Sue Ross (Rodhe/Blohm) sent in a lot of info with her reservation form, so she gets a post all to herself! Plus, she is coming all the way from Salem, Oregon to attend the reunion! (She's also going to the Esri User Conference in San Diego afterwards.)

Her employee number was #114, and she worked at AIS from 1983 to 1985.

At the reunion: Sue; Gretchen Charlton; Lisa and Eric McCready; Ken Althiser; John Menke

Contact info:

Home: Sue Ross Blohm, 161 Cambridge Ave, Silverton OR 97381 503-580-1492 cell thesuemom2@hotmail.com

Office: City of Salem Information Technology Dept., 295 Church St SE, Suite 210, Salem OR 97301 503-763-3429 sblohm@cityofsalem.net

Sue is single. She has a son, Jimmy Rohde, age 27, and a daughter-in-law, Rachael Rohde, also age 27. And she has a daughter, Jennifer Rohde, age 24.

Her pets are a golden lab named Sydney and a black cat named Princess Florence Gallagher.

Employment after AIS:

Cartographer, Univ of Nevada Las Vegas, Environmental Research Center (USEPA Contractor)

GIS Analyst, EG&G Energy Measurements / Bechtel / Lockheed Martin (USDOE contractors) Remote Sensing Laboratory, Nellis AFB

GIS Manager, City of Salem, OR, Dept. of Information Technology

Notable accomplishments, travels, etc:

My greatest accomplishment... being a mother, and raising 2 awesome kids!

Professionally, I consider myself a GIS pioneer (thanks to AIS) and now a GIS evangelist (still trying to help people understand the value of GIS). It's been a thrill to see the profession grow. Received and retain my GISP certification. I have been blessed with my career opportunities, working mostly for federal contractors, and now for local government. Trying to figure out when I can retire to spend more time with my kids and traveling (Maui is my favorite happy place). I also work as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) representing children in the foster care system.

Favorite AIS memories:

Working all-nighters on ITUMs, sometimes over a glass coffee table on my living room floor
Trip to Mexico where I learned how to love fish tacos and tequila.
Going to my car after dark while working at Esri and Jack would actually escort the gals to our cars.
National Wetlands Inventory mapping. So fun.
Being up-the-hill in the downstairs Kargl room when the lights would go out during storms! Traumatized for life from those days!

Questions or comments:

The emails have listed Debbie, Janet and Gretchen. Are all three of you still there? Answer: Debbie and Janet work at AIS. Gretchen moved on to other things many moons ago, and is now retired and living in Redlands.
Whatever happened to Annie? Walter? Answer: Annie, Peter, and the Brierty kids will be at the reunion, Sue! You'll be able to catch up on each others' news! As for Walter, after AIS he worked several years in the County of San Bernardino Planning Department. Sadly, he passed away several years ago at the age of 54.
Do Eric and Toshie still own AIS? Answer: Yes! Toshie is now the president. Eric started another business several years ago, called Solution Technology Systems. It's also in Redlands, is very small, and has on its staff a former AIS employee whose background was in chemistry.
Will Jack be at the reunion? Answer: No. We haven't seen much of Jack in the last several decades! Of course, if he shows up, we'll probably let him in ;-)
The Elks Club as venue... are we that old? Answer: The Elks Lodge isn't just for old guys any more! One of our current employees, John Fulton, and his wife are VERY active in the Elks Lodge and are attracting younger members to the Lodge all the time.
Is anyone going down to San Diego for the Esri UC? I am; we could continue the reunion into the week if interested. Answer: none of the other reunion respondents has indicated they are going to the UC. You might run into a few former AIS employees at the UC by chance, although they may not be from your era.

Thanks so much for supplying all this info, Sue! We look forward to seeing you NEXT WEEK!