A Pearl Harbor Survivor Passes Away

Our prayers, thoughts, and condolences go out to Pat Mehegan and her family, whose father Jean Mehegan, passed away on June 26, 2013, at the age of 93. 

His complete obituary can be found at  http://rudesfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/RudesF1/obit.cgi?user=1021322Mehegan .  About a year and a half ago, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader had a wonderful article on  five South Dakota survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack of Dec. 7, 1941. From the blog  dated Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011, "Included among those is the father of Patty Mehegan. He is now 91. He was living north of Brookings, somewhat toward the Oakwood, I believe. I am not sure if he still resides there. He was quite active in the tennis leagues when he was a few years younger, also, and rather competitive in his age bracket. The entire article can be found at http://www.argusleader.com/article/20111204/NEWS/312040028 "  Mr. Mehegan started Medary Acres Greenhouse, a business that is still going strong today. I believe they even have a 1950's era pick-up truck (Chevy?) that is used to promote the business, and may even be used in making deliveries.  When we were younger, the business was at the edge of town. Today, however, as Brookings has expanded southward, Medary Acres is in the same location, but is well within the city limits, and is bustling with activity during the spring months. 

Also passing away recently was Helen Hemmingsen ,  I believe she was the aunt of Donna Rieck Christensen.  If anyone knows if this is incorrect, please let me know.  Her complete obituary can be found at http://eidsnessfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/Eidsne1/obit.cgi?user=1017094Hemmingsen.  Our thoughts, prayers, and condolences go out to Donna and her family at this time. 

Lost and Found

Recently received a note from a classmate concerning Patsy Bates:   " She gave me permission to pass on her  address etc.. She was in our class until the 8th grade.  She went to a private Catholic school for her high school years. She is married to Curt Hadland, they live at 15280 Pilar Road N, Scandia, MN 55073. Her e-mail address is: pat.hadland@frontier.com. She is retired and has had an interesting career. Feel free to contact her for more information."  A number of other students were classmates that year, but were not pictured in our senior yearbook.  Some of them are Margaret Albright, Diane Baird, Joan Bjordahl, Jerry Briggs, Danny Brown, Patty Erger, Sandy Gabel, Tammi George, Greg Graff, Eddie Hansen, JoAnn Hansen, Mary Hegstrom, Jill Jordan, Lee Larson, Mary McMillan, Sonia Miller, Larry Nolan, Lynette Ostermeier, Leonard Otkin, Bob Pape, Wanda Pike, Betty Rickerson, Vickie Scannell, Carol Schulz, Deborah Sedler, Christine Shaw, Debbie Shirley, Margaret Smith, Susan Stamp, Beverly Sween, Ginger Thompson, Margaret Travis, Jill Wheelborg, Larry Wilson, Steve Wobbema.  A number of these may have been here only a year or two, while others may had been classmates since kindergarten. Ginger Thompson, for example, was in my kindergarten class, while Margaret Albright, Diane Baird, Mary McMillan, Sonia Miller, and Susan Stamp were classmates in other years.  Greg Graff was in Cub Scouts with some of us.  Debbie Shirley, as well as Greg, was always part of our catechism class at church.  Margaret Travis's mother was an elementary teacher (6th grade?) for a number of years.  Anyone else have memories, fond or otherwise, of these "forgotten" classmates?

Father's Day

Father's Day was just a few days ago.  A recent post noted that Rodney Koehn's father just celebrated his 100th birthday less than two months ago.

What a fantastic milestone.  Sadly,this past Father's Day, Mr. Norman Koehn passed away.  http://rudesfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/RudesF1/obit.cgi?user=1015729Koehn  Our condolences, thoughts, and prayers go out to Rodney and his family.  Our thoughts, prayers, and condolences also go out to Peggy Bush and her family.  Peggy's mother passed away on June 11, 2013.  http://eidsnessfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/Eidsne1/obit.cgi?user=1008859WoodBush

In grade school one time (4th grade?), our class took a trip to Sunnyview, where Peggy's family lived..  I was so naive and ignorant that I thought Sunnyview was another little town, somewhat like Aurora.

If memory serves correctly, Peggy was a wonderful artist.  She especially was adept at drawing  horses.  They were so realistic!

Next year will be 45 years since we graduated.  Any ideas floating around out there about when we should get together?  Any suggestions are welcome.