The *WeCaTon* - West Carrollton (Ohio) H.S. Alumni News (unofficial)
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
On 25 November 2015, Bonnie Writes:
|
---As always, I'm woefully in arrears with my intentions of beginning
this
one in a more timely manner. Today's date is September 18, and I can't
even
come up with a wild guess as to when it will be distributed. It is now
a
scant 3 weeks until our alumni events, so the first part of this one
is
likely to be very old news, by the time you are all reading it. But we
shall
begin, as always, with our forwarders; 1954's FREDA P. FLETCHER;
1955's
C, ELAINE DILLARD; 1956's R. GWINN LACY, DENNIS A. MICHAEL; 1957's ERCELL
P.
PHILLIPS, RANDALL W. PARKS; 1958's BRUCE E. CHENOWETH, RONALD D. "TOM"
FEE,
RICHARD A. FAHRNEY; 1959's DIANA SUE RAY; 1960's RICHARD S. HOLT, WM.
O.
WALKER, DAVID A. BLAIR, DOLORES K. DEDE" FAHRNEY, WM. E. "BUDDY" STOVER;
C.
SUE MCCLOUD, STEVEN M. KOKOT: 1961's NANCY A. HALL, LARRY D. GILBERT,
FRANCES E.DAYSPRING, NANCY J. ERTEL, CONNIE K. STREETE, DONNA J.
RICHARDS
(yes, Donna, and it was prior to her death and the last one I ever
received
from her); 1962's BARBARA T. O'NEAL; 1964's W. THOS. GODBY; 1965's STEVEN
F.
SHADE; 1970's INDY JO GRISSOM (yeah, love that name!); 1978's LARRY
W.
HENDERSON (alumni President); and 1988's JAMES A. MAGUIRE..
So we now move to our e-mail-lost list and, as always, I depend upon all
of
you to guide me through this one and these alumni restored to our
readers
list. If you have have and update on any of them, let me know. As all are
by
now well aware, I hate losing a single, solitary one of us! So here
goes:
1954's EMMA JANE COATN
EY; 1957's SAMUEL L. WELLER; 1958's DONALD D. RICHARDS 1960's MADELEINE
D.
CAMPBELL; 1961's JUDY M. FRANTZ, NANCY L. HOHNHORST; 1962's RICHARD G.
DENNY
and classmate spouse LIELA K. GEORGE, 1969's KAREN L THROCKMORTON, CAROLYN
J
COOK, WALLACE W. ROBBINS (his class years run1957-1960, as his
interests
were far from scholastic achievements). This if far too many of our
longtime
0lder readers to lose, so let's pull together to get them all back on
the
list, please.. However, on a more positive note, we've gotten requests
to
add new readers, a happening which always amazes me, after doing
these
bulletins for 15 years. They include 1961's ANN L. HINTERMEISTER,
1962's
DIANA L. DeLONG, and 1964's SALLY JO STANSELL. So welcome aboard, Ann
and
Diana and Sally, and please keep reading. I'm always so pleased when
new
readers request the bulletins, after so many years. Actually, I'm
simply
amazed by it, and I thank you.
We also re-added 1960's IDA JANE TREON, who somehow dropped from the
list.
Sometimes, when you all send the updated or new or corrected e-mails,
my
system doesn't always read it correctly and it's dropped off the list.
So
due to that situation, this bears repeating, although I've written it
many
times, in the past. If you are on the readers list, and you go 8-10
weeks
with not a word from me, then you need to send me an e-mail to make
sure
your name hasn't been dropped. Sometimes, it's my machine, but sometimes,
it
s probably me, too. I'm not the most techno-savvy person on the globe,
so
please bear this iIn mind. Ida's situation was the textbook example of
this,
but she let me know, through classmate JO ANN K. STEMLEY, and now all
is
Well. Also, thanks to 1969's MICHAEL J. LOTSPAIH, who also took the time
to
inform me of his new e-mail.
Okay, now about this Facebook thing---I need to address that issue
again,
too. As you all know, I did not put myself on there. I've written 4 times
to
the corporate headquarters, demanding my name and all references to me
be
removed from the site. Obviously, that hasn't happened. I guess, once one
is
signed into Facebook it then becomes like death and taxes, I don't know.
But
here's my real point: If you want to post things to what is
erroneously
considered to be my page on FB, then feel free to do so. But please
don't
expect a reply to it, as I am NEVER, EVER on FB, will never BE on FB,
and
don't even know how to sign onto FB, nor do I want to learn. So my big
fear
with all these postings is that of all you are thinking I'm ignoring
them,
but in truth, I do not ever even SEE them. So I want to be sure
everyone
understands that, and no, I'm sure not angry with anyone, as I know a lot
of
you think that's really me on there. Any or all of you can feel free
to
re-cap any of my writings and/or news on there, if you like. Just please
be
aware I'm never, ever on there and I never will be.
People who posted there include someone name Harley Lee---who is this
person? I don't know anyone by that name, Laura Howard, another person I
do
not know, 1957's NEIL H. SIZER, 1959's SHIRLEY R. PARKS
, DIANA SUE RAY; 1960's EDGAR L. EDDIE" KELLY, 1961's PAUL R.
BEARDSLEY,
SANDRA E. BROCK, LINDA MELZONI (UNknowN class year0, 1961's NANCY J.
ERTEL,
1969's ROBT. E. THARPE; 1970's TERRY L. NEUBERG, and someone named
Janet
Turner. If any of you had messages which were intended personally for me,
I
did not see them, nor will I ever see them, so please resend to my
e-mail,
and thanks.
Amusingly, after the last little blip about my, "anti-Facebook," I
received
many supportive (and many of them amusing) comments from some of you.
They
included 1955's JACK L.KNIGHT; C. ELAINE BARKER; 1957's RANDALL W.
PARKS,
1958's RONALD D. "TOM" FEE, LORNA D. TROUTMAN; 1959's DIANA SUE RAY;
1961's
FRANCES E. DAYSPRING, NANCY A. HALL. Thanks to all.
Okay, it's now November 22 and how can that be? I've been overwhelmed
with
my animal rescue volunteer work and collection and delivery of loads
and
loads of items for my recently-launched clothing/shoe drive for the
underpaid and the underprivileged and am finding this effort very
rewarding.
I don't see myself ever putting an end to this, as long as I'm able to do
it
As a result, yes, the timing on my alumni bulletins has suffered. Of
course
I'm still doing my weekly news column for the local paper, too, and
a
couple ofther publications. I was also recently asked by the Sullivan
County
School system to do some tutoring in professional journalism at one of
our
local schools. Writing is my first love, so I agreed to do that, too,
at
least for a while.
Yes, my plate is very full, but that's okay. I truly believe the day we
quit
moving IS the day we quit moving and I'm resisting that, as mightily
as
possible. However, I still feel great loyalty to all of you, who have
stuck
by me for lo, these 15+ years I've been doing these bulletins. So it's
high
time I offer you my apology for the untimely delay and get back in
the
saddle and get this thing done, as we move into yet another holiday
season
and an entire new, calendar year. Can you even believe it?
Okay, I'm up to the current day now, and have decided I'm going to go
through and pull out all our deaths, in order to get those covered before
I
do regular text. Yes, I'll say it again. I hate reporting these, but
I've
now done these bulletins 15+ years, and I know everyone wants to know
about
the losses. We've had a very sad year of it, that's for sure. Here we
go,
andI I'm going back to my earliest dates, which begin in August, I think.
I
hope and pray no more arrive as I'm writing this.
The first one came on August 19 from 1964's DESDA E. DOERSAM, in which
she
reported the death of her classmate, SANDRA S. ZENNIE. Then on August
24,
notice came from 1965's STEVEN F. SHADE's notification website,
Homestead.
It was for his classmate, STEVEN MICHAEL HAUK, who died on August 22.
R.
GWINN LACY, 1956, also sent a copy of the obituary. On September 4
came
another notice from Steve for of JOHN R. MIDDLETON, 1962, who died on
September 2. Again, Gwinn followed up with a copy of the obituary, as
did
1959's GARY E. BARNES, and a reminder came from 1960's T. BARRY RUSSELLO
and
1973's JEAN ANN MILLER. On September 4, I got one from Steve for
1971's
ENRICO R. MARINELLI, who had died on August 29.
Of course, as everyone knows, we lost WC's (and probably the entire state
of
Ohio's) fastest man on two legs, 1958's BILL R. HOWARD, on September 6,
two
days shy of his birthday.. This one hit me very very hard. I'd known
Bill
for my entire life. We had spent our mutual Miami Shores childhood
walking
the streets of MS. I'd watched him do track, field and running,
throughout
my school years. We were in touch nearly every day, with silly stuff
on
e-mail. When I had to get a car from Kettering to my
house, it was he and Lucy who drove it down here for me.
So it was a rough one. Bill was a WC Pirate, through and through, and
gung-ho everything WC. It sure left a big hole in our WC alumn, the
1958
class, and the school, overall. Following his service, I got a report on
it
From his lifelong friend, WC classmate and fellow Miami Shores Kid, DONALD
I
MCCOY. Thanks for that, Don. My dear friend, BRUCE E. CHENOWETH, also
kept
me posted. Following the announcement of his death, messages poured in on
my
e-mail, with great stories of his honorable life and his achievements in
the
world of sports. I forwarded everyone the stories from 1961's PAUL R.
BEARDSLEY and 1958's RONALD D. "TOM" FEE, both really terrific and
fitting
remembrances of Bill's sport prowess. He was also a highly-
respected,
retired law enforcement officer..
Comments of admiration and loss also came from 1957's NEIL H. SIZER;
Bill's
class president, RICHARD A. FAHRNEY; 1959's SHIRLEY R. PARKS; 1960's
EULA
FAYE BAILEY, RONNIE R. WHEELER; 1961's NANCY J. ERTEL, LARRY D.
GILBERT,
JACK L. GODBY; 1963's LEE JEAN JORDAN; 1970's INDY JO GRISSOM.
The next one arrived from Steve's Homestead site on September 27 and it
was
for 1977's GLENDA FAYE RUMPKE, who died on September 26. Steve's was
the
only notice I received, but late got one from 1973's JEAN ANN MILLER..
On
that same day, I received an e-mail from the also-now-late DONNA J.
RICHARDS
1961, about the September 26 death of her lifelong best friend and
classmate, PAULA R. WILSON. I understand Paula was in an advanced stage
of
Alzheimers and her family knew it was her time. But I felt horrid for
Donna
s loss. The two of them had bedrooms in each others' homes for years.
Paula
s classmates, NANCY A. HALL, FRANCES E. DAYSPRING, and RICHARD L. DOLL
both
sent wonderful remembrances of her fluorescent smile and bubbly
personality.
Absolute shock was registered by so many, including 1960 class
members,
LINDA L. SHANK, T. BARRY RUSSELLO, and 1959 spouse BETSY R. MURPHY,
1961's
CAROL J. MUMMA, and every person in that class, I know, and several
others.
Now, of course, I like to imagine Paula and Donna together in The
Great
Beyond in their WC cheerleading uniforms, as it was but a scant 8 days
later
when Donna also died. I was first notifIed by 1962's RUSSELL L.
"RUSTY"
ELLIOTT, and I thought he surey had to be mistaken. I'd just gotten
notice
from Donna, herself, after all, about Paula dying. So I figured he'd
gotten
them confused. Sadly, I was wrong. Messages poured in again, as Donna
(and
Paula, too) had both been bright, shining stars in the high school
class,
two of the most popular girls in the late-1950s era, in fact. Now, they
were
both gone. It was unbelievable. Donna's viewing was held at Sanner in WC
on
October 8. I was there, along with what seemed to be every person who
had
ever attended WC from 1955 clear through about 1963. I couldn't even
begin
to list them all. It was just so, so sad. Yes, Steve sent a Homestead
notice
Losing both of them so close together was unreal.
On September 8, another Homestead notice arrived from Steve, this one
for
the death of 1971's JAMES R. PATTERSON, JR., who had actually died back
on
July 19 in Destin, Florida. Next was Steve's notice about 1970's JONATHAN
S
KRULL, who had died September 27. Also notifying me of that one was
MICHAEL
J. LOTSPAIH, 1969.
Then on September 29, I received notice from 1973's JEAN ANN MILLER
about
the death of her classmate, DEBRA LEE BALL. I've got not date of death,
but
it looks like the service was held on October 2, so that narrows it
down
pretty well, probably about September 28. Jean sent me quite a list, most
of
which I already had, but I'm going to go ahead and list the ones I
didn't
already mention.
Jean is reporting a death in September of 2013 for 2010 class member, name
J
J. FERRIS-MADDEN.. I have not heard of this one from any other source
and
have no further info. She also reported the September 28 death of
1972's
DANNY A. BOHRAM, who's her brother-in-law, and I've gotten no other
reports
on this one, either. In addition, she reported the death of 1989's
STACY
WOOD, and the death of 1965's MICHAEL DOUGLAS HAUK who died on August
22.
JANIE LYNN MITCHELL, 1973, died on August 17, also coming from Jean. This
is
sure getting to be a depressing bulletin, isn't it? But let me power
through
the rest,so we can move to the more pleasant news.
On September 29, I got quite the shocker when my dearl, old friend, ALICE
K.
PARKS, called me. In high school, we were inseparable and went
everywhere
together. I introduced her to her husband of nearly 54 years, ROBERT
N.
SLATON, class of 1957, when he came home on leave from the Navy in 1960.
So
when she told me he'd died on June 12, 2014, I nearly fell out of my
chair.
I couldn't believe I hadn't heard about his death from SOMEONE, in all
that
time. But I didn't. On the plus side, I was thrilled to be back in
touch
with my old friend Alice, again. We'd always gotten along famously and
it
was as though we'd never missed a beat. I was saddened, though, to hear
of
Bob's death. From 1970's RITA G. JUSTICE came words of regret about
Bob's
death, as she wrote she'd lived right across from him and Alice on Squire
St
, as a child. I also got a note of apology from 1959's SHIRLEY R.
PARKS
(Alice's first cousin), telling me she thought I'd have been already
aware
of Bob's passing, so she never thought to tell me. A similar message
came
from 1958's JAS. L. CLEARY.
One of our teachers, WM. RUSSELL SCOTT, died on October 12. This notice
also
came from Jean and it was on October 14. Steve also sent a Homestead
notice.
On October 12, from someone named Jodi Wright (?-anyone) came notice of
the
death of 1984's ELIZABETH STOWE. On October 15, Gwinn sent notice of
the
death of 1977's DIRK A. PETTIT. October 7 brought a message from Jean
again,
stating we'd lost one, EARL MITCHELL PAYNE, born in 1958, so probably a
1976
or 1977 class member.
A Homestead notice came on October 7 for the October 3 death of PATRICIA
ANN
JOHNSON, class of 1947, and on October 17, we learned of the death of JOHN
E
HAMMOND, class of 1964, on December 15, 2014. October 23 brought news of
the
death of 1973's JUDY A. SPEAKS, who died October 20, and on that same
day,
there was a notice for 1971's KATHY SUE WALTERS, deceased as of October
21.
JAS. MAXWELL FUGATE, a school board member died on October 27, as did
WM.
EDWARD COST, the director of the auditorium. The class of 1979 lost SCOTT
J.
WELLS on October 28. All these deaths came to be me from the
Homestead
listings, 1959's GARY E. BARNES, 1956'S R. GWINN LACY, 1973's JEAN
ANN
MILLER, and a couple from 1949's ROBT. E. HOFFMAN, and 1957's C. T.
"TED"
HOFFMAN. Of course, at least half the school reported on Donna and
Paula,
too numerous to list. It is now November 24 and I've received yet
another
Homestead notice, this one for 1972's MARK D. FERGUSON, who died on
November
16.
That's the last one I've gotten and I can't even believe all these
deaths.
This is very likely the saddest and most depressing bulletin I've ever
had
to write, in that regard. That leads me to my next topic, which is all
the
procrastinators (hundreds and hundreds of whom are actually living
right
there in the area, and hundreds of others who are living at least inside
the
state of Ohio), and yet do not attend the functions, even though they
admit
they'd love to see their old school pals. So many of us utter that
ill-fated
phrase, "Oh, maybe next year." Please re-read all the WC alumni names in
the
previous paragraphs. There will be no, "next year," for a single one
of
them!
We have one more issue, too. We now have a very pleasant place for
our
annual gathering, clean, modern, great food, fabulous entertainment,
great
flow, good location. Well, guess what? For 2015, we had a scant 82
paid
reservations from the 1900 (!!) reservations which were sent. The
continuance of our annual function is in grave jeopardy. Our alumni
president, who is now 1978's LARRY W. HENDERSON, informed me our
alumni
association's finances are quickly going downhill. Postage costs are
astronomical and then there are all those who come to mingle, prior
to
dinner, and then leave. We also have many who come after dinner,
too..This
is wonderful and we want to see every single alumnus we can muster, make
no
mistake. But our alumni association is in desperate need of your
financial
support, so we can continue our tradition. So how about sitting down
today
and sending a check to support our events, even if you didn't eat
dinner?
Larry said they make hardly anything on the dinners and with only 82
paid
reservations this past October, things are looking bleak for the future.
We
ve been having the dinner/dance about 22 years now, I think, maybe longer.
I
d sure hate to see it all come to an end, but sadly, that's where
it's
headed. Just think how much more stable the treasury would be, if
every
alumnus/attendee would send just $5! Wow, what a huge difference that
would
make! Of course, more would be welcome, too, but that's a start. Let's
not
let this fade into the sunset. I think all the people who attended,
without
partaking of the dinner, probably assumed reservations money took care
of
everything. However, that's far from the case, so let's get with it. Now
we
re going to head into other news and after deaths and finances, who
isn't
going to welcome that, right?
Remember our little piece on the, "one-name wonders," who attended WC in
the
mid-to-late 1950s and very early 1960s? Well, it seems a couple more
of
those have surfaced, and yes, I remembered them, once I had read them
again.
For instance, my classmate, DAVID G. OTT, was nicknamed as Zero, by
several
of his pals, who included J. PATRICK LAFFERTY, ROSS A. HODGSON, and THOS
L.
WOLF, JR. Yes, Dave, we have such fond memories of those times, don't
we?
How on earth, do you suppose, did I ever overlook one of the most
famous
ones of all, none other than the most well-known football jock and
hall-walking hunk of the entire era, none other than 1958's LANDO F.
STEELE?!? Yep, he was known in those days as Buster. Does anyone
still
address you by that nickname,
Lando? This one was brought to my amused attention by none other than
1963
s ILONA T. DEBRECINI and it comes with an absolutely great story, and
of
course, I'm going to share it with all of you. As a youngster, Lonnie
(as
she is addressed) lived on Poplar St., in WC, she wrote.Quite often,
her
babysitters were---brace for this one!---none other than Lando and
his
lifelong best pal, football,teammate and classmate, FLOYD R.
"BUBBLES"
WILLIAMS, JR.!!! I'll bet Lonnie is the only person any of us knows who
had
a pair of male babysitters known as Bubbles and Buster. She also wrote
of
them playing the 45rpm record, "Sixteen Tons," by Tennessee Ernie Ford,
for
an entire evening, non-stop. Loved your story, Lonnie! Hey, you two,
Bubbles and Buster, do you remember this part of high school? I'll bet
you
do. Thanks, Lonnie.
From 1957's RICHARD L. JOHNSON came an expression of regret for the death
of
his classmate and also childhood friend and neighbor, CAROL A. WRIGHT.
He
hadn't been aware of her death, so thanked me for letting him know.
As
youngsters, they were apparently pretty good pals.
As many already know, 1961's P. LYNETTE GARRETT sold her nice home in
Germantown and has moved permanently to her place in Henderson, Nevada.
I
hated for her to go and will miss my visits to Germantown, that's for
sure.
Before she left, she said she'd gone to Ron's Pizza where ran right
smack-dab into classmate LILY K. "KITTY" BURDETTE and her 1959 sister,
BETTY
C. BURDETTE. Lynn commented that Betty is still looking like a teenager.
I'm
sure that's true, I saw her in 2009 and she did look terrific. Lynn
also
commented on how good another classmate is looking, LARRY D. GILBERT,
whom
she wrote she hadn't seen in years. We all wish you well out there,
Lynn,
but we're not happy about you leaving us.
Thank you so much, 1954 class president, JERRY R. GRAHAM, for your
lovely
e-mail. Jerry actually wrote he wants to nominate me for the NBC News
segment called, "Making A Difference," just because I write these
bulletins.
That's incredibly flattering, Jerry, and I do appreciate your
graciousness
so very much. But I've got a feeling there are folks out there who are
doing
far loftier things than typing an alumni bulletin. However, such a
sentiment
is certainly not lost on me, so thank you again. Jerry and I discovered
we
have a few interests in common, as a matter of fact. Where were on
alumni
weekend, Jerry? I'd looked forward to seeing you, but I didn't find
you
anywhere. Were you there?
Remember my asking if anyone knew if there was more than one THOS. E.
COMBS?
Well, that issue was resolved for me, when 1961's DOROTHY M. COMBS
confirmed that the THOS. J. COMBS, who's in one of the yearbooks, is
not
related to her family. RONALD D. "TOM" FEE had thought it might have
been
one we all knew, Tex Combs, but no, it's not. That info was sent by
1961's
FRANCES E. DAYSPRING and she also wants to know if anyone out there
remembers any stories or fun things about her late sister, DEBRA ANN
DAYSPRING and her late high school sweetheart, THOS. E. COMBS, war
hero.
Tommy and Debby went together and were madly in love. Both are now
deceased,
so Fran would love to hear memories of them, as would Dorothy.
From 1963's NORMA ELYN SPEELMAN came a notice she's going to gift me
with
some Piratans. As you all know, I take any and all of them I can get and
am
constantly leafing through them for correct names and to look up much of
WC
history as I write. There are also others out there who want them and
they
sort of use me as the clearing house, in the event I have extras. So
thanks,
Elyn.I would still kill for a copy of a 1965!
With the last bulletin, Elyn also offered her gracious thanks, along with
so
many others among you---1961's JACK L. GODBY, P. LYNNETTE GARRETT;
1970's
INDY JO GRISSOM, 1954's JERRY R. GRAHAM, and then we later had even
more
folks who asked to be added. We've got 1967's HAROLD E. CODY, thanks
to
1964's RICKEY A. BUSCH. We also have 1956's R. LLOYD KRESS, who also
extended gracious thanks. I also recently added 1962's THOMAS P. THOMPSON.
I
welcome each and every single one of you.
From 1960's PHILLIP D. HOWARD and his 1967 spouse, MARIAN K.HUSSEY,
came
mid-summer reports on CHAS. A. HIGH, JR., who continues to have
endless
health problems, heart procedures, and gallantly tries to take care of
his
ailing wife. Phil spent time with him, talked with him a lot, and kept
me
posted. I talk regularly with Charlie, myself, but Phil's observations
were
person-to-person, so I was happy to hear what he had to say. It's great
that
you see Charlie, Phil, as I know you have health problems of your
own.
Thanks for letting me know how things are/were going.
We have a request for the whereabouts of 1959's ROBERT L. TANKERSLEY
from
his old high school pal, 1960's DANNY L. WALTERS. Does anyone know
anything?
I remember finding Bob and talking with him about 10 years ago. He is
a
retired police officer for Miami, Florida, and that's where I found him.
At
the time, he was in the process of moving and I'm betting he's still
somewhere in Florida. If you know where he is or how to reach him,
please
let me know, so I can put him in contact with Danny.
RICHARD S. HOLT, 1960, was curious as to whether or not our classmate,
CAROL
F. KNEAR, had died a number of years back. Yes, she died in 2006, and
he
found the obituary and yes, she's the same one who had been married to
JACOB
EBY. I'm pretty sure he's also deceased, although they'd divorced long
ago.
A lovely thank-you came from 1961's JACK L. GODBY for his November 7
birthday greeting. From Ann E. Mays also came an e-mail thank-you for
the
August anniversary card I sent to her and J. DAVID MAYS, my classmate.
I'm
thinking it was their 48th wedding anniversary. We all hope it was a
great
one for you, Annie and Dave. Another Mays, 1955's CARL R. MAYS, earlier
sent
a request for no e-mails as he and Marilyn were out of town. Hmmm,
wonder
where they went? I think they travel quite a bit. Good for them!
Alumni forms came out in August and we had a couple glitches with 1955's
C.
ELAINE BARKER, 1960's WM. M. ROHLER, and 1954's FREDA P. FLETCHER. But
we
got them all ironed and resolved and all went well. MICHAEL S. WEST,
1960,
had been expected, but instead when to Cleveland, Tennessee, to visit
our
other classmate, EULA FAYE BAILEY, who was there to assist her younger
sis,
1970's SIEMA K. BAILEY,
who was ill, and see her mother, too. But we missed you and Sally,
Mike.
A wonderful photograph was submitted by 1962's SUE LAYNE SPEELMAN. It was
of
her and all 4 of her sisters, who include twins, MERRY and SALLY
SPEELMAN,
1964, NORMA ELYN SPEELMAN, 1963, and LESLIE SPEELMAN, 1970. The
Speelman
sisters are spread out across the country, so they met for one of
their
sister weekends in Bloomington, Illinois. How wonderful that you all
do
that, Suzi. Of course, as we're all aware, the family had just one son,
the
late 1959's GEORGE SAMUEL SPEELMAN, JR., who was his class president.
Thanks
for that, Suzi.
PAUL R. BEARDSLEY, 1961, touched on an interesting piece of trivia,
about
which I hadn't thought in many decades. He mentioned the old Miami
Shores
Football Team, whose name was the Eagles. Others who played were
1958's
RONALD D. "TOM" FEE, 1962's RICHARD G. DENNY, 1961's LARRY D. GILBERT,
and
Paul says there were others, but he can't remember. Such teams were
funded
by the county and they played other teams, such as Shawen Acres. Who
else
remembers details about this team? He says they all had new uniforms
and
there was a pastor who was the coach. Thanks, Paul. Paul also wanted
to
reach 1956's JOYCE A. GEARY, and I had some info for her, but it turned
out
to be no longer valid. I do believe, though, he found her in
Centerville.
Along similar lines, 1954's FREDA P. FLETCHER wanted to know where
that
jumping site was where the late BILL R HOWARD showed the man the length
was
too short or too shallow something. Was that also in Miami Shores or
did
that occur at school? We'll likely get an answer, Freda, so hang on.
Just
like me, and probably all old MSKs, Freda drives up and down the
Miami
Shores streets on her trips to Ohio. Boy, does that ever bring back
the
memories!
There were high hopes for 1960's WM. O. WALKER and wife Karen to come
to
alumni weekend this year. I was disappointed they didn't. Texas,
however,
has had some incredibly bad breaks with weather over recent months, and
many
tragedies with flooding. I only hope Bill and Karen weren't in any of
it.
The same can be said about 1960's RICHARD L. PHILLIPS, who I really
wanted
to see, but the one who was truly gung-ho to see Dickie was 1960's WM.
M.
ROHLER, who actually drove all the way across the U.S., from Bombay
Beach,
California, in order to attend. It was his very first gathering since
graduation in 55 years. I was thrilled to see him again. He had a lot of
fun
chats with a number of people in our class and was particularly pleased
to
talk with CHAS. A "BUD" LOWMAN III, as well as with T. BARRY RUSSELLO,
CHAS.
V. CARTER, DENNIS A. ROSE, GARY L. WARLAUMONT (Gary and I have a
private
appointment to which we must attend, and it's been hanging in the air for
55
years, right, Gary?), PHILLIP D. HOWARD, STEVEN A. KOKOT, THOS. A.
YOUNG,
GERALD A. FULLER, and DAVID A. BLAIR. He wished more from our class had
been
present, but sure was happy with the ones who were.
Does anyone out there know who belongs to the e-mail address of (
judithinc@aol.com )? I've got
e-mail from this person and can't find her
anywhere on my list. I was thinking it might be 1958's JUDITH M. SMITH,
but
not sure. Let me know, if you know who this is and the class year.
Okay for you, 1961's NANCY J. ERTEL! Yep, she caught me. I transposed
the
numbers in her class year of 1961 and had her printed in the last
bulletin
as being the class of 1916. Geez! Now, why on earth would you mind
that,
Nancy? Ha! Not to worry, we all know you aren't 100+ and I'll try to do
a
better typing job. Nancy also let me know about the victory of the
Kansas
City Royals, since she sort of lives in their back yard. But in this case,
I
already knew, as I have an extremely close friend there, who had kept
me
informed of every move as they went through the World Series.
As of November 3, 1960's JUDITH A. SLIFE informed me she was preparing
to
undergo knee replacement surgery. I'm assuming it's done by now, but
no
report yet from Judy. Let us know how things went, Judy, and if you're
doing
okay, will you? We all wish you well.
Interestingly, Gwinn found an obit in September for a Joyce Amburgey
Risner
of Xenia, Ohio, and wanted to know if we're related. While I didn't
recognize the name and don't know her, I'd still say it's highly likely
we
are related, yes. It's just a matter of going back far enough through
the
old family tree to find the connection. Thanks, Gwinn.
An interesting note came from my classmate DAVID A. BLAIR, in which he
asked
me to help him remember the, "pretty, blonde girl, a bit crazy, and maybe
a
class ahead." whom he'd dated in school. Now, ol' Dave's track record
in
high school was fairly impressive, as I recall, and not all that easy
to
enumerate. But it just so happened, I was sort of chummy back in those
days
with 1959's LUCIENNE L. ENGEL. You see, that big, long, red brick
building
beside the WC VFW was my childhood home. I vividly recall helping my
father
nail down the kitchen floorboards in that house, when I was just 14.
The
upstairs north, dormered room was my bedroom.
Lucienne lived right across the street, just a bit to the north, in the
huge
old farmhouse which sat directly across from the old Dwyer Mill. Her
place
sat back a pretty long, gravel driveway, just before we made it to
the
Glen-Mar Restaurant on the opposite side of the road, then Indian
River
Fruit Market, just a fad further, and on the same side. Remember those
fresh
grain odors which were so strong from Dwyer Mill when we'd turn to the
right
beside the little spaghetti house---was it called Longo's?---as we'd
head
out from Miami Shores and enter old Route 25 to go to Woody's? Anyway,
all
that came together for me, in my long-ago memory bank, just because
Dave
asked me to help him remember who that was. Yep, I think it truly was
Lucienne, Dave, don't you? I'm pretty sure 1959's GARY E. BARNES told
me
Lucienne now lives in Arizona.
Of course, I'm very regularly in touch with my old friend, 1958's BRUCE
E.
CHENOWETH. Bruce does a lot of traveling around the country these days.
He
enjoys driving and is taking more time away from his business to enjoy
that.
Much of his travel of late has been relative to the pursuits of his
longtime
companion, 1971's PATTY JO WHEELBARGER, who's the closest thing we have to
a
triumphant contestant for the popular TV show, "Survivor." I'll put
my
money on Patty, any day of the week. In fact, Patty recently completed
the
feat of hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, start to finish. I
announced
that feat at our recent dinner/dance, in fact. I'm fairly certain we
have
another alumnus who did that, too, and I think it's DAVID G. OTT, of
my
class. Anyway, big congratulations to you both.
Bruce also wanted to reach EULA FAYE BAILEY and she's another who
changed
her e-mail address, but I got it, so I passed it along to Bruce. As
earlier
mentioned, Eula Faye was to have attended the dinner/dance this year,
but
wound up having to go to her sister's home, due to illness. We missed
you,
Eula Faye!
My humble thanks to each of you who offered kind words for my efforts
toward
those less fortunate, hungry, and homeless. These people are now
legion
among us. Just think, if each of us gives a single coat, one pair of
shoes,
one small bag of food, volunteers for two hours a week---wow, what a
difference we could make. I hope we get out there and do exactly that.
I
know most of us can. No, I'm not amazing at all, but thank you so much
for
saying that. I'm just the average person as are we all, and each of us
can
do a little bit, so let's do it!
Thank you, FREDA P. FLETCHER, JUDITH A. SLIFE, INDY JO GRISSOM, JOHN E.
CROY
SHIRLEY R. PARKS, NEIL H. SIZER, JOSEPH F. SNELL, and now, let's all
get
busy and ream out closets and really get something done!
Attention, 1962's RUSSELL L. "RUSTY" ELLIOTT! Do you have an older
brother
named Robert? A query came from 1954's JOHN E. CROY and he'd like to
know.
Along those same lines, someone wrote and said they wanted to talk with
1961
s SANDRA A. HALL, who married Rabbit, the longtime meat manage of our
Woody
s. Well, I've got the contact info, so e-mail me again, will you
please?
From 1963's SHIRLEY ANN RANKIN comes the latest health update and
travelogue
Her husband had a squamous carcinoma cancer removed from his upper lip
in
October and is now doing fine. Later in October, they took a 5-day
Disney
cruise to the Bahamas. They're back in Tennessee now, revamping their
rental
home, which Shirley says she thinks they'll no longer rent, instead
opting
to use it for her arts and crafts.
In early October, I received a wonderful e-mail from my old and dear
friend,
JOHN W. OBERLIES, JR., who was president of his 1961 class. He thanked
me
for his birthday card and also expressed great sadness for the loss of
Donna
and Paula. He wrote about how Paula was one of his first fiends at
school.
Yes, so many of us are going to feel a special sense of loss for both
of
them, forever. Very tragic. John is now retired and lives in
Indianapolis.
One loss I failed to mention earlier is that of the loss of the son of
one
of my classmates, DONALD F. CLICK.
Notice came from RICHARD S. HOLT about this one, during the first week
of
October. I know we all send our condolences to Don and his family for
this
tragic loss. Thanks, Rich.
Now get this! From 1965's DANIEL L. MINIX came my first-ever,
triple-header
Not only that, the three new readers are brothers. So we now welcome
aboard
1964's DONAL G. MAURICE, 1965's RICHARD P. MAURICE, and 1966's JERRY
L.
MAURICE. Wow, can you even imagine how busy THAT mother must've been,
with
three boys that close together? We sure hope all you Maurice brothers
enjoy
the bulletins, and I thank you, Dan, for sending them.
From 1964's RICKEY A BUSCH came a notice to let all the 1964 people know
to
contact Sharon at 937 434-5446, so you can connect with classmates.
Rick
correctly writes we're losing far too many of us, far too quickly.
Well,
this particular bulletin sure is testimony to that, isn't it, Rick?
Special thanks to you, 1955's JERRY L. DAVIS, who took my unstamped
birthday
card in the parking lot of Sanner Funeral Home and mailed it for me in
a
timely manner. That old song, "Please, Mr. Postman," will now forever
make
me think of you, Jerry. Thanks again.
So our 2015 weekend has again come and gone. Next year will be here
before
we know it. I got to town this year on October 7 and almost immediately
had
a wonderful, long, windy visit with ALICE K. PARKS, and loved every
minute
of it. I also spent quality time with BRUCE E. CHENOWETH and got to meet
his
darling, big shop dog, Willie, and wanted to bring him home. I also
visited
with SHIRLEY J. TUDOR, DEVONA S. TAYLOR, CHARLES V. CARTER, JO ANN K.
STEMLEY, and at Frisch's, we had about 16-18 members of my class and it
was
our 55th year. I wish there'd been more. I spent some time with popular
1958
class member, VINCENT A. BRODBECK and his charming SO, Brenda K.
Heiser.
GARY E. BARNES and wife Pat and I and Bruce had our usual early pizza
meeting at Ron's. I also visited the Xenia home of THOS. D. YOUNG and
wife
Sandi, both of whom are dear and special friends, and had nice visits
with
DENNIS A. ROSE and his wife, Sandy. I returned home thrilled by all those
I
saw, but saddened by those I didn't, and I don't just mean the deceased
ones
I mean the many, many who could've come, but didn't. I hope that
will
change, come next year.
This may be the longest bulletin I've ever written, I don't know, but
it
sure seemed like a challenge to get it all current. Right now, I'm
boiling
eggs for my deviled eggs, and getting ready to make dressing and a
wonderful
candied yam casserole, among many other things. Last night, I spent
hours
making several different kinds of my holiday fudge, and tonight, I'll
dress
a turkey breast and ham and will slow-cook both, throughout the night, as
I
ve done for the past 52 years.
So I wish each and every single one of you a blessed, tasty, sleepy,
football-ish, yummy Thanksgiving. I send a special happy birthday wish
to
1958's LANDO F. STEELE for his November 30 75th birthday. Stay safe
and
healthy, Lando! I shall leave each of you with my usual wish for
glowing
health, personal safety, great happiness, spiritual harmony, peaceful
serenity, and boundless prosperity. Ciao!
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