Ed Hartman 1950 and Aretha Jane Willis,1955
Glen Smith,1960
Mary Jayne Williams, 1955
Mary Alice Wright,1953
MARY JAYNE WILLIAMS, CLASS OF 55
People ask if I continued any artwork. I did attend Woodbury College in L.A.but could only afford one year. I am self taught in portraits and
sold a few nude paintings also. I just retired after nearly 30 years with the police dept.here in Las Vegas so I intend to make time to take it up again.
Except for a few high points, I would have to admit to being relieved to leave SHS, and I couldn't wait to leave Sheridan. I attended the University of Wyoming at Laramie. It was the best time, ever of my life,
though mixed with heartbreak, boyfriend losses, and the RETURN TO TOP
I was born in Sheridan April 12, 1937, and froze to death for about 19 yrs.before I made my escape. I grew up in a family of six in the log house my dad built (about the most memorable thing of those years.) We
were surrounded by willow trees, and cut down cedar trees for Christmas as they smelled so great in the fireplace after the holidays. I tell people Sheridan has two seasons: winter and July, and I intend to visit in
July, 2000, especially if the class of '55 has a reunion. I remember cursing the school bus driver as he always seemed to make it through.
We grew up learning to cook and
sew for ourselves thanks to 4-H clubs and Mother , Harriet Jayne, who taught home nursing, 4-H, and was an inspiration to a lot of people. She lives in St. George, UT. now and will
be 87 years old in August. A heart specialist informed her nearly 30 years ago,after diagnosis of an enlarged heart, that with absolute bed rest she might live a year. (I think he died about 10 years ago.) At Linden
school I met the beautiful Beverly Chieslar, Ginny Booth, and Lavina Driskill; and developed a crush on Dick Mueller and Stan Greenhalgh. In high school it was 3 yrs. of gaga over Doug Kedl but was still too shy to
do anything about it. I have known Paula Jackson forever and loved her and Ike for many years. I met Mary Alice Wright in school and remember her as so nice and SMART. I'm also writing to tomboy' pigtailed Ann
Mills whom I've known 'forever' and Ginny Booth.
The first teacher I recall is Mrs. Drain in second grade. We had sections of pupils reading aloud and I remember pronouncing 'aisle' -
'a-sel - made sense to me.
My fourth grade teacher was Barbara Perrine who introduced me to famous artist Bernard Thomas whom she was dating at the time. He
married our gym teacher in high school and moved to Fla. I never had the good fortune to see him again , but he sent me Christmas cards of drawings of his family and a few letters. A great man and great looking!
The Story of Ed & Jane
(editors note: Ed Hartman (1950) and Aretha Jane Willis Hartman, (1955) Story by Ed.
Mother had me take a visiting neighbor to the swimming pool.She was 19,and I was 13.Coming home,two boys stopped to give us a ride.It
was Kenny Lamb & Eddie Hartman. I was with Kenny who promptly started getting fresh.I pushed him away and ask my friend if she wanted to change guys.She did and I got this perfect gentleman who kissed
with his mouth closed, so of course I fell madly in love.Next Sunday,at Church, Kenny was singing the solo, Ed was sitting in the second row and the Preacher was telling us that they were leaving to go to Fort
Lewis in preparation for Korea.I received one letter from him telling me
to go to his Mom's to await his call. He never called! By now
he had discovered I was 13 & jailbait.
Ed came back from Korea and married Sarah. Ed & Sara were very happy and had 3 boys, two live in Sheridan and one is here.7 grandchildren and a great grandchild due in June. He worked at the
Post Office and stayed in the Guard.He went in as a Private and came out a full Colonel. In 1956, I was going to college in Okla. and decided to go see JoAnn Chapeck Johnson in Lawton, Okla Where Bill was
stationed in Fort Sill.When I drove up to the house,who should be standing there but Ed Hartman.We became friends and on every Christmas I received a Christmas card. Ed kept track of me through my
mom and after that through my sister.
RETURN TO TOPMARY ALICE WRIGHT GUNDERSON 5/11/99
I was born in Sheridan, in the midst of a January blizzard, while
my Dad and some of his teacher friends frantically stayed up all
night laying the oak floors in our unfinished, Griffith Street house.
I rode home in the same '36 Ford I learned to drive, over time denting all four fenders.
I went to Linden School for 5 1/2 years. I knew kids from both the A
and B sections, as we had split grades. Teachers taught the last
semester of one grade and the first part of the next one. Theoretically, we studied while the other class was doing other subjects. Best friends
were Carolee Ramsey, JoAnn Panetta, Barbara Campbell, Ann
Ingraham Carole Crumpacker. This gang , along with other kids who visited or moved in, participated in certain not-lawful activities. We were
sometimes joined by Janet and/or Kent Holcomb. Guy friends of mine
were horseback-riding buddies such as Bobby Hylton, Dick Minick,
Jim White (who called himself "Zemuel Twee, the Man for Me--the
Brainless Wonder"). The all-girl gang actually broke into Linden
one night, crawling through a basement window JoAnn P. had cracked
open. We scattered flour around, got into the cookie jar. Nobody
ever knew.
We were very much unsupervised, and lived at Kendrick Park and the swimming pool.You could swim from 1-5 'clock for a dime ? so, if we
were broke,we took milk bottles from people's porches and sold them at the grocery store.
Winter was ice skating as long as we could stand it. Walking up and
down the frozen creek was something we promised repeatedly never to do but did that all the time. All of us had close calls, but managed to
pull one another out. The Christmas tree burning will be forever a
memory, and is the subject of one of my poems.
This notorious gang of sweet girls ranged, in twos and threes, all over town. We once discovered a dead body along the railroad
track--probably a bum who'd hitched a ride on the rails. No one ever
warned us of any dangers there might be in the world...we feared only
the kidnappings portrayed at those great Halloween movies when all
the Sheridan grade school kids trooped into the Orpheum theater. Our
favorites were those movies featuring orphans, kids with Lassie, or
someone with her own horse. Later, at the Wyo Theater, there was the
fabulous "Lucky Seven Club" emceed by KWYO disc jockeys, one of which was "Tank" Warburton. After kids put on some kind of show, or
song, or tap dance, the serial came on: "The Black Whip," or some such guy. It always ended with the hero falling halfway into a huge vat of boiling oil...but we knew his horse would somehow rescue him.
Favorite teacher was maybe Bess McCauley, who was having a very nervous and difficult year. I did little work, mostly drew cartoons, until
some of the kids said, "We're tellin' on you for not doing your work." So I started doing the English, filling in all those blanks. All the girls were in
love with Tom Warnke--who, to this day, looks just the same.
Overnight, I grew up. I went with Mary Geroe Wells to wait while she
took a piano lesson from Duke Downey in the KWYO building. There HE
was,red-headed and in a white shirt, jingling a strap of bells, going "Ho, ho, ho. Johnny's been a good boy this year. Let's send him a Daisy Air
Rifle". It was Bob Carroll ( or Jim) reading the letters from Santa,*and the truth was out!
After 2 months of dreaded summer school, I entered 7th at Central.
Outstanding 7th grade recollection is the brilliant and beautiful Clara
Blakeman spelling a word I missed in the semi-finals of the spelling
contest. (If she can tell me what the word was, I'll take her to lunch. I
remember it every time I write it or see it...) Our class was the last to use
Hill School for 8th grade classes. Eighth grade is kind of a blur ,the best of which was the literature I read overnight--"Evangeline" and
"Ivanhoe," which some kids hated, also "Lady of the Lake." No particular favorites as teachers...I said before that Anne Nelson, who was said to be able to teach grammar and spelling to a fencepost,
taught me all I was ever to need about correct usage! I never liked such formal events as 8th grade graduation, etc. I was born too soon, and would liked to have protested as the kids did in the 60s, levitating the
Pentagon.
I attended SHS for all 4 years. The best times for me were Art classes
with Marie Avery, who once sent us out to draw fall leaves. We all went
to the store for candy, and threw leaves at each other. When we came
back in with blank sketch books she said, "Well, I know one thing. Only
God can make a tree.." We didn't get in trouble for that.
returned rings that we all go through. It was fabulous to be a girl
there from '53-57. There were 3.42 guys for every girl, so sometimes 10
people would ask you to a dance or movie. Once in awhile we got a .42
(sorry guys.) At that time we girls had restricted hours, and got points
for messy rooms, coming in late, being disruptive, etc. With enough of
those, you got a "campus," a confined-to-quarters weekend. Once a
bunch of us received one, and another girl on our floor had a date to a dance. We saved newspapers for weeks, and while she was gone, about 10 of us crumpled up the newspapers and completely filled her
room to the front door. I liked the social life, did not join a sorority and glad of it, and enjoyed the learning. I still take courses, and short workshops, and sometimes teach one.
I married late, at 28. We drove over to South Dakota and got married at the court house, then went on up through Canada. Great trip.
Actually, we were both teaching at the same school. I have taught elementary, taught part time writing workshops in elementary schools when our son was in grade school, was Public Information Officer for
the county library, and taught creative writing and in the adult re-entry at Casper College. I have been a free lance writer for 30 years, with articles, poems, stories, a non-fiction book and other publications. I will
be participating in some conferences this summer and reading some
autobiographical essays.
My husband, 13 years older, has taught elementary, jr. high, and what
he liked best, the alternative high school. He was active in the teachers'
organization at all levels, and served with the Wyoming Education
Association. Basically we have "lived" on one teachers' salary...plus
whatever I earned part-time. Have one of the world's tiniest houses.
We have one adopted son, now 30, adopted--as you can in Wyoming--through doctors and attorneys. At 5 days old, he had a lawyer. That long ago, adoptions were completely closed. He‰s a very
personable , balanced kid - a talented high school record-holding swimmer, musician, chess player, great skier, and always everybody's friend and helper. Currently he is working as a counselor in a Montana
Federal Prison and has a psychology degree. His wife teaches at the Montana School for the Deaf. They play in the orchestra there, and are on the ski patrol. They keep saying they don't want children, but we are hoping.
I owe my grandparents a great debt and my Dad, for the stability they
provided for my life. My older brother, J. R. "Dick' Wright died in an
accidental fall, the day of our 25th reunion picnic at Ranchester.
I'm very happy to be reunited with friends Barbara Bentley, JoAnn
Boyd, Mary Jayne and others at the reunions. I still see many of the Linden gang of bad girls.
We live in incredible times. I would like to be around for another 50
years, at least....God Bless.
I think this computer age is great. People are getting in touch that probably never would have with snail mail.
I am married to a wonderful lady, Marjorie,.We live in Green River Wy. I am still working but Marjorie has retired a couple of times.I work for
General Chemical, a Soda Ash Mine, The product we mine is used in the manufacture of Glass, Arm & Hammer baking soda, Soaps and
many other things.I am a Mine Dispatcher. My primary job is to route
maintenance and medical help to the places needed in the mine. Mostly answer the phone. Kind of boring but I am also the resident expert in Microsoft Access, Excel, and Paradox.I don't know how that
happened but I really enjoy that portion of the job. I set up the Data base for General in paradox. Then a couple of years ago we switch to Microsoft Access. No one knew much about this program so I was
elected to convert our existing data base. In the process I found out how little I know, learned a lot, and stayed the resident guru.I'm still not an expert by any means,but no one else is either.Guess that's job
security.
Marjorie and I never had any children, but we raised a niece from 10 years old until shegraduated from high school. She is like a daughter to
us and her children (a boy 8 and a girl 7 )are just like grandchildren for us. We recently bought a 5th wheel trailer and are traveling
around and seeing the country and friends. It makes you wish you were
retired as we enjoy it
so much.BACK TO TOP
JOHN
BRUTLAG, 1958
Always glad to hear from classmates. I left Sheridan in 1970 and haven't seen anyone from our class since then. have for one reason or
another I have never been able to go to the reunions.
Most of my life has been working for the government. I went to work
in 1959 at the V.A. Hospital in Sheridan, Wyoming. After 10 years
there, I transferred to the V.A. in Northport, N.Y. Ten years later I
made my final transfer to the V.A. at Phoenix, AZ where I retired from
in 1996.
Along the way I got married, Had 3 boys, in 1964. They are all grown
up and live in Florida. I divorcedand remarried and my wife and I
adopted a 3-day-old baby girl in 1987. She is 12 years old now and keeps us going.
After I retired, I did some work around the house, but after a couple
of months, I got bored and went back to work for a computer company
that specialized in building custom computers, networking, and about
everything else. I worked there for a year and a half and decided to
retire for real. Now, about all I do is some consulting work. I am
active in the PTA at my daughter's school, as well as some other
volunteer work. Also I am working on the family history.
I have gone back to the 1400's, and now have about 500 plus names.
I ran across this on the internet a while back, can't remember where,
(Senior Moment)
Name: Khan, Zarif "Louie"
A.K.A. "Hamburger Louie"
Occupation: Tamale Salesman
Born: prob 1880s
Location: Afghanistan
Died: 1964-June 23
Location of Death: Pakistan-Bara (Shot & Killed)
Spouse: Fatima Khan, 1952
Children: 12
Sincerely,
John Brutlag*