A Couple of Milestones, And Some Added Trivia

It seems that too often there is sad news posted here.  It is heartwarming and gratifying to report that a recent Brookings Register article noted that two well-known ladies in town who have contributed so much to the betterment of  the community and who have been involved in many organizations would both be celebrating their 90th birthdays soon.  The two esteemed ladies are Maxine Darnall and LaRayne Wahlstrom.   Mrs. Darnall is the mother of Sharon of our class, while Mrs. Wahlstrom is the mother of Rick, who was a year ahead of us.  Mrs. Darnall's birthday is March 5, while Mrs. Wahlstrom has one of those rare birthdays that occurs every four years.  She was born on February 29.  According to the paper, they will have a combined celebration at the First United Methodist Church narthex on March, between the 8:15 AM and before the 11:00 AM services.

On a related note, Lorraine (Mrs. Harvey) Johnson has a 95th birthday on March 6.  I believe this is Brian's mother, as the notice indicates that friends and former students are invited to send  birthday wishes to her at 104 Fourth St., Park Place Apt. 215, Brookings, SD  57006.  Did she teach at Hillcrest or Central?  I seem to recall that she was at Central.  Is it correct that they used to live on second street between Medary and 11th avenue before they moved to Sunnyview?  I recall going over to their house once after school and we played "Cootie" or "Mr. Potato-head".  I atttended Central, so maybe she taught at Central.  Wasn't the dividing line Medary or thereabouts, and that those on the east side went to Hillcrest, and those on the west side went to Central?  Perhaps some of you with better memories than I can clear this up. 

 Rick was on my Little League baseball team, the Dodgers, as was Brian that year.  I believe Brian was one of the youngest ones in our class.  Because of his late birthday, he was a year younger than most of us as far as baseball eligibility was concerned.  Rick also fell in that category.   Rick was the first baseman, while Brian was the second baseman. We had lost a game by the score of 1-0, and afterwards, Mrs. Wahlstrom deservedly scolded me because I had displayed rather poor sportsmanship.    It must have taken me a few years to learn from that incident.  The next summer, our teener baseball coach, Lyle Derschied, Craig's dad, scolded me even mores strongly because I found fault with my teammates, and, in no uncertain terms. I lashed out at my  teammates. Hopefully, I have outgrown that juvenile and selfish behavior.

 Rick was quite talented and intelligent.  He was in the National Honor Society.  In music, he was selected for all-state chorus, and was in concert band.  He worked on the yearbook, and was in "Oklahoma," the first musical BHS ever produced, playing Ali Hakim.  There is a picture in the yearbook of him kissing Ado Annie (Patty Felt).  Patty looks as if she is ready to slap him upside the head. 

Sharon's older brother Brian (class of 1967) still lives in Brookings, and owns Medary Acres Florists.  He and his family do a wonderful job of keeping area gardeners well-supplied with beautiful flowers and other assorted plants.  They have provided our homestead with many perennials, annuals, and tomato plants.

The class of 1967 was the last to graduate form the "old" high school.  In some respects, that year was rather noteworthy.  Mr. Bell was selected by the National Secondary Principals Association to tour Europe for 21 days as a good will ambassador.   Dr. Bruce Crosswait was the new superintendent, as Mr. Horrigan had retired.  He remained on staff, however, as an administrative assistant.  It was also the year in which each school board member presented his son or daughter with a diploma.  A couple of those board member, Dr. D. E. Kratochvil and Dr. Charles "Scotty" Roberts had sons in our class.  The other board members were Joseph Thelen, Marvin Scholten, and Gordon Duff.  Mr. Duff's daughter, Barbara, is listed in the annual as participating in Band, Girls Glee, Select Choir, and GAA.  The reason for noting this is that her obituary was recently in the paper.  She passed away on Feb. 22, 2014 in Elk Point, SD.  (http://koberfuneralhome.com/obituaries/obituary-listings?obId=86117#/celebrationWall; http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=20207&page=80).

 A number of us also had older brothers or sisters in that class of '67.  Some of the familiar last names are Ahlers, Allison, Baker, Berge, Berkland, Bjordahl, Boggs, Bortnem, Bozied, Brown (I believe he was Danny's brother; they were only here a couple of years), Christie, Darnall, Hamilton, Hauff, Hendricks, Herrig, Hoekman, Holm, Ishmael, Johnson, Kallemeyn, Loenders, Kratochvil, Leibel, Liebing, Marshall, Mehegan, Perso, Peterson, Roberts, Robish, Simmons, Sloat, Steen, Sterud, Sturdevant, Thysello, Walsh, Wakeman, and Wright.

Barbara's older sister Connie is listed as the wife of John Maxwell.  Would that be the older brother of Terry and Jackie, who were a year behind us?   Their mother was an English teacher at the the  old high school. When we moved to the new school, though, she remained at that building when it became the middle school, and taught 7-8th grade English.  She later became the assistant principal under "Lefty" Johnson.  I was fortunate to work with her for a number of years.  The obituary lists her younger brother Doug preceding her in death.  He was a year behind us in that same class as Jackie and Terry Maxwell.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Barb and her family.

Congratulations to Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Darnall and Mrs. Wahlstrom.  May we be able to live the rest of our lives in the exemplary and distinguished manner of these three renowned ladies have done.  

Sherwood Berg

The name Sherwood Berg probably means little to most of us.  There is, however, an indirect connection to the BHS class of 1969.  You may recall that Dr. Hilton Briggs, the father of Janice Briggs of our class, was president of the college/university during our Brookings school days.  He was named president of South Dakota State College in 1958.  It became a university in 1964 under his leadership, and he served until 1975.  His 17-year presidency equaled the tenure of Charles Pugsley, who served from 1923-1940, as the longest at the school.  The second-longest tenure was that of Dr. Robert Wagner, who served for 12 years (1985-1997).  Dr. Wagner had been a professor in the sociology department before being named president, and likely had some of us in his classes (I was one of them.  Brian Johnson's older brother Jeff sat next next to me.  I think he was returning to school after serving his country.).  The president who succeeded Dr. Briggs was Dr. Sherwood Berg.  He may have been the first graduate of SDSC to become its president. I think the current president, Dr. David Chicoine, also graduated from SDSU, perhaps in the late 60's.

Most of us probably never knew Dr. Berg.  I believe he remained in Brookings after his retirement from the university, and was active in many civic organizations.  He passed away on Feb. 16, 2014 in Brookings.  While he may not have had much personal influence on us, his life story is fascinating.  One common promotional slogan for SDSU is "You can go anywhere from here."  If you read the obituary for Dr. Berg at
http://eidsnessfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/Eidsne1/obit.cgi?user=1247228Berg, you will find out what a storied life he led.  It truly is inspirational and reflects the quality of the leadership that SDSC/SDSU has had over the last 130 years.

Update

A couple of other notables also have recently passed away.  "Doc" Masson, long-time veterinarian, died on Feb. 21 (http://rudesfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/RudesF1/obit.cgi?user=1250326Masson).  Those of you who grew up on the farm probably had some contact with him at some point during your younger days.  His son Bob was an excellent golfer, and was selected to the South Dakota Golf Hall of Fame in 2007 (http://sdga.org/championships/hall-of-fame).  Doc's wife Delpha was one of the few women who served on the school board pre-1970.

Also passing away was Allyn Frerichs, director of parks, recreation and forestry for 51 years (http://rudesfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/RudesF1/obit.cgi?user=1228926Frerichs).  Those of us who had summer jobs at the park and rec likely were well-acquainted with him.

Our condolences and prayers go out to both the Masson and Frerichs family. 

Carla's Community Career Concludes

The Feb. 12, 2104 edition of The Brookings Register featured a story highlighting the long career of Carla DeBeer, who was employed at the Brookings Health System (ironically often abbreviated as BHS in the media) for the past 44 years. 

Carla is originally from White.  In 1966, her family moved south of Brookings , where she attended high school.  She moved into town in 1975. 

Carla began working at the hospital in 1969, expecting to stay only a few years before moving on.  She truly loved her employment, as those few years stretched into 44.  Her first 6 1/2 were spent in the dietary department.  She then transferred into the business office and the materials department.  More time was spent in the business office, which was her favorite.  "I keyed in charges, did payments, and I did the general ledger.  I like to work with numbers," she noted.  She also covered the reception room of the ER on occasion.  

Carla has seen first-hand the changes that have occurred at the hospital.  In 1989,  extensive renovations and expansion began.  As she noted, "I watched it grow.  The building has changed.  The circles have always been the same upstairs.  The cafeteria has changed.  I remember exactly where the ER used to be; it was just two, tiny, small rooms." 

She has worked for 10 administrators.  Not only does she have fond memories of  them, but she also is thankful for all of her co-workers.  "I'm going to miss the people.  I got to be friends with a lot of them.  Back where I worked now, I did the ordering and everybody relied on me to do that.  I was there and people knew that when they came to me with something they needed, I could find it and get it ordered."

Carla knew what her priorities were.  "Patients are number one.   I always made sure that we had the supplies that were needed for the patients, so the nurses could take care of their patients.  Even when I worked back in dietary, years ago, you always made sure that the food was good and everybody got fed well; the employees got fed just as well as all the patients did." 

She knows well of what she speaks, as Carla, too, has experienced life as a patient.   In fact, she expects to return in a few months.  "I had a total knee replacement three months ago.  I was going to wait until fall to get the other one done, but I'm going to get it done sooner than that.  The doctors and I have talked, and hopefully May or June, I will get the other one done." 

What are Carla's plans for retirement?  She has no definite plans, but her humanitarian spirit is evident, as  volunteer work is a strong possibility.  A part-time job is also foreseeable.  If her knees were in better shape, she would probably travel.  After her upcoming surgery, that just may happen. 

Congratulations to Carla DeBeer and her contributions to the Brookings Health System.  You have improved the lives of many people in this area, and have set a wonderful example for others to follow.  Your classmates, the Brookings High School class of 1969, are very happy for you.  Best wishes in your retirement.