The Williamsonian Summer 2017 | Page 13

13 C L A S S N O T E S 41 W Marty Connor 1440 Robin Road Coatesville, PA 19320 610-384-4921 [email protected] I was just rereading the Christmas cards from Skeeter, Preston, Doc Emerick, Ed Thomas, and Hocker’s wife. I didn’t hear from Price or Fisher, but I’ll give you what news the others gave me. Hocker’s wife, Doris, is now living with her daughter and husband. Doc’s wife, Gin- ny, wrote that they are both well and live in Gorham, Maine, and commented that it’s a great place to live and it’s close to their children. Preston and Carol are not travel- ing as much as they used to but both are in fairly good health. Skeeter is just content to sit around with little or no exercise, but his family k eeps him busy. His 95th birthday was a big success. His daughter Kelly has written her play of Emily Dickinson and presented it several times during the year. It was well received and revealed her skill as an actress and author. She is still teaching “Communications For the Media” at Salis- bury University. I still sing in the church choir and am the oldest member in church, 89 years as a mem- ber. Patty, one of my twin daughters, is now the lay leader in our church. Her twin sister, Penny, just had her second hip replaced in eight months time. She is still in PT and try- ing to get back in shape. She is anxious to get back to running! My oldest daughter owns a yoga studio and teaches four yoga classes at West Chester University. I still exercise three days a week at the Senior Center and celebrated my 96th birthday with a surprise party with 35 family members present. One granddaughter came in from Madison, Wis., to be at the party with my 1 1/2-year-old great grandson, Holden. Hope to hear from you guys so I’ll have more to write for the next Williamsonian. As ever, Marty 46 W Dave Clark 801 Haldeman Road Schwenksville, PA 19473 610-287-9065 [email protected] Summer is here and all the goodies and fun that come with it. What are your plans? I’m planning to do some salt water fishing around Atlantic City. I haven’t heard from any of our class, but it would be nice to hear from all of you. What are your plans and what have you spent your time doing? Please call or drop me a line. By the way, how times change. Bob Hope was almost arrested on the beach in Atlantic City in 1950 because his bathing suit was topless. Oh, the good old days. Have a great summer! 48 W Dick Phillips 127 Richard Road Aston, PA 19014 610-497-3878 [email protected] It has been a relatively mild winter, some cold temperatures, but only a few snow storms, two of which only produced a little more than a dusting. The last one in March gave us about five inches of very wet, heavy snow and ice. Hopefully, Old Man Winter is gone and we look forward to spring. 3/9/17: I have received cards and phone calls congratulating me about the Freedom Medal I received in November. In the in- terest of brevity I will just write “Freedom Medal” at the beginning of each note. I was very honored to receive this award and I thank everyone for the recognition. 3/9/17: (Freedom Medal) Received a card from Norm and Jo Cressman, they wrote, “We admire your dedication to the veterans, the school, and, definitely, your wife. God bless you and your family.” Thank you my friends, Dick. 3/10/17: (Freedom Medal) A letter from Paul and Cheryl Reid. “We were happy to see the article in The Williamsonian. When each edition arrives we get a cup of coffee and catch up on everything at Williamson. I was sorry to read that Donna had been in the hospital and hope she continues to improve.” They have been enjoying their re- tirement and just returned from a car trip to enjoy some warmer temperatures. They vis- ited board member Frank Hake and his wife Kathryn, in Alexandria, Va., and also Fort Bragg, N.C., Savannah, Ga., Clearwater, Fla., Bonita Springs, Fla. Jacksonville, Fla., and many other stops. When they are at home Paul enjoys snow plowing and yard work with his tractor and they both enjoy garden- ing. They are active in their church and the area library and love living in the country. Paul and Cheryl, I thank you for the letter. You are two of my most favorite people! 3/10/17: (Freedom Medal) A letter from Alice Bohmler. She wrote, “Congratulations to a very dedicated man whom I am proud to call a sincere friend.” Thank you Alice, my friend. 3/13/17: Alice Bohmler sent a separate letter to Donna about all of the problems Donna has had and wishes her a speedy re- covery. Alice, Donna really enjoyed your let- ter. Thank you! 3/13/17: (Freedom Medal) I received a card from Mary Whitesel which stopped me in my tracks. Who is Mary Whitesel? The name was vaguely familiar but I could not make a connection. After much thought and research I came up with Albert Whi- tesel 5W4 who was also a retired Scott Pa- per employee. Low and behold, his address was the same as the one on the card I had received. I made a phone call and Mary answered! We had a long, interesting talk, found out that Albert had passed on several years back and it turns out that “Miss Mary,” as she was called, worked at Coeburn El- ementary school where my granddaughter Nichole attended and where I picked her up after school. Well, Miss Mary remembered us both! Small world! What a memory! Thank you, Miss Mary and I hope you have a healthy, happy life. 3/15/17: (Freedom Medal) Walter Mensch called. He just had a checkup and his blood labs are good. Walt is still working with the trains twice a week and there isn’t a finer en- gineer in the bunch! 3/18/17: Gerry Dewees called. Faithful Gerry, she always calls after reading The Williamsonian and I love hearing from her. She is doing well and has a few normal aches and pains which she keeps in control with Advil. Her twin granddaughters are both in college and doing well. Keep kicking, Gerry! 3/?/17: (Freedom Medal) Don Zimmer- man called and we had a nice chat. He had a contractor come in and build a new home on the old foundation. It turns out that it was done exactly like his original home. His wife Kat has had a lot of back problems, several operations, and still needs some help with pain pills. Don, thanks for the call. Say hi to Kat and we hope she feels better. 3/19/17: Got an email from David Weth- erill stating he had notified the alumni about his father, James Wetherill, passing, but he didn’t know if it had gotten to me. He said Jim was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in April 2016, they got him into a retirement facil- ity in September, he went on hospice just before Thanksgiving, and passed away Dec. 11. I had not received any word on this so I called school to make sure that it was passed on. I don’t have a current phone number, but I hope to contact David soon. Keep in touch, it’s later than you think, above all be good t o each other. Dick 4W8 49 W Will “Pills” Eastlack 111 Dock Drive Lansdale, PA 19446-6230 215-362-3278 [email protected] 3-14-2017 Received a letter from Marge Schrenk: This year has been a sad one for our family since our oldest granddaughter Janice, 43, died of a brain tumor. It’s not the way life is supposed to happen. She’s at peace now, but leaves two children behind. Fortu- nately, they have a great father to help them through the rest of their life. I got to see Nina Lingenfelter in Florida for the first time in two years. I really missed her. We talked about all our old Williamson friends and all the fun we had. Thank God for the memories. I enjoyed reading what Joe Petree shot this year and his grandsons. Mickey would have enjoyed it too. Can’t believe he’s been gone 10 years now; miss him every day! We try to keep in touch with Williamson and its activities; stay connected. God Bless: Marge 3-2-2017 Received a letter from Joe Petree: Dear Classmates, spring is coming, hope- fully, after the snow and ice we had made for very difficult traveling. Nice thing about being retired, I don’t have to drive in the bad weather. Doesn’t seem I’ve been retired since April 2003. Doesn’t seem that long. Had a birthday dinner planed for Stephen, son, and Joey, grandson, last week. Both birthdays were in March, but weather was so bad we had to call it off until later. I had a virus which has not cleared up; go- ing to the doctors tomorrow. Had it a couple weeks ago, but it came back. Saw in the last Williamsonian about a classmate’s grandson graduating from Fort Leonard Wood. I was sent there for combat engineer training, then shipped out to Korea in 1952. Family is well. Mary and I have arthritis, but we are getting around. My best to my classmates. Stay well and healthy. Joe 3-24-2017 Received a letter from How- ard Fluck: It’s time again for class notes. Times goes quickly. Today is a good time to catch up on paper work. Sorry to hear of Dick Weaver’s passing. The ranks keep get- ting thinner. I am happy to enjoy reasonable good health. In reading the last Williamsonian it seems the school is always growing and improving. It is very different from our time there. As in the past, there is little happing in my life. My son, who lived in the North Caro- lina mountains, sold his home and moved back to the Raleigh suburbs. He felt it was better to be closer to business rather than isolated in the countryside. Also am told my grandson and wife are expecting twins. This is first twins in our family. I’m proud to see our class participation in giving is 67 percent when the average is only 17 percent. I’ll close for now wishing you and fellow classmates my best wish. Howard 4-30-2017 A note from Will Eastlack : Things are much the same with me, still studying art, painting with water paint dif- ferent objects and flowers. Williamson had a beautiful exhibit at the Philadelphia Flower Show. This is about what Williamson has done for us. I often think how fortunate I was to graduate from Williamson. Even though I furthered my education in college, I con- sider Williamson the most important. A few years ago I took a lady from a poor church in Norristown to introduce her to the school so that she would be able to in- troduce young men. I had a junior show us around and he said that after his freshman year he went back to California where he had worked for a contractor before com- ing to Williamson. The contractor hired me back for the summer and at the end of the summer the contractor said to me, “I almost didn’t hire you back, but you changed. You can have a job with me any time you want.” The school takes in 100 boys a year and yet only about 75 graduate, not because they fail, but because they can’t take discipline and some leave because of family problems. When we were there discipline didn’t seem to bother us; we were raised with parents that disciplined us with the belt. I was re- stricted for three months, not allowed to leave the campus, and had to work for the school on Saturdays, but it didn’t bother me, my job was to clean Joe World’s bathroom. 52 W Ray Unger R.R. 2, Box 2051 Gouldsboro PA, 18424 570-842-2449 [email protected] Hello classmates. Here it is April 2 and we still have snow in the yard. Looking forward to it going away so we can get out on the golf course again. It is just a short time till Alumni Day. It would be great to see those who are in a po- sition to attend and spend the day with you classmates. We usually arrive prior to lunch so that we can have lunch together and then go out and spend the time visiting with and remembering how it was before. Those that can, we find a local restaurant to attend and enjoy dinner together. I did as always hear from John Clymer and he reminded me that he has now been in his new home for some years now. He also reminds me of the gathering of another group of Williamson alumni for a lunch in the area. The place is called Shady Maple. I see where there are several classes who get together there on occasion. Let me hear from you. Ray Unger 53 W Donald W. Zipse 417 Bluebird Crossing Glen Mills, PA 19342-3362 610-358-1462 [email protected] The previous class notes were due in Janu-