Intercollegiate Knights Profiles

Memories of Life's Journey…

1940s

Name: John Cook
Class Year: 1940
Passed away in 2002
Life's Journey: Provided by Mary Cook: John C. Cook graduated from BJC in 1940. We were dating that year and John was an enthusiastic member of the Intercollegiate Knights. Unfortunately John died in January 2002. He would have enjoyed the 2005 reunion.

Name: Alvard "Al" Kiler
Class Year: 1941
Currently lives: Boise, ID
Life's Journey: Employed with M.K. Company on Midway (12/7/41). WWII Vet, 1943-1946; B.S. from University of Idaho in 1949; M.Ed. from Idaho State University in 1967; Employed as a biologist with Idaho Fish & Game Dept. 1949-1953; Worked for Idaho State Department of Employment 1953-1981; also employed as a counselor. Retired in 1981 and have been enjoying life ever since. Received Wildlife Conservation Award, 1963 — Appreciation and Recognition of Service to the BSU Alumni Association, Certificate of Meritorious Service to the State of Idaho 1953-1981. Served as president of BSU Alumni Association 1970-1971; Alumnus of the Year in 1980. Hobbies: reading, hunting, fishing, and "Love those Broncos!" Wife: Jo, five children, 9 grand children, 2 great grand children.

Name: Wade Fleetwood
Class Year: 1943
Currently lives: Falls Church, VA
Life's Journey: Helped erect the flagpole at BJC in 1942-43. Hobby: Novelist.

Name: Glen Seibel
Initiation Year: 1947
Currently lives: Cupertino, CA
Life's Journey: Retired from 27 years teaching in Palo Alto, CA. Has two sons.

1950s

Name: Cameron Wiley
Class Year: 1952
Currently lives: Portland, OR
Life's Journey: Oregon Health Sciences University — M.D.; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor — Radiology Residency; practiced radiology in Salem, Oregon, until 1998. Retired to Portland, Oregon. Hobbies: sea kayaking, walking, art collecting, reading, listening to classical music, and grandfathering. Wife: Peggy, three children.

1960s

Name: John Crouch
Class Year: 1960
Currently lives: Eagle, ID
Life's Journey: Graduated BJC in 1960. Entered U.S. Navy pilot training 1961 through 1966. Went to work for American Airlines 1966 to February 1999 for a total of 33 years. Flew B707, DC-10, B747, B727, B756, B767. Finished career as B767 International captain/instructor pilot and FFA designated Examiner with 26,000 flight hours. While working for American Airlines I finished my BA at Cal State Fullerton 1971. Still chasing women, however no longer know what to do with one once I catch her.

Name: Tom Morgan
Class Year: 1960
Currently lives: Boise, ID
Life's Journey: Was an active IK member for two years; 'Chancellor of the Executives' or something like that; skied on the BJC ski team. Spent 12 years in the medical supply field in Denver, Sacramento, Boise, Houston. Was vice president of InterMedia, Houston, TX. Formed own company, General Food Service Supply in 70s. Merged with Sysco in 1987. Retired in 2000. Former president/CEO of Sysco Food Services of Idaho. Was Outstanding Marketing Student at University of Colorado. Graduated from CU in 1963 with honors, second highest in School of Business. Hobbies: skiing, biking, golf, river rafting/kayaking. Wife: Annie, two children.

Name: Gary D'Orazio
Initiation Year: 1962
Currently lives: Eagle, ID
Life's Journey: Great times as an IK! Boathouse function/Toilet Bowl Football/Paging, etc. Spent 27 years with Albertsons Food as manager and district manager. Traveled in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon; managed/owned a supermarket in Elko, Nevada, also had a gourmet Italian Restaurant, a catering company, and had food at the local college cafeteria. Is a realtor for Coldwell Banker. Hobbies: Lions Club, golf, McCall, reading singing. Wife: Linda, six children.

Name: David Knighton
Class Year: started 1964; graduated in 1979
Currently lives: Kennewick, WA
Life's Journey: Was in IK's 1964-1968. Participated in most all activities we did. I moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1973, got married, moved back to Boise, got my degree, had two children, got a job with Morrison Knudsen, and have been moving around the country ever since. We are currently in Kennewick, WA, but will be moving soon—hopefully to a new project, but if unemployment is in the picture we will be returning to Boise. I do have season tickets to Bronco football! Hobbies: fishing, golf, and collecting petrified wood and other miscellaneous things. Wife: Paula, two daughters.

Name: Doug Dingeldein
Class Year: 1964-1969
Currently lives: Boise, ID
Life's Journey: Was chancellor. Currently employed with First Horizon Home Loans as a lender. Wife: Eileen, two sons.

Name: Douglas Haight
Class Year: 1965
Currently lives: Boise, ID
Life's Journey: Memories include all the nice people I met and friends they have become, also the common bond of being an IK at BJC from 1963 to 1965. Is a stockbroker for Smith Barney Inc. Hobbies: family, friends, life itself, work. Wife: Claudia, three children, six grandchildren.

1970s

Name: Pat Large
Class Year: 1972
Currently lives: Meridian, ID
Life's Journey: Started my business (Quality Tile Roofing, Inc.) in 1973 and haven't found a way out yet. Currently own and operate six companies in the Boise area. Was past president for Western States Roofing Contractors Association, Director of National Roofing Contractors Association. Hobbies; hunting, fishing, boating. Wife: Evelyn.

Name: Rich Ostrogorsky
Class Year: 1972
Currently lives: Boise, ID
Life's Journey: The following submitted by Rich for the 2005 reunion:

A Letter from the Frontier: A Brief History of the Immigration of Man and Grape to Idaho

Hello, My name is Richard Ostrogorsky. I was born in post war Germany of Lithuanian parents and a product of "Displaced Persons" camp in Marktredwitz. Doing the math, I am probably a "Victory in Europe" surprise.

The trek begins with my single mother and me immigrating to Dundas, Canada, where she was indentured to cook and clean for a parliamentarian as payment for her sponsorship. To this melange add a Yugoslavian stepfather and his Ukrainian parents (who were refugees of the Bolshevik revolution). Then add a Canadian brother and finally an American sister. Each person born of a different country; a true "melting pot".

With their marriage the family was cleared into the USA and made a rendezvous with Bill's parents in Boise, Idaho. Often our holy days and celebrations included the recipes from the Old World. Zakuski, Cutletti, Kapusta, Pirogi, Kulichs, Kuchens, Pashkas, and the ubiquitous ice cold vodka. These foods were very unique to my curious provincial classmates. "Steak and spuds or borscht. Go figure."

In 1969, I married Sandy who was fresh off a dairy farm in Albuquerque, NM. She came armed with memories of grandma making custards, Spanish creams, home delivery of milk, butter, and eggs and the German POWS working in the fields and building the swimming pond. Somehow our marriage survived my initial winemaking attempt in our ultra-small basement apartment. "Les pellicules et les pepins et le levure mort et les mouches de fruit toutes le monde." Obviously winemaking was in my destiny after those days of skins, seeds, yeast, and fruit flies.

With the college department changed to 1A and the Draft Board at my heels, I pursued a commission in the Idaho Air National Guard and became a USAF pilot and served 28 years. The Air Force allowed me to slip the surely bonds of earth in the F102 Delta Dagger, the RF4C Phantom and the F4G "Wild Weasel." It was quite ironic to be on "5 minute alert" against the very forces that occupied my mother's homeland.

USAF deployments included Norway, Canada, Iceland, England, Germany, Azores, Spain, Saudi Arabia, and the Southern No Fly Zone of Iraq. The Ying Yang of these deployments was the constant worry of leaving an active business and family, but the upside (when off duty of course) was the liberty to scour the countryside in search of local cuisine and culture. Often the local staff at an airbase would set up an off-the-beaten trail tour, transportation, recommendations and maybe even a guide. With a hearty "Hi Ho" we would gallop off in search of slow food.

Ying turns to Yang and the pendulum swung toward military downsizing, less flying time and less pay. Fortuitously in 1971 my previous employer, a wingman and I started a modern design modular furniture business, the Shelf Shop. "Unfortunately", Italian plastics, Scandinavian furniture and track lighting were a stretch for this conservative frontier town. Mercifully, the first oil crisis laid this enterprise to rest with its inflationary prices and high shipping costs.

However having been bitten by the rabid entrepreneurialism bug, in 1978, with two other wingmen, the first of the two Plush Pippin Pie Restaurants in Boise and were piloted for 21 years. These family style restaurants had an in-store bakery featuring "scratch" pies just like Grandma used to make. (I assure you not my Ukrainian grandma.) Several hundred pies were produced daily and several thousand pies were produced just to dress the local Thanksgiving and Christmas tables.

INDIAN CREEK WINERY

Similarly into this land exclusively known for "Famous Potatoes" others immigrated. My partners and native Idahoans, Bill and Mike Stowe, hail from Twin Falls, Idaho. Genealogically, they have a family fermentation lineage that leads back to good old Guinness Beer in Ireland and also are cousins to that famous "hang 'em-from-that-tree" Judge Thomas "Moonface" Neville. I will also testify to the fact that the whole family tree has its roots in the soil near the Blarney Stone.

Bill, the winemaker, started out as a USAF Personnel Officer. During his tour at Ramstein AB, Germany, he would volunteer his services to the local vineyards near France. An apprenticeship program-in-progress was refined by the classic hands-on School of Hard Knocks.

Mike, a coach (His first job was at Bishop Kelly) and teacher in Davis, California, audited the enological courses at UC Davis and scoured Napa Valley for used equipment. Mike was afforded the rare opportunity to meet and study with some of Napa's current winemakers, viticulturists and winery construction managers. In the bygone days, the mechanical harvesters were unable to pick the grapes at the end posts of the row. These resourceful UC Davis students were able to handpick (for free) some of the grandest grapes of Napa Valley for their class projects. They produced a very narrowly distributed, but highly renowned wine named Chateau Nonchalant and a lesser renowned Road Kill Route 66.

After the Viet Nam War from Northern Thailand, Mui, Bill's Chinese wife, gravitated to this state. Mui is the "chef de Thai cuisine." In beef and potato country this exotic cuisine was largely unknown; however, working for food at the winery was a good thing. My first encounter with Kfir Lime Leaf, Thai basil, fish sauce and the wonderfully spicy little red pepper was a true culinary epiphany! Now she is preoccupied with golfing, winery duties, and testing recruits at the Military Evaluation and Processing Center (MEPS). I have just got to lure her back to the kitchen by confiscating her golf clubs and holding them ransom.

A noticeable common thread amongst all these entrepreneurs was the need to supplant their creations with another income until the enterprise could stand alone; often wobbly but standing until it could ambulate. This seems to be the way for most of us unless you inherit or IPO your way to success.

1987 KUNA IDAHO

In 1982, Bill planted Pinot Noir; in 1984, Chardonnay and Riesling. These grapes also emigrated from Davis, California. In 1987, the stage was set with a worldwide grape glut and grape prices too low to pick or sell. So Bill decided to DIY by contracting fermentation tank space by lo and behold, no room at the inn—anywhere.

Hmmm! Decision time either let the crop rot or start a winery. After one phone call, a union with two brothers was inked and a winery was in the works. Bill had the basic design a la tet and the three not-so-wise men were off!

Thirty days from harvest, a cattle "loafing shed" was de-manured, tanks, barrels, refrigeration, a crusher and a press were installed just as the grapes were being harvested. Thanks to obsessive-compulsive behavior and sleep deprivation, the harvest and most of the fermentation went very well. Right out of the chute (a cowboy expression – not a pilot one) a litany of medals for a Semillon, then a Riesling, and then in 1988 the Pinot Noir apexed as the "Best Red Wine" out of 889 red wines at the San Diego National Wine Competition and Indian Creek was a dot on the wine spectrum or if you like, a drop in the barrique.

Yin Yang was always around to keep the balance. The 1987 Chardonnay had a strong smoky fusel oil taste which only a cheap bourbon drinker could fancy. So down the hatch of the septic tank it went. The years 1989 and 1991 were unkind with the record freezing temperatures killing the vines. Thank God, the roots survived, but two harvests were lost. At considerable financial stress to our barely crawling enterprise, grapes were purchased in Washington and Oregon. Bill produced a wonderful Lemberger with majestic raspberry overtones and attempted a late harvest Chenin Blanc, but fermentation would not arrest and Voila! 14.9999% alcohol (state cutoff for wine is 15%). This Chenin Blanc was fruity, soft and seductive; a virtual aphrodisiac; code named LPHR (ask me in person).

Some vineyards were ripped out and others planted. In time the seasonal labors and routines became apparent and even a "terroir" became evident. The winery now sports Cabernet Sauvignon, Temprenillo, Syrah and Merlot. Check us out at www.indiancreekwinery.com

IDAHO WINE INDUSTRY

Grape growing dates back to statehood in the mid 1860s with the early French and German immigrants. Prohibition took its toll on all the early wineries. Grapes in Idaho were just a figment of someone's imagination until 1970. The reintroduction of wine was quite shaky. Ste. Chapelle, the state's largest winery, led the way with eventually a rather infamous winemaker. Other winery attempts were thwarted with unsavory bank fraud schemes. But, finally a core of focused "grape farmers" rooted into the "Sunny Slopes" of the Treasure Valley.

The state was predominately Mormon and the Liquor Dispensary reigned over wines and spirits. Archaic laws, bureaucracy and a persistent neo-prohibitionism were always in the way. The constant uphill battle with the legislature finally has produced viable wineries, microbreweries and even distilleries. Actually this is the same tortuous, dusty trail our neighboring states of California, Oregon and Washington have followed. Now Idaho wines are looking for markets, recognition and their place in the sun. For the in depth reader, more about the Idaho wineries can be found on www.idahowine.org Cial! Pardner!

THE RIGHTS OF PASSAGE: RICH OSTROGORSKY

  • BORAH HIGH SCHOOL 1964: Graduated with honors from Borah High School. Pretty straight laced kid (socially repressed actually) of 1st generation immigrants from Europe.
  • BOISE JUNIOR COLLEGE 1965: As a freshman, I lived at home and simply studied. 0745 every morning. 21 credits in engineering and science with five labs a week. Made the Dean's List with honors. Watched all my friends have FUN and go to IK parties.
  • BOISE COLLEGE (BC) 1966: Had some parental issues, rebelled and rented an apartment. Needed the space, independence and FUN. Unfortunately my neighbor started a kitchen fire and burned all my belongings. Bought a five-pack of T-shirts and a couple of pairs of Levis and that was what I started another apartment with. Pledged Intercollegiate Knights. They would close a school down if the soccer moms heard about the "hazing" that went on. No wonder Dean Wilkerson, Dean of Men, was so frustrated with us. (2nd place in the Homecoming "Mister Beard" contest—lost to Dick Hamm; Hell night at the Simunich Farm; Oyster swallowing, crab crawl, and other disgusting unmentionables, rotten egg volleys while storming Table Rock, Hell Week with sword and shield battles in the Boise River, Having to wear my slide rule (this is a manual handheld computer, kind of like a Jedi sword) proudly from my belt since I was a science nerd, not to mention the burlap underwear—not quite Fruit of the Loom.) I made it. "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite" in French it means found "Freedom, equal rights to alcohol and chase girls." Does not translate exactly. Ergo, made the Dean's List (probationary) with a 1.2 GPA which kind of says it all.
  • BOISE STATE COLLEGE (BSC) 1967: Studied like a madman to get grades back up so I did not lose my College Draft Deferment. Tons of calculus, differential equations, analytical chemistry, organic chemistry, physics… on and on. No wonder I spent so much time at the CUB talking to Mario. Railroaded into becoming Duke; Duchess was Susie (Johnson) Dethman. Moved into a duplex with Dave Gardner and Vontress Cockrum. Thank God that we had Pete, Petra, and Carmen Cengotita as our neighbors. She was a very tolerant neighbor but her Basque temper would flare and she would break up the parties with a broom when she had enough.
  • BOISE STATE COLLEGE 1968: Attended the National Conference in Edinburg, Texas, with Bob Hough, Dave Gardner, and Dennis Ward. Drove Dave's 1967 Chevrolet all the way; Dennis missed a turn during the night and we were several 100s of miles off course when we swapped drivers. Thanks to Jack Enterkine's persistence, I enlisted in IDANG, August 1968, just after the "Red Eye Inspection" at the Army Induction Center. Close call!
  • BOISE STATE COLLEGE 1969: Married Sandy Barte, the 196 Duchess, on April 1969. After five security investigation failures due to family behind the Iron Curtain, I was finally commissioned in IDANG, November 1969 as a "Butter Bar" or 2nd lieutenant.
  • REESE AFB, LUBBOCK TX 1970: Started undergraduate pilot training in a hot and dry, dry Baptist County. Tornados, cockroaches, dust storms, and a brand new bride and a four month old daughter. A hard start for a Top Gun wanabee.
  • ELLINGTON AFB, HOUSTON TX 1971: Started CCTS (Combat Crew Training Squadron) in the same squadron with GW Bush. One day, he was supposed to be a target for my F102; however, GW burned up an engine during start and couldn't get airborne. Actually, he was a little high most of those years before he became "reborn". I can attest for his attendance to one drill period.
  • BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY: While flying part-time at the Idaho Air Guard, re-enrolled at BSU. Graduated with a BS in mathematics and a minor in chemistry. Went into IK-Aversion Therapy until now.

Name: Michael Stoy
Class Year: 1973
Currently lives: Boise, ID
Life's Journey: Honorable Court Jester in 1965. Self-employed as an attorney. Wife: Susan, two children.

Name: James Elbrader
Class Year: 1975 Tiger Chapter
Currently lives: Pocatello, ID
Life's Journey: IK service: Chairman, Duke, Scribe, Royal King. Since graduating from Idaho State University in 1975, I have had the following positions: admissions counselor, ISU for 3 years; insurance underwriter for Farmer's Insurance for five moths; human resources representative and employment recruiter for A.M.I. for 4 1/2 years; voc rehab counselor for the State of Idaho for two years; self reliance specialist for the State of Idaho for the last 15 years. Hobbies: movies and golf.

Name: Jon Adamson
Class Year: 1976 BBA; 1981 MBA
Currently lives: Boise, ID and Aurora, CO
Life's Journey: Involvement on campus included: Campus Bulletin Board, tree planting Along Broadway, painting Bon Table Rock, parking at games; Miss BSU pageant, various club officer positions. After graduation was mortgage loan officer at First Security Bank for five years. When I received MBA started my own real estate company in 1981. Currently have offices in Boise and Denver plus a syndicated radio & TV show called "Property Line Today." Best memories are the road trips to other chapters and to the World's Fair in 1976 in Spokane. Has received numerous professional and civic honors; member of Rotary where I am a Paul Harris & Bob Gibb Fellow. Hobbies: travel, fine dining, public speaking, art collecting, and playing the piano. Wife: Linda, two children.

Name: Ron Wilper
Class Year: 1977
Currently lives: Boise, ID
Life's Journey: After I graduated from BSU I owned a business for about eight years and then returned to school to pursue a law degree. That took me to the UofI in Moscow (don't worry, I'm still a Bronco.) I practiced law for several years then became a prosecutor. Four years later Governor Batt appointed me District Judge. I was re-elected in 2002. Was president of the Idaho State Bar in 1996. Hobbies: BSU Football. Wife: Rita, two sons.

Questions? Contact Sr. Associate Alumni Director Jennifer Wheeler at
jenniferwheeler@boisestate.edu or 208-426-1911.