Worthington High School

Class of 1957

Memorial Reflections

There were twelve years, more or less, of experience and change. Just kids, we were learning, growing, testing, flexing, laughing and crying. As enthusiastic, optimistic, foolhardy, immortal youths, we traversed life's roadways together. Since graduation we have found new roads: some straight, others crooked; some smooth, others needing repair; some high, others low. We have challenged pinnacles and trudged ahead. Yet, that delicate, crystal time of beginning remains.

Memory bytes. The choir singing "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire". A Sousa march on Turkey Day. The smell of lilacs filling the auditorium at baccalaureate. A&W root beer and sloppy joes. YMCA rooftop surveillance. Ehlers' fifty-cent burgers followed by dancing downstairs. Arnold Sexe's death grip. Miss Wick. Woolen, lined 1939 band uniforms. "Rock Around the Clock" from Bill's jukebox. Coming from country school to WHS. Saturday matinees. "Y" dances. Magazine sales. Growth, laughter, friendship, pain.

A kaleidoscope of personalities and values, we enriched one another's lives
Like chocolate with coffee.
Gifts given and received twisted in and amongst other relationships
Spreading like lilies of the valley beyond two of us,
Popping up elsewhere to beautify more of the world.
Actions, hardly noted, taken at private, vulnerable times. So small an ant can't see them, a retriever can't smell them. Heartwarming memories sustained over decades.

A slap on the back that says "Hey, buddy, you're OK!"
An invitation to join.
Teasing: sometimes gentle, other times raucous.
Testing being yourself…and passing.
Shared giggles.
Shared fears.
Intimate tears.

Several of our friends are no longer with us, yet their spirits and gifts live on. We celebrate their lives, rejoice in having known them, feel thankful for past shared experiences and their part in shaping us.

Sobered by the value of those who have left this earth,
Warmed by their memory,
Struck with appreciation,
Saddened they are not with us,
Richer for what they were to us
We reflect on their gifts and pray for each of them and their families

By Marlene Bjerkesett Jezierski , July 2002

Remembering Our Friends:

Gary Baker2008	Beverly Bisch2001	Jeanne Brekke2000	Norman Carlson2002	Jim Cooper2006
Donald DeNeui1997	Kenneth Hampton2010	Earl Harberts2006	Patricia Holiday-	Jene Horkey2006
Beverly Johnson-	Delores Johnson-	Eugene Manley-	Ardelle Miller2009	Cynthia Moss2001
Jerry Rogers2003	Richard Saxon1998	Ellen Smith-	Harlan Sondergaard-	Patsy Spieker-
Jim Stower2005	William Uphoff-	Richard Wassenaar-	Gloria Wendel-	LaNoma Whelan1991
	Willard White2006	John Willemssen1987	Linda Young2003
Mary was in our class until Senior year. Mary Benjamin 2000	Bill was in our class until end of our Junior year. Wm (Bill) Stamp1988