Mark Mendenhall ~ Class of 1970

Mark Mendenhall ~ Class of 1970

Departed ~ 11/30/21

As posted by Sandy Mendenhall Davis Class of 1972

My dearest brother, Mark Mendenhall, passed away tonight. My heart is aching. He was kind to everyone and he believed in being inclusive. Many ISBers remember him from ISB. He was in the class of 1970.

Mark Allen Mendenhall, age 69, of Santa Clara, California passed away on Tuesday, November 30, 2021. Mark was born May 7, 1952.

A visitation for Mark will be held Wednesday, December 29, 2021 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Oak Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park, 300 Curtner Ave, San Jose, CA 95125. A visitation will occur Thursday, December 30, 2021 from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM, 300 Curtner Ave, San Jose, CA 95125. A funeral service will occur Thursday, December 30, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, 300 Curtner Ave., San Jose, CA 95125. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.oakhillfuneral.com for the MENDENHALL family.

Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories and tributes to isbeings at gmail dot com

Donna Lou Rochlen Obdyke ~ Class of 1970

Donna Lou Rochlen ~ Class of 1970

Departed ~ 4/21/2021

Helen Stokes Fabricant I am in shock. I have her yearbook ‘69 yearbook (someone has mine) and just a few days ago, I messaged her that I would be glad to send it to her. Oh! This is terrible and sad. If her family wants it, I will be glad to send it. I don’t have any contact information now.  My empathy is with her family. How hard! What a loss.

Obituary for Donna Lou Obdyke

Donna Lou Obdyke, of California, was born on February 3rd 1952 in California, and passed away on April 23rd 2021 in California. She is survived by her loving family.

 

Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories and tributes to isbeings at gmail dot com

William Wayne Bill “Billy” Ferguson Jr.~ Class of 1970

Bill Ferguson ~ Class of 1970

Departed ~ 2/20/21

2/25/21

Bill’s sister Linda D. Ferguson –  Morgan ’71 wrote:

There will be no service for William, so this is what I would have read.

My Tribute to my brother Billy. He was my Irish Twin, meaning we were not a year apart in age.

He was not my rock…he was my BOULDER!

He taught me how to make a snowman, he taught me to ride a bike, he walked with me to school.

He ate tons of ice cream with me when I had my tonsils removed.

He taught me how to climb trees which I never stopped doing until I no longer could.

He protected me as much as he could from childhood abuse, he broke up many fights I had with girls and guys as a kid.

He literally rescued me many times…once when I was 13 and left by the side of a country road far from home…once in Pattya when I had run away and took me back to Bangkok.

He took over my babysitting job when I had to be rushed to the hospital for appendix removal.

When he went into the Army and told me he was getting ready to leave for Korea, I drove from VA. to New Jersey late at night to say good-bye. Not knowing a thing about the New Jersey turnpike and ran the toll booth cause I didn’t have any tokens with bells and alarms going off! He laughed! I sent him underground comic books and home made cookies and bagels. He said the bagels made excellent door stops! I didn’t know it took months to get there.

Although we lived a lot of our adult lives in different states, we were always in touch.

When I broke my back he flew across the states from AZ. to VA. to the hospital. He got all kinds of paperwork filed for me concerning future Rehabs and Social Security. I was in a bed that had to be rotated every two hours from my back to my stomach. He laid down on the floor and crawled under to look up to me…I burst out laughing then crying hysterically with nose dripping and tears falling like rain…he never moved.

Many years later, I moved to Tucson, where he had lived for decades. This was the first time we lived in the same place. We went to dinners, dollar movies, spent hours at museums, long drives in the desert…and always went out together for our birthday dinner and always while we were both the same age for five days. I volunteered in his elementary classes as an aid quite a few times..I always got the grunt work, cutting things up. I got to see his daughter and son grow up until I moved to Belize. He thought I was nuts to move by myself and gave some good arguments, but hugged me after our last dinner and I remember his son asking him why we were crying. I have lived in Belize for 21 years now. I spent twelve years in Tucson with him.

He flew down to Belize for my wedding to walk me down the aisle, even though he almost had heat stroke and endured an anxiety attack while snorkeling! Said he wouldn’t come back…haha!

He never judged me or my bad decisions..even though he was frustrated many times.

He always let my independent spirit soar.

He wasn’t really social, yet friendly, introverted. Worked hard, went down some rough roads, fought some demons which I could never rescue him from, no matter how hard I tried.

He fought hard after being shot and stayed positive.

He was kind, compassionate, caring and quite sensitive.

I will always love you and miss you Billy…until we meet again for a long awaited hug.

2/20/21

Bill’s sister Linda Ferguson ’71 wrote:

For those that knew my brother William Ferguson ’70… he suddenly passed today…not quite sure of details yet, heart attack or stroke. This is 8 years after he was shot in the head and was doing great…just talked to him 2 weeks ago……

 

 

 

Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories and tributes to isbeings at gmail dot com

Barbara Susanne “Barb” Arnzen – Keebler ~ Class of 1970

Barb Arnzen ~ Class of 1970

Departed ~ 6/19/2020

Obituary:

Barbara Susanne Keebler, age 67, of Delray Beach, FL, passed away on Friday, June 19, 2020.

She was preceded in death by her father, Roy D. Collier, and stepfather, Chester Arnzen, and her sister, Patricia Anne Brookshire.

She is survived by her husband of 22 years, Stephen K. Keebler; stepson Jonathan, New York, NY; mother Joan Guske Arnzen, Marietta, GA; sisters and brothers-in-law, Mary and Jeff Reinlie, Ft. Walton Beach, FL and Betty and Mike Caddell, Marietta, GA; brothers, Jim Arnzen, Atlanta GA and John Arnzen, Atlanta, GA; several nieces, nephews, and cousins, and her pet goose Oscar.

Barbara was born August 5, 1952 in Detroit, MI. She attended the International School of Bangkok, Thailand during the Vietnam War era, and rarely missed an ISB biennial reunion throughout her lifetime. She rode horses competitively, collecting many trophies in her early twenties, and scuba dived. She worked in a variety of accounting jobs in Seattle, WA for a shipping company (Container-Care International), a restaurant chain (Eastside Mario’s), and at a bookstore where she developed her lifelong love of reading. Barbara traveled the world, and was an avid writer, photographer, and scrap-booker.

She left us too soon and will be dearly missed by her many friends.

Published in Sun-Sentinel on Jul. 1, 2020.

 

 

Steve Keebler wrote:

I regret to inform you of our beloved Barb’s peaceful passing by my side yesterday after 4 days on life support at Delray Medical Center. She fell into a coma on Monday, June 15 at home due to some sort of undetected internal bacterial infection which she could not fight off after enduring 10 of 12 scheduled chemo sessions. Her passing has broken many hearts, especially mine. Barb never missed an ISB reunion over the 20+ years that we’ve been together.

Her Loving Husband,

-steve

Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories and tributes to isbeings at gmail.com

Felipe “Philip” Aromin ~ Class of 1970

Philip Aromin ~ Class of 1970

Arrived ~ April 29, 1952

Departed ~ 12/23/2019

Divina Aromin Diokno wrote:

Felipe B. Aromin is the eldest son of Engr. Basilio B.. Aromin and Elsie Ballesteros Aromin. The family lived in Bangkok from 1964 to 1981, the father worked for the United Nations in the Economic Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific. All the children went to ISB.

Felipe attended University of the Philippines in Baguio City, until joining the Ananda Marga in Bangkok and India, where he was a member for 10 years. He left the group, saying it was getting too political, and went back to the Philippines. Felipe led a colorful and peaceful life, choosing to live in the province, near the beach, away from what he called “society.” We cherish his sense of humor, love for all sentient beings, and carefree attitude. Om Shanti, as he says. He is survived by his two daughters, Manna Preciosa and Maja Grace, and his sisters Arlene, Patricia, Caroline, Divina, and brother, Basilio (Raja). Their sister, Jocelyn (Class of 71) passed on in 1995.

THANK YOU, David for all that you do for ISBeings.

My brother, Felipe “Philip” Aromin passed away this morning. Gone so suddenly and so soon. He will be missed. Philip was ISB class ‘70.

Celebrating the life of Felipe Ballesteros Aromin (April 29, 1952 to December 23, 2019). Join us to share stories and remember a life lived to the fullest.

Interment: Pryce Gardens – Pagadian
Location: Barangay Poloyagan, Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur
When: December 31, 2019
Time: 3:00 PM

John Harold Hill ~ Class of 1969

Harold Hill ~ Class of 1969

Departed ~ 1988 ~ Car Accident

I remember that at the time Harold was taking karate lessons. He was very proud to demonstrate his new moves for me every week. He liked to make fun of his karate teacher. One time after a lesson, he pointed at his right hand (the one he used for karate chops), and said to me in a Chinese accent, “Is lock (rock).” Then he pointed to the other hand and said, “Is pirrow (pillow).” I thought it was hilarious, so he’d say it again every so often just to see me laugh. I also remember he had been on a winning crew team before he came to ISB. We both moved from Bangkok back to Virginia , so we met again in late 1968. I went off to California in early 1970, so that was the last time I saw him, but I was certain that he was going to be very successful.

Please let me know if you learn anything more about what happened to him.

Diana Sheeks Schneider

Class of ‘70

Please send pictures (old and new), anecdotes, articles, stories and tributes to isbeings at gmail.com

John Cory Ahrens ~ Class of 1970

John Ahrens ~ Class of 1970

Departed ~ 8/17/2019

Lovingly written by John’s sister Beth Ahrens Kley, Class of 1971.

The definition of “surreal” is “unreal, unearthly, dreamlike”. John Cory Ahrens passed away on Saturday 8/17, age 67, after a brave fight with a deadly form of brain cancer. A man who only half a year ago on March 1 celebrated mom’s 91st birthday with the family at the Crow’s Nest restaurant with a view of the ocean, is now no longer with us. How can a healthy person now be gone, where one can only see him, touch him now, in the flatness of a photograph, no longer hear his sardonic comments or hike with him through the forests of the Sierras? Who visited mom regularly, laying on her couch with his feet hanging over the side, playing Sinatra on his phone for her which made mom so happy?

He never wavered in the battle, never indulged in self-pity or asked why me. He accepted the fate with heroism, as did the family who helped him get through this ordeal in the comfort of his home. It was a drastically strong downward trajectory, having experienced loss of some mobility and some speech even before surgery, radiation and one round of chemo. His situation seriously degenerated with a bout of seizures. Soon after his wife set up the family home to bring him to a place of comfort. There he had 24 hour care, the decision to stop chemo was made and soon thereafter hospice was brought in.

Michael Andrew Jepsen ~ Class of 1970

Michael Bongo Jepsen ~  1970

Departed ~ July 23, 2018

 

 

Michael Andrew Jepsen, age 66, passed away at his home in Boise, Idaho, on 23 July 2018. He was born 6 July 1952 in Beirut, Lebanon, the youngest of six children of Darwin Howard Jepsen and Lola Erma Christensen.

Mike loved to be seated at his drum set, with a pair of drumsticks in his hands – that’s when he came alive. In casual conversation, he would often pick up on something a person said and immediately relate it to a song. He had a love affair with music throughout his life, playing with various groups, working a few years with Bonneville Productions as a recording engineer, and general partner with Light Productions in Salt Lake City.

In the years after his graduation from the International School of Bangkok in Thailand, he attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah; and, Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland. His passport served him well as he lived in Lebanon, Ethiopia, Panama, and Thailand.

He married Jan Bowman in 1976, and they later divorced. He then married Anita Lindberg, and stepped in to be a father figure to the Fierro children Emily, Chris, Jesse, and John. Emily said of him, “Mike came into our family’s life right when we needed him the most. Not only was he an incredible step-dad, but he was also a very proud father, grandfather, talented musician, deep thinker and a truly genuine friend. His memory will be sustained by so many of his friends and family who loved him deeply.”

He and Anita produced the love of his life, daughter Alexandra Michel Jepsen, and he experienced the thrill of watching her grow, marry Josh Ellerman, and have children of their own, Winnie and Wolfie. After he and Anita divorced, he moved to Maryland where he reconnected with and married a life-long friend and fellow musician Terry Rogers. He found joy in helping with her boys Jay and Alex, and enjoyed many years working with them in the Boy Scouts of America. He and Terry loved getting together with old friends at the ISB (International School Bangkok) reunions.

In 2010 he moved to Boise, where he lived with his mother and assisted in her care until she passed away. He will be missed by his siblings: Terry Nelson (Zane), Kerry Butler (David), Darwin Lee Jepsen (Sally), Keith Jepsen (Janet), Karl Jepsen (Ann). He is survived by his daughter Alex and spouse Josh Ellerman and their children, step-children, and friends he made over the years.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Tara Brumpton of Boise Family Medicine; she truly cared about him as she helped him deal with various health challenges.

A family graveside service will be held 4 August 2018 in Wendell, Idaho, where he will be buried close to his parents and extended family members.