February 2018 VOL. 32, # 1

GARA News

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Spring Luncheon

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Tom Ham’s Lighthouse 2150 Harbor Island Drive

San Diego, CA 92101 11:30 to 2:30

Buffet Luncheon, $30 per person Speaker: Alexander DeVolpi “Cold War Brinkmanship”

Menu New England Clam Chowder

Lighthouse Salad, Bread & Butter Oven Roasted Atlantic Salmon with Sauce Vierge

Grilled Petite Top Sirloin, 5 Onion Relish, Red Wine Demi-Glace

Herb& Garlic Roasted Red Potatoes Oven Roasted Seasonal Vegetables

Chocolate & Vanilla Cake

Cash bar Directions and reservation form on Page 8

From the President, Jim Zgliczynski Our December luncheon and business meeting was held at the Butcher Shop on December 6, 2017. The speaker was Dr. Carmelo Rodriguez who spoke on “Naval Aviation and GA”. This

speech was timely and well received (even Carmelo’s jokes!) since GA Electromagnetic Systems successfully supplied the Electromagnetic Launch and Recovery equipment which is installed on the U.S. Navy’s newest carrier, CVN 78, Gerald R. Ford. We had a good crowd that enjoyed the fellowship, food, presentation and door prizes. During the business portion of the meeting, the GARA 2018 budget and treasurer’s report were presented and approved. A new slate of officers was elected by the membership, as shown below. I appreciate the GARA membership electing me as the new president and I look forward continuing the great work of all the enthusiastic board members and volunteers that make

GARA under the past leadership of Liz Drees such a successful organization. During my term my goals are to recruit new members and get members to suggest new speakers we could add to our possible speakers list. I would like to especially thank some of our “founding” board members that are “retiring” from the GARA board; their tireless efforts over many years for GARA are appreciated by all: Mary Hartley, Social Chair, who ably arranged all the meeting locales and fantastic food at a fair price. Wow-always awesome! John Neill expertly handled all the GARA books, member dues, luncheon reservations and budgets. This is a tough job and well done. (NOTE: All dues payments should now go to Niles Johanson at 6083 Via Regla, SD 92122). Jana Hubler, after doing a perfect job as secretary, will now be a member at large. We have an opening for another board member at large. Maybe that’s YOU! See me if you’re interested. Also, another GARA founder, John Steibel, who is the force behind the excellent, entertaining, visually interesting newsletters, will be also soon be “retiring” from his position. So … Anyone interested in joining the board as Newsletter Editor? John is willing to train/tutor his replacement. Our next GARA Luncheon meeting will be Wednesday, March 7, 2018, at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse. Speaker will be Alexander DeVolpi, PhD, LCDR-USNR ret. The timely subject: “Cold War Brinkmanship”. Please submit your reservations and checks to Nancy Hitchcox by February 27 per the instructions on page 8.

GA Retirees Association, Inc. www.garetirees.org President: Jim Zgliczynski 619 237 9812 zgliczynski@outlook.com Vice President Vojin Joksimovich 760-489-0156

simbasimon@mail.com Treasurer: Niles Johanson 858 752 4327

nilesjo@yahoo.com Secretary: Dorothy Wood 760 788 1523 Dorothy.wood@woodgroves.com Social Chair: Nancy Hitchcox 858 335 4839 nancy.hitchcox@gmail.com Newsletter Editor: John Steibel 858-263-7473 jsteibel@san.rr.com see page 2

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Members at Large: Jana Hubler 619 448 5362

Janajj13@cox.net Terry Powell 951-693-0938

westerngal66@gmail.com Carmelo Rodriguez 760 436 2342

carmelo_rodriguez@att.net Past President: Liz Drees 858 945 2942 Dreesea2016@gmail.com Website: Jim and Darlene Ward drawj@suddenlink.net

Who’s Doing What, and Where

Congratulations to our new president, Jim Zgliczynski,

and family on the arrival of their new granddaughter

Codi Kai, recently born to Cassi & Brian Zygliczynski.

Al and Betty Haboush took a 15-day cruise of northern

Europe and the Balkan countries. The cruise started

from Stockholm, Sweden, and ended in Bergen,

Norway. They visited Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia,

Germany, Denmark and Norway. Stockholm is a

beautiful city located on the Baltic Sea, and is known as

the Venice of Scandinavia with its 14 islands and 57

bridges. It has numerous parks, especially for children.

Helsinki, Finland is small, but very nice to visit. The

Senate Square is a wide-open space surrounded by the

University of Helsinki and the Government Palace. Also,

there was the massive Helsinki Cathedral and Orthodox

Uspenski Cathedral. Until 1918 Finland was part of

Russia, thus the Orthodox Church. There also was a

monument to Sibelius, a sculpture of 600 pipes. Next,

they visited St. Petersburg, Russia, with many palaces

and cathedrals. Peter the Great founded the city on the

Gulf of Finland, so Russia could have access to the sea.

They saw grand and palatial architecture that lines the

embankments of the waterways. They visited St. Isaac’s

Square where the Hermitage Museum, a repository of

priceless art, and the Winter Palace is located. Next,

Tallinn, Estonia ranks as one of Northern Europe’s

finest medieval old towns with cobbled streets and red-

roofed buildings. Beautiful Orthodox and Lutheran

Churches dominate the landscape. In 1988 on the Song

Festival Grounds, 300,000 citizens rose up and sang

against Soviet rule, and a bloodless revolution occurred.

Next stop was Berlin, Germany. It was divided by a wall

that separated east and west from 1961 to 1989.

Monuments of wartime are everywhere. After the war,

Berlin was completely rebuilt and there is a lot to see,

including the Reichstag, Germany’s Parliament Building.

There are more than 170 museums in Berlin, and they

saw one. Copenhagen, Denmark is one of the most

beautiful cities in the Baltic. It has been an important

Scandinavian port since the days of the Vikings 850

years ago. The worlds’ oldest amusement park, Tivoli

Gardens, and the Little Mermaid statue at the edge of

the harbor were worth seeing. The best preserved

Renaissance architecture in all of Denmark can be seen

in Alborg, Denmark founded as a trading post by the

Vikings in the late 900’s. They saw one of Europe’s most

interesting old towns, Stavanger, Norway, with cobbled

streets and beautiful wooden buildings. Offshore oil

drilling feeds the economy, making the city one of the

most expensive in the world. . The Norwegian

Petroleum Museum was very interesting to visit.

Eidfjord, Norway is a quaint village located in the center

of one of Norway’s most scenic regions. It is

surrounded by beautiful fjords resulting in outstanding

views. Bergen, Norway is an ancient city with deep

Viking roots that was founded in 1070. It is nestled

between large snowcapped mountains. Bergen owes its

wealth to a bustling fish export business.

Overall, it was a great trip and they came away with the

impression that children in these countries are better

educated than in the United States. They must learn to

speak English and finish high school.

Annual Meeting at the Butcher Shop Restaurant

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John Bauer, Randy Hager

Pat Connors, Fritz Dahms

Dorothy & A.C. Wood

Jeff Broido, Dave Carosella

Lynn Johnson, Regina Horner

Harlan Horner, William Johnson

Rose & Burt Burley

Nancy Hitchcox

Annual Meeting at the Butcher Shop Restaurant

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Susan & Jim Zgliczynski

Alan Zimmer, Niles Johanson

Russell Vollman

Mike & Laraine Dunlap Betty & Al Haboush, Virgil Barbat

Bob & Joyce Quade

Thomas Tasker, Bill Homeyer

Judy Kail, Joanne Pienado

Annual Meeting at the Butcher Shop Restaurant

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Donna Oeilien, Linda Parise, Jana Hubler

Katie Young, Donna Oeilien

Vlad & Chris Nicolayeff

Veronica Sandoval, Esther Rosenberg

John Neill, Ann Moffette

Stephanie & Ed Smythe

Gordon & Marilyn Hersey

Terry Powell, Phil Newman

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Mary Hartley’s and John Neill’s big adventure this year

was a tour in India with Gate 1 Travel that featured top-

tier hotels. They spent a day in old Delhi and took a

rickshaw ride in heavy traffic. This did not faze their 90

lb. driver who pulled his 350-pound load through the

main roads and alleyways. They were then flown to

Kathmandu where they took a flight on Buddha Airlines

to view Mt. Everest. The dust from the earthquakes

and reconstruction was profound, hanging on the tree

leaves. On the return to Delhi they visited a Sikh temple

where 30,000 people per day are fed without regard to

religion or need and without government funding. The

Imperial Hotel there, built in 1931, was memorable.

From New Delhi they flew to Jaipur where they saw the

Amber Fort and rode on an elephant. Cows and dogs

have the right of way across roads and contributed to

slow bus travel. It was quicker for Gate 1 to fly us to

destinations than to drive even for distances as short as

250 miles. We visited the Taj Mahal at Agra, a truly

impressive and lovely structure.

Our tour included the beautiful city of Udaipur on Lake

Pichola and finished at the more modern city of

Mumbai. There we saw the Gate of India, a large

edifice, from which the last British troops departed in

1948 to end colonial rule.

In the fall we visited England to see John’s family. We

also went to Normandy and visited Omaha beach, the

adjacent cemetery and memorial museum. The ten

thousand graves here reminded us of the sacrifice made

to preserve liberty for us all. We also visited the

beautiful Monet gardens and various antique stores in

Rouen.

Mary has taken up watercolor painting with more

enthusiasm, and helps at the San Diego Watercolor

Society. She continues to shop for antiques and tries to

resell them at a booth in Carlsbad. John’s big news is

that he finished his mystery novel after three years. He

plans to sell printed copies on his website

www.whathappenedtoflynn.com and as an e-book on

Kindle and Nook. He had to send the book cover

illustrated pictures of himself with his pajama-clad legs

hanging out of the trunk of his car, a photo shoot of

great concern to neighbors.

Mary and John have resigned from the board after five

years of service on the board of the GA Retirees

Association, allowing room for new members.

U.S. Department of Labor (DoL)

Program to Compensate Radiation

Workers for Occupational Illness is

Still Active

DoL has an ongoing program to compensate

workers who worked with radiation or beryllium and

later contracted occupational illness (e.g., cancer or

lung disease). This covers government-funded

facilities (national labs and private companies).

Employees or contractors who worked at

General Atomics, La Jolla, for an aggregate of

250 work days from January 1, 1960 through

December 31, 1969, and developed one of the

listed occupational illnesses, may be eligible for

compensation to cover medical expenses, lost

wages, etc.

The compensation can be substantial – by the end

of 2014, DoL paid out $18.4 million on behalf of GA

employees. People who may be eligible (or their

survivors), can get all the info they need from a

user-friendly website dol.gov/owcp/energy, which

should take you to a page titled “Division of Energy

Employees Occupation Illness Compensation

(DEEOIC)”. The national toll-free number is 866-

888-3322, and the district office (Seattle) can be

reached at 888-805-3401 if you need more help.

Dues

Dues are $10 a year. If your dues have not been paid,

please send a check to:

Niles Johanson 6083 Via Regla San Diego CA 92122

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In Memoriam Carl Arthur Rolander, Jr. passed away on November 16, 2017 at the age of 97 surrounded by his loving family, including his wife of 74 years, Mildred (Millie) Donaldson Rolander. He was born on May 7, 1920, studied music at Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS, graduated from George Washington University in Washington DC, and received

his law degree from Catholic University. He joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation, went into the Army, and was assigned to security at the Manhattan Engineer District at Oak Ridge, TN, and after the war became the Deputy Director of Security for the Atomic Energy Commission, working on the Rosenberg spy trial and the Oppenheimer security clearance hearings. He met Millie Donaldson of Alexandria, VA, and they were married on June 26, 1943. They had three children; Nancy, Carl, and Stephen. He joined the General Atomic Division of General Dynamics Corporation in 1957, and served as President until 1974. He then moved to Sewickley, PA and became Vice President of Gulf Oil. He took retirement in 1977 and began consulting in the energy field. In 2005 he and Mrs. Rolander moved to the Cedars in Chapel Hill, NC, where he remained active in his church until his passing. Three children, his wife, seven grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren survive him.

Len Kube passed away on

October 26 after a valiant

battle with cancer. His

devotion to his family and

his firm belief in God

supported him and gave him

peace. He was born in

Wisconsin, graduated from

the University of Marquette in 1959 with a bachelor’s

degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA from the

University of Wisconsin. He was an engineering

consultant in the power industry, worked at General

Atomics, and was involved in the Alaska pipeline. His

wife Barb, four children and 10 grandchildren survive

him. A celebration of his life was held at San Rafael

Church in Rancho Bernardo.

William (Bill) A. Graul passed away on October 4. His

beloved Ruthie, shown in the photograph, passed on

July 7 of this year.

Bill had been

stricken with

stomach cancer

which spread to

other organs, and

was the cause of

his death. After

completing his

military service in

the Army Air

Force, Bill

graduated with a

degree in chemistry and was employed by Gulf Oil in

Pittsburg. The employment took them to Texas, Spain

and England before they moved to La Jolla and Bill

started at General Atomics in 1974.

His two daughters, Emily Louise and Pamela Ann

survive him.

Charles S. (Chuck) Luby passed away on November 5.

He was born on December 8, 1937 in Pittsburgh. He

grew up in La Mesa. He

graduated from Helix High in

1955 and from San Diego

State University in 1964 with

an MS in Chemistry. He and

Robin Dorothy Briscoe

married August 10, 1963 and

enjoyed a wonderful loving

relationship for 54 years. He

worked at General Atomics

starting in 1959, was author of three patents, worked in

Fuel Process Engineering, and ended as Manager of

Proposals and Marketing Communications in his last ten

years. A celebration of his life was held on January 11 at

the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center at San Diego

State University where he and his surviving wife, Robin,

are major benefactors. The attendees shared with

Robin the many memories of good times they all had

with Chuck.

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Luncheon at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse restaurant, Wednesday, March 7, 2018, 11:30 am.

Directions: From Harbor Drive, across from Lindbergh Field, turn south onto Harbor Island Drive, continue to

the right all the way to the west end of the road, to Tom Ham’s Lighthouse Restaurant, 2150 Harbor Island

Drive.

Return this completed form by Tuesday, February 27, 2018, with your check for $30.00 per person for paid members and guests, or $35.00 for non paid members/guests payable to G.A. Retirees Association Inc. to: Nancy Hitchcox 12302 Old Stone Road Poway, CA 92064 nancy.hitchcox@gmail.com

858-335-4839 Name: Spouse’s Name or Guest’s Name

GA Retirees Association, Inc. 6083 Via Regla San Diego CA 92122