Mystery Classmate #130

Mystery Classmate #130 proved a little too difficult for anyone to identify, and the Halloween costume could not have helped. He is Chris Copetas ('87).

In case you were wondering, Chris writes, “After graduating from Churchill, I attended Penn State. After five enjoyable years I was forced to graduate and I took my Liberal Arts degree to the only place I thought I could get a job, Washington, DC. After stops at The Congressional Research Service (a division of the Library of Congress) and a few private sector jobs along the way, I landed back at the Library of Congress where I work as a digital conversion project manager. My wife Kaare and I live in a quirky old house on Capitol Hill. Our small family includes one cat that we discovered under the front porch shortly after buying the house. I imagine we'll take in another small refugee this winter.

"My passion (read obsession) is playing a manic amount of softball in the spring and summer and coaching the Library of Congress softball team. The rest of my time is spent trying to teach my wife about the fascinating world of sports, doin' a bit of traveling and the endless task of keeping our house and garden from falling into a state of disrepair.

"I make it back to Pittsburgh at least once a month to visit my mom who still lives in Blackridge and to attend the occasional Steeler game with my brother Ted (’90) who lives in Cincinnati, OH with his wife and their three kids. I'm a firm believer that DC is a large extended suburb of Pittsburgh. Lots of transplants down here. There's a great Pittsburgh bar (PA Avenue Pourhouse) a short walk from my house. If you find yourself in DC and you just can't find a place to watch a Steeler or Pens game, feel free to drop me a note...

"Unfortunately I have precious few memories of Churchill High as I daydreamed my way through those three years. Must've been a residual effect of spending my freshman year at Central Catholic or the numerous blunt head traumas I received during my seasons as a tackling dummy on the football team... I don't have a website or blog but we do keep a photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/christoc/."

Kelly O'Connor guessed Jimmy Anweiler. Jerry Koutavas guessed Brad Drago, Bob Burt, Kevin Borellis or Johnny Hickey and added that Kaare must be Mary Brandenstein.

Donna Andreas Copley did not guess, but wondered just how young Chris's wife is. Joe Caprara thought that Chris looks like fellow rocker Bryan Adams.

Ted Smith wrote, “It is former principal Paul Englert and this was an exhibit at his trial.”

After the reveal, Beth “TGIF” Chufo Nichols wrote, “Wow, I would have never guessed him! I remember Chris and his brother, Teddy, were the ‘little kids’ in our neighborhood (although my sister was in his class!) and on the Blackridge summer swim team. They always had a street hockey game set up at the far end of Jamestown and we would watch them from my girlfriend, Amy Phillips (Penn Hills '89) house, scurry when the PAT bus would zoom down the street towards them. Sometimes we would LET them play Sharks and Minnows or Blindman's Bluff in the deep end of the pool, because we were so COOL!”