Tribute - Mike Barnes
Well it is clear I put this off until the very last moment. Sorry for that, but in the middle of the last two nights I woke up thinking how I could compose something that would be of some value to the Class of ’59 at PCHS. So here goes.
The truth of the matter is my memories of my four years are very, very vague. I remember being really short (5’1” in September 1955) and really skinny. That is the entirety of my freshman year memories. I don’t remember how I travelled from Ontario to Pomona, but it was probably a parent driving us. We did have a small cadre of St. George students that attended PCHS and I think there are only three remaining survivlors, Jim Ganger, Marty Soth and me.
My only memory of sophomore year was Bill Sheehan reading Chaucer, or Beowulf or Silas Marner, or all three, in front of the class. I imagine we all read, but Bill had the proper cadence that I did not possess. I just now recalled watching seniors John Stewart and George Yanik in an all hands assembly that year.
Either sophomore or junior year I was asked to leave Music Appreciation. I probably said something under my breath, and certainly was not showing the proper appreciation. I had study hall this hour for the balance of the year.
Senior year I remember covering sports for the paper and sitting on the end of the bench in basketball. By this time I was taller (6’1”) and a little less skinny. I remember sitting in Coach Adams Civics class and looking out on Holt Ave.
Interestingly, my memories our much sharper post-PCHS. I worked part time for the City of Upland while attending Chaffey JC in pre-engineering to earn money for the final two years somewhere. A Math instructor at Chaffey was hugely influential in steering me to UC Berkeley. While there I met my wife, Pam and we just celebrated 57 years of marriage. We have two children, Tony and Molly. They both were way more athletic than me and we enjoyed watching them play in high school and college. We have six grandchildren ages 16 to 5.
My professional career included General Electric (Los Angeles), US Naval Reserve (active duty in San Francisco and San Diego…really tough duty stations), UC Berkeley for an MBA, FMC for stints in Chicago, Riverside and Lindsay, CA, and ultimately Intel for 23 years in Santa Clara. Pam ahs worked all through our time together, mostly preparing taxes. She just shut that business down after last tax season, so we are both retired now.
We have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1978, except for a 20 month period in 2004-2005 when we were in Redondo Beach to help Pam’s mom who was living alone in her early ‘90’s. For the last six years we have lived in Oakland. Our son’s family lives within a mile. Our daughter’s family recently moved to Newport Beach, but we get frequent visits.
The pandemic got our attention early and we have been extremely careful for the past two years. Driving south for us is now a two day affair with an overnight along the way and we are not comfortable making that trip yet. Feel free to share this if you think it is appropriate at this late hour. My best to allr the classmates who will be in attendance in Claremont.
Mike Barnes
