Rick MacMillan   

by Mary Thurman Yuhas

Since graduating from Rocky, Rick MacMillan has lived all over the country and in England (Hathersage - three hours north of London.) 

He says he loved the opportunity to see the world, but he explained, "When you live in different parts of the country, you come to appreciate very much the kind of surroundings we grew up in - a little simpler and we were forced to be a little more self-reliant because we didn't have all of this extraneous stuff going on."

If you're getting the idea that Rock Island holds a special place in Rick's heart, that would be right.  Until his mother, Sally, died a couple of years ago, he visited R.I. three or four times a year.  "There were a lot of good memories there," he said.

Rick attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH., where he received an undergraduate degree in chemistry.  After a stint in the army as an enlisted man, he returned to Dartmouth and earned an MBA.

Rick returned to New Hampshire in 1993 and has remained in the small town of Dublin since then.  "I kind of like the lay of the land," he said.

Today, the recently divorced man shares his home with his two-year-old chocolate, Labrador Retriever, Roscoe - a gift from his three children, Clarke, 30, Philadelphia, Marie, 28, Washington D.C., and Becki, 27, Brooklyn.

Semi-retired, he works part-time as a financial management consultant to small companies and organizations in the area, which leaves plenty of time for his  passion - golf.   Rick also gardens, works on home projects and serves on the boards of a couple of non-profits. 

In high school, he palled around with Riley Brissman and Bob Klingebiel and has maintained those friendships over the years.  Bob lives in New Hampshire - not too far away Rick says.  Riley lives in the Chicago area and Rick said, "I try to get back at least once a year for a Cub's game - we've spent many afternoons at Wrigley Field."

Basketball games, football games and the Friday night dances are some of Rick's favorite high school memories.  "We were just shades of innocence back then, and no one got into really serious trouble," he said.

Sixties music was something he liked then and still does.  "It's amazing these songs from our era are still very popular on the radio," he said.  He added, "I think it's a binding force with people of our generation."

Rick says how much he enjoyed the last reunion catching up with as many as possible and hopes to hear from classmates at fmac@monad.net.