In Memory of Nancy Brubaker Rez, BHS 47

Nancy Brubaker Rez, the founder of Wellness Works and wife of former city manager Jim Rez, died Dec. 16 of a heart attack at her Glendale home. She was 78. In recent years, the center at 540 W. Broadway has expanded its services to help patients with various types of illness or disease. The center was known as Alive and Well, which provided holistic health education, before it evolved into Wellness Works.

Nancy Rez and Mary Lu Coughlin founded Wellness Works, a nonprofit community health center, in 1986 to provide holistic treatments such as acupressure, chiropractic care and massage to AIDS and HIV patients.

In recent years, the center at 540 W. Broadway has expanded its services to help patients with various types of illness or disease.The center was known as Alive and Well, which provided holistic health education, before it evolved into Wellness Works.

Nancy Rez and Coughlin, who met in 1984 at hospice volunteer training program, were inspired by the book “The Possible Human” and envisioned a community health center that would relieve ailments in a comfortable setting. Nancy Rez, a graduate of Occidental College, received registered nursing training at Pasadena City College and graduated from Mt. St. Mary’s College, where she received a bachelor’s in nursing. She worked at Glendale Adventist Medical Center as an intensive care nurse and infection control nurse. As a hospital nurse, Nancy Rez often saw AIDS and HIV patients being treated differently than other patients, the center’s director, Athena Carrillo, said.“It’s something that broke her heart,” she said. She wanted AIDS and HIV patients to have common space where they would be welcomed and would not feel ostracized. “It was not only a place where they got treated, but it was a place where they got love,” Carrillo said. She retired five years ago as the center’s manager, but continued to volunteer.

Nancy Rez was born in 1930 in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and moved to Burbank as a young girl. She graduated from Burbank High School in 1947, and later enrolled at Occidental College, where she met her husband. The two often took trips and traveled around the country. “We did a lot of things together,” Jim Rez said. She was his best friend, he said.

Nancy Rez is survived by her husband, Jim Rez; her son, David Rez and his wife, Jenny, of Oakland; her daughter Peggy Beth Good and her husband, David, of Edina, Minn.; her four grandchildren, Alex and Isabella Rez, and Shannon and Kelly Good; and her dog, River.

Donations can be made to Wellness Works or a favorite charity in her memory.

Cody Cardenaz - All-CIF Player

Making the first team on offense in the Southeast Division for Burbank was junior receiver Cody Cardenaz. Along with catching 65 passes for 1,001 yards (15.4 yards a catch) and eight touchdowns, he also had a 98-yard touchdown catch to set a school record. In addition, he paced the team in scoring with 48 points.Burbank (6-6) placed fourth in the Pacific League and pulled off a major upset in the first round of the Southeast playoffs, defeating No. 2 Santa Fe, 20-14. It was the Bulldogs first CIF win in 81 years.The Bulldogs fell in the second round to West Covina, 49-28.The Bulldogs failed to make the postseason in 2007. “It’s nice for our program to get an All-CIF player,” Burbank Coach Ted Amorosi said.

WET DISH TOWEL FIGHT!

Here is another of my high school foods class memories. The dish towels that were made in the 60's were much larger and thinner than now days. At home I had a lot of pratice drying dishes with my brother that would end up in wet dish towel fights, so I had a lot of pratice to where I got pretty good at it and could made the towel snap and pop and sting if I wanted to.

Well one day in foods class, I had been drying the dishes and my dish towel was all wet and just right to twist and flip it and make it snap and pop. Mrs. Braun was talking to another teacher outside by the door, so I said to all the other girls to stand back and I would show them how to handle a wet dish towel. I started flipping it and it made loud snap and pop sounds and every one was enjoying the show when all of a sudden they had this worried look on their faces and were not looking at me. I knew then that I was busted as my back was to the door and Mrs. Braun and come back in and saw what was happening. As I turned around there she stood with a wet dish towel in her hand and said " Linda, What is going on here." Next thing I know she is laughing and challenges me to a wet dish towel fight. I told her I do not think she wants to mess with me in a wet dish towel fight and told her to stand back and I will show you why.

She stood back and again I flipped that old dish so that it snapped and pop really loud. Right away Mrs. Braun decided I was right and she just told all of us to go back to work and no more horse playing around. So we all went back to work and I never got in trouble for it.

BHS Sinks Crescenta Valley

Burbank High's Arpi Khanpapyan takes a shot during a
Pacific League match against Crescenta Valley
(Alex Collins/ The Leader)

GIRLS’ WATER POLO: Burbank able to sink Crescenta Valley in sudden death overtime to capture league match, 10-9.
By Charles Rich
Published: January 16, 2009 Burbank Leader

BURBANK HIGH — Entering the season, many had predicted that the Crescenta Valley and Burbank high girls’ water polo teams would battle for supremacy in the Pacific League.Crescenta Valley entered the season having ruled the league for the past four seasons. Burbank came in looking to chip away at the Falcons’ armor. And Burbank did just that. Amberlynn Ullo scored the match-winning goal three minutes into sudden death overtime to give Burbank a 10-9 home victory against Crescenta Valley on Wednesday afternoon.

Ullo, a senior driver, also sent the dramatic match into sudden death after scoring with one second left in the second of two three-minute overtime sessions. Ullo needed to make an impact if the Bulldogs (10-4, 3-0 in league) planned to supplant the Falcons (8-5, 3-1) atop league.“We knew that we had to step it up at the end,” said Ullo, who finished with three goals. “On the winning shot, I didn’t think it went in because there was so much splashing. “I’m happy for my teammates and myself because we all played so amazingly. ”Ullo beat Crescenta Valley junior goalkeeper Sofie Munoz with a low shot for the winning goal.

Ullo and the Bulldogs path to victory didn’t come without controversy, though.After Crescenta Valley grabbed a 9-8 lead on a goal by senior hole/set Olivia Trimis with 56 seconds left in the second extra session, the Falcons appeared to have the match wrapped up after Munoz made a save. An alert Ullo went toward Munoz, who tried to run out the clock. Ullo stole the ball from Munoz and then scored. Crescenta Valley Coach Pete Loporchio, whose team is ranked No. 8 in CIF Southern Section Division VI, said Munoz had sole possession of the ball and that the goal should not have counted. “[Munoz] had the ball and [Ullo] grabbed the ball from her shoulder,” said Loporchio, who got four goals from senior utility player Taylor Kuh. “It’s not the right call because Sofie had possession of the ball. “Let the players determine the game.

It was an epic battle, and we played hard. Somebody had to come up on the short end. ”The Bulldogs, ranked No. 6 in Division VI, had to play catch-up throughout the bulk of regulation. Crescenta Valley took an 8-6 lead on a goal by Trimis with 6:16 left in the fourth quarter. Burbank closed to within 8-7 on a five-meter shot by Ullo before knotting the match at 8 on a tally by senior utility player Alex O’Connor with 1:24 remaining.

Burbank Coach Carlos Pelayo, a standout on the Crescenta Valley boys’ squad nearly a decade ago, said the Bulldogs needed to stay patient on defense to lead to a possible offensive surge. “Down the stretch, it was our defense that played well,” Pelayo said. “We knew coming in that CV’s an excellent team and they are well-coached, so we had to adjust on defense to give us a chance later on offense.“We played collectively on defense and that got us going on offense. We pushed them.“For the moment, we are in first place.

February will be the time, and you know that anything can happen in our league. You just don’t know how or when.”O’Connor scored four goals for Burbank, which got two from Arpi Khanpapyan and one from Mary Stepanyan. Crescenta Valley received two goals from Trimis and Adrienne Ingalla and one from Kim Fraisse.

Burbank High Class of 64 - 45th Reunion

The BHS Class of '64 Reunion Committee has once again been "re-activated" and is busy planning and organizing our 45th Reunion, to be held on Saturday, October 10th 2009. Actually, out of 622 graduates in our class, we have found quite a few. We have approximately 175 still missing (and after our first mailing, we may get some returned whose addresses are no longer valid, so that number could increase) Ironically at this moment, our class of 1964 knows of 64 classmates who have passed on.
We truly NEED your help. Even if you are not part of BHS '64, please take a minute and review the following Missing List...If you have any information on any of these people, even if it is an address or phone or email for a sibling, please forward that information to either Tammy Stepanow Klinger at http://us.mc541.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=rodeogal4@yahoo.com or me, Pam Zipfel Kirkwood at http://us.mc541.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=pamkirkwood@yahoo.com . There are only 7 of us on the committee, so if we all put our collective 500 plus heads together, we should be able to locate lots more classmates...

Thanks so much...
Your BHS '64 Reunion Committee
Marcia Ayers Byers
Tammy Stepanow Klinger
Karen Shield Smestad
Pete Graziano
Mickey DePalo
Mary Lou Johnson Anderson
Pam Zipfel Kirkwood

Missing Classmates:

Georgianna Alanis
Elaine Anderson Byrd
Patricia Ardolino
Dina Arias
Susan Atkerson
Roger Ball
Lee Barnett
Rhett Barron
Carole Bartosovsky
Eileen Bell
Vicky Bencheck
Kathy Berry
Molly Beyea Regan
Robert Bliss
Cindy Blount
Pat Bobier
Charlotte Boyes
Susan Bradley
Bruce Brewer
Mardella Brown
Toni Bryan
Kathleen Burg
George Carrillo
Virginia Casey Ohara
Jean Chesky Granpre
Arlene Cavallo Arnold
Jean Chesky Granpre
Nancy Chess Nichols
Roger Clark
Stephen Cordell
Bob Crawford
Lars Dahl
Fred Deeg
Ed Dermedy
James Desaulniers
Robert Diamond
Bob Diltz
Sheila Dolinko
Larry Donaldson
Mike Dones
Sherry Dryburgh
Deborah Duggan
Pat Farrell Powell
Eileen Faussett
Edward "Regan" Ferber
Marcel Frenette
George Garcia
Eleanor Gerald
Holly Glover
Robert Goldman
Bruce Gorlick
Francine Greco
Sharon Hanes Zander
Scott Hansen
Christine Harper
Pat Harvey
Mike Healy
Dave Heerman
Bill Hendricks
Rebecca Hensley
Kenna Hicks
Ron Hoorn
Diane Huntoon Tepina
Louis Ivie
Cathie Johnson Diaz
Mitchell Johnson
James Jones
Leslie Jones
Marlane Karafa
George Kasarda
Joe Keller
Catherine Kennedy
Dona Kennedy Haber
Jacqueline Kistler
Sandy Kley
Ken Kosnick
Bernard Kreitlow
Diann Kroum
Elaine Kruger
Sally Lane
Larry Larson
Doug Livesay
Richard Macklin
Victoria Makarowski
Suzanne Mann Labonge
Marita Massey
Kas Masuda
Anna Maxfield
Larry McIntire
Candie McKenzie Mitchell
Allan McMurray
Judy Meskew Laivo
Diane Michel
Lester Mischke
Eugene Molino
Sandra Moody
Larry Moore
Thomas Morrocco
Linda Moss
Dennis Nelson
Sue Nicola
Melanie Ober
Lawrence Orosco
Tom O’Rourke
Gary Ortez
Angela Orys
Steve Owens
Sandy Pace
Mike Palecki
Greg Parker
Larry Parks
Ron Parrett
Bob Pasch
Eve Patterson
Pat Patterson
Rick Peach
Roger Phillips
Warren Plank
Loretta Poggi
Nancy Pociasek
Cindy Powley
Sue Powley
Narita Pyorala
Jill Ransome
Cathy Reber Bell
Arthur Richardson
Phil Rivadeneyra
John Ruegge
Jim Rush
Rick Rutan
Jon Salveson
Patti Samson
Valerie Sanderson
Dennis Sardella
Doug Saxon
Michael Sayre
Violet Scalise
Margaret Schafer
Dan Scott
Valerie Scott
Randy Scoville
Judy Serebrenik
Greg Siefert
Don Sims
Nancy Skiba
Ruta Skirius
Sandra Smith Toth
David Snapp
Elaine Stahl
Verna Stiles
Kathy Sweeney
Thorne "Todd" Still
Harold "Bucky" Stilson
Karen Tertocha Phelps
Bob Thompson
Valerie Totten
George Van Hoye
Larry Vaughan
Andrea Venters
Bob Vignale
Donna Walker
Mark Waller
Jean Watkins
Margie Weatherwax
Terry Welshans
Mark West
Richard West
Ross Whipple
Janiece Williams
John "Mike" Williams
James Wilson
Karen Wittschen
Betty Wright
Roberta Ziegler Morrison

A Big Fat Mess?

After running into my Burbank High Foods teacher Mrs. Linda Braun now Hyman at the Senior Bulldog Luncheon a couple of weeks ago, it got me thinking of my foods class memories. I hated cooking and hated written tests and as always failed them.

I remember this one written test that I took and I answered all the questions that I knew and then answered the ones that I thought I knew first. I saved the ones I didn't know at all until last. I got to this one question and it had something to do with if you melted the cheese and mixed this with that and poured this into that and added more melted cheese "What would you have"? Well by the time I read the question it sounded like one big fat mess and so that is what I put down for my answer. Shortly after that the bell rang and I turned in the test with still a few questions unanswered.

Well the next day I got my test results back and of course they were not too good. I think I got a low D and it listed how many points I got. I started reading which answers I got right and when I came to my answer "A Big Fat Mess" and low and behold I got one point for that answer. I laughed so hard, it made my day and who cared about my grade of a low D.

Maggie Gomez Sands Santa Collection

Jolly old Saint Nick is everywhere in woman’s home, from the kitchen sink to the toilet seat.
By Joyce Rudolph
December 23, 2008

Maggie Sands has a ho-ho-whole lot of Santas going on in her Burbank home — more than 600 Santa Claus collectibles, actually.The first hint that this homeowner really loves the jolly old gift giver is the many likenesses of him set up in her front yard.Large candy canes are placed on either side of the walkway up to the front porch. A 9-foot blow-up of old Saint Nick welcomes guests up the steps to the front door.Once inside, all four walls around the living room are covered with displays of every Santa Claus collectible imaginable, starting at 1 1/2 inches tall.“It’s fun — I really enjoy it,” Sands said about the collection. “I had a few when I moved in here in 1977 with my husband, Tom Sands. And then I’d get them for decorations and then ordered them out of catalogs and received them as gifts from family and friends.”She’s never counted them, because it would be too big of a job, she said.“My grandkids have tried to count them, but they give up before they can finish,” she said.

More Santas fill shelves around the dining room, including a Santa on a gondola that she bought while on vacation in Rome. And the Christmas tree is covered in Santa decorations.

In the kitchen, there are more than 15 cookie jars — some with Santas in aprons. There are Santa salt and pepper shakers she acquired in 1969, a soap dish, and the sink stopper has a Santa face smiling up at the one doing dishes.Even the bathroom has his jolly countenance on the toilet seat cover and shower brush.

Her favorite is a Santa at a workbench making toys.“I got it in Glendale off Brand in 1992,” she said.While the decorations keep the season jolly, Maggie Sands said she doesn’t ignore the importance of it.“This is the main guy,” she said, pointing to a Santa kneeling in front of the baby Jesus in the manger, the only decoration on the coffee table. “I didn’t forget what Christmas is all about.”Christmas morning is very special, said her daughter Korey Janke of Burbank.“She makes Christmas wonderful for all of us,” Janke said. “We come in our jammies, and my mom’s got slippers with Santa on them. We have a big breakfast, and Uncle Mark [Land] cooks the huevos con chorizo.”

Three generations, more than 15 people, pack the house early in the morning.“I have a ham and Mexican hot chocolate, and everyone wears Santa hats,” Maggie Sands said.The rest of the day, she has an open house with friends and neighbors stopping by.Granddaughter Emily Albrecht’s favorite decoration of all is the stocking that hangs above the fireplace. It has Santa Claus holding a doll and teddy bear.“I think everybody adores their stockings,” Albrecht said.And each is very elaborately decorated, Janke said.“She watches TV while she sews the decorations on them,” she said. “She’s made about 25 stockings. She’s very handy, my mommy.”

Maggie Sands, whose maiden name is Gomez, is a longtime Burbank resident. She graduated from Burbank High School in 1949, and she serves on the reunion committee that is planning its 60th reunion next year.She and her brother, Bob Gomez, and two sisters, Minnie Dilbeck and Carmen Ferrente, are former owners of El Chiquito restaurant in Burbank.

In Memory of Milo Vance Burcham BHS 52

Vance Burcham - BHS 1952


Milo Vance Burcham, age 75, of Canyon Lake, California passed away on December 28, 2008 in Riverside, California. He was born in Long Beach, California on December 23, 1933. He is preceded in death by his parents Milo and Marian (Schultz) Burcham.

Milo worked as an Aerospace Engineer for over 35 years. He had many hobbies; skiing (both snow and water), traveling and flying. But his biggest love was for his wife Vi, they were married for 26 years.

He is survived by his sons; Marc Burcham and Eric Burcham; daughter Debbie Peterson; Stepchildren- Kellie Stapleton, Richard McBroom, Laura Grunland; brother Gary Burcham; 4 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild.

There will be a memorial service on Thursday, January 8 at 11am at Miller-Jones Mortuary in Sun City, Ca.
Arrangements are being handled by Miller-Jones Mortuary & Crematory-Sun City, 26770 Murrieta Road, Sun City, CA

Mrs. Linda Braun - BHS Foods Teacher

Linda Gelber Braun Hyman



Mrs. Braun in the 1967 yearbook and
she had taught at BHS for 3 years.

Yesterday I attended the Senior Bulldog Luncheon at the Burbank Elks and who should show up but my old foods teacher Mrs. Linda Braun. I will always remember that first day of class as Linda asked me if I had an older sister named Sandy Mustion and I said yes. Mrs. Braun then said that she graduated from Burbank High with my sister in 1959. My Brother-in-law Larry Wessel aslo graduated with her in 1959. In high school she was Linda Gelber, but as our teacher in the late 60's she was married and was Mrs. Braun, but now she is Mrs. Hyman. She resides in Tarzana and fellow classmate Vicki Abdo BHS 59 said she also lived in Tarzana and as it turns out they live around the corner not far from each other and Linda told Vicki that she probably walks in front of her house almost everyday.

Miss SNP J - 1966

Miss SNP J 1966 - Nancy Skiba
Los Angeles Lodge 615

Miss SNPJ 1966 Nancy Skiba is the daughter of longtime SNPJ members Mr. and Mrs. Peter Skiba. Nancy graduated from Burbank High School in 1964 where she was active in drama production and the Burbank Little Theater. She was an editorial writer for her school paper and founding member of the Folk Singing Club. She attended Los Angeles Valley College with aspirations of becoming an actress/playwright.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009 GRAND VIEW CEMETERY

Well, what a diffrence a week makes as Christmas Day I was freezing in the rain volunteering at Grand View and yesterday New Years Day it was sunny and shorts and tee shirt weather and today cloudy, overcast and foggy. While everyone was enjoying the Rose Parade and football game, I was at Grand View Cemetery in Glendale triming bushes and doing grave looksups for people. I was also interviewed by the Glendale News Press http//www.glendalenewspress.com/articles/2009/01/02/news/gnp-grandview02.txt. Anyhow hope everyone had a great New Year's and that 2009 is a better year for everyone.