Sudden Sibling Sadness

Two of our class members recently experienced the loss of one of their siblings.  Kathy (Smith) Tassler lost her sister Donna Nagel (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/donna-nagel), while Karen (Thysell) Borsay lost her brother "Rusty" (https://brookingsregister.com/article/joseph-thysell-jr-thibodaux-louisiana).

Donna's two daughters, Danelle and Denise, were students of mine many years ago.  It was enjoyable talking with them  at the visitation. There were numerous people in attendance, as both Donna and her late husband Dennis, were well-known in the community. 

Also at the visitation was Mr. Walder, who had also taught Danelle and Denise. He and I reminisced for many minutes, as we had not seen each other for quite some time. 

Donna and Dennis were quite active in the local car club.  Dennis, owner of a local body shop, was a key member (founding father?) of that organization.  That group has put on a local car show in early June for a number of years, and has attracted many beautiful classic cars.  From our class, Emmett Earley, Bob Ishmael, and Tom Salonen have displayed their classy machines at this festival.

(Want to post a picture of the poem with her obituary notice, but the blog will not allow it.  Will try later, as this computer sometimes acts irrationally)  One day later and it works.  

About 30 years ago, Kathy's children Charles and Jessica were also students of mine, although I did not make the connection at the time.  Charles was a student during the 1991-92 school year, while Jessica was a student the following year.  

Two summer ago, our parish priest asked me to assist him on his home visits.  One of the stops happened to be at Kathy's residence.  Unfortunately, Kathy and I were not able to reminiscence very much, as there were many other individuals we needed to see in a rather short period of time.

Passing away suddenly was Karen (Thysell) Borsay's younger brother "Rusty" (Joe, Jr.) (https://brookingsregister.com/article/joseph-thysell-jr-thibodaux-louisiana).  As the obituary states, the family moved to Brookings in 1965.  Karen's father worked at the Insect Lab north of town.  As many Brookings students worked summer jobs there (including yours truly), we became somewhat acquainted with the scientists and technicians there.  During my tenure there, I did not work directly with Dr. Thysell, but it seems to me that Alan Leibel's brother Jay was assisting Dr. Thysell in his wheat research.  

Our condolences, thoughts, and prayers go out to Kathy and Karen at the loss of  their sister and brother.

Impromptu Gathering

 September 16, 2022 featured an impromptu gathering of a five "miscreants"(?) from the classes of 1968 and 1969.  We had to meet at Pizza King's, as it was the only pizza place in town back then.  

A great discussion took place, while much "wisdom" spewed forth from our voiceboxes.  Our English and speech teachers would have been proud.

    

A Memorable Matriarch

 Our class experienced the loss of another of our wonderful parents with the recent passing of Hazel Hauff (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/hazel-hauff).  At her funeral, the testimonials by her grandchildren and a family friend were very poignant, indicative of the character and personality of Hazel.  One of my first thoughts after hearing of her life is "When did she find time to rest?"  She always seemed to be on the go, and if she was not physically active, she was mentally active, as she read numerous books.  She would frequently check out as many books from the library as the rules allowed. 

As one reads her obituary, one notes that she and her husband owned and operated The Advertiser.  Anyone remember that weekly little paper?  Did it also come with The Messenger? Both of them contained, if memory serves correctly, advertisements from local businesses and individuals.  

The Advertiser today is still around, although the name has been changed to The Town And Country Shopper.  When her husband passed away, Hazel sold the business  to a fellow named Larry Ammann.  Our slo-pitch team played against his team (called Hamm's, as in the beer) in the early 70's.  Larry is a good friend of our family, and his presence at the funeral was very much appreciated.  Also in attendance were Rick and Peg Wenande.  Rick was a long-time custodian at the high school, while Peg was a nurse at the hospital.  Since Hazel was a devoted volunteer at the hospital, it is likely that she and Peg were good friends and well acquainted with each other.  On a side note, both Larry and Rick have been very involved in amateur baseball in Brookings for a number of years.  Larry would often print a program that contained pictures of that summer's teener, legion, and amateur teams.  Included in the program would be pictures of notable teams of previous years.  Some went at least as far back as the 40's.  Every few years there would be a photo of our 1965 teener team that won a trip to the national teener tournament in Hersey, Pennsylvania.  

Hazel was truly a remarkable woman, and a role model for humanity.  Growing up in the era in which she did greatly shaped her values and her faith. She certainly lived as she believed.  Our condolence, thoughts, and prayers are with the family at this time.  

 

Was It A Memorable Summer?

Now that Labor Day has come and gone, summer is unofficially over.  While school has been in session for a couple of weeks, it seems that "back in our day," school started after Labor Day.  In any case, the quiet days of August have given way to the hectic start of another school year.

One of the more pleasant happenings this summer was reacquainting with amateur baseball and some classmates.  We were able to attend most of the Brookings Cubs home games this season.  Their schedule was somewhat abbreviated, as there were some nights, due to conflicts, not enough players were available to field a team, whether for the Cubs of the opposition.  Because of scheduling conflicts, the Cubs were not at their best for some of their games.  They might play terribly, but then turn around and play magnificently a week later.  They finished on a high note, garnering second place in the State tournament. 

There has also been much construction activity around town this summer.  New roads are being built, as the housing boom is spreading rapidly to the south.  Many homes are now encircling the areas that once had country schools.  Taylors and Christies had farms there when we were in school.  Those areas are now dotted with homes.  Since Brookings cannot expand to the north, as the university has most of that land,  south  is about the most feasible direction to expand.

A new interchange is being constructed near the golf course.  That project will connect directly to Aurora, so that those who work at Daktronics, Larson's, Twin City Fan, and other business on the east side of Brookings will no longer have to take Highway 14 to get to work or to come into town.  

Lastly, and unfortunately, we have lost a number of outstanding people that may have played a part in our lives.  My comments on most of these will be limited, as links posted to their obituaries usually contain the necessary information to summarize their lives.  

In no particular order, those who have passed away Lyle Allison, Barb Borstad, Judy Schutjer, Jo Ann Satterlee, Royce Emerick, Ken Ivers, Mike Carpenter, Jim Martin, John "Red" Schoon, June Helsper, Patricia Buri, Rachael Grothe, and Orville Gab.

Lyle Allison (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/lyle-allison)  Would he be a relative of Marilyn of our class?

Barb Borstad (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/barbara-borstad) had a number of daughters, most of whom were a few years older than we were.  One of them married Sid Bostic, the SDSU (at that time SDSC) basketball player who made a desperation half-court shot that helped the Jackrabbits win the small college national basketball championship in 1963, our 6th grade year.  He husband Benny worked at Kjellsen Chevrolet for a number of years, and sold me my first car in 1967, a 1954 Chevy Bel Air.

Judy Schutjer (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/judith-schutjer) was quite a bit older than we were.  Her brother Gary played on the 1962 bobcat basketball team that won the state championship. He was a first team all-state player, and played college ball at Huron College.

Jo Ann Satterlee (https://www.eidsnessfuneralhome.com/obituary/jo-satterlee) was the wife of Jim Satterlee, well-known sociology professor at SDSU.  Were any of us in his classes?

Orville Gab (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/orville-gab) was a well-respected geography professor at SDSU.  His children were students of ours many years ago.  

Royce Emerick (https://www.eidsnessfuneralhome.com/obituary/royce-emerick)was a long-time biochemistry professor at SDSU.  His son was a couple of years younger than we were, and was a fine cross-country runner at BHS.

Ken Ivers (https://www.eidsnessfuneralhome.com/obituary/kenneth-ivers) was another long-time professor at SDSU.  He was most known for his work as a counselor.  His wife taught Home-Ec in the Brookings school system.  For a few years, she was in the classroom right next to mine.

Mike Carpenter (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/michael-carpenter) was quite a bit younger than we were.  Most of us, particularly the boys, were more familiar with his father Roger.  Roger was a tremendous fast-pitch softball player.  He also played city league basketball.  In the 70's, he and Mr. Walder, our junior English teacher, had had some fierce battles playing in the old Armory downtown.  

Jim Martin (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/jim-martin) was the husband of Reyna, the PE teacher when we were in school.  Before Title IX in 1972 mandated equal opportunities for girls in athletics, Reyna had initiated girls athletics in Brookings.  There were gymnastics and track and field competitions for the girls while we were yet in school.  The Brookings Registers of that era have a number of articles on the success of the BHS girls in those competitions.  One name that instantly comes to mind is Jackie Ramey.  She was way ahead of her time.  Some of her efforts in track and field still rank among the best in the history of BHS athletics (https://cg111.k12.sd.us/GirlsTop10.htm). 

June Helsper (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/june-helsper) was the mother of Rich, who was a year behind us in school.  During our senior year, Rich asked me if he could borrow my car (the 1954 Chevy that Benny Borstad sold me) during the noon hour.  I was trusting, so allowed him to do so.  When I went out later to drive home, the gas pedal was stuck, so it was obvious that Rich had really revved up the engine.  No damage was done, though.  

John "Red" Schoon (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/john-red-schoon) was a long-time resident of Brookings.  I first knew him right after high school graduation while working at the Insect Lab north of Brookings.  "Red" had quite a history.  Even though he had little formal schooling, he was one of the smartest men I knew.  As he told us, "I did not have money to buy new things, so I learned how to fix up the old ones."  He had a great mechanical aptitude, and was very creative in his problem solving.  He was able to save the Insect Lab a great deal of money with some of his clever ideas and proposals.  In recent years, he helped me improve the performance and safety of my old classic car.  He loved to take rides in it.  We even went to a car show in Nebraska a few years ago when he was still in good health.  A couple of months before he passed away, we went for a nice drive around the county.  He knew so many of the people who lived in the area, as he also had a sodding and tree planting business on the side.  He might recall how he planted so many spruce trees at a certain farm, and that the owner wanted them planted too close together, eventually killing some of them off.  Recently, I had asked him if he wanted to go for a cruise.  He was unable to go, as he had fallen that morning and did not feel right.  The last time I called him was on the afternoon of July 22.  There was no answer, so I had strong inkling that something was wrong.  Little did I know that he had passed away that very day.  

Patricia Buri (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/patricia-buri) is probably not a name that is familiar to us.  Her maiden name was Anderson, and she graduated from BHS in 1962.  Her father Walt worked at Bozied's Conoco for a number of years, and later was employed at SDSU.  We often saw him in the "Barn" when we were in college.  As her obituary states, she returned to Brookings in 2014.  At the time of her passing, she was living at the United Living Community near Pioneer Park.  She was friends with "Red" Schoon, who was also living there.  In fact, she happened to be waiting outside for a friend to pick her up when I came by to give "Red" a ride around the county.  She said she wanted a ride in that car some day.  We promised her that she could go with us the next time we went cruising.  Unfortunately, that next time never came.  

Recently, we mourned the loss of Rachael Grothe (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/rachael-groethe), mother of Kathy of our class.  Kathy and I had an enjoyable conversation at the visitation and funeral.  As her obituary states, Rachael graduated from BHS in 1938.  A little research indicated that Mr. Les Horrigan and Mr. Virgil Bell were teachers at the time,  Bob Coffey (from whom the name "Bobcats" was derived) was the coach, and Agnes Schlender was the secretary.  Miss Schlender was the secretary for a long time.  She lived in the house right next door to ours on third street.  Coincidentally, I purchased that house in 1977.  

In the 1938 yearbook, Rachael is nicknamed "Rae."  Her activities were Orch. 1, 2, 3, 4 (1st violin); Senior Sports Society 4 (SSS was a sportsmanship club); Latin Club 2,3,4 (Miss Briscoe was not the teacher then); Pit Orchestra 4; Student Council 1,3.

Some of the students in that class were Evelyn Algra (when were in grade school, there was an Algra that lived near us on 2nd street near the viaduct); Meryl Beals (any relation to Clara Beals; Clara lived in a rather delapidated house near the swimming pool; we thought it looked haunted); Art Behrend (he was a good athlete, and the husband of Barb, "Lefty" Johnson's secretary for a number of years); John Bibby (local businessman); Don Biggar (father of Dave and Doug, who were a little older than we were? His picture looks remarkably like his son Dave's); Myrth Rae Chester (we would know her as Mrs. Brchan, typing teacher, long-time librarian at Brookings Middle School, and mother of Julie, a year ahead of us in school); Albert Bortnem (any relation to the Bortmens in our class?); Morrell Connelly (father of Robyn; nicknamed "Lars" and not "Buck;" he was Lord of Bobcat Day); Milton Carothers (any relation to the Carothers for whom Carothers Engineering Hall is named?); June Grommersch (she is the June Helsper mentioned above); Jim Finn (his children were about our age); Leland Iverson (don't think he is any relation); Raymond Horn (father of Ray and Sue, who were a little older than we were, and husband of Jeanette Horn, sophomore English teacher at BHS for a number of years); Cleo Kjenslee (there used to be a Kjenslee's Cafe near Montgomery Ward's many years ago); Delmer Pittenger (a brother to Richard Pittenger, Methodist minister here when we were growing up?); Duane Rude (must be part of the family who had the funeral home and furniture store); Athalyn Sanderson (any relation to the Sanderson's of our era?); Leon Steen (any relation to Teresa?); Rachel Trygstad (the Trygstad family were some of the early settlers in Brookings County; they may have originally built a "home" at the Medary settlement); Winston Ullman (any relation to Janice Ullman, the first female student body president of BHS [1951-52?].  

Each senior picture had a little poem that seemed appropriate to the student's personality.  For Kathy's mom, the poem was "Lovely to look at, Delightful to know, Pleasant to talk with, Don't you think so?"

Juniors that year with familiar names were Lynn Allison, Marshall Biggar (was his older brother Don, the senior?  Was he the father of Dave and Doug?), Bob Bishman, Claire Eclov, Delbert and Delores Gustafson, Glen Leraas, Hazel McCord, John Moriarty, Harold Niklason (Nick's Hamburgers), Vernon Norris (he was a custodian at Central for a number of years), Paul Prussman (father of Dennis of our class), Robert Stewart ("Biology Bob" and later counselor at BHS), Robert Vessey (his son-in-law Lynn Frederick was a long-time basketball coach at BHS), Clarence Egeberg (Jim's father), and Lawrence Trudell. 

Many of us remember the Junior and Senior class plays that were held in the Central Elementary Gym.  Those of us attending Central would often get to see those plays first performed in the afternoon before they would be performed for the public (would those be called dress rehearsals?). In the 1937-38 school year, the Jr. Class play was Anne of Green Gables (https://stageagent.com/shows/play/17473/anne-of-green-gables), while the Sr. class play was Leave It To Psmith [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leave_It_to_Psmith_(play)]. Those plays were discontinued when we moved to the new high school, and were replaced by all school productions. We thought the first all-school play was The Mouse That Roared  (https://www.cottagetheatre.org/the-mouse-that-roared.html; https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053084/plotsummary).  The annual states "Dramatist Present First All School Play."    David Berge had one of the four leading roles; the other three roles were filled by seniors Sherry Waltz, Butch Gottschalk, and Mark Eclov.  Other cast members of our class were Helen Sheimo, Carl Young, Jim Kohler, Patsy McKeown, Donna Reick, Kris Lyons, Janette Perso, Mike Kohl, and Alan Leibel.

Little did we know, however, that there had been at least one other all-school play performed 30 years earlier.  (Should Mr. Bell have known this, as he was a teacher at BHS then?)  In the 1938 annual, the year Kathy Groethe's mother graduated, the all-school play was The Melting Pot (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Melting_Pot_(play), performed in the Jr. Hi Auditorium (what we would know as the Central gymnasium).

Other highlights from the 1938 annual note that during homecoming week, after coronation, there was a snake dance to Bobcat Field in Pioneer Park, where the bonfire was held. On Bobcat Day, there was a free movie at the Fad Theater. The football game against Watertown was played in the afternoon at Bobcat Field.  The outcome was a 6-6 tie.  Afterwards, there was a banquet at the First Lutheran Church at Main Ave. and 7th Street (this was before the First Lutheran Church was at the end of Main on 8th Street).  John Bibby was the toastmaster, and guests were the Watertown football team and BHS Alumni. 

 Oddly enough, a hockey season was started later in February, and a few outside games were played.  Again, most of us thought that intra-scholastic hockey only started in the late 1960's or early 1970's.  Graduation ceremonies were on May 26, 1938, while senior breakfast was held the next morning.  Wonder when that format chnged.

At the end of summer, on August 27, 2022, South Dakota Basketball Hall of Fame held its annual banquet. There were several honorees from Brookings that were recognized.  The first was the Brookings Girls Team of 1985.  That year, they finished a second consecutive season with an undefeated record and were ranked by USA Today as the number 3 team in the nation.  Their coach, Jim Holwerda, had replaced  "Nig" Johnson as BHS athletic director in 1973.  That was also my first year in the system.  

Mr. Holwerda taught me a great deal about the game of basketball.  In college, he played at Kansas State, where they were a national powerhouse in the late 1950's.  He then coached high school in Kansas, before becoming the basketball coach and Athletic Director at Yankton College.  Yankton College had some outstanding teams in the late 60's and early 70's, and was one of the top teams in their division (NAIA).  He came to Brookings when he knew that Yankton College was having financial difficulties, and reasoned correcty that it would have to close in the near future. Close it did in 1984, and it is now a prison.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankton_College). A quick glance at this website will reveal some notable alumni.  

 Also honored from BHS was Jeff Booher.  Jeff's father Jim was the long-time athletic trainer at SDSU, and was a fine athlete himself.  In fact, when then SDSC won the national small-college basketball title in 1963, they had to beat Nebraska Wesleyan to earn a trip to the national tournament.  "State" barely won that game.  According to Jim, had Nebraska Wesleyan made a last second shot, they would have been going to the tournament in place of SDSC.  Jim also was a key player on the Spies slo-pitch softball teams of the 1970's.  When David Johnson of our class started the Aurora slo-pitch team composed mostly of guys in our class, we played Spies in our very first game.  The score was too much to not enough:  something like 44-5.  We had all played baseball when we were younger, but slo-pitch was somewhat different.  We used a very large ball, and played without gloves, so every time the ball was hit, there was chance that there would be a misplay by the fielder.  Eventually, we showed much improvement, and became a quite competitive team.  Rather than losing to quality teams by dozens of runs, we might only lose by one or two.  We even occasionally beat them, as we did win at least one tournament.  More about these outstanding basketball players can be found at https://sdbbhof.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2022-booklet-for-website.pdf

One of the older players inducted has an indirect connection to BHS.  That man is Wayne Thue.  On his same high school team was Dave Walder, one of our junior English teachers.  In his acceptance speech, he mentioned Mr. Walder repeatedly.  Many of us may not have known of Mr. Walder's prowess, but he was a fierce competitor on our city league basketball team in the 1970's.  He knew how to play physical, and did not back down from a challenge.  Thanks to his efforts, we were quite competitive for a bunch of so-called mild-mannered teachers.  

  

December 1962, January 1968, June 2022

Anyone remember where you were in December 1962?  We were in 6th grade.  The two photos below show a couple of the 6th-grade classes at Central.  

The above picture is Mrs. Walker's class.  To the best of my knowledge, the first row is Stewart Linn, Lee Colburn, Brian Johnson, John Iverson, and Larry Wilson.  The second row is Tom Osterberg, Leanne Hirschmann, Barb Hauff, Duane Larson, Jerry Moad, Janice Briggs, Donna Sloat, and Brad Rufer.  The third row is Gerry Albright, Susan Stamp, ginger Thompson, Cecilia Kellog, ??? (Debbie Shirley?), Robyn Connelly, Sonia Miller, Barb Heeren, Dan Holm, Arlan Meske, Jim Egeberg, and Mrs. Walker.  If you recognize the girl between Cecilia and Robyn, please let us know.  

There are many fond memories of those days.  Mrs. Walker was previously a language arts teacher, so she taught us a great deal of English grammar. In addition to learning all of the parts of speech, she taught us to diagram sentences.  About the only thing we did not learn was the difference between dependent and independent clauses.  That knowledge proved beneficial not only in later high school and college English courses, but also in learning foreign languages, particularly Latin.

Another benefit of her class was that we were taught how to give a speech.  Perhaps in the second semester, Mrs. Walker devoted part of Friday afternoons for this activity.  One that is clearly memorable is a speech that Lee Colburn gave on the dangers of smoking.  He had brought in a jar with a live minnow swimming casually in the water.  He then dumped the tobacco from a cigarette into the jar; immediately the minnow began swimming crazily in circles, like a car doing donuts in a parking lot. I believe he made his point about how tobacco affects our bodily systems.

Mrs. Walker also was quite trusting.  Oftentimes, especially during the cold winter months, she would allow some of us boys back into her room during the noon hour so we could play cards, usually whist.  While she went home for lunch, many of us ate hot lunch in the high school annex.  If it was too cold to play outside, we were allowed to come back up to her room to engage in our card-playing.  I don't recall if we had to sneak by any teacher who was on hall duty.  It does seem, though, that a certain Mrs. Keller was our nemesis, and that we had to wait until she had gone to the other end of the hall before we quietly hurried up the stairs to our destination.  

There are undoubtedly many other fond memories of that year.  Another highlight was learning about South Dakota history during the first quarter.  We finished off the unit by making a relief map of the sate of South Dakota out of bread dough, and then using food dyes to color in the rivers, lakes, prairies, mountains, and other topographical features.   

This picture is Mrs. Pedersen's class.  Is the first row Tom Salonen, David Hajek, David Helfinstine, and Tom Madson?  Is the second Larry Boggs, Emmett Earley, Dennis and Danny Kruse(???), Darwin Beynon, Larry Noland, Steve Wobbema, Bob Lee, and Jim Kortan?  Is the third Mary McMillan, Diane Heath, Barb Henry, Barb Allsltot, Margaret Travis, and Patsy McKeown?  Is the fourth Mrs. Pedersen, Iris Clauson, Nancy Webbenhurst, and Marily Anderson?  If those two boys in the second row are not the Kruse twins, who might they be?  If you have an idea, please let us know.

Mrs. Pedersen actually lived in Colman, and had an apartment downtown where she stayed during the week.  When we were in junior high, I would often see her walking to school from the west.  When the middle school started in 1967-68, she was a 6th grade math teacher.  I was fortunate enough to be her colleague for many years, teaching 6th grade science for about 20 years.

In 1968, Sonia Miller (from Mrs. Walker's class above), married Jim Rasmussen, BHS class of 1967.  I seem to recall that in the 6th grade, Sonia had mentioned that her sister(s?) had married at a relatively young age.  Sonia followed in those footsteps.  Although Jim and Sonia were both young, their marriage thrived.  

Below is the picture from the Brookings Register of their wedding.  It was copied from the microfilm at the public library, so the quality is not the greatest.

The Kiddie Matinees were still being held in 1968.  Notice the "Uncle Charlie Fun Show" promotion below the picture.  Was the cost still only 25 cents, or had the price increased to 35 or 50 cents by then?

Jim Rasmussen was a cousin to my sister-in-law Janet Norton.  Janet's mother was Mabel Rasmussen, a sister to George Rasmussen, Jim's father.  Mabel was married to Bob Norton, who worked at Fergen's.  Janet married one of my brothers in January of 1965.  They had four children, so their children would be first cousins once removed to Jim.  Jim's father George was head custodian for the Brookings School District for a number of years, so I became acquainted with him, too, during my tenure at the school.  George also built a number of homes in Aurora.  His son Jim must have inherited that trait, as he was also an outstanding carpenter. In any case, there is an indirect connection between me and Sonia.

I was over to my niece's a couple of weeks ago  (She and her husband have a daughter who will be a senior and a son who will be a junior).  She was notified that a terrible accident had taken the life of Jim Rasmussen.  More information would be available later, so we were not to disclose any information.  Jim certainly looks to be in great shape in this picture. 

James Gordon Rasmussen, age 73, of Boyceville, WI, passed away in an accident on June 26, 2022 doing what he loves, taking care of his land.  James was born in Brookings, SD to parents George and Virginia Rasmussen. After graduating from high school he was drafted into the United States Army where he proudly served for 2 years. In 1968 he married the love of his life Sonia Gay Miller – it was the love of a lifetime. He went on to work construction building many houses, a family, and later took a position at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater as a carpentry instructor where he worked for over 29 years in the educational program.

 

James was most commonly known as “Rass”, but could also be heard being called, “The Bull” on an occasion or two.  He loved being outdoors, woodworking, hunting and he loved his horses and dogs. Horseback riding was a great passion of his that he enjoyed doing with his wife. A favorite place to ride was in Arizona where they would spend the winter and made many friends.

 

Family was everything to Grandpa Rass.  He loved attending every event his grandkids had and could always be found helping his sons.  He was Dad, Grandpa Rass and Uncle Jim to a lot of kids who love him dearly to this day.

 

He will remain in the hearts of his wife Gay; sons Brock (Janell) Rasmussen and Jerad (Nikki Wenisch) Rasmussen; grandchildren Raelyn, Rhett, and Camille; siblings William (Nancy) Rasmussen and Donna (Randy) Risch; sisters in laws Sharon, Sheila, and Barbie; as well as many close nieces and nephews.  He will be sorely missed by many.

 

He is preceded in death by his parents, sister Marilyn (Dale) Thompson, and sister in law Beth.

 

A celebration of life gathering will be held on Thursday, July 7th, 2022 at O’Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson, WI, at 3 p.m. with a visitation prior from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.. In lieu of flowers please donate to your favorite charity. 

For those of us who knew Sonia in grade school and junior high, words cannot adequately express the heartbreak that she and her family are feeling right now.  The death of a loved one is always devastating, but is especially traumatic when that death comes unexpectedly.  Our thoughts, prayers, and deepest condolences go out to Sonia and her family at this time.  

In Remembrance

Our last post was dedicated to the memory of Marge Quam, long-time secretary to Mr. Bell, principal of BHS,  and his successors.  Marge had a long life of 94 years.  Unfortunately, I did not have a copy of her obituary that is shown below.   

Shortly after her passing, two other long-lived parents dear to us have also gone to their eternal reward.  Donna (Kennard) Steen Wallum, the mother of Gary Steen (BHS class of 1967), Craig Steen (class of 1968), and David Steen (Class of 1970), and the mother-in-law of Mary Moulton (Gary's wife) of our class, passed away at the age of 96.

Her obituary had a special meaning for me.  Her maiden name of Kennard brought back many childhood memories.  Tom Bozied and I lived near each other about two blocks south of Central Elementary.  Our houses were separated by the residence of a man named Harry Kennard.  To us, he seemed somewhat like a "Grinch."  He did not seem to take kindly to our rambunctious behavior.  In any case, there seems to be a connection somewhere.  There was a Kennard from back in 1920's that was a fine athlete for BHS.  Will have to make a visit to the library to verify his prowess.

When services were held for Gerry Albright's mother in August of 2021 ( https://classof69bhs.blogspot.com/2021/08/an-unhappy-triad.html) we noticed that Harry Kennard's grave was very close to Gerry's mom's grave.  Both of their plots include other family members as well.  

Donna's sister married Pete Retzlaff in 1954.  Pete was an outstanding football player and track and field star for South Dakota State College in the early 1950's. He helped the Jackrabbits track and field team win the national NAIA championship in 1953 (https://www.sdshof.com/inductees/pete-retzlaff/;  an internet search will yeild many more results about his life and career.  For example, he never caught a pass in college, as he was a devastating fullback, yet he earned all-pro honors as a receiver.  There are many indirect connections to our class, also.  Some of them are mentioned below).  The connections to the Steen family is shown in this grainy photo from the Brookings Register of Jan. 12, 1958: 

One of the websites states:  "Retzlaff is survived by his wife of 66 years, Patty, four children – daughters Kris Schroeder (husband George), Daniene Skean (husband Samuel), and Carol Moser (husband Dale), and one son, Jim – 10 grandchildren (Rebecca Carr, Laurie Price, Emily Jones, Matt Schroeder, Billy Moser, Kacy Brobst, Erin Moser, Benjamin Skean, Maddy Moser, and Colin Retzlaff), and 12 great-grandchildren."  Those of us who attended SDSU in 1972-3 may vaguely remember the name of George Schroeder.  He was a freshman on the basketball team when Lee Colburn was a senior.  At the visitation, he filled me in on what that season was like, and how enjoyable it was to play with Lee.  Space does not permit those stories to be posted here, but if anyone is interested, just let me know.  It would be a pleasure to rehash them.  

In 1965, our teener baseball team earned a trip to the national teener tournament in Hershey, PA.  The pre-season training camp for the Eagles football team just happened to be held there.  Bob Webbenhurst (Nancy's older brother) and Bernie Van Essen, our coaches, arranged for Pete to visit with us and give us an inspirational talk as well as autographed pictures of himself.  In his practice gear of shorts and T-shirt, his physique resembled that of a Greek god perfectly sculpted by Michangelo.   

If memory serves correctly, I believe one of his daughters was also a swimmer for SDSU.   

 

As mentioned above, her oldest son Gary was in the class of '67, the last to graduate from the "old high school," and is the husband of Mary Moulton of our class.  Her middle son Craig was in the class of '68, the first to graduate from the "new high school."  Her youngest son David was in the class of '70, a year behind us.  His wife Julie was a long-time teacher and colleague of ours in the Brookings school system. Craig and Dave continued in their father's footsteps, as they maintained the Steen Bookkeeping Services across the street from Nick's Hamburger Shop.  Unfortunately, Dave passed away unexpectedly four years ago (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/6110659).

The name "Wallum" may also ring a bell with some of us.  I believe it was a gas station between DeSmet and Huron for a number of years.  In any case, after her first husband passed away, Donna married into that family.  

Our condolences go out to the Steen family of the loss of their matriarch.  

Sadly, the community and the university lost another pillar of the community when George Duffey passed away June 2, 2022 at the age of 101.  He was a long-time professor (chemistry and physics) at SDSU.  His son Jim was a year ahead of us, while his daughter Ann was in the class of 1965.  At the visitation, Jim indicated that his father and our high school chemistry and physics teacher Guy O. Karnes were good friends. They certainly had much in common.

One interesting tidbit about Mr. Duffey's funeral is that one of the pallbearers was Gordon Niva.  A couple of years ago, I met a fellow jogger who looked familiar.  He was not, however, who I thought he was.  This gentleman introduced himself as Gordon Niva.  He attended SDSU from 1968-1972, and was majoring in engineering physics, perhaps one of the most demanding majors on campus.  Thus, he knew Professor Duffey well.  During our conversation, he mentioned some of his fellow physics majors while he was in school.  Bob Busby was whose name jpiqued my interest.  He was a great runner for the cross-country and track teams of that era.  I became acquainted with Bob my freshman year (I only ran one year), while Jim Egeberg became his teammate for three years until Bob Graduated in 1972.  He also mentioned, of course, Jim Duffey.  I knew of Jim, as he won numerous science fair awards while a student at both the Junior High and Senior High levels.

However, I was stunned when Mr. Niva mentioned that Ron Havermann was a good friend and classmate. Ron, too, was one of our good friends and classmates.  He has lost contact with Ron, but I asked him to let me know if he ever made contact with him so that we could add his contact information to our class list. 

Ron's younger brother Rick was a student when we first started teaching.  When Ron's father passed away in December (https://www.kirkfuneralhome.com/obituary/raymund-havermann;  https://classof69bhs.blogspot.com/2021/12/saying-good-bye-to-2021.html), we were able to connect with Rick and express our condolences.  He passed that information on to Ron, but we have not had a response. 

One of Jim's classmates journeyed from the Twin Cities to express his condolences to Jim and his family.  As is their habit, they met at Pizza King with a few other local classmates and enjoyed the treasures from the only pizza shop that was around in their school days.  It appears that they had a good time, as they spent four hours reminiscing and proposing solutions to the world's problems.  

Our condolences to Jim and his family at the loss of their distinguished father.  

A BHS Matriarch?

Recently Marge Quam, longtime secretary to the principals of BHS, passed away (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/marjorie-quam).  Her life story is exceptionally intriguing and inspiring.

As stated, she had to quit high school three years before before graduating.  However, she returned to complete high school at BHS when she was in her early 30's and graduated in 1962, having completed three years of coursework in only two years, while also making the National Honor Society in her senior year.  My brother also graduated that year.  I was always mystified why this older student was pictured in their yearbook.  Now we know why.  A number of our classmates also had siblings in that class.  Among them are (my apologies if any of these listed are not brothers or sisters) Nancy Davis, Julie Faust, Joanne Gustafson, Mike Harrison (his brother David was here in elementary school before moving away shortly after 1962), Marnel Hirschmann, Linda Hokanson, Jerry Koenders, Mike Mehegan, Dave Moxon, Pat O'Connell, Floyd Olson, Rodney Sanders, Priscilla Stoner, Jim Webbenhurst, and Bob Walz. 

Marge must have impressed Mr. Bell, as she was hired to be his secretary soon after she had graduated.  She then held that position for 31 years until retiring in 1993.  Like most secretaries, she probably knew more about what was happening in the school than the faculty and administration.  She knew which students were absent, habitually late for class, or even skipping.  Her skills were perhaps most appreciated and needed in the spring, when many extra-curricular activites are occurring and graduation preparations need to be finalized.  Her ability to remain calm and to hold faculty and students accountable helped make BHS an exemplary school.

She would also know what activities most of the students were involved with, as advisors and coaches would have to provide the office a list of students who would need to be excused for competitions and practices.  

Marge's husband Herb owned Herb's Body Shop, which was originally located somewhat kitty-corner form Bozied's Conoco at 6th and Main.  That business was later taken over by their son Dave, who was in the class of 1967, the last one to graduate from the "old" high school by the courthouse ( a number of us had older brothers or sisters in that class:  Jim Wright, Bob Wakeman, Brian Walsh, Ann Thysell, Bill and Bob Sturdevant, Bob Sterud, Jim Steen, Anita Sloat, Tom Simmons, Susan Robish, Jan Roberts, Steve Quincy, Joann Perso, Linda Mehegan, Ginny Marshall, Catherine Linder, Terry Liebing, Jay Leibel, Lee Kratochvil, Tony Koenders, Beth Kallemeyn, Mary Ellen Josephson, Dexter Johnson, Janice Jensen (?), Steve Holm, Chuck Hoekman, Ruth Herrig, Barb Hendricks, Pete Hauff, Brad Hamilton, Barb Davis, Brian Darnall, Bonnie Christie, Dave Cavanaugh, Richard Brown, Dave Bozied, Ralph Bortnem, Tom Boggs, Phil Bjordahl, Mary Ann Berkland, Joyce Berge, Dennis Baker, Bill Anderson, Duane Allison, and Elizabeth Ahlers.  My apologies for any errors or omissions).  In the early 70's, Dave moved the shop to South Main between the old Purple Cow and the Sioux Drive-In, and renamed the business "Dave's Collision."  Dave retired a few years ago, and his son Nate now runs the shop, which continues to do outstanding repairs.  They even restored a 1957 Chevy for a classmate of ours.   Dave is best remembered in high school as being an excellent student manager for the athletic teams.

Marge was certainly an importanteam member of an outstanding school.  As our 1969 yearbook states, "Not the biggest, but the best."  Marge Quam certainly did her share to uphold that tradition.  Our condolences to Dave and his family on the loss of their mother and matriarch.  

   

Cheaper By The Dozen?

Does anyone recall the Junior Class play when we were freshmen in 1965-66?  If not, it was the title of this post, Cheaper By The Dozen (https://www.supersummary.com/cheaper-by-the-dozen/summary/) My vague recollection of the play was that Lefty" Johnson's son Chuck played the father of a large family.  He seemed obsessed with time management, even going so far as to time how long it took for his 12 children to come out of their rooms and gather for a family function.  

Recently our class lost another one of our beloved matriarchs when Louise Beckman, mother of Ken, passed away at the age 93. 

The obituary notes that Mrs. Beckman had six sisters and five brothers, thus making her one of 12 children.  Growing up in the depression with numerous siblings, the family definitely learned how to conserve their resources and cherish what little they probably had.  Many our our parents likely experienced similar difficulties during that time.

For a number of years, Ken's father had the John Deere Dealership in Brookings.  It was located on 3rd Street between Main and 5th Avenue.  They also had a lot near the viaduct on 6th Avenue, which was across the street from  our house.  It seemed like used machinery was stored there, and it was surrounded by a white picket fence.  Right next to  that lot, near the railroad tracks, were some gasoline storage tanks that were used by the Sinclair station on Medary and 8th Street, near the college campus.  That station has been torn down, and that block is now part of the SDSU campus.  A little further to the west was a large coal pile that held coal for the power plant at the corner of 4th Street and 5th Avenue.  In the wintertime, that provided a good sledding hill for us.  In between the gas tanks and the coal pile was a wide gravel road.  In the summertime, that space became a small baseball field for some of us in the neighborhood.  Next to the coal pile was Sokota Hybrids.  In the fall, our neighborhood would be rife with the little pink remains of the corn cobs from their plant.  

Ken was, and still is, one of the brightest students in our class.  As a senior, he and Helen Sheimo were National Merit Scholarships winners.  Since he went to Hillcrest, I never knew him until we went to Junior High in 1963.  I learned very quickly how smart he was, as we were in the same classes every period.  We were also on the same baskeball teams in 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th grade, and on the cross-country teams when we moved out to the "new" high school.  Also in Jr. Hi, we had track practice at Hillcrest. I would often stop at Ken's house afterwards, which was about a block from Hillcrest, and we would shoot baskets in his driveway.  

One incident from our senior physics class with Mr. Karnes remains etched in my mind.  After we had written up and hadned in our lab reports, Mr. Karnes would often critique our results.  One time he had high praise for Ken's observations, but what impressed me was that Mr Karnes lauded him for giving a very thorough explanation of the experiment, yet using a minimum of words.  Somewhat reminiscent of the "Dragnet" television show:  "Just the facts, ma'am."

It was wonderful to visit with Ken and recall some of those earlier years.  It was also pleasant to visit with his uncle Eugene, who graduated in 1958.  Some of my siblings were about his age, so we had a few things in common to discuss. He recalled having to paint that white picket fence on the lot near the viaduct.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ken at the loss of his mother.  

Speaking of the "new" high school, there will be a school bond issue in an upcoming election.  Hillcrest may be torn down, and a new school erected just to the east, on the playground.  To renovate the school to safety standards and to accomodate more students would be just as expensive as building a new facility.  A similar situation exists at Medary Elementary, but the board has decided to renovate and expand there.  According the Brookings Register: 

School bond, Amendment C

The Brookings School District bond election asks all district voters, regardless of political affiliation, whether they approve of $32.4 million in school bonds, not to exceed 20 years after the date of issuance, to pay for a new Hillcrest Elementary School and a renovated and expanded Medary Elementary School.

The total cost for both projects will be approximately $43 million, which means the bond will not be the sole source of funding. The remaining $10 million will be paid for through capital outlay certificates, capital outlay cash, and other cash that the district has on hand.

The projected levy is 85 cents per thousand dollars in property tax valuation, which would be a universal levy for all property taxpayers (regardless of property size and type of property).

School bonds require a super-majority vote of 60% to pass.

Do you recall the cost of the "new" high school when it was built in the 1960's?

Our Condolences to Patti Davis

 Recently, the mother of Patti (Davis) Borgen passed away:  (https://www.eidsnessfuneralhome.com/obituary/delila-dee-davis).  As her obituary states, she worked at the Sawneed Hotel for a time.  When we were younger, the Sawnee was the place to stay for visitors in Brookings.  It was also the bus depot for Jackrabbit Lines, which seems to make for a logical connection.  Additionally, the first liquuor store in Brookings was located in the north portion of the building.  They were a customer on my Minneapolis Tribune paper route in the early 60's.  If memory serves me correctly, they gave me a generous (for the time) tip of 25 cents for every collection period of two weeks.  Since she then worked at the SDSU bookstore, some of us likely ran into her during our time on campus in late 1969 through the early 70's.  

Although our paths seldom crossed in junior high or high school, an event concerning Patti that is forever etched in my mind occurred during our grade school days.  A member of the fire department came to our class to give us some tips on fire safety and what action to take if a fire actually occurred.  He mentioned that we should always hang our clothes so that the hooks of the hangers faced the same way.  When he asked us why, Patti impressed all of us by promptly giving the correct response.  

Patti's older sister Barb was in the class of 1967, the last class to graduate from the "old" high school.  Other familiar names are Ahlers, Allison, Anderson, Baker, Berge, Kerkland, Bjordahll, Boggs, Bortnem, Bozied, Brown, Cavanaugh, Christie, Darnall, Hamilton, Hauff, Hendricks, Herrig, Hoekman, Holm, Ishmael, Jensen, Johnson, Josephson, Kallemeyn, Koenders, Kratochvil, Leibel, Liebing, Linder, Marshall, Mehegan, Person, Quincey, Roberts, Robish, Simmons, Sloat, Steen, Sterud, Sturdevant, Thysell, Walsh, Wakeman, and Wright.  My apologies for any mistakes or omissions.  

On behalf of the class of 1969, out thoughts and prayers go out to Patti at the loss of her mother.