Summer 2017

2017 Summer

Watsonville High School

Class Of 1957 Newsletter-"HIGH TIMES"

2017 Summer

Original written and edited by Betty Bjur

VOL.39

E-editions by John Higaki

NEWSLETTER, CLASS OF 1957, JUNE, 2017

Sixty years ago, 311 very young seniors graduated from WHS on June 3,1957. We headed in many directions after that graduation day, the armed services, college, the altar, the working world, all heading into unknown territories. Since that great day that lasted into the wee hours of the morning, many of us are now retired, grandparents, great grandparents & happy to be alive. Fifty-eight still reside in Watsonville/Aptos area. Eight married classmates. Nine became teachers in Watsonville. We have lost 94 classmates to date. Harold Kelsey who lives in Texas is the oldest member of our class, celebrating his 80th birthday May 7 & our baby award still goes to BJ, 76, living in Santa Cruz. We have six living teachers, Miss Pogue, Miss Thompson, Coach Gene Johnson, Mrs. Severin, Miss Ivanovich & Mr Moser. We are looking forward to seeing you at our Big 60 reunion, Duck Tails & Pony Tails, July 16. We have a great program planned for you & lots of good food & we don't have to work in the kitchen this year. Good news to the reunion committee.

"Sometimes I wish I could just rewind back to the fifties & press pause"

***************** GIRL LUNCHEON, JULY 15 at NOON at Jalisco's, 618 Main St. ***************

RSVP at GTObjur@charter.net call or text 1-831 840-2268

75 YEARS AGO A candlelight vigil to commemorate the Japanese incarceration during WWII was held in the Watsonville Plaza Feb 19. In Santa Cruz, San Benito & Monterey counties, more than 3600 Japanese-American plus German & Italian aliens were forced to the Salinas Assembly Center before being shipped to an incarceration camp in Poston, AZ. Desperate families sold off belongings & saved what they could. The luckier ones had friends who agreed to care for their houses, farms & businesses in their absence. Many lost everything. In 1988, President Reagan signed a bill to compensate every survivor with a check for $20,000 & a formal apology from the US government. Many of our classmates were incarcerated during this time. A very dark time in our American history.

ANNIVERSARIES

NANCY WYNNE & husband Bob, 59 years, May 31

DON BEUKERS & wife Mary Ellen, 55 years, June 16

ALDENE VASALL0 & husband Jim, 60 years,

September EDNA REIMER's oldest grandson will graduate from U of Oregon, Cum Laude with BS & BA degrees & double majors, all in 4 years, graduating on his Mother's birthday. His brother a sophomore is also a business major at U of O. Edna is one proud grandma. Edna went to WA State to train Mammography Techs. We are looking forward to her next stop, the class reunion

PAT BLAIR became a great grandma for the first time in November, when her middle granddaughter Alison delivered a baby boy, Bridger James! He's the first boy in their family in 4 generations, so quite an event. Needless to say, he's spoiled rotten! Pat will be going to Denver this month for her oldest granddaughter Annaliese's wedding. Bridger has an assortment of suits to choose from! Pat spent 2 weeks in Spain & Portugal in May, in awe of all the ancient structures & history, & most of all, the inside of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. A very spiritual experience. Busy year for Pat.

BETTY SUE & her husband spent the month in Texas visiting BEV CLEMENTS & other special friends. Also a day in Casa Grande, AZ with ED & ADRIENNE MARMO FAGALDE. The guys played golf while the girls went out to lunch & dinner later. Ate the day away! Eke!!

Amidst a sea of hats, flowers & bright colors, the ladies who support agriculture in our County met for lunch. Over 300 listened to our JAN BAIRD speak on her business called Buttercup Cakes & Farmhouse Frosting. Spring has arrived at Jan's ranch & they are digging out of the water damage. Granddaughter Hannah is home from DC & is working in the cupcake store for the summer. Jan is off to Lisbon & Barcelona next year for a little R & R.

KUNIO IDEMOTO'S mother Fujiye Idemoto died Jan 26. She was 102. She & her family were interned for 4 years at Poston Camp & Tulelake & after settled in Watsonville. She is survived by her daughter Mary & sons Akio, Kunio & Tom; 9 grandchildren & 14 great grandchildren. Her husband Kenji preceded her in death.

PATRICK CAREY died at his home Jan. 28. He as 82. Patrick graduated from WHS in 1952. He worked at Whites & Mehl's Mortuary. He is survived by his children, Christine & Jefferson; sister, Judy.

TONI BELLAR, class of 1956 passed away, Feb 1. She was married to Jon Bowie, class of 1954. She enjoyed helping with her class reunions & was always the life of the party. Toni leaves her husband, John; sons, John, David & Donald; 5 grandchildren & 3 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her brother Gary Bellar, class of 1954.

JANET TINDALL's husband, Bob Mattos, class of 1952 died Feb 12, at the age of 82. Bob served in the U.S. Navy. He had a long career in finance. Bob donated 42 gallons of blood over his lifetime. Bob leaves his loving wife, Janet; sons, Doug & Brian; grandson, Jason & granddaughters, Jessica, Olivia & Rachel; great grandson Andrew.

PAT GOSPODNETICH, class of 1956, died April 3. Reading & writing were her passion. She wrote many articles on the editorial page of our local newspaper. She was proud of her Croatian heritage. Her son Manny served our community well as Chief of Police for many years. Pat leaves her husband Alex Solano of 57 years; her children GeriAnne, Susan, Manny, Michael & Michelle, 14 grands & 2 great grandchildren.

MARY ANN BORBA CLARK died May 20, class of 1958. Her daughter Laurie is married to Kenny Dobler's son, Steven. Mary Ann leaves her husband Jim of 54 years, daughter Laurie, 2 grandsons; sisters, Georgina, wife of Jerry Summers, Sylvia; brother Ron.

BERNICE BISPO SCHNORF died May 19, class of 1959. She lived life to the fullest & loved her big blue Lincoln Town Car. Bernice leaves her son John & granddaughter LeAnn & two grandsons.

BRENDA BUTTNER class of 1981 died Feb 20. From WHS to FOX News Bulls & Bears, Brenda made Watsonville proud. She was inducted into the WHS Hall of Fame in 1992. I was fortunate to be Brenda's teacher in sixth grade. Brenda was brilliant with her bright red hair & gorgeous smile. I knew she was going to make her place in our world. She attended 2 prestigious universities, a graduate of Harvard with honors & a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. She was the first female student body president at WHS. She died of breast cancer.

CLASSMATE JAMES DELAVAN

After high school, JAMES joined the US Army serving in Europe, Mideast & Georgia. He moved to Sacramento after his 3 years in the Army & worked for Aerojet Rocket Plant. He married Danielle, the love of his life in 1965. They have 4 children. He received his AA degree in law Enforcement & started working Sept. 1971 for the Sacramento Sheriffs Dept. He started as a booking officer, booking the bad guys, drunks, DUI, drugs. After that 18 months, he went to street patrol in a rough area of Sac County. He witnessed & broke up fights totaling 2000 arrests. Highlights over the years were 5 fire fights, 2 wounds, dislocated shoulder, knife wounds, ice pick holes & 8 dislocated fingers & breaks. You can check out several stories on the internet, one entitled "Crazy Sunday" , Sacramento Bee, Dec. 3, 1979 that he was involved with plus others, some are gory. In 1983 he moved to traffic court for 10 years, then to divorce court until his retirement in 1999. Now 53 years later, he & Danielle are empty nesters living in Orangevale. They have 9 grands & 15 great grandchildren.

IN MEMORY OF OUR TEACHER, MR. HANEY

Mr Haney, beloved Biology teacher, Driving Ed instructor & "Tootsie Roll King" died, at the age of 89, Jan 17. He was known for his sense of humor & his dedication to WHS. He enlisted in the U.S Navy on his 18 birthday. He received his education at Fresno State on the Gl Bill. He married his long time friend, Loy in 1948. He started his 39 year career at WHS in 1950. He was known for giving Tootsie Rolls to students who excelled in his class. He said that WHS had the best students & taught 27,000 students over his career. He coached football & basketball always wearing the same red tie for his boys teams & a pink tie for his girls basketball teams. He loved to play golf & was a member of the First Baptist Church for 67 years. He was named to the Hall of Fame at WHS in 2014. He loved to tell the story about losing the end of his finger in China during the War. He is the only one we know that gave China the fingeri i i He leaves his wife Loy, daughter Marilyn & son Lee; 9 grands & 10 great grands.

BOB FENNER: Like many of us I had biology from Mr. Haney. I remember looking forward to the class although I was in one of the classes that didn't have to dissect a frog. Mostly I remember him as Coach Haney. I played B-team basketball for him my freshman & sophomore years. We won the league championship when I was a sophomore. At the 50th reunion he referred to us as the "no-name" team, that is, no one really stood out as a star player, I still have a small silver-plated basketball as the memento from that team. It would appear that he was only about 12 years older than most of us, probably in his mid 20's when we were in school. He was a good teacher & coach. I definitely learned the value of teamwork.

RALPH SHUGART: A remembrance: I wanted to take Lee (Yvonne Weddel, class of'58) to the prom but she was ineligible due to excess demerits from cutting classes. Mr Haney, the advisor had the power to allow an exception. I wrote him a letter requesting it & he allowed her to attend. He had a very generous spirit, made my night & the rest of my life. Married to Lee, 57 years.

JEAN MATHEWS! Mr. Haney was Joan, (my sister) and my home room teacher. God bless him as he also had the Large brothers, Roy & Roger. From day one he presented us a challenge to be the very best of students; not only scholastically but behaviorally. The challenge was to beat Mr. Rowland's class. At the end of our senior year the class with the best GPA & fewer demerits would be treated to a party paid for by the losing class. Well, we lost big time. I was voted chairperson for the party. We decided to surprise all including Mr. Haney & prepared a big party at Corsetti ranch. Star Market discounted the food, as we only had so much money, charging us the amount of money we had. Needless to say, the teachers & everyone were surprised at our purchasing power as well as the party. He will always be remembered as a fun loving & super teacher.

JERRY CHIN: I was not one of those students that had Mr. Haney as a classroom teacher, however, I was lucky to be selected to play WUHS basketball for him in my junior & senior years. The basic basketball principles he taught us then can still be seen on the courts at all levels today. He had great success as a coach. I saw him years later & he is still the total package we all knew him to be in those early years .

ADRIENNE MARMO: The summer before our freshman year I met Mr. Haney at my family's Pinto Lake ranch. When I was in his biology class in our sophomore year he had great difficulty remembering my name. One day he called me Pinto Lake & that was it. It stuck & he called me that from then on. I'm really not sure if he ever did know my real name! A few years ago Ed & I placed third in a couple's golf tournament at Spring Hills of course. When our placement was announced Mr. Haney stood up, turned to the committee & said, "Wait a minute. You need to count that score again"!

GLEN KiMOTO: I too remember Mr. Haney fondly. Do you remember his shortened index finger? He told us that he had his hand on the rail of the ship when it brushed against another vessel & took his finger off. His Biology class was memorable. I still remember the information about the heart: the chambers & valves. The way he taught & the way he connected with his students was so special that I became a science teacher myself & taught junior/middle school for 38 years.

BETTY HENRY BJUR: I loved being Mr. Haney's student & later in life, his friend. I had the special joy of calling him Mr. Haney as a teenager & in my 30's he said, please call me Norm. Norm & I were both inducted into the WHS Hall of Fame the same year, 2014. A double honor for me to be on stage with him to accept the award. Such a great man with a precious wife, my friend, Loy Haney.

Those from WHS that were able to attend the funeral were; Clarice Giberson, Terre Skillicorn, Bill Daniel, Jerry Chin, Dick Hardy, Bob Osborn, Pat Hewett, Coach Gene Johnson & Betty Henry Bjur. From other classes were Harry Wiggins, Kerri Bjur Barrick, Pablo Barrick, Gloria Olives, Shirley Chin, Jonathan Oaks, Mark Eichorn, Ron & Jan Rackley, Joyce Lewis Roth, Marlene Osborn, Carol Hardy & others that I couldn't see.

WATSONVILLE HOOPS LEGEND, KENNY SEARS

Kenny Sears, who was the first basketball player to be on the cover page of Sport Illustrated died August 7. He as 83. After college he played for the New York Knicks & the San Francisco Warriors, sharing the court with Wilt Chamberlain & others. Sears was 6'9", 200 lb., nicknamed "Big Cat"! He was named to the WHS Hall of Fame in 1989. His jersey still hangs in the WHS gym. He received many awards in his lifetime, but remained a very humble, kind & giving man. He leaves his wife Eunice of 57 years, daughter, Debi, son Dante, 3 granddaughters & 3 great grandsons.

LOOKING BACK TO OUR PAST

25 years ago: Dorothy Skillicorn was named Woman of the Year

25 years ago: Patricia Wong, Brenda Buttner, Mas Hashimoto, Alex Stepick were inducted in the WHS Hall of Fame.

100 years ago: President John Kennedy was born May 29. 125 years ago:

Happy Birthday to WHS on 12 5 years.

WHS HALL OF FAME 2017

JIM VESTAL, class of 1954 became a photographer for the military newspaper, Stars & Stripes. He continued his career as photographer for several newspapers & taught at CSU Hayward.

CHARLES KENT , class of 1966, Dr. Ralph Kent's, son. Charles spent his career in Environment & Development, serving under Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43 & Obama.

LETICIA MENDOZA, class of 1979, was an immigrant student & went to the top of her career in Urban Planning & Public Administration & Economics. She has traveled the world & in 2009 came back home to work for the YWCA.

Posthumous, BILL SAMBRAILO, class of 1945. Bill became owner of Chas Sambrailo Paper Co. with his brother Chuck after their father's death. Bill invented the clam shell for berry packaging in 1987. It revolutionized the industry. Bill was quite an athlete at WHS. & received many awards in his lifetime.

SEE YOU AT THE REUNION. (831) 840-2268 (call or text) oremailGTObjur@charter.net BETTY SUE HENRY Please send $10 lf you want the newsletter for 5 years. 190 Bjur Dr. Watsonville 95076