Ken Runnfeldt Attends Last Lunch of the Year

Ken Runnfeldt attended the last lunch at Arlington Park for this year along with Ray Gondek and Mike Van de Kerckhove. Ken started to work at the Harris Bank in Chicago shortly after graduating from St. Ambrose. He remained with the Harris Bank until 1978 when he went to the Glenview State Bank, where he still is working. Despite the troubles that the banking community has had over the past few years, Ken’s bank has remained very strong by being fiscally conservative. He has a short commute to work since he resides in the neighboring community of Northfield.

Ken’s wife is a teacher, and they have three sons. The oldest son is in the military stationed in Okinawa, Japan. The middle son resides in Asheville, NC, where he is an artist for the North Carolina Park District, and the youngest son, like his mother, is a teacher in the Chicago Public School District.

Doug Miller & Carl Kiefer at August Lunch

Doug Miller and Carl Keifer attended the lunch at Arlington Park Racetrack on August 26 along with Ray Gonek and Mike Van de Kerckhove. Doug had been a deputy sheriff with DuPage County, Illinois, for 28 years until he retired three years ago. Most of his work with them was in crime scene investigation. After retiring from the Sheriff’s Department, he worked for a private security firm until recently.

After graduating from St. Ambrose, Carl spent seven years in public accounting (McGladrey), eight years with Davenshire in Rock Island as an accountant; 20 years with deWco, an industrial distributor, in their accounting department; and 6 years with Swiss Valley Farms as their financial manager. He still works for Swiss Valley on various projects as they come up. His wife Mary (an Iowa State grad) and he celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this year. They have four children, all married, and eight grandchildren. Two of his sons got their bachelors degrees from St. Ambrose. The other son and his daughter got their degrees from Iowa State.

Last Lunch of the Year

How about meeting Ray Gondek and Mike Van de Kerckhove at Arlington Park Race Track (http://www.arlingtonpark.com/) and have lunch at the Million Room (847-385-7410). Modified dress code--slacks, collared shirts, jacket optional. Have a great afternoon at a beautiful facility along with conversations, lunch and entertainment with former classmates. This will be the last lunch for this year.

Date: Saturday, September 25

Time: Gates open 11:15 a.m.

Million Room (4th floor)

Seating begins at 12 noon

Post Time: 1:00 p.m.   

A table will be reserved under Ray Gondek's name on the main level of the Million Room near the finish line. RSVP Ray Gondek marco1761101@aol.com (telephone 847-398-2778) or Mike Van de Kerckhove m.vandekerckhove@comcast.net (telephone 847-948-5851).

How about Lunch at Arlington Park?

How about meeting Ray Gondek and Mike Van de Kerckhove at Arlington Park Race Track (http://www.arlingtonpark.com/) and have lunch at the Million Room (847-385-7410). Modified dress code--slacks, collared shirts, jacket optional. Have a great afternoon at a beautiful facility along with conversations, lunch and entertainment with former classmates.

Date: Thursday, August 26

Time: Gates open 11:15 a.m.

Million Room (4th floor) seating begins at 12 noon

Post Time: 1:00 p.m.

A table will be reserved under Ray Gondek's name on the main level of the Million Room near the finish line. RSVP Ray Gondek marco1761101@aol.com (telephone 847-398-2778) or Mike Van de Kerckhove m.vandekerckhove@comcast.net (telephone 847-948-5851).

Msgr. John Hyland Still Busily Working

In response to the question of whether anyone in the Class of 1964 was still working full time, it appears that John Hyland, who is now Msgr. John Hyland and is Vicar General of the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, is still very actively working.

He reported that he entered the seminary in his second year at St. Ambrose and went on to the major seminary after that. He was ordained on June 1, 1968. His first assignment was Ft. Madison as an assistant to St. Mary’s and in 1974 he became principal of Aquinas Jr. Sr. High School and Executive Secretary of the Ft. Madison Catholic School System. In addition to these responsibilities he was also Pastor of St. Mary’s, Augusta, 1982-1985 and St. Joseph Parish, Ft. Madison, 1985-1990. After serving in Ft. Madison for 22 years, he was named Pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish, Burlington. In 1993 he was appointed Vicar General for the Diocese of Davenport and he is currently in that position.

In an interview with The Catholic Messenger, John said this about his career as a priest, "I think the most rewarding moments are being able to celebrate the joys and sorrows in people’s lives. I especially remember the 22 years of school work and 15 years in parish work."

It is not all work for Msgr. Hyland, because he likes golf, bridge and site seeing.

Good Company for Last Lunch of Season

September 24, 2009, was out last lunch at Arlington Park, and Ray Gondek and Mike Van de Kerckhove were joined by Bill Quinn and Charlie Sheridan. As you may recall, Charlie is the retired Auditor for Clinton County, Iowa, and he drove in from Clinton. Bill came from Burlington, Wisconsin, to meet us at the Arlington Race Track. Though Bill still does some investment counseling for a few clients, he is now retired after a long career as a stock broker.

Though I do not think anyone won any money on the horses, we nevertheless had a very good time reliving events at St. Ambrose. Hopefully more of you will join us this summer when we again schedule some additional lunches.