Class of 1958 50th Reunion

October 3 - 5, 2008

Row six (top): C.J. Ransom, Doug Bilderback, Frankie Waymire, David Markham, Larry Medaris, Patricia Hales Smith, David Maddux, Bobby Rutledge, Curtis Stogsdill,  Jack Melvin, Joe Clapp, Gary Bob Mosse,  Lyn Massey.

Row five: Charles Holder, Richard Ellison, J.B. Stiles, Billy Killough, Thurman Johnson, Chuck LaFoy, Gerald Hurley, Martin Wineingar, Jackie Hunt, Rex Taylor, Jerry Jones, Donald Crowell, Angelo Weda, David Nelson, Horace Groff, Sidney DeFratus, David Mollenhour, Billy Carr, Darrell Burnett

Row four:  Walter Smith, Horace Benedict, Mary Helen Kyle Chapin, Judy Hoover Gohlke, Patsy Loveless Decroes, Dora Rae Kinnamon Stracener, Barbara Clift Francis, Hazel Bernethy Means, Ann Morgan Henderson, Dale Johnson, Linda Leverette West, Judy Sandusky Stokenberry, Dickie Bond, Patricia Allen Hawk, Earnie Louis, Linda Darnell Lott, Darleen McAdoo Duncan, Arlene McAdoo O'Malley, Judy Odeneal Cheek, Virginia Watson Keyes

Row three: Ames Blassingame, Jerry Nelson, Jay Buckner, Sarah Hagan Webster, Amelia Stonekirk Wright, Marian Richard Ivey, Sonia Gordon Turnbow, Bobby Applin Brin, Ellen Nicholas Burger, Donna Johnson Merrell, Sara Ague Hendricker, Elane Weger DeFratus, Kenneth Authur, Dickie Vest

Row two: Claude Tignor, Waymon Tamplin, Tommy Allen, Janet Burks Gerard, Mary Bruton Smallwood, Brenda Dyer Carver,  Carol Jean Volpert Castelli, Anne Hagans Rousey, Charlotte Sanders Nelson, Elayne Tignor Vick

Row one (bottom): Bobby Baecht, Bettye Farley Bair, Audrey Foster Herd, Nelda Phillips Perdue, Mary Lois Akers Leonard, Judith Waldene Trim Nevil, Garland Nevil, Brett Bayne, Jackie Woodward White, Priscilla Holder Ashburn, Don Ashburn

On October 3 to 5, 95 members of the class of 1958 along with their spouses and friends gathered at Tanglewood Resort to celebrate their 50^th anniversary since graduation from Denison High School. This class was the first to attend the old high school on Main Street as eight graders, crowding into the school along with freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The class remained there through the ninth grade, and then moved on as sophomores to the newly built high school on Mirick Avenue.

The celebration began on Friday night at Tanglewood with everyone dressing in ‘50s attire and listening to the smooth jazz saxophone of classmate Gary Bob Mosse.

Saturday night marked the official celebration with a dinner at Tanglewood with an introduction of special guests, including Dr. Francis Willis, beloved teacher at DHS, and a reading by Janet Burks Gerald of an essay she wrote entitled "The Corners of My Mind," highlighting classmates and 1958 school events. At the end of the evening, the class posed for a group photo. On Sunday morning the class concluded the reunion by gathering at the "new" high school on Mirick for breakfast, holding a memorial service for 53 deceased class members. Dr. Henry Scott, Denison School Superintendent, led classmates on a tour of the school.

David Maddux was chairman of the 50^th reunion with help from committee members Audrey Foster Herd, Horace Groff, David Markham, Judith Waldene Trim Nevil, Garland Nevil, Judy Hoover Gohlke, Linda Leverette West, Joe Clapp, Elane Weger DeFratus, Bettye Farley Bair, Carol Jean Volpert Castelli, Nelda Phillips Perdue, Elayne Tignor Vick, and Mary Helen Kyle Chapin.

Class of 1958 50th reunion pictures - Click here

Class of 1958 Pictures from the Past - Click here

Luncheon Held in August, 2006,

for Women of Class of '58

Members of the Class of 1958 were the first class of eighth graders to attend the old high school on Main Street in 1953-54 when it became McDaniel Junior High. They also were freshmen again at the new high school on Mirick Avenue the next year.

About 40 women from that class now are living in Denison and the list continues to grow as classmates retire and move back home.

Twenty of the women classmates kicked up their heels at a lunch and get together in early August at the Meadows of Wesley Village Community Center.

Bettye Farley Blair and Waldene Trim Nevil hosted the trip down memory lane and everyone brought a favorite salad and spent the afternoon sharing food, their lives and memories of the last 69 years.

Six of the group attended Sam Houston School that had its own cheerleading squad, the “Cowgirl Cheerleaders” in 1952-53. Other schools represented at the gathering were Layne, Raynal, Lamar, Peabody, Golden Rule, Central Ward and St. Xavier’s.

Most of the attendees are in this photo:

Back row from left:  Judy Hoover Gohlke, Elane Weger Defratus, Patricia Callaway, Audrey Foster Herd, Patricia Hales Smith (standing in back), Juanita Fulce Swindell, Martha Jackson, Judith Waldene Trim Nevil, and Marilyn Kretsinger.

Front row from left: Betty Farley Bair, Ellen Nicholas Burger, and Mary Katherine Ray Heaton. Not pictured: Elayne Tignor Vick and Carol Burchett Troxell.