Biographies

Robert Kumming

Then...!	Now...!

Robert (Wobbie) Kumming

My wife, Joyce (wife for 32 years) and I were living in Western Massachusetts. We moved to the state of Georgia. I work in the Corporate offices of MassMutual Financial Group in Springfield, Massachusetts. I have been with them for 32 years. My present job is Senior Vice President of Sales. Basically I handle 20 sales people in 18 sales offices across the country. We had been there for 14 years. Prior to that we lived in Philly (2 years) Houston (3 years), Minneapolis (13 years).

During the latter part of 2002, we purchased a new home in Dunwoody, just north of the city Atlanta. After being in this job for 14 years I thought with anywhere from 2 to 5 years left to work I wanted to do something I really enjoyed again. So I'm returning to pure sales. We sell 401k and DB recordkeeping and investment services to large Corporations.

Our three children are just about out in life. My oldest Robbie, who was a Pike at SIU, is a headhunter in the St. Louis area. He's expecting his first child in March. Our daughter, Susannah. gave us our first grandchild two years ago. She lives in the Springfield area and works for my company. Our youngest, Andrew is just graduating from U. of Vermont in about a month.

If you'd like to contact Wobe, his e-mail address is:

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Steve Stricker

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Steve Stricker

After graduating from SEMO in 1968 with my diploma in one hand and draft papers in the other, I enlisted (I know…) and spent three years in the US Army--one at Fort Leonard Wood, one in Vietnam (July 1969 to August 1970), and one at the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, VA. I was assigned to the 18th Engineer Brigade in Dong Ba Thin at Cam Ranh Bay but was attached to the USARV Headquarter Co. in Long Binh. Dong Ba Thin, at the time, was one of the “safest” places in Vietnam. I wrote my mom and told her not to worry. Then the third night I was there we were hit with the largest rocket and sapper attack ever in that area! It was a rough night. Just before I went over Jim Acreback told me to keep my ass down!! I remembered that vividly when I was eating Laterite during that attack. While in Long Binh I had my own jeep and went just about where I wanted to and places where I didn’t want to. Mike Lynch came to Long Binh six months after I got there as an MP (go figure) and then Johnny Reimann came over. It was a little surreal to be there together like that. Lynch was great! I took him to Saigon one day and it hit me about half way there how odd and unbelievable it was to have him there with me. Mom was a Chaplain Assistant (go figure) at The 3rd Field Force Hospital in Saigon where all casualties in that area were flown in. I visited him often. Many times they would be operating on dozens of guys out in the parking lot. He got some kind of disease from an orphanage and they removed one of his lungs and I was there for that. As you say, then he was killed in a car accident when he got home. The funeral in his home town of Fulton, Missouri was one of the saddest I ever attended. Paul Reichert was stationed in Tay Ninh and I got to see him one day when he came to Long Binh. I also took him to Saigon. Got lost as hell shooting the breeze with him and not paying attention where I was… After Vietnam while stationed at the Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, ran into Brad Brune who was in the Navy. We used to drive to DC where Dave Jeffers my pledge dad was stationed in the Air Force at Andrews and his pledge dad David Hahs was in the Navy stationed at the Pentagon. After Vietnam I went back to SEMO and completed a master’s degree in education. The next ten years was a kind of “Renaissance” period for me where I did a little of everything from teaching to construction work. I got married in 1975, had three wonderful sons, Stephen, Scott and Shane (still my best friends) and was divorced twelve years later. I took a position with SEMO in 1982 as a Counselor/Academic Adviser and taught a class. I was a consultant with EI during that time and it was awesome. I also completed a second master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling. After six years I knew this kind of work was what I wanted to do. To continue my career on a college campus I needed my Ph.D., so in December of 1988 came to The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and after almost eight years (a record I think) finally finished my doctorate in Educational Psychology, Counseling emphasis on my birthday, May 10, 1997. I have been in Oxford (aka Camelot) and on the Ole Miss campus since 1988. I have worked in the Judicial College (a branch of our Law School); in the Graduate School responsible for all graduate records; as Assistant Director of our campus Career Center and taught a Career Development class. Currently as Director of MBA Career Services in the School of Business Administration my charge is all career-related functions including counseling and employer/corporate relations leading to internship and fulltime employment for our MBA’s as well as teaching a required Business and Career Planning class for undergraduate business majors. I like what I’m doing but my salary is funded with “soft” money (never secure) so I’ve applied for another position on campus. I love Oxford and Ole Miss, bought a house a short time ago and am looking to stay here. I date but no true love interest at this time. I don’t date students and Oxford is kind of small, but she’s there somewhere. Sonoma Valley is great country. In 2000 I met “Lisa” who worked with wine.com before it went up in smoke. She lived in Napa and I spent Labor Day weekend with her. We did the whole Napa Valley thing and San Francisco. Awesome! I was there when the 5.6 quake centered in Napa hit. Man that was interesting…kind of neat actually. Lisa and I are still friends but the distance was too much. My oldest son Stephen graduated from Vanderbilt in 1999 with a degree in Molecular Biology and then completed a master’s degree in Biochemistry from here. He was married this summer and is now in the Doctoral Pharmacy program at The University of Missouri at Kansas City. Son Scott (more like me) came here in 1999 and didn’t return for the second semester. However, he’s back now, is about to turn me into an alcoholic, but he’s making it. Grin. Son Shane is a senior at Sikeston high school and will be a freshman here next year. He wants to stay here and also get his Law degree. Great, great guys!! So, life is okay. I have been somewhat involved with the Pikes down here off and on. One of the most constant threads of my life has been the fraternity. Oh, NCC stands for Nationally Certified Counselor and LPC stands for Licensed Professional Counselor. Scary stuff huh?

If you'd like to contact Steve, his e-mail address is:

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Dennis Baker

Then...! Now...!

Dennis Baker

I am living in Tallahassee, Florida where I am the Assistant Dean for Faculty Development at the new Florida State University College of Medicine. I began this job on May 6. Previously I worked at a medical school in Ohio. My wife, Shirley, just recently joined me here. She had stayed back in Ohio trying to get our house sold. I have two daughters. One (Suzanne 24) is working on her Ph.D.in sociology at Brown University and the other (Catherine 22) lives with us and works for a builder.

If you'd like to contact Dennis, his e-mail address is:

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Jim Hardy

Then...! Now...!

Jim (Beezer) Hardy

Nancy and I live in Atlanta now and so does our son, Patrick, his wife, Kelley and their three kids. Patrick and I work for the same large financial services company. I'm a VP in the training department (couldn't get the teacher out of my system!) and Patrick handles all the AV equipment and things like that on our corporate campus. Nancy is starting her 35th year of teaching! There is a lot more to the story but I'll have to fill you in later.

If you'd like to contact Jim, his e-mail address is:

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Owen Nagel

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Owen ("OO") Nagel

Owen "OO" Nagel graduated from Cape in May of 1967, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education (a double major of History and Fine Arts). He received a master's degree in Administration, plus an additional 30 hours torwards a Phd. Ed. He served in the U.S.Naval reserves upon graduation from Cape. He married Mary Nowell from Cape Girardeau in 1972, and had two sons, Mark and Matthew (1974 and 1977 respectively). Mark is at corporate offices of Cingular Wireless in Atlanta, doing product research and Matt is with Aggreka Ind. specializing in temporary power for special events. The winter Olympics in Salt Lake has been his biggest so far.

Owen is still employed by Parkway School District. Chesterfield, MO. (St. Louis Coounty) where he has been an educator for the past 36 years. Although upon the eve of retirement, of which he cannot believe life goes by that fast, he hopes that George Bush will call him to be the next homeland security administrator, as that was how he got the nickname "OO" in college. He did get many Pikes out of parking tickets while serving on the Sercurity Board at SEMO.

If you'd like to contact OO, his e-mail address is:

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