Janice R. Bower (Adkinson)

Hi, Peter and Norma . . .

I remember both of you. Thank you for responding to my message. No, Peter, I don't consider us nobodies at North Side.  We were all part of a great class with diverse interests. I am thankful for the education received at the Dome, and looking back, we probably received a better education in high school than students now receive in "some" colleges and universities. I had great teachers. I did not participate in extracurricular activites, as I had a goal outside of school, which took most of my time. I have had a wonderful, exciting life, which included a long marriage prior to the death of my husband, three children, who have gifted me with 6 grandchildren, lots of travel, meeting celebrities through showing horses, meeting a U.S. President - Jimmy Carter lives 15 miles from me - and being part of Rosalynn Carter's Care Institute and knowing her through my work in geriatrics Alzheimer's care. Having been in the horse "business" for 58 years and previously training race horses, I am now focused on raising Thoroughbreds for the Kentucky sales. One of our classmates (Linda Strong) wrote in my yearbook to remember her when I won the Kentucky Derby . . .Haha - I'm still working on that, but the Kentucky Oaks is not out of the question, either. It's been a great ride, and I like to think my education at North Side and gaining confidence and the ability to talk with anyone was responsible for a lot of my success. I will still watch and read about all of you with the pride of being a part of North Side High School and a former Redskin.

Jan

David W. Kinne

It's been a long time since anyone posted here, so I don't know if this will get read... I just reconnected with this site after 4 years away from it myself. Have been enjoying participating on a Facebook page called "You are positively from Ft. Wayne if you remember... "  https://www.facebook.com/groups/140262392730780/  

A couple of people remembered me there from my posts, and that started the search for connections which lead me here. 

Born and raised in Ft. Wayne, to two NSHS grads, I left when I was 20 and have since lived everywhere else. I no longer have any relatives in the area. My last visit there was maybe 5 years ago for a cousin's funeral in Auburn, and I have a brother who lives in Bloomington, so no blood ties in town any longer. But I do have a thousand fond memories of my early days there. 

Among other things I am a professional writer, and have written a biography which begins just as I was preparing to leave Ft. Wayne for the outside world, and I hope to finish it soon. I am using my unusual and paripatetic life to explore the great changes in the country and our culture over the last 50 years.

I was surprised to find messages from three old friends waiting for me here when I finally got logged in yesterday, courtesy of James. But they were all old. The messages, I mean. Hope we can still connect. 

If you care to reach out beyond this site you can friend me on Facebook (David Kinne) or email me at d.kinne at gmail dot com. (No bots need apply) 

Love to all, 
David

Stanley O. Needham

Dave,

Just a heads up in case the email I sent you gets caught up by your spam filter.  My email is stanneedham@embarqmail.com

Stan

Norma K. Soughan (Hoffman)

According to Mike Morris, Alice Coatney is still on the staff at the college  where she is a professor.   Is our information correct about her death.  I am not sure who sent in the original notice.   Check with Mike Morris for updates.   Surely, she would not still be listed as on staff if deceased.

Norma Hoffman

Susan M. Campetti (Mulligan)

Susie, you and the others did a wonderful job planning this reunion. A good time was had by all.

David C. Green

Thanks to you and the entire committee for a great reunion. Just sorry I didn’t have more time with many of my old friends and acquaintances. See you all in five days years, if not before. 

Francis M. C. Thompson

Nice Nov. '19 newsletter! Many thanks to those who did it. Will try to catch a quarterly dinner.

-Francis Thompson Pueblo, CO

Thomas W. (Tom) Snyder

Several days ago i took the time to look at the "in memory" for those fellow North Side 1963 graduates that we have lost through the years.  It is sad to see the many fine fellow classmates that we have lost. There are many who have paid wonderful tributes to those friends that have lost. It makes one think how important it is to live each day and enjoy our time one day at a time and enjoy our friends and family. It goes to say once again to tell those that we care for and love how we feel about them before it is too late.  Life is way to short.  

Tom Snyder  

Barry N. Donovan

Just saw the In Memoriam posting for Steve 'Orange" Konow. Loved that red hair, and Griff would always smile when he called Steve "Orange" It was always in good humor. Steve was a good friend, as was his entire family, Arnie, Bonnie, Larry and Tom. Larry was a good friend to my brother, Tim, when they both worked at American Electric Power in Ft. Wayne for 20 plus years. The summer of 1962, Steve made me play tennis with him at a park off Spring St about once a week-to stay in shape he said-and I did not win a set off him the entire summer! At least it gave him something to crow about and kept me from having a big ego. He was a great guy and a very good half-miler, when a half-mile didn't have any kilometers in it. Great memories from from great friends we had in the best years of our teens. I will miss you, "Orange".

Stephen S. Heine

Regarding the recent posting for Steve Konow. He was one of the funniest classmates I remember and he was a good person. I went to school with his brother Tom at St.Francis. I remember going to his home and being greeted very congenially by both his parents. He truly was a class person.

Barry N. Donovan

Just a note to the classmatesof 1963, I hope you all are safe and healthy. I wish a Happy Birthday to the upcoming Birthdays shown thru October 4th, and a belated Birthday to the guys and Gals who had one inthe last 8 months. I am saluting two classmates I competed with in sports and laughed and probably rankled feathers with occasionally in class and at "Johnnies"; Dana Failor and Jack Fry. I met them both at Northwood Junior High when we were all members of the first 9th grade class there. Jack was a hell of a basketball player and I was a 6th or 7th man on the 9th grade team. Dana was a pretty good track man and he and I would practice hurdling in the gym in the spring as we had a loosely knit track team that year. Dana was a better runner than me, but he was a fun guy and I have cool memories of him and his smile. I counted him as a friend. Jack Fry was very good athlete and friend also. He was sort of an impish guy, who was ready to do a prank or pull a joke on someone when an opportunity presented itself. He, too, always seemed to have a smile on his face whenever I would run into him after college days. Sorry to lose more good members of the class of 1963. The rest of us still have those great memories of each other. Thanks to those of you who set up this website so we can revel for a few moments every so often in the moments of the first "Happy Days"

Donald S. Leuenberger

Barry, thanks for all the good thoughts. I really appreciate your postings and your memories. I still have pictures of our Northwood basket ball team. Doan, Fry, you and Cummings are ther and others. I remember we got beat by Grifs team in a playoff. I had gto play against him

.Maybe if I can find it again, I'll send it to you if you would want it.

Barry N. Donovan

I'd love that Don. It will bring a chuckle or two, seeing us all with hair and no wrinkles. Thanks my friend!  LOL

Steven B Doan

Barry and Don, as I recall I was assistant water boy or some such! Such fine athletes I got to play with. And that one year at Northwood got us started on the right foot toward high school. Jack Fry was a smooth, natural athlete who never got nervous, cool under pressure and an intense desire to win. Barry, indeed those were "happy days." Thanks for your fine and sensitive post. We all need to be reminded of what is important. Take care, guys!

Stephen S. Heine

I read today that John D. Gross passed. So sorry to see another Redskin passed and I wish to offer my concolences to his family.

Stephen S. Heine

This is a message to Steve Doan as I recently heard you are coming to The Fort. I would love to have a get together but I need your input. Please call me at 260-749-8737 and leave a message

Barry N. Donovan

Just a note to all who will celebrte a July Birthday; Enjoy the day and congrats!! I remember you at least in name, and the old guys I have interacted with the most, Mr. Gilbert Parker, Mr. Dale Yoder, Mr. Steven Heine, all notorious in suspiciously wonderful ways, may the road rise up to meet you and the may the Sun shine warm upon your presence and your families. Lets make the world a better place....... BRING BACK THE 60's !!!! 

Steven B Doan

Steve Heine, I am free either date right now, but how about lunch on that Friday the 22d? I can't tell you how much this means to me, and Donna and I are eager to see former classmates yet one more time. I have loved the pictures and accounts of get-togethers you all have been able to have, and I am proud of being a part of a class that has such cohesiveness and friendship and comradery. Thanks for putting this together!

David Paul Myers

1963 October: from David Myers’ college freshman English assignment to write a paragraph 3 days a week for a semester… this was one of the hardest to write.
   
Here yesterday; but gone today.

It was just a year ago this past Saturday that we marched in the N.I.S.B.O.V.A. marching contest at Northrup Field at North Side High School. She was one of “my” twirlers for I happened to be the Drum Major for our contest-winning band.  Just a little over three months ago we sat in the same home room at North and shared some of the last days she would ever sit in a classroom.  She was a perfect lady, so soft, gentle, and kind.  There was always that quiet sweet smile and warm heart that pumped a soft flow of cheer into everyone whom she came in contact with.  Today her small frame lies cold and within it rests the malignant growth that so prematurely took the life of one of the most perfect ladies that I have ever known.

                                                    Pam Nuzum Second Row  Third from Right

Susan K. Housholder (Johnson)

Dear Michael Claphan,

Thank you so much for the wonderful music video you shared with us this morning.  It is a sunny spring day - early morning - here in Fort Wayne as I write.  Sitting at my dining table, coffee cup empty, about to begin my day, I found your message.  I played it through, and as I did so, I found myself glancing out the window here nearby, but rather than the sun on grass and cardinal on the fence that I usually spy, I see you and 500 more of you:  sun splashes through the tall, oblong windows of the school onto the hallways - long, narrow hallways in the science wing, or in the study hall splashing on the rows of aged, brown wooden desks.  I hear the chatter - so much of it that I could not really make any sense of what was being said.  Just kids gabbing about sports or clubs or weekend plans, maybe a math quiz or science lab, and English essay. 

How wonderful to begin my day with memories of you, Mike, and all of you - those I knew well, or thought that I did, and those I knew only through short, side glances as we passed in the hall, hurrying to class day after day.  Thank all of you for being the good, kind, decent, and funny people you were and are, and  for sharing your days and lives with me when we were all too young to know what life really was all about.  We are so fortunate to have been where we were and when we were. I'm looking forward to the reunion next year, and I just noted it on my calendar, so that with God's grace I can be there with many of you to thank you in person for the gift of you in my life.  If somehow we do not connect again, please know you are remembered daily through this page, and I am grateful for all I gleaned from you - even in those quiet side glances.  Be well, all of you, and happy in these days, and thank you all again for the gift of you and the class of l963.

Susie Housholder Johnson

Stanley O. Needham

I just want to say how much I enjoyed Jim Keller's account of his Honor Flight.  I had the privilege, prior to the pandemic, of joining a group of veterans who welcomed an Honor Flight home at the airport, forming an arch of American, Indiana, and all the service flags as the group exited the terminal.

My wife and I visited Washington D.C. in 2010 for Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor Rally, and I had the same experience at the Vietnam Memorial that Jim describes.  I found Steve Weiss's name as well as Don Chaffin's (Forest Parkers will remember him).  Both were boyhood fishing buddies, and both made the ultimate sacrifice within a few months of each other.  Don quit school before graduating and joined the Marines, which is why many of you probably won't remember him.  Steve's funeral was on the same day that Carol and I were married, and I drove by McComb Funeral Home on Lake Avenue on the way to the church just as his flag-draped casket was being wheeled out the door into a waiting hearse.  After locating both of their names on "The Wall," I sat down on the grass and wept.  It's about as powerful an emotional moment as I have ever experienced.  I'm sure Jim can relate.

Jim, thank you for your service, my friend.

Stan Needham

Steven B Doan

Jim Keller, I enjoyed our conversation so much last October 22, when we had a chance to share Army and Vietnam memories together. But reading your Honor Flight account was both moving and fitting. There was such closure and peace in you, and the pure joy of having loved ones with you made it even sweeter. Jim, you deserved it 10 times over. You don't brag about your service, but what you achieved and what you did in the face of criticism and division in our nation spoke volumes to all of us about your character and love of country.

Dear Classmates, as we contemplate gathering once more in 2023, I confess these moments take on a sacred quality for me. I care little about your background, your politics or religion, your station in life, or even the great things you have accomplished. Because in the end, we have the precious memories of our years together growing into the men and women we are now. From learner permits to great-grandchildren is such a short step. From sweet love to crushing loss is briefer still.

For those who administer the site, you are my heroes. And for all who stay connected through this and let us know how you are and what is going on, I am grateful. To borrow (rather badly) from Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, we'll always have North Side. I find immense comfort in that. 

Blessings, Steve Doan

Sandra A. Axson (Bubb)

WELL SAID STEVE!!! I SURE WE ALL FEEL THE SAME!!

Richard (Rich) Franck

Dear classmates,

I don't know where to begin.  I guess I have to begin with a huge thank you to the reunion committee for such a wonderfully put-together event this weekend.  But even ahead of that, I have to say thank you to the group that "found" me and worked so hard to find so many other lost souls from our class.  I have to say a special thank you to Patty Lydy, because hers was the sweet voice on the other end of the phone the day I was found.  After 60 years of having had no connection to the class, for whatever reason, I was stunned and am now so grateful.  I'm sorry for all the years I've missed being a part of you.

I found time to speak with many of you over ther weekend, but of course, it was almost impossible to catch up with everybody.  For those with whom I didn't have that chance, I'm sorry I didn't, because I found the class to be one big happy family of which I'm so thankful to be a part.  Thanks to each of you for being and remainng who you are.  I can't wait for the next one (Steve).  My heart is full of joy for all we experienced together this weekend and through those school years ot North Side.  Thank you!  Rich Franck

Susan K. Housholder (Johnson)

It's been more than two weeks now since many of us gathered to celebrate our sixtieth class reunion here in Fort Wayne.  I thought someone would have written about this event already, but since time has passed and nothing has been added here, I can't resist. 

Many of us spent two evenings together, reacquainting ourselves, reminiscing our youth, and catching up on years and years of days since we have seen or spoken to one another.  Friday evening we met in the elegant and spacious ballroom of a new north-side Hilton hotel.  It was noisy and the air was crisp with excitement as we ate and drank our way through gathered groups and toward a 10:00 P.M. bell.  Now here is a funny thing to share with you.  The committee initially planned the evening and announced it to all in our first invitation - way back when - last fall or winter - as ending at 10:00 P.M.  Somehow, however, the Hilton had us scheculed in the room until 11:00.  As the evening wore on, and all of us being "seniors" (only of a different ilk this time), we began to look at our watches, and several questioned how we were going to keep the party going until 11:00 P.M.  Well, we didn't - at 10:00 P.M. we suddenly announced that the party was over - and all who remained sighed with a smile, a huge sigh of relief, and home we all went! 

Saturday evening we returned to the comfort and coziness of the Pine Valley Country Club - home of our fiftieth and fifty-fifth gatherings - all bright and beautiful and refreshed from a relaxed full day of rest.  Again, we hugged and laughed and drank and ate and rehashed and remembered - and let me just say this here and now - if you think you were not there, YOU ARE WRONG!  Your names were invoked, your smiles shone as brightly as any, and you lived among us to celebrate our shiney day under the Dome of North Side High School.  We brought you there, and it was wonderful to see you and hear of your adventures through others who have seen and talked with you, and to remember the wonderful and silly things we did as young people.  It was a glorious night for ALL of us.  Dr. Raymond Beights reminisced with us and we took pictures of those who attended elementary schools together.  We had two photographer there, taking photos all evening.  It was a truly lovely time.  We were all teenagers again for awhile.

It was bittersweet, too - because of course for many it may be the last time we see or speak with one another in this lifetime.  But that is the one special realization of the whole weekend - at least for me.  How blessed we were to be where we were in our youth, to have experienced the safe life we knew in those days, to have the kind of education we were privileged to have under the direction of our excellent educators.  Here we are in our late stages of life, looking back and grateful for those days in our lives in this blessed city and country - surely it was all meant to be as it was, and we are all richer in so many ways for being there.