Recently I have been informed of another parents' passing. Our condolences and prayers go out to Ron Havermann, whose mother passed away October 28, 2011 in Rapid City. She and her husband had lived there for the past 30 years. One of Ron's younger brothers, Rick, was in 8th grade when I started teaching. That first year is always memorable, and I remember Rick and that class very well. Mrs. Fiedler, the senior English teacher along with Mrs. Sheimo, also had a son in that class. He is now principal at the new 4th-5h grade school in Brookings. He had been principal at Central Elementary when that was still a school.
I have not seen Ron since the early 70's. We were in cross-country and track together, as well as in many of the same classes. We had many extremely smart kids in our class, and I always thought he was one of them. He was a science whiz. We also were members of the same church. His father was a mason (bricklayer). My brother-in-law had a masonry business in Yankton for a few years, and said Ray Havermann was as fast and competent as any worker he had seen. No one could lay as many bricks as neatly and quickly as Mr. Havermann. Her obituary was not in the Sioux Falls or Brookings papers. I accidentally stumbled upon it because I had seen in the Argus that a Harlan Nielsen had died. That name probably means nothing to you, but he worked at the Post Office with the fathers of Stew Linn and Teresa Steen for a few years in late 60's, early 70's. I worked there from January 1968-August 1968, so I became familiar with him, also. He was an avid Bobcat fan, and really enjoyed talking about our basketball team. His obituary was in the Argus, but he also passed away in Rapid City about a week after Mrs. Havermann. His complete obituary was found at http://www.kirkfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/KirkFu1/obit.cgi?user=502813Nielsen It was there that I stumbled upon Mrs. Havermann's obituary, also. http://www.kirkfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/KirkFu1/obit.cgi?user=500798/Havermann I cannot access her obituary with this address, so it may be easier to go to http://www.kirkfuneralhome.com/ and look for her obituary.
Incidentally, Kirk Funeral Home is run by Ken Kirk, who graduated from BHS a year or two after we did. His sister Kathy was a year ahead of us. I remember her from Latin class with Miss Briscoe. I think the Kirk family moved here during our freshman year or shortly before, when their father began working at the Bug Lab north of town. I was employed there during college, and even worked with him for about a month. He was an entomologist, and an expert on ground beetles. Sorry to ramble on about myself, but thought it might bring back some pleasant memories in the midst of these sad times. Let me know if you have any ideas or news for posting. This is not just my blog; it's for our whole class. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you wish to post something.
Thank you for "rambling" John. It does make me want to want to read to the end of your post. I'll add that my youngest brother, Lex, met Ron Haverman at Red Rocks Elementary in Morrison, CO. I believe it was Ron's daughter who was in the same kindergarten class as my nephew Bryce. Bryce is now in 6th grade, and Lex told me that Ron and his family had left that community.
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