aisaes.orgAISAES Alumni Network - American International School

American International School / American Embassy School -- New Delhi, India AIS/AES Alumni Association, Inc., SAD NEWS I am sorry to have to let you know that my brother Christopher Mandros (AES Class of 1981) passed away last month (June 2020) from complications of Covid. We had some really lovely messages from his AES friends, who were very supportive of both of us. You may post my message on our alumni FB page and website for Chris' AES friends who have not heard yet. I will send you his obituary when it is available. All the best from - Lesley Mandros Bell (AES Class of 1985) Chris Mandros was a good friend and a classmate of mine. He is the fifth person in our class of "43 students from 34 nationalities" that has passed away. In February, another classmate named Andrew McLaughlin passed. Chris was one of the most brilliant people I was lucky to come to know. He and I remained friends years after India, and I spoke to him just last year before he was put back into Johns Hopkins for both a wound infection from previous surgery (which never healed) and blood infection. While under care at Johns Hopkins for four months, he developed Covid-19. Strong willed and I am sad about his death as are many of our mutual friends and classmates. - John Shafer (AES Class of 1981) SAD NEWS Andrew Fletcher McLaughlin (AES Class of 1981) of Blair Road passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on February 17, 2020, at the age of 56. He was the husband of Tina Fuchs. A notice of his death said “Andrew was born in Falls Church on July 22, 1963 to Miriam and Robert McLaughlin. He proudly served in the US Army and later became a civil servant with the US government in various senior federal law enforce- ment capacities, culminating as the Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, Office of Investigations (OI) at the Export and Import Bank of the United States. He was scheduled to retire March 31, 2020. He was looking forward to retirement, sailing the seas and exploring the world, and was taken from us all too soon. He was a fantastic host and generous to a fault. Andrew is survived by his wife Tina, his mother Miriam, sister Kristin and many loving aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, and his cherished dog Ceilidh. Funeral services were private and his interment is planned at Sarasota National Veterans Cemetery, where his father is buried. A celebration of life is planned later in the year. -- SAD NEWS On the morning of June 11, 2020, my best friend and AIS Delhi alumni, Linda Fejfar (AIS Class of 1974), passed away. I am grateful for 48 years of friendship and mem- ories. - Marsha Tucker (AES Class of 1975) CONGRATULATIONS, AES CLASS OF 2020 Thank you, Sona (PSA Member), for sharing your posting with us! "Rewinding to the lead up to the Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2020. Thank you AES HS Administration for adding the extra sparkles to the celebrations in the form of cake deliveries to all students who were in Delhi and the wonderful photo gallery on the Tiger Turf. The joy and big happy smiles on the faces of our children say it all!" The AIS/AES Alumni Association (and Network) welcomes our newest alumni, the Class of 2020 ! Watch the Youtube video of the AES Class of 2020 Graduation Ceremony UPDATE FROM ALUMNI MELISSA MILLER ALOT HAS HAPPENED! I lived in India from 1960-62 and attended the old Taj school while there. Since I last posted anything many years ago, a lot has happened to me. I turned 71 this past April; my sister Melinda (AIS Class of 1965) passed away in 2017; and I have a boyfriend of four years. I moved to Pleasant Hill, Caifornia, in 2013; I wrote a book about my life overseas; and I live in an apartment for older people. I am very happy and content. - Melissa Miller (AIS Class of 1967) SAD NEWS We are sad to report the death of beloved AIS/AES English teacher, James R. Pepperling, Jr. on 11 April 2020. Rest in peace, Mr. Pepperling. You will be miss- ed by all of us. Please click on the link below for more information. Forbes Funeral Home Obituary COVID-19 PROTOCOL Remember to wash your hands! In March, before the lockdown took affect, one of our Tiger Cubs gave AES Director, Jim Laney, Jr. a personal demonstration on the right way to wash hands and to greet each other at this time. TRIBUTE TO SUNIL MAHAJAN It has been a week since we received the very sudden and sad news about Sunil Maha- jan's (AIS Class of 1974) death. His sister, Anju Mahajan Narang (AES Class of 1978), received a beautiful tribute to Sunil from his college friends--all whom lovingly nicknamed him "Woody." Anju obtained permission from Sunil's college friends to share their TRIBUTE to this great man with his AIS/AES Family. Rest in peace, Sunil. https://www.aisaes.org/2020/2020_Sunil(Woody)MahajanTribute.pdf SAD NEWS We received the very sad news of Sunil Mahajan's passing on 1 April 2020. A very big loss for our Class of 1974 and the entire AIS/AES Community. May you rest in peace, Sunil. His sister, Anju Narang, gave us permission to share her post. "Sunil, I didn’t get to see you. I didn’t get to say goodbye. You’ve gone so suddenly that it’s hard for me to believe. Rest In Peace, my dearest brother. You fought your battle bravely till the end and I hope you are now with Dad and Mom like you wanted. And I hope Happy and Daisy are by your side again. Forever in my heart now. I’ll always miss you. Love you, Sunil" THINKING OF YOU The AIS/AES Alumni Association board would like you all to know that we are thinking of our members, friends, and families--around the world. Our hearts and thoughts are with you all. Please click on image for enlargement PICK ME UP Covid-19 Semi-Lockdown, PICK ME UP , From Orchestra Naif A timely vid from Orchestra Naif -- "Pick Me Up" -- a blues that goes bananas. Performed by Joel Baird and Jeff Campbell , both AIS Class of 1973 (with studios in Vermont and Rome, respectively). Special appearance by Jeff's son, Cameron, who currently lives and performs in Goa. Dance party! For more music videos from Orchestra Naif, please go to our Music page. ALONE TOGETHER COVID-19/2020 Pandemic/Stay Home Six feet apart. Or six miles apart. Or half a world away. We stand with you - UNITED in spirit - as our nations fight the worldwide corona virus and we can return to our once-normal lives. Stay well. Stay safe. ENJOY A WONDERFUL TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE Many thanks to photographers, Taka Yamanouchi and Tim Brown (both AIS Class of 1970), for years of taking AIS/AES photos and to web editor, Mary Williamson, (AIS Class of 1974) for posting their photos (and many, many more) over the years on our alumni webpage. For those of us hunkered in our homes due to the COVID-19 Pandemic , there's a wonderful trip down memory lane waiting for you on our alumni site, including a library of AIS and AES yearbooks. (https://aisaes.org/yearbooks.htm) All our online yearbooks are easy to download if you'd like and at no cost to you. Now is a good time to explore, enjoy and share the journey! In addition, you'll find AIS photos online that were contributed by alumni, Suzanne Fricke, Barry Rogers, Joe King and many more at https://aisaes.org/AlumniPhotosOnline.htm CHANGING OF THE GUARDS posted 7 November 2019 The Board of Directors is excited to introduce the new Association President, Katherine Arens (AES Class of 1979). Katherine joined the board as a Director in April 2017 and became Recording Secretary in October 2018 before being elected as President. When asked how she felt about her new role, she replied: "It is a bittersweet moment in the life of the AIS/AES Alumni Association. Retired President, Mary Williamson , was a dynamic, actively-engaged leader and an inspiration to this association and me personally. I look forward to working with the association board and getting to know you all. If you are interested in working with us, let me know! If you have ideas about the 2021 Reunion - or you want to join the Reunion Committee - let us know! We'd love to hear from yo...