Zooming with the Aces #7, July 19, 2022: Old Friends

Fred Elder convened the session and introduced the topic of Old Friends.  Eleven classmates, all of whom have joined in previous Zoom sessions, participated.  Row 1, left to right – Tom Tatlock, Fred Elder, Jane Thompson Olson; Row 2, left to right – Dan Tontz, David Robinson, Skip Granger; Row 3, left to right – Perry Ann Porter, Diane Rusch Zinn, Calvin Ross; Row 4, left to right – Mary (Mert) Lancaster Curtis and Linda Soderberg McKay.

Calvin reported on the success of his hip replacement.  He has completed PT and is swimming again, after just eight weeks.  Next on his schedule is a possible shoulder replacement, which he wants to avoid because it is a much more serious procedure than the hip surgery.  Jane suggested he try Prolo therapy as an alternative.

OLD FRIENDS

Skip Granger: Skip thanked Dan Tontz for being in his birthday video.  Skip observed his 80th birthday on June 30 by having his family and close friends celebrate in Las Vegas at the Grand Chateau.  He enjoyed fine food and wine, and then his son seated him in a chair and placed a box of tissues next to him to watch This is Your Life, a 50-minute video about Skip.  He said, “I didn’t cry; I’ve watched it seven times.”  Skip brought back some Covid, which he shared with Trey and Mary Ann.  The new Covid is called “Elevator Covid” because it is so highly contagious.  It’s not fun, and Skip says he still feels a little fuzzy-brained.

Jane Thompson Olson: Jane chose to remember two dear  friends – Sally Campbell and Wilbur Love.  She and Sally were best friends from Kindergarten through East.  They spent a lot of time in elementary school at Sally’s home, in Blue Birds and Campfire girls.  Jane would like to talk to Sally about how they lost touch after Robinson days.  She has wonderful memories of Sally’s house, their pool where they did water ballet, and the tree in the middle of the Campbell’s front hall.  “Sally’s mom was our Campfire leader.” The other person is Wilbur Love.  Jane lived across the street from him on Holyoke. “As you can imagine, with his acting, we did all kinds of creative things like charades, making up stuff, roller skating down the street, and going to the WSU campus to play.”  She tried to connect with him when she was back East near his theater, but could never find him.  “Talking with those people would be great!  And then, Mr. Lindquist from East.  What an awesome teacher!”

Tom Tatlock: Tom remembers John Van Slyke and going to Lawrence and giving a lecture on math.  He also remembers Mr. Lindquist and having such a mixed, integrated classroom.  “You all need to know each other because you will all be voters” was Mr. Lindquist’s advice. “He did not have a sliding scale for what he expected in participation.  That’s always stuck with me.”

Dan Tontz: After seeing the topic, Dan thought this was the perfect time to see about some of his old girl friends.  He started thinking about what questions he would ask the girls, pretty traditional stuff.  He’s had a very enjoyable life and he hopes they have, too.  He declined to mention any names because he doesn’t want to invade his privacy or theirs.  Of course, he thinks if they heard about it, he would hear from them, but not under the best of circumstances.  This is an invitation for them to contact him.  He has lost touch with both of them and that’s why he’s curious about what happened with them – their lives, what they did, what they were happy about, what has gone well for them.  It would be a comparative thing, comparing his life with theirs.  He has good memories, but he can’t share them.  He has no pictures, doesn’t know what guys do today with cell phones.

David Robinson:  David remembers the first time he was on a Zoom session.  Fred introduced him, and then this voice said  “nos nibor.” He thought, “Holy shit, I haven’t heard that in sixty years,” and that was his best friend Gerald Fry. Gerald and David Divoky used to meet him in the library at East in the mornings to help David with his Latin.  Those who took Latin knew old Blanche Lohrenz, and how she would walk in the classroom and ask, “Who didn’t do their translation last night?”  She would always hone in on the poor sucker.  Anyway, the guys helped David.  They used to call David “nos nibor,” which is David’s name backwards.   David hadn’t heard that name in 60 years.  He lost contact with Gerald after Gerald went to Stanford and Princeton.  Ironically, Gerald was in Vietnam about a year after David was, but Gerald was a Buddhist monk.  David thinks Gerald is in Thailand now, and they have reconnected.  They talk about going to the Wichita State basketball games, having a great time watching some of the great teams with Dave Stallworth.  Ralph Miller was the coach then.  Tickets were $1.00 and they would sit in the “boonies” and after half-time, could get a seat almost anyplace.  It was a great time.  Anyway, they have reconnected and Gerald says he will stay with David if he comes to the reunion in September.  David is really looking forward to that.

Perry Ann Porter:  “Good morning,” and Perry says we need to come to the Northwest where it is 73 degrees.  Perry Ann is still in touch with her friends – Mary Bogle, Gayle McCune, and Diane Quantrell, but she has lost Lynn Roberts,  and Heidi Billinger has passed away.  They have all kept in touch as good friends, so that’s who she remembers the best.  She and Gayle worked in the bookstore that they called the “barfy” bookstore.  They had fun and that’s who she really remembers.

Diane Rusch Zinn: Most of all, Diane regrets not staying in touch with old friends as much as she should have, except every few years or at reunions, and that’s about it.  Marilyn Tompkins was the exception to that because they first met at Mead in the seventh grade.  They had the same class schedule, hit if off, and have been friends ever since then.  They still haven’t stayed in touch as much as Diane would have liked, but, as Diane said, “We certainly have made up for that the last two years.” At the reunion, Diane is hoping there will be people there she didn’t know but have heard from on the website with their amazing stories.

Calvin Ross: Calvin remembered Myrna Iddings (class of ’61), Kim Corbin, and Jim Davidson. He wonders whether Myrna had as much fun as he has with the story of their date when Calvin picked her up in a bus. Myrna sat in the back of the empty bus and laughed.  Calvin and Kim bonded at Stanford when their rooms in the freshman dorm were across the hall from each other.  He remembers their trips to San Francisco, skiing, and driving from Wichita to Palo Alto in Kim’s Corvair.  Kim has been to two reunions and has had a unique, remarkable career the last 50 years.  Jim Davidson was a friend before Roosevelt and they shared many classes and athletic experiences throughout school.  When Calvin learned of Jim’s terminal cancer, possibly from exposure to Agent Orange, he did not fly to visit him in Tacoma and regrets that.  When Gene Carter visited Jim, Jim said he had asked three friends if they believed in life after death.  One said yes; one said no; one said maybe.  Calvin said if he had made that visit, he would have broken the tie with a YES! 

Mary (Mert) Lancaster Curtis: Mary attended Fairmount Elementary and Mathewson Intermediate, so most of her friends scattered to either North High or West. She remembers more about teachers than fellow students. Mert was in the orchestra and remembers Mr. Thompson as a major influence and for his patience.  Her friends now can’t believe East had both a band and an orchestra.  Her Home Ec teacher died in her classroom after school one afternoon and wasn’t found until the next day.  Mert does not remember her name.  Mert also took office practice classes at East and went to work right after high school.  She knew some who were learning computer skills then. Those classes were interesting and valuable for her.

Jane commented about her dad’s patience. She took a driving test this morning to renew her license.  As she waited for an opportunity to turn, and the wait seemed endless, she remembered her dad’s voice saying,  “If you wait long enough, there will be a break in the traffic.”  A good illustration of her dad’s patience that Mert recalls.

Linda Soderberg McKay: Linda remembered several classmates.  Jimmie Jenkins was a nice, funny young man who sat near her in several classes. He was on the East basketball team.  He was short.  He has passed away, but she still wonders about his life.  She wondered if Dick McKay and her family were related in some way.  Linda had lived on Holyoke, but too far from Jane Thompson to have played together.  Linda moved to Dellrose.  She crossed paths with Nancy Ballard, Becky Siebert, and Kay Ellen Consolver in New York City and Washington DC.  In fact, she bought Kay Ellen’s furniture, sight unseen, on one of their moves.  Their lives kept crossing.  Linda also remembered Brett Hesser.  They became good friends after having parts in “The King and I” at East. Brett, still dressed as the King of Siam, took Linda, also still in costume, to the ER when she broke her toe during a rehearsal. He also would take her and Nancy Ballard to breakfast after some of the class reunions. 

Skip added that he was very good friends with Dick Price, whose wife is Brett Hesser’s sister.

Fred Elder: Fred remembers Gary Byrd and Mike Grier, who were both neighbors of his.  Gary was the genius.  While at Roosevelt (Remember, this was the Nuclear Age), Gary wrote to an agency in Washington DC to ask for a copy of atomic bomb plans, and they actually sent him the plans!  He tried to explain them to Fred.  His death was a real loss, as he was a super bright person.  Fred remembered Mike Grier as a quintessential athlete, especially with a baseball bat!

Calvin said they may all meet some day, and David Robinson added, “You had better wear hazard suits.”

Skip attended KU at the same time as Fred played football there. He remembered hearing from other football team members who said that Fred was a genius level athlete. Fred said that the competition was not stiff.

Miscellaneous Comments and Discussion

Courtney Davis:  Perry Ann noted that she and her friends drove out there all the time to picnic, swim and swing on the trapeze.  On the way  they were usually sang “I was born in Kansas….”  Fred told her it was a 30-45 minute drive from Wichita.  Calvin added it was sometimes referred to as “Yentruoc,” which is Courtney spelled backwards.

Skip especially appreciated Kay Ellen Consolver, Dan Tontz, Fred Elder and other classmates who bought Starry Night Wine from him.  Skip feels lucky about the timing of selling Starry Night Winery in 2020, just before the market dissolved and his partner passed away the same year.

Who Played Jacks? Jane and Perry Ann were fierce jacks players.  Mert taught her 8 and 10 year-old grandchildren to play jacks in June.  They were really fascinated. Jane and Diane have had less success in teaching jacks to grandkids.

Other Fun: Playground equipment such as the giant stride and tetherball were so much fun.  Perry Ann had scarred arms from playing  tetherball often.  She wondered what happened to Rick and Mick Sullivan. One of them has passed away. Skip noted he had seen them in the Pacific somewhere. Dan remembered that both of them had played alto sax in the band.

East and Reunion Information: Fred reviewed basic reunion information at Linda’s request.  The tour of East High will be guided and will be a good opportunity to see the changes in the buildings. David added that exterior work is being done on East and that parts are covered with scaffolding.  Fred asked what of interest we would like to see.  Perry Ann was interested in the swimming pool.  Others were the new gym, the performing arts center, and the renovated auditorium.  Skip commented his friends can’t believe how large East’s enrollment was.

What to See and Do in Wichita: David advocated for the Keeper of the Plains statue erected in 1974 on the Arkansas River and noted that fifty smaller versions can be found around town.  Other sites to keep in mind are the Frank Lloyd Wright house, Botanica (the botanical garden), the Art Museum, and all the changes in downtown Wichita.

Next Zooming Session: August 18 at 2 p.m., Wichita time.

Good-byes from All