‘CAT’ TRACKS
LAS VEGAS HIGH SCHOOL
CLASS OF 1953
‘CAT’ TRACKS
LAS VEGAS HIGH SCHOOL
CLASS OF 1953
A NEWSLETTER OF THE COMINGS AND GOINGS OF THE WILDCATS OF LVHS CLASS OF ‘53
October 2007
55th Reunion Planning Nears
Completion
Planning for our 55th Reunion is moving right along according to John
Holland who has taken on the duties of chairing the Committee that is
organizing the event. The Committee is composed of John, Joe
Jaramillo, Bob Beville, Rex Bell, Larry Dawson, Larry May, Gloria
Hicks Alger, Danny Lee, Carl Stephens, Alice Thiriot Waite, Chuck
Handley, Gretchen Harris Payne, Lois Wentz Durkee and Fred Pinjuv.
The Reunion will start on Friday, June 6, 2008 with a Mexican themed
outing at Rex Bell’s home as it has been in past reunions. This will be
the fourth time Rex has been generous enough to offer up his home to
the Class of ‘53.
On Saturday, June 7th, the golfers will tee off at the Legacy Golf Club
in Green Valley (that’s in Henderson for us out-of-towners). This will
be a tournament with individual scoring using the Calloway system as
an equalizer. The cost to each golfer will be $60. Tee time will be 9
a.m. As it stands now the tournament will give four places and highest
scores.
Everyone else is on their own on Saturday, until 5 p.m when the evening
event will start at Bonnie Springs Ranch in the Old Western Bar. The
evening will be casual, very few speeches, background music (dancing
if you want). There will be a no host bar available. Hopefully
everyone will have time to reminisce with all the classmates.
Prices for the affair at Rex’s and Bonnie Springs will be confirmed
when all the funds from the program ads and donations are tallied up.
The Committee hopes to have the price for Rex’s in the $25 range and
Bonnie Springs in the $40 range for each attendee.
Expect to see registration materials in the mail around the first of the
year. A block of rooms have been reserved at Sam’s Town for the
Reunion. The rates are $45 for Sunday -Thursday and $89 for Friday
and Saturday. If you’re not staying at Sam’s Town, it would be wise to
book your rooms before the end of this year.
‘CAT’ TRACKS October 2007
Classmates Report In
• Personal and Family Notes
• Memories
•Random Thoughts
Walt Amundson: Just got back
from our family reunion in
Danville, Calif. where my sister
Wallene lives. 35 of us descended
on her, wall to wall air mattresses.
You need to do this just to see if
you can guess who the grown up
nieces and nephews are now.
Makes you feel like Tevia, they
grew so much faster than me.
Glenda’s and my health are hanging
in there, a hernia operation put
a hold on my dirt bike riding for a
month, but we have a few fire
threats in the mountains anyway.
It’s pretty dry up here in Idaho also,
not to mention the heat Nevada has
been sharing.
Does anyone remember when the
football players lifted Barbara
Binion’s little English car over the
picket fence across the street from
the front steps? We had only one
high school for a long time. How
many are there now?
Sylvia Meyers Geddes: Dear
George, and all of you who receive
this message - sad to, say it but I
am washed up as a correspondent
these days, since I can only type
with one finger. I have tried all-
caps but I am told that in computer
language that is rude and means
that I am yelling. I also attempted
to use the voice - activated
dragon-speak. That turned out to
be fun for a good laugh when it
sounded like a whole other language
but did not communicate
any real message. Therefore, this
must be my swan-song to my
LVHS classmates. I am not in pain
-I cannot swallow much - so all
my food is poured in a tube directly
into my stomach. Most days
I can get around most places in my
jazzy wheel chair. My children are
great at caring for me. You know
you are getting older when your
hair is whiter than your hair. I fit
that category and most of those
kinds of things that we joke about.
Thank you for being such good
friends - I wish you all good health
and long lives!
Ann Love McPherson: I am
phasing my career with VNA &
Hospice down to a per diem basis
continuing to do facility planning
for them; this will give me more
time for my real estate business,
which has been mostly commercial.
This is another exciting and
interesting phase and new focus
for me on the career front. We tend
to weave our family and other fun
activities into our lives, while both
of us continue to be active in the
business world. Husband Bob is
still very active in his law practice
as well. So cruising, camping with
the entire family each year, serving
on great boards and community
social stuff continues to be a
full plate.
Two years ago our cruise ship anchored
at Maui and Gay Fisher
(Swenson) and husband Glen collected
us and we spent a glorious
day touring Maui and visiting their
home. It was great fun. Gay has
become a prized international treasure
in her own rite and realm.
A few weeks ago we went to a
gathering of close friends of Sandy
Ragsdale (Seiler) living in the Bay
area to celebrate Sandy’s life and
to share fun stories and memories
of her over the years. Lots of
laughs, tears and hugs were all part
of the gathering. It was important
to all of us who were not able to
attend the services in Las Vegas.
Enough said…except best wishes
to all!
We are approaching the time when
many good, treasured friends begin
passing on, hopefully into another
magnificent realm. When I
hear of a dear friend passing away,
I lose an important piece of me
because they were an integral
breathing part of my life. I never
stop missing them.
Classmate friends in many ways
are like your most comfortable pair
of old shoes. You pick up where
you left off, even if it is years since
you have seen each other, but the
conversations ring of happy familiarity,
understanding, appreciation
and acknowledgment of who you
are. You can really only find this
in your classmates you grew up
with; some of us date back to Kindergarten.
Imagine that! And we
are all still having an opportunity
to come together as adults every
five years and pickup the conversations
that have been silenced by
distance and time.
I thank the reunion committee for
carrying on the tradition of every
five years. This is the 11th time
we have had a reunion and think
of all the living we have all collectively
experienced between
each reunion. It boggles one’s
mind. At any rate, it is a fine tradition
and worth doing.
I called our darling Mr. Joseph
Thiriot and congratulated him on
his 100th birthday last year. It was
so fun to hear his happy strong
voice and his enthusiasm for the
future. He really made me stand
up and take notice of his loving
attitude and joy of life and all it
holds, at 100 years old.
I thank God we were privileged to
grow up during a special time and
in a special place that unfortunately
can never be replicated
again. I am also grateful for all my
classmates who made it such a
memorable journey growing up!
See you…(.) Ann
Bill Hamilton: There was a time,
not too many years ago, when seventy-
two seemed like a rather advanced
age. I felt sorry for those
decrepit souls and sometimes
wondered if I would ever live to
be one of them. And back in 1953
I did not imagine life in 2007.
But having somehow achieved the
milestone, I notice that life does
not feel that different from what it
did when I was only sixty, or fifty.
It is nicer now that everyday is
Saturday or Sunday. It is fun to be
at home. And I notice that seventy-
two year old women have
become more attractive than they
used to be. But aside from that
not much is different. In many
instances the imperfections I used
to have are still there, but that is
another matter.
Bill and Francis
Frances and I have nine children
and twenty-four grandchildren.
For 25 years I worked in accounting
in San Francisco, and raised
kids from our home in Pleasanton,
and eventually they were married
(most of them). Free at last, we
retired in 1996 to a spot in the
country, close to the mountains,
and thirty miles east of Corvallis,
Oregon. Four of the kids and their
families followed.
One kid once asked me what it was
like growing up in Palm Spring,
CA. How did he ever get that
idea? I actually grew up in
Goodsprings, NV before coming
to Las Vegas for high school. Considering
how little they know
about the family, I decided to write
a life story (I wish my grandfather
had done that). It will have thirteen
chapters. One will be “Coming
of Age at Las Vegas High
School”. I plan to bring a draft to
the reunion in hopes that those
who I talk about can correct my
mistakes. See you in 2008 and
beyond.
Bill Bowser: Sandy and I are still
newlyweds...approaching our
Golden 50th. We’re at 9 grandkids,
who range from college graduates
to kindergarten, and are working
on some great-grandkids. Three
sons still live in Reno, and most
of my time is spent retrofitting
their houses. Younger brother, Ray,
passed away, but older sister,
Evelyn, is still with us. Golfing
with Geo W. and a few other
friends is mostly what I look forward
to these days while growing
old gracefully.
It has been more than a year since
graduation, so memories are a little
vague. I do remember, however,
never formally receiving a High
School diploma...think they sent it
in the mail. Ball, Busch, Cotton,
Hardy, Pacheco, Rilling and I were
in Elko participating in the State
Track Meet. We asked them to
hold graduation until we returned,
but Mr. Harris declined.
Camille, I have to know.... You
wrote in my yearbook, “Well from
now on I wear my blouses but
toned up the front just for you. You
are really a swell guy......” ??????
Didn’t really think that I’d be
around to write anything in a publication
55 years later. We’ve all
had a great ride, and am looking
forward to seeing everyone in
2008. And, finally, it really feels
great to just attend our 55th Reunion
and enjoy myself without
worrying about all the details.
See you all in 2013!!
Beverly Stanfield: George, I believe
that you know of me from
my friend, the wonderful and still
beautiful, Melina Sapanero
Rissone. I did write sometime ago
on the impact that two of my teachers
from Las Vegas High have had
on me all these many years: Mr.
Gardner (from Freshman English
1949-50) and Mrs. Riggs from the
last half of Junior English (1952)
I really had very few friends and
never fit into any circles, except
maybe the one that included very
shy and also possibly quite dorky
students. I had already been to
eight schools by the time we
moved to Las Vegas and circumstances
added three more to that
before I graduated from high
school in Los Angeles. However,
I managed to be a relatively good
student and the time that I spent
in those one and a half years were
especially memorable because of
the above named teachers.
Sharon Kingsbury, my next door
neighbor, though a year younger
than me, had lived there all her life
and I was so jealous of that! I am
sure that she had gone to the same
grade school as many of the students,
the same is true for my only
two friends that I had any bond
with at all: Melina Sapanero and
Cynthia Slater. Even though I did
feel like an outsider, it was not
through anyone’s fault but my own
as I cannot recall that anyone was
ugly acting to me, at least to my
face. I can admit now after over
fifty-five years that I also had the
biggest crush of my life on Clark
Hoffman and I was so pleased to
read in the last newsletter from
2005 (I think,) that he has such a
wonderful second wife and a
happy life.
I did not know at the time that I
had Narcolepsy, though I did know
something was out of whack because
I walked around seemingly
half asleep most of the time. It did
little for my self esteem because I
felt others may have thought me
retarded. The pain we inflict on
ourselves is so often greater than
what anyone else could do, but in
those precarious years that is not
a concept most of us can grasp.
Obviously, I am not at a lack for
words at this stage of my life, so
I’ll close.
Bill Ward: Well, I could brag all
day about my grandchildren (cuter
than yours, smarter than yours,
etc.) but other than that, my biggest
news is that I have fallen heir
to a Texas gas fortune. My great-
great grandparent’s farm was sold,
reserving 1/16 of the mineral
rights. They had 11 children, each
received 1/11 of the 1/16 – one of
them being my grandmother. She
had two children, one of whom
was my mother, who received ˝
of 1/11 of 1/6. When my mom
died, my stepfather received half
of her interest, leaving ˝ of ˝ of
1/11 of 1/16 to be split between
myself, my brother and my sister.
Thus, my inheritance is 1/3 of ˝
of ˝ of 1/11 of 1/16. I did the math
and when the gas well is drilled in
2008, and if it produces $10,000
per month, I will get around $4.75
per month – I think I’ll go out and
buy me some fancy Texas cowboy
boots – on the installment plan of
course.
Like everyone else, I remember the
Wildcat Lair and how good it was
to grow up back in the late 40s and
early 50s. I’ll never forget what
good friends did in directing the
course of my life. Thanks Bill,
Carl, Richard, Gloria and Robert.
Two of these great friends are gone
now and I miss them every day.
Vegas has changed so much that I
don’t look forward to my visits
much any more. The last time I
came through (driving one of our
1950 Plymouths to a California car
show) I passed on thru to Jean before
stopping for the night. Vegas
is just toooo big. I guess that I’m
a small town boy at heart. I suspect
that old classmates who still
live there would argue the point.
The old axiom, “you can never
return home”, seems to hold true.
About the only thing that would
bring me back to Vegas would be
the ’53 Class Reunion. For that, I
will always make the trip. See you
in ’08!
Robert Horsley: My wife and I
now live in Sun City, California;
we have been here seven months.
Three of our children and their
families are in Southern California,
so that is good. The weather
is hot in the summer months so we
stay inside most of the time. Judith
and I served a 25-month Service
Mission for The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints in
North Las Vegas, Nevada, before
moving to California.
We visited Newport and Bend,
Oregon last fall; we had a delightful
time while we were there. Just
three weeks ago, we made a trip
to Salt Lake City, Utah, for Judith’s
55th (Golden Plus Five) High
School Reunion.
We have six children and we now
have twenty-six grandchildren. We
do not have any great grandchildren
as yet. Two of our grandsons
are serving missions for the
Church – one in Brazil and one in
Illinois.
We are both going to the local doctor.
I have had a number of health
problems over the years, but am
still doing okay at present. My
wife has had some of her own
problems, but we are still both
healthy and having a good time.
Chuck Handley: I am still playing
senior softball. My team is
classified as a “Major” and is composed
of guys at least 70 years old.
We win about 80% of the tournaments
that we enter. I am no
longer a “long ball” hitter have
dropped from 205 lbs to 160 lbs
as a result of all my surgeries over
the last five years. By the time you
read this, assuming I am still on
the right side of the grass, I will
have beat one step in survival. It
turns out that half of those that
have had a Whipple surgery procedure
for cancer die in the first
three years after the surgery. I will
have made it into the second half.
Speaking of surgery, I had another
one for skin cancer. When all the
smoke cleared they had removed
half of my lower lip and brought
the upper lip around to replace it.
Can’t be called a “big mouth” as I
only have half of one now. It may
be too late but everyone that
spends any time in the sun should
use sun block on their lips as well
as their skin.
I figure all of my surgeries have
cost more than $250,000 and cost
me very little. Thank God for
Medicare and Secure Horizons.
At the last reunion Joe Free was
remembering the last-second shot
that I made against Lincoln County
in the regional tournament. At the
time I felt it did not say much that
was all he remembered. On the
other hand, at our age it is nice to
be remembered for anything. It
was certainly thrilling; wish I
could have seen it!
Personal things that are fondly remembered:
-Working at Marc Wilkinson’s
print shop on Friday afternoons to
collate and staple the “strip happenings”
brochure and then running
like mad to make the football
games.
-Box boy job at the Ciliax grocery
store. Running back from placing
the groceries in the ladies cars to
box for the next buyer. Tips were
a big thing in those days.
-Practicing basketball and running
from the end of the season my
sophomore year until basketball
started my Junior year. Going
from 3rd string junior varsity my
sophomore year to 1st string varsity
my junior year.
-Planning to go to the University
of Nevada with my two close buddies,
both named George (W & B).
-Dances at the Wildcat Lair and the
free big name entertainment.
Life is really short; it seems like
yesterday that we graduated from
LVHS. But, I believe that we were
blessed to be born and raised during
the late 1930 through the early
1950 years. Even with all the technology
I’m not sure that I would
like to be a teenager today!
If I regret anything about those
years it is that I did not take the
time to know many of my classmate
better. As Forrest’s Mom
says, “life is like a box of chocolates,
you never know what you are
going to get.” Wish I had sampled
more of the chocolates.
Donna Fisher Fray: We were on
our way to Cedar City, UT, when I
wrote for the last newsletter. We
got here (after much downsizing,
again) and are now settled in our
PUD home. Will be here two years
come October 1st and so far it is a
good life for us. We are now 6
minutes from our beautiful three-
year old Christ the King Catholic
Church, and within a maximum of
15 minutes from shopping and
medical care. The Shakespeare
Festival in the summer adds to the
community spirit. We are enjoying
our new life style and still have
mountains surrounding us in the
distance.
We spent 10 days with our daughter,
Michelle, her husband, Joe,
and the two grandkids, Bethany
and David, last summer and took
them to Bryce Canyon for several
days as part of the trip. Utah is
definitely “color country,” and we
spent a lot of time oohing and
aahing at the sights. They also got
to see their first rodeo — and especially
enjoyed their day at the
water park “Lagoon” outside of
Salt Lake City. This summer I got
a 12 day “grandma fix” when I
went to visit them in Michigan.
Fred and I will celebrate our 50th
wedding anniversary this coming
March and are thinking about an
Alaskan cruise. Our son, Michael,
is now in Juneau, Alaska, working
as kitchen manager/chef at the
Baronfsky Hotel. It would be fun
to drop in on him so he could fix
us our anniversary dinner.
I have a new hip as of two years
ago and wonder why I waited so
long to have it done. So wonderful
not to have to gimp along anymore.
We both have managed to
stay in good health for the age we
are.
I’m active with our church thrift
store and typed a 550-recipe cookbook
for our women’s club
fundraiser last year. Just am thankful
that we now have computers
and formatted documents to do
that type of project. Mr. Milhouse
would have been proud of me and
my typing skills — what a fun
class typing was, especially when
he threatened to throw one of the
goof-off boys out the window.
Am glad I learned to type, since it
has held me in good stead throughout
my varied work experiences.
Looking forward to seeing what’s
happening with the rest of my
classmates.
Hank Rilling: “Personal, Family,
Memories & Random Thoughts?”
Heck, that’s what life’s really all
about, isn’t it? Everything’s personal
and then gradually family
takes over and memories dim and
thoughts get even more random.
Luckily we’re not there yet.
To get nostalgic enough to write
for what may be the last “Cat
Tracks, I steeped myself in the ’52
and ’53 Wildcat Echoes and past
issues of ‘Cat Tracks. Reading
them brought some revelations.
Of course the Echo photos are how
I remember classmates, and they
stand in contrast to the photos of
the reunions in ‘Tracks. Seeing the
‘Tracks & 50th reunion publication
all together brought me to the realization
of how much we owe to
GeorgeW and those that made
them possible. More than a dozen
issues! Keeping up with old
friends and acquaintances that way
was wonderful, and quite unique
among class reunions.
Reviewing the ’52 & ’53 Echoes
brought me to other conclusions
about myself and about friends
who have remained close. (If
‘close’ can mean a couple phone
calls or an email during the year.)
Reading the signature pages and
margins of the yearbooks, I see that
in the ’52 issue, friends were wishing
me good luck for my trip to
Europe that summer, and in the ’53
issue wishing me good luck in
some track meets taking place after
the yearbook signing. How
prophetic and significant those
events would become in setting a
matrix for my life. Those activities
set me up for a lifetime of fun,
travel, and adventure.
I went on to return to Europe time
after time (lived there 9 years &
skied there 30 seasons), and spent
a career being “on the team” so to
speak. The fun with the guys on
the LVHS track team—still some
of my cherished friends—lead me
to 28 years with the Army team
(the ultimate in camaraderie, risk,
and outdoor physical challenges).
So now I am aware of some of the
things that made me an adventure
junkie. My addiction has become
more acute as life expectancy
grows shorter, and my body develops
more limitations. Fearing that
my knees would fail me soon, I
began in 2000 to ski all year long
by going to South America or New
Zealand during our summers. This
year I went to both. I realize the
skiing will soon have to stop, and
have begun to fold in some other
trips with Overseas Adventure
Tours (oattravel.com), and Grand
Circle Travel. It’s not quite the
‘team’ of old geezers from Adventures
on Skies, or the friends I
guided for the last 17 years with
Morningstarskitours.com, but
Machu Picchu, the Mayan ruins,
and other tours & dive trips have
been adequate substitutes for getting
the most out of what time is
left. I’m especially enjoying trips
to exotic places with my wife.
There are still affordable resorts in
the world that have a live combo
at dinner (that take ‘50s song requests),
samba lessons, dogsleds,
and lava heated pools and spas.
There are a host of eldertreks.com
and 50plusexpeditions.com to
choose from for like-minded,
driven people who need to have
an adventure every month or two.
Rafting a river whose name you
can’t pronounce or suspended on
a zip line high up in a jungle
canopy can be worthy of anticipation.
New types of activities can
punctuate with adrenaline the interim
between real action and joyfully
watching the travel channel
and showing slides of photo safaris
to grandkids.
There is nothing like a brush with
death or suspenseful medical diagnosis
to focus the mind. Lucky
for me that mine came early in life.
My Vietnam adventure honed my
appreciation for how precarious
and temporary life is, and that living
on the edge in a great big world
is fun. Later, appreciation for surviving
was reinforced when I did
that health survey for the class of
’53 in ‘Tracks. It showed our vulnerability
to thyroid cancer and
compromised immune systems
from the bomb testing fallout (I
was one of the 8 per 50, which
contrasted with the national aver
age of 2 per 100,000).
Living each day as if it were your
last really has its rewards: you do
more! I’m sure that by now this
particular focus on longevity has
occurred to many of our surviving
classmates, and that they are doing
more to truly enjoy each and
every day. It is my sincere wish
for them.
Jeanne Bush Draper: It seems
that we hear ‘last time’ so often.
Hopefully, this will not be the last
time we can find out about our”
remembered friends.” We have
lived in our present home since
1986. Hawaii ‘Laie, Oahu, was
our home in 1984-85. Dale taught
at BYU Hawaii, Jeanne taught at
Kailua High School. What an experience.
We were ordinance
workers in the LDS Temple in
Laie. Before Hawaii, we lived in
Fernley, NV and built a 5 bedroom
home. Jeanne taught K-5th in
Special Education and each grade
level with unchallenged students.
[regular students]. .15 years. Dale
taught and also was in administration.
Dale wore several hats. Serving
as Bishop and as VP, athletic
director and many other positions
at the same time. Under his watch,
a new addition was built on the
LDS Chapel & a new High School
in Fernley. Before Fernley, we
lived in Las Vegas, ’67-68. Dale
was at Western and Jeanne at
Helen J. Stewart. I helped plan the
new HJS, but never saw it. Before
LV, we were in Reno ’60-68. Our
two youngest, daughter Dawn
Marie and son Kyle Vincent were
born at St Mary’s in Reno, NV.
Forever, it seemed, we were in
school, having our first son,
Kevin Gene in Chico CA & Dale
Chris in Ukiah, CA living on a
first-year teacher’s salary $3,500
a year, In Willits, CA. Those were
truly the ‘fun years’.
Since our LA Temple marriage on
April 20, 1956, we have raised our
four wonderful ‘kids’ and have 26
grandchildren & 3 great-grandsons.
Also, 9 great-grandkids from
a ‘blended family’ our oldest son,
Kevin, has 14 kids, with his/hers/
& theirs. Kevin is a Landscape
Architect for the US Forest Service
in Richfield, Utah. Chris,
second oldest has a blended family
as well, 3 sons & 4 daughters,
his/hers/theirs. Chris has a construction
company in Nampa,
Idaho. Our daughter, Dawn
(Griffith) lives in Spanish Springs,
[Sparks NV]. Dawn has two
daughters & a son. Dawn teaches
3rd grade at Jesse Hall Elementary
& her husband John is at UNR
with communications/computer
telecasting for Nevada Higher
Educ. Kyle, our youngest son, constructs
custom items for BYU
Provo, working in the cabinet department
at BYU. His wife, Roni
Jo Draper, Ph.D. is Assoc. Prof in
David O. Mc Kay School of Educ.,
Teacher Educ at BYU. They have
two sons & live in Mapleton, Utah.
Dale retired from education in ’86
& Jeanne in ’98. We are happy to
report that retirement is fabulous
& again “fun time.” We served a
Senior Couple Mission in
Hannibal MO, served again as ordinance
workers in the Reno
Temple, & feel we have been
blessed. Our parents & brothers
are deceased and we find ourselves
at that lonely place at the top. We
motor home when we can, mostly
to Frenchmans’ Lake. We love to
travel to Timeshare locations each
year, with family & friends. Hope
to see you somewhere.
Las Vegas Memories are all very
pleasant. When we lived there in
’51-’53 school was great and Girls’
State was special. As we waited
on the bus in Fallon, I watched a
sweet lady, working with her flowers
in her front yard. Little did I
know that she would become my
mother-in-law in 1956. If only I
had taken a photo as she worked.
-Gretchen Harris was working as
Secretary at Western, when Dale
was teaching there.
-Sylvia Meyers and husband were
in Laie, Oahu at BYU Hawaii,
when we were there.
-Gloria Hicks Algers and Earl met
us on the Temple grounds in Laie
in ‘55
-George Ball lived next door to my
dear friend La Wanda Rapp, she
worked with me in Carson City.
Others I have seen were brief and
sometimes across a crowded
street. We did make it to a couple
of reunions, but most of my close
Vegas friends did not show up.
Hopefully, our 55th will be great
and all will make the effort to
come and join the fun
Jerry Tousa: I coached high
school football in Dallas and
Richardson, Texas for 35 years and
then “retired”. I have been coach
ing at Snow Canyon High School
in St. George since 1997. This
season (2007) will be my 45th - if
I can still make it to the practice
field.
We have 5 children and just had
our 11th grandchild on Friday, July
13! Our children are scattered,
typical of today, 2 live in Vegas
where one is the head coach at
Eldorado High School, our daughter
still lives in Dallas, one son and
his family in Charlotte and one son
and his family in Ann Arbor (they
are expecting in October).
A couple of random thoughts:
(1) I remember when we locked
Mr. Neal in the Chem. supply
closet and left as the bell rang
(2) I remember sitting in Mr.
Rupurchich’s health class when
the door was opened a crack and a
lit cherry bomb was rolled across
the floor and exploded.
(3) I remember coming into Mr.
Rupurchich’s class one day and the
skeleton he had hanging had a
cigarette in it’s mouth.
(4) I remember the nights at Sills!
I feel very fortunate to still be alive
and able to do all that I do.
Joe Jaramillo: Well, from the
family of Abe and Louise
Jaramillo, (4) boys, (3) girls, we
are 3 remaining George, Joe and
Priscilla Simpson. We lost Earl
two years ago, and Ray died just 8
months ago this year. Ray’s young
est daughter, Nina and her cousins
are in the process of formulating
a permanent memorial for all
family members living and nonliving
from the Jaramillo family
including our children’s children.
The Nevada Cancer Institute has
given us permission, to create a
special area for our family in their
next development- a sort of
“Peaceful Garden” which will be
a joint partnership with regards to
design, cost and would take
approx. 18 months to complete.
Pretty cool stuff, I will keep you
posted on this as it happens.
Barabara (my wife) and I traveled
to New Jersey June “07 for her
family reunion, cousins (2) she had
not seen in 40 yrs. and their families
traveling from Queens, NY,
Florida, Vermont, Calif. (35)
members, a fun trip to see this Irish
Mulhall clan gather. New Jersey
is OK, but the motels were reminiscent
of the Old El Rancho Motel,
crummy but we managed.
Then on to New York by car, thru
the Lincoln tunnel, statue of Liberty,
Rockefeller Plaza, Central
Park by horse and buggy, Ellis Island,
& museum of Natural History.
No baseball on this trip, but
great affordable food at fine restaurants
in the neighborhood of
77th St.. On The Avenue Hotel,
$200.00 a night, great view of the
Hudson River. You gotta go. Us
desert rats don’t know high rises
etc. but Vegas, is getting there. Too
bad, I loved the old town, cruising
Fremont street with Kruse &
the boys looking at the girls with
their long dresses, can’t see an
ankle days of old.
I miss all of you! the dances at
Wildcat Lair, drag races in front
of our school, until one of the cars
drops a drag line, singing a solo
or two in the gym. during can’t
remember all classes assembly
(thats it). wow, watching Lee
Lovaas be our quarterback, walking
next to Barbara Van Norsdall
(easily 6') and going to our next
class. swimming nude at Lake
Mead (late eve.) w/Rod, Rena, and
Ellie, (nothing happened) so there.
I miss Pat Mugleston’s great smile,
Pete Whites legs (you could drive
a small VW thru them) and
Earlene’s legs which went to the
ceiling, and Bob Borges, impeccable
dresser who really is the
Fonz. Sylvia, Myrna, Mary Jane,
B.Proffit, I miss playing spin the
bottle with you all. Did our Mothers
approve? Shit yes. Thanks for
all the good times and the pleasure
to grow old with you.
George, I’m still playing golf, so
bring Bowser, your sticks, and we
will hit it during our reunion. OK?
We will get a little drunk at Rex’s,
dance with the gals on Sat. and see
if we still have it.
John Bearce: Since the last reunion
the biggest thing that has
happened to our family is that Pat
and I celebrated our 50th wedding
anniversary. We got married on
July 6th, 1957 while I was home
on leave from the Army. Other
than the time spent in the service
we have lived here in Las Vegas
since graduation. Our daughter
and son live here also so we are
John and Pat
close to them and the grandkids
(4).
The memories I have are probably
not much different than our class
mates. The football games at
Butcher Field, the basketball
games in the gym that now seems
so small compared to the newer
schools here. The Proms which
were held in the gym and then taking
your date to see a stage show
at one of the hotels and not having
to pay and arm and a leg to see
the show. The Wildcat Lair and
the after game dances with guest
appearances of a star who was appearing
on the Strip, Sills drive-in
and the Round-Up a little further
south, Tuffy sitting on his three
wheeled motorcycle at the corner
of 7th and Bridger ever on the lookout
for a law breaker, the friendships
that were made then which
still exist today. Then there were
the golf lessons some us took after
school at the Desert Inn Golf
course which also allowed us to
play the course free.
Boy did you hit a popular note to
long time Las Vegans when you
mentioned “the changes you’ve
observed in Las Vegas”. As many
of the class mates at our 50th reunion
noticed a lot of things have
changed here in Vegas. Our unlimited
growth is beginning to take
its’ toll. Traffic is a nightmare, not
as bad as LA but getting closer
every month. I do not think you
can find a major street or freeway
that does not have bumper to
bumper traffic on them during the
rush hours. If you are going to
drive across town figure at least
35 to 45 minutes. The growth has
expanded in all directions and
there will soon be homes adjacent
to the Kyle Canyon (Mt. Charleston)
turn off. The city of
Henderson now goes from east of
the Boulder Highway (Lake Las
Vegas) almost to I-15. The slopes
of the Black Mountain area are
covered with homes many of
which are valued in the millions
of dollars. Vegas has expanded
about as far west as it can get with
homes up to the buffer zone for
Red Rock. On the east side homes
are on the slopes of Sunrise Mountain.
The latest fastest growing
city around here is North Las Vegas;
most of its expansion has been
to the north of Craig Road. The
Blue Diamond road is the new
bottleneck for commuters because
of home building in the far south
end of the valley. Blue Diamond
Road has also become the main
commuter road for people that
have moved to Pahrump and still
work here in Vegas. With all of
this growth all of the services and
infrastructure are being pushed to
the limits. Schools are crowded
and many of the new schools that
are opened each year have more
students than they were built to
hold so portable classrooms are set
up for use. Some high schools are
overcrowded and have 50 or more
students in a classroom. I believe
the School District said there are
over 300 schools in Clark County
(206 elementary, 58 middle
schools and 42 high schools plus
31 alternative schools. There are
over 307,000 students this school
year. More schools will have to
be built so now there is talk of
floating a new bond issue to build
more schools. Those of you that
may remember Rancho High
School, well the original buildings
were all torn down and Rancho
now has a totally new campus at
the same location. Some high
school football fields now have
artificial turf, to conserve water
and cut down on injuries. One
last note on our schools here, there
are now more Hispanics attending
school than whites. Of course one
of the biggest problems is getting
enough water for all of these new
homes as well as the new hotels
and condos that are going up. I’m
sure you have read about the local
Water Authority wanting to build
a water pipeline from Northern
Nevada to Las Vegas so that Vegas
can continue to grow. With
all of the new growth here the police
force can’t keep up with the
problems that come with this
growth, crime has become a major
problem here. Vegas use to
have a low cost of living but that
is no longer true. The “strip” has
transitioned from a tourist destination
for all, to a tourist destination
for the younger crowd with
expendable income. Many of the
hotels now have night clubs that
cater to the younger crowd. The
newest craze is that now the hotel
swimming pools are becoming
daytime and early evening clubs.
No cover charge for the female
crowd so they will attract the paying
male crowd. The “strip” is
constantly changing with new
projects being built now. The latest
causality was the Stardust Hotel
which was imploded to make
room for a new mega resort being
built by the Boyd Group. Constant
change, even the skyline downtown
is changing with new high
rise condos being built with the
idea of getting people to move
back to the inner core of the city.
Our old Las Vegas High campus
has also changed; there is now a
new theater just across the street
from the old auditorium. A lot of
the changes I have mentioned have
happened since our 50th reunion.
Plan on attending our 55th reunion
and see the changes that have occurred
in the past five years.
John Holland: Jeannine and I
have been busy over the past
couple of years. We’ve traveled to
Boston on three occasions, Chicago
on one and Maine on one.
We’ve also traveled all over Nevada
and California on Lions business
and pin trading. Along with
that I am Chairman of the Western
States Pin Swap, which happens
every October in Reno. Next
year I plan to bring it to Las Vegas.
I’m Pin Chairman for the state
of Nevada, which entails designing
and producing a new State pin
every year. Treasurers job seem to
follow me around since I am in
that capacity for the California Pin
Traders Association and my Lions
Club. I’m also Director Emeritus
for Lions In Sight and their Constitution
and By-Laws Chairman
Pluuuuuuuusssss, on the committee
putting our 55th Reunion together,
I wasn’t this busy when I
was working. We enjoy every moment
however and we are really
looking forward to seeing everyone
at the 55th. Keep looking at
your mail, we’ll try and have the
registration information out to everyone
around the first of the year.
Take care all.
Joycelyn Miller von Borstel: My
name is Dianne von Borstel and I
am writing you on behalf of my
Mom, Joycelyn (Miller) von
Borstel. My Mom is suffering
from Alzheimer’s so I now receive
her mail. Other than Alzheimer’s,
Mom is in good health.
Joyce lost her husband (Walter) of
51 years in April 2004. Mom and
Dad had seven wonderful children
(six girls and one boy) and seventeen
grandchildren (plus many
more great-grandchildren). I am
the third oldest. Five of Joyce’s
children reside here in Mesa, Arizona,
one in Hudson, Wisconsin,
and the oldest in Boise, Idaho.
Please keep my Mom in your
prayers and hope that someday
Alzheimer’s will be a disease of
the past. Thanks and best regards.
Ken Olive: Me and my wife, Barbara
Goodwin class of ’56, were
talking about the beautiful old Las
Vegas that we all knew back in the
’50s. It was fun for me living at
Carson and 7th Street just one
block from Las Vegas High
School. And when I was in Grammar
School I only had to walk just
four blocks to school. It was exciting
to watch the Helldorado
Parade come down Fremont Street
and then go out on Fifth Street to
the Helldorado Village, especially
since my Mom and Dad were in
the Hillbilly Band. It was fun to
dance with a cute girl (before
Barbie) that came to the
Helldorado dance.
I found out the “hard way” that
everyone in Vegas knew who you
were, because I did “wheelies” one
afternoon in the wrong place, and
the next day a Police officer came
to our house and had a talk with
my Dad about what I did. So much
for driving for a month!
Ken and Barbie got married in Las
Vegas in ’57 and moved to Reno
where we raised our six kids, and
just celebrated our 50th anniversary.
I am gratefull to be part of a
generation that grew up in early
Las Vegas when it was so beautiful
and the people were all friends
and neighbors.
Las Vegas has changed, but our
classmates and friends still have
the wonderful qualities that they
had in good Old Las Vegas!
Keith Wallace: Life is good. My
wife Margery and I spend summers
in Cloudcroft, NM and winters
in Casa Grande, AZ. We have
three children, four grandchildren
and one great granddaughter.
We’re looking forward to seeing
everyone at the 55th class reunion.
October 2007 ‘CAT’ TRACKS
Ralph Adams: My wife and I
have lived in Utah now for about
14 years. We are still involved in
working with the deaf. Currently
my church calling on the High
Council is to the Ogden Area Deaf
Branch and my wife is called to
serve there with me. Since we
both sign it is a natural place for
us to be. We served in like manner
in the Washington, D.C. Area
Deaf Branch for many years there
before we move here. It is a delight
to work with them.
We now have three granddaughters,
one soon to be eight, one five
and the little one, one and a half
years old. We have recently taken
our whole family (10 of us) on a
cruise to Mexico, (Cabo San
Lucas, Matzalan and Puerta
Villarta and later another trip with
my wife’s brother and his wife, to
Alaska. Both were wonderful
trips. We will be going East next
year and taking a trip with Roger
(my twin) and his wife up to Nova
Scotia, since neither of us have
been there even though we both
lived in the East for years (him in
upper State N.Y. and us in Maryland).
We were usually taking
trips back to Vegas to visit family
for our vacations, and other parts
of the West.
When I think of Vegas, the first is
family, the second classmates, and
thirdly, how nice to live in a place
so safe as Vegas, that we could
walk our dates anywhere we
wanted and even walk home alone
very late at night and not have a
worry. That is so sad that many
places are not like that today. I will
always remember Toni Jolly, my
first real love, when we dated as I
was a junior and she was a senior.
Of course, I had many other dates
with girls that I will always feel
are good friends, even now, though
I have not seen them for many
years, having lived in the East. I
loved the pomegranates we could
just pick off the bushes and eat on
our way to school, the figs trees
with fresh figs, (the only place I
have ever seen them). I remember
the great movies at the theaters
on Fremont St., Huntridge Theater,
and lastly the Mayfair Theater, all
of which we had many dates and
just with friends and family. Of
course, my dad’s grocery store (on
Fremont and later on 9th Street),
will always be a very fond highlight
for me. I remember when
Roger and I started kindergarden,
the first day Roger threw down the
teacher’s glasses and broke them
and I bit her. She came in our store
for years and always told that story
to anyone who would listen. High
School years have so many memories
it would take a book to cite
them. We had great teachers and
classmates that will ever be etched
in my mind. Hope to see you at
the 55th reunion.
Ralph, Elna and youngest son Doug
on a cruise entering Cabo San Lucas
Louise Davis Ritter: Not to much
going on in MO but it has been a
crazy year so far and it is not over
yet. A big ice storm in Jan left us
without power or water for about
12 days. We have the wood burning
stove and some kerosene heaters
so we kept sort of warm. Could
not get out or in to the farm because
of downed trees and power
poles for about 4 days. We did
manage even with Joe’s mother
who is 94. Our volunteer fire dept.
got to us and brought chainsaws
to clear a path and also brought
water. I was so glad we didn’t
have cattle anymore to water.
Then in the early Spring we had a
killer frost, so no fruit this year any
where in southwest MO. We have
had terrible heat and humidity this
Aug and finally heavy, heavy rain
from tropical storm Erin. What a
time it has been!
Family all well and doing well.
Our girls and grandchildren (we
have 8) gave Joe and I a wonderful
50th Wedding anniversary
party on our anniversary July 23,
2007.
Memories of times gone by are
mostly good. I so enjoyed band
with Mr. Cross, Drama with
Mr.Thiriot and being in
Rhythmettes if only for a little
while with all the great gals. My
one great memory was going to the
Hollywood bowl and performing
the St. Louie Blues March. That
was a thrill. I so enjoyed my friendships,
especially with Ann Love
McPherson, Mary Frances Irwin
Rimerman, and Lois Stewart Bird.
I still correspond with these 3 la
‘CAT’ TRACKS October 2007
dies so life is good.
Random thoughts.. well I won’t be
coming to any more class reunions
as most of my family lives closer
here and it is not worth coming to
Vegas any more. I like to remember
when Vegas was not so big and
noisy. I’ll say high to every one
and have a great reunion.
LeRoy Wentz: My life has
changed very little in the last few
years and yet the aging process
continues relentlessly. I am enjoying
my life a lot in spite of age and
pain. My wife, children and grandchildren
make every day worthwhile
so I’m not about to give up
easily.
I just completed a trip of a lifetime
this month! I traveled with one of
my grandsons to Cooperstown,
NY where I was indu....well to
help chaperone/coach his 12 year
old baseball club team in a tournament
of 96 teams. We had a
great time playing 8 games and
touring the Baseball Hall of Fame.
It gave me a great review of how
it is to be 12 again.
Our main travel activities center
around grandchildren, family reunions
and Cruises.
Julia and I feel very fortunate to
have the health and finances to
enjoy this last third of our lives.
We hope to see you all next year
and wish you good health and
good fortune.
I haven’t done much with the
website, but it is still there at
www.itseasyto.com. I would wel
come any inputs or criticism. I am
happy to revise it , but lack imagination
for changes.
Marilyn Sims McCluskey: Yup,
it’s me..Last Minute Marilyn. I
was hopeing something interesting
or exciting would happen before
I got back in touch, but all is the
same as usual. I’m very retired,
fairly healthy, for my age, live near
downtown Reno, and never go
anywhere. Don’t wanna’.
Let’s see.. I try to keep track of all
the kids, but, sometimes..well, ya’
know. 8 grandchildren, 3 greats
(plus one on the way.) Have a
vegtable garden, a big dog and
many memories of those carefree
high school days of long ago.
If anyone is ever in the vicinity,
give me a holler. If there is no
answer..check the back yard.
Probably won’t happen.
Ron Petersen: As most of you
probably agree by now, retirement
is better than working, but you do
need to keep busy. For Katie and
me it has been lots of travel to see
our Space Shuttle friends in
Florida and across the country,
kids and grandkids in California
and just plain old hitting the road
in our Corvette for no good reason
at all. We have completed our
business in Tucson and are now
full time in Las Vegas...same heat,
lots less water, but much more to
do! We are with the Las Vegas
Corvettes Association, one of the
largest in the country and very active
with over 40 of our own
events per year plus events with
other clubs to choose from. Getting
over to the ocean or up to the
canyons are our favorite trips. We
are also involved with Corvette car
shows and the new Las Vegas
Concours d’Elegance charity
events.
Good health, all daughters married
and accounted for in Reno, Santa
Cruz, and Sacramento, and
grandkids in college so we feel
very lucky! Hope each of you
classmates and your families are
all doing great as well!
Looking back at our LVHS years
after all this time the feeling I have
is just that it went by way too fast!
(I didn’t think so at the time of
course). One minute I was sitting
with some of you at the White
Bunny contemplating our futures
and bam! here we are! Life is but
a dream? Well I do know they were
great years for sure, that we were
all lucky to have grown up in Las
Vegas in the 50’s, and that high
school friends last forever!
Just took a look at the yearbooks
to help me remember what happened
in those four years, but it is
still just a blur of activity. I do remember
that it was a blast and
while there are certainly some
things I would do differently, going
to LVHS was a great experience.
Hope to see you all at our
55th!
Ray Winn: I am still working on
my cancer project ... four years
now. We have spent about
$50,000,000 in research and other
administrative activities and now
October 2007 ‘CAT’ TRACKS
have to go to the market for much
larger construction loans. A bit
dicey in these troubled financial
times. The recent financial meltdown
didn’t help. We did our research
at the CERN accelerator in
Switzerland ... the same accelerator
complex featured in Dan
Brown’s book Angels and Demons
which he wrote just before he
wrote the Da Vinci Code. If we are
successful, it could be one of the
major breakthroughs in cancer ...
but there are a lot of possible potholes
between now and the end.
All I can do is just keep trying.
Besides all of that ... I sold my
house to the guy who started this
whole financial breakdown ...
Angelo Mozillo of Countrywide
Financial. I am currently working
on the remodel of a great estate
built in the ‘20’s ... It will be wonderful
if I get through it.
I have three kids and three grand
kids ... all doing well and living in
the same area, so I get to see them
frequently ... when not out of town
on business.
(Editor’s Note: Ray’s cancer
project deals with the use of antimatter
nanograms to target and kill
cancer cells. Check it out at
www.nanolife.co.The estate he is
remodeling consists of the main
house , 2 two bedroom guest
houses on a 5 acre site. He says it
will be finished in another year.)
Rear view of Ray’s 16,000 sq ft main house
Great room ceiling in the main house.
Guest house number one.
Lois Wentz Durkee - still living
in Las Vegas - widowed in April
2006 after 46 years of marriage to
a wonderful man - children (3) and
grandchildren (10) keep me enter
tained. Some grandchildren have
either graduated college or are, if
old enough, in college now. I am
an avid UNLV Rebel fan and have
been for years.
My daughter took me to Hawaii a
few months ago - Kauai was so
beautiful - my first trip. Still in real
estate - plan to retire soon.
My fondest memories are friends
from LVHS - truly miss: Rena,
June - they were gone too soon.
Still in touch with Myrna, Martha,
Shirley Chaffee, Catherine
Blackman, Barbara Proffitt, tho
mostly thru email.
Martha Graham Clark: I have
two children – one daughter, Lori,
who lives up here in Washington,
one son, Tracy, who is in
Scotsdale, AZ. My daughter has
two children, Nicole, 15 (going on
22) and Corbin, 13, who is my
ballplayer, sports enthusiast, etc.
Nicole is in driver’s ed now and I
can’t believe she is going to be
driving. I can’t remember being
this concerned when my own kids
were learning to drive. (Do we get
more protective as we get older?)
Anyway, they are the “lights of my
life” and they know it and really
get Nana to do most anything they
want. I have been in Washington
now for 22 years. Doesn’t seem
possible, but by and large, it is
beautiful and I have made many
great friends up here – still get nostalgic
over Las Vegas, which I still
consider my “home.”
I spend a month in Puerto Vallarta,
Mexico each year with friends.
We leave here the end of December
to celebrate New Year’s Eve
and return home the end of January.
Gets us out of the worst of
‘CAT’ TRACKS October 2007
the winter here in the Northwest.
Last year I discovered that Don
Klinker and his wife live in
Kirkland. He called me out of the
blue – we had coffee and caught
up with each other. They discovered
Kirkland on their travels and
decided it was “THE” place to
live.
I correspond regularly with Sylvia
(Brickner) Aronson and keep up
with Marian (Hall) Catron and
Catherine (Blackman)
Hammelrath through e-mails. We
are all excited about the upcoming
reunion. Sylvia is the same
‘ole Sylvia, glib and funny as always;
Catherine has the most interesting
and beautiful way of writing.
Guess all of us have found
our little niches in life that we enjoy.
Phyllis (Zigtema) and her
husband, Jerry, just left up here
after a two-week visit with me.
They visit every year and we have
a great time.
I have so many great memories of
our high school years. Thinking
back, it’s a wonder we all survived!!
I remember going out to
Frenchman’s mine and walking
back through there around the
mine shaft (in the dark). Where
were our brains?? I remember
going up to Mt. Charleston and
“partying” on teacher’s conference
days (underage drinking). Someone
had to be looking out for us,
huh? Las Vegas was a great town
to grow up in. I don’t think anybody
else understands the privileges
we experienced during that
time – floorshows at the hotels af
ter proms, etc., the entertainers at
the Lair. So—guess that’s it for
me. I am avidly looking forward
to our reunion next year. Hope to
see LOTS of classmates.
Rex Bell: Presently working part-
time as an attorney. Plan to retire
in next several years and possibly
move from Las Vegas for at least
5 or 6 months a year. Dorothy is
busy with all her projects. She
surprised me this last year by making
me a hand-tooled belt which
has become almost impossible to
buy. She also has many other
crafts. She has a large garden on
south side of the house; grapes,
peppers, tomatoes, squash, strawberries,
and quite a few other
veggies.
Son Michael is busy with dental
practice. Daughter Michelle has
moved to Vegas with husband
Mike. He is presently stationed at
the Pentagon as a Colonel. After
another year and half passes, he
will determine if he stays in the
military for 4 more yeas or retires.
Granddaughters Brittany and
Brooke in Vegas with papa Mike.
Nicole, Michelle’s daughter is now
in her first year at TCU.
I only have fond memories of my
classmates. I enjoyed all the fun
we had in Vegas in the old days.
Too bad so much of the old days
are gone and so many newcomers
could care less about what Vegas
was! I am very happy to see many
of my classmates fairly often.
I am just so very pleased, that
though I only was at LVHS for my
first year, that my classmates continued
to include me as part of our
class. It means a great deal to me.
I look forward to seeing everyone
at the 55th.
Patty Dow Hveem: In 1953, after
graduation, I got married and
in December ’53 had my first
child. I had two more girls. I was
married for 25 years, got divorced,
moved to Texas where I met and
married my second husband. We
lived in Connecticut, Idaho, Oregon,
back to Texas, back to CT,
then to Las Vegas, back to ID. Finally,
in 1993 we ended up in
Yuma, AZ. I got divorced in 2001.
I have three wonderful daughters,
6 fantastic grandchildren and 4
wonderful great grandkids. I also
have two dogs, two cats and one
horse. They keep me busy and
healthy.
I really enjoyed the 50th get together
and I’m looking forward to
next year and the 55th.
Gloria Hicks Alger: We returned
from our mission to the Nauvoo,
IL Temple for the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints in November
2005. It was a special experience.
We are ordinance workers
in the Las Vegas Temple and
Earl is a sealer.
Our two girls are 52 and 50. Our
three sons are 49, 46, and 43. We
have 10 grandsons and 8 granddaughters
and three little great
grandchildren. We had two more
grand children graduate from high
school this year. Our oldest daughter,
Sybel, had her fourth thyroid
October 2007 ‘CAT’ TRACKS
cancer surgery in July 2007. It was
more extensive this time. Two
lymph nodes above the sternum
were cancerous. She teaches high
school English and Journalism at
a Bill Gates Charter School in
California.
Our youngest son, Carl, opened
Jump On It the first of August
2007 in Lindon, UT – 10,000 sq ft
of trampolines! What a fun
place!! Phone (801) 623-8778,
www.JumpOnItParty.com.
Maybe you read the Reader’s Digest
about Randy Thornton and his
encounter with a whale. He is my
cousin. We enjoy the Clark
County Fair each year in
Logandale, NV. I enjoy playing
volleyball each week. I am involved
in Daughters of Utah Pioneers,
a Literacy Club, Church
activities and I love to read and
study.
Looking through the year books
brings back memories of the good
times all of us had during our high
school years.
I am grateful we had an outstanding
class – many good friends. I
am sorry I haven’t kept in close
touch with some of you. I still
think of you often. You are all
special. Thanks to all those who
have done so much to keep our
reunions going.
Photos from Gloria
1/17/98 - Planning for the 45th -Joe
J, Barbara Burton Jones, Bobby B
and Barbara Richardson
Above and below, 6/11/03 at the 50th reception
at new LVHS - Paula Barber
Boardman, Gloria, Louise Davis Ritter,
Kay Benson, Carolyn Whipple Benson,
Yvonne Sacksteder Drakeley
Marian, Martha, Catherine, Lois and
Sylvia
George, Earlene, Hank, Alice, Mr. T
and Don
Don Fabbi: Fourteen grandchildren,
six great grandchildren and
still on the green side of the lawn!
Best memory is having a case of
beer with Bob Beville and Conrad
Nagle to watch the “A” bomb
blasts at Angle Peak.
Sandra Records Brown: Since
the last issue of Cat Tracks, I have
cruised both to Hawaii and Alaska.
My daughter’s family always accompanies
my husband and I on
our vacations and we always have
such great fun together.
When not traveling, I keep busy
visiting with friends, shopping,
painting, and spending most afternoons
with my grandson, who is
7 years old, and my daughter,
Shauna, who lives only 1 mile
away. My other daughter, Brenda,
visits weekends and my son,
David and his fiancée, Debbie, live
in Long Beach and visit often.
In High School, I was a rather awk
ward and shy person for the most
part, but so many people
were kind and caring. Two
people especially stand
out in my mind for their
kindness: Isabel Worthen and Rod
Reber. Thank you for being a
friend.
Except for my arthritis, I’m fit as
a fiddle and always ready to have
fun with my family and friends.
Gail Gibson: I have shared my
life with my partner, Sandi
Dolliver, for the past 25 years. We
are home in Boulder City during
the winter months. But for the
summer we head north to our
home on the Salmon River in
Salmon, ID. We stay there from
April to October or so. We love
our home on the river. Our children
are all still in Las Vegas. My
boys Gary and Greg and son-in
law Robert Lunt still have Gibson
Construction of Nevada. My
daughter Jody is still teaching.
Sandi’s daughter and son-in-law,
Brandee and Torben Scholer are
both pharmaceutical reps. They
are all busy leading active lives. I
have 9 grandchildren and three
great grandsons. Life is good!
I cannot say enough to our 50th
Class Reunion Committee. What
a tribute to our Class and High
School. Sandi and I had a wonderful
time. The events and
momentos were great. A great
time was had by all who attended.
If you missed it, you really missed
out. We are looking forward to the
55th
Don Rasmussen: Wow! Since last
we met: a new grandson – Ryan –
now a three year old combination
of Spiderman, Spongebob and
Lightening McQueen; our lives
are full with frequent visits from
our three daughters and our now
teenaged five other grandchildren.
Our annual boating trip to Lake
Mead is always a fun time to bond
with them. Other highpoints;
much improved vision finally with
a 100% successful cataract surgery;
cruises to Alaska, the Caribbean,
through the Panama Canal,
Costa Rica and the Mexican
Rivera; a new house last December;
a flight in a 1927 Travel Aire
open cockpit bi-plane over San
Diego and Orange counties. The
pilot, over the earphones, told me
to turn around and I discovered
both of his hands high in the air.
He said “it’s all yours”. I FLEW
IT! Lea Ann and I have enjoyed
riding on steam trains in Alaska,
Colorado, California, Arizona, and
Nevada. A great time and it keeps
history alive.
We are looking forward to our trip
to New Hampshire this fall for a
visit with brother Dave and his
family.
Looking forward to the reunion
and seeing everyone once again.
It’s the Red Baron! Or is it the White
Baron ready to zoom again?
Lloydine Dixon Hogan: Although
I am a “black sheep,” I do
appreciate hearing about those I
went to school with many years
ago. I attended the Fifth Street
Grammar School Kindergarten
through the Eighth grade. I was
one of the Row 3 – unknown,
seated to the left of Nevada Neely,
pictured in Mrs. Hicks’ (unknown,
seated right, next to Row 4 – D.D.
Keller) homeroom class 5th Street
Grammar School 8th Grade
Classes, page 18, June 2002 ‘Cat”
Tracks, photo from Robert
Horsley.
We spend October through April
in Oro Valley, AZ (just North of
Tuscon) and the other back up here
(in Washington) dodging the heat
of the desert.
Unette Crawford Wall: Time
flies – got older, haven’t we all?
The alternative is not great. Jack
and I have three daughters, four
grandsons, one granddaughter and
11 great grandchildren (8 girls and
3 boys). All live in Las Vegas.
Jack and I were married 54 ˝
when I lost him two years ago after
five years of illness.
Although I never graduated, my
life has been blessed with success.
Campfire Girls leader; Assistant
Leader for 20 years and eight years
on the Board of Directors during
that same period. Owner of Insurance
Agency for 40 years. Oldest
daughter now is the main woman
in the office. Did some traveling:
three times to Hawaii and once to
Hong Kong.
I do love old memories of Las Vegas
even though I was more of a
loner growing up. I was born in a
house on First Street. My mother,
her sister and my grandparents
came to Vegas in 1928. My Dad
came in ’31 to work on the Dam
from start to finish. I loved old
Las Vegas, but I don’t go downtown
or on the strip if I can help
it. Oh yeah, my kids remind me –
Caregiver also over the last 25
years. No regrets.
New friends are nice –but the old
ones are the ones we can share so
many memories with. They are
treasures. I do look forward to
seeing all of you in 2008.
Joe Harvey King: Oh the memories!!
I’m writing for Joe Harvey
King & me, Toni Jolley King, class
October 2007 ‘CAT’ TRACKS
of ’52. Joe Harvey went to Kindergarten
at 5th Street School &
them moved to Calif. until he came
back to LVHS his junior year. I
came to John S. Park in the 5th
grade from Utah so have even
more memories. Wasn’t Las Vegas
fun when it was a “family” town
and we all knew each other? LVHS
was such great memories. Butcher
Memorial Field is now gone - our
football memories and Baccalaureate
which many high schools
don’t even have anymore. Our basketball
memories -remember
bringing celery & carrots to eat at
the games & then Monday morning
Mr. Long announcing not to
bring “salad” to the games anymore?
Remember filing down 25
cent pieces & having Jack Huntington,
the jeweler, engrave our
name on them & then wearing our
“quarters” on a chain? Sills & the
Round Up & the Wildcat Lair - we
must’ve had the best teen age years
of anyone! I’m thankful for all you
“kids” who helped make our years
at LVHS & even before so much
fun. Some of you I’ve stayed in
touch with all those 60 years plus.
How many of you remember the
Nevada State Song? I do. We had
Nevada State history in 8th grade
and Carson City used to be the
county seat of Esmeralda County
besides being the capital city. No
more Esmeralda County though &
now Carson City is like a district
of it’s own, like Washington DC.
Thanks for all the memories &
thank you, George, for the Cat
Tales. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing
some of you at future Wildcat Reunions
and for sure next year at
your 55th.
We’re finally giving up our
motorhome & 24 years of living
“on the road.” Fuel is just too expensive
& so are repairs and we’re
getting tired. So we’ll be putting a
5th wheel trailer permanently on
our RV lot in Palm Springs. It’s
still a “winter camp for senior citizens”
and we enjoy being there.
Joe golfs & plays tennis & I just
lay out by the pool. Please call us
or e-mail us or drop by if you’re
in the area --- 760-328-3973 or
king1213@toast.net or 69-411
Ramon Rd. #1213 Cathedral City,
Ca. 92234. We’re in an RV resort
called Outdoor Resorts.
Sid Tarbet: Each year the Southern
Nevada Off Road Enthusiasts
hold several races throughout
Southern Nevada., One of these
races is called The Dusty Times
250 and is held each, year in
Caliente, Nevada, approximately
180 miles North of Las Vegas. The
fact that this event is held every
year is not necessarily news worthy,
the fact that one of the drivers
was a 72 year old former classmate
might be noteworthy. That’s right,
Sid Tarbett was the co-driver in the
2006 Dusty Times 250.
Sid and his grandson, Jeremy
Gubler, started on the grueling 250
mile track at 9:28 a.m. on the 20th
of June. Their ride would take
them through desert trails, gully
washes and mountain paths. These
are not frequently traveled routes
and needless to say are filled with
pot holes, large rocks, sharp turns,
up hill, down hill, and pedal to the
metal all the way, sometimes exceeding
speeds of over 115 mph.
Even flying over the course at
breakneck speeds the race would
not be over for them until 4:42
p.m. that afternoon.
Wouldn’t you know it, they captured
first place in the Unlimited
Sports Class. This race takes a toll
on even the youngest driver and it
certainly was not a gentle ride for
this old timer either. There is no
record of anyone close to age 72
running in these rough off-road
races. So I guess you could call this
quite an accomplishment for your
old classmate.
Camille Robert Ortiz: Rudy and
I celebrated our 50th anniversary
‘CAT’ TRACKS October 2007
by taking an Alaskan cruise with
all our children/grandchildren in
July. It was a perfect time as all
our grandchildren are teen-agers
except one. She is 5 and what a
cutie.
One of the high-lights was renewing
our vows with the Captain officiating.
The children arranged it
all. What a surprise! We had a
marvelous time.
I think my memories of high
school will always be with me. A
lot of growing up, friends, teachers,
activities that I was involved
in, Rhythmettes, the Wildcat Lair
(my mother, Jeanne Roberts, was
in charge of it) all was fun and
exciting. Mr. Millhouse, Mr.
Knapp, Mr. Harris, our principle.
My algebra teacher, who I had big
crush on, until he came to class and
announced that he was getting
MARRIED. Cherry 7-up with
french fries, Sill’s, the Round Up,
Ronzone’s, all made up the picture!
We have a house now at Del Webb
in Palm Desert. We go there often
as it is one story and easier for us
to get around. Eventually, we plan
on living there. It is hard to move
permanently as we have so many
friends and our son, Steve lives
here.
Steve, his wife, Jill and their 3
children live near-by. Kristina 17,
Ashley 15, and Brianna, S. The
older girls go to Burbank High
School where Steve went and he
played baseball (a “lefty”/pitcher).
They play softball and are both on
Varsity. They take after their dad
and grandfather. We go to all their
games.
My daughter, Lisa and her husband,
Mark have lived 18 years in
Overland Park, KS. They have two
daughters, Kaitlin 18 and Shannon
16, who is now a junior in high
school. Kaltlin is heading for University
of Kansas, this week-end.
She is majoring in Speech
Therapy. We’re so excited for her.
I wish all my classmates the best.
Kent Huntsman: Lucille and I are
still struggling to get out of the
care-giving mode we have here in
the last 30 years or so. It is hard
to get out and do things with just
ourselves. But, we are trying. Our
health is like everyone else’s, going
down hill. Our posterity is
growing: 27 grandchildren and 16
great grandchildren. All most all
are living here in Utah now, so we
see a lot of them.
As I sit and reflect on the past, I
have flash backs of the Fifth St.
Grammar School and John S.
Park. I remember the fun times at
both and friends from both. We
used to spend a lot of time playing
football on the Park at Maryland
Parkway on both the big park and
the circle. I can remember
George’s home on Oakey and his
Dad’s printing shop. Remember
the basketball games and the trips
on the bus with the card games.
These were great times.
We look back and wonder where
time went and of the events in our
lives that were missed. But we had
our folks to take care of and that
to us was very important. We are
looking forward to the 55th. It will
be my first!.
Danny Lee: It’s been a good five
years since the last go around –
Health for me and family is good.
Sister-in-law Barbara Damrow
suffered a stroke and is paralyzed
on her left side. She went to Vegas
for a couple of years. I have
had good fishing and hunting; a 3
month trip in RV across the good
old USA; a 16 day cruise to Hawaii
and back; and a 16 day cruise
New York to Rome and then a few
days in Rome; spent from June 1
to Sept 1 in my RV on the Bay in
San Diego. We celebrate our 48th
anniversary in 3/08. Life is good
–so far!
Looking back, Vegas seemed like
a pretty big city at 28,000. Now
it’s near 2 million in the valley –
get lost in home town now. One
high school, knew 3 classes ahead
and 3 behind. Many good friendships
made with older and younger
friends.
Many classmates, including me at
times, would not believe my life
since high school. Some college;
US Army; Tour Escort for Union
Pacific RR; agent for State Farm;
Chairman LV-Clark County Library
District for 7 years; National
Trustee of the Year,1995; Chairman
Nevada Library and Literacy
Coalition for 5 years; 4 great children,
2 granddaughters and Dorothy
for 48 years. Surprise,
surprise!
Ready for the Fashion Show at Florence Richard’s Magic Eye Boutique in
1953 are these beautiful ladies: front - Joyce Austin, Gay Fisher, Christine
Poulos; middle - Judy Ostler, Camille Roberts, Mary Francis Irwin, Bar-
bara Deer, Gloria Skerell; back - Sylvia Meyers, Earlene Whitt, Marsha
Whipple and Carol Dattge. Photo provided by Christine Poulos.
George Ball: I continue to be involved
in the many water issues
in Nevada through my consulting
engineering practice and serving
on the Regional Water Planning
Commission in Washoe County.
This, along with Marguerite and I
enjoying our three grandchildren
is keeping us busy and enjoying
life. We recently welcomed into
our life our first grandson George
Ryan Ball. We have taken a hia-
GB and George Ryan
tus from our busy lives to give
Marguerite the opportunity to undergo
and recover from back surgery.
The 50 year anniversaries
keep rolling by including our 50th
wedding anniversary in June of
’06, my graduation from the University
of Nevada Golden Reunion
in May of ’07 and just recently I
receive a letter from the American
Society of Civil Engineers that I
was a 50 year member. They say
time flies when you are having fun
and I agree. Looking forward to
seeing the Class of ’53 at our 55th.
I remember the wonderful and motivating
teachers and coaches who
inspired us to work hard and
achieve. Also the wonderful
friends of the Class of ‘53 I made
for life. I will never forget them.
Joe and Isabel Free: Isabel and I
live in a small town of about 500
people, Paragonah Utah. Our
tracks are being made at a considerably
slower pace than in our
younger days. We have been back
from our mission in South Africa
about two years. We have 43
grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.
We are both reasonably
healthy although Isabel is having
trouble with her knees and legs.
Rythemtte-itus? We have a full
Garden which keeps us busy, but
we plan to do a little touring
around the country this fall.
Thanks to all our classmates for
your friendship. We hope that all
of the Lord’s blessings will be
yours.
Lee Lovaas: Well, I can’t believe
that there is only one more year
until our 55th reunion. It will be
great to see all our class mates and
dear friends and share those AARP
hugs.
My sweet angel Helen, and I just
celebrated our twenty-fifth wedding
anniversary in July. I know
God made Helen, very special to
be able to put up with me for that
long. We enjoyed a fabulous scenic
train ride through the Canadian
Rockies, from Calgary to
Vancouver, followed by a cruise
from Vancouver, to Anchorage.
One thing is for sure, God really
knows how to create beautiful
scenery! But have you noticed how
slowly those old people move
walking around the cruise ship?
We have one new grandson,
Dylan, eighteen months old now
‘CAT’ TRACKS October 2007
and I’m pretty sure that will be the
end of the procreation for this generation.
Seven total is about all the
names that I can remember.
Since our last reunion we spent a
couple of years building a new
home, which the entire family is
thoroughly enjoying. Our avocado
grove provides enough work to
keep me in pretty good shape, but
last years freeze destroyed the entire
crop. That’s farming!
Helen, and I have enjoyed some
great salmon fishing trips, we love
to play golf, and spend a lot of time
watching the grand kids take part
in their various sporting events. I
am really having fun restoring two
old cars, but getting a little concerned
about living long enough
to complete the project.
When you consider how the world
is today, I know that we are all very
aware of how fortunate we were
to grow up in Las Vegas, at the
time we did. So much fun with so
many good friends! I love and appreciate
all of them.
As we all know, time is flying and
we are moving slower and slower,
but there is still so much to be
done. Stay healthy and God bless.
Gretchen Harris Payne: Since
2005, Don & I have done quite a