A Belated Obituary

Perhaps 20 or so years ago, Kim (Hamilton) Green corresponded with us concerning one of our reunions.  We hadn't heard from her in a long time, so an internet search for her disclosed that she passed away about 10 years ago--https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/grand-prairie-tx/kim-green-6958304

Kim's family moved to Brookings during our 5th grade year.  She was placed in Miss Neubauer's class.  I believe her father was an entomologist, and was hired at the "Bug" lab that had recently been constructed (https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2006/usda-lab-committed-to-sustainable-farming-gets-new-research-wing/)

That school year was quite memorable, and our class quickly learned that Kim was a very talented and brilliant student. Shortly after she had entered our class, Miss Neubauer chose a few students to do some kind of art project.  I believe Stew Linn was one of those chosen.  Miss Neubauer recognized Kim's talent right away, as she was also chosen.

That was also the year we started the SRA reading program.  It seems that we took some kind of pre-test to determine at what level we would start.  The levels were color coded to indicate the various levels of achievement.  Were we given a reading selection and given a certain time frame to answer questions about what we read?  Did we do this up through the eighth grade?

Miss Neubauer also read to us on a regular basis.  She seemed to favor the Laura Ingalls Wilder books from which to read.  Those did seem to hold our attention rather well.  Did those stories sometimes refer to "Brookings" as "Brookins"?  Was one of the books she read The Long Winter, revolving around the blizzard of 1880-81?  

Remember having to do book reports?  One student's interest focused on sports figures such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.  However, Miss Neubauer scolded him for limiting his reading to such a narrow genre.  I can still her say "Too many sports stories" in her class. She wanted us to broaden our interests.  But was it permissible to do book reports on only books by Laura Ingalls Wilder?

As we progressed through school, Kim's musical talents and academic skills became quite evident.  In our senior annual, she was in select chorus, mixed chorus, orchestra (cello?), and all-state orchestra. She was also a National Honor Society officer. 

Kim's older brother Brad was easily recognizable.  He was two years older, and was easily the tallest student in the school.   

Not only did Kim's father work at the "Bug" Lab, but a few other parents were also employed there.  The fathers of Natalie Stoner and Karen Thysell were scientists there.  Joan and John McComb's father was a technician (?) in the fields, Patty Vick's mother worked in the labs, and Jim Kortan's mother was a secretary (?).  Many BHS students, alumni, and alumnae had summer jobs there.  Jim Kortan helped me get a summer job there after graduation.  Other BHS grads with whom I worked were George Wagner, Dave Ellis, Jay Leibel, Duane Tordoff, Judy Gile, and Doug deBoise. 

Discovering Kim's passing was surprising.  Since she no longer had any ties to Brookings, her life after graduation was unknown to us, but we will not forget her warm friendship.   We mourn that we have lost a brilliant and wonderful classmate.  Our condolences to the family.  

 

We are great, we are fine, we're the class of...

 Remember when we would finish this chant with "sixty-nine"?  Did we adapt it from the class of 1968:  "We are fine, we are great, we're the class of sixty-eight"?  

The BHS class of 1959 could have easily possessed this chant.  They recently had a reunion on August 28 and 29.  One of the members of that class was "Skip" Webster.  He was one of the freshman football coaches (Mr. Rykhus was the other) and the JV basketball coach when we were in school.  He asked me to find some news articles from their school days that could be displayed during the reunion.  It seemed that the obvious decision was to make copies of the Brobocas that were issued during their senior year. 

Those issues usually came out every Wednesday in the Brookings Register.  Since the library has an up-to-date microfiche machine and copies of the old papers on microfiche, it was quite easy to resurrect those old issues.  Because the Brobocas were too big for one 8 x 11 inch page, it was necessary to splice an upper and lower portion together to make a facsimile of the original.  

Our class had a number of older siblings in the class of 1959:  Nancy Faust, Mary Iverson, Patsy McMillan, Janice Moulton, Marcia Shirley, and Joan Webbenhurst.  Others that may be siblings or cousins are Burt Alexander, Dennis Sanders, Jim Sterud, and Art Swenning.

It may seem rather odd that their class would have a reunion 67 years after graduating, since reunions usually occur at five year intervals.  The reason they had one this year is that the class had lost about 15 members in the last five years.  They all thought they should have another one before there were only a few members left.

The reunion was well-planned.  On Friday, a bus tour around town was arranged, and a class photo was taken at McCrory Gardens, where registration was also held.  One of the class members was Marilyn McCrory, the daughter of S. A. McCrory, for whom the Gardens are named (https://www.cityofbrookings-sd.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/48),

The main festivities and dinner were held at Innovation Village.  The Brobocas were displayed on the walls, while various other memorabilia were arranged on tables.  There were about thirty-five people in attendance, so the accommodations were rather intimate. After the dinner, various members told of their school experiences and memories.  

A number of class members had stayed in Brookings, and their children were students of ours in the 1970's and 1980's.  I had a wonderful conversation with Janice Moulton, Mary's sister.  Her mother Irene (https://www.hickeyfuneralchapel.com/obituaries/irene-moulton) and my mother both grew up in Faulkton, South Dakota.  Irene was a frequent visitor to my mother in the latter years of my mother's life.  I'm sure they had many memories to exchange about life in Faulkton.