Annalee Milburn Hughes

LHS '64

? - November 29, 2021

We just got word that according to Bill Hughes, Annalee Milburn Hughes died last November. We have not found an obituary to share with you.

An Editorial on Reunions

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

The dictionary defines a reunion as “a social gathering attended by members of a certain group of people who have not seen each other for some time.” It does not say anything about the location, the food, the decorations, or the entertainment or program. It just says a social gathering of people who have not seen each other for some time. That is what we are planning.

I suppose those of you who still live in Huntsville, or have moved back there, occasionally see each other, but for many of us it takes an effort to return to the place of our past to do so. And for those who make the effort, most find it worthwhile. It was always such a disappointment for those of us who traveled to find out many who still lived in Huntsville did not bother to make the effort to attend our reunions.

Here are my own thoughts on these events. As I have written in the past, the day after my graduation from Lee I packed up my bags and moved to Memphis to begin my preparations to attend Memphis State University in the fall of 1964. It took great effort to hold back the tears as I saw my past life disappear in the rearview mirror of the car on that journey. 

Although I made a few trips back to Huntsville during my college days I only saw a few of my select friends during those visits. I never met with a group of my former classmates in a social setting.

Following my four years of college, I earned a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force and began a 20-year journey in that profession. My early days took me from Memphis to Texas to California and then back to Texas. During that period I also served in Guam and Thailand during the Vietnam War, flying as an Electronic Warfare Officer in the B-52 Stratofortress Bomber. Fewer and fewer trips were made to Huntsville during that time. Also, during the same period of time, many of my friends got married or took jobs which took them away from Huntsville as well.

In 1975 I was living in Fort Worth, Texas, when I received notification of the 10-year class reunion plans. Accompanied by my ex-wife, Carol, I flew back to Huntsville in the 1955 Piper Tri-Pacer airplane I owned for a few years. I must admit I was a little braggart about flying to the reunion in my own plane. The reunion was held out at Redstone Arsenal and for the first time in 10 years I got a chance to see a large group of my former classmates again. It was a reunion I will always remember. People talked about their families and the jobs they had since graduation. Only a few of the main crowds I ran around with were missing. It gave me an opportunity to not only see my old friends, but to build new friendships with former classmates with which I had little in common during high school, but had developed some new common interests in the following years.

In the days before free long-distance calls, texts, emails, and Facetime opportunities, I had little contact with members of that group following the reunion. When the 20-year reunion rolled around in 1985 I was living in England and there was no way I could attend. Again, limited communication opportunities denied me from keeping up with those friends while I was away. I only returned to the United States two times during the four years I lived overseas, and once was to attend a special training session in Louisiana,  and once to attend my father’s funeral in Huntsville. Again my opportunity to see many of my friends was severely limited.

By the time the 25th reunion came about in 1990, I had retired from the Air Force and was back living in Memphis and was able to attend. We then started having a reunion every five years, based upon the graduation year of the Class of ’65, and I have not missed a class reunion since then. When the 2000 reunion was being planned, I was working at the University of Memphis as a computer support technician and had developed some early World Wide Web (internet) skills and established a website to promote attendance at it. That effort was the beginning of the Lee’s Traveller website, which I have done weekly since 2000. That is almost 1,500 weeks of keeping in touch with my classmates. Still, that method does not negate the value of seeing people face-to-face, telling stories, laughing and crying together, and reliving those wonderful days of skating at Carter’s Skateland, dancing at Bradley’s Cafeteria, and endless cruising the Parkway between Shoney’s and Jerry’s in my 1953 Ford “The Bomb.”

We have had some wonderful times together in the past, and I hate to think those days are passing behind us. There is talk this will be the last formal reunion for the Classes of ’64, ’65, and ’66, and all those wonderful opportunities of seeing everyone will be lost in time. Not only are we losing classmates steadily, but age and health are creeping up on us and many cannot muster the energy to travel as we did in the past. Isn’t the prospect of never getting to see our group as a whole again an incentive to make the effort to attend?

I am hoping this final get-together will be one that will secure the bonds of our groups enough to last a lifetime. I want to see each of you and let you know how much of the person I am today was formulated by the classmates I walked the halls of Lee High School with.

George Vails Obituary

George Vail's passing on Thursday, July 28, 2022 has been publicly announced by Bennett-May & Pierce Funeral Home and Crematory in Pulaski, TN.

According to the funeral home, the following services have been scheduled: Funeral Mass, on August 3, 2022 at 11:00 a.m., ending at 12:00 p.m., at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 100 Chapel Road, Pulaski, TN.

Published by Legacy on Aug. 2, 2022.

Faces of Our Past

1990 Reunion of Lee High School Classes 1964-65-66

(Parts 7-8-9)

A Video by Niles Prestage, LHS '65

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

One of my prized possessions from my Lee High School association is a copy of the VHS video tape Niles Prestage, LHS '65, made during the 25th Reunion get-together which took place in 1990. I am happy that later in my life I converted it to a digital format and was able to upload it to youtube.com. I have shown these video clippings in Lee's Traveller in the past, but now is an appropriate time to once again feature them. Previously they were only shown in five minute clips per week, but since the next reunion is quickly approaching I decided to show them in groups of three (approximately 15 minutes total per week). There are 22 5-minute segments available. Included in these videos are many who are no longer with us, and it is great to once again see their smiling faces and hear their voices. 

I have sent in my registration, have you?

By the way, the book that I mentioned in one of the videos above was actually published and copies are still available.

Last week marks a special event for me. It has been seven years my bladder cancer has been in remission. I thank God I am still alive to enjoy the things I love in this world.

I want to reprint that Linda Taylor, LHS '64, has created the Facebook group "Lee High School Huntsville AL Reunion 2022" and everyone is encouraged to join it and participate in the discussions. Please look it up and join if you are a Facebook user. 

This Week's Questions, Answers, Comments

Curt Lewis, LHS ‘66, "I was saddened to hear that George Vail has passed.  I last saw him about a year ago while walking in my neighborhood.  George had been up to visit one of our classmates and stopped to catch up when he saw me.  He seemed vibrant and it was good to see him.  George was a great guy and a good drummer."

Craig Bannecke, LHS ‘65, "Thank you for posting the videos from the 1990 Reunion.  Really enjoyed seeing so many old friends and at the same time experiencing the sadness of those we have lost.  The video's made it extra special as Jennifer and I look forward even more so now, to coming back home.  I have always felt the good Lord richly blessed me with the very special people I grew up with. Some of the finest people to this day I have ever known.  Truly looking forward to seeing everyone again.   Thank you Tommy for all you do to keep us all connected. And many thanks to the Reunion Committee, for all the hard work that you are putting in, to make what may be our very last Reunion, extra special.  God Bless."

A Song to Set the Stage for Our Upcoming Reunion