Billie Rae Ritchel Morgenegg
York, PA

After graduation I went to Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Yankton, SD to become an registered nurse.  I graduated in 1961 with my RN.

I went to MO to spend a little time with my sister, Diana and her husband.  And while I was there, I joined their Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It is better known to you as the 'Mormon Church'.     My Brother, John also lived there, and had joined earlier.
 

Then I went to work in Denver, CO at St. Luke's Hospital in the operating room.  Janice Hardy had said come, and we'll be roommates.  I got there and she had already moved to Texas. 

She did move back a year later, and we did become roommates.  In fact, for awhile Sherrol Ellefson was one of our roommates.  We did enjoy one another.  But life moves on, and so did we.

I met Roger Morgenegg at Church, and we were married in the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City, UT in April 1964.

He had served a 2 and a half year mission for the Church.  It was in the Spanish speaking section of Texas and New Mexico.  He had graduated from CO State College in Fort Collins, CO with a degree in mechanical engineering. 

We lived in Denver for a short time, and then we moved to Idaho Falls, ID.  We were there long enough to have two daughters, Shauna and Rachel. We then moved back to Denver.  Somehow Denver seemed to be home.  Roger grew up there, and his parents were still there.  While there our daughter Cheryl was born.  By the time we had been married 4 years, we had three little girls, and we couldn't have been happier.

Roger's job in Denver came to an end, and we moved to Minneapolis, MN.  We loved it there too.  It was so fun to be close to Cathy Schummer and to even see Andra Jordan.  We weren't to stay there though.  And we then moved to PA.  I thought that we were only coming for a year, but it is now going on 37 years.  I don't know what happened.

We had two boys shortly after we moved here, Eric and Kyle.  Eric drowned when he was 16.  All the others are happily married with families of their own.  Two live in OR, one in UT, and Kyle lives about 2 miles away.  We have 10 grandchildren and I great grandchild who will soon be 3 yrs. old. 

Roger retired 10 years ago.  He has worked as a consultant for his former company, but that has come to an end.  Church keeps us both pretty busy.

I worked in the operating room at our local hospital, but Kyle got very sick when he was in high school, so I gave up nursing to be home with him.

He recovered, and I was ready to do something else.  I've always loved art, so I took a job in a portrait studio doing the art work on the photographs.  In March I will have been there 17 years.  It has been a wonderful place to work, and I can come and go as I like, as long as the work gets done.  I vacation
a lot, but from October to Christmas we make up for it.

We have also done a lot of traveling, but it is always to visit children and grand-children or other family members.  My sister and I are always in Sturgis the weekend after Labor Day to visit our Aunt, Mel Hendrickson's widow.  So I will be at the reunion. We have been making it a yearly trip for about 15
years now.

A few years ago I went to the wedding reception of our friend's son.  He had married a young woman from Belle Fourche.  It turned out she was the granddaughter of Lillian Anderson.  What a small world!

 

Ginnie Caldwell Prascher
Sturgis, SD

 

I have been retired for several years. My husband, Warren is also retired.

We enjoy traveling, fishing and whatever strikes our fancy. I enjoy gardening, reading and spending time with family.

I have 2 sons, Lonnie Strong, Rapid City, SD and Bob Strong, Sioux Falls, SD and 2 daughters, Gina and Glenda, both deceased. I have 12 grandchildren and 1 (soon to be 2) great grandchildren.

FRANK DOBESH
Belle Fourche, SD

 

I graduated with a BS in Industrial Arts from Southern State (The South Dakota prison school as it is known today). Never did make it to the classroom to teach though.

Then Uncle Sam nabbed me. My wife, Marilyn (Crago) and I spent 1 1/2 years near Nurnberg, Germany where our daughter was born. After being discharged from the Army we returned to family and friends in South Dakota and then settled on a farm near Hettinger, ND. June 1968 found us back in South Dakota to care for land, cattle and sheep near Belle Fourche. A few years later we settled on a ranch 10 miles west of Belle Fourche and have been here for 29 years.

Our son Clint was in the Army in Germany and Hawaii so we ventured there to be a tourist with him.

In 1974 we began foster care and took approximately 85 children into our home to clothe, feed and love. Diapers were not my favorite duty, but I did learn to appreciate the disposables.

Our 4 children are Misti, Boe, Clint and Dane. Each is married with the older three having families, a total of 9 grandchildren and one great on the way. Our mothers, families and grandchildren all live within 600 miles of us.

We have also hosted foreign exchange students from several countries.

I'm still working with youth and have been telling Grandpa Frank's children's stories at First Baptist Church on Sunday mornings. I'm on the Board of Directors of the Livestock Industry Trust Fund to direct monies for 4-H'ers. Carrying out my civic duty I've been on the Butte Electric Board for 18 years and am a director of the Black Hills Multiple Use Organization. We're trying to keep loggers, sportsmen and cattlemen peaceful in the Black Hills Forest, where we summer our cattle.

I have no desire to retire from the work I love, watching the green grass come up in the spring and the baby calves take their first breath, or going for a horseback ride. I also enjoy making a thing or two in the woodworking department and relaxing with some reading.

JOY OLSON CONWAY
Sturgis, SD

After high school I attended Parks Business College in Denver, CO and on January 10, 1959 I flew to Fairbanks, AK to marry my high school sweetheart. Bill Conway and I were married in January of 1959. He was stationed in the Army in Fairbanks.    Alaska was a great experience even though it was dark a lot - the Northern Lights were beautiful. The day we were married it was minus 65 degrees. Bill's tour of duty in Alaska ended in December and we spent his vacation in Sturgis where our daughter, Cindy, was born in January 1960. Bill then moved to Alexandria, VA for his next tour of duty and Cindy and I joined him in mid-February. Bill's military service ended on July 14, 1960 and we returned to Sturgis. Bill went to work at Ft. Meade VA Hospital in October of 1960 and he worked there until his retirement in 1994. Our son Ron was born in November 1961 and Doug was born in September 1964. We enjoyed camping, kid's sports activities and spending time at the family ranch. I went to work for South Dakota Cable for 5 years and then onto Farm Bureau Insurance, where I retired after 31 1/2 years.

Bill passed away January 1, 1997 after battling cancer for 9 months. We had been happily married for 38 years. I still miss him deeply. I had promised Bill I would take the grandkids on a trip, so on July 4, 1997, I took my four teenage grandkids (Brian, Brandi, Melissa and Stacy) on an unforgettable trip to Alaska. My sister Gerrie Olson also went with us. We drove Bill's pickup to Bellingham, WA where we put the vehicle and us on the ferry. We arrived in Juneau where our youngest son Doug and his wife Diane live. We stayed there for four days and then continued on in a rented motorhome. We set out on a most amazing trip around the mainland. We drove up the AlCan highway through part of Canada, then Alaska to Delta Junction and then on to Fairbanks for 6 days of sightseeing. We were able to take a van to an old gold camp and see Denali Mountain and lots of wildlife. We were also able to visit our nephew and his wife at Eagle River, AK. We then went to Valdez, onto Skagway and back to Juneau to visit Doug and Diane again.... then we flew home.

After Bill passed away, Cathy Schummer Duffy contacted me. She had also lost her husband and she was a godsend to me through a very difficult time. We still keep in contact by phone and letters.

Cindy and her husband Don live just across the street and Ron and his wife Tinya also live here in Sturgis. I am very fortunate to have them so close. Doug and his wife Diane still live in Alaska. He tries to come home once a year. I have seven grandkids and 16 great-grandkids, with two more on the way. They are scattered from Japan, Hawaii, Alaska, Oklahoma, Sturgis and Spearfish.

My retirement years have been most rewarding. I babysit every now and then for the great-grandkids that are around here. My oldest grandson is 9 and lives here in town. My youngest grandchild is 16 months old and just moved back while his daddy is in Afghanistan.

My Wednesdays I enjoy my Bible study group, meeting in the afternoon. I spend time at the Senior Citizen's Center and also chauffeur elderly people to their doctor appointments. A friend and I have enjoyed a few bus tours and maybe I will get back to Alaska soon. I love spending time with family and friends.

DAN A. DAVIDSON
Sierra Vista, AZ

1958 - 1964 - Left Sturgis (all us rebel HS graduates wanted to leave the home town immediately) 3 days after graduation. Went to California and started working my way through College. I graduated with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from University of California.

I worked for aerospace companies as a mathematician and systems engineer. I married Jeanine in 1968 and we have been happily married for last 40 years. We are now retired and having a ball. We have 3 children who are all doing well in this crazy world. Son #1, Brent, is manager at a big plant in California. Son #2, Craig, is a systems engineer at a cement plant also in California. Daughter Lori has done the classified section of a newspaper in California and is retiring this spring. We have assorted grandkids and great grandkids and get together with them as often as we can.

I have had many travels in the last 50 years. Among them lived in Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific for 2 years; did research in Egypt; trips to England, Saudi Arabia and Japan on business. Jeanine and I have taken several cruises to Bermuda and one to the Bahamas and Jamaica.

I have been doing research on my own, aside from work, on gravitational physics, free energy systems, and electronic medicine for over 35 years, have published several books, numerous papers at conferences, and invented several healing devices.

We are not going to be at the reunion but we send you all blessings and hope you all have a miracle time together.

Despite all appearances to the contrary, God is in charge of the world! Pray for our beloved America as she really needs your prayers.

Gayle Southworth
Alameda, CA

Right after high school Gayle went to Northern State Teacher's College in Aberdeen. He married Eileen in 1960, completed college and graduated with a degree in Economics.

Then he went to Kansas State University in Manhatten, KS and got his Master's Degree in Economics in 1965. He taught at Kansas State College, Pittsburg, KS from about 1965 to 1968. Gayle went back to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and got a PHD in Economics.

Gayle moved to California in 1972, and taught at San Jose University for 5 years. Then he took a job as research director for the Service Employees International Union. In the late 70's he started playing poker seriously, and by the early 80's gave up other jobs and became a professional poker player, which is what he does today. He lives on an island in San Francisco Bay and is enjoying his life in his new apartment.

Gayle's family consists of 2 sons Terry and Bobby, and 2 daughters Tanya and Ann. He has four grandchildren, two boys and two girls, all the kids living within 60 miles of him in various directions.

Gayle has traveled all over the world, and has been back to Sturgis several times, mostly when his parents were still there. He remembers his classmates with good thoughts.

DONALD KOST
Gillette, WY

 

Married Sandra Weimer (Weimer's Bakery) in 1971.  He has three children by a former marriage, Val, Debra and Charles.  He has also been a father to Sandy's children, Robbin, Loren, Ann, and Christina.  They have 20 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.

Don worked for 20 years as a rig mechanic in the oil fields and traveled all over the world.  He was assigned to the Island of Borneo, Malaysia, Indonesia, United Arabic Emirate, and Oman.  Sandy and the family were able to join him much of the time and living in Abu Dhabi, right on the Persian Gulf was the most exciting.  They could walk to the beach and enjoy the water, the most beautiful blue they had ever seen.  

Don was then transferred to Ecuador and Columbia.  Later he accepted a post in Algeria in Northern Africa and on his days off he would fly across the Mediterranean Sea to visit his family where they lived, on the Island of Majorca off the coast of Spain.  Don continued to travel around the world following the oil business.  He lived in Peru, and the Sudan and Khartoum on the Libyan Desert.  Don said his favorite places to live were Columbia and Peru.  Sandy said she hated geography until she started "living it" and now loves the study of foreign places.  She said she would love to revisit them all. 

Don loved high school and was sorry when it was necessary to quit school and assist his Dad in the family heavy equipment business after his Dad was seriously injured.  Don retired in 1993 to Wyoming where he lives a quiet stateside life with Sandy, the love of his life.

They hope to make it to the Reunion in September, but if they don't they wish everyone well.