Chapman College Alumni Will March in ‘Re-Graduation’

Charles Wickett of Balboa Island, first grandson of Charles Clarke Chapman, for whom Chapman College is named, will participate in the college’s 1985 Commencement Exercises in Orange. Wickett, who was president of the senior class of ‘35, will--with 13 fellow classmates--carry out a Chapman tradition in which the class of 50 years before puts on caps and gowns and marches in a “re-graduation” ceremony.

Also participating will be Nea Wickett, a member of the class of ’35 and Charles’ wife.

Charles Wickett, now an architect in Newport Beach, was born in Fullerton in 1912. He attended Chapman College when it was located in Los Angeles on Vermont Avenue across from Los Angeles City College. He roomed with his cousin Irvin Clarke Chapman, younger son of C. C. Chapman and currently a trustee at Chapman College.

“We roomed together when I was a freshman,” Wickett said. “It was great; Irvin really knew his way around campus and sort of showed me the ropes.”

It was during his freshman year that he met Nea on a double blind date.

“I was an Orange County boy and I didn’t know many places around Los Angeles to go, so I decided to take everyone to the Mt. Baldy Frozen Orange Juice Inn in Whittier. They had the greatest barbecued sandwiches.

“After that Nea and I started going together and we dated all through school and were married right after graduation. Besides celebrating our 50-year anniversary of our college graduation we will also celebrate our 50 years of marriage.”

To make a marriage last, he said, “you’ve got to love somebody a lot. That’s the secret.”

Dylan Christensen of Laguna Niguel has been selected by the U.S. Assn. of Independent Gymnastic Clubs and Study Tours Internationale to participate in the 1985 China Gym School program. Christensen, 11, will leave July 4 and will join other boy and girl gymnasts from across the country. The group will train in Peking, Shanghai and Canton and will be exposed to new techniques used by the Chinese. Christensen practices at the U.S. Gymnastics Training Center in Irvine with his coach, Rob Banif.

Grayce Roessler of Huntington Beach has been appointed official observer for the World Federation for Mental Health. The federation is a private, international group that acts as a consultant for the United Nations, Pan American Health Assn., United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and foreign governments on matters of mental health and mental health care. As a representative of the federation, Roessler will travel to Tel Aviv, Israel, in June to attend the 18th quadrennial Congress of the International Council of Nurses. She also will preside at the second Nurses Convocation at the federation’s International Congress in Brighton, England, in July. Roessler is the coordinator of continuing education for health professionals at Golden West College.

Hugh F. Kohler, 36, has been named executive director of Fairview State Hospital and Developmental Community in Costa Mesa. He replaces Dr. Francis Crinella who has been named director of the State Developmental Research Institute headquartered at Fairview. Kohler has been clinical director of Lanterman State Hospital in Pomona for the last five years. He received his master’s degree from Cal State Los Angeles and began his career as a teacher before working at Lanterman. The Fairview Developmental Community serves 1,100 people with severe developmental disabilities, employs a staff of 1,500 and has an annual budget of $50 million.

David M. Stachovitz has been named postmaster for the Garden Grove station. Stachovitz succeeds Ralph Del Ponte, who retired in December. Stachovitz, who’ll be the station’s 15th postmaster, began his postal career as a distribution clerk in Culver City and has worked his way up the ranks by serving in a variety of positions. At his new post he will oversee the work of 251 clerks, letter carriers and managers responsible for sorting and delivering 1.9 million pieces of mail each week to more than 50,000 addresses throughout the 28-square-mile city.