From Zona - Nov 24, 2020
Zona emailed a letter to the class updating the status of our “60 for 60” class project to benefit the BHS Arts and Music programs. As of this date, classmates have donated $1,340 with over a month left in this year. Click here to see her email. - Dave

From Dave - Oct 4, 2020
Classmate Jill Munro passed away September 30th, 2020. While not unexpected in light of our last posting, it is always sad to lose another friend from our years at BHS. Click here to see her obituary. - Dave

From Jill Munro Vernon - July 30, 2020
The following note was received today from Jill (via an email from Zona):

Dear friends,

Jill is in the final stages of her illness and has asked me to again send the following message to you.

"Jill Munro Vernon has appreciated all of your cards and letters that have brightened each day for her. She is now sleeping most of the time and wanted each of you to know how much she has been thankful for all of your support.”

Sincerely, Jill

PS Jill’s address is:
2014 S. Morris Ave.
Bloomington, Il 61704

From Jill Munro Vernon - June 7, 2020
Dear Classmates,

The following note was received today from Jill:
"Beginning June 10th Jill Munro Vernon will be in hospice at home. Some of her brightest moments are hearing happy memories and current status in correspondence from old friends."

Her address is:
Jill Munro Vernon
2014 S. Morris Ave.
Bloomington, Il. 61704

(I encourage all of my fellow classmates to take a moment to reach out to Jill in whatever fashion you can. Dave)

From 2020 Reunion committee - Apr 9, 2020
Dear Classmates,

After conferring with the committee members regarding our August reunion, we have come to the difficult conclusion that we should postpone the reunion until a date to be determined in 2021. In addition, the poll we took regarding how many people might attend indicated a very low number of participants.

We are in a pandemic which we hope will be over in the near future, however, considering travel plans that would need to be made and our ages, it is best that we error on the side of caution. The number of people affected is rising every day in addition to the deaths.

We hope that all of you are safe and abide by our governors’ directives to stay home. Because it will take over a year to develop a vaccine, it is difficult to say when it will be safe to entertain a date for large social events.

We would still encourage you, if you are financially able, to donate to our class project “60 for 60”. The size of the donation is not important.

Please take care and keep in touch if you change your contact information and hopefully a reunion can be scheduled next year.

Sincerely,
Karen Sperlin (309) 452-1903, Zona Guttschow (309) 261-6064
and the reunion committee

From Dave - Apr 3, 2020
Our Senior Class President, Paul Sennewald, passed away Tuesday, March 31, 2020. Paul was looking forward to attending our 60th Reunion this year. When it became clear in February that Paul was unlikely to be able to attend the Reunion, Susan and I made a quick trip to AZ to visit with Paul and share our memories of BHS. Click here to see his obituary. - Dave

From Zona and Dave - Mar 30, 2020
Zona transmitted an email to all classmates. What follows is her email with a few edits to link to website data. I have removed a few items that were posted a couple of days ago to eliminate confusion. - Dave

Passing of Classmates by Zona:
Martha (Marty) Valentine Carlton passed away February 19, 2020. Martha is another classmate that we can be proud of. She left her mark on our world with the 32 combined years of social work she performed between Youth Services and the Baby Fold. Her relationships touched the lives of many youth, families, friends, and co-workers. Click here to see her obituary.

On March 24, we lost one of the pillars of our class, Roselyn (Rose) Nelson Robeson. I know Rose communicated with many of you over the years as she was “the” person who created our website years ago. 10 years ago she was the contact person for our 50th class reunion and in her words, “ it was a blast working with my classmates preparing for this reunion”. Rose is going to be missed by all of us. Click here to see her obituary.

It also came to light recently that our classmate John Kohler passed away in 2017. John taught, spent years in sales, enjoyed learning about history, he also enjoyed automobile shows and auctions. Click here to see his obituary.

A "Save the Date" letter was sent to all classmates without email addresses announcing that our 60th Reunion is now being planned for the weekend of August 29 -30. If you did not receive this email or letter, that indicates we probably don't have your current contact info. PLEASE email Zona, if you have a Change in address, E-mail or Phone number.

Also, Zona received a phone call from Kay Kohler that classmate John Kohler passed away on Aug. 25, 2017. This was a result of the Reunion letter than Zona had sent out. Click here to see his obituary.

Our Class Project by Zona:
During the 2019 holiday season there were an amazing number of positive responses to John Travers reminder that “The Season of Good Will is upon us”. After talking with Senior Class President Paul Sennewald and taking all of the positive replies into account, it was decided that as a class we would undertake a Class Project to mark the 60th milestone and to honor our teachers. This project would be to support BHS arts and music programs. The project would be titled: “60 for 60” suggesting a donation of $60, Obviously, this is a suggestion and each classmate can donate as they wish. The size of the donation is not important. WE JUST NEED EVERYONE TO PARTICIPATE IF POSSIBLE. This program will run through the end of the 2019-2020 school year. You can donate at ANY TIME during that period or bring your donation to the 60th Class Reunion.

How to donate to this class project - Dec 21, 2019
John Travers, as the original leader of this effort, contacted the High School and offers the following donation instructions:
1. Any and all checks should be made out to “Bloomington Public Schools” and need to reference the (“Class of 1960”, on the reference line.
2. Any check made out as a “Donation” to the school is Tax Deductible.
3. They would deposit these donated checks and total up this balance to be used solely for the (Art and Music) programs at BHS. (Note: If you desire to direct your donation to another area of the school you are free to do so.)
4. Checks should be sent to:
Attention Laura Hughs (Director of Accounting)
Bloomington Public School District 87
300 E. Monroe St., Bloomington II 61701
(Please fill free to contact Laura at 309-827-6031 Ext. #1019 if you want more information

60th Class Reunion Update
The current virus situation in the world is resulting in a pause in releasing final details until it becomes clearer if activities in late August can be held.
Brief updates to both the Reunion and our "60 for 60" Class Project have also been posted. Click on the highlighted links to read these updates.

From Dave - Mar 1, 2020
A "Save the Date" email was sent to all classmates announcing that our 60th Reunion is now being planned for the weekend of August 29 -30. If you did not received this email, that indicates we probably don't have your current contact info. PLEASE email Zona, if you have a Change in address, E-mail or Phone number.

In a recent visit with Paul Sennewald, he revealed a picture, posted on Facebook, that appears to have been copied from a 1959 issue of The Pantagraph. The picture is of the Homecoming Court and appears to have been taken at the Homecoming dance. The picture has been posted in the Our Senior Year portion of the website.

From Dave - Feb 24, 2020
Classmate Martha Valentine Carlton passed away 2/19/20. Click here to see her obituary.

Also an update on our Class of 1960 Reunion project was posted and is available here.

From Dave - Feb 4, 2020
An email was received from Classmate John Travers indicating that as a result of the efforts of our Classmate Mike Manahan, the BHS Wrestling Room was named on Thursday, Jan 23, 2020 as the "Jim Bowers Wrestling Room". Congratulations to Mike in leading this effort. Click here to see pictures from the dedication and a reprint of the article that was printed in The Bloomington Pantagraph.

From Dave - Jan 21, 2020
An updated family picture was received from Lucinda Butler Dohan. Click here to see the recent pictures.