Gus Adams, Sad and Glad

Monday, June 8, was the visitation and funeral for Bob Gustafson.  Among those from our class paying their last respects were Emmett Earley, Vern Olson, and Dennis Prussman.  Bob had typical interests of someone of our vintage.  His entertainment tastes ran to the Minnesota Vikings football team,  westerns and war movies, and the music of our generation, especially Motown.  He also enjoyed playing video games with his children.  Additionally, he was noted for his generosity with them, riding bikes to the park and playing friendly games of catch.  Bob's little league team was the Giants.  Mine was the Dodgers, so we squared off against each other a number of times.  The Giants-Dodgers professional baseball rivalry extends back over a century; ours was just a smidgeon in comparison, but those days were memorable.

Bob's older sisters were somewhat older.  One sister graduated in 1966, a year in which some of our siblings also graduated.  Another was a few years older yet.  Bob had served some time in the Army right out of high school.  He then worked at the Dakota Inn, right across from the swimming pool.   It was there that he met his future wife, and developed his well-known culinary skills.  He was noted for coming home from work at the street department (in the summer, we would see him painting the crosswalks) and preparing  a delicious supper from scratch in less than an hour.

The American Legion  provided the military honors at the conclusion of the service.  Our condolences and prayers go out to Bob and his family.  He was a wonderful family man, and will be missed by many.  http://rudesfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/RudesF1/obit.cgi?user=05340031_RGustafson


This afternoon, June 10, Bob Adams treated a number of us to some Nickburgers.  He made a special trip to get together with classmates and teachers from our era, especially some of those players/coaches from our 1968 basketball team.   In attendance were Jim Kortan, Bernie Hendricks, Steve Hayes, Sandy Frie, and Skip Webster.  We talked mostly about our athletic teams, in particular the 1967-68 basketball season, which culminated in a state championship for the Bobcats.  Bob had been a member of the two previous Bobcat varsity basketball teams, and noted that the attitude going into his senior year was much different than the previous two years.  Those teams really struggled, but in 1967, we had a new school, a new coach, and a promising group of juniors.  Bob recalled how, even though we lost our first game by about 10 points, he sensed that the season would be successful.  Was he ever right!

In addition to the basketball tales, a number of football sagas were also remembered.  Steve Hayes has practically a photographic memory of what happened back in those days.  His recall is astounding!  We are hoping to meet informally whenever the occasion arises.  In a couple of years, it will have been 50 years since those memorable days.  Perhaps a reunion will be in the works for the 2017-18 school year.

For those of you on Facebook, you may see some photos of this informal get-together on that site.  One of the attendees said that they would be posted there.