Jeff Tucker

I was at home recuperating after having my wisdom teeth extracted.

I recall being in front of the TV when a local newsman interrupted the telecast and began reciting a "news bulletin."  He was obviously reading the announcement as his voice changed dramatically as he said in disbelief, "...that President Kennedy has been shot?"  He followed by saying that this was an unconfirmed report, but shortly thereafter he came back on and said that the report was confirmed.  It seemed like only a few minutes later, (I don't remember how many), that I watched and listened and learned that JFK was dead.

Fifty years later, as we all recall the horror and sadness of that day, I still wonder how the history of our country and the world might have been different if Lee Harvey Oswald had failed...........

JEFF TUCKER

Virginia Dunn (Fields)

I was in Agnes Knight's Latin class, and what I remember most is the deafening silence after we heard the news.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  

Sandra Krashin (May)

For some reason, I remember just arriving back in Spanish class from a 'college conference'  (remember those?) and just getting settled when the PA burst to life and the announcement was made that the President had been shot in Dallas, followed about 5 minutes later with the somber news that JFK was dead.  I remember everyone going into the Auditorium and trying to find my friends so we could go home.  What a shock. 

And Sandee, I do remember you driving to school that day. Was it really the first time you got to drive? Remember the great parking space we had?

We spend the rest of the week in shock, glued to the TV set, watching the horror of the assassination unfold, the drama of the funeral and, on Sunday, Jack Rubee (sp?) shooting Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV!  (Talk about today's reality TV shows ... they have nothing on that!)

Jon Day

Earl Seidman's class on that day of days. I seem to remember that our desks were in two opposing rows and Mr. Seidman would sit in a desk or chair between the rows closer to the front of the room.

The annoucement came over the PA. I seem to recall Mr. Seidman turning and slamming (almost throwing) his book on his desk to his back right quarter and saying "You see, we don't have much control over things in life".

Very sobering!

Peter Snedecor

I was sitting next to Anne Scarff (!!) in the back row of A.P English, with that ancient guy who assigned a paper on a topic of our choice, due ever Friday.  We sat in silence for the rest of the period.  Then I went to Mrs. Knight's Latin class.  She taught it as if nothing had happened.  I wrote my Friday paper in that class, right then, not paying any attention to what she was saying.  It was a Friday.  We had an optional swimming practice that afternoon, and another optional practice the next day,Saturday morning.  ("Optional."  Right.  Anything ever optional with Paul Stark?)  Some moments are indelible in our memory.

Marla Dill (Brown)

Fifty years ago today, I was a junior in Mr. Hawthorne's geometry class. Just after lunch & feeling sleepy. A teacher called him into the hall...he came back to his desk his face as white as his hair. He told us about the shooting. Someone had a transistor radio in her purse so we heard the announcement about the President's death as soon as it was announced. I remember I found it odd that the son of the Board Superintendent (Mr. Emery?) ran crying from the room. The principal made a PA announcement and Rabbi Daniel Silver (at a meeting@ SHHS) spoke a benediction. I don't remember going to another class; just being dismissed. I walked home, Aldersyde & Fernway, with my boy friend, Allen Mumper, worrying that we might be attacked by Russia. He walked me all the way home on Ingleside and then the long way back  Fernway to Stockholm. There was no school on Monday since it was the Day of Mourning. Our family went to a Memorial Service at Christ Church. (The next day (Tues?) my 15 yr old dog died, a b'day gift when I was 1 yr old, and that day also had my first migraine. TMI, I know but it all blends together, sadly.)

Bruce Elfvin (Elfvin)

We must have had a big class with Mr. Siedman as I remember him slumping after the announcement, it was like someone let all the life out of him.  There is very little specific to remember except the day came to a halt and the next several days were dominated by Jack Ruby shooting Oswald on live TV, which was really strange.  The funeral of JFK on television for all of us to see.  I also remember Jackie Kennedy from all the coverage being so resolute in the face of this tragedy.  

Rhonda Butnick (Scorzelli)

I was in typing class and remember the announcement  coming on the loud speaker.  Everyone  just walked out into the hall and looked at each other with disbelief.  Looking back on it now, it seemed so surreal and felt like everything was moving in slow motion.  That night a big party was planned at my house  for my birthday and we wondered if we  should cancel it.  We went ahead with it  and  people showed  up.  My memory has dimmed on that evening bit I am sure there was much discussion about the day's events.  Was anyone else in that typing class?  This event rates with remembering where you were when the space shuttles blew up and when the planes hit the World Trad Center.

Burton Singerman

November 22,2013

Dallas ,Texas

        My 1st ever day in Dallas arriving last night for a conference.I am in a hotel 2 blocks from Dealy Plaza.

                         Going back 50 years brings vivid memories.My feelings of shock when I heard the P.A. announcement.Leaving the High School where its usually bustling halls were completely silent with fellow numb peers.

                           I was 16, J.F.K. was my hero. I was awed by his wit,brilliance,and patriotic values.I somehow wished I could be like him and also like my earlier hero, Adlai Stevenson. I remember walking alone after leaving the school. I was  looking for a quiet and gentle place where I could grasp what had happened. I walked through woods toward one of the lakes. Increasingly,I shuddered  as I felt personally touched by the horrors hatred can bring.I lost a sense of optimistic innocence that I have  never fully recovered.Reality can hurt!

                            I think back to questions I had over many years.How would our country and world change from this loss? How would I and my fellow early baby boomers change from the multiple assasinations of the 60's? How did the events ,beginning with J.F.K.'s assasination, end up affecting who I am and how I feel?

                        We all want to plan for our future .Yet, many events we have no control over end up leading us toward paths we could never imagine.

                        Last night when I arrived in Dallas,a driver from the conference drove me by the motorcade route,showed me the window on the 6th floor of the book depository where Oswald was.He also showed me a building where he felt someone other than Oswald shot the fatal head wound. Attending a medical meeting a few years ago , I heard Cyril Wecht , the ex-coroner of Pittsburgh, a famous forensic pathologist, and also a well known critic of the single bullet theory. I knew I agreed with his logic. A recent survey of the U.S. population showed 74%of Americans felt J.F.K.'s death was a conspiracy of many ,not one.The Mafia and the C.I.A. were the leading contenders. Maybe J.F.K.taking out the girlfriend of the head of the Chicago mob, I think Sam Giaconne?, was not wise. We will never know. I will never forget being a shocked and eventually sobered teenager!

Robert Mann

I was in study hall and I remember all sorts of rumors flying around the first one was the prinicipal was shot, later Johnson and finally President Kennedy. I believe there were two PA announcements and then I went to my Spanish Class in the new wing and we were dismissed. The weekend was full of TV, somber music and sorrow on everyone. I remember watchin Ruby shooting Oswald and then leaving home for the Browns game against Dallas. I guess the games back then began later like 2:00pm?

Trish Rowe

PE class outside, and the gym teacher told us to go back into the school.  When I got into the girls' locker room, everyone was crying.  I thought maybe everyone's boyfriend broke up with them at the same time until I asked one of the girls, and she told me Kennedy had been assassinated.  We were dismissed from school.  I changed into my regular clothes and numbly walked home.  When I got home the TV was on and my Mom was watching Walter Cronkite who was reiterating all the events up to that point.  I was afraid our country would descend into anarchy but she assured me that we had a smooth transition in government when something like this happened, and that Johnson would be sworn in as President.  Then we hugged and cried while we watched the awful news on our little black and white TV.  I remember not going to school the following week (Thanksgiving week) and watching the funeral procession on Monday, specifically the riderless horse Black Jack with the riding boots backwards in the stirrups.  I also remember the cadence of the drum corps -- it is burned into my memory.

Donna Beran (Steadman)

I'll never forget  when I heard the bad news about our beloved President Kennedy.     I was in Ms.Knight's Latin class   ( with Ginny Dunn), and we heard someone yelling in the hallway and the sound of doors slamming.  All of a sudden,  some student I didn't know came bursting into our classroom shouting "The President's been shot!"...then slammed our door and continued down the hall to alert others.   It was totally surreal and we just all sat there dumbfounded for a while.

Karen Chokel (Rohrs)

Sandra Smith (Dovberg)

On the anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy I tried to express to my 35 yr. old daughter what that day was like.  I figured she would be hearing about this all day on the news and wanted to give her a personal experience of the shock that filled the air.  I was in study hall in Shaker's cafeteria when the announcement was made.  My memory, as it appears was the experience of many of my classmates, was total shock and silence.  The bell rang and we moved quietly to the last period of the day which, for me, was Mr. Cramer's American History Class.  When a respected teacher doesn't have the answers, was just as numb as we all were and was trying to make sense of it all, that's when I realized the world had tilted and that things would never be quite the same.  Our generation lost an innocence the 50's had given us.  We were jolted into a reality that the world was not a peaceful place, nor had it ever been.  As Burt Singer said, "We awakened sobered teenagers."  It was only the prelude to the other shock waves that rocked our college years and most likely played a part in forming our personalities and perspectives that have lasted until the present.  It was a sad time to watch a little boy salute his father as he rolled by in a casket and it still brings tears to my eyes.  A bright light and an idealistic dream had been quenched.  For us it was an awakening.

Paula Rondeau (Keeler)

Sandra I couldnt have said it better. We boomers had lived in a bubble of exhalation after the war but I think my real awakening to how this world is was during the Cuban missle crisis which made the loss of a war hero president more sobering that day. 

Diane Stiebel

Remember being in Spanish class (don't remember the teacher's name but she always wore pink except the one day she wore a blue dress and caused a sensation)

I remember standing my the window and watched them lower the flag to half mast.

Except for 9/11, this is the one vivid day I remember

Joel Levinson

 I will  also never forget that day.  I was just getthg out of PE when the news started coming through.  They started to pipe the news over PA system.  The next period for me was band and we got to band and there was a big sign on the board "seats - no instruments".  Our band leader, FE - I think his last name was Hammond - talked   for the better part of the hour mostly, in my memory, about his participation in FDR's funderal.  I kept thinking "why doesn't he shut up?"  No one cared about the death and funeral of another President.  JFK was OUR President.

Joel Levinson

Judith Disantis

Hi Everyone,

Happy belated Hanukka, Merry Christmas and New Year!

I love reading all your messages.

Old Busines:  When Kennedy got shot I think I was in the hall and heard it over the PA system.  What I was doing in the hall, I don't know.

The day of 911 is what upset me too.  At lunch that day I went home and called my sister in Kentucky.  She asked me if I were all right; I said, "No, I'm not all right."

On a better note, I traveled to Israel last October; it was a wonderul trip.

Sue Weiner, you are a travel agent in Arizona.  I graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson and love to travel.

We'll have to talk as we did in high school.

I was really sorry to hear about our two friens Debbie Fry and Sue Wagner - and of course about anyone else who has pased away.

Judy Disantis

Cookie Rubin (Semchuck)

Hello Fellow Classmates,

I want to wish you and your family a very happy and HEALTHY New Year.  You may notice that now that we are 66, it is important to emphasize the word healthy. You may have also noticed how fast time goes as we age.  I have a feeling that none of us can believe that we have reached this milestone.

It is comforting and encouraging to see that so many of you have registered on our website and rekindled some of the warm feelings that we had growing up. This website has already reconnected some classmates and created new relationships.  One classmate happened to see that a class member lives in France, and since she was traveling there she contacted him even though they were not friends in high school. She enjoyed a wonderful lunch prepared by him at his mill house and found out that they had several things in common.

The truly great thing about our website is that it will be up and running for years to come.  Unlike the memory book, which you may have read once or twice and then forgot about, you can continuously update your profile and revisit the site to see the updates submitted by others.  If you wish to add pictures or change any personal information, you can do this on the site which, of course, you couldn't do in our memory book. Torchy will be sending out an update soon about our web site with a list of those that still need to register.  

Our reunion is July 18, 2015.  I hope that you are planning to attend as I am not sure how many reunions any of us will want to go to after this one.  As Torchy says, the 70th reunion may be in his kitchen. I am confident that even if you have been reluctant to attend previous reunions, you will come away from this one with good feelings and great memories.

Best regards,

Cookie Rubin Semchuck

Betsy Verne (Franco)

Betsy (Verne) Franco

P.S. I know some of you came already.  Thank you!
 

Barbara Horovitz (Brown)

Hi Betsy,  Congratulations on your book. Let me know if you ever are doing a book tour through R.I. and I will be there. Memories of our time together while at Fernway are vague, but I remember being at your house. My mom always enjoyed and admired your mom. Barbara Horovitz Brown

Sandra Smith (Dovberg)

Hi Everyone:  I would like to announce my newly designed website that just started last week.  It is much more sophisticated than my old one which some of you have seen before.  This new one has the help of a web designer and he's got all sorts of ideas in his head like videos, blogs, newsletters....  I am not convinced that I want to be so techy.  Just setting this up started back in June and I have spent a lot of time with my computer - it's time to get back to ART.  In the meantime skiing in New England has been a slow start due to the variety of weather we have had.  But this morning was GREAT!  Anyone else like to ski?  Check out my website.  It's the same address as the old one but very different:   www.sandracdovbergart.com  By the way I just sold this painting pictured below, titled "Squatter's Rights". 

Thomas Torda

To #45 (Betsy Verne Franco)

Congratulations, Betsy, on your novel, Naked!

While never publishing any fiction, I have attained some notoriety for several major articles in the fields of history (2 articles, going back to the Truman and Eisenhower eras, specifically on the Chinese Civil War and the Hungarian Revolution), molecular bio (Down syndrome, as I have a vested interest, viz. my son Joseph, who is now 23), and biblical history (the crime of Jesus of Nazareth). These have made it to Google Scholar and various other sites. The biblical history piece has made it to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem website (even though I am Christian!). All these articles are downloadable from my website: http://thomastorda.com (note: NO www.). Any comments on these pieces are welcome from you or any SHHS (65) student.

Regards,

Thomas J. Torda, Ph.D.

PS: I recently won a book autographed by Pres. Carter--his White House Diary (2010)--by responding to a survey by the US-China Perception Monitor (http://www.uscnpm.org), a publication of the non-profit Carter Center in GA. I highly recommend this site to anyone interested in China.

TJT

Sandra Smith (Dovberg)

To Betsy Verne Franco;

Congratulations on your book "Naked".  Was curious to see if I could get it on Kindle and also to read a review or synopsis.  Looks interesting  and I will probably order it soon.  Anything that has to do with art intriques me even if there's a little bit of invention in it that's fine.  After all, a novel is fiction. 

Betsy Verne (Franco)

Hi, Thomas,

You have an impressive array of nonfiction articles on many different topics.  Congratulations!

Betsy

Hi, Sandra,

If you like art, you'll like NAKED.  Having been a visual art major, I loved writing this book, using what I know, and what my sculptor son Tom, knows about art.  I spent a lot of time researching as well.

Betsy