The Not-So-Merry Month Of May

The format for posting on this blog has changed, so there may be some glitches that need to be worked out.  After a few tries, it seems that the bugs have been eliminated.

 About 1880, the song "Fountain In The Park" (https://www.bethsnotesplus.com/2016/02/fountain-in-the-park.html) was composed. This May of 2024 was not so merry for some of us. On May 21, we lost Jim Connelly (https://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/obituary/james-connelly), older brother of Robyn of our class.

Does anybody recall the big tree house mentioned in the obituary? Building tree houses seemed to be a worthwhile project that summer, as there was at least one other tree house undergoing construction then, and the "contractors" just happened to be Jim's classmates. Since the funeral was held the day after Memorial Day, not as many people were able to attend as would have liked. Although the priest did not personally know Jim (he was rather new to the parish), he did a nice job at the Mass, and had some kind words to say about Jim, his friends, and his faith. Our condolences and prayers go out to Robyn and Jim at this time. 

Just eight days later, another unexpected death occurred with the passing of Dan Lamp (https://www.eidsnessfuneralhome.com/obituary/daniel-lamp).

Dan was a year ahead of us in school, and married Dawne Seas, who was a year behind us. Their two children, Brady and Kali, were students of mine when they were in the 8th grade. Since our house is on the 4th of July parade route, Dan and his family would often watch from our boulevard. One of the parade entries a few years ago was an 8-door Pontiac station wagon. The vehicle was about as long as a bus!  The one in the parade was white, but looked just like this one shown below.

My niece asked me what year it was. I thought it was a 1965 model, but Dan corrected me and said it was a 1966. His brother Scott lives one house from my niece's family. Our paths have crossed a few times, and have resulted in some interesting and memorable conversations. Our condolences and prayers go out to Dan's family at this time. 

Earlier, on May 14, Beau Thomas Bielfeldt succumbed to Osteogenesis Imperfecta, or brittle bone disease.

His father, Daniel Bielfeldt, was a former student and athlete of mine. Daniel ran on our cross-country and track and field teams, but was better known as a musician and a top-notch student. If memory serves me correctly, he played the tuba. His father Dennis is a Lutheran minister, and was a philosophy-religion professor when Daniel was in middle and high school. He then helped to found the Institute of Lutheran Theology, and is the current president (https://ilt.edu/about-ilt/staff/; https://ilt.edu/). ILT is located on the former property of St. Thomas More Catholic Church (rather ironic, isn't it?). I believe Dr. Bielfeldt has also invested in some properties in the area, and has helped increased the number of lodging facilities in Brookings. 

Sadly, we were recently informed about another sudden loss on March 12, 2024, of the passing of Patricia Hegstrom, sister of Mary of our class.

(https://www.thepublicopinion.com/obituaries/pabd0762579) Thank you to whoever forwarded this email to us. Our prayers and condolences go out to Mary and her family at this time.

 Preparations are winding down for the big reunions this summer. Name tags have been made, and final preparations should be finalized in a few weeks. We will get out that information as soon as possible.