Welcome to the

St Louis Park Senior High School 

 Class Of 1958 Web Site.

Home of the Orioles!

This is a Website devoted to the St. Louis Park High School Class of 1958.  It is intended for those Classmates who graduated from this place and time.  It is designed to be informative, inspiring, and nostalgic with memories of our time in the 1950s, including the music we loved and those we sat next to in class. We know that when the dust settles, we realize how little we need, how very much we actually have, and the true value of human connection.  This website accentuates that connection, with the hope that we will always be together.

For music to accompany your viewing of this Home Page, click here:

We want to keep in touch with you.  If you change your email address, or mailing address or phone number, be sure to go to MEMBER FUNCTIONS  and make those changes under "Edit Contact Info."

Enjoy Thanksgiving!  If you are reading this, you have plenty to be thankful for.  We have lost 6 classmates just this year, and found out we lost one from a decade ago.  So, be careful.  If you travel for Thanksgiving, travel with great care.  We hope you have a great Thanksgiving and are able to spend quality time with your family.               Your Class Website Administrators. 

November 2023 News

We regret informing you of the passing of classmate Penelopy (Penny) Peppard Schuetz.  She passed away just 5 days ago.  We were aware that she had been in recovery since late summer from some kidney surgery.  We have entered an "In Memory" notice for Penny on this website.

October 2023 News

We regret informing you of the passing of classmate Karen Nordwall Daninger.  She passed unexpectedly on October 23, 2023.  We have entered an "In Memory" notice for Karen on this website.  A Memorial service  will be held on Monday, October 30th, 11 am at Roseville Lutheran Church, 1215 Roselawn Ave. Visitation is on Sunday 3-5pm at the Roseville Memorial Chapel, 2245 N. Hamline Ave. Private family interment Fort Snelling National Cemetery. You may call Roseville Memorial Chapel for details: 651-631-2727.

We are all saddened to see on our TV screens the war now underway between Israel and Hamas.

We acknowledge the angst that must surely be felt by our classmates who naturally have a strong tie to Israel.  As a way of expressing our support for and solidarity with them during this time of uncertainty for the future of the Jewish people all over the world, as well as our classmates from St. Louis Park, we offer this recent tribute and recognition from leaders in Minnesota:

“Today, Jewish state legislators of the Minnesota Legislature, Representatives Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis), Emma Greenman (DFL-Minneapolis), Heather Edelson (DFL-Edina), Sandra Feist (DFL-New Brighton), and Tina Liebling (DFL-Rochester), and Senators Sandy Pappas (DFL-St. Paul) and Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park), Bonnie Westlin (DFL-Plymouth), and Steve Cwodzinski (DFL-Eden Prairie) released the following statement condemning the Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America’s recent statement on the war between Israel and Palestine:  "In the wake of the barbaric attack and massacre of Israeli civilians, including many elders and children, we stand in solidarity with our Israeli families and friends. We are heartbroken by images of entire communities destroyed in the largest single-day Jewish loss of life since the Holocaust. We grieve the loss of all civilian life – Israeli and Palestinian – in this war…That is why we are appalled at a recent statement by the Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) that fails to even mention or acknowledge the heinous mass murder of Israelis at the hands of Hamas terrorists. In this moment of grief and pain in the Jewish communities across the globe, the failure to condemn this bloodshed is hurtful to our communities that have experienced so much generational trauma…The DSA statement concludes with an egregious proclamation that negates the existence of Israel. Such statements do not move us closer to a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can live together in peace, security, and justice. We have and will continue to support peace efforts in the region."

September 2023 News

We regret having to inform you of the passing of Vickie Slattery Tavey.  We were informed at our 65th Class Reunion that Vickie had passed away about ten years ago.  It is regretful that sometimes it takes so long for information to filter up to us, but with our classmates distributed all over America, it is likely that such news can take a long time to reach us.  Of course, our website system had been announcing Vickie's birthday every August 15th, and two our our classmates have dutifully been extending her birthday wishes, without knowing that she had passed.  We have added Vickie Slattery Tavey to the list of deceased in 2013, and you can find our "In Memory" notice for her at our link on the left.

August 2023 News

Please accept our sincere regrets...

Our August 26th, 65th Class Reunion at Parkshore was a perfect success...for the folks who were in attendance.  About 30 classmates showed up.  Here we all are: 

See if you can identify us by name.

Moving Left to Right, here are our names...

       FRONT ROW                            2^ND ROW                                    BACK ROW__

  Karen (KC) Cravens Bretzke          Gordon Tanke                           Tom Rutledge

  Nancy Foss Harris                          Mary Enestvedt Nelson             Roger Johnson        

  Sara Lenmark Halverson                Barb (Mrs. James) Cogelow     Kent Brothen

  Barbara O’Neil Horbal                    Beverly Watts Hedin                  Allan Moran

  Janet Aarness Midtbo                    Judith Gronau Lausen               James Cogelow

  Nancy Atwood Steege                   Carol Ann Erickson Skala           Allan Thompson

                                                        Carole Banbury Shulman            Marvin Shedlov

                                                        Kay Knudson Studebaker           Bob Erickson

                                                        Barbara Brackett Solberg           Tim Kiernan

                                                        Janet Lien Bardahl                      J. Howell Owens

                                                        Gloria Hiner                                 Bruce Elliasen

                                                        Judith Gerber Tess

                       Barry Lazarus was also in attendance, but left prior to this picture being taken.

But for those of you who may have tried to find us via our Zoom-Link, we must apologize.  For unknown technical reasons, although we worked for an hour to make it work, it simply did not.  We know that there were a couple of classmates in the queue whose names appeared; but we just couldn't get our computer to cooperate.  We continue to remain somewhat technically challenged, and we didn't have any grandchildren present to help us out!

You may enjoy reading the item at the top most link at the left margin entitled

"One Percenter".

June 2023 News

April 2023 News

We learned of the passing of Vern Jarosak on April 20, 2023, in Vero Beach, Florida, where he has been residing for many years with his wife, Joan.  When we learn more about the life and times of Vern Jarosak, we, if course, add that information to the "In Memory" link we have established on this class website.

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We have sad news to report: The passing of our dear classmate Ann Cheleen.  Ann passed away on April 10, 2023, and her obituary was published in the StarTribune on Sunday, April 16th.  We have established an "In Memory" notice on this website and we invite you to view that notice.  If you have special information about Ann Cheleen, please take advantage of the opportunity to share that information at the bottom of the notice in the "Post Comment" section.

We have news about a Celebration of Life for Kent Nichols. 

Here is his obituary notice:

We are sad to announce the passing of Kent Robert Nichols of St Louis Park. He died at age 82 on February 17, 2023. Kent passed away after a battle with heart disease. There will be an open-house celebration of life on Thursday, April 20th between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. Born in St Louis Park, Kent was preceded in death by his parents Irving and Hertha Nichols. Survived by loving wife Barb Nichols and close circle of family and friends. Celebration of Life will be at American Legion Post 282. Address is 6509 Walker St, St Louis Park, MN 55426.

March 2023 News

Here is an entertainment possibility for March.  Classmate Dan Gildert is back in Minnesota for his usual spring concert at Minnetonka High School.

February 2023 News

Far too often lately, our monthly news is of the passing of one of our classmates (like the one below, posted just yesterday about Kent Nichols.)  But here's a GOOD NEWS item that just arrived and will show that some of our classmates are still out seeking the GOOD LIFE.  We just received an email from classmate Charles L. Barry.  [You can contact him at chucklbarry1@gmail.com].

We moved to Pagosa Springs CO. We live on a small ranch and in a gated community. The ranch is 80 acres overlooking the continental divide and we have the Navajo River as our southern boundary. We have the pleasure of living in a zoo.  Every wild animal you would expect to be in the wild west is around us. My wife and I are happy and spend our winter on Saint Maarteen. Life is beautiful.

{Editor's note: Saint Maarteen is an island in the Caribbean and is part of what is called the Dutch Caribbean.}

Yesterday, February 17, 2023, we lost another good friend and classmate, Kent Nichols.  Kent and his wife, Barbara, had just last Christmas moved to a wonderful new Presbyterian Care Center in the St. Paul area, from their previous care center in Golden Valley where they had been living.  Kent had been having some mobility issues.  Our Classmate, Howell Owens, had been in touch with Kent over recent years, and reported this loss.  Their son, Rob, has been providing watchful guidance, and exercised the option to move Kent and Barbara once again, hoping for better results.  We are uncertain at this time, but Kent's weakened circumstances and ultimate passing may have been complicated by a Covid infection.  We have started an "In Memory" page for Kent on this website.

January 2023 News

Yesterday, January 20th, we lost a good friend and classmate: Rod Lazorik.  You will recall that Rod was the chief author of "The Luckiest Generation," that booklet that brought together all the personal pages of our classmates, in preparation for our 50th Class Reunion in 2008.  We will be gathering fond memories of Rod for our In Memory notice that we have preliminarily posted on this website.  So, send in some of your own memories of Rod, and we'll weave them into the story of his life.

News About the Survey Results for a Possible 65th Class Reunion

We track 347 names in this class website system.  Of those, 123 classmates are deceased.  Goodness!: That's 35%.  That leaves 224 remaining.  But we have never found or lost contact long ago with 20 classmates.  Thus our pool of potential attendees has shrunk to 204, yet we only have email addresses for 149 classmates. 

42 classmates responded to our Survey, and 27 of those say at this time that they are likely to attend.  The others, for a variety of reasons (travel distance, health concerns, etc.) indicated that they are unlikely to attend.  We are certainly in the throes of becoming a disappearing group of Parkites!  

Now, the Reunion Planning Committee will be meeting over the winter to determine the location and time of our 65th Reunion.  Perhaps by then many more of you will decide to make that "one last trip" to see your old classmates.  We will let everyone know the details as soon as possible, so that you can factor in one more class reunion in your calendar for 2023.  Stay healthy.

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Classmate Howell Owens has discovered a video you may like.  It's a fast, virtual drone tour inside of St. Louis Park High School as it looks today, done by students themselves.  The students who attend these days really have it nice!  They likely will never know how much tender, loving care the taxpayers have provided for their proper education.  Below the modern-day picture of our high school, swipe the following URL and put that in your browser:

https://youtu.be/TuPzkwBTZwE

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We have added a new page to the links at the left, entitled NOSTALGIA MACHINE (for music and memories).  You will find it in alphabetical order on the Link List.  Enjoy!

We have also added a new page to the links at the left: Pandemic Stress Relievers.  It's essentially a lot of good old music videos for you to watch and listen to as you await the end of this terrible Covid Pandemic that has us all so self-isolating.  Get ready for some nostalgic reflection!  

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Let's all hope 2023 is a far better year for us Super Seniors!

Remember: Wear your mask and get the booster vaccine when it's offered.  Stay away from the new Omicron Variants.

If you need some nostalgic review of your teen years in the 1950s,  to remember those of us who still love you, then get ready to enjoy these

50’s Memories: Click on this video:

https://1funny.com/fond-memories-of-the-1950s/

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Need an "Attitude Adjustment" during the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Try This YouTube Video for some Nostalgia

Or, to review your love for America, watch this Video

https://www.youtube.com/embed/3c7GqpoM6wU

Then: Check out the link near the top at the left:

"COVID Attitude Adjustment".

  Send in some new news about your friends from St. Louis Park High.

How about viewing this nostalgic video from 1955 to get your juices pumped up and ready for a whole-class reunion, maybe in 2023?

http    ://safeshare.TV/w/   FEDEwZH Z Xu

All we have to do is convince our event-planning group to arrange for such a special party so we can all see one another once more.

Remember when this photo was taken?

Our 55th Reunion in 2013 at the SLP Hall of Fame Induction Dinner

(Yes, that's Roy Griak in the middle.)

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    Rememberance Quotes for January  

“I like starting projects in January.

That’s the best time to start something.

It’s so inward.”

- Carolyn Chute