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I Remember When
Following are classmates who have sent us some of
there memories of years gone by. We can not vouch for the accuracy of
these memories from 40 plus years ago, since some of us can't even remember who
stared in the movie we saw last week. Nonetheless....enjoy. See what
your classmates said about you or your friends. Click
here to send us your own memories.
Several of our classmates have sent
in 'bits & pieces' from the past that tend to bring you back in time. This
stuff isn't about our specific
experiences at Kearny, but I'm sure we can all
relate to it.....click here to read it.
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Don Callard
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I remember the "senior" patio lunch area.
Jumping into the lake
at Camp Marston on ditch day.
Being with Tom Holtz in his dads car and
getting two traffic tickets in one night.
The Friday test in Fierro's
class when he put on his sun glasses so we couldn't see where he was
looking, and the whole class put them on too.
The LV drive-in, and the hub-bub
club.
Wearing DA's in our hair.
Not washing our Levi's.
Getting locked out
on the fire escape at the prom. |
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Shirley Cole
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I began Chesterton in the second grade...a real Linda Vista native!
Walking every day for six years
from the east end of Linda Vista to Kearny High....who ever heard of
busing.
Going to the Football and
basketball games...what a fun time we had.
Pat Davee and I were in the Pom
Pon Corps our senior year....only because we were seniors I am sure.
Lunch-time with friends
Being a teachers assistant,
etc, etc. |
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Jan Cooper
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 I
remember when we had dances in the cafeteria
The baseball, football and basketball games when Jackie, Annetta and
Thelma kept us going with cheers.
The Beau Monde' outings where we barely made it without getting into
trouble.
My wonderful recollections of Mr. Fierro and Mr. Weisbrod, and my
hilarious times with Ms. Speck and Ms. Jennings.
I have so many remembrances of Ms.
Jennings. I
think it was Kirby who I recall in the classroom, and a few other guys
climbing out the window, her slip falling to the floor while she was writing
on the chalk board, etc. Very funny. However, I read her bio a couple of
years ago and my goodness she led a very interesting life. I can't remember
all the travels that she did prior to becoming a teacher and not sure how to
find that article again. |
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Hope Cornell |
 The
Linda Vista department store was built and dedicated by Eleanor Roosevelt
When
Linda Vista got their first grocery store and movie theater
I
remember the drive in where you could get the best cherry cokes and the
novelty store where we bought candy and soda pop like Bubble Up, Grapette
and Nesbitts orange.
The
Army Camp that was on the corner of Comstock and Kelly St and the soldiers
marching down our street . The air raid sirens.
The
blackouts we had and the dark blinds if we faced the ocean and the blimps
that were heavy in the air to prevent enemy aircraft from entering our
city.
I
remember that our fathers and many mothers worked in the aircraft industry
We
were all in the same boat, very few cars and not much money
I
remember the Victory gardens. Ours fed most of our neighborhood.
I
remember the Football Carnivals at Balboa Stadium. Many were so foggy we
couldn't see the players.
Going
to the basketball games in the gymnasium on Linda Vista Rd
Going
to the beach on the bus. Riding the bus to the Gate 4 of the Marine Base
and walking through the underpass and catching another bus to Mission
Beach. Nothing to fear then.
I
remember the great times we had at our church just being together. Our
trips to Cuyamaca and Laguna's and the snow. Riding our church bus to
Saturday Youth for Christ and sitting in the balcony. Going to our pastors
cabin in Harbinson Canyon and hiking the mountain nearby. The beach
parties and our Sweetheart Banquets. Wonderful friends and wonderful
times.
I
remember the first time I saw Jerry who has been my best friend and
husband for over 49 years. I was 13 and he was 17 when we first met . From
the mountain top on Palomar and he from a farm in Missouri to the mountain
top experiences we have had . It has been a wonderful life and we aren't
through yet.
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Elsie Danuser |
Although I graduated with Hoover High's Class of '53, I spent more years at
Kearny. Having been with Kearny's Class of '53 since 7th grade, I remember
how horribly sad it was to move and leave my classmates (and a couple of
special guys) in the middle of the 10th grade, in 1951. My world seemed to
come to an end.
For a
good while after, I hung onto several of those Kearny friends, even to the
point of one, Elnora "Norie" Kennedy, being in my 1953 wedding (to a Hoover
classmate/lasted 17 years).
I
remember the fun of being part of early social clubs, like the Kearny
Kadettes and the Junior Sportsmen, with the likes of Jackie Brewer, Sylvia
Chavez, Mercie Gonzales, Annetta Tweed, Kitty Power, etc.
I can't
forget also my being elected earlier as Class Secretary of the 8th grade and
serving alongside President, Fred Schwend, Vice-Pres., Terry Lee, and
Treasurer, Foy Sylvester. I don't believe we understood much about what
being class officers involved, but I recall my organizing an 8th grade
assembly which showcased our class of '53 talent, and how rewarding it was
to have it actually turn out great.
I
remember also those "neat" school dances in the cafeteria and the ones at
the Linda Vista Community Center (dancing to dreamy Billy Eckstein music,
etc.), plus special "date" dances down at the Mission Beach Ballroom.
I
recall the bus ride from where I lived in Mission Valley and how, ever so
often, I would walk home with friends, and after getting to Norie Kennedy or
Nancy Lemon's houses in the lower-most section of Linda Vista, I'd walk the
rest of the way alone down to the valley. It was safe in those days to do
such things!
Riding
the bus home from Kearny was okay too, especially if cute Bob Tullock was
aboard. He got off at the same bus stop as I, but he never paid me any mind.
I have
fond memories of specific friendships, especially with Norie Kennedy, Pat
Davee and Nancy Lemon (sure wish I knew what happened to Nancy). I will
never forget also the Kearny kids and activities of the Captain's Kids Club
(church group), with Pat Davee, None Kennedy, Pat Burris, Carolyn Bone,
Shirley Cole, Richard Anderson, Stanley Thomas, Don Branson, JoAnn Pocta,
and many more. That association, especially, left a life-long impression on
me.
In
1983, I remember the surprise of discovering Pat Burris Ford clerking at my
Bostonia Branch Post Office (El Cajon). Until her retirement, I always made
a point to go to her window. Through her, I learned about and got to attend
Kearny's 30th reunion picnic held in 1983 at the Old Town baseball field.
Later,
in 1984, I remember Pat Burris leading me into another wonderful reunion
matter, a church-related anniversary involving Carolyn Bone (and her
incredible parents), Pat Davee, and other old Kearny friends who I'd not
seen since 1953.
The
1983 picnic was not my first Kearny reunion. I also remember the excitement
of Kearny's 25th reunion in 1978, held at the Town & Country Hotel. What
memories! Aside from those two fun reunions, I've surely missed
several, but thanks again to Pat Burris Ford, I expect to be at the big
"50th." |
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Jerry Dawson
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Lunch
in the quad was a big deal
Mr. Fierro brought in
pictures of Arabs with hands severed for stealing.
Bob Meals and I
delivered the ice cream to the old Hollywood Burlesque Theatre, and the
owner would invite us in provided we didn't sit in the first row. The
comics got to know us. When one of them told the joke about virgin wool
coming from sheep that could run faster than the sheep herder, we were
the only ones who laughed. The comic turned to the audience and said, "
At least those two sheep herders from Linda Vista got it." Then everyone
laughed.
.
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Clara Jo Ham
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I remember Don Reirson, Paul Gomez, Fred Schwend, Billy Likins, Pete
Jungers, Cisco, Joe McNamara, Jim Dougherty, Kirby Wood, etc.,
etc.................well, I was that age then!!!
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Charles Hanson
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We sang the KHS Fight Song at the football games....It goes like this, I
think. "KHS, our KHS we'll always
love you best. Through all the years of smiles and cheers you've always
stood the test. KHS our KHS we'll laugh, we'll cry , we'll ....?....La da
de da and da de da... our Alma Mater Dear!!! (Well, almost...)
When my brother Bob and I "crashed" the Louie Repaci's
class reunion in 1994 (their 40th?) to say hello to many we knew from the
class of 1954. |
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Ollie Harris
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My most memorable time was becoming a varsity baseball player in the ninth
grade.
The Ranas was really great!
The summer of 1952 when me and Kirby Wood hitchhiked to Oklahoma and St.
Louis and back again to San Diego. We were gone one month.
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Jay Hudson
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Forrest was here in Utah in the mid 80s and stopped by for a visit.
Sitting around and talking about the years, we came to the conclusion that
it was darn near impossible to get into your 50s and not have been beat up
emotionally, physically or financially.
Bill Young came back from a summer of being a Fire Lookout on a mountain
in Oregon and he had taught himself to play the guitar.
Elissa Alter could get us all laughing simply by laughing herself.
Gary Isenmann, Chuck Hanson and Jerry Dawson and I rented a plane and
ditched school while Gary flew us around. When I walked into Mr. Fierro's
class late he was facing the blackboard and without turning around, he
stated " how was the plane ride ? How did he know?
Dick Curry, Chuck Hanson, Jerry Keating and I sang in a quartet.
Joel
Halbert was still playing basketball in his late forties and took a bike
ride from S.D. to L.A. During the Christmas holidays, Joel and Judy
(Johnson) used to paint the windows of the businesses in Ocean Beach for
fun and profit.
Bill Hudson and I passed a bottle between us every time the row in front
of us stood up during graduation.
I roomed with Bonnie Green's older brother when I returned from Korea.
Bonnie was in the Navy and had risen to Lt. Commander (I think)
I visited Gary Isenmann when he flew President Nixon to the western
Whitehouse. He let me sit in the Presidents chair aboard the helicopter.
Strange feeling !!
I had to depend on Alfred McLeods good nature to help me through Physics.
Bob Meals told us he was a stand up comic in the L.A. area after
graduation.
Helen Likens father smuggled in irrigation equipment to Mexico so that his
Mexican partners could grow tomatoes and ship them to Canada
Richard Moore and I would cheer the Football team while I wore my knee
cast from surgery as a result of a flag football game.
Stan Mosher and I duked it out on the 50' rifle range and years later I
sat around with him in Carson City drinking beer. He was a highway
engineer with the Nevada road department. Hey Stan, I almost made the U.S.
Olympic team in Australia !
Neil Reasoner told us in Chemistry class that he had been accepted to
Chicago University
Carol Newlin got caught in a rip tide and Forrest and I rescued her. She
married him.
Jerry Sherkenback used to visit me at the hospital and we would talk about
his position as sales rep for a X-ray film and equipment company.
Felix Sneed sold my mother-in-laws house for her and we used to meet for
coffee and donuts.
I hired Gordon Stolzoff to work the Emergency room at Hillside and
Heartland hospitals and he told me he was going to go into Psychiatry. I
visited him during his residency and life was beating up on him. I really
liked Gordon.
Every time I worked with Judy Secord, I came away with admiration for her
skills and charm.
My mother's family was a MacLeod from the islands of Scotland and when
Annetta Tweed and Ollie Harris got together how cool the Harris/Tweed name
sounded.
Jane Wilson and her husband bought a home on the golf course in La Jolla
and had a wonderful house warming.
We could go up to the tool check out shack and get a push lawn mower to
mow the little grass that grew on the hard pan around our duplexes that
were held together with double headed nails.
We were taking English class in the temp buildings and because the teacher
was sick most of the time and the sub wasn't interested in us, we played
BATTLESHIP. Dick Curry and I got rather good at it.
We used to play basketball in the giant Quonset hut gym that later became
a grocery store. Larry Griffin (54) got stabbed in a game by a fellow who
was over from Logan heights.
We played La Jolla in football and an incident provoked a general brawl
that the police had to break up.
You could count on one hand the number of cars driven to school by
students..
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Ernie
Labastida
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As an aspiring chemistry student in Mr. Stipple's class, I learned to make
black powder (not from Mr. Stipple) and put together a small quantity of
it in a pan and applied a Bunsen burner to it. It made a spectacular
whoosh, blinding light and a miniature A-bomb cloud which filled the
classroom with acrid sulfur fumes. The girl across my bench
screeched load enough to stop traffic on Linda Vista Road and I got a
"Case Card".
Mr. Kurtz was our metal shop teacher. I was on of his better
students and impressed him once with a cylinder that I had done on the
Southbend lathe. He was most impressed with the chrome-like finish
that was produced and was even more surprised when I told him that, no, I
had not polished it with an abrasive cloth but had produced the finish
with the tool bit alone. Later I completed this project -- a 32 cal.
barrel with a screw-on breach activated by holding it in one hand and
striking the firing pin with a hammer with the other hand. Mr. Kurtz
never saw the finished cannon. My four year younger brother, Rudy,
got into my bedroom (some month later) while I was out on my paper route
on day, picked it up off my dresser where I kept it ever-ready and loaded,
struck it with a hammer (also nearby), discharging it and put a bullet
hole right through my bedroom door. Boy, did I catch hell from mom
when I got Home. Mr. Kurtz never heard about that either. Poor
boys could not afford to buy guns in those days, we had to make our own.
, |
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Thelma Lawson
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I remember all the fun cheerleading and going to the Linda Vista Drive Inn after the games.
The school dances and Beau Monde parties, where we danced the whole night (Rock and Roll).
Going to the beach in the summer. La Jolla Shores seemed so far away. My little "Willy's" barely made it there.
Bonnie and I would meet the girls there (Annetta, Helen, Clara Jo, Joanne, Janet & Ferrell, and whoever else could get there). We
thought we were hot stuff.
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Forrest Letzring |
Linda
Vista beginning, living in cracker boxes on the West end and attending the 6
grade at Kit Carson Elementary.
The
long walk up Linda Vista Road and passing the Community Center on the way to
school.
Entering the 7th grade I wasn't sure what was meant by the word "pea green"
until I was "panced" by a upper class initiation group.
Pioneer
Day was fun ,especially dressing in a Hill Billy costume and watching the
big leather ball being pushed up and down the football field by juniors and
seniors with their shirts off. I'm sure that Art Harris, Ollie's
brother was right in the middle of everything.
Playing
sand lot baseball with Bud Clark's dad coaching.
Running
in track events during the summer vacation and basketball at the Linda Vista
Community Center.
Going
to LaJolla Cove in Don Younger's brother's 1937 convertible touring car with
solid wheels to swim, and of course watch those Bishop Girl School babes.
The
dances in the cafeteria in those days were interesting times . In the
beginning years at Kearny we were all a little bashful and usually the girls
gathered together across the room waiting for an invite to dance. One
afternoon Mrs. Hutchison, our chaperon, decided that everyone was going to
dance before the afternoon ended. She had all the boys on one side and
the girls on the other face the wall. When the music started all were
suppose to back up and if you ran into someone turn around and dance.
It work because I'm still dancing to the 50's music.
Oh
those football carnival nights, running down the steps of Balboa Stadium in
football uniforms when it was the time for our 15 minutes of fame.
Losing was usual the score but the lights, the crowd, the pageantry and the
following Monday at school are memories that have not gone away. We
all felt like BMOC's (big men on campus) in what ever sport/organization we
were in.
Then,
those parties at someone's house usually on Saturday nights. One party
of long ago came back to me at Betty Chambers/Breen's daughter wedding as
their the photographer. Betty's mom said she remembered my name
because when midnight came it meant the party was over and of course when
your having a good time you don't want it to end. She had to turn the
lights off at the house circuit box because no one would leave, we did
because it was dark and the parents threaten to call San Diego's finest.
The 2
years on the annual staff as sports editor proved to be the beginning of my
avocation, that included illustrating for two divisions of General Dynamics
and retiring as a corporate photographer, plus 38 years as owner of a
photography studio in Ramona and producing documentary programs for Cox
Cable in San Diego.
Back to
the 53 Prom night in the San Diego Hotel. We hired a hypnotist for
entertainment and as he did his performance someone noticed that Silvia
Chavez was sitting at a table in a trance. Because I had made the
arrangements for the hypnotist, guess who helped bring Silvia back to the
party?
Graduation night at the Ford Bowl with the airliners landing at Lindbergh
Field is one memory we all want to remember as one of THOSE high school days
coming to an end.
I had a
great time during those growing up years in Linda Vista going to Kearny and
I hope we all had good times
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Sam Mankins
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Clara Jo, Margaret, and Jo Ann lived on my paper
route. That was like seeing Three Miss Americas from time to time.
Since I played in the band for five years I
remember the incredible talent of Keith Bishop on trumpet, and the
unbeatable Allen Wrenn on drums.
The band cheered wildly at every football game,
which we usually lost, and all of us delighted in watching Nina, Annetta
and the other song leaders do that marvelous dance step with pom-poms.
Since I lived two houses from Jane Wilson in the
fourth grade I was always proud of her flag twirling at Kearny, and later
at San Diego State.
Remember Soloman's no-look basketball passes
that Magic Johnson stole, and Bob Meal's friendly smile.
I used to tease almost everyone, and then run
and hide behind Felix. One look at him by whoever was chasing me and I was
safe.
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Steve
McMillan
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The benefits/pitfalls of a Jr/Sr high school......the benefits far exceed
the pitfalls.
Mrs. Wiseman and Mr. Fierro
The exceptional class of '53 |
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Annetta Tweed
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Song leading at the football and basketball games was so much
fun.
The Beau Monde meetings were great and so were the guys in the Ranas!
The dances in the cafeteria were fun too especially if the right guy asked
you to dance, right?
Mr Fierro's history class was great.
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Virginia
Vogt
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I was in the Drum Corps and our trips on the bus to and from games, how
noisy and foolish we were.
Joyce Townsend, Jane Wilson and I were a close threesome. |
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Lou Whitney
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I
vividly remember the crazy initiation to the Latin Club. We were
blindfolded and told to walk through the ancient chambers, which consisted
of burning sulfur, walking through cooked pasta, and eating peeled grapes
that were supposed to be eyeballs (I think they were peeled grapes).
What imaginations we had. Click here to
see some photo's of the Latin Club...circa '51
You could take a date to the Linda Theater and see two full feature movies,
a newsreel, a cartoon, and the weekly Zorro serial, and all for less than
a dollar. The popcorn and soda was more than the movie though, even
then.
I
worked at the Linda Mart after school...what a neat job. I started
at $1 an hour and worked my way up to$1.50. What did I do with all
that money?
I
remember the great Chocolate Malts that Joan Coleman used to make at the
Bakery/Restaurant in the Linda Vista Plaza. And who could forget
Thrifty's.
Judy
Secord lived near me by the old Army Camp, which is where Kearny High is
now. We lived in the real cracker boxes, but they were only $28 a
month for a 3 bedroom house...what more could you want.
I remember Howard Davis's Triumph
motorcycle.
I
had a blast at the winter outing in the Cuyamaca Mountains with some of
our classmates. Mr. Wemple planned some neat field
trips. Click here to see a
photo of this outing.
I'd
opt for a hamburger, french fries, and an apple square at the outside
snack bar, instead of eating the special of the day in the cafeteria.
School food is one thing that has not changed over the years.
We'd
get wild in the ROTC rifle range and shot at everything but the target.
Man, we were so dumb, but we did have fun!!
I
was assigned to a Home Economics class because they had my first name as
"Louise", instead of Louis. It worked out great though,
because I was reassigned to Mr. Fierro's class, who was the neatest
teacher. It's too bad that he was killed in an unfortunate accident.
The
great stories that Miss Trenfel would tell us about her experiences during
WW II. She was one great lady, and I even learn a little German in
her class.
We
made stink bombs in Mr. Weisbrod's chemistry class and they almost had to
evacuate the school when our little experiment got out of hand.
Steve Munger popped me in the nose out in front of the boys gym, but I
can't for the life of me remember why. We became buddies after that.
It's unfortunate that Steve is no longer with us.
We
wore those plaid stroker caps and string bow ties in the Pep Band,
and we thought we looked snazzy.
I
was drafted into the Army in '58 (just after Elvis), and guess who I ran
in to at Ft Ord....none other than Charlie Hanson. We ended up
rooming together with three other guys in a house in Pacific Grove, which
is a dry town. You can bet our place wasn't
dry...party...party...party.
When Charlie Hanson came to our wedding. We had the reception at
Little Bavaria and Charlie ended up breaking my wife's toe dancing the
polka. Of course, neither my wife or Charlie were feeling any pain
at the time. |
This is another appeal for you to send
us information
We ask that each classmate provide
post-graduation information on themselves, including, college experiences,
careers, family, leisure-time interests and hobbies, and anything else that you
feel my be of interest to fellow classmates. Some recent photo's would
also add a little color to your personal pages. As a special feature, we
are asking you to provide us with some of your more vivid memories while at
Kearny, and your post graduation experiences with your Komet classmates.
We'll call it the "I REMEMBER WHEN" section and you can view
these inputs by clicking here. This was an idea offered by Jay Hudson, and
I think we'll have a lot of fun with it if everybody submits a few of their more
memorable experiences. Just add your memories below and click on submit,
it's that easy.
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