1. business and industrial
2. energy
3. nuclear power

May 2015
VOL. 29, # 2
GARA News
If you have not done so already, please submit your
annual membership dues of $10.00 to John Neill. We
depend upon your dues to pay for expenses, primarily
the printing and distribution of the GARA NEWS and the
post cards that are sent out as reminders for the
upcoming luncheons. Paying your dues in a timely
manner is much appreciated. (See P. 6)
The GARA meets four (4) times a year. Our goal is to
provide you with an enjoyable lunch, interesting
speakers, as well as an opportunity to chat and catch up
with your friends who you may only get to visit with at
the meetings. With that in mind, please feel free to
email me at: mikelaraine@cox.net or call me on my cell
at 858-248-9089 if you have any suggestions on how we
might improve your experience at the meetings.
On behalf of the GARA Board of Directors, I want to
wish you a safe and enjoyable summer and hope to see
you at our summer luncheon at the Butcher Shop.
Summer Luncheon
June 10, 2015
ButcherShop Steakhouse Restaurant
11:30 to 2:30.
Speaker: Jim Larrimore
“The Iran Nuclear Case: Have we reached the end
game?”
Buffet - Chicken Picatta and Roasted Top Sirloin
Plus delicious Dessert
Cash bar
Directions and Reservation Form, Page 8
From the President, Mike Dunlap
Our spring luncheon was held in
the Harbor View Room at Tom
Ham’s Lighthouse. The
attendance was very good and
the menu was very tasty and
included steak, salmon, herb and
garlic roasted potatoes as well as
oven roasted seasonal
vegetables, and desert. Our
keynote speaker was Len Hayes, Colonel USMC retired.
He gave a very interesting talk on current events in the
Middle East. Our members were very involved and
asked numerous questions. Big thanks go to our Vice
President, Vojin Joksimovich for identifying and securing
such interesting speakers for our luncheons.
As noted above, our summer luncheon is being held at
the Butcher Shop. In March of 2014 we held our spring
luncheon there and received very positive feedback on
the location and menu from those in attendance. As a
result, Mary Hartley our Social Chair worked with the
manager to establish a date and develop a menu that
would be within our budget. Our keynote speaker at
the summer luncheon will be Jim Larrimore. Many of
you may remember Jim, he is a nuclear engineer who
worked at General Atomics and then at the IAEA in
Vienna, primarily in the area of international
safeguards. His subject will be “The Iran Nuclear Case:
Have we reached the end game?” This should be a very
interesting talk based on current events.
We wish to welcome new members: Burt Burley, Bill
Coleman, Elena Ortiz-Corona, Bill Hannaman, Vic
Orphan and Dave Pettycord. We hope your experience
is satisfying and enjoyable.
Who’ Doing What, and Where? Continuing with the
theme of the last newsletter, in this issue we feature
some more members of our Board.
Mary Hartley is our Social Director, whose professional
career was based in the medical field. She began as an
RN, then trained as a perfusionist (operates heart-lung
machine in cardiac surgery) in Pennsylvania. She came
to California in 1970 and worked at the Naval Hospital
for six years. She then started a small company that
contracted perfusion services to many hospitals in San
Diego. In 1993, she sold her company to a national
perfusion company and worked in various capacities
until she retired in 2006. During her career she held
several national professional perfusion organization
offices. She and John Neill became a couple in 2006 and
enjoy traveling, exploring estate sales, and finding
projects. Now, she spends time managing an antique
business (Booth 53 @ The Antique Warehouse in Solana
Beach), volunteering for GARA and practicing
watercolor.
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Who’s Doing What, and Where?
Bill’s first ten years at GA were in the Direct
Conversion Project, designing and developing nuclear
electric power systems for use in space. When that
program was cancelled by closure of the joint NASAAEC Office of Space Power and Propulsion, he was
asked to manage the Core Design Branch of the Core
Design Department. The Branch was responsible for
the mechanical design and structural analysis of the
fuel and removable reflector elements of the five pairs
of large HTGR power plants that GA was under
contract to build for five utilities. After these
contracts were cancelled, he helped the Gas-Cooled
Reactor Associates (GCRA), a utility-sponsored group
formed to preserve HTGR technology, to get started.
When, after a year and a half, GCRA offered him a job,
he declined and returned to GA to work in the Fusion
Program on superconducting magnet design and other
tasks, including managing the Fusion Program
Development group. The group wrote proposals for
GA’s Fusion Program and related work, including a
winning proposal to build an electromagnetic launcher
of projectiles for the Air Force. This led to many other
programs applying GA’s magnetic confinement fusion
technology to defense needs and the formation of the
Electromagnetic Systems Division. Bill worked on
many of these programs over the next two decades as
a program manager or technical consultant. The last
was the Accelerator Production of Tritium program at
Los Alamos, which gave him an opportunity to retire
without giving problems to others as the program was
winding down and he could find a replacement
returning from an overseas job.
Bill Homeyer is now a Member at Large. He grew up,
from the age of 6, in the house of his immigrant
grandmother at the eastern edge of the Bronx, a block
from Pelham Bay Park and a few blocks from the Bay.
The family of 7 consisted of Grandma, her three
daughters, the husband and daughter of her eldest
daughter and the son of her recently widowed second
daughter, Bill. Grandma was the primary caregiver
during the day as Bill’s mom went off to work in
Manhattan. He had the opportunity to learn to
maintain and repair the house his late granddad had
built, using granddad’s tools. It was a great
experience for someone who was to become an
engineer. He also saw a lot of nature, both in the
large park nearby and in his back yard and adjacent
vacant lots. He had a good elementary education at
the local public school and an excellent secondary
education at Stuyvesant High School.
After 4 years of commuting to high school, an hour
each way on the subway, he decided to study
Chemical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute (RPI), where he could walk to his classes from
his dormitory or fraternity house. He was also able to
work for GE for a year in 3 different research and
development jobs through a co-op program at RPI,
learning that he liked R&D. He was also active in the
Rensselaer Outing Club, improving his skiing and
learning rock climbing, winter mountaineering, and
backpacking. At RPI he heard about AEC fellowships
to study Nuclear Engineering, which paid all expenses
and provided a small living allowance, and he won one
and a place at MIT.
Bill retired in 2000, exactly 37 years after he started at
GA, to have more time with his wife Nancy to travel,
camp and hike in our county’s mountains and deserts,
and backpack in the Sierra. Domestic travel has
included trips to the Seattle, WA area to visit their
son, Mark, and his wife and younger daughter, to
Portland, OR to visit Mark’s older daughter, to Santa
Clara, CA to visit their older daughter, Meg, and her
husband and their 2 sons and daughter, and to
Zionsville, IN, to visit their younger daughter, Lynne,
and her husband and their son and daughter. Bill had
attended a few GARA luncheons while still working to
keep in touch with friends and coworkers who had
retired, and responded to a request for volunteers to
serve on the Board soon after he retired. He has been
on the Board ever since. (continue on Page 6)
In 1958 he began graduate study at MIT, where he
earned SM and ScD degrees in Nuclear Engineering,
became active in the MIT Outing Club (MITOC) and
learned to sail in the Charles River Basin. The MITOC
association was most important in his life since it led
to his sharing an apartment with a man whose sister,
Lynne, came to Cambridge, MA in 1960, to work at
Harvard. She introduced Bill to her roommate, Nancy,
now Bill’s wife of almost 54 years. On completion and
acceptance of his ScD thesis in January, 1963, Bill and
Nancy drove to San Diego so Bill could start work at
GA, his first permanent job, which proved to be his
last.
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Spring Lunch at Tom Ham’s
Janet Anderson & Victor Van Lint
Ernie Bass, Ann Moffette
Randy & Pauline Hager
Betty & Al Haboush
Susan & Denny Giaruso
Ken Paulovich, Bill Homeyer
Lou Johnson, Bert McMain & Elaine Wolfe
Jack Bass, Tom Moffette
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Spring Lunch at Tom Ham’s
Mike & Larraine Dunlap
Dave Pettycord, Susan & Denny Giaruso
Vojin Joksimovich, Col. Len Hayes
Dorothy Wood, David Hanson
A. C. Wood, William Scheffel
Peggy Sigler & Martin Kantor
Jana Hubler, Terry Powell
Pamela McMann, Liz Drees
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Spring Lunch at Tom Ham’s
Loni & Luann Giegler
Frances & Richard Moore
Gerald Hass, Don Giegler
Donald Matthews, Jane Gibson
Robin & Chuck Luby
Dick & Esther Rosenberg
Robert & Joyce Quade
Rilla Baxter, Bill Hannaman
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Our Immediate Past President, Peggy Sigler’s
association with the GARA organization goes back to
the beginning when GARA was formed 25 years ago.
Martin Kantor, then president, asked Peggy to type
up the first Constitution as not many had access to the
newly available computers (or knew how to use
them).
Technologies Group (ATG) in the capacity of Manager
of Operations Management. He personally attended
to all ATG Highly Classified Contract and Projects
activities: these programs included all Space Power,
Systems Engineering, Advanced Material Technology,
Business Development, Advanced Process Systems,
and Electromagnetic Systems.
From then on, Peggy’s support of GARA developed
into editing the newsletter, which was eventually
named GARA by Jack Yampolsky who won a naming
contest. Jack said GARA meant “good news” in a
Slavic language and all the board liked that concept.
Martin Kantor also claims authorship of the name
GARA, which is the acronym for G. A. Retirees
Association.
In addition he was asked to attend to all ATG
acquisition reviews and also was requested to assist
Electronics Division, Torrey Pines Tech. Division,
Aeronautical Systems, and TRW Company in the
preparation of regular and highly classified proposals.
He retired from GA, twice; first in 2007 and finally in
2008 after working for a year as a consultant.
Peggy later went on to serve also as secretary, social
chairman and finished her service to GARA as
President for two years.
Currently, he is a Director of Operations and owner of
FAASCO, a Financial and Operational service company.
Christina and Gaston enjoy travelling around the
world and occasionally take some of their
grandchildren.
Next, another Member at Large, Gaston Guzman,
served in the US Army as a Combat Intelligence Officer
attached to the 11th Air Assault Division and in 1964
received a “Secret Order” and traveled to Vietnam. He
returned to USA October 10th 1965. Later he was
informed that he earned a Vietnam Service Medal and
a Bronze Star.
GA Retirees Association, Inc. www.garetirees.org
President: Michael Dunlap 858-486-4844
mikelaraine@cox.net
Vice President Vojin Joksimovich 760-489-0156
simbasimon@mail.com
Treasurer: John Neill 858-560-7569
jmuirn74@yahoo.com
Secretary: Liz Drees 858-945-2942 liz.drees@cox.net
Social Chair: Mary Hartley 858-560-7569
mbhsdca@gmail.com
Newsletter Editor: John Steibel 858-263-7473
jsteibel@san.rr.com
Members at Large:
Bill Homeyer 858-459-6661
homeyer@san.rr.com
Gaston Guzman 858-565-4453
gaston.guzman@sbcglobal.net
Past President: Peg Sigler 619-225-8433
926pmsigler@att.net
Website: Jim and Darlene Ward
drawj@suddenlink.net
After that, he met Christina, and they got married in
August 1966. IN 1968 and later, he graduated and
received the degrees in Mathematics, Business
Administration and Management from San Diego
State.
In Feb 1968 he accidentally walked into the
employment office of General Atomics, and the
personnel representative invited him to attend two
interviews that afternoon. Two days later he received
a phone call offering two jobs in different Divisions. He
chose the job as Production Control specialist in Space
Power Div.
In about a year, he got promoted to the Operations
Management of the Thermionic and Thermo Electric
Division (Direct Conversion Project). In 1973, the
Space Power Programs were cancelled. He was then
transferred to HTGR Division as an Operations
Specialist and later promoted to Senior Engineering
Division Administrator. When the HTGR program was
dissolved he was transferred to the Defense Program
Division and later transferred to Advanced
Dues: Dues are due on the 1st of January for the
current year. Please send your dues of $10/year, paid
to GA Retirees Association, Inc., to:
John Neill, Treasurer,
4219 Rueda Drive,
San Diego CA 92124.
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Arthur Charles McBride passed away on April 16,
2105 with his wife, Jo Ann and son
Jim by his side. He was born in
San Diego on January 16, 1943.
Art’s many career stints include
working at General Atomics in
nuclear instrumentation, with
many of his designs in use to this
day. He enjoyed working with the
great scientific minds there. He
founded Electronic Services, designing and providing
equipment for the tuna fleet. In the 1980’s he
partnered with Ocean Satellite Systems, developing a
satellite weather device used for locating fish. His son,
Grant was already deceased, and he is survived by his
wife Jo Ann, son Jim (Jocelin) and his brother Rodney
(Vickie).
In Memoriam
Janice Bowman wrote on Thursday, March 12, 2015:
My Dad is Edwin Harvey.
Sadly, Dad passed away last week. We really weren’t
expecting it as he was doing pretty well, going to the gym,
playing bridge and enjoying time with friends and my mom
(Christina: they have been married 54 years:). We really
can’t believe he is gone but, are glad it was a peaceful
passing. Gaston Guzman remembers playing racquetball
with him in the past.
Donald Snowden passed away on
January 10, 2015. He was 83. He
was born in Los Angeles, earned his
BS from California Institute of
Technology in 1949 and his PhD
from UC Berkley in 1958. He
worked as a physicist at GA, IRT
and MRC. He was a founding
member of the Spreckels Organ
Society and served for many years
as its secretary and principal sound technician. His cousins,
church family and friends survive him.
Remembrance We’d like to remember those who passed
away recently and keep them in our thoughts. These of our
General Atomics compatriots passed away and were
mentioned in the Newsletters of the last three years.
Harold
Daniel
Virginia
Gotfried
John
Bob
Douglas
Fred
Rosita
James E
On February 10, 2015, Carol Hunt wrote to the Danny Tow
lunch group on the death of Arnie Schwartz:
“To all of our dear family and friends,
Arnie quietly slipped out of life Sunday night at home. He
was surrounded by a loving family, and left with a little hint
of a smile, showing his readiness to leave.
Gertrude
Leonard E
Frank
Walter V
Richard D
Chunmei T
Many thanks for the kind thoughts of you who already
know, and have responded to me.
For all of you who stopped by, bringing lunch, and spending
time with him over the last year or two, Arnie more than
appreciated your time with him, you made life worth living
a while longer.
Thank you for all the loving support through this difficult
time.
William J
Bud
Thomas A
Stan
Sydney
Henry A
Harold
Eleanor
Many Hugs,”
Carol
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Agnew
Bell
Bell
Besenbruch
Bilger
Booher
Branch
Burkette
Cavalero
Chafey
Vladislav
Donald A
Daniel
Wayne
Thora
Richard
Tohiro
Chuck
Vern Hinds
Dwight
“Buzz”
Disselhorst James
Foglesong
Carl
Glendinning George
Goeddel
Robert
Grafton
Ellie
Hoe
Mary
Collette
Houghton
Keith
Jennings
Richard J
Johnson
June
Koutz
Jim
Langer
Alice
Long
J Ernest
Lonsdale
John W
Mahler
Larry
Malakhof
McEachern
Mears
Medwid
Netzel
Nirschl
Ohkawa
Pienado
Pierce
Pound
Prickett
Rouse
Schnurer
Shevlin
Simon
Smith
Steyer
Tommey
Van Lint
Vavrina
Whittemore
Wilkins
Wohlwend
Wright
Directions: From east on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, cross highway 163 and turn right on Kearney Villa Road, proceed
south for ½ block to Butcher Shop, 5255 Kearny Villa Road, on your left. From south or north on highway 163, exit
Kearny Villa Road to the east, and proceed as above. From west of highway 163, on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, turn
left (south) on Kearny Villa Road and proceed as above
Return this completed form by by Tuesday, June 2, 2015, 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:
Mary Hartley
4219 Rueda Drive
San Diego CA 92124
mbhsdca@gmail.com
858-560-7569
Name:
Spouse’s Name or
Guest’s Name
GA Retirees Association, Inc.
4219 Rueda Drive
San Diego CA 92124
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