BURLINGAME HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1955 - 50th REUNION

Jesse P. Undlin

After graduation from Burlingame High, I had mixed feelings about leaving the life I had thoroughly enjoyed and the anticipation of a new adventure as I headed to the University of Colorado on an athletic scholarship in track and field. At CU I was successful in the athletic portion of campus life, but got too caught up in all of the fraternity and social activities, and as a result I departed after three years to join the United States Air Force. (I did earn my degree later on.)

I was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant Navigator in May, 1960 and was assigned to Loring Air Force Base, Maine. While training for this assignment, I met and married Mary King Coons, who was teaching at Sunnybrae School in San Mateo, in January, 1961. In November, 1961 our first son Jesse Peter Jr. was born. The birth of Cecelia Anne coincided with my departure from Loring for pilot training in Arizona in December, 1963.

After pilot training, I was assigned to Travis Air Force Base where our son Paul Michael joined the family in December, 1965. In 1966 I received orders for Vietnam and spent one full year in Thailand flying FAC missions into Laos and the southern part of North Vietnam. I returned to Travis for a year and a half, and then volunteered to go to Scott Air Force Base, Illinois to get in on the ground floor of a new program flying commercial DC-9’s configured for the air evacuation of military patients. The seven years we spent in O’Fallon, Illinois provided our children with a good start in life. Our daughter Maureen Elizabeth was born there in July, 1974.

By this time, I had been promoted to Lt. Colonel, and was reassigned to Travis to work in the aircraft maintenance division. In 1980 I decided to retire from the USAF after twenty one years rather than accept an assignment that would have resulted in a major relocation. This decision allowed me to stay in California, and remain in our Vacaville home in which we’ve lived for twenty eight years.

Our children completed high school in Vacaville and graduated from schools in both the UC and CSU systems, with the exception of Maureen who is a CU Boulder graduate. They all have happy, well-adjusted and successful lives and have blessed us with seven terrific grandchildren- # 8 is due in August, complements of Maureen and Tucker who live in Denver.

Following my AF retirement, I worked briefly out of my home building custom furniture for selected clients. Unfortunately, this did not produce the desired and necessary financial results, so I joined Home Savings of America as a branch manager. I spent four years in Oakland, and eleven years in Novato. I retired from HSA in 1998.

I have always enjoyed many hobbies. I have extensive woodworking experience, and have basically remodeled our entire house. Our kitchen is currently in the throes of a complete renovation! I love photography, golf and everything associated with the electronic age. While working for Home Savings, I became familiar with computers and was forced to train myself and staff since no one else at my level had much experience or “know how”. I play golf quite regularly with a good group of men friends and as far as photography is concerned, I have discovered that expensive equipment doesn’t always produce the best results. It has taken me a number of years to learn this, and as a consequence have a drawer full of very dusty cameras, lens, etc. My little Cannon pocket camera seems to be the one I use the most these days- no more lugging all that heavy stuff around for me!

Beginning in 1998, Mary and I have done a good deal of traveling including walking trips in Tuscany and Costa Rica, two weeks in Paris and many road trips in the U.S. Best of all, we took the trip of a lifetime last summer. We spent a week in London, and a week driving through the southwest parts of Ireland and meeting several of Mary’s family members. It was a marvelous experience and one we’ll never forget. We then returned to London and departed on a two week Baltic cruise visiting all of its major seaports including a two day stop in St. Petersburg. We had a grand time and plan to take another cruise or two in the future- a kitchen remodel is pretty pricey as many of you know.

Mary retired from Travis Unified School District in 2000 after twenty two years of teaching elementary students. She keeps herself busy these days by singing with the St. Mary’s choir, and being involved in many of the parish’s activities. She devotes a good deal of time volunteering for the American Cancer Society since we are both cancer survivors. Mary battled breast cancer in 2000, and I had prostate cancer surgery the next year. We have both recovered fully and are most thankful for our good health!

We are looking forward to seeing our “old” friends again and getting caught up on everyone’s doings. Fortunately, we are able to glean a lot of current information through the BHS web site and appreciate all the work entailed in keeping that site up and running. By the time the reunion rolls around, our eighth grandchild will have been born and we’ll be reveling in our new kitchen- yippee!

Till then, we wish you all good health and happiness.

Jess