DAN HAMPTON

I am very sorry to hear of Ken's passing. We had communicated during COVID-19, but I had been unable to reach him after 2022. I know that he had experienced some medical issues post-Covid, and I wasn’t able to reach him over the past couple of years. 

I knew Ken through junior high baseball where the "Dream Team" was assembled in '63-'64 at Franklin. Besides Ken, the team consisted of Rick Eggleston, Bill Rogers, Steve Criger, Mark Fischer, and Jim Hamer, to name a few. 89 kids at Franklin tried out for 12 positions. The competition to become a starting player was brutal and Ken became our stellar second baseman. 

Ken had moved from Pittsburgh in the mid-50s. His father was a Distinguished Professor of Biology at Coe College. They had moved to CR after his father had completed his work with Jonas Salk on the rollout of the Polio vaccine. It is rare when one person or family can have such a monumental impact on the lives of others, but that certainly was the case with Dr. Cook. 

Ken and I attended First Lutheran Church on 10th St. S.E. We attended Catechism for two tortuous years with classes held on Wednesday night from 4:30-7:30. Looking back, it would have been easier to have spent time in a "Super Max" than listen to the monotonous and stale lectures by our Pastor, week after week. Fortunately for us, baseball was always on the horizon, in both thought and action, which kept the inordinate time spent in Catechism classes at a barely tolerable level.

As we transitioned to WHS in the fall of ’64, music became a major part of Ken’s life. He left baseball in our sophomore year because Bill Quimby, our coach, didn’t like the length of his hair. He went on to learn and play the guitar and performed for two groups in high school and college (The King Bees and Jerry and the Jesters).

Ken regularly attended our class reunions but having moved to AZ a few years ago, he didn’t return for the last three.

My condolences to his family. Ken was a great guy, and I am saddened by his death. We had so much fun together. My poignant memories of junior high are never complete without Ken.

I will always picture his seamless pivot from second on a double-play ball. He threw it chest high and never made me eat dirt. He was a consummate fielder and a hell of a friend.

Posted on: Mar 10, 2024 at 4:33 AM

So sorry to hear of Ann's passing. She was a tremendous asset in organizing our reunions. She always looked  twenty years younger than her actual age. She helped me reserch the material on Edward "Danny" Daniels during Covid. She usually beat me to the information we were both seeking. We had some great conversations and I wish I had known she was ill. She will be missed. God bless Ann.

So sorry to hear about Jeff's passing. Jeff, Jim Hamer, and I were locker mates from 7th to 12th grade. I remember Jeff at one of our reunions in the late 90s, but he hadn't attended for quite some time. 

His family (uncles, included) owned Harper's Body Shop/Marine (5th Ave) on the west side of C.R. It was quite an operation. I remember riding our bikes there after school in 8th grade, which was quite a hike when you think about it. They lived in a brick home right on Ridgeview Terrace which intersects 3rd Avenue SE.

Dan, happy birthday -- and many thanks for your support of our reunions.

Posted on: Mar 10, 2023 at 4:33 AM

Posted on: Mar 10, 2022 at 4:33 AM

Posted on: Oct 06, 2021 at 1:45 PM

hi dan - do you still play RISK - the old 25th street gang - how you enjoying retirment -??? i am also retired from Delotte (CPA Firm) and enjoying it - too much to catch up on but i love ourt childhood memories

I remember Gary well. He was an extremely nice person, and while being an accomplished wrestler, he was an extremely fast runner, as well. I distinctly remember competing with him for the top spot in the 50 yd. dash during our 9th-grade spring state-mandated tests of physical fitness/development. For a big guy, he could really cover a lot of territory.

I was very sad to her of Gary's passing. He was a member of our august 8th grade baseball team at Franklin where he played third base. I do remember that his father was a salesman at Killian's in the men's clothing department. I had a wonderful time interacting with both he and his wife at our 50th reunion and was looking forward to seeing them both at our 55th. Gary spoke to me about his work in the area of social research and referenced many of the projects that were detailed in his obituary. He accomplished a great deal in his life. My sincere condolences to his family.

Dennis was a close friend when we attended Arthur. He lived just off of 1st Ave, on 27th St. S.E. My home was just around the bend on Country Club Pkwy, so we walked home together from Arthur a lot. 

As Stu Lehr mentioned, we were really obsessed with drawing cars and while Stu and I were doing the one-dimensional drawings, Dennis was doing three-dimensional work at an early age. There was no keeping up with that talent. 

I, too, remember the Schwinn Paramount bike that Dennis had. It was incredibly expensive costing around $400.00. As Stu notes, the rest of us were running around town with our $68.00 Schwinn Varsity bikes purchased from Hall's in 1963/64. 

As a child, he had an icy wit, Our gym teacher, Dale Anderson, really couldn't get an artistic talent like Dennis to conform to athletics. Dennis could always "one-up" him, verbally, and that drove Coach Anderson crazy. 

A story I forgot to mention in the bio on Dan is if you look at our senior pictures, he falls under the "camera shy" seniors who did not have a photo posted. He did, in fact, have a senior picture taken, and he did submit it for publication. However, his hair was deemed to be too long in the photograph so it failed to make the Monument. A victim of the culture police at WHS. Ass't Principal Thompson comes to mind. 

I would suspect that School Administrators today would be eternally happy if the only issue they had to deal with was student hair length. The staff at WHS in '67 never realized how lucky they had it. 

A story I forgot to mention in the bio on Dan is if you look at our senior pictures, he falls under the "camera shy" seniors who did not have a photo posted. He did, in fact, have a senior picture taken, and he did submit it for publication. However, his hair was deemed to be too long in the photograph so it failed to make the Monument.

Based on that, it appears that Dave Beadle and Steve Wilson weren't the only victims of the culture police at WHS. Ass't Principal Thompson comes to mind as the chief enforcer.

I would suspect that School Administrators today would be eternally happy if the only issue they had to deal with was student hair length. The staff at WHS in '67 never realized how lucky they had it. 

No question about that, Stu, Summer of '42 was an outstanding film.

I met Mike in junior high when we played baseball for Franklin. He was our catcher and a really good ball player. A heck of a nice guy who was already friendly toward everyone. He never missed a reunion and it was always nice to touch base with him at those gatherings. He will be missed.

Posted on: Apr 14, 2020 at 8:53 AM

Welcome, Carol. If I remember correctly didn't you live pretty close to Arthur school?