Bios

Howard High, Leadership Team Coordinator

Howard was part of the original team that created an official Intel Retiree Organization.

He retired from Intel in June 2006 after 27 years with the company. During his tenure at Intel, Howard held a variety of communications positions covering company products and businesses in addition to corporate capabilities such as chip design, sub-micron VLSI manufacturing, emerging technologies, environmental, health and safety, financial issues, and employee communications. He worked with business, broadcast, trade, technical, foreign, and Internet-based press in addition to industry analysts, financial analysts, and government officials.

In 1998, Howard was named one of Upside Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People of the Digital World” and was identified by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a rare breed among public relations people, a spokesman who is empowered to speak for the company.”

A few years after his retirement from Intel, Howard joined a biotech start-up called Fluidigm. He was a member of the company’s Senior Staff, the lead spokesperson for the corporation to the media overseeing the company’s corporate communications, press relations, and investor relations activities. He was a member of the team that led Fluidigm’s successful IPO effort in 2011. Howard retired from Fluidigm in 2016.

Howard and his wife (almost 40 years) have two adult children and as a family they are environmental advocates and enjoy nature, traveling, photography, videography, cooking, and exploring.

Gordon Dolfie, Member at Large

Gordon joined Intel Santa Clara in 1982 as a Financial Analyst right after graduating from UCLA with his MBA. When the Folsom site opened in 1984, Gordon was part of the first group that transferred there, and he never left during the rest of his 34-year career! Over the years he had roles in Finance, Operations, Product Marketing, Channel Marketing, Strategic Marketing, internal start-ups, and general management. One of his most unusual and interesting roles was a sabbatical coverage for the Gateway 2000 Account Manager in the mid-90s. He got to see a lot of North Sioux City, South Dakota for those 8 weeks!

Gordon retired in 2016 and joined the IRO Communications Committee in 2017 to help other Intel employees with their transition to retirement. He also regularly volunteers as a Docent at the Community Observatory in Placerville, CA showing the public the wonders of the night sky. Gordon and his wife have 2 children who live nearby and a brand-new granddaughter. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling, skiing, hiking, physical fitness, and a nice glass of wine.

Barb Frank, Site Coordinators Committee Co-Chairperson

Barb retired in 2005, after almost 30 years with Intel. Most of her career was spent in Operational Finance supporting many Profit & Loss centers at Intel. Barb moved to Arizona from Santa Clara in 1981 to start up the Deer Valley site. She spent 15 years in Arizona and her last 10 years at the Folsom site. Barb currently lives in San Francisco, within 30 minutes from her 3 children and 4 grandchildren, with her husband of 44 years. She enjoys golfing weekly with her friend who she met her freshman year at Santa Clara University. Barb was on the original team who worked with Intel to create an official Intel Retiree Organization. She was President from 2010 – 2020. In 2020, we eliminated the Board, Officers, and elections to streamline our organization and operating processes.

Cheryl Pruss, Site Coordinators Committee Co-Chairperson

Cheryl retired after 27 years with Intel, with 10 years in Manufacturing Management of Fab 2, then Fab 1, then the shutdown of Fab 3; finally ending her career as the TMG HR Manager in 2000.  Cheryl achieved some personal goals with the same determination she had at Intel.  Daily physical activity is a priority as she walks, swims, hikes, kayaks, and combines that with yoga and pilates.  Cheryl and her husband split their time between California and Costa Rica where they designed and built their own home.   She has one son and two grandchildren and enjoys discovering new interests in retirement, including serving on the Retiree Communication Committee and acting as back-up for our newsletter.

Ben Manny, Volunteer Committee Co-Chairperson

Ben retired from Intel in 2006 where he worked as an engineering manager in various systems product groups before joining the Corporate Technology Group, where he became a lab director.  He still lives within commuting distance of the Jones Farm campus.  Since retiring his primary focus has been on increasing the number of youth who pursue engineering careers.  After joining the Intel Retiree Organization he became involved as chairperson of the Health /Benefits Committee and developed a strong working relationship with Intel.  Ben recently moved his focus to chairperson of the Volunteer Committee and has many ideas on how to connect retirees to all the opportunities available.  Daily visits to the gym, travel, kayaking, reading, movies, wine tasting, grandchildren, and aging parents more than fill up the rest of his retirement days.

Annette Bachmeier, Volunteer Committee Co-Chairperson

Annette is a recent retiree from Intel Corporation where she held a number of positions within the Sales and Marketing Organization. She was most recently responsible for organizational development with a focus on implementing a culture of engagement with employees. Previously, she was a Technical Assistant to the General Manager, VP of the Sales Enablement Group at Intel, and was the Director of Global Productivity and Solutions. Annette is also very active in the local community. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the American River College Foundation, the United Way California Capital Region, and the Board President for Wellsprings Women’s Center. She is also a founding member of Inspire Giving which is a program of the Sacramento Metro Foundation and is an alumnus of the Leadership Sacramento Class of 2009. Annette is married with four grown children and seven grandchildren. She enjoys spending time on her property in Placerville, gardening, hiking, reading, and hanging out with her family.

Cynthia (Reed) Pedigo, Healthcare Benefits Committee Co-Chairperson

Cynthia (Reed) Pedigo retired in 2016 after 20 yrs. primarily in start-ups some of which include: F16 Public and Community Affairs; the global Education Group; Talent Acquisition international recruitment; and F68 Dalian, China: developing Intel’s first ex-pat ecosystem to meet operational deadlines.  The latter included developing an international K-12 school, a western-style medical clinic, and housing for an expatriate population of 1,000 in a Tier 2 city in China.  It was in this role she developed an interest in health, welfare, and benefits.

Cynthia is a “rain-bird” spending time in Seattle and Austin and travels frequently. She serves on several boards and as a consultant to the University of Texas MBA School on global business affairs.  She loves to hike, garden, dance, and create fun, especially with her 5 grandchildren.

Gail Womack, Healthcare Benefits Committee Co-Chairperson

Gail retired from Intel in 2013 after a long career in roles ranging from manufacturing operations (sustaining, ramps, start-ups) to global human resource management to diverse business operations. She had the opportunity as the global operations staffing manager to collaborate with and align on strategies and metrics at Intel sites around the world. In an ex-pat capacity, Gail oversaw efforts that supported both the shutdown of a site (Cavite, Philippines) and the startup of one (Dalian, China).  In Gail’s last position prior to retirement, she managed an international team supporting the transfer of technology from Assembly Test Development to Intel’s Assembly Test sites around the world.

Currently, Gail enjoys travel and maintains a long bucket list of travel destinations.  She’s taken up social dancing (Argentine tango) and seeks out milongas (Argentine social dance events) in every country she visits.  In her spare time, Gail volunteers with a private not-for-profit organization (ARCA) that provides services for children and adults with intellectual, developmental, and cognitive disabilities.  She joined the board in 2019 and is excited to work with Cynthia as co-chair of the Health & Benefits Committee providing benefits to both Intel and the retiree population.

Debbie Watson, Communications Committee Co-Chairperson

Debbie retired from Intel in 2007 after 23 years at Intel. The first 16 years were spent in various engineering groups, primarily project and program management. Eventually, I moved over to Human Resources and managed small service groups. Since retiring, Debbie has been involved in the Intel Retiree Organization with a passion for helping to improve the Intel retiree experience.

Kathy Powell, Communications Committee Co-Chairperson

Kathy retired after 35 years at Intel.  For the first 19 years, she worked in engineering in various capacities, and then moved into HR, specifically working in learning and development-related roles. Retirement was short-lived as she quickly discovered that she wasn’t quite ready to embrace retired life. She’s very fortunate to have found a post-retirement dream job that is part-time and extremely flexible, allowing time for travel and enjoying family and friends. She still has close ties with Intel as her daughter works in Finance, and with her work on IRO’s Communications Committee.  She’s learned a lot about the ins and outs of retirement by volunteering to monitor the IRO Mailbox. After working many years with Debbie Watson, both at Intel and on the Communications Committee, she has now joined her as co-chair of this dynamic group.

Deborah Wright, Discounts Committee Chairperson

Deborah retired after 23 years at Intel (1993-2016): 4 years in Finance followed by 3 years in Intel’s Customer Support managing External Communications for the Year 2000. Once she had figured out how to meet an immovable deadline, she managed ISMC for 5 years and then Intel Capital’s Global Summit for 10 years. During her retirement, she has increased her volunteer work, with a focus on young adults as a CASA volunteer, teaching assistant, and Sierra Club ICO outings with high school students. She also volunteers in the Dirty Knees contingent at Gamble Garden.  She enjoys handling retiree issues with Discounts, and editing/rewriting the discount web pages.

Bob Starkston, Website Committee

Bob retired after 32 years of various engineering and management positions in packaging technology development in Chandler. He is an avid road and gravel cyclist, community volunteer, and webmaster for his wife’s historical fiction author website, www.JudithStarkston.com, as well as the websites of a handful of non-profits. Bob and Judy relocated from Chandler to Davis, CA in 2021 and are proud grandparents to their new grandson. Bob co-chairs the website committee with Rich Bergin to bring us the latest Intel retiree news.

Renee Levin, Arizona Site Co-Coordinator

Renee Levin joined Intel Arizona in 1995. She worked in Components Automation Systems (CAS) for 18 months and then moved to Public Affairs (PA). She spent the remainder of her career in PA until she retired in 2021. While in the organization, she held a variety of roles from admin assistant to rideshare coordinator to Intel Involved program manager to community affairs manager. The work she did with schools and nonprofit organizations, including United Way, and coordinating 17 charity motorcycle rides, was the best part of her job.  Renee now works at the Arizona Educational Foundation, where she’d previously served on the Board of Trustees for over a decade, continuing the work she loves: engaging students in STEM and ensuring all students receive a quality education through her work as Equity Champion.

Dan Howard, Folsom Site Coordinator

Dan is an active supporter and volunteer of non-profits in the Sacramento region, specifically: Loaves and Fishes, Meals on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, and Lilliput Children Services. Dan lives in the Sacramento area with his husband of 20+  years (+ 1 dog and 2 cats) and has 2 married daughters and 4 grandchildren who reside in Vermont.

Dan joined Intel in 1980 in Fab 4 in Oregon in Wet Masking and later spent some time in a Data Validation role in SC3 before he transitioned to the Folsom Campus and developed a broadly diversified IT background.    Dan spent 25 years in the Business Operations role and retired in 2016 as a Senior Technical Program Manager and the IT Engineering CSI (Continual Service Improvement) Manager.

Gina Trujillo, New Mexico Site Co-Coordinator

Gina joined Intel NM in 1988 as an Operator in the then brand new Fab 9.1 and within two years, worked her way into the Yield Dept. She started as a Backend Integration Technician on processes 648/650, then the engineer, moving to each new process through P1263.  In 2007, company and site moving and shaking moved her to Lithography as a Layer Owner, then to CMS as the WIPCo engineer.  In 2009 during another layoff, she decided a “backup plan” was in order and went back to school earning her A.A.S. in Health Information Technology graduating summa cum laude while working the night shift.  By 2013, retirement plans were being offered, so Gina chose her 25-year anniversary to retire.  After a stint with a local hospital, she went back to working part-time for her financial adviser.

Gina also cares for two disabled friends and is very active in the community.  In her “spare time”, she volunteers for several organizations, such as NM’s largest no-kill pet shelter and the local Animal Control; a driver for Meals on Wheels; a local food and clothing bank; etc.  Gina is single and since retirement, has been involved in the IRO.  She took on the site coordinator role when the previous one left as Gina wanted to keep the NM IRO going and help improve the retiree “fan base”.

Greg Anderson, New Mexico Site Co-Coordinator

Greg joined Intel in 1993 and retired at the end of June 2016, spending his entire carrier in the New Mexico site.  He began his carrier in site Automation and basically worked in that area through the years, although the organization changed names (MIT, IT, etc). He volunteered to replace Mark Jurkowski as co-coordinator at the end of 2019.  Greg and his wife Vanessa travel a lot and Greg is a model railroad hobbyist.

Judy Goodman, Member at Large

Judy joined Intel in the early 70s in Santa Clara before moving to Oregon, where she now lives.  After 12 years of working at other companies, she was rehired in 1988 into Marketing and retired from Marketing and Sales Training Management in 2003.  Since joining the Board in 2005, she has been a catalyst in expanding the Oregon-centric group to the entire US and has been instrumental in recruiting new members.

Tonni LeBaron, Santa Clara Site Co-Coordinator

Tonni worked at Intel for 39 years.  She started in Procurement for Memory Systems, managing multiple commodities including construction with the highlight being the building of the D2 fab.  She transferred to the Intel Inside Program managing suppliers and programs.  After 4 years Tonni moved to Corporation Field training managing the Sales Conferences of up to 1400 employees and the suppliers that supported the conferences.  Her 13 years was with Customer Support as a Crisis Manager and Supplier Manager managing Worldwide Technical Call Centers. Tonni has also been coordinating the annual Memory Systems reunions for 25+ years.

Cindy Romero, Santa Clara Site Co-Coordinator

Cindy began her career at Intel one month following her college graduation in 1978. She worked in a clerical position supporting the HR Manager for the Memory Systems Operation in Sunnyvale, CA. After 18 months, she moved to College Recruiting in Santa Clara supporting NCG hiring for several groups and universities. She then moved into Compensation for the Santa Clara site analyzing market data for potential changes to pay rates and salary ranges, and made recommendations for Focal budgets. Cindy then created a college recruiting program for newly graduated Technicians. Business Group support roles included Fab 1, California Technology Manufacturing Human Resources, and support for newly acquired groups. She then moved into the Corporate Services Construction Group as an embedded resource, retiring from Intel in April, 2009.

Cindy returned to Intel as a contract employee supporting Immigration and Staffing projects. Following her second departure, she continued to work in HR with other high tech companies, health care, and construction. She is now happily retired in San Jose, her hometown.

Paul Betti, Massachusetts Site Coordinator

Paul joined Intel in 1998 when the Digital Semiconductor facility in Hudson was acquired. His primary role was as a process engineer at Fab 17 working in the Diffusion and Implant functional areas. He also had the good fortune to be part of the site’s Emergency Response Team (ERT), lead the Intel Involved volunteer team, drive numerous safety initiatives and work with the team to plan the many end-of-life celebrations for Fab 17. Paul retired in 2016 after spending 31 years at the Hudson facility.

Paul still works full-time as a Training Coordinator for the State of Massachusetts and is still actively volunteering for 2 local food pantries. Paul still lives in Hudson and is married with one adult child. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling, playing golf, playing softball, and shooting pool.

Casper Helmer, International, and Facebook Administrator

In September 1984, Caspar and his family relocated to England where he worked as a technical marketing engineer promoting Intel systems and introduced Intel’s first LAN-based capabilities in Europe. When Intel divested from the Network Services Division, he joined IT and was involved in the deployment of collaborative and mobile computing capability to the European sales force and established Intel’s eBusiness application systems integration capability in Europe. Before retiring in 2006, he was an IT Systems Architect focusing on developing Intel’s mobile application architecture. Caspar holds an MS degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering. He and Jan currently reside in Ramsbury, England. He has retained his Dutch citizenship and forthrightness. They have raised four children and are grandparents of two fantastic grandsons.  They are now enjoying these family treasures and continue to support them with individual advice and other family services as needed. “Jan and I are actively involved in the Church, our local schools, and village life.  We jointly manage and enjoy our earthly wealth: our family home, some rental properties, and other investments.”