Reunion of Class of 1964 Welding Engineers

The Ohio State University

October 2, 2004

This “report” includes some notes of our reunion, a roster showing our present whereabouts, a collection of our autobiographies, and some photographs. A more complete collection of photographs is available on CD.

Synopsis

The 40^th anniversary celebration of our graduation as bona fide, real welding engineers was held at the welding section facilities in the Edison Welding Institute on the west campus of The Ohio State University. Five of our original class of nine attended.

We enjoyed an afternoon of getting reacquainted and updating on each other’s lives, and on the Welding Engineering program. Later we adjourned and regrouped at Hoggy’s Smokehouse Grille for supper and more enlightening discussions. The consensus was that we plan to do a repeat in five years. Hopefully the absentees will be able to join us at that time.

Bill Ballis is a recent addition to the OSU welding engineering staff and hosted us at the EWI. Bill served on the WE staff voluntarily last year and taught six hands-on welding instruction classes. This year his role will be more involved and he’ll get real money for his arc flashes. Bill has written a manual for welding instruction, Metal Arc Welding, and gave each of us a copy. Incidentally, one of Bill’s peripheral activities is providing a “half-way” house” for deserted beagles. His non-professional handle is “Beagle Bill”.

Prof Dick Richardson filled us in on the status of the welding program and took us on a tour of the facilities. We appreciate him taking most of his Saturday to be with us and for his observations and comments. We were especially interested in his comments regarding the former department personnel who were so important in molding us for our careers.

Where are we now?

In summary, two of us are deceased - Pat Scott (Oct 1987), and Charlie Butler (Nov 2002), and the rest of us are retired or close to it. Details later.

Status of Dept

The former Department of Welding Engineering was combined under a new umbrella department, the Department of Industrial, Welding, and Systems Engineering. The new welding engineering program operates primarily autonomously, but is administered by the Department. The Department chair is presently vacant, since the retirement of Al Miller. William A. "Bud" Baeslack is the new chair of the College of Engineering, and his selection could be a nice boost for the welding section.

The welding section presently has eight professional staff. Student enrollment varies significantly, ranging from an approximate low of six in the recent past to as many as 58 (the present junior class has 57).

Historically, laboratory equipment has been provided by the companies of alumni and other welding businesses. Fortunately, that is still true. While we recognized several pieces of equipment in the lab that was on hand in the 60s, newer equipment was also in evidence.

How Can We Help?

Unfortunately, funding for the operation of the welding section is sadly minimal. Materials and supplies are in short supply. There is a special need for small equipment and hand tools.

As a generous offer, Bill is donating a $3000 bend press fixture to the welding section in our name (the WE Class of ’64). While he is not asking for a contribution, I suggest that each of us consider sending Bill a token of support that we individually would consider appropriate.

As a separate issue, I suggest we individually consider making a donation to the welding organization’s operating account. In order to assure the welding program receives your full donation, please make your donation payable to the WE Support Account 302441. This account number should be indicated on any donation check or accompanying paperwork, and is the most direct account that provides operating funds to the WE program. Mail it to:

Prof Dick Richardson, OSU Welding Engineering Program,

1248 Arthur E. Adams Drive, Columbus, OH 43221.

Eldon Brandon

Nov 11, 2004

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The OSU Class of 1964 Welding Engineers

Oct 2004

Bill Ballis h 937-834-0104

8700 Brigner Rd cell 937-266-4257

Mechanicsburg, OH 43044 wballis@juno.com

Bruce (Donna) Borchers h 703-451-4497

9115 Rockefeller Lane bruce.borchers@verizon.net

Springfield, VA 22153

Eldon (Jan) Brandon h 304-662-6575

Rte 1, Box 223 eldjan@aol.com

Mannington, WV 26582

Larry (Lucy) Bright h 860-388-0792

5 Holly Dr o 860-739-8950

Old Saybrook, CT 06475-4023 lbright @lii-nde.

(or) topgunllb@peoplepc.com

Linda (Mrs Charles) Butler h 915-858-3157

1360 Roma Verde lbutler465@aol.com

El Paso tx 79936-7803

Russell (Jan) Flax h 614-875-2435

5731 Grove City Rd rjfacres@msn.com

Grove City, OH 43123-9509

Richard (Flo) Merlini 303-494-1628

545 S 68^th St merlini@comcast.net

Boulder, CO 80303

Wade (Joan) Troyer 937-845-9733

4714 S Dayton Brandt Rd beekeeper@honeyhill farm.com

New Carlisle, OH 45344

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Dec 8, 2004

Bill Ballis

8700 Brigner Rd

Mechanicsburg, OH 43044

Bill was born on June 2, 1939 and raised in Salem, Ohio. He hung out with the family beagle, played on the Goshen high school baseball team, and finished out his high school career as class salutatorian.

Bill studied welding engineering at The Ohio State University, obtaining his bachelor’s degree in 1964. He married Wanda Murrell in 1962 after exactly six weeks of courtship. Bill and Wanda made the Columbus area their home, raising three beautiful daughters -- Trina, Tessa and Trisha.

Columbia Gas Distribution Companies hired Bill in 1965. While working as Manager of Materials, Standards and Testing, he earned six patents, including one for the invention of the automatic pipe-welding machine. Bill was active in the American Welding Society and American Society for Materials Engineering, and traveled throughout the eastern and Midwestern states teaching welding technique to gas company crews. He retired in 1996 after 31 years with Columbia.

In retirement, Bill penned a welding textbook, Metal Arc Welding – Questions and Answers, published by Greyden Press, 1999. The book teaches how-to-do-it techniques for manual metal arc welding. He currently teaches welding classes at OSU, continues a 20-year tradition of welding instruction at Tolles Technical Center in Plain City, and is a regular guest instructor at Kenton Ridge High School in Springfield.

Bill earned a Moody Bible Institute degree in 2001 and is involved in prison ministry and animal welfare work. He follows the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Browns

During their 39^th year of marriage, shortly after Christmas 2000, Wanda went to be with the Lord. Today, Bill’s loving family consists of his father-in-law, three daughters, 3 sons-in-law, four granddaughters, one grandson, and a few beagles. He leaves the parenting decisions to his capable daughters and sons-in-law, but Grandpa is more than happy to indoctrinate the grandchildren into the way of the Lord, the Cleveland Indians and the beagles. Just wait until all those little girls are old enough to weld!

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October, 2004

Eldon Brandon

Rte 1, Box 223

Mannington, WV 26582

304-662-6575

eldjan@aol.com

family -

I was born/raised on a farm in western Ohio. And apparently that’s where my heart stayed. I always yearned to return to the country life. Fortunately, we were able to pull that off.

At the time of our days at OSU, I was married to Janis, and we had three wonderful kids. And they produced three grandchildren. Plus my younger son and his wife adopted a beautiful one-year-old Chinese girl a couple years ago. And they’re going for a second in mid-2005.

My present (and final) wife is Janice (Beckelhiemer/Findley) Brandon. She was born/raised in southern WV in a coal-mining town by the name of Sprague. Her dad was a coal miner in the days of picks, shovels, dynamite, and carbide head lanterns. They lived in a company house and shopped at the company store. When she was 13, and when coal mining was petering out, her dad loaded his wife, the three kids, and all their possessions into the car (there was no room for the dog), and they headed for Albuquerque. He became a steel worker, but she never became a New Mexican – her heart remained in West Virginia with the dog.

Many moons later, Jan and I were both working at Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico, and we met while square dancing. We were married in 1995, and have lived happily ever after. Parenthetically, it was as if God brought us together at the right time, but for different reasons. Jan was my reward for the hell-on-earth that I’d endured in finding the right mate after Janis and I divorced in 1975, and I was Jan’s punishment for the high life she’d enjoyed after her divorce in 1981.

presently –

After retirement in 1999 (April Fools Day, as a matter of fact), we moved to an old farm in northern West Virginia. And have spent the time since then at our “HalfFast Ranch” restoring, building and fixing up. And enjoying every moment of it (well, almost every moment). I could say much about all we’ve been up to, but I’ll save that for the reunion. Needless to say, lots of work. But very enjoyable work.

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memories of OSU -

I have many good memories of our OSU life. Little did we know how good the times were and how we should have realized it more at the time.

I especially remember:

Where I was (in the IE building) when the news came in of Kennedy’s assassination. I immediately lost all interest in going to class that day.

Getting a demerit for not getting my cap on soon enough after exiting the ROTC building. And another one for a poor shoeshine.

Painting one of the laboratory anvils with gold paint remaining from some Tau Beta Pi project

Those awesome analog amplifiers – and how Doc let me know I shouldn’t be twiddling knobs indiscriminately

The electron beam chamber/system that Whit Slemmons(?) constructed

Doc McMaster’s dignity. And his ability to think ahead, write on the blackboard, and talk, all at the same time and on different thoughts. And the time when some kid outside the classroom yelled something in the open window when he was talking; we all wondered how Doc would react. He smilingly responded (to us) with some appropriate comment about the aggressiveness of today’s kids, and kept right on going.

Bob Canagli – always smiling and ready to help

Prof McCauley – how we all walked into his class one particular day dreading the test he was going to give us and we had no idea what he was going to test us on. But he didn’t remember about the promised test. Pat Scott raised his hand. And we all winced expecting him to remind Prof McCauley. He didn’t.

additional education -

Received an MS in Industrial Engineering from Colorado State in 1973. Exactly ten years later our oldest son got his MS from there. He continued on for his PhD in psychology.

employment summary -

My first job after OSU was at Armco Research Center in Middletown, OH, working for George Linnert in ferrous welding studies. I was there for three years.

We then moved to Broomfield, CO, and I joined Dick Merlini at the Rocky Flats Plant, which was operated for the (now) DOE by Dow Chemical Company. Thus began my career of working in the nuclear weapons business. I was at Rocky Flats for eight years.

I subsequently did a brief, nine-month, stint at the National Reactor Testing Station near Idaho Falls, ID. It may not have been a mistake, but it was not an enjoyable learning experience. I didn’t like the company, the job, the boss, the town, or the weather. Other than that it was fine. During this time, Janis and I divorced, which turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life.

I then took a job at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, NM in the plutonium operations facility. This was an interesting work experience, being involved in various aspects of weapons design, testing, and production. I was there for eight years.

My last productive job was at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM. Again, interesting and varied work. I retired from Sandia in April 1999.

special accomplishments -

Three patents, many technical papers, and contributor to the Welding Handbook. Active in national AWS committees and former chairman of three (Metric Practice, Terms & Definitions, and High-Energy Density Welding)

hobbies, special interests, other activities -

Numerous hobbies and activities (in my former lives): youth football, church youth groups, Civil Air Patrol (I have a private pilot’s license), Boy Scouts, mountain Search & Rescue (registered Emergency Medical Technician), car restoration, car shows, antique and collector car clubs, snow skiing, recreational running

Present special interests: genealogy, photography, cabin restoration, general farm improvement, “pet” deer, our domestic pets (dogs, cats, ducks, chickens)

miscellaneous personal stuff -

I was once arrested, handcuffed, jailed

(I was picking up roadside trash – duh; was exonerated)

Was piloting a small plane, engulfed on clouds, became totally disoriented, went into a spin. Fortunately broke thru below the clouds with enough altitude to recover.

Hit gravel and lost control of a motorcycle on a curve on a mountain pass

Slept in a jail cell (voluntarily)

Been called a bastard and told to “beep” off by a girl I took out to supper

Participated in dissecting a cadaver in a morgue (where else?)

Been called a shithead, and a little piece of heaven (not by same person)

Been married four times, divorced three

Participated in the recovery of bodies from a crashed aircraft

Slept in a cemetery,

Climbed a few 14,000-foot Colorado mountains

Was summoned to the Nevada Test Site for an urgent repair on a nuclear test device. Was the only passenger on the plane chartered to take me from Los Alamos to the assembly building at the test site.

Played a role in a joint test of the nuclear explosives search team and the military’s anti-terrorist team

Was hit by a falling tree that I was cutting down; broke 4 vertebrae

but most importantly -

My Christian beliefs and our church life have taken a new relevance and dominant role in my life since we moved to West Virginia. We try to keep God the center of our lives.

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September 22, 2004

RICHARD J. MERLINI

545 S. 68TH ST.

BOULDER, CO 80303-4310

Ph or FAX: 303-494-1628

FAMILY

Wife: Florence M.

Flo and I have been married since 1980 and have lived at the above address since 1982. Flo is originally from Cincinnati and attended Ohio State during the same time period that all of us Welders were there. We, of course, did not know each other at that time. We have had no children together. Flo had two children from her previous marriage, Paul, who will be 37 this year and Sandra, who will be 34 this year. Flo’s brother still lives in Cincinnati and is retired from the U of C where he was a Mechanical Engineering professor.

Paul is married to Sharon and they have a son, Paul Jr, who will be 8 this year. They live near Dallas, TX. Paul works with a group of investment bankers that are primarily involved with the acquisition of distressed businesses that they restructure and resell. Sharon worked for the Federal Government as a bank auditor, but opened a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store seven years ago in a Dallas area shopping center. We usually drive down to visit them at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Sandra is married to David and they have three children-two of whom are twins. They live about 5 miles from us. Sandra works as an auditor for an accounting firm (Delotte-Touche) in Denver. David has a cellular phone sales business.

Some of you may remember that I had two children, Mala, now age 45, and Keri, age 42, with my previous wife, Connie. We divorced in 1980. Both Mala and Keri live in Las Vegas, NV with their husbands. Mala has been married twice. She had two children with her first husband and two with her second husband Kevin. Mala works at one of the casinos in property accounting and Kevin works as a mail carrier following a career in the Navy.

Mala’s two older children are now 22 and 25 years of age. Adria, the older, is living near Killeen, TX. She is now a married mother of a 2.5 year old son. That makes me a Great Grandpa. Joey has been attending UNLV and has his hopes set on being a pharmacist. The two younger grandchildren are Tara, age 12, and Ryan, age 11. They have become interested in skiing so we expect to have them come over this winter for a ski visit. We visit Las Vegas once a year to check up on everyone.

My other daughter Keri works for a company that services a specific niche of the casino industry. If any of you are gamblers then you are no doubt aware of the real time "gift points" accounting systems that most casinos use on their slots. Keri helps keeps the system software for these computers functioning. Keri has no children or animals. She and her husband Dennis had a pet turtle once, but it ran away. Dennis works as a casino bartender.

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My Mother is still active and lives in Barnesville, OH about 100 miles east of Columbus and now about 100 miles west of Eldon's new ranch in WV. We moved her the 15 miles from my hometown and birthplace of Lafferty, OH in 1994. Because of her arthritis she needed a one-story home without as many steps. We always visit her during this time of the year because of the nice Ohio weather.

My sister Judy lives in WV with her husband Tom. Tom works across the border near Cumberland, MD for the MD Department of Corrections and was transferred there from Baltimore last year. When they lived in Baltimore Judy worked for a biology laboratory doing billing. She has no job since the move.

We usually take a month's vacation from about mid September to mid October to visit everyone “back east” and partake in the Barnesville pumpkin festival in my mother’s town. It is a small town event, but they have a decent car show and some fun events such as fiddling and banjo playing contests. They also had a record 1100 lb pumpkin a couple of years ago.

EDUCATION

I tried to obtain a Master's degree in Metallurgy from the Colorado School of Mines. I attended classes for three semesters during 1967/68, but the pressures of work prevented me from participating for two years and I lost interest after that. As a point of interest, the degrees from the School of Mines are silver placards.

CAREER

My career is very easy to describe. I worked at Rocky Flats, near Boulder, CO for 28 years and retired in 1992. I worked as a Welding Engineer for the first 11 years and then worked various management and program management position. I was the Director of R&D at retirement. Rocky Flats, as some of you may know, manufactured nuclear weapon components until 1995. Part of the manufacturing ceased in the early 1990's when the Department of Defense decided that they had enough warheads. An early retirement offer was presented at that time (1992) that looked good to me.

I then went to work for Fluor-Daniel, an Architectural Engineering firm that had a Department of Energy contract to explore design options for a smaller nuclear weapons manufacturing complex. That effort lasted for three years and took us to VA near DC and Irvine, CA. Daughter Sandra, who was finishing up her schooling, lived in our Colorado home during our absence from Boulder. We returned home in July 1995 and I have been retired since then. Work can be interesting, but retirement has been very enjoyable.

I had probably the most interesting job when working on nuclear waste disposal projects. The work involved meeting and interfacing with a broad spectrum of people and places across the country. The waste disposal facility that recently opened near Carlsbad, NM was one of the projects that we supported.

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CLASSMATES

Over the years I have had the most contact with Eldon. He moved to Colorado a couple of years after me and worked with me at Rocky Flats for several years. Our families did a lot of hiking and camping together. After he left the Flats we keep in contact and visited each other often.

Charley and I were also in contact for several years. He would visit Colorado and we would ski together. We lost contact during my divorce in 1980. Probably because I had five addresses in one year and a complicated life.

RETIREMENT

The worse feature about retirement is that time seems to pass very rapidly. The last nine years have been a blur. I use a lot of my time working on the house. This summer I added a third bay to the house garage. This bay has a high vaulted ceiling, built so I can have a lift. Also added a small room that Flo is calling her studio.

We have come to enjoy camping in the National Parks and bought a small hard sided pop-up camper trailer this year. It is just right for two and we managed to use it three times despite the remodel project.

The rest of my time goes towards the old car hobby which has several aspects. In addition to actually working on the vehicles, I attend several auto parts swap meets looking for parts and selling extra parts that I have accumulated. The largest swap meet in the world is held in Hershey, PA the first week of October. I have been attending that event since 1974.

In addition, I belong to a car club that is focused on the restoration and preservation of 1932-53 era flathead Fords. The club has about 200 really nice people as members. The Club is very active and has both restoration seminars and tours every month.

OSU MEMORIES

What a "babe in the woods" I was my first days on campus. I had no idea what the next 5 years would entail.

The thick stone walls of Orton hall.

Getting demerits in AFROTC and never knowing why.

The day in Zoology when the instructor tried to show the class the painless method they used to kill Texas bullfrogs. Poor frogs.

Bill Green's perfectly groomed hair.

Believing I was going to enlist after news of the Cuban missile crises.

Not having a clue "why differential equations" until McMasters.

McMaster's energy and knowledge level.

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Being late for every Law building English class two quarters in a row because it followed ROTC. I later bought a bicycle.

That my bicycle was stolen the first time I didn't lock it.

McMasters opening the windows in zero degree weather if someone dozed in his class. "It must be too hot in here."

Moazad's insane annealed copper approach to teaching metallography.

Surviving the Strength of Materials "weed them out" course during the last quarter of our second year.

The Physics instructor (name?) that cleared his throat after every three words. I had him for two quarters.

The EE major who opened a knife switch on an inductive load in the EE Lab. He didn't have McMasters as an instructor.

The day the building exploded across the street from our WE building.

That day in Machine Design class when news came that Kennedy had been assassinated.

That after two days of P Chem, I switched majors from Chemistry to Welding Engineering.

Troyer's unflappable confidence.

Ballis and I trying to start our cars the snowy, cold winter of '63-64.

Butler's stolen coat, with car keys, when we were touring Lincoln Electric.

The "to die for" tan that Butler and I obtained in San Diego the summer of '63.

How "Smartly Navy" Borchers, Bright & Scott looked in their dress uniforms.

Brandon's new tan '64 Falcon station wagon. How can he afford that?

The dead pigeons laying around campus after the Spring shoot.

Fontana's Corvette parked in front of the Metallurgy building. I’m still jealous of that tan-colored ‘62 Vette.

Trying to study in the main Library on Saturday afternoon during an OSU home football game.

I enjoy this reminiscing, but my remodel project is calling. See you on the 2nd.

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Jul 28, 2004

Wade E. Troyer
4714 S Dayton Brandt Road
New Carlisle, OH 45344
Phone 937-845-9733
FAX 937-845-9733
E-Mail beekeeper@honeyhillfarm.com

PERSONAL HISTORY

Our Family
I married Joan in 1961 while at OSU. We have three children. Linda, the oldest, has two boys and two girls making her a full-time homemaker; she and her husband live in Cincinnati. Holly works for the US Post Office in KY. Jeff, the youngest, is an architect in the Los Angeles, CA area.

My Memories of OSU
Those high-tech classes with multi-choice midterms are most memorable. The ROTC drill and reviews were a close second. I recall fun picnics with fellow welding engineers and annual alumnae lunches at the AWS conventions were great. Graduation day was the best though.

Additional Education
I completed a project management course at Wright State University in 1976 followed by a class in international patent law at the World Trade Center Institute in 1977. I also completed a course in fracture mechanics by the American Iron & Steel Institute in 1978 plus selected short courses in forensic engineering (forensic engineering means why did that thing go boom in the night).

Work Summary
I worked for a number of corporate employers from graduation to 1978 including Harrop Industries, Surface Combustion and Hobart Brothers. I next founded Servo Arc, a company for automating welding tasks. While there, I patented a 5-axes robotic positioner. I sold that company and gradually began offering consulting services while employed at several other interim companies. In 1987, I began full time consulting as Professional Engineering Services doing forensic work. Since then, I have testified in numerous cases for attorneys representing either plaintiffs or defendants in federal, state and local courts. Currently, I'm downsizing the consulting business.

Publications include articles in technical periodicals and textbooks. I also participated in numerous technical committees mostly relating to welding or forensic standards. Other career highlights include machinery and robotic system design, material testing laboratory management and teaching jobs at the University of Dayton and Edison State College where I taught metallurgy and non-destructive testing.

I have been a registered Professional Engineer since 1974. I am currently a member of AWS and ASM. I had been a senior member & board certified diplomate in the National Academy of Forensic Engineers and was an active member of ASTM.

Other Stuff
I got into beekeeping in 1993 when someone gave us a beehive; it was empty of course. After getting my first bees, I found I liked those little critters, so I started more hives. I have about 12 hives now and produce honey and other hive products.

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Joan, formerly a teacher, decided some years ago, to make homemade soap. So, I helped formulate products, develop quality controls and manufacturing processes. In soapmaking, we use honey and beeswax from the hives. This has become a nice, small business operation which you may see at the website "www.honeyhillfarm.com". Sales come mostly through the Internet. Our daughter, Holly, designed the company logo and packaging art for the soaps. Our daughter, Linda, worked out the HTML code to make up the first web pages. Our son, Jeff, helped with marketing contacts. We have recently added more new products to our line. I now handle much of our manufacturing and quality control along with being the webmaster. Joan handles sales and marketing.

We live on 6 acres in the country between New Carlisle and Tipp City. Our bees enjoy a spring-fed pond, a wildflower meadow and a large grove of locust trees growing on a hill behind the house. The honey bees plus the hill led to our company name, Honey Hill Farm.

Between all our businesses, we have little time for vacations, other adventures, or even thinking about retirement.