Class of 1950

Tom Kelsey

(updated July 19, 2025)

Hi Everyone at the Alumni Assn-  Last Sunday, June 15, 2025 was the 75th anniversary of the graduation of the Class of 1950.  It's hard to believe it has been that long ago. How do I remember so easily?  I have a wrist watch, given to me by my parents, as a graduation gift, that is engraved 6-15-50 on the back. 

Who am I? Where am I? And what am I up to?  I'm Tom Kelsey.  I'm in the Town of Center Harbor, New Hampshire, where I have a summer home. I'm enjoying the 27th year of my retirement from an insurance company, Chubb Insurance. I moved to NH 23 years ago after living in New Jersey for 45 years. It's a beautiful and relaxed place to live plus it has no sales tax nor income tax

While it is customary for people from NJ to move to Florida, I chose NH as all three of my adult children live near me or in NH. That makes it easy for them to keep tabs on me and see me often. Then, too, they have 8 children between them, giving me another 8 grandchildren to visit and keep me up to date on their activities. All of them have now graduated college so their lives have taken on a new flavor which I find fascinating.

Here's hoping there are still some other '50s out there doing well as 90+ year-olds. We were a great bunch of classmates and I still remember many of them. My best wishes to all for many more years of good health anf hsppoiness.    ........Tom

Class of 1958

Peter Roepke
(updated July 20, 2025)

Born Mills Hospital, Burlingame, 1940

Class of 1958, Burlingame High School

Married to Elizabeth 1961...Celebrated 64 years, April 4, 2025 

Gradated University of Arizona...1962

2 years sales, Procter & Gambel, Southern California

17 years Hall Roepke Company   (Food Brokers)

Sold Company and invested with 3 different Food Brokers over 9 years

1990 to current 2025,     35 years.... Owner. Gavilan Kennett Roepke Food Brokers.  Semi-retired

3 grand children

3 great grand children

Live in same home Hillsborough since 1959

President Trinity Lutheran Church Burlingame past 7 years

President Northern California Food Brokers Association... 1997

Elected Food Broker of the Year 2004 

Class of 1973

Bryan Ackley and Melody White (Ackley)

Three Generations and a Lifetime of Memories at BHS

For our family, Burlingame High School isn’t just a school, it’s part of who we are. Since we first became a pair in April 1973, it’s only fitting that our stories and our roots in BHS are intertwined. Bryan Ackley ’73 and Melody White Ackley ’73 both graduated from BHS and went on to build careers, raise a family, and stay deeply connected to the community that shaped us. Bryan became a Master Optician and owned Johnsen & Bruun in San Mateo for over 40 years, all while making time to coach Fast Pitch Softball for two decades, 10 of those years at BHS. He had the joy of coaching our daughters, Heather Ackley Wilson ’99 and Amanda Ackley Santana ’03, through their BHS high school playing years. Melody earned her degree in Accounting and Economics, eventually taking over as owner of LeaseMobile in Burlingame with her sister MaryAnn White Storek ‘65, where they worked until their retirement in 2024.

Together, we supported BHS athletics through the Boosters from 1996 to 2003 and remain active with the BHS Alumni Association. Melody also helped plan the BHS Centennial and co-chaired the Friday Night Block Party, a highlight of the celebration.

Today, it’s incredibly meaningful to see our grandchildren—Fiona Wilson ’27 and Preston Wilson ’30—walking the same halls we once did. We’re proud to now be part of a third generation of Panthers, with hopes that Savannah (4) and Stella Santana (2) will follow in their family’s footsteps.

Their father, Hugo Santana ’01, is also a BHS alumni. After all these years, we never truly left BHS. It’s where we met, where we grew, and where our family’s story continues.

Thank you, BHS, for all the great memories—and for the ones still to come.

Class of 1976

Lee Dresser
(updated July 23, 2025)

After finishing at BHS I attended Cal and graduated in 1980 with a degree in anatomy and physiology. I then worked for a year as an emergency medical technician in Santa Barbara where I lived with BHS classmates Mike Kohn and Mike Jarrett. Since I was living right on the ocean I decided it would also be good to learn to surf. From 1981-1983 I earned a masters degree in biology at UCSB and practiced my surfing. At that point I had to make the tough decision to either join the pro surfing circuit or attend medical school. After much soul searching I decided I might have a longer career in medicine and thus from 1983 through 1987 attend the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I subsequently completed my residency and fellowship in neurology at Duke University, where I met my wife of 36 years, Michelle. Our first son was born just as we were leaving Durham and I then worked 4 years for Kaiser Permanente in Martinez, CA. My next job was in Wilmington, Delaware where I would work for the next 27 years. It turns out Delaware is a small state on the East Coast and is one of the United States! Who knew? After 27 years my practice partners of 27 years retired and semi-retired so I was free to move back to Winston-Salem and start working for Wake Forest, my old medical school, and where we are very happy to be near our oldest son and his wife.

Jeff Gates
(updated July 20, 2025)

After BHS, I went to college at USC where I became student body president and earned a degree in economics.  I attended law school at UCLA.  I was a litigator at a large firm in Los Angeles, then went to work at Honda to defend product liability cases.  I then joined Porsche at its U.S. HQ in Atlanta, Georgia as Associate General Counsel, where I  was responsible for worldwide product liability , as well as North American government relations, and where I got a new Porsche car of my choice to drive every 6 months - a wonderful perk!  I also got to travel all over the world to defend Porsche in many exotic locales from Shanghai to Sydney, from Rio to Johannesburg, from Casablanca to Paris, and, of course, a lot of trips to Stuttgart, Germany.

I retired from Porsche in January 2025 after 30 rewarding years there. 

I am married to a former lawyer and have two adult children (twins):  a daughter in NYC who is a jazz musician and a son in Albuquerque, NM who is an education policy analyst  for a non-profit. 

I live in Atlanta and am currently consulting and working on a book project. 

Mike Jarrett
(updated July 15, 2025)

I feel incredibly fortunate not only to be a graduate of Burlingame High School, but also to be part of a multi-generational Panther family. My son, Andrew (Class of 2025), and daughter, Katie (Class of 2026), are both BHS students, and watching them experience the school I once walked through has been a gift beyond words.

I served as President of the BHS Parents Group for the 2024–2025 school year, and I continue to stay involved through the BHS Alumni Association. Being so engaged in the school community today has deepened my appreciation for how special Burlingame High truly is. While much has changed—new buildings, new programs—the spirit of BHS remains remarkably familiar. 

My wife, Sherri, and I have lived in Burlingame since 2005, and we continue to be amazed by the strength and heart of this community. After graduating from UCSB and getting a graduate degree from San Diego State, I spent my career in technology and have lived in the Bay Area since the 1980s. It’s been wonderful to come full circle and now see my own kids grow up here.

I'm still in touch with many of my high school friends—Mike Kohn, Chris White, and Steve Rosston—all of whom still live nearby. I also stay connected with Lee Dresser and recently reconnected with Jeff Gates. 

BHS has given me a lot— great memories and life-long friendships.

Class of 1977

Eric Levy
Passed away August, 2023

From Jimmy Levy, class of 1975:
Eric maintained a passion for touring motorcycles, connecting him to the world on lesser travelled routes.  He was an accomplished jazz drummer, with associations to renowned jazz artists.  Eric followed his love for snow sports, always grace and finesse on long skis; and later through his executive work at Alterra Ski Corporation based in Denver Colorado.   While modest in character, Eric had far-reaching influence, and the esteem of his peers; always caring, generous, discreet.  And he did accomplish his ambition of owning a turbo Porche, though his bikes took precedence. More

Class of 1978

Interview the Dave Kohn, Class of 1978

1. What year did you graduate from B.H.S.?

1978

2.  What was happening in the city, the state, the country, and the world, while you attended B.H.S.?

Richard Nixon resigned from office in 1974, just as I was starting high school. Patty Hearst, who had been originally kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, was arrested in 1975 for participating in a bank robbery. Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1976, which was also the year of the Bicentennial; I was in Baltimore and Washington DC for the Fourth of July that year. 1977 was the premier of the first Star Wars movie, as well as the first supersonic flight on the Concorde between New York and London. In 1978 San Francisco passed a gay rights law while Anita Bryant was crusading against gay rights in Florida and other states.

 On a personal front, the most impactful event was my father’s death in September of 1975, at the start of my sophomore year. I have no idea how my high school experience might have been different if he hadn’t passed away, but I know it forced me to grow up quickly and perhaps be more conscious of wanting to live up to his expectations, since he wasn’t there to encourage me.

3.  How did what was happening affect your high school experience?

The 70s felt like a time of transition for the country and for me. The US was coming out of the shadow of Watergate and it seemed like a time of social and technological change. Perhaps every teenager feels this way about their high school years, but it felt to me like a period of wide open possibilities with the potential for achieving great things. Frankly, at the time I was mostly focused on doing the things that matter to a high school student: learning, making friends, participating in activities and trying to figure out who I was and where I was going.

4.  How would you describe your high school experience? Explain.

Happy, routine, frustrating, enlightening, sad.

I think generally my high school experience was positive. The sorrow I felt at the passing of my dad colored my sophomore year, but my overall experience was good. Looking back, I know I had plenty of periods of stress, anxiety, frustration, sadness and loneliness, but when I reflect on the experience as a whole, I remember it with fondness and happiness. I feel like I made the transition from child to adult in a comfortable and supportive environment, and I see many characteristics of the person I am today emerging in the high school student I was then.

5.  What activities did you participate in high school? Why?  Explain. Satisfying or unsatisfying experience.

I participated in a number of activities in high school, but the 2 that were the most meaningful for me were sports (basketball, track and field) and music (orchestra, band, stage band).

 Sports, especially basketball, were a big part of my identity in high school. I played freshman football, but once basketball season started my freshman year, I decided that football was off the table after that. I had played basketball since grade school, and my height made it a natural sport for me. I won’t go through all the events of my basketball career at BHS, but a couple of incidents stand out. The first was when I was asked by Coach Firpo to play on the varsity team as a sophomore. It was unusual for sophomores to play varsity. It helped my self-confidence and maturity to be recognized as a good athlete and it accelerated my development as a player tremendously. It also came shortly after my father’s death, and probably helped me cope with that trauma. The second powerful memory is my senior year, being one of the best players on a successful team. For anyone at that age, having some success helps to offset the self-doubt and insecurity that comes with being a teenager, and my basketball achievements definitely did that for me.

 Music was my other main activity. I was not especially talented, but I played instruments (string bass, electric bass) that were both uncommon and needed for most musical groups. Music exposed me to a very different group of people from sports; while there were a number of people who did both, I don’t recall that any of my basketball teammates were involved in music, so it gave me a very different circle of friends.

6.  Did these activities (drama, art, music, etc.) enhance or connect to your life after high school?

 While I continued some sporadic involvement with music after high school, basketball was by far the most meaningful activity for me. I played basketball in college, and while by no means a star player, I was able to play for 3 years on a Division I team, and also got some coaching experience, as well. This served me well after college when I spent 4 years playing and coaching basketball professionally in Europe. Without my experience with basketball at BHS, the next 8 years and in some ways the rest of my life would have been very different.

7.  What role, if any, did sports play in your high school career?

I responded to this question above.

8.  Did you continue playing sports after high school or earn sports scholarships to college?

I did play college basketball, but not on a scholarship. See responses above.

9.  Did you have favorite teachers or significant mentors at B.H.S.?

I had a number of memorable teachers at BHS -- Mr. Firpo, Mr. Saito, Mr. Rando, Mr. Booker, Mr. Ness -- but the most impactful teacher I had was Milo Gwosden. Mr. Gwosden challenged me and also took me down a few pegs when I felt a little smug or overconfident. He was the kind of teacher for whom the content of the course was less important than teaching you how to think and how to learn. I was fortunate enough to get reacquainted with Milo in recent years, and greatly enjoyed getting together with him and his wife Carla on various occasions. His passing in April in 2021  was a real blow.

10.  Did you own a car in high school? Explain.

I had a 1939 Ford V8 sedan. It was a family heirloom that my mother had learned to drive in and came back into the family when I was at BHS. The car became a bit of my identity, and I became friends with Janet Leahy, one of my closest friends to this day, at least in part when she cast my car (and me as the chauffeur) in her first movie.

 11.  Did you have interactions with deans or with counselors who had an impact on your life?

I did not have any memorable interactions with deans or counselors at BHS.

12.  Are there any areas of your time at B.H.S. that you want to share that you have not shared?

Please share.

A few memories stay with me from my time at BHS that I haven’t mentioned. One was having lunch almost every day in the quad behind the main building near the cafeteria. This became the hangout for me and the friends I spent the most time with -- Bob Thompson and Ed Ferguson -- as well as some other people who became part of “the Clique”.

I also remember returning to BHS when my daughter went to school there, and realizing what a beautiful campus it is, with the big expanse of lawn and trees in front of the school and the various courtyards and places to congregate. All in all, it was a good place to go to high school, and I feel fortunate to have had the experience.

13.  Are there any changes you would like to see made?

None come to mind.

Class of 1999

Heather Wilson (Ackley) ’99

Three Generations and a Lifetime of Memories at BHS

For our family, Burlingame High School isn’t just a school, it’s part of who we are. Since we first became a pair in April 1973, it’s only fitting that our stories and our roots in BHS are intertwined. Bryan Ackley ’73 and Melody White Ackley ’73 both graduated from BHS and went on to build careers, raise a family, and stay deeply connected to the community that shaped us. Bryan became a Master Optician and owned Johnsen & Bruun in San Mateo for over 40 years, all while making time to coach Fast Pitch Softball for two decades, 10 of those years at BHS. He had the joy of coaching our daughters, Heather Ackley Wilson ’99 and Amanda Ackley Santana ’03, through their BHS high school playing years. Melody earned her degree in Accounting and Economics, eventually taking over as owner of LeaseMobile in Burlingame with her sister MaryAnn White Storek ‘65, where they worked until their retirement in 2024.

Together, we supported BHS athletics through the Boosters from 1996 to 2003 and remain active with the BHS Alumni Association. Melody also helped plan the BHS Centennial and co-chaired the Friday Night Block Party, a highlight of the celebration.

Today, it’s incredibly meaningful to see our grandchildren—Fiona Wilson ’27 and Preston Wilson ’30—walking the same halls we once did. We’re proud to now be part of a third generation of Panthers, with hopes that Savannah (4) and Stella Santana (2) will follow in their family’s footsteps.

Their father, Hugo Santana ’01, is also a BHS alumni. After all these years, we never truly left BHS. It’s where we met, where we grew, and where our family’s story continues.

Thank you, BHS, for all the great memories—and for the ones still to come.

Class of 2003

Amanda Santana (Ackley) ’99

Three Generations and a Lifetime of Memories at BHS

For our family, Burlingame High School isn’t just a school, it’s part of who we are. Since we first became a pair in April 1973, it’s only fitting that our stories and our roots in BHS are intertwined. Bryan Ackley ’73 and Melody White Ackley ’73 both graduated from BHS and went on to build careers, raise a family, and stay deeply connected to the community that shaped us. Bryan became a Master Optician and owned Johnsen & Bruun in San Mateo for over 40 years, all while making time to coach Fast Pitch Softball for two decades, 10 of those years at BHS. He had the joy of coaching our daughters, Heather Ackley Wilson ’99 and Amanda Ackley Santana ’03, through their BHS high school playing years. Melody earned her degree in Accounting and Economics, eventually taking over as owner of LeaseMobile in Burlingame with her sister MaryAnn White Storek ‘65, where they worked until their retirement in 2024.

Together, we supported BHS athletics through the Boosters from 1996 to 2003 and remain active with the BHS Alumni Association. Melody also helped plan the BHS Centennial and co-chaired the Friday Night Block Party, a highlight of the celebration.

Today, it’s incredibly meaningful to see our grandchildren—Fiona Wilson ’27 and Preston Wilson ’30—walking the same halls we once did. We’re proud to now be part of a third generation of Panthers, with hopes that Savannah (4) and Stella Santana (2) will follow in their family’s footsteps.

Their father, Hugo Santana ’01, is also a BHS alumni. After all these years, we never truly left BHS. It’s where we met, where we grew, and where our family’s story continues.

Thank you, BHS, for all the great memories—and for the ones still to come.