The Astoria High School class of 1972 has produced many interesting and varied life stories.

Paulette (Hankel) McCoy

Active in theater and music in high school, Paulette (Hankel) McCoy sang in an All-Nation Choir that performed in Carnegie Hall and toured Europe.

The fantastic education at the local Catholic grade school and opportunities at the Astoria public schools during the late 60s and early 70s were vast, she said.

Her musical talent landed her a scholarship at Marylhurst College, and after graduation she worked in Portland at Oregon Catholic Press. After 20 years of traveling the world working with composers, McCoy and her husband moved back to Astoria in 2005.

She worked at the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce as the events manager for two years, and in January 2008 she was hired as the director of the Astoria Bicentennial Celebration, a position she held until December 2011.

She is now the public affairs manager at Providence Seaside Hospital and serves on various boards and clubs in the community.

Dena (Bondietti) Marsch

For Dena (Bondietti) Marsch, the controversial events of the 70s were just a stepping stone.

The Vietnam war was going on, so there were the protests all over the country, including Astoria. The drug scene seemed to just explode, and it seemed like society was trying to rebel against (itself), she said.

While awareness was there, she said those events didnt have a great influence on her life. Instead, she focused on becoming a teacher.

Playing volleyball, basketball and track gave Marsch a deep passion for athletics. Her P.E. teacher and coach at AHS, Liz Hewitt, inspired Marsch to become a P.E. and health teacher.

Marsch graduated from Oregon College of Education (now Western Oregon University) in Monmouth in 1976. She joined the AHS faculty in 1980.

Teaching was never a job. It was a dream, and I had the chance to live that dream every day during my career, she said. You have all these influential minds that are like sponges, just craving knowledge, and you have the opportunity to make a difference in their lives.

Though there were long hours, meetings and paper work galore, being a teacher and mentor was worth it.

Marsch retired in 2009 after 29 years of teaching, though she still teaches online courses for the Northwest Regional Education Service District’s Oregon Virtual Education program.

Peter Quinn

Peter Quinns father, a Columbia River Bar Pilot, died at sea in the middle of Quinns freshman year of college. Quinn said it was the single most important event in his life.

Though poetry was his focus at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Quinn had to develop business skills to support himself. He formed a house-painting company in Astoria and paid his way through college. Poetry took the backseat in the next 30 years.

Quinn entered the start-up world. He worked for McCaw Cellular (now AT&T), was CEO of a startup wireless network in Ireland, helped found a winery in Oregon, and ran a network for entrepreneurs in Seattle.

Now, poetry and writing in general gets more of his time. Quinn and his wife own and operate The Writers Workshoppe in Port Townsend, Wash., part bookstore, part writing workshop.

Quinn also runs the Jefferson Countys Economic Development Council and is the CEO of a start-up general merchandise store in Port Townsend.

Kevin Leahy

Kevin Leahy was a late-comer to the class of 1972: He attended Saint Mary, Star of the Sea from grades one through nine, until the Star of the Sea High School closed after his freshman year. Most of his Catholic school peers transferred to AHS.

I can still remember walking into Astoria High School the first day of my sophomore year, and someone yelled, The Catholics have arrived! he said, adding that the yeller became a good friend later in high school and beyond.

Leahy was heavily involved in student government, drama, speech, choir, German Club and sports.

There was something for everyone to get involved in, he said. Many of us still talk about our famous musical performance of Damn Yankees, where drama teacher Ken Chapman, who also is still very active in our community, worked hard to get the best performances out of all of us.

After high school Leahy spent 27 years with Meier and Frank (now Macys), working as a vice-president in Portland and Los Angeles. In 2004, Leahy and his wife, Karen, moved to Valencia in Santa Clarita, Calif. He worked closely with the Small Business Development Center at the local community college.

Leahy and his wife returned to Astoria in 2011. He is now the executive director for Clatsop Economic Development Resources and Clatsop Community Colleges Small Business Development Center.

Linda (Duncan)

Jordan

One word comes to Linda (Duncan) Jordans mind to describe the 1970s: Freedom.

My parents thought I should go to the community college and become a secretary. That was so not me; it was my mom’s generation, Jordan said. I’m very global in my thinking, and there was just so much to see and discover.

Seeking adventure, Jordan traveled after high school, spending time working for Bumble Bee Foods in Alaska, and living in California and Maui, Hawaii. After marrying her husband, she moved to Maryland and has spent 27 years there and three years in Italy.

Having settled so far from Astoria, she said she misses the river view, Dungeness crab, the closeness of a small town and her extended family.

Jordan worked for the Consumer Electronics Association and later worked as a government contractor, recruiting federal employees with a lets get this done attitude.

Voted most talkative her senior year at AHS, Jordan was on the planning committee for the 72-ers 40th reunion.

Looking back I realize how fortunate I was to grow up in a small town, she said. And going through school with the same friends … allowed you to form lasting relationships that continue today.