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Jim Pasek

Hi everyone,

I just found out about the reunion on 8/1/04 from John Giessler, Class of '80. I was in Duluth for a family reunion when he told me about our 25th reunion. I completely forgot it was this year. Guess Alzheimer's is setting in at my now advanced age. Losing everything these days; memory, hair, eye sight.... You know, the usual!

Jeff Lee told me about the web site for the reunion so I checked it out and found I was missing!?!?!?! I guess when one moves to Alaska mail doesn't always find you. Anyway, here's a brief summary of the journey leading to 'the Last Frontier' of Alaska.

After Denfeld I got a degree in engineering at UMD and worked for Honeywell in Hopkins, MN as a Manufacturing Engineer. Life sent me down an ugly trail in 1992 when I lost my job, my marriage ended, and my father died. I prayed, turned to family and friends, and leaned on God. When my feet finally settled on the ground again I went back to school. This time at the College of St. Scholastica studying physical therapy. I graduated 5 years ago with a Masters in Physical Therapy and ended up here in Fairbanks, Alaska working for a private outpatient orthopedic clinic.

Along the way I have continued to enjoy camping, biking, skiing downhill and cross country, and exploring Alaska.

In 2002 I had the opportunity of a life time when I was chosen as a course crew member for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. WHAT AN ADVENTURE!!!!!! I worked the men's downhill race course at Snowbasin. It was 2 weeks of sunshine, no sleep, hard work and a front row seat to the world's best skiing action! WOW!!!! St. Scholastica did a story on alumni at the Olympics: http://alumni.css.edu/publications/times/spring02/olympics.html

Alaska adventures have taken me from sea kayaking with harbor seals in Juneau to camping the Brooks Mountain Range north of the Arctic Circle where the sun shines 24 hours a day in the summer, to camping in the shadows of Mt. McKinley, to a native Thanksgiving of caribou, fish soup, and Eskimo ice cream in the village of Noorvik. Alaska fishing is incredible and this year I hope to get out moose and caribou hunting. What an incredibly beautiful state!!

Three years ago I began dating a wonderful woman, JoAnne. She has two boys, Micah now 15 and Joel 13. We keep very busy with snowmobiling, skiing (the boys prefer snowboarding. They are very good), camping, hunting, paintballing, and wrestling in the living room. (So far nothing has broken including me!) The boys also enjoy reminding me how OLD I am! We aren't THAT OLD are we????

Hope everyone is doing well.

God Bless

Jim Pasek

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