LATE NEWS: Sharon Irene Squibb Brown 10/16/1935 - 6/23/2007 Known as "Shug" to many, passed away after a brief battle of lymphoma cancer on June 23, 2007 at the age of 71 with her loving family by her side. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Sharon graduated from Lincoln High School in 1953, and married her high school sweetheart, Don in 1955. During her 51 years of marriage she raised two children and enjoyed working 30+ years at the Lake City Elks Club. Sharon was known for her kind, caring, generous heart and strong Catholic faith. She lived for her family and loved the outdoors, her cats, and gardening. Sharon will be greatly missed and forever remembered with love by her husband, Don, her daughter, Kathy, son, Dan.

Spring 2007

Hello Classmates: Hope you all had happy Christmas Holidays and now we are looking forward to spring!

I received a wonderful email from Bill Furbush. Bill remarried June 10,2006. Congratulations Bill and Debbie! They have built a new home at Heritage Ranch Golf and Country Club in Fairview, TX near Dallas. Bill and Debbie have organized a ballroom dance club at Heritage Ranch with 104 members. Bill taught dancing in college and teaches now for their club. I asked Bill if they allowed Belly Dancing and he said absolutely. In fact, they had some Belly Dancers at their club. They got Bill into their routine and balanced swords on him! That sounds wilder than the Senior Assemblies where Fred Wright entertained us!

Information was received concerning Mary Fowler Trimble and her new career as an author. Mary was Secretary of the Girl's Club at Lincoln. Her interest in writing was a result of sailing the South Pacific with husband Bruce. Bruce takes photos for Mary's articles. Mary has had articles published in many magazines. She has authored two novels, "Rosemount" and "McClellan's Bluff". Mary is also active in Red Cross work. (Read more about Mary and Bruce on Class of 53 website).

The All Class Lincoln High Luncheon is scheduled for June 2, 2007 at the Elks Club in Lake City. Our class is in charge this year. Bill Koons is chairman. Speaking of Bill, I was looking through some photos and saw one of Bill and Denny Clark in big saddle shoes. Mercy Me!! They surely did look sharp. Denny, if you saved those shoes you could wear them when hosting at Mariners games!

Lincoln High School will be 100 years old this year. The Alumni Association is planning a number of events to commemorate the centennial. Lorna Tampico Hamill '77 is Chairman of volunteers and will need lots of help. Darrell Bangerter said they were considering a T-Day event in 2008. Remember the T-Day of our senior year? Don Brown was President Lincoln and Marilyn Spurr was Mrs. Lincoln. It was a great day.

Diane Linneman Bicknell reports that the Bicknells had planned to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary by driving US Route 66, Chicago to Santa Monica in their beautiful 66 Impala convertible. However, they opted for an easier way; a Trafalgar Bus trip. (Good decision! My husband and I love Trafalgar!)

In addition to Bud and Diane Bicknell, several other of our classmates are celebrating 50th anniversaries; Ron and Barb Plenge Hill, Dick and Elaine Taylor Jones, Joy Olson and Forrest Mickelson, and Hettie and Lloyd Kinner '52. The Kinner's and Bicknell's were married at Zion Lutheran Church by Gene Bensene's father.

I received a lovely email for Alvina Ellis. She wanted to notify classmates that her husband, Robert J. (Jim) Ellis had passed away January 12,2005 after losing his battle with cancer. All of our deepest sympathies to Alvina and family. Alvina says she teased him about all the dances he attended and all the different girls he dated. In all the photos taken the girls were never the same. Jim was a handsome fellow and good dancer - so all the Lincoln ladies liked to dance with him. Also, our deepest sympathy to Barbara Nelson Cheek whose husband Lee Roy Cheek passed away in 2006.

As for us here in the Ozarks, early March, it is 30 degrees at noon and sunny. I am busy with church (Presbyterian Elder), American Legion Auxiliary, Retired Federal Employees, Telephone Pioneers, etc. I was asked, with three days notice, to do a belly dance program for our church sweetheart dinner at a local restaurant. I agreed though it takes 3 days to apply enough makeup to become FADIMA. My husband "helped" - he likes to apply all the "glitter" from the waist up. We had a good turnout - about 80 -people in our group.

Winter 2006

Hello Lincoln High Classmates - or perhaps I should say "Aloha". Husband, Lyn, and I just returned from a fabulous Hawaiian Cruise vacation. We and 38 others from Mountain Home, Arkansas, flew nonstop from Daltas to Honolulu then spent 7 days on the Pride of Hawaii - Norwegian Cruise Lines new ship. It was great to be so pampered - as one of my friends said, if you wanted, the crew would even brush your teeth for you. We took in all the sights of four islands — including visits to Pearl Harbor, the Battleship Arizona Memorial, the Battleship Missouri, Waikiki, Diamond Head, various volcano craters, and Luaus and dancing. We were there during the earthquake but were not aware until watching CNN the next day. Some of my Mountain Home friends suggested I may have set off the earthquake with my belly dancing. I know many of you cruise so how about an email or note so I can report it for Totem II?

Speaking of fabulous vacations let me tell you about classmates Judy Fosse Snider and Claudia Benedict Wagner and their husbands and their trip to Australia and New Zealand. The Sniders and Wagners were married the same weekend in December 1958. The husbands-to-be, Neal and Joe met on the train enroute to Seattle. They each knew that their fiancees (Judy and Claudia) had made honeymoon plans for Harrison Hot Springs. Neal and Joe agreed the couples should get together for dinner while on their honeymoon. At the dinner Judy and Claudia recognized each other as classmates of '53. The couples have kept in touch over the years and the recent trip was a chance to catch up on news. Joe and Neal are both Lutheran ministers.

Thanks to Gail Thomas Herzog for a nice note. Gail has a nine-unit apartment complex in Everett, WA that she manages. Five units are occupied by her family members. Great for visits and family reunions!

Darrell Bangerter recently returned from a truly once in a lifetime multi-country European adventure. The adventure was made even more exciting - or challenging - by his inadvertently leaving credit cards at home.

Minutes from the LLAA executive committee meeting reported Bill Koons was named chairman of the 2007 Banquet which likely will be held in June. The class of '53 is in charge. Bill will do a great job.

Dale Gregory sent me a copy of a Lincoln High School Totem that he bought at an estate sale. An interesting and fun stroll down memory lane! My, my, how boys basketball uniforms have changed in 50 years!

On a sad note, Lawrence (Larry) David Grout passed away October 20, 2006. After graduating from Lincoln, Larry served in the Navy then in the Naval and later Army Reserves. He had distinguished careers both in the military and with the Seattle Police Department where he retired as a Sergeant after 25 years. He was called to active duty for Desert Storm and earned several awards before retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer 5.

Until next time; Please send me your news email, phone call, or US Mail.

Fall 2006

Hello Classmates! Summer has arrived in the Arkansas Ozarks. It gets quite hot here. We don’t have the cool invigorating summers here like we enjoyed in Seattle. I received the interesting email Miles Yanick promised. What an interesting life Miles has had since leaving Lincoln! I especially enjoyed the bit in May 1957 when Miles, Jack McGinnis, Bill Koons, Jack Murphy, Jack Rogers and Bill Atwell shared a big house on Lake Washington. Miles started his architecture firm in 1969 and moved his office to Bainbndge Island in 1975. He still works full time. Miles and Molly Gordon Yanick have been happily married for 30 years. Our class has, in fact, produced several great architects - Miles, Gil Braida '54 and Bob Hanna to mention a few. You may know that Bob Hanna passed away in 2003. Bob had a very distinguished career. He lived in Pennsylvania at the time of his death. Thanks again Miles for the great email.

Harlene Harvey Miller sent a nice note. Harlene attended Alexander Hamilton Intermediate prior to attending Lincoln.

Got a great note from Lawrence Vickers and wife Marlene Smith Vickers (Ballard '52). Both retired from Boeing in 1984. They have built a house at Ocean Shores, WA. They winter in Florida, California, and Hawaii. For their 50th anniversary in 2003 they took a great cruise through the Panama Canal and numerous other ports of call.

Loretta Ransom Hucks reports she is active in the Red Hat Society. She and husband Randy enjoy jazz festivals and dancing. They have 6 grandchildren and one great grandchild. Wow!

In an email from Jerry Reynolds he reported that he now lives in Montana and that his brother Jim '56 was looking forward to his upcoming 50th reunion.

John Georgeadis has moved back to Washington from Arizona.

I received a delightful card from Paul Martin '51 (aka Gene Buck). A great card! One to keep! These guys graduated before I got to meet them (my loss) as I arrived at Lincoln fall of 1951 for my junior year. Paul is curious about the current status of some of our classmates. If I can contact the classmates of interest and get their OK I will, of course, include the information in a future column. Paul always looks forward to receiving each Totem II Edition. To quote him, the Totem II is "the nation's finest paper of its kind!"

Since the last issue of Totem II, husband Lyn and I had a great trip to Portugal, Spain, and Morocco. Such beautiful and interesting countries! I even got to belly dance a little bit with the great live drum band in Tangier, Morocco at the historic Hotel El Minzah. Previous guests at the El Minzah have included King Juan Carlos of Spain, Winston Churchill, Rita Hayworth and other notables. I really appreciate hearing from you with news for this column. Please contact me any one of three ways; email, phone, snail mail address (all on the back page of every Totem II). Include a note with your Alumni Association Dues/Membership renewal form. (These notes are sent to me).

Spring 2006

Greetings Class of '53. Hope 2006 is going great for all! Everyone I have talked with sounds terrific. Thanks for the news.

I had a nice chat with Joe Murry who lives in Bremerton. I told him he sounded so young! He said he was! Joe is retired and he and Phyllis are doing fine.

Arline Shulmier Daniel lives just a block from Lincoln High. She said she didn’t get far from Lincoln. Arline is retired after working 17 years at a medical laboratory. I told her she sounded great and we agreed that Lincoln grads will just never get old. All our class members had and have such great and positive attitudes.

Our Totem II Editor Ginny Munn '56, passed along some news from Larry Bigham. Larry reported that after almost 20 years as a cab dispatcher in Seattle he was now retired and living in Loma, Montana - population about 80, not counting buffalo, horses and other animals. I found Loma on the map and it looks almost as remote and exciting as Mountain Home, Arkansas where I live! I tried to call Larry to learn more but have not heard from him at this writing.

I called Claudia Benedict Wagner who was not home but I visited with her husband Joe. They retired from the Chicago area where Joe taught at Northern Illinois University. They now live in Port Townsend. Their three adult children all live nearby in the Northwest.

I talked with Miles Yanick, of Bainbridge Island. He promises to send a newsy email; more from Miles next time.

Some sad news; Joyce Polasik Hoppe died 12/31/05. She had lived in Shoreline, WA.

Here in the Ozarks we WERE looking forward to springtime, having had mostly summer heat until this week. Then overnight the temperature went from 75 plus degrees to today's 14 degree HIGH with 6 inches of snow. My husband, Lyndel, and I are looking forward to touring Portugal, Spain, and Morocco next month. FADIMA (me) was invited to provide belly dancing and other entertainment for a SHRINER installation dinner here in Mountain Home. There were about 120 Shriners and spouses from all over the state - lots of fun. Please keep me posted on your news! Thanks much!