” The Year in Europe was “profoundly wonderful; the world opened up” Ron recalls, and set him on the path to his life’s work.

In the beginning, it was Ron and his bride, Mary (Franca) Phil-lips, whom he met at Pepperdine, seeking to serve a handful of troubled youth in the San Francisco area. In time, they founded and directed Creative Alternatives, Inc., which remains a highly successful group home in Northern California.

They spent 15 years learning the dynamics of seriously disturbed children and developing successful treatment methods; this was the origin of Therapeutic Storytelling Intervention.

Ron earned a master’s degree in guidance at the University of San Francisco but the adult-oriented methods he learned there did not adapt well to his younger clients. Nothing was working.

“We believed that the peer group was the greatest environ for change,” he says. But in the beginning “it was a shark feeding frenzy and I was the bait. To survive I started telling stories and they started listening. I realized I was holding a mirror up to their lives. They were paying absolute attention. All their de-fense mechanisms faded away; they relaxed into an altered state and started making mind pictures of the story.

“We had five or six groups a week and the kids wanted continu-ity,” he added. An intern started writing down the stories, and the Journey began. “I would tell a story and see how it went, then while I was running I would outline the next story.”

The Boy and the characters surrounding him will echo familiarly to any reader of Tolkien, C. S. Lewis and similar literature. Ron also admits to heavy influence from watching “Crusader Rabbit” when he was young.

But he emphasizes, “The theoretical foundations of the Splendo-ra Trilogy are the values and principles of Judeo-Christian teach-ing. Hopefully the messages in the Splendora Trilogy are true to the original themes. And because of my belief in the truism of the Christian ethic I can stand by the healthy nature of messages and themes of the trilogy.”

The break with Creative Alternatives came in 1991, and the Phillips family settled in New Zealand. Ron says, “Mary and I had three children and had spent 12 years growing Creative Al-ternatives. We were completely worn out; our children were the ones who suffered from our lack of time with them.

“We decided that what was needed was a year-long break to re-fresh family relationships. We moved to the Bay of Islands, three hours north of Auckland. It was clean and green, an absolutely idyllic environment. And the people spoke English. I never quite mastered German.

“It worked magic on us and our kids. We had no idea that the

It Starts with a BOy

Ron enjoys a fresh snowfall with his wife, Mary.

By Paul M. Wolfe (’65)

A R T I C L E S 4

one-year working holiday would end up being 20 years. The New Zealand Police became interested in Therapeutic Story-telling Intervention and we stayed on initially to establish TSI as a national policing strategy. One year led to many years.”

Ron currently works for Counties Manukau District Health Board at their child and family mental health clinic. TSI is an integral part of the clinic’s success in treating the endemic New Zealand youth suicide problem. In addition to his work at the clinic Ron has an active private practice.

“We talk to kids on the other side of their attitude,” he says. “These were kids that didn’t want to be worked with. They had been through multiple placements. The system was failing them.

“In groups, kids strive to be similar. They try not to reveal them-selves. With the stories, disturbed kids are listening. Their body language changes; they move from folded arms to admitting, ‘I have the same issues.’ ”

During the early days at Counties Manukau, a colleague noticed the numbers coming to weekly groups and noted that they kept attending. This observation led Dr. Sarah Fortune to conduct a five-year study of the program starring in 1997. She concluded:

“The most outstanding result of this study is that … the overall retention rate of 60 percent is significantly higher than found in many similar programs. Of the 60 percent who finished, they attended 80 to 90 percent of the sessions and TSI is equally suc-cessful in retaining boys and girls.”

Ron was also frustrated with the lack of retention of skills learned in traditional programs. “The kids would go home and immediately be back making the same decisions that caused their problems in the first place,” he said. TSI also changed that pattern. “The amazing life changes I have seen over the last 26 years of actively using the material make me a very rich man,” says Ron.

In an article titled, “Breaking Down The Barriers: Treatment of Adolescents At Risk of Self-Harm and Suicide,” the authors stated, “TSI creates a ‘window of opportunity’ that gives the family in the therapeutic process some breathing space. The

family work has begun to utilize the power of the story by linking the parents with the experience of the teen-ager.”

Similar reports have appeared in many pro-fessional and popular publications, but the reports of individual and group successes are even more impres-sive.

Today Ron’s work is used all over New Zealand. He is run-ning 12 weekly groups in schools all over South Auckland and many other teachers, therapists, and youth workers use TSI in a variety of settings.

For example Eli Tulafono, a school social worker, began a pro-gram four years ago at the Papakura High School, targeting promising students who also had a high risk of falling into the self-destructive lifestyle. Ron refers to this as “Working from the top of the cliff, rather than the bottom. It confirms to those chil-dren who are already in the habit of making good decisions that there is reward in maintaining good decision-making.” A family kit is now available so that parents can take their kids on the journey.

Tulafano reports: “Given that this is a voluntary program con-ducted during lunchtimes, after school, and on school holidays, the 92 percent attendance rate is a testament to the way it devel-ops the self-esteem of those who take part in it.”

Dr. Peter Watson, specialist in adolescent health, puts it very simply: “Ron’s work works! Also Ron has influenced a gen-eration of co-workers—which has a ripple effect on even more young people and their families.”

One of the youngsters touched by the program is still living by its tenets 10 years later. She says, “I’ve probably been through the book more than 10 times. I am currently a mother of a 3-year-old son who I hope this book can also help in the future.”

TSI’s website, www.tsi.co.nz, highlights the three books, ac-companying material for group leaders, impressive research, and continuing growth.

Ron believes his greatest reward would be to see TSI widely accept-ed and used in the United States. It would be fitting, he believes, for the Boy to journey back across the ocean to his birthplace. †

Ron Phillips (’69)

The three books of the Splendora Trilogy upon which Phillips based his counseling program for at-risk youth.

A R T I C L E S 5

From the ArchivesMr. Pepperdine’s world Tour

By kevin C. Miller, Pepperdine University Archives

Immersed as we are in the midst of our uni-versity’s 75th anniversary celebrations, the Pep-perdine University Archives have been buzzing with activity and excitement. Perhaps not sur-prisingly, one collection generating a lot of attention is the George Pepperdine Family Papers, which includes photographs, writings, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, collectables, and home movies from the personal and professional life of this notable Los Angeles philanthropist and founder of our university. Taken together, the remarkable gems in this collection serve to illuminate the man at the center of this historic milestone and provide a glimpse into the personal journey that led to the founding of George Pepperdine College in 1937. In this “From the Archives” column, we share with you one of our favorite items from this collection, an 84-year-old scrapbook assembled by Mr. Pepperdine upon returning from his journey around the world in 1928.

As we all know, George Pepperdine made his fortune as the entrepreneur behind Western Auto Supply Agency, the highly success-ful auto accessories chain store that dotted the western states. By the close of 1927, the total number of storefronts stood at 162, having added a new location at the rate of one per month. The company even entered a Western Auto Supply float in the famous Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. In short, Mr. Pepperdine, then 41 years old, felt that the health of the com-pany had reached a point that permitted him to take some personal time to write and travel. He took to writing poetry and lengthy personal letters. With his daughters, he ventured first to Mexico and Central America, then to China, Japan, and the Philippines. His most ambitious journey, however, began on February 25, 1928, when he embarked from New York City with his mother Mary Pepperdine for a tour around the world. Born in rural Kansas before the Civil War, now past the age of 70, Mary had long dreamed of seeing the Holy Land. With this journey, Mr. Pepperdine fulfilled the dreams of his aging mother.

The scrapbook that tells the story of this journey through photographs, postcards, ephemera, and pressed botanicals, is encased in a pandanus weave cover acquired in Hawaii bearing the word “Aloha.” Tucked neatly into an envelope affixed to the first page, we find a typed itinerary annotated with dates and comments. Traveling with a tourist party, Mr. Pepperdine and his mother visited Eng-land, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Egypt, and Palestine (now Israel). They then left the party and traveled on to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Singapore, French Indochina (Vietnam), Hong Kong, China, Japan, and Hawaii. They reached Los Angeles on June 23, four months after setting out.

The highlight of the journey, for both mother and son, was indeed their visit to the Biblical sites of Palestine. Mr. Pepperdine had a hobby of collecting, drying, and pressing flowers and other plants that held some beauty or special meaning. The pages of the scrap-book contain exquisitely preserved botanical keepsakes from Cana, Joppa, Nazareth, Jericho, and the River Jordan. Delicate flowers plucked by Mr. Pepperdine from the banks of the Sea of Galilee are labeled “Roses of Sherron.” A simple leaf from an oleander shrub is revealed to have grown at the entrance to “Jesus’ tomb” at the foot of Mount Calvary.

Visiting the Biblical locations of Palestine clearly made a strong impression on Mr. Pepperdine, a deeply Christian man. As the ship sailed on across the Indian Ocean, he wrote to friends: “The most interesting of all is to reflect upon the birth-place of Christianity, its humble beginning among such common-place people, in such common-place surroundings. It recalls to mind the Saviour’s para-

ble, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which is indeed the least of all seeds, but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.’”

Mr. Pepperdine also made some astute observations about the unset-tled history of the region. Reflecting on the vista of the Jezreel Valley, he wrote: “As I looked upon that beautiful picture I thought how pa-thetic it is that this wonderful valley should have been the ‘battle ground of the nation,’ where tradition says that the reason the land is so fertile

George Pepperdine’s scrapbook, now in a delicate state, chronicles his trip around the world in 1928.

Detail of souvenir photographs collected in Egypt.

Detail of pressed flowers collected by George Pepperdine in Palestine.

A R T I C L E S 6

is because it has so often been drenched in human blood.” Turning to the contem-porary situation, he observed the customs of the Jewish and Muslim populations of Palestine, which at the time was still under the mandate of the British. He described Jewish devotees at the Western Wall in Je-rusalem: “Old men and young men, some haggard looking and some in the prime of life, were there; boys, girls and old women of various standings in life, were there; some were kneeling with their lips pressed against the stones, and bathing the stones with their tears.” He remarked on the living conditions of nomadic Arabs: “They live in low, brown camel’s hair tents, and camp often several families close together, where work can be had, and then move on, with all their belongings on the backs of camels, or donkeys, as soon as the work runs out.”

Taken together, Mr. Pepperdine’s scrapbook and travel letters provide a snapshot of our world in the late 1920s. Even more, they reveal an important glimpse of George Pepperdine, the man, nearly a decade before founding the university that bears his name. In celebration of Pepperdine University’s 75th anniversary, we have digitized many of the items in the George Pepperdine Family Papers, including this fascinating scrapbook. We invite you to leaf through this unique item online and zoom in as close as you like to view the pressed leaves and flowers, rare postcards, and souvenir photographs. To find this collection online, simply go to the library’s home page, which is library.pepperdine.edu. Once there, click on Pepperdine Digital Collections and you will see a link to the George Pepperdine Collection. Enjoy! †

Postcards of sites in Rome with a photograph of George Pepperdine and his mother Mary in the Coliseum.

ChiggerS 101 By Marlene (Gevarter) will (’55)

When I was a student at George Pepperdine College in the early 1950s, my husband and I had an apartment in Normandie Village—married student housing—on the corner of the campus where Normandie and 79th Street intersected. Sometimes when walking to class in the mornings I would take a shortcut through a vacant field near the center of the campus to the classroom buildings. Little did I know what dangers lurked in that vacant field! That’s when I leaned about chiggers.

Chiggers are the larval stage of mites of the suborder prostigmata; they are also called harvest mites or scrub mites. So tiny are they (1/50th of an inch) that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. Chiggers especially like to live in damp environments with lots of vegetation. The little devils sit on the ends of

blades of grass, waiting for an animal of sorts to pass by (in this case, a human animal). As the person brushes against the tall grasses, the chiggers jump onto their clothes or bare skin, and voilá! A new host for the little beast has entered the picture. An unsuspecting human has become the new chigger host. Yum, yum! New red bumps to create! New rashes to inflict on human legs and ankles! 

The Pepperdine doctor for students at that time was Dr. Allen. Fortunately he knew exactly what had caused the itchy rash on my legs and ankles and what to do about it. Many of the remedies for stopping the incredibly painful and persistent itching are cutesy commercial names such as Chiggerex or Chiggerid, but common folk remedies can be found in most ordinary homes or purchased at local drug stores or pharmacies and can be applied directly to the rash: rubbing alcohol, mouth wash, toothpaste, meat tenderizer, kosher salt, powdered sulfur, olive oil, witch hazel, clear nail polish, or ordinary antihistamines. I was soon slathered with soothing calamine lotion, Dr. Allen’s favorite remedy, which did stop the itching somewhat. After a week or so I was cured of the results of the chigger attacks, as well as the urge to cut through the vacant field on the way to class.

Fortunately, I have never had another encounter with chiggers, and though the knowledge I learned about the little pests at Pep-perine did not directly aid me in my teaching career, the whole experience has remained in my memory for over 50 years. †

I really have had a charmed life, starting back in my last year at Hart High School in Newhall, California. I loved basketball and was very good at the game. For years we had tried to beat Ven-tura High School, a much larger school in our league, but we nev-er could!

Things changed in my high school senior year. James Buddell (’49) was a George Pepperdine College alumnus who became an Eng-lish teacher at Hart High School. When my own family needed to move away, he graciously invited me to live with his family, thus keeping me in the varsity basketball squad during my se-nior year.

Our Hart varsity basketball squad was a true “dream team”: 6’6” center, Ray Bond; guards, Jimmy Gibson and Brian Hurt; myself at left forward; and right forward, Joe Kapp, who later became a pro football player. The championship game was close—only five seconds left and we were behind by just one point. I some-how got the ball and moved toward the basket, making a jump shot. The ball rolled around the rim of the basket and went in. We won by one point! It was a miracle! If I had missed, I prob-ably would not have gotten the basketball scholarship to GPC, and my whole life would have been different. My good luck and Mr. Buddell’s encouragement helped me arrive at his alma mater, George Pepperdine College.

ln my senior year at GPC, I ventured off campus from my famil-iar home at Baxter Hall to rent my first house. lt was a furnished, one-story, four-bedroom, two-bathroom, single-family home rented for $125 per month—what a deal! The only hitch was finding roommates to help me pay the rent. Little did I know that my venture would set the stage for my entire real estate ca-reer.

It was easy to find renters since the price was cheap and the house was within walking distance of campus (“location, loca-tion, location”). As the “landlord,” l lived in the big room up front with the other renters in the back. Two roommates were college students—one from GPC and the other from Loyola.

The third roommate was my boss from the nearby Standard Station. He taught me the nightmare of “tenants who smoke” by putting out his cigarettes on the beautiful hardwood floor—a real slob. I then made a mental note to my future self: “Rent only to nonsmokers!”

My final real estate career lesson came late in my senior year. The

owner of our house was losing it to foreclosure. We would all be evicted soon. This traumatic event was my first taste of how tough the real world can be. lt taught me that it is much better to own than to rent.

I had realized, too, that subletting to tenants in my house was financially lucrative since it reduced my personal rental expense to almost nothing. So I became fascinated with the idea of buy-ing income property. My instinct was dead right because “Real Estate Sales” was my highest score on an aptitude test I took after college.

I passed my real estate license test and became a realtor, then a broker later in my career. I loved real estate sales and going to the office every day. Working very hard at sales, I managed to garner many awards. Mostly, I loved taking my checks to the bank and buying my own property. When I purchased a four-unit build-ing in 1977 and chose to live there, property management be-came my new career from that point forward.

At age 44, l decided to retire from working “24/7” as Realtors must do. I had reached my goal of financial independence.

So what really shaped my career and life? Firstly, it was all of the part-time jobs I experienced, thanks to Evelyn Emmert in the GPC Placement Office. Some of the most memorable in-cluded being a stock boy at Miller’s Clothing Store, a salesman for ladies’ shoes at Leeds Shoe Store, a Bible salesman during the summer in Fresno, an ice cream truck driver, and a manager of a Foster’s Freeze.

The other significant shapers of my career and life were, of course, all of my college classes at GPC – especially the ones in business (my major) and psychology (my minor). They have really paid off for me! †

My Charmed Life By Charles “Chuck” D. Johnson (’61)

Charles “Chuck” D. Johnson (’61) poses here with his 1956 Pepperdine Basketball squad. #4 on bottom row.

A R T I C L E S 8

We take this time to remember those Waves who have recently passed, and we celebrate the impact they made on fellow alumni and the world around them.In Memoriam

As you learn of the passing of George Pepperdine College alumni, please contact GPC Alumni Affairs at (310) 506-4348 or gpc@pepperdine.edu.

Mr. William E. Boyd (’50)Mr. Jack A. Dahlstrum (’50)Mr. Edmond R. Davis (’50)Mr. Win Fingerson, Jr. (’58)Mr. James R. Fraysier (’62, MA ’69)Mr. Jerry W. Fuller (‘61, MA ’61)Mr. Jim Galceran (’55)Dr. Harold E. Gallagher (’50, MA ’52)Ms. Margaret Gardner (’66)Dr. Thomas W. Gillespie (‘51)Mr. Roland Gilmore (’51)Mr. Marcus A. Haile (’55, ’57)Mr. Richard F. Hensley (’52)Mr. Charles “Chuck” Hightower (’58)

Dr. Stewart M. Hudson (’50)Mr. Robert Karbach (’53)Mrs. Anna T. (Kelly) King (’41)Mr. Donald H. Kirchner (’57)Mrs. Beverly (Lancaster) Kluss (’54)Mr. Robert O. Koontz (‘51)Mr. Alonzo Levert (’54)Mr. James S. Linklater (’50)Henry Logue, M.D. (’67)Mr. Malin A. Lowe (’53)Dr. Herbert Luft (’65, MA ’66)Mr. E. Scott Malich (’49)Mrs. Pearl A. Marshall (’49)Mrs. Barbara (Coleman) McDonald (’53)

Mr. Pablo McNeil (’68)Mr. Edward Meghreblian (’51)Mrs. Mary L. (Clipp) Moore (’42)Mr. Terry A. O’Rear (’72)Mr. William H. Ross, Jr. (’55)Mr. John B. Sandschulte (’53)Mr. Don Smith (’61)Mr. Marshall J. Styll (’50)Mr. Norman C. Truxton (’50)Mr. Ralph Ward (’49)Mr. Tommy Waugh (MA ’74)Dr. Earl I. West (’43, MA ’45)Ms. Ellen Williams (’41)

1957Matthew Phillips is a retired teacher who has coached foot-ball for over 50 years. His impact on high school football in British Columbia is significant, starting in 1957 at Lord Byng, during which time he was an active player with the BC Lions, a professional Canadian football team. He would also go on to start football programs in other schools along the way, including Steveston High School, Cambie Junior Secondary, London Junior Secondary, Frank Hurt Second-ary, and Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary. Matt also served youth for 14 years through the Royal Canadian Army Ca-dets (RCAC) program, which resulted in his nickname of “Major.” Matt currently resides in Surrey, British Columbia, with his wife, Mary C. (Haxton) Phillips (’57).

1958wayne E. rew is pictured here from a 1959 Pepperdine track team banquet on the Los Angeles campus. He was head track coach at the time and was presenting the Most Outstanding Individual Achievement Award to Bobby Sims. Wayne and his wife, Loretta (Hill) Rew (’59), have resided in the city of La Mirada, California, since 1960, where Wayne served as mayor and city council member for 21 years. He retired from the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission in 2011 after serving for 10 years.

1969Jeffrey A. Low is an engineer working with the State of Hawaii to develop modern cargo-handling facilities. Since graduating with a BA in physics, he has built out new cargo terminals for Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and the Big Island of Ha-waii (now in progress). He served a stint in the Navy as a research and development officer and an intelligence officer. Jeff and his wife, Gail, have been together for over 40 years and reside in Kaneohe on the island of Oahu.

Class notesgeT CaughT up wiTh SOMe waveS!

what are you up to? Any news to share? Please send your class notes to us anytime:

By mail:GPC Alumni Affairsc/o: Promenade Newsletter, TAC 31124255 Pacific Coast HighwayMalibu, CA 90263-4348

By e-mail:gpc@pepperdine.edu

C L A S S N O T E S & I N M E M O R I A M 9

Upcoming events

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PROMENADETHE GEORGE PEPPERDINE COLLEGE NEWSLETTER

APrIl4/28 Seaver College Graduation and “Waves of

Success” Luncheon (Alumni Park, Malibu campus) – Come welcome the graduates into the alumni family.

MAy5/1 - 5/4 69th Annual Pepperdine Bible Lectures

(Malibu campus) – With Pepperdine University celebrating its 75th year, the 2012 Bible Lectures are certainly among the most historic ever. Register at www.pepperdine.edu/biblelectures.

JUly7/8 - 7/14 Worldly Waves Alumni Travel:

Heidelberg, Germany – Join alumni for an affordable and memorable adventure including accommodations in Moore Haus, the charming, 100-year-old mansion where Pepperdine students have resided and studied for decades.

SePTeMBer9/19 Founder’s Day (Malibu campus) – Be

a part of the closing ceremonies of Pepperdine’s 75th Anniversary Celebration as we continue to explore the rich heritage of this institution’s impact on the world through purpose, service, and leadership. Carry an alumni banner in the formal processional and be treated to a reception among your peers.

OCTOBer10/12 - 10/14 Waves Weekend (Malibu campus) – The

largest annual gathering of Pepperdine alumni will return this October to feature reunions, lectures, and a big Waves Weekend Concert in Alumni Park. Mark your calendars!

For additional information on these and other alumni events and opportunities, contact us at

(800) 767-2586 Ext. 5 or gpc@pepperdine.edu.

Stay connected with George Pepperdine College Alumni Affairs and your classmates online! You can connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for the most up-to-date information about what’s going on at your alma mater. You’ll be able to share videos, photos, and stories, as well as participate in online discussions related to your business industry. We hope you’ll join us online!

http://seaver.pepperdine.edu/alumni