MU | N o t e s
Profile
They’re class of ’69
friends for life
I
n the spring of 1968, Manchester announced that the
new apartment building for married couples would begin
its life as a residence for senior women – six women to
an apartment. Our group, Dianne Dickson, Louetta
Hathaway, Roberta Kump, Joan Loutsenhizer, Kathleen
Metzger and Peggy Reiff, quickly applied and were assigned
Apt E.
That fall, we began our senior year by arranging the apartment to
suit our lifestyle: three bunk beds in one bedroom, six desks in
the second bedroom, and plenty of floor space in the living room
to accommodate stress reducers such as card games of Pit, hula
hoops and late night gatherings.
That same fall our comrades in the art of balancing fun and
grades – Gary Aukerman, Dick Bellows, Jerry Kinsley,
Alan McNamee and Joe Studebaker – rented an off-campus
apartment and became known as the Men of the Den. We
shared news and advice, hugged and harassed, cheered and
cajoled. Outside relationships came and went but by mid-year
our group also included Kay Bersch, Nancy Leckrone and
Rex Miller.
In the years after graduation we attended each other’s weddings,
sent pictures now and then and always promised to write. The
arrival of children brought an uptick in communication but
the subsequent routine of parenting and jobs caused a decline.
Christmas cards and letters became the trusted touch point.
40 |
That
changed
when
Dianne Dickson
’69 Swingel, long
acknowledged as the creative thinker of the group, sent an email noting
that we would all turn 69 in 2016. It aligned nicely with the fact that we
graduated from Manchester in 1969, so she proposed a get-together.
Using the power of digital, we determined an equidistant destination and a
time: Land Between the Lakes, Ky., second week in September.
For three wonderful days at Lake Barkley Resort, the Women of Apt. E
and the Men of the Den, along with our spouses, were together for the
first time since we graduated. We shared news and advice, hugged and
harassed, cheered and cajoled. And we look forward to meeting again.
Next in Nashville, Tenn., in 2018, and for our 50-year class reunion at
Manchester in 2019.
Submitted by Kathleen Metzger ’69 McNamee
(with a little help from her friends)
Friends from the Manchester Class of 1969 and their spouses gathered last September
for a reunion in Kentucky. They are (kneeling from left) Kirby Lane, Nancy Leckrone
’69 Bellows, Peggy Reiff Miller ’70 and Louetta Hathaway ’69 Mills; (seated from
left) Frank Swingel, Dianne Dickson ’69 Swingel, Roberta Kump ’69 Lane, Dick
Bellows ’69, Rex Miller ’69, Kathleen Metzger ’69 McNamee and Joan Loutsenhizer
’69 Thompson; and (standing from left) Alan McNamee ’69, Larry Thompson, Gary
Aukerman ’69, Kay Bersch Aukerman, Cindy Kinsley and Jerry Kinsley ’69.