RE Log Spring 2021

SPRING 2021 Ransom Everglades LOG 53 1970 REUNION YEAR Class Agents: Chris Haub (chrisdeshaub@yahoo.com) , Steve Pearson (wadadasaw@gmail.com ) Michael Erickson writes, “When we left Ransom 51 years ago, our lives, in some respects, could have been anything we wanted. Along the way we made choices, and events happened that narrowed the potential outcomes and eventually led us to where we are today. I pursued my passion in college by majoring in history, only to realize toward the end of my senior year, it was not a major that was likely to pay very many bills. Therefore, I spent a year in Haiti working for a tractor dealership and applying to business schools. Thankfully, one accepted me. My classmates often referred to our MBAs as ‘the big bath,’ as employers tended to ignore our prior majors/careers and hire us for completely new professions. I chose Coopers & Lybrand, one of the then ‘Big 8’ accounting firms, where I spent three years earning my CPA. I also spent those three years discovering I hated auditing, so, in 1980, I quit. The next stop was California where I joined an investment management company, met my future wife and got married. I loved investing, but the firm focused on high growth stocks, and I was a value investor (i.e., I was a square peg in a round hole) so, after seven years, I quit. The next 10 years could be described from a career perspective as the ‘lost years.’ My wife and I had two wonderful daughters which gave my life meaning, but I was stumbling career-wise. I worked for four different companies, two of which I co-founded and quickly shut down. I, however, learned two important skills during this period: how to be a CFO and how to be an effective member of a board of directors. This culminated in my being hired as the CFO in 1997 of a tiny aerospace company – revenues of $730,000 – and being elected chairman a year later. When we sold the firm in 2007, revenues were over $15MM, and our backlog was close to $30MM. When all was said and done, however, the payout was only slightly better than I would have made in salary had I stayed with the investment management firm. I had been making investments in private companies during the 20 years leading up to 2007 and, by that time, they constituted the vast majority of my net worth … and then the financial crisis of 2008-09 hit, and almost every single one of them went bankrupt. I essentially lost pretty much all of the capital I had accumulated over the prior 20 years and, at 55 years of age, I was not the most employable candidate. Other than when my parents died, it was about the only time in my life I truly was depressed. Then, about six weeks after the last and biggest investment went under, I saw a ray of sunshine coming through the window and I thought to myself, ‘Despite my woes, I am lucky to be alive to see that.’ … And with that, the proverbial dam broke. I realized I was lucky to be healthy, to be in a great marriage, to have two great kids, etc. The Good Lord had blessed me at that moment with perspective and it helped me realize that I, in so many ways, had won life’s lottery and simply needed to deal with the financial losses I had incurred. It took three years, but my compensation from serving on the board of directors of a mutual fund family grew to the point it covered my living expenses and then, three years after that, a friend encouraged me to invest in something called ‘bitcoin.’ That decision enabled me to recover the capital I lost in 2008-09, thus making retirement possible without having to pinch pennies constantly. As I look back on my life, what strikes me most is the extent to which luck/fate has impacted my life – the schools that accepted me, the people I met, the connections I made, the advice I received at critical moments, etc. Yes, there were conscious decisions I made, but some of those decisions resulted in pretty severe setbacks, yet even they taught me valuable life lessons. Consequently, the emotions I tend to feel most strongly these days are happiness and an extreme sense of gratitude for the blessings that have been bestowed on me and my family. I look forward to reconnecting with our classmates at our upcoming reunion COVID-permitting, and if COVID is not permitting, then, at least, reading the class notes people submit.” Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, see Charles Greenfield ’68 Ransom School. See page 45. 1971 REUNION YEAR Class Agents: Mark Harrison (adevco1@msn.com ), David Skipp (dfskipp2001@yahoo.com ) Alexander Jones writes, “I have been enjoying a crazy year in retirement with the coronavirus lockdown. Oldest daughter Catie married Julian Moore on December 19, masked and socially distanced! My invention (for enhanced screw fixation in compromised bone) received FDA approval in May and was awarded Best New Spine Technology 2020 in December. Looking forward to seeing old friends in the near future.” Michael Erickson’s family in 2008 (L-R): Michael, Kelly, Brett and Wendy Michael Erickson’s family in 2020