SHARPSBURG HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI MEET REGULARLY FOR NEARLY 70 YEARS!
The lunch group members of the Sharpsburg Class of 1948 include, from left to right, Barbara( Moore) Smith, Dorothy( Kramer) Monahan, Frank Montemurro, Loretta Montemurro( Frank’ s wife), Ann( Ierovante) D’ Angelo, and Shirley( Gaghan) Kotchey. ox Chapel Area FOX CHAPEL AREA SCHOOL NEWS
SHARPSBURG HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI MEET REGULARLY FOR NEARLY 70 YEARS!
There were 54 graduates in the Class of 1948 – one of the larger graduating classes from Sharpsburg High School. Classmates have held reunions for milestone anniversaries at 10, 25, and 50 years, but a small group of them started meeting regularly years ago. At first, they met under the Kaufmann’ s clock in Pittsburgh and went out to dinner together several times a year. Then, more than 25 years ago, Dolly( Panza) Kronz, who passed away in 2014, started a new tradition of monthly lunch reunions. Now, nearly 70 years after graduation, a group of six still meet every month for lunch – weather permitting – to reminisce and celebrate what is going on in each of their lives.
Ann( Ierovante) D’ Angelo, Phyllis( Turano) Koch, Shirley( Gaghan) Kotchey, and Dorothy( Kramer) Monahan were four of the original regular attendees. They said that at one time, as many as 14 former classmates would meet for lunch. Now it’ s Ann, Shirley, and Dorothy, along with other current regulars including Barbara( Moore) Smith and Frank Montemurro, and his wife, Loretta( the only non‐Sharpsburg regular). Ann said her daughter calls them“ the lunch bunch.”
22 Fox Chapel Area
They all walk with canes now, except for Dorothy,“ who led a sheltered life,” Frank explains with a laugh. He and Dorothy are the only two members who still drive, so Dorothy picks up the other ladies for their meetings.
They go to local restaurants like The Village Inn in Verona, Walnut Grille in the Waterworks, and the Grant Bar in Millvale. According to Shirley, they“ catch up” at the lunches –“ We gossip,” she laughs. The gatherings last an hour or two, depending on how much there is to talk about and how much time is left on the parking meter. They talk about their children and grandchildren. The only“ business” conducted is deciding next month’ s location and date.
One might imagine that after all of these years, members of the group have lots of stories to tell. And they do.
Frank, the only man attending, said one time he arrived for the monthly reunion and saw the ladies were already seated. He told the hostess that he was with them.“ They work for me,” he told her.
Three of the reunion group have birthdays in October, November, and December, so one year Dolly took a birthday cake to a fall gathering to celebrate the birthdays. The restaurant made them pay 25 cents each for plates to use for the cake. Needless to say, they did not return to that particular restaurant.
They told about how the Grant Bar has the best coconut cream pie – good liver and onions and turtle soup as well. Loretta says that she and Frank recently went there on a Saturday night and saw that everyone ordered their pie before their meal. They found out that’ s because longtime patrons know the restaurant may run out of the popular dessert.
Most members continued to live in or around the Fox Chapel area following their high school graduation, except for a stint in the Air Force for Frank. Barbara said that she lived in Apollo for a number
Ann( Ierovante) D’ Angelo provided this photo from her class at the Sharpsburg Linden Avenue School. Barbara( Moore) Smith is the first person on the left in the front row, and Ann is beside her. The other elementary school in Sharpsburg was the Main Street School.