July 2, 2011:
At last the photos taken by Larry Wagle at our recent reunion at Ivar's have been posted to this website. The comments regarding the reunion shown with other news on June 16th have been included in the "Reunions" section of our website. They will be removed from Class News soon. Check out the Reunions section and the reunion photos by clicking here. June 16, 2011:
No website updates since mid-April means lots of news! But first, let your webmaster summarize his take on the recent 58-Year Class Reunion: April 17, 2011:
Those of you who have been following Art Hunt's health condition on CaringBridge are aware that he passed away on April 16, 2011 in Richmond, Virginia. Art cut short a vacation cruise in December 2010 due to various symptoms. Upon arriving home he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and three lung tumors. Brain surgery and other cancer treatments were not successful. Check out a preliminary obituary here. April 13, 2011:
Marilyn Spurr Rall passed away on April 9, 2011. Check out the obituary information we received from her husband (and our classmate) Ron Rall here. March 20, 2011:
We have lost another Lynx but not one of our classmates this time. Coach Byng Nixon passed away on March 17th at the Warm Beach Senior Community Center in Stanwood, Washington. He was 92. You will find his obituary here. March 16, 2011:
More reunion flyers have been returned. Efforts to find the missing classmates have disclosed the passing of two more members of the Class of '53. You will find what we have in the way of obituaries for them here. We lost Ronald Douglas and Wilbur Clarke in 2009. March 6, 2011:
Recent efforts to find classmates have resulted in the identification of four more classmates who have passed away in recent years. The webmaster was not able to locate full obituaries for all of them. If you have access to any obituaries, please share them.
We have added Richard Danielson, Arlene Gaskell Bristow, Louise Shapely Holm and Richard Ploof to the March 3, 2011:
Ed Bennett notified us this morning of the passing Roy Layne Ray in Everett, Washington on February 27, 2011.
We also recently learned from Chris Tollefson that her husband, our classmate James Tollefson, passed away in September 2010. They lived in Modesto, California. You may read their obituaries by
clicking here. February 23, 2011:
Last June Clint Pelto realized a lifetime fantasy and he is sharing with the readers of Totem II and
our LHS Class of 1953 website audience. Read what happened when Betty Jane came to town by clicking
here. February 18, 2011:
The reunion flyer that we sent to Ben MacWatters was returned by his wife with the notation that Ben had
passed away on October 27, 2010. Ben and his wife Rose were longtime residents of Oklahoma. Ben's obituary
may be found by clicking here. January 20, 2011:
With a little help from a friend we have learned that we lost Joan Yvonne Brockey Sullivan
in 2008 and Marcelle Jean Cole Spath in 2009. We also learned the
whereabouts of four missing classmates: Harold Dull, Lila Louise Heywood Hageselle, Mary
Carmel Blaschka Bowers and Shirley Mae Wheeler Smith.
THE 2011 REUNION - Measured in terms of the surprisingly large turnout for our 58-Year Class Reunion and by the enthusiastic smiles on most attendees we believe that it was a success! A number of classmates expressed interest in a 60-Year reunion. We even had one attendee who said, "As for my time spent there, it’s an event worth repeating annually." Another classmate reported that her non-classmate spouse, when asked if he enjoyed this reunion, responded, "YES, I did.... very...., VERY...., VERY MUCH!" (She said that she had never heard him say that about anything before!)
Was it perfect? No. The food was great in the minds of a number of classmates. But others found it uninspired, cold and in short supply at one time. Personally, I expected better. But if you went for the clam chowder, you probably were not disappointed. One attendee wrote, "The food could have been better, but who cares, that was a very small part of the opportunity to see some old friends and meet some very interesting new ones. The weather was lousy, but the fellowship was great. I'd never been to a reunion, so this was a real adventure for me. What fun to see familiar faces from the distant past. It was a good thing our youthful pictures were on our name cards. I would gladly come to the next one."
Our cruise aboard the Olympic Star was pleasant despite the inclement weather. It offered us the opportunity to socialize in a more relaxed atmosphere. And the boat picked us up at the Ivar's dock. Now that was convenient! And for someone headed south on I-5 after the event Seattle traffic was more gentle than I had expected. (Don't believe anyone who says Portland's traffic situation is better than Seattle's.)
Some may wonder why we scheduled the reunion at a venue like Ivar's with no available room that would house all of us. Frankly, we were surprised at the size of the group. We had about the same attendance as the 30, 35, 40, 45 and 55-year reunions. And this with 157 of our classmates having passed on. By the time that we realized the enthusiasm for this reunion luncheon it was too late to change venues. We really needed everyone in the same room rather than being scattered in three different areas.
All in all we have learned many things by running our own reunion (without professional help) for the first time in quite a while. We are already starting to work on the next reunion by looking for a better venue. We hope that the health of our classmates will permit a few more good reunions. We appreciate the suggestions Loretta has received. Please feel free to let us know your thoughts. I have to apologize for my personal failure in successfully forecasting the weather. Remember, I wrote, "We expect beautiful weather on that day!!"
I have received the photos from Larry Wagle and am in the process of organizing them to be posted on our class website. If you would like prints of these photos, please feel free to upload them to Costco, Kodak or some other photo processor and order the prints you desire. If any of you would like me to order prints for you, please let me know. The only cost to you will be the out-of-pocket costs - the prints and postage. I expect to have the photos posted before Independence Day.
Thanks to a great committee and for your happy participation!
Darrell Bangerter
WEBSITE UPDATES - Many areas of the website have been updated since my last email to the class. A few bios have been updated or added. The missing list has changed since we found a number of previously lost classmates. But that group has been partially offset by several other classmates going missing. We have added three more classmates to our Memoriam page: Mildred Reski Falkenhagen, John Chapin and Ruth Benedict Lotzenhiser. (See the Memoriam page here.) You will find whatever obtituary information we have here. Also, a complete obituary for Art Hunt has been added.
Also on the Recent Obits page you will find a tribute to one of our notable LHS alumni from the Class of 1941 - Norma Larsen. Okay, you may know her better as Norma Zimmer - the Champagne Lady! Judy Turner recently read Norma's autobiography and asked me if I knew a Norma Larsen from Seattle. Judy enjoyed the book.
The Address section now includes "recent" photos of Richard Aigner, Lael Bean Call, Gil Braida, Harriet Galber Gray, Henry Gee, Patricia Gilmore, Wendell Hall, Lois Robison Dawson, Betty Torkelson Paradie, Patty Whitham Kennelly, Shirley Wheeler Smith, Carmel Blaschka Bowers and Diane Lembo Talley. Check them out starting here.
TOTEM II - Our class news from the Winter 2010-11 issue of Totem II has been posted to the website. Check out the stories and
miscellaneous news by clicking here.
YOUR PHOTOS - Myrtis Rehbein Holdren recently submitted a photo and a couple of news stories from the past. Check them out at the end of our "Your Photos" section or go directly to her contributions by clicking here.
Dick Rovig and Bill Koons sent me an article from the March 5th edition of the Seattle Times. It involves mostly LHS students observing a fight near the high school. Go to the link below and see how many of the young men in the photo you recognize. When you open the article you may see a couple of old folks reenacting the fight. Just click on the "NEXT" above the picture to see the boys. Send your identifications to the webmaster so that they may be reported later. Just click on the following link to go to the story:
LHS Fisticuffs
For those who remember Maryann Cook at Lincoln, you probably saw in our obituaries that she passed away in 2006. Her son would like to talk to some of her friends from high school days. So any of you who knew Maryann please get back to the webmaster and he will put you in contact with her son.
One reunion flyer unearthed a mystery. I suppose that most of us were 17 or 18 years old in 1953 when we graduated from old Lincoln High. Did you know that one of our fellow classmates that graduated that year was actually 36 years old? A family member of this graduate returned the reunion flyer with a note stating, "Just wanted you to know that Lena passed away in 1999. Save your postage." I was ready to accept her death and report it on the website. But, I decided to check it out in the Social Security Death Index and I discovered that the Lena (Fylena DYK) who lived in Ellensburg was actually born in 1916. I decided that it was a mistake - our Fylena must be still alive but lost. Then I checked back with the relative who reported that Fylena lived in Seattle during the early 1950s and that she completed a correspondence class in 1953 to get her diploma. According to the Seattle School District Fylena was a resident of Firland Sanatorium. So, now we have Fylena Dyk, our 1953 classmate who died in 1999 at age 83. I'll bet not one of you knew Fylena. Her obituary
may be found by clicking here.
I suppose that many of you did not know that a group of our classmates never saw the inside of Lincoln High. They were patients at Firland Sanatorium who had been instructed by our teachers at Firland. Here is a quote from a Northwest Public Health history:
"Once they were well enough to move around and perform duties, patients had many choices in what they could do. Firland had a farm, large storage facilities for food and supplies, a print shop, a laundry, kitchen, bakery, mechanical arts, photography, domestic arts, barber and beauty shops, clerical work, and radio. Some were even paid positions. During the Depression, the WPA contracted with the Firland facility to train workers from the outside community to learn trades such as sewing and printing. Additionally, patients could “go” to school, studying both elementary and high school subjects—students graduated from Lincoln High School in Seattle, sometimes while still flat on their backs in bed. College classes were available as well. Instructors from all three levels regularly visited the Firland campus to administer lessons."
See also: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3928
You might like to see photos of the 141 members of the Class of 1953 who have passed on. If so, please go to the
Memoriam page.
Hopefully everyone received notice of our planned reunion luncheon celebrating 58 years since our graduation.
It will be held on May 25, 2011 at Ivar's Salmon House on Lake Union. We need all classmates to give us
an idea regarding their intentions to join us for that event. That information would greatly assist our
planning activities. Please advise the
Webmaster of those intentions.
The obituaries for Joan and Marcelle may be found by clicking here.
You will remember that we no longer publish address information for our classmates on this website.
However, if you find a friend's name in the "Addresses" section, please email the Webmaster to obtain
address information for that classmate. You can send a note to:
Webmaster