50-YEAR REUNION PLANNED FOR ELMHURST CLASS OF 1965
A weekend of fun and fellowship is planned September 18-20 for members of the Elmhurst High School Class of 1965. The main events will be a Friday night reception at the downtown History Center and a Saturday night dinner event at Lighted Gardens in Ossian. More than one hundred are expected to participate.
On Friday the classmates can tour the school and take a walking tour of downtown Fort Wayne hosted by classmate Steve Toor. A golf outing is set for Saturday and a brunch for non-golfers. Finally, a potluck lunch is planned Sunday at the home of Dave and Janet Bolyard.
The class looks forward to hosting several of their teachers and staff at the reunion dinner, including Don Goss, Randy Masterson, Daryl Yost, and Julia Shaw, who was the school secretary. Unfortunately, several teachers passed away this past year, including Jackie Foelber, Nick Werling and Richard Poor.
There were 340 graduates of the Class of ’65. According to Fred Warner, one of the organizers of the reunion, the class database includes 357 classmates, some of whom dropped out before graduation or graduated later. All are welcome to the reunion. The group has identified 53 classmates who have died, about 15 percent.
The reunion committee consists of about 15 classmates, most living in northeastern Indiana. Planning began last fall with notification mailings sent to classmates in April and July of this year. The group also makes extensive use of email to keep in touch with nearly 200 classmates. A class website is also in use.
The group is soliciting old photos, slides, movies, news articles and Elmhurst memorabilia from the 1960s. Anyone who can provide materials should contact Ed Kerr at (260) 436-4732 or readyeddie56@hotmail.com. Items related to Waynedale, Times Corners and Aboite Township are of interest as well as Elmhurst.
As part of the reunion, a commemorative issue of the Elmhurst Advance newspaper is in the works, a multimedia presentation using photos submitted by class members, a class directory and a slide show to honor the deceased.
Joan Broderick Garman, who was the editor of the Elmhurst newspaper in 1965, has been conducting “life story” phone interviews with classmates around the country and, locally, she and Warner are videotaping interviews of classmates and teachers. Warner was the editor of the 1965 Elmhurst yearbook, the Anlibrum.
There were 186 boys in the class and 171 girls. Of the males, 73 report having served in the U.S. military, or nearly 40 percent. Classmate Jim Wire is a West Point graduate and served in Vietnam.
Twenty-three served in the Vietnam War, two wounded and three killed. Mick McOmber and Larry Crow were wounded; Don Bunn, Mark Judge and Gary Genth were killed. Jeff Goshert is compiling information from and about the Vietnam veterans. Video interviews of Jeff Goshert, Mick McOmber and Ed Kerr were recorded this summer.
In preparing for this 50-year celebration, the class has been able to locate over 95 percent of the living classmates. A combination of dedicated searchers and the Internet have contributed to locating all but a dozen or so classmates.
Those classmates that have not been found are: Janet Crow, Larry Crow, Joan Floor, Larry James, Donna McKee, Rick Merriman, Gary Miller, Sheila Moser, Kathy Riley Karol, Carol Sanders, Frances Sherrill, Willi Spicer, Carole Weesner Hester, and Terry Weigand. Anyone having contact information should email the data to warnerfred@aol.com.
Both men and women in the Class of ‘65 went on to gain higher education and career success. Now in their upper sixties, most have retired.
Based on the information of those classmates who have reported, 124 graduates obtained post-secondary education. Eleven students obtained doctorate degrees: two medical doctors, a dentist, a veterinarian, two attorneys, and five PhDs.
An additional 30 obtained masters degrees, fourteen in education. Including the masters and doctorates, a total of 72 classmates (20%) earned bachelors degrees. Fifteen earned engineering degrees, 14 in education, nine in business, eight in science and mathematics, and five in nursing and allied medical fields.
Twenty completed trade schools or apprenticeships and 15 earned associates degrees. Many others received training in the military. Another 18 attended college, but did not complete a degree.
More information about the reunion can be found on the class website www.ElmhurstHS.com or by contacting Bev Barker at (260) 622-7125.
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