CLASSMATES REGISTERED FOR OUR 55TH REUNION:

STUART AARON

NAN DICK ALEXANDER

ROBERT ALLDAY

MARY JEFFERS BARBER

DAN BEAIRD

ANN BROWN BEASLEY

ARCH BEASLEY

BARBARA HOLT BEYER

MERIDA WATSON BLACKWELL

ROBERT BLACKWELL

BETTY SUE LIVELY BLAYLOCK

DIANA AUTRY BOWSER

TERRY BYBEE

CHARLES CAPERTON

SANDRA SMITH CHAPMAN

ROSEMARY MILLS COATS

ROY COFFEE

HOWARD COMPTON

RALPH (BUD) DAU

VIRGINIA NASH DEVENPORT

CAROLYN BACON DICKSON

TISH HEARD DRINKWATER

BARBARA DUNLAP

GEORGE DUNLAP

CAROL ANN DIFFEY EBERHARD

BETTY BROWN ELIASON

FRANK FINKS

KAY COLWICK FISHER

CAROL PENLAND FLEMING

SAM GOTTLIEB

TOM GOWAN

JEANNIE GRIFFIN-PETERKA

CAROLYN REGISTER HAKE

SANDRA HAMPTON

OLAN HANKINS

MARYLLYN POWELL HARGRAVE

TOM HAROZ

MARTHA BOWSER HASTEDT

JUDY CALMES HAWKINS

CAROL HOOPINGARNER HEBERT

GENE HENDERSON

WALTER HENDERSON

LYNETTE GORE HESELTON

SARAH STEEL HILL

SYLVIA STRANGE HONEYCUTT

JERRY HUBBARD

BLAKE HULL

DOROTHY SUMMERS HULSEY

MARTHA HUGHES JACOBY

JEREMIAH JARVIS

BILL JAYNES

PATRICIA SCHARF KHOURY

ANN LACK

PHIL LACK

JAMES LAKE

JUDY HATFIELD LAMBERT

DOROTHY HILL LA ROCCA

LEN LAYNE

WILLIAM MCRAE

BOB MARWILL

MARTHA HUNTER MATTAY

GENE MATTHEWS

SUZANNE SHUMAKER MATTHEWS

LIBBY ROBNETT MEYERS

JUDY SMITH MOORE

PHYLLIS BURKS MOORE

GARY MORCHOWER

CAROLYN WILTSE MORTON

LINDA OKSNER

CHARLES OTSTOTT

ANNA LYNNE WHITEHURST PALMER

JERRY PETERMAN

BONNIE MCLEAN PETERSON

KAY WEAVER PETERS

DONALD POLAN

PAT MYERS POLK

JERRY PRAGER

NANCY REDDICK

PAUL REYNOLDS

DOLLYE MOSS RICHARDSON

JIM ROWALT

HUGH RUCKER

DONNA KLINGMAN RUSH

JUDY WELTON SARGENT

EVELYN DIPPEL SHAW

DON SHINE

JANET CRONK SIMONS

TRUDIE JACKSON SMITHER

TOM SOUTTER

TOMMY SPARROW

MARY MARTHA GIBSON STINNETT

GAIL LEUTWYLER STINSON

NANCY RENFER STURGES

SCOTTI ROBINSON SWEEN

AINSLIE BOSTON TATUM

GRETTA THOMAS

LAURA LOU GOYNE TOLLES

STEVE VARDELL

JUDY LOVEJOY WALKER

KAY HUGHES WEATHERFORD

CHRIS WEIL

BARBY BICKNELL WESTMORELAND

PAM POULOS WETZEL

DICK WHARTON

BILL WHITEHEAD

JIM WIESNER

JOHN (BUTCH) WILLIAMS

SICILY STERLING WILLIAMS

MARCIA LONG WINKLE

DOLORES MCCLAIN WISE

STEWART WOODWARD

STEVE ZAREFF

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Four new members added to Reunion Committee

In a move to garner some fresh ideas (and to correct a June/January class and gender imbalance) four new members were added to the HPHS Class of 55 Reunion Committee in time for a meeting at Libby Robnett Meyers home on May 28. The four are Bill McRae and Hugh Rucker (June class) and Robert Allday and Phil Lack (January class). They participated actively in the discussions, asked good questions and made valuable suggestions.

Howard Compton, Jerry Prager, Libby Meyers, Nan Alexander,  Bill McRae,  Mary Barber,  Hugh Rucker, Ann Beasley, Sam Gottlieb, Kay Peters,  Robert  Allday, Bev Coben,  Bob Marwill, Trudie Smither, Phil Lack, Dorothy Hulsey

Not pictured:  Tish Drinkwater, Linda Oksner, Barbara Saffle, Kay Weatherford

Look at Classmate News for more about our classmates by clicking on that link below. And please send your news and photos to Trudie Jackson Smither. Right now photos must be sent in digital format. We are unable to use prints.  Watch for the next newsletter!

Latest News

From Bob Marwilll:   You all may be interested in the following item in the Texas Exes electronic Newsletter, posted today:

Martha (Bowser). Hastedt, BA ’59, MA ’62, Life Member, and her oncology nurse, Marie Hayek, both received national recognition when an essay Hastedt wrote for CURE magazine won Hayek the 2011 Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing.       (Oct. 31, 2011)

An Interesting Story from Kay Peters

Nancy Reddick heard the story of our daughter Shannon and her husband Alan’s trip to Italy recently where they went to the site where my brother crashed his plane on 4/22/1945.  He flew a night fighter, Black Widow, in WW II.  This happened when the Air Force, in its infinite wisdom, sent out black night fighter planes on a daytime mission.  He was 20 when he crashed in a field in northern Italy, having been hit by German fire from a boat on the Po River.  When we were in Europe on two occasions, had a car, total freedom to wander, with no itinerary, my parents never thought to tell me that they knew exactly where my brother was shot down.  I was so little when it happened, and for the last four or five years of his life he was at A&M then in training, so I really don’t remember him at all.  When my sister died a few years ago, we discovered all of Sonny’s letters home, as well as official Air Force maps showing exactly where he crashed.  Charles googled the town of Reggiolo, where there was only a “chamber of commerce type” and a restaurant website.  He emailed both, and the manager of the restaurant – who spoke no English – gave the email to a history professor who brought his wife there to dinner one night.  The professor knows some English, his two sons know more.  The professor, also the Chairman of Schools in the town, had written a history of the town.  In his book my brother’s name appears.  They knew who he was because of his dogtags, which someone hid from the Germans (they are looking for them now – it was the parent of one of the villagers who hid them, now deceased, but their children still live in the house, so we are hopeful).  They buried my brother there, then after the war ended, the Air Force sent him home.  The professor emailed Charles, asking for my brother’s birth date, his full name, and a picture.  On April 25, Easter this year, the town of Reggiolo put a bronze plaque honoring my brother on the wall of their wonderful old crenelated castle in the heart of town, next to the big marble slab with the names of their townspeople who died in the war.  There was a band, an unveiling (I now have the Italian flag they had over the plaque) and quite a ceremony, as well as a couple of newspaper articles.  When Alan put together a beautiful video – it’s what Alan does for a living, lucky us. (I’ll try to send it to you, and for some of you it may be the second time – forgive my memory) and sent a copy to Reggiolo.  They were touched, and asked us to put flowers on his grave for them.  Shannon researched, and we put white roses on his grave (at Sparkman Hillcrest) for Italy, along with yellow roses for Texas, as well as Italian and American flags.  Alan sent that video to Reggiolo as well.   When Shannon and Alan arrived in Reggiolo, they were greeted with open arms and hearts.  Franco, the professor, had discovered that there were six surviving people in town who were actual witnesses to the crash.  They were 7 – 13 years old at the time, some playing in the same field, some in the farmhouse next to it when they heard the loud noise and ran out to see the plane on fire, coming right at them.  He had arranged a lunch to get acquainted, a meeting with the witnesses whom they call the “bambinos” and insisted that Shannon and Alan stay overnight in their home.  For the “bambinos” this was a very emotional experience, because it seems that no one has ever asked them to tell their story and it has stayed with them all these years.  One can only imagine the impact such a thing would have on a child!  When Shannon and Alan arrived, there was a newly planted yellow rose bush under Sonny's plaque, and a white one under the marble one.  What an experience!  We have exchanged many gifts, emails and more with this amazing group of new friends.  If we ever again cross the pond.....

Nancy has a friend that writes for the Dallas Morning News, and the bottom line is that the article will be in tomorrow’s Sunday edition (August 14, 2011)on the front page of the Metro section. 

K

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Congratulations to classmate Gene Henderson who will be married on Saturday, April 30, 2011, to Inga Adams.   Inga was born in Latvia and moved to the United States in 1951.  Her father is an engineer, and she has lived in Minnesota and Kansas.   The wedding, attended by family and very close friends, will take place at their home on Lake Dallas.  May they be blessed with health and happiness!  (April 17, 2010)

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Congratulations to classmate Bud Toole who has been named a Distinguished Alum of HPHS!  The awards ceremony will be April 29, 2011.  It is not too late to call the HPHS Alum Association and make a reservation.  (April 17, 2011)

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IF YOU WERE NOT AT THE REUNION SEPTEMBER 24-25, 2010, WE MISSED YOU.  HERE IS THE PRAYER OF INVOCATION  OFFERED AT THE BANQUET SATURDAY EVENING:

MOST GRACIOUS GOD:

ON THE OCCASION OF THIS 55^TH REUNION OF OUR HIGHLAND PARK HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1955… OUR HEARTS ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE YEARS SPENT AT HIGHLAND PARK;  FOR THE INSPIRATION AND LEADERHIP PROVIDED BY OUR TEACHERS, COACHES, AND ADMINISTRATION;  AND FOR THE MEMORIES THAT  ILLUMINE OUR LIVES…

BUT ESPECIALLY WE THANK YOU FOR THE LIFELONG FRIENDSHIPS BEGUN AND NURTURED AT HIGHLAND PARK….

CONTINUE IN US THE LOVE OF LEARNING, OF TRUTH AND OF BEAUTY, OF KINDNESS AND COMPASSION WHICH NEVER CEASES, THAT WE MAY ALWAYS HONOR THE YEARS WE SPENT AT HIGHLAND PARK… 

AND FINALLY ON THIS EVENING, WE ASK THAT YOU BLESS THIS FOOD TO OUR USE AND US TO YOUR SERVICE…

FOR IT IS IN YOUR MOST HOLY NAME WE PRAY,   AMEN

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