Invitations have been sent

I'm going to try to resurrect this blog in anticipation of our 50th reunion which is now only 2 months away.  I hope others will join in on the chatter.

More about Sharon

 Sharon's photo was included in our graduation issue of Echoes, May 31, 1961.






From Maria Latessa Drackert...
I had forgotten that she died over Easter weekend so now I remember why there was extra energy in the air.  As a boarder, there was great excitement about the upcoming Easter break so we could travel home and be with family.  I can still remember being in the girls lavatory on first floor (it was across from my home room w/Sister ??? and the windows faced the tennis courts) and Sharon was in there as well.  She asked if someone had a comb, and I lent her mine.   (You probably may not do this today.)  After she used it, she put her hands on my cheeks, gave me a big smile and said 'thank you'.  Imagine my shock after returning to school to learn she had died!  As you mentioned on your blog, at that young age, death was a hard concept to grasp, and the sadness prevailed on our class for the remaining years.

Almost Friends

    It was Easter weekend and I am sure I spent the days away from school doing what Catholics do during that season of rebirth.  I know I spent quite a bit of time in church, praying for my eternal soul.  I was exhilarated by the smell of incense and eager for forgiveness, so I never minded pulling extra duty.
    I was a Freshman and had started to get comfortable with new friends, girls I hadn't known in elementary school.  Sharon had attended the other Catholic grade school, Pete's and Paul's, while I went to St. John's.  We were in study hall together at Good Counsel and probably other classes now long forgotten.  I remember that I loved her zest for life and I looked forward to getting to know her better.
    That never happened.  Sharon Kehoe was killed in a car accident on Good Friday.  While it was the end of her life, I suspect it was the beginning of many of her classmates' lives.  At least I know that her tragic and untimely death had a profound impact on me.   I had only limited experience with death: my maternal grandfather had died when I was too young to grasp its meaning.  But now I could understand the concept of mortality.  Here was someone my own age, 15, dead.  Gone.  Forever.
    Father Scheid  took a few of us to her wake.  I don't remember who went, all I remember is seeing Sharon, my almost friend, dead.  Gone.  Forever.  The Easter season always makes me think of her, even after all these years.

   Sharon Kehoe is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Mankato, MN.

Back in the Saddle

If any of you have looked for this site and couldn't find it, it was temporarily shut down by me so I could figure out how to make it more interesting.  Then I ran out of time and didn't accomplish anything!  So here it is again, plain and simple.

R.I.P. Patricia Dumont Birch

Dear Classmates,

I was so hoping Patty would be able to join us at our next reunion.  My heart is heavy today with this news.

Love,

Kathy Dorn

From The Rochester Post-Bulletin

Patricia Ann Birch — Mantorville

9/1/2010 2:21:31 PM

DODGE CENTER — The funeral Mass for Patricia Ann Birch will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 3, 2010, at Holy Family Catholic Church, 1904 N. Mantorville Ave. Kasson; Father Paul Surprenant will officiate. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery in Mankato, following a light lunch at the church.

Friends may call from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2, at Holy Family Catholic Church, and one hour prior to the service Friday at the church. There will be a prayer service at 6 p.m. Thursday at the church.

Patricia, 67, died on Monday, Aug. 30, at Fairview Care Center in Dodge Center.

She was born on Aug. 29, 1943, in Mankato to John and Florence Dumont. She married Dennis Birch in February of 1967 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Mankato.

After moving to Mantorville in 1978, Patricia became an active member of Holy Family Catholic Church in Kasson, and enjoyed quilting and gardening.

She is survived by her husband, Dennis Birch of Mantorville; daughter, Rebecca Zacharias of Mankato; and son, David (Cherie) Birch of New Richmond, Wis.; 6 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild; 2 brothers, John (Barbara) Dumont of Plymouth and James Dumont of Santa Rosa, Calif.; and sister, Karen Germann of Eagan.

Dibble Funeral Home of Kasson is in charge of arrangements, (507) 634-2331. Online condolences may be left at www.dibblefuneralhome.com.

 

 

Speaking of Orchestra

From Echoes, Nov. 30, 1960

I always wanted to play a musical instrument, but had not the time nor the money to pursue lessons.  When I was in my forties, we lived down the block from a piano teacher.  My husband's parents had given us a spinet piano a few years back with the intention of giving our children an opportunity to learn to play.  Music was a very important part of my husband's family's life.  He and all of his siblings took piano lessons from the nuns at Good Counsel.  Now it was our children's turn to bang out tunes; however, we opted for the convenience of our neighbor instead of hiring the nuns. The kids learned, each to a greater or lesser degree, but for quite some time our piano got used.  Occasionally, my husband even entertained us with his rendition of "Tammy" or some other top 40 hit.  One day I decided it was my turn.  I called Mabel and asked her if she'd be willing to teach me how to play the piano.  She agreed and I was on my way to fulfilling a childhood dream.  Not so fast!  Although I encouraged, prodded and nagged my kids to practice piano, it seems there was no one who would do that for me.  Maybe my husband tried, I don't know, but since when did I ever listen to him?  So there you have it.  I never learned to play a musical instrument.  But I have a son who is a musician and two daughters who are passing on their love of music to their own kids.  Our piano is not used much any more except when the grands come over and treat us to the songs they've made up.  I know lessons are in their future.  It's all good.

Holiday on the Hill

It's a muggy, late-summer day with dew points in the high 70s, so the perfect thing to do in such miserable conditions is to sift through old Echoes looking for "cool" articles.  I found one!  On Dec. 21, 1960, the front page of our newspaper was devoted to all things Christmas.  Apparently our class caught the seasonal spirit big time.  I particularly enjoyed the expository piece above the masthead about the legend of the holly and the ivy and Phyllis Keltgen's visual interpretation of the legend along the left side of the page.
Besides Phyllis, other classmates getting ink on this page were: Mary Jenson, Patricia Dumont, Helen McCloskey, Karen Baynes, Sue Krenik, Marlys Koehler, Joyce Reinhart, Joan Engel, Veronica Schoch, Sue Bohrer, Ann Groh, Sharon Rollings, Maria Latessa, Mary Carr, Sharon Zachman, Mary Lou Gatzmeyer, Mary  White and Judy Krueger.
Another article not visible on the accompanying image tells of a field trip by Glee Club students, including two octettes [sic], to KEYC-TV where they performed "a special selection of Christmas songs."  Also, both the Glee Club and Orchestra recorded a number of songs at the radio station KYSM to aid "in promoting better Christmas spirit."  The octets included seniors Lucy Forster, Jeanne Cuddy, Mary Ellen Goettl, Kathleen Ruddy, JoAnn Johnson, Diane Sterner and Kathleen Bach.