October has been a rather sad month for many of us. On October 7, Norma Ganter, the sister of Rod Koehn, passed away. Originally, the visitation was to be held on Sunday, Oct 12, with the funeral the next day. However, extenuating circumstances resulted in a delay of one week, with the visitation and funeral being held on Oct. 20.
Members of our class have extended their condolences to Rod on the loss of his sister. Rod thanks especially Walt Osterberg, Robyn Kortan, and Vern Olson for their hospitality and graciousness.
Norma Koehn graduated from BHS in 1961 (we were in 4th grade that year). Other names in that class that may ring a bell were Donna Bozied, Karen Derscheid, Jim Felt, Vivian Gustafson, Don Iverson, and Diane and Larry Kallemeyn, Judie Shirley, and Bob Webbenhurst. The superintendent at the time was Mr. Horrigan, with Mr. Bell serving as the high school principal, while "Lefty" Johnson manned the helm at the Jr. Hi. Mr. Webbenhurst was the business manager.
On the school board were Mrs. Flittie, Mr. Sundet, Mr. Shirley (Debbie's father), Mr. Christensen, and Mrs. Masson, the board president. (Mrs. Flittie happened to be a customer on my Minneapolis Tribune paper route at the time. She was quite generous with her tips at collection time.)
Some of the high school faculty that we might know were Mr. Karnes, Mr. "Biology Bob" Stewart, Miss Helland, Mr. Klassen, Mrs. Sheimo, Miss Malmstrom, Mr. Culey, Mr. Hauschild, Mr. Gibbons, Mrs. Madson, Mr. Serlet, Mr. Kleinsasser, and Mr. Norman Johnson. Listed for the Jr. Hi faculty were Miss Briscoe, Mr. Dolan, Mrs. Doris Larson, Mr. Paul Johnson, Miss LaChance, Mrs. Etta Olson, Mrs. Rodee (she also directed the Sr. and Jr. class plays), Mr. Engstrom, Mr. Leslie Peterson, and Mrs. Maxwell.
Rod's family had just moved to Brookings from Centerville in 1960. I believe Mike Marshall also lived in Centerville during the 1950's, as his father was a teacher and coach there. Even though Norma Koehn only attended BHS for one year, she was active in numerous school clubs. The 1961 Bobcat lists her extra-curricular activities as FHA, FNA, GAA, Sr. Play Production, FTA, Radio Club, and Pep Club. She certainly was not one to confine her schooling to only the classroom. Also of interest that year was a picture with the eight senior scholarship winners. Today, perhaps ten or fifteen times that number of seniors may earn some type of scholarship.
https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/norma-ganter
Our condolences to Rod and his family at the loss of his sister.
Those of us who had Mrs. Walker for a 6th grade teacher may fondly remember how much we learned from her, particularly in the area of grammar. I believe she had previously been an English teacher, perhaps at the Jr. Hi level. In any case, we learned almost as much grammar as the Sr. Hi students. About the only aspect she did not cover was the difference between dependent and independent clauses. Diagramming sentences summarized so well what we learned about grammar. (In the 1961 yearbook, Mrs. Sheimo is shown with a couple of students. On the blackboard is a diagrammed sentence.) We had to know the parts of speech of each word, and how those words related to each other. Everything had to fit logically together. That knowledge came in handy in high school, not only for English classes, but also for Latin and German class.
She also introduced us to the art of public speaking. It seems like in the second semester, we were to give speeches on Friday afternoon. Lee Colburn gave one that will remain forever etched in my mind. He had a live minnow in a jar filled with water. It was swimming around rather calmly. He then emptied the tobacco from a cigarette into the jar, and the minnow started to spin wildly in circles. Lee wanted to show the harmful effects of smoking. It was an impressive and informative for our young minds.
Our history for the first nine weeks focused on the history of South Dakota, from the early native tribes and the first white explorers and traders (the Verendrye brothers?), https://www.southdakotamagazine.com/verendrye-plate;
A few members of our class were even pictured in the 1963 annual. Some of the boys are standing at a display on the bulletin board that reads "IT TAKES TOOLS TO BUILD A FUTURE."
She told us one story about her pheasant hunting (last Saturday, Oct. 18, was the opening of the season in South Dakota). After she thought had shot a rooster that had been sitting on a fence post, she went over to pick it up. Just as she was going to grab the bird, it flew away. At least that's how I remember the story. Perhaps age has dimmed my memory. Like that rooster, has it flown away?
Thanks to Mrs. Walker for having the patience deal with some rather unruly students for that year.
A number of years ago, we invited Mrs. Walker to one of our reunions. She had moved to Miller, SD, after her one year of teaching in Brookings. Her husband, who was also the 7th grade health teacher, had accepted a principal job in Miller (some of the members of the class of 1968 remember him). Thus, the move there. I believe he then became a principal in Platte, SD. (Dellas Cole, long-time sportscaster for KBRK, grew up in Platte, told me he knew Mrs. Walker. He may have even been one of her students.) While she was appreciative of our invitation, she was unable to attend. Her husband had passed away, and she would be unable to obtain transportation to Brookings. She did, however, send best wishes to us, fondly remembering her short stay in Brookings.
Sadly, she passed away this past summer (https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/audrey-walker-obituary?id=59020177). One member of our class thought that one of their children was born around 1963, the spring of our 6th grade year. However, the obituary seems to suggest otherwise. Could that be a misprint, misreading a 3 for an 8 when the obituary was published?
Another shock to us in Brookings was the sudden passing of Steve Berseth. He was a teacher, coach, and activities director in the school system for 39 years. He arrived here in 1972 to replace Mr. Dolan, who had become the assistant principal to "Lefty" at the middle school. I became acquainted with Mr. Berseth because he and I refereed the sophomore basketball games that season. For the 1973-74 school year, Mr. Berseth's wife was hired to teach middle school PE, while I was also fortunate enough to start my career in the school system.
Mr. Berseth became activities director in 1992, and held that position for about 20 years. He started the BHS athletic hall of fame, and strove greatly to promote the Bobcats, not only in athletics, but in all extra-curricular activities, hence the title of "activities director" and not "athletic director. https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/steven-berseth
Steve, other teachers (did you know that Mr. Walder, our junior English played a mean game?) and coaches, and I played city league basketball for many years. Steave and I also worked numerous track and field meets together, especially since the indoor facility at SDSU was built about a dozen years ago. He will be greatly missed in the community. The comments in the guestbook indicate what w truly fine man Steve was. We add our condolences to the family, as they have lost a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather.
Finally, October, as mentioned above, is the opening of pheasant season. It is often the month for Hobo Day. Oftentimes Hobo week festivities get somewhat rowdy or even riotous. This certainly happened 35 years ago, as this Collegian article recalls: https://brookingsregister.com/stories/fewer-shenanigans-seen-during-hobo-day-weekend-in-brookings,158217
However, things were a little calmer this year: https://brookingsregister.com/stories/fewer-shenanigans-seen-during-hobo-day-weekend-in-brookings,158217
To cap the week off, the football won and maintained a perfect record:
https://gojacks.com/news/2025/10/11/football-defense-takes-center-stage-in-hobo-day-win
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