|
HARLAN SPEIDEL passed away suddenly with a heart attack on December 14, 2003. Harland left behind his wife of 33 years, Barbara Knott (former 1965 classmate). He is also survived by his mother, Doris, and brother, Derwin (Class of ’69). He and Barbara had lost their only daughter, Jennifer Leigh, in 1981.
Harlan spent his professional career as a dedicated teacher but the most important thing in life to him was “doing things with Barbara.” They loved to explore Texas and other states on their motorcycles. He was an avid fan of monster trucks, jumping low riders and hot rods – just about anything mechanical.
Harlan was a very spiritual person and had a deep caring for his fellow human beings. He still wanted to improve their quality of life through changes in various laws.
Carol and Jerry said “We had a long conversation with Harlan when he was hospitalized before he died. He was so excited about the 40th reunion and was looking forward to renewing old friendships. We laughed for an hour about old memories. We hope you are ‘easy riding’, Harlan. You are missed.”
|
John Booth
Harlan and I spent hundreds of hours together in high school. We hung out with Bobby Breed, Randy McNerlin, Bradford Glass, and Jack Womack. We must have driven 10,000 miles together A bunch of us in that group also attended First Methodist church and were in the band. Harlan was a good friend but we lost touch during college. I had one long phone conversation with him, apparently not long before he died. He was a really nice guy!