The Class of '60 @ Forty
Reunion 2000
April 7, 8, 9*

"It's Nice...Just to Know"

Mary Lou Beaird - Continued

...smile, kind of like old Mona Lisa, that said there was much more there.  She was kind and quiet and giving and very private. She took part in many activities at T.J. including the annual staff.  I was saddened to hear of her death.    Barbara Collier ‘60

... I. Magnin Co. and lived in an apartment near Coit Tower in San Francisco.  I saw Mary Lou when she came back to Dallas for visits with her family. Mary Lou was creative and sweet, a good friend, and a compassionate, warm, loving person. Sadly, she died unexpectedly in Dallas in the mid 1970's.  Martha Meyercord Wilson '60

Mike Burkhardt - Continued

...about ran drag races and his ‘58 ford would take just anything on the track. I recall Mike putt-putting around on his Vespa motor scooter when he was in the 7th grade.  Having a motor scooter was not like having a car, but then none of us could drive.  Mike was a legend to have motorized transportation, when all the rest of us could do was pedal. Jim Gsell ‘60

...riding his Vespa, striding among the trees of his family’s landscaping business, cruising by in that fine-fine-SUPAH-fine ’58 Ford, “Peggy Sue,”  and, later, tearing up NHRA drag strips all across the Southwest in his famous Funny Cars. Mike was just a large person, in size, and in presence. We all assumed he was just born that way, big. So most of us always knew Mike as “Big Mike.” That was how they’d intro Mike over those drag strip PA systems: “And now, ladies and gentlemen, get ready, strap down! Smokin’ those tires in Lane 2...here comes Biiiig Miiiike BURK-harrrrt!” Mike was tow-headed, red-faced, and freckled. He laughed easily, he was dead-on true to his friends.  He kept up an intense  love affair with cars, the mystique of the internal combustion engine, and speed. He took his place in life, and in his community. But the way most of us will always remember Big Mike is this way:  large, with his head up, eyes front, looking nonchalant, as if he wasn’t aware that all eyes were on him in abject envy, cruising by slowly in so-fine Peggy Sue, the fastest, meanest,   sweetest-talkin’ ’58 Ford ever, the car we all always wanted and never had. Bobby Schulz '60

Gene Carr - Continued

...for the Dallas Association of the Deaf.  At TJ, he shared his talents as a baseball team member. He was the kind of human, and community leader, that all of us were urged to be.  (Taken in part from the TJ annual and books of our reunions.)   Bob Horton ‘60

...Somehow, I never learned how, he got permission to dissect a cat at Southwestern Medical School, while we were still students at TJ.  I don’t remember the details, but as a high school student Nick had an idea on how to improve pancreatic function in humans. He needed to learn more about the pancreas, and invited me to tag along.  So to my amazement I found myself shoulder-too-shoulder with this already knowledgeable high school student scientist dissecting a cat in an otherwise deserted Southwestern Medical School basic science building!  I was then, and remain today, impressed with his brightness, his originality of thought, and his somewhat paradoxical unassuming boldness.  Bert Mackaman ‘60

...and high, pronounced hips, and her upper body did not seem just quite in proportion to the lower.  So some of us took to calling her"Dago." Diane did not like to be called"Dago," so we just called her that more and more. There were no racial overtones to this at all, at least not that we knew about. At that time, "dago" was a term used for a a nicely-customized car, one that had the essential "chopped top. "Some folks just said a car that had been customized in that fashion -- say, a '51Ford, with that sort of June-bug body and the top just lowered down nearer to it -- was just "chopped;" others said it had been "dago'd." So for a while there, some of us called Diane "Dago," and she hated it. As we all know, Diane left that gawky "dago" stage behind and became one of the most attractive people any of us knew, and the great majority of her classmates forgot that she had ever been called "Dago." At the last reunion, 30-plus years past all that, I walked up to say hello to Diane and Kelly, and I looked at Diane and said, almost without thinking,"Howyabeendoin', Dago?" Well, Diane, pyschologist that she was, first turned red, then purple, then very dark, and all of a sudden she wasn't psychologist Diane any more; she was Diane from30-plus years ago, and she said, in that sort of hoarse, slightly raspy way of talking that she had almost left behind,"Schulz, Ah thought ever'body had forgotten that Dago thing! Ever'body has, except you. Schulz, when 'r' yew gonna die?" So there are a few of us who still remember Diane at her "gawky"stage, when she was Dago, and though she went 'way past all that, I guess at least one of us will always remember her that way, as Dago Dodson, with those long legs and high hips, walking along at a fast clip without ever lifting her feet off the floor. You could hear Dago coming and going, too, in addition to seeing her.  Bobby Schulz '60

...much fun! She even showed me how much better a tuna sandwich can be when you keep squeezing lemon juice on it as you eat it...a habit that has stayed with me these 40 years! Basically, Diane liked people and was never cliquish. She was always laughing and enjoying her many friends. We all loved her for her natural, unassuming ways. She took things in stride, even that awful neck brace that she had to wear after she broke her collar bone. Remember her waving that one little hand that stuck out of the armsling and was secured at her waist? She could find the fun even in that! What a great gal!  Beverly Brown Miller '60

...good a friend as you could want.  We shared a lot of good times together a long, long time ago.  Joe Williams '60

LeRos "Skipper" Hull - Continued

...could just put our desks together face-to-face and lay the paper out in front of me;  Skip had the uncanny ability to read the type upside down just as easily as right side up!  A good citizen and true patriot, Skip loved our country.  He dedicated himself to the high school NDCC program, at which he excelled, and became the senior cadet officer in the corps. He continued to excel at the Air Force Academy, and then completed a distinguished career as an Air Force officer and pilot. Following his retirement from the Air Force in 1986 he joined Lockheed in Burbank, California at the “Skunk Works”.  After having survived the hazards of a twenty-six year career in  military aviation, Skip died too young in a motor vehicle accident when his car was struck head-on.  He is survived by his widow, Sue, whose grief we share. We miss you, Skip!  Bert Mackaman '60

...cope with some of the real puzzlers of the day such as Math, History, English, etc. and the deeper mysteries of the fairer sex.  We could really talk together and knew pretty much what the other was thinking.  Just pals, and not joined at the hip, Baird and I drifted away from one another and floated out onto the big sea of life.  However, I always knew that if that sea got to be too rough for me, Baird Jamerson could toss me a life line.  I will miss him.  Joe Williams ‘60

...from a bird hunting trip with a shotgun tattoo on his right shoulder.  The bruise didn't seem to heal and when he went to the doctor, he learned that it was a cancerous tumor that had already matascicized elsewhere.  This led to many months of treatment and miraculously he recovered and the cancer went into remission.  He and Joan went around the world, his kids had kids, life was really good.  Life seemed to always be good for Baird no matter what the health problems.  He was always up to sing some oldies and to quaff a malted beverage with the boys.  And, take a little liberty with the girls who ventured too close.   Well, anyway the nasty "C" returned with a vengeance and it got so bad that Baird knew when to check out.  I'll have a great picture of some of us who went to visit Baird in Houston just before he left us.  Eddie Dayton ‘60

Don Jankowski - Continued

...Club getting cleaned by the poolside matrons playing cutthroat bridge.  Don worked for Shakey's Pizza when it was taking off in the Dallas area.  I don't remember his position, but it was probably in public relations.  He was a tall, good-looking, likable fellow who made friends easily.   After my hitch in the Army, I returned to Dallas and regularly heard "Granny Emma", of the "Ken & Granny Show" on KLIF,  talking about the wild times she spent with "Don Jan".  Don  died back in those days of the late sixties or the very early seventies.  He was a fine man.  He was a friend.   Joe L. Williams ‘60

Betty Knickerbocker - Continued

...together. Sherry had this huge swimming pool to die for.  Betty and I looked like prunes from being in it so much after school. Betty had a lot of siblings and my mom and her mom hit it off so we could do most anything together.  We would figure out which one was the easiest touch to get what we wanted,  then our moms caught on!   Janice Gallaher Bollier ‘60

...to be around, easy to get along with. We had some really fun times at Sherry Boyd's house together. Betty was very easy to like -- and will be hard to forget. LaRee Emerson Bryant '60

Fred Moss - Continued

...that lit up his whole face and made his eyes shine.  That summer before we were married, David and I had bought a ski boat and Fred, David and I spent many hours at Lake Dallas.  Five dollars worth of gas, an ice chest and a slalom ski and we were good for the whole day.  Fred was to be best man at our wedding in December of 1963.  Sadly, that was not to be.  Norma Haggard Barton '60

Sammy Parks - Continued

...we danced in some kind of exhibition >at the State Fair...or someplace like that.  Sammy bought me a gardenia >corsage at the Field Day festivities..probably my first corsage and/or >flower from a beau...Anyway, it was lots of fun!   Kay Madera '60

Chris Russell - Continued

...Edelstein would meet us at Bachman Lake to fish, aggravate the ducks and row boats, but we often rode to White Rock Lake, Lake Grapevine, and our ultimate ride one Saturday was Lake Dallas.  When we began to drive our Studebakers, the adventures were boundless.  After graduation, Chris and I worked together at Dallas Bias Fabrics (Stuart Kipness's dad's place), where he met Pat the secretary and married.   He and Pat moved and I was drafted, but we still occassionally bumped into each other.  Then, in 1981, he developed cancer and died within a few days.  My last memory is seeing Pat, a beautiful redhead with 3 small redheaded children, staring at a flower covered casket.  I miss you Chris.  Terry Cullender '60

...We felt like friends forever and even when we had disagreements -- which we did -- and eventually began running with different groups -- which we also did -- we seemed to always be able to pick up the pieces and move forward, which I guess is one of the real attributes of a true friend, which he was.  Mickey was a red-headed wonder with a smile that made the sun come out.  He had a hot rod ford and maybe even a two dollar bill and would share the latter but not the former.  He died much too early.  Jim Gsell '60

...quick-tempered and  mule-stubborn and sassy and  super-sensitive and maybe a little goosey and definitely herky-jerky, a joker and prank-puller supreme, but always, always apologetic, later, of flashes and crashes and pranks gone awry. Mickey bought himself an honest-to-gosh Hot Rod that was geared all the way to the bottom and track-specific in every way, but he insisted on driving it to school as if it were street-legal. He was a good athlete, and he liked to run, but  he was a hurdler, and hurdlers are their own special breed because they jump over things most of us can’t and will hurt them if they miss. But Mickey was taken from us early, too early, while he was still one of us, before he had a chance to become The Real Mickey, in a simply senseless, illogical, and therefore especially tragic fashion. There we were, in that over-filled chapel for his funeral, walking by his casket, numb, emotionally gutted, looking at him if we could, barely able to wonder, and certainly not comprehending, “Why?” So Mickey stands large in our memories as the classmate whose  legacy was, for most of us, our first real, stark,  hard reality of life. Mickey taught us that we were not and are not immortal, that we will not live forever. Most of us were not ready for that legacy and didn’t want it, didn’t want to share in it.  But Mickey, typical, stubborn redhead that he was,  left it to us anyway.  Bobby Schulz '60

Jim Story - Continued

...was a great guy in his life after high school.  He is missed. - Jerry Brown ‘59

Tommy Story - Continued

...the time to thank him.  Catchya later, Tommy!  ;-)  Bob Horton '60

...When I commented on her unusual name and that I'd gone to school with a Gary  Tuveng, I found out she was Gary's widow. We had a long, lovely conversation. She told me all about their daughters and what a wonderful father and husband Gary had been. What better testimonial could a man ask for? LaRee Emerson Bryant '60

Judye Wood - Continued

...when I had a heavy burden to bear and always listened to my woes. Everyone should have such a friend.
Dee Ann Campbell Havely '60

Charles Yarborough - Continued

...time working on his car, his great passion.  It was a four door Model A Ford which he had completely disassembled and put back together.  It actually ran very little.  We used to prowl junk yards together looking for parts for our cars. His Dad couldn’t get anything into the garage as Charles had completely taken it over for his mechanic shop.  He passed away immediately before our 15th or 20th reunion.  Jerry Soper '60