50th reunion Sept 5-7, 2008

 

Lavon Outka Urbaniak Williams Bonners Ferry, ID After I graduated from SHS in 1958, I went to the Nat'l College of Business in Rapid City. I married Tom Urbaniak in 1959. Soon after, he was drafted and we lived in Killeen, TX and then a year in Nuremberg, Germany. He worked for the REA as a lineman and I was a housewife with two children, Teresa (1961) and Robert (1963). We separated in 1965 and divorced in 1968 after a few tries at reconciliation. I went to work as a nurse's aide at Sturgis Community Hospital and in 1970 they helped me get my LPN license. I worked there through 1989. After working as a LPN for a year, my mother became ill and I cared for her at the ranch until my Dad and Home Helpers took over. Back at the hospital I worked many hats, central supply, surgery, ER, pharmacy and purchasing, but finally worked only in pharmacy and purchasing. I became the Assistant Purchasing Agent, then Purchasing Agent. I married Dennis Williams in 1985. We left Sturgis and moved to Moyie Springs, ID in 1989, and my children moved with us. Dennis bought a place on Boner Lake and we were on perpetual vacation for two years. We learned all about huckleberries, morel mushrooms, salmon and potatoes. We had a great time working part time for Ronniger Seed Potato Co. My daughter and I finally got full time jobs in Bonners Ferry. In 1991 Dennis was picking huckleberries with a crew and got shot through both legs and his right shoulder, by a bear hunter. He lost one leg and after the insurance settlement we started Cougar Ridge Seed Co. in Troy, MT. We processed wild berry and pine tree seed and sold to Lawyer's Nursery in Plains, MT. The business prospered until everyone and his dog thought is was a good idea and the competition eventually lowered seed prices too much so we closed shop and called it quits. I went to work at Boundary Community Hospital as Purchasing Agent in 1993 and retired from there in 2006. I live 30 miles from the Canadian border. We have an abundance of mountain lakes and streams, elk, moose, deer, cougars, wolves, salmon and trout... and I almost forgot, Californians! My son, Rob, lives in Couer d'Alene with his wife Marta and their 3 children. He's a Federal Probation Officer and avid Seahawks fan. Banners fly from their front porch. My daughter, Teresa, lives in Couer d'Alene with her husband Scott and son Christopher. She is a LPN and works in a local nursing home. I now live with my best friend and companion, Art. We have just spent three years remodeling a house and it needs a little more but we just can't seem to get started on it again. Art and I square and round dance at least twice a week. We just came back from the Hawaiian Square Dance Festival in Honolulu and had a great time. We have a large garden, raspberry patch, grape vines and a friend who makes wine. I'm also trying my hand at quilting but that is going very slowly. We are going to try wine making next.   Lavon with Art Morin My Son, Rob Urbaniak, wife Marta and children, Brittany, Brooke and Beau

 

Connie Williamson Weaver Fresno, CA After graduation I moved to Rapid City where I had a fun and exciting job.  I worked for a fellow that was running for senator,  E.C. "Ping" Murray....I was poor and lived alone and I seemed to work all the time.  I got engaged while working in Rapid.  I actually met my husband at the Spearfish dances and as you can see by one of the pics I sent from our daughter's wedding in 2000, we are still dancing after 40 some years, just not quite as fast!   My husband's name is Larry Weaver.  We have two adopted daughters that we were fortunate to have join our family  when they were just a few weeks old, Cydney Elizabeth in 1970 and Allison Laurie in 1974.  They are the light of our lives!!!  They have kept us young and on our toes.  They are both beautiful, wonderful girls and we are so proud of them.   Cyd married a wonderful guy in Oct 2000, Brandon Feemster.  They have two adorable children, Hayden who is almost 5 and Cailey almost 3.  Cydney is a hairstylist and it is very nice to have a hairstylist in the family, believe me.  Brandon is an  I.T. for an insurance company that has 12 offices in CA. It keeps him very busy.   Our youngest daughter Allison is still single.  She almost married her college sweetheart but after nearly 7 years of dating they broke up and she has been living the single life.  She has lived in San Francisco, but now lives in the east bay in a lovely place call Walnut Creek.  She is a pharma rep and is very successful.  She has traveled all over the world, actually went to school in London for a time and that gave me a wonderful opportunity to go visit.  Needless to say we took advantage of that time over there.    I have always loved decorating homes and had my own business when the girls were small but when they got to school age and I felt we could all adjust to me working out of the home I went to work as interior decorator for the Ethan Allen furniture gallery here in Fresno and have been there 28 years.  For the past two years I work only three days a week but I love what I do and love the people I work with.    My husband has retired; he loves to fish and spend time with our kids and grandkids.  We have been to Hawaii a couple of times and of course visit the bay area but other than that we keep really busy just living life to the fullest.  We are both very healthy and feel very blessed for this time in our life.   I loved school and have wonderful fond memories of "the Hills".  My brother and sister still live in Rapid City and I have nieces and nephews there so it still feels like home.   Marlys Isaacs and I still keep in touch.  This e-mail is wonderful!  She has been my sweet friend for all these years and we have some great memories.  I can't remember any of my high school teachers but seem to remember all of them in my early grades.  I had some great teachers in grammar school!   Connie and Larry Weaver and daughters, Allison and Cydney   Larry and Connie Weaver Connie's Grandkids

Carol Lehman Drybread Sturgis, SD Right out of high school, Carol worked as a secretary in Rapid City. She was married at age 22, and they had two children, Marty Drybread who lives in Ft. Collins and Mary Jo King who lives in Grove, OK.     Carol has five grandkids, one boy and four girls. Carol was a stay at home mom and raised her kids, then in the 80's went back to college and became a RN. She worked in hospitals, psych units, kind of all over in the profession, in several states. Her father died about 11 years ago and she moved back to Sturgis and cares for her mother. She is still working as a cashier in one of the casinos.

 

Mickie Blair  Sidney, NE   I have spent most of my life around the Black Hills, mostly ranch or country life.  Not much real exciting in my life.  I have rodeo'd, broke horses, driven a truck, and been a Nurse among other things.  In 1983 I began Nursing school at Western Dakota Vo Tech in Rapid City and graduated Aug of '84 with my LPN diploma and license.  Worked at the Sturgis Nursing home for several years, bought an assisted living in Sturgis and got out of that in '96.  Two years ago, after my husband and I separated I moved to Chappell, NE and in with my son and family.  When he moved to Fort Worth, TX I opted to move to Sidney, NE.  FW is a little too big for this country girl.  Sidney is comparable to Sturgis population wise but does have more shopping!!!!  I work front desk, pm shift at Comfort Inn here in Sidney where I've met a lot of interesting people.  Sidney is also home to the Corporate Office of Cabelas.   I have Fibromyalgia\Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  Tthe fibro pain has been pretty much under control since I started on medication for Periphal Neuropathy which is nerve damage in my lower legs and feet.  Haven't found anything to help the Chronic Fatigue or "brain fog".  Do have to take it easy but if I didn't work full time I'd vegetate.   I have 2 kids, a girl and a boy.   My daughter Peggy lives in Kansas City, MO.  She has a pet care business where she goes into homes to care for pets when their "humans" go on vacation or whatever.  She is also a "people" during tax season.  No kids.  Her husband works for Hallmark Greeting Cards.   My son Bart, lives in Saginaw, TX (Fort Worth).  He ran the grain elevator here at Chappell, NE for the past several years and last spring had the opportunity to go to a really big grain elevator in the Fort Worth area so off he went.  His other half, Heidi, is a cook at "Billy Bobs" in Ft Worth.  Heidi has two kids,  Marissa 16 and Tanner 11.  Bart has none.   My interests are Genealogy and Quilting, neither of which have occupied much of my time for the past 4-5 years.  Did go to Northern Ireland in '99 where my dad's family came from.  I met family and loved it there.  Had I been younger and single I'd have moved there in a New York minute.    Lots of memories of SHS.  BBB staff, music trip to, I think, Hot Springs, where it was so hot and stuffy I passed out.  Getting in trouble for forged excuses and some great friends.  I remember Don Nesland with his green hair.   My sister was two years behind me and she was Colonel Brown's pet.  Me?   Let's not go there!!!     I was baptized after I left school and I asked Mrs. Carr, my Junior High teacher, to be my Godmother.   She must have made an impression on me.   Then I took care of her in the Sturgis Nursing Home.   When I had the Assisted Living home, I had a parents of several different classmates as residents.   Going to plan on seeing everyone this fall.

 

Donna Whitford Seymour Wheatland, WY Donna was married after school. She had three children, and they were all born in different states as her husband worked construction and they moved a lot. They lived in Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming and California. She has 8 granddaughters, and they were all born in Wheatland and all delivered by the same doctor. Donna was a stay-at-home mom, who only worked during some of the winters when there was no construction work. She just retired this December (2007). She finds retirement boring and can't wait until spring. She likes to garden, crochet, quilt and things like that when she has time.

 

Leslie Auer Whitewood, SD In February of 1960 I married Carole Ann Johnson. We had four children, Patrick, Mike and Mark who are twins, and Sandra Kay. Carole had a lung transplant in January 2001, and then we lost her in September 2006 after almost 47 years of a great marriage. When we first got married I farmed and worked at the Sturgis Livestock Exchange, then with a small ditching business and farming until 1969. I became shop foreman at Wheeler Lumber and Bridge in Whitewood and worked there until 1979. We have always lived on the farm in the Centennial Valley where I am still at. Patrick and I started Auer Machine Inc., a welding and machine shop in 1979. Then in 2005 Patrick branched off and started Industrial Machine, his own business. We still work together and in the same shop. I run Auer Machine with one hired man. I have always said I would be a kid before I died....and that I would figure I was retired when I got to work just one 8 hour shift a day. That is where I am today. The kid part has lots of "toys" in the shop and on the farm. I only work 5 days a week, 8 hours a day, and have the option of taking a day off if something of interest is going on. That is probably pretty dull to most people, but for me, it couldn't get any better. I would like to do this until I'm 100! My favorite memories of SHS are just lots of good kids to be with and Ag/Shop as my favorite time. BUT... I couldn't wait to get out.

 

Phyllis Duly Jachowski Germany It seems like both a long time ago yet very familiar to recall high school graduation 50 years ago this May! What have I done since then? Wow...Here are a few thoughts about myself to share with you. Looking back: I see I'm curious, eclectic, energetic, enthusiastic & outgoing, family & community oriented. I like to learn new things, enjoy art, music, gardens & outdoors, house remodel, travel & explore, meet & help people, enable people & projects, be involved in community politics & projects and network with others. All my life, I've always had a least one dog or cat & can't imagine life without animals! From a pretty young age, maybe 6 or 7, I always thought of myself as a teacher and healer. I still consider myself the same way. So how has it played out? 1958 - 1963: In September after graduation, I went to Ohio & began college studies, even though my sister, Niecy, was ill with leukemia. Heartsick about leaving her, yet prompted by my parents to begin my studies, I found myself often homesick with adjustments and demands of a new environment.  You all probably remember Niecy died in Nov, 1958. Leaving Sturgis the second time: I think it was during my sophomore year at Wooster that my parents moved to Omaha. I got a BA in history (Chuck Thielen's influence), and a degree in Secondary Education (social studies & political science) in 1962. The next year I applied to a physical therapy school in Pittsburgh, PA, thinking, "You can always teach, but if I get a chance, I'll learn P.T." (influence of Doris Chaffin, Sturgis physical therapist ). That began a life-long career as a physical therapist/teacher (Ft. Collins, Colorado Springs, Tucson, San Antonio & now in Germany). First job after school: in Colorado Springs in 1963, where I moved with Jim Durner, after our marriage in 1962. From there we were transferred to Ft. Collins, CO, where my three kids were born...Leslie in 1965, Jamie in 1968 & Kevin by 1970. Studied adult education sewing/tailoring, pottery wheel & clay slab building, musical recorder. Jim was an architect & our family enjoyed remodeling & building houses, so we moved thru several residences in Ft. Collins & Evergreen, CO; then I moved myself & 3 kids to Monument, CO, & back to Colorado Springs where I remodeled an older home. More classes: Master's in Sports Medicine, certificate in manual therapy, certified in PADI scuba diving, learned basic windsurfing. In all communities I enjoyed volunteering in churches & on community projects with adult & kids education, youth groups, & local & national political group projects, belonging to organizations that enable people & correct injustices. I read & belong to book clubs, play games like bridge, sheep's head, golf, racquetball, and ski, bicycle, and hike. I'm a political junkie, and follow congressional bills, and get involved in local politics. Living in Europe has given us a different view of America! 1988: while living a second time in Colorado Springs I married Tim Jachowski. Tim has worked for the air force or army for over 35 years in civil service or active duty (Viet Nam), & was an army reservist for 20 years. We've enjoyed living in several communities including Colorado Springs, Tucson/Ft. Huachuca (remodeled a house there), Spangdahlem Air Force Base - Germany, San Antonio (first house that I didn't remodel!), & Ramstein AFB - Germany. In Tucson: about 1994 I began my studies in tai chi, used it for community work and in physical therapy, eventually becoming certified as an instructor in 2006. Began to study Chinese brush painting & watercolor art training (I think of that time of breaking out of my art fear (instilled by a Sturgis art teacher who told me I didn't have any art talent...luckily, I can't remember who that was!) In San Antonio: we took up acoustical instruments--Tim on guitar and dulcimer, me the dulcimer, and I became a Texas Master Gardener, and presenter for Godly Play (teaching kids with drama). My folks: My dad died back in 1985, after a 45 year career in the ministry (including a sabbatical year in England in 1983-84 in retirement) & an avocation in architecture & woodworking (thus, my life long interest in architecture). In 2003 my mom came to live with us & moved to Germany. We enjoyed traveling with her and caring for her until she died last October. From them I learned to be involved in communities, reach out to people, and be tight with family relationships. I miss them and am deeply grateful for their example of how to live life well. Present day: Live in Germany near Ramstein AFB & Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (army hospital) in west central Germany, 40 min. from the French border, a little over an hour southwest of Frankfurt. Although I am not licensed as a German therapist, I can use my PT license to treat Americans here. So I take a few private patients, teach adult & children's tai chi classes, and am an art & craft demonstrator for an American rubber stamp company, Stampin' Up. We bought a house here in Otterbach, Germany, which needed no remodel! Has a great yard with beautiful flowers & foliage that follow the seasons. Can literally walk across the street to walk our dogs into the hiking areas of the Pfalz (largest forested area in Germany). The valley here has two streams to walk or ride bikes along the trail, and the area is hilly with rocky outcroppings like the Black Hills. While on vacation in England last year, we learned to navigate & live on a canal boat ("narrow boat") for a week. We've hiked the Dolomites, explored lots of castles, military sites, and museums, and learned to drive on the autobahns without fear all over Europe. We can be in many other countries in 3-4 hrs. Tim is a treaty compliance manager, coordinating bases for inspection of foreign countries who monitor if we are compliant with the conventional, nuclear, & chemical treaties we sign. He's a history buff and loves to find family connections thru genealogy. We have two dogs....as old as we are. I try to live "in the moment" & be mindful, and am grateful for life every day. I have really never been sick...wow. I've been incredibly blessed with a good life, many friends and family. My kids: grown-up with families, have 9 grandchildren: Leslie - an osteopathic physician in Tulsa; Jamie - self-employed as a massage therapist, cranio-sacral therapist, and life coach near Milwaukee; Kevin - licensed contractor working in Ft. Collins. We get together as often as our schedules allow. Thank goodness for fast & affordable instant electronics! Retirement plans: in a year or two Tim and I will settle back somewhere in the States, probably in Ft. Collins, where I'll probably either remodel or build the "last house"...Tim says I can go there early & take care of that chore with Kevin b/c he has no interest in that process anymore! Our idea of retirement is to have a home base, travel around to check on the kids, grandkids, & friends, and live in different international places seasonally where we can continue to explore historical sites, art museums, volunteer at interesting places, Tim can do international genealogy research, and I can learn more new things, and do all the eclectic things I do! Family Pictures: I've attached a few pictures of my family and our dogs. Seeing you: I'm very excited that I might be able to come back for the reunion and see everyone! Hearing your stories is really neat. Thanks for the opportunity to be in touch.   Phyllis Duly Jachowski Tim and Phyllis Jachowski       Please click this picture to enlarge and when it comes up,click again to see it well.