| A special tribute to Steve & Peggy Goetz |
Special Highlight
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This time we're highlighting two more wonderful people we all got to know and love at the 8th,
Steve and Peggy Goetz. Most of us single fellows didn't get to know the wives very well, but Peggy
always seemed to me like a good-natured, lovable person. Steve, affectionately known for a while
as, "Filix," due to his courageous attempt to grow a respectable mustache, is one of the finest
fellows I have ever known. This is their story.
Steve and Peggy Goetz. Most of us single fellows didn't get to know the wives very well, but Peggy
always seemed to me like a good-natured, lovable person. Steve, affectionately known for a while
as, "Filix," due to his courageous attempt to grow a respectable mustache, is one of the finest
fellows I have ever known. This is their story.
| Steve and Peggy Goetz had been married only a few weeks when Steve arrived at the 8th in June 1969. Steve spent his early years in Fairborn, Ohio, but had moved with his family (he is the oldest of 6) to Pasadena, California, when he was 10 and considers himself a native Californian. Peggy started life in the San Francisco Bay area and moved to the beaches south of Los Angeles when she was in high school. They met when they were students at the new University of California campus in rural Irvine, Orange County, California in the late 1960s. Both had recently graduated from the university (Steve with BA in English and Peggy with BA in Psychology) when the Army took Steve. They considered the Netherlands a plum assignment considering you needed jungle gear for the alternative. Peggy and Steve remember some trying times at the 8th but both have fond memories of many of the people they met and shared times with there. It was definitely a unique time of life for them. Upon returning from the Netherlands, the Goetzes were happy to get back to a climate without a real winer in Southern California. They settled first in the beach town of Corona del Mar and purchased the house, where they still live, nearby in Irvine in 1972. The years went by. Steve taught high school English, then earned his master's degree in Cognitive Psychology and became a school counselor. Two children arrived in the Goetz household: in 1974, a son Bryan and in 1977, a daughter Anna. Peggy taught part-time and worked part-time on research projects at the university medical school but mostly was a stay- at-home mom. In 1987, the Goetzes returned to the Netherlands and lived for a year of teaching in Utrecht (just south of Soesteberg) as part of the Fullbright Exchange Program. After returning to their home in Irvine, Steve left the high school and took a position as a counselor and faculty member at a community college. About the same time Steve moved to the community college, Peggy took a job as a writer and reporter for the community newspaper in Irvine. Steve is still on the faculty at Orange Coast College. Peggy took a company buyout from the paper last fall and is now doing freelance writing for magazines. The children both have lives of their own now. Bryan works in restaurant/bars in Central California Coast area and Anna and her family (Jared and 2-year-old Peter) live in Marin County north of San Francisco. Steve and Peggy enjoy traveling in their free time. They like Mexico and visited Southwestern China two years ago. Last summer they spent several weeks in Nkandla, South Africa helping Zulu children who were orphaned by AIDS. They have long liked camping and Steve particularly loves backpacking. He and friends are hiking the entire 200-mile-plus John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Steve also enjoys winter sports of cross-country and downhill skiing. Both Peggy and Steve enjoy oil painting. You all may remember the Snack Shack at the 8th that Steve drew and painted with someone whose name he doesn’t remember. He eventually drew and published a number of pen and ink cartoons and enjoys drawing still. The stacks of books around the Goetz house are testament to another mutual interest. Steve and the children are devoted basketball fans and Steve loves his wide screen TV. It doesn't seem possible that the time at the 8th is now more than 35 years ago. As Peggy says, in her mind you are all still boys in your 20s. Dream on. Steve & Peggy Goetz |
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