We may remember the popular Four Seasons song "December, 1963" from the mid-1970's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December%2C_1963_(Oh%2C_What_a_Night) and (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTUhnIY3oRM). While December is generally associated with the happy and exciting time of Christmas, 60 years later, December 2023, was a rather sad time for many in Brookings. Funerals were held for three teachers, Bill Everding, Pat Lyons, and LeRoy Klavetter. These three men greatly affected the lives of many of their students. Since their obituaries highlight their lives better than I can, it seems redundant to add anything more.
On December 2, 2023, services were held for Bill Everding. He began his teaching career in Brookings in 1976. He was in the business department, teaching typing and related courses (typewriters were still used back then). When personal computers became more common, he became a proficient teacher in their use. Not only did he teach students, but he also taught an adult education class for us older people (I was in one of his classes).
He was also well-respected as a powder-puff football coach, as his obituary attests. The powder-puff football game during homecoming week is still going strong since its inception in 1966, the year we were sophomores.
Mr. Everding's obituary can be found at https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/william-h-everding-jr
Pat Lyons, older brother of Kris of our class, passed away on Dec. 5, 2023 (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/patrick-lyons). Pat graduated five years before we did, was an outstanding golfer in high school, and a beloved professor at SDSU. His two daughters were talented students in the Brookings school system.
At the service, I was most fortunate to be able to have a long converstion with Kris's daughter, who grew up in Sturgis. She indicated the Kris's email had been hacked, so she has a different email address than what we have. If anyone has contacts with Kris, perhaps you can fill her in on the upcoming reunions to be held this August.
On December 14, 2023, LeRoy Klavetter passed away (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/leroy-klavetter). Many of us may have had him for Algebra 2 and Trig. Our sophomore year was his first year teaching in Brookings. Since that was the last year in the "old" school, some classes were held at 8:00 because there were over 1000 students cramped into that building, which housed both junior and senior high school students. Mr. Klavetter had the "honor" of having some of us for his 8:00 class. Sometimes, a few of us did not quite make it on time. However, Mr. Klavetter did not seem to get unusually upset, as the guestbook comments indicate.
What struck me as rather strange, though, was that very few of his colleagues attended the funeral. There were a number of them that attended the visitation, though, so perhaps that was their way of extending their condolences.
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Our condolences to the families of Mr. Everding, Mr. Lyons, and Mr. Klavetter.
