Don Bosco Tech. Class of 1965.

We must have been the greatest overachievers in the school’s history or the biggest procrastinating slackards who ever lived.

Yes, the Class of 1965. Fifty-one years ago. We were too busy to celebrate our 10th reunion. Twenty came by and it wasn’t on our to do list. Ditto for 25 … and 30 … and 40 … and, alas and alack, 50. That’s right, from the day we turned our tassels to today, we have never, ever gotten together as a class!

Sure, over the years, we’ve kept in contact with some of our DBT friends. This blog has “found” others. But  it doesn’t negate the fact we have never gathered formally {or as formal as this class could ever get} to celebrate our lives post graduation, reminisce about our days in the hallowed {???} halls and classrooms we called home for four years and share our life experiences.

Mario Gillio — president of the Student Council back in those Dark Ages — and John Schilleri — our valedictorian — decided 51 years was long enough and drafted yours truly into organizing a Class Reunion. Tentatively, we’ve scheduled it for Nov. 2, possibly with a tour of the alma mater and including a sit down dinner.

Making plans, of course, is the easy part. Finding our classmates might be a little trickier. Even back in the day, we had classmates from 22 northern New Jersey boroughs, towns and cities in five counties. And we only had 70 graduates! Who knows where they are now. I, for one, have lived in six states over the past 50-plus years, currently shuttling between upstate New York and Maine.

That’s where you guys come in. We need your help tracking down the vast MIAs from the DBT Class of ’65. Back in our day, telephones were two tin cans and a piece of string. You would have gotten a blank stare with words like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or Snapchat. A smart phone was one that ate your dimes before completing a call. Yes, many of us are social media illiterate.

But not our kids and grandkids. You guys can find any thing, any where at any time. That’s what we are asking you to do … just a little electronic detective work to help us locate our long lost classmates. If you or your dad attended DBT and graduated in 1965, let us know. If your granddad ever talked about his experiences at DBT 1961-65, let us know. Same goes for friends, neighbors or co-workers.

If you have a phone (??) contact or e-mail address, please let us know so we can contact them. Mario’s e-mail is mariogillio2@gmail.com. John’s e-mail is john.scillieri@verizon.net. My e-mail is revblt@rochester.rr.com.

So, here’s our gigantic Class of 65 and where we were from at the time of graduation. If anyone can provide any updates, please, let us know.

Joe Barrise (Paterson), Danny Barteluce (Maywood), Robert Beck (Clifton), Andrew Bello (Jersey City), Dennis Besida (Saddle Brook), Rich Bottino (Little Falls), Harold Bruckner (Teaneck), Richard Connor (Rutherford), Rich Daken (Totowa), Joe Dapassano (Totowa), Carm DeRosa (Paterson), Mike Dillard (Totowa), David Dillon (Belleville), Frank (Tommy) DiStefano (East Paterson), Larry Dolan (Maywood), John Dowling (Paterson), William Endres (Fair Lawn), Leo Fitzsimmons (Paterson), Joseph Fusco (Jersey City), Jack Galoyan (Paterson), Mario Gillio (East Paterson), Bob Glinka (East Paterson), Frank Goss (Hackensack), George Hamlin (East Paterson), Frank Hanna (Paterson), Dennis Haraka (Clifton), John Hayes (Union City), Bart Iurato (Paterson), Dennis Kaczka (Lincoln Park), James Kelly (Paterson); William Klein (Wayne), Ray Konopinski (Bloomingdale), Ed Korczynski (Passaic), Ken Korndorfer (Rochelle Park), John Leibrecht (Paterson), Ray Leszczynski (Jersey City), Mike Maggi (Totowa), Robbie Maimone (Clifton), Bruce Matthew (Kinnelon), Ed McBride (East Paterson), Stephen Menconi (Clifton), Thomas Murphy (Maywood), Tim O’Brien (Paterson), Tom Palinski (Wayne), Charlie Parr (Paterson), John Paul (Clifton), George Raineri (Paterson), Daniel Rankin (Jersey City), Doug Ruland (Little Falls), Joe Sapinski (Paterson), Matt Scheer (Passaic), Ken Schroeder (Wayne), John Scillieri (Little Falls), Charles Scimeca (Fair Lawn), Vincent Seminara (Clifton), Daniel Sheridan (East Paterson), Randy Shope (Saddle Brook), Al Simmons (Maywood), Robert Simons (Kearny), Leo Sopuch (Paterson), Louis Spinelli (Paterson), Bernie Spirito (Clifton), Ray Tahan (Paterson), Stephen Varcadipone (Wayne), William Vogel (Paterson), Michael Watson (East Paterson), Joe Wos (Garfield), Jim Yamroz (East Paterson), Fred Zahn (Clifton) and, of course, yours truly (Totowa).

We want to reach as many 1965 DBT graduates as we can, but we really need your help. We want to know, also, those who have passed on so we can remember them at our reunion. There were only 70 of us. Let’s see how many we can account for.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today. — James Dean