With sadness we have to report that we received word from Janet Woodworth that classmate Carol Ann Keiser Ingram passed away on Dec. 8th in Florida. Her obit has been posted here. Zona also pointed out that we were missing the obit for Jerry Golden on the website, so that has been posed here as well.
We don't get a lot of news to post, but Morey sent along a couple of pictures which we have posted in "Recent pictures of classmates". The first is of what we guess will be the first of many nights dining out before Christmas by classmates. The second is of a beautiful AZ sunset.
Mary Moran visited Bloomington on Nov. 25 and several classmates were able to join her for lunch. There is a picture from that lunch in "Local get togethers over the years". Also, for those keeping track of Mary, she has relocated to Lake Oswego, OR.
Finally, thanks to the efforts of Jim Meier, Jane Scott Foreman and Zona Steege Guttschow, names have been added to the picture of the 7th and 8th Grade from Trinity Lutheran School. While not all of these folks were in H.S. with us, most were.
We continue to desire updates and pictures about classmates, so please send them along to the webmaster.
Email to all classmates - November 29, 2015
Zona has sent an email to all classmates updating them on website information. If you didn't get this email, that means we DON'T have your current email address. Please notify Zona whenever your information changes.
Here is the contents of that email:
Hello BHS Class of 1960
Important announcement in regards to updates to BHS60 web site.
Well, tis time to update everyone after our 55th Reunion in August.
So first, thanks to Karen Sperlin, Zona Steege Guttschow, and Norman Phillips for their efforts to make the 55th Reunion Dinner a success. 39 classmates and 14 guests attended including classmates from as far away as AZ, MA, DC, FL, OH, TX and CA. Pictures have been placed on the website, so check them out and see how many classmates you recognize. (More on the website later.) It seems all who could attend had a great time and we do plan to continue these going forward.
Another thanks goes out to Rose Nelson Robeson for her many years of service as class Webmaster. After developing the website from nothing and serving as its driving force, she asked to be relieved of these duties. It was decided at the Reunion that Dave Jones would now serve in that role. Again, Thanks Rose!
Dave has been busy making that transition and he, along with classmate and wife Susan, have made a number of changes. The majority have been in the area of pictures of us growing up in Bloomington, Reunions (ALL of them) and obituaries.
Dave and Susan are putting out some specific requests to all of us for information that they think would add to the interest of the website:
1. Any pictures of us growing up in Bloomington. They specifically are looking for pictures that include a number of classmates. If you review the website, you will note that most elementary schools and Bent are missing for the early years. Can you help? (Susan reports that a recent email from Sidney Sinclair Bruner, who had seen pictures from 1st and 2nd grade on the website, noted “weren’t we cuties?” It “made her day” and brought back memories of all the fun times we had at that age.)
2. We are also weak in pictures and information from our Sophomore year. You have any to share?
3. The two earliest Reunions (5th and 10th) have limited pictures. In fact, we just re-discovered we even had a 5th. Can you help us post more information and bring back some of these memories? Dave and Susan would like to especially thank Bob Gaston, Morey Barkeman and Ruth Ann Clark Morrison for pictures they have sent. More are always welcome.
4. Obituaries from newspapers have been found and added to the website for almost all of our classmates. In addition, inputs received for the 50th Reunion project, titled “BHS Class of ’60 Footprints”, have been added to any formal Obituary we have been able to locate for each classmate. Reading these Obituaries when you have time you will discover what varied careers and activities our classmates experienced. Quite impressive!
Also, Dave is asking that if you see any missing Obituary for a classmate that you notify him or the class . If you checkout the website you will note that there are two we know are currently missing (Kenna Jean Arbogast, Patricia Kelley McFetridge). He is working hard to make our classmate list complete.
5. And finally, the BIG ONE:
The website login process, etc has received some changes.
a. Website will remain bhs60.net
b. NO LOGIN OR PASSWORD IS CURRENTLY REQUIRED
The webmaster email address will now be bhs60webmaster@bhs60.net
So in closing we hope each of you will login to the BHS website to check out the changes, visit it often to see what is new, and share any news or pictures you have concerning the class with Dave at the webmaster email address.
Let’s all work to keep it current!!!!!!
Sincerely ——Dave, Susan, and Zona
With sadness, we have to announce the passing of classmate Rose Robeson's husband Norm. - October 8, 2015
El Paso, IL — Norman Lynn Robeson, 75, went safely into the arms of Jesus on Monday, October 5, 2015 at Advocate BroMenn Hospital after a brave fight with cancer.
He was born September 21, 1940 to Ray & Arlene Robeson. He married Roselyn Rae Nelson on June 16, 1961 at First Presbyterian Church, Normal, IL. He graduated from Illinois State University with major in Agriculture and minor in Latin. He proudly served his country in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Korea in 1967.
He and Rose farmed the family farm southwest of El Paso all of his working life. He served as church treasurer for nearly 15 years.
Norm and Rose had an abiding desire for travel and camping, visiting many interesting locations across America. They enjoyed membership in the Aliner Owners Club for 10 years, joining a number of the national rallies across the country. One of their more memorable trips was a week long adventure, traveling by covered wagon train in North Dakota. They dressed and lived as pioneers. They also made many camping trips to Florida to visit Rose’s mother and narrowly escaping several hurricanes!
Norm is survived by his wife, Rose. He was preceded in death by his parents and a younger sister, Sharon.
There will be no funeral service or visitation. Memorials may be made to Grace Fellowship Church, 2730 Country Rd. 600 N, El Paso, Il.
The Spectator—Jim Bennett—August 27, 2015
The following article was written by classmate Jim Bennett after our 55th Reunion and appeared in the Normalite. Jim writes a column termed "The Spectator". Enjoy his thoughts!
Some Class Reunion Reflections
IN LATE SPRING 1960, Bob Gaston wrote the following in my Bloomington High School yearbook: “Best of luck to a cool stud. See ya around later. ‘Bebop.’”
“Bebop” was Bob’s nickname back then. Still is, to some old classmates. He was an excellent singer and may have had dreams of a record contract for all I know. I’ve never talked to him about that.
He served 20 years in the navy, then retired and spent several years working for the county clerk of the circuit court in Tampa, Florida, before he retired again. That’s where he still resides. He used to play a lot of golf but now plays much less and always uses a cart.
In high school, he was on the golf team and was (I would guess) the only African American on a high school golf team across Central Illinois. At last Saturday’s 55 year reunion of the BHS class of 1960, I asked him how he got his start playing the “white man’s” game.
“When I was 13 or 14 years old,” he told me, “I was caddying at Bloomington Country Club. Mondays were ‘caddy days’ when the caddies got to play. That’s where I got hooked. I wasn’t the best player on the high school team, but I did letter.”
Whenever we have a class reunion, Bob, urged on by classmates, sings a few songs after dinner. This year, working a capella as usual, he blessed us with “Misty,” the Johnny Mathis hit, “On the street where you live” from My Fair Lady, and finished up with the Nat King Cole classic, “Nature Boy.” That’s the staple; we always expect to hear him sing it.
Here’s why: In the spring of our senior year, there was an assembly in the school auditorium. He sang “Nature Boy” that day and the applause was so long and spirited he was prompted to perform an encore. Bob has told me in the past he doesn’t remember that event, but I sure do and I’m not alone.
I GUESS I’m not surprised Bob doesn’t recall his encore moment in high school. 55 years can dim the memory bank. Some people have still-vivid memories of specific moments that others have long forgotten. It could be a particular play on the football field, a choral performance, or a memory of a one-time controversy.
I have a clear memory of one of those. It happened in September, 1959, in our brand new cafeteria in our brand new school. The current BHS building opened in the fall of that year, making our class the first to graduate there.
Those of us who were seniors sat in the cafeteria as candidates for class offices gave their campaign speeches. Everything was pretty boring and predictable until Phil “Yogi” Bare, a popular thespian and candidate for class president, rose to speak.
He opened his speech with two rather colorful similes: “Some people say a speech is like a baby,” he said. “Easy to conceive but hard to deliver. Others say it’s like a steer’s horns—a point here, a point there, and a lot of bull in between.”
The loud guffaws spread across the room, particularly among the males, but the principal was not amused. He ordered Phil to sit down. “Young man,” he said, loud enough for many of us to hear, “your speech is over. Sit down.” He did so, but with a crestfallen demeanor. Immediately, the cafeteria fell into an uncomfortable, queasy silence.
After all the speechmaking was concluded, I made a clumsy attempt to console Phil. He told me those two one-liners were his only attempts at humor; the rest of his speech was just some standard “why you should vote for me” clichés.
OUR REUNION was held in the Marriott in uptown Normal. We had a nice buffet. The attendance was much smaller than that of our 50 year reunion in 2010. No surprise there.
Amid the talk of recent classmate deaths, health issues, competent and incompetent doctors, right meds and wrong, surgeries completed and surgeries to come, canes, walkers, and oxygen tanks, I shared the two memories with my table mates. Some remembered, while others didn’t. Or remembered only vaguely, not nearly in the detail I did. Some recalled memories I had forgotten.
I couldn’t help reflecting on the collection of memories so clear to some and so long forgotten by others. How different are the folders in our memory files!
In 2020, I’m sure we will have a 60 year reunion. How many will show up for that? Many of our class have already passed on. The current life expectancy in the U.S. is 78.8 years. Those of us in the class of ’60 were born in 1942; time is not on our side.