So Many Recent Losses

 These past two months seem to have impacted our class rather strongly.  On May 29, 2026, Janie Wheeler, one of our 9th grade English teachers, passed away (https://www.kinkadefunerals.com/obituaries/janie-wheeler).  Her memorial service was held on July 8, 2026, at McCrory Gardens in Brookings.  Almost two months earlier, a memorial service, also at McCrory Gardens, was held for her husband Mason, who had passed away on March 19, 2026. (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/mason-wheeler).  

Mrs. Wheeler had high standards for her students.  Many of the comments from her obituary and from emails indicate that she was a memorable teacher:  "She went to our level"; "I loved her class, even though she was tough"; "...one of my most respected teachers in high school"; "I give credit to Mrs. Wheeler for much of my ability to simply write about her in this short honoring of her legacy. Much of what she taught me has been put to into use in my own life"; "Because of her love for teaching English, she was able to make it interesting and understandable to me, as I hope it was to many others".

What struck me was that she taught freshman English for a few years while we were still in the old building.  When the "new" high school opened up in 1967, she went out there to teach.  However, she went back to teaching 7th and 8th grade English after just one year at the high school.  I can sympathize with that approach, as I first taught 7th and 8th grade science at the middle school, and then taught two years of freshman science at the high school.  My temperament and attitude seemed to work better with middle school students, and I was more relaxed in that environment.  I would guess that Mrs. Wheeler had a similar outlook.  

On June 24, 2026, Tammy Eileen Nelson (https://www.eidsnessfuneralhome.com/obituaries/tammy-nelson) passed away.  The first question that comes to mind is probably "Who is that?"  Her maiden name was Tammy Meisenheimer.  Her father was Larry Meisenheimer, the husband of Sandy (Davis) Meisenheimer.  

Larry was a custodian at the high school.  He evidently spent most his time in the south part of the school near the gymnasium, as I became acquainted with him during my coaching days there.  He and I, and another custodian, had a nice conversation at the visitation.  Another lady indicated that Sandy, Tammy's step-mother, was unable to be at the visitation.  More about that later. 

On June 30, 2026, Dale Vincent, the brother of Gary Vincent of our class passed away (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/dale-vincent).  The conversation was beneficial for both of us.  He indicated the Rude's did a fantastic job of taking care of all the arrangements for the visitation and funeral.  I concurred, as our family had similar situations in the last few years.  

July 8, 2026, hit our class really hard, as Sandy (Davis) Meisenheimer passed away (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/sandra-meisenheimer).  

As mentioned above, Sandy was not at her step-daughter's visitation.  Perhaps her health did not permit her to be there for that occasion.  

At Sandy's visitation, I met her daughter Amy.  Amy was student of ours 40 years ago.  Amy's cousins were also our students about that time.  We had some pleasant conversations as we reminisced about those days.

It was surprising to me that Sandy did not graduate with us, as her family had moved to Edgemont just before our senior year.  (What a lovely photo of her in her obituary.  Is that her graduation picture?) Her father Lyle had gotten a nice job out there.   Edgemont reminded of the summer of 1965, when our Teener baseball team played a tournament in Igloo, which is about a dozen miles from there.  Winning that tournament propelled us to the national tournament in Hershey, PA, shortly thereafter.  

Sandy's father Lyle was a POW in World War II.  Chuck Cecil (https://www.brookingsregister.com/news/chuck-cecil-is-a-renaissance-man-wordsmith-for-all-seasons/), in his book HERE & FAR AWAY:  Brookings County and World War II, ("Here and Far Away: Brookings County and World War II" is a 230-page local history book written by Chuck Cecil and published in 2012. It details the impact of World War II on the home front in Brookings County, South Dakota, alongside the wartime service of local soldiers) devotes 14 pages to Mr. Davis' plight in the chapter entitled "Anzio Diary." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Anzio)  The battle of Anzio was fought in Italy, but Mr. Davis ended up in a POW camp "roughly 850 miles north into German-occupied Poland.  Here, Davis became an official resident in the German Stalag directory, assigned as prisoner number #23100, a number that remained etched forever in his mind." (p. 123)

Mr. Davis kept a rather detailed diary and log of his brutal imprisonment.  On the top of one page dated Dec. 16, he neatly prints "mom's birthday-not much of a celebration for me-she's another year older and I'm not home yet."  Underneath there is an inventory of the Red Cross Christmas package he received, and noting that "After supper the crowd gathered for a social evening.  Quintero and Edwards entertained on the guitar and accordion."  He also wrote some poetry, made up his own crossword puzzles, recorded the names and addresses of every GI on the POW farm, and copied down impromptu recipes the soldiers created with the Red Cross food and German potatoes. 

For his wartime exploits, Mr. Davis was deservedly awarded a bronze star for "meritorious achievement in ground combat." He was an exemplary soldier, husband, father, and grandfather.

Our condolences to Sandy and her family.