1951 Class
Newsletters
Well, folks,
It's time for another newsletter. Since our reunion I've
received a couple of notes from classmates.
One from Corrine Fisher. Among other things she says:
"I was glad that the Camp Whitley situation was brought
up. Most of my summers were spent there leaving a lot of
good memories. I did not realize they were in a difficult
situation now."
"There was a lot of very good planning that went into the
reunion and I applaud all for their time and effort.
"It was very good to see so many of the classmates in good
health and so active in whatever area life had taken them
into. We have a class to be proud of."
Corrine also commented that her friends were impressed with
the account of our reunion. And I have to say that my
conversations with friends indicate that few have as
consistent and well attended reunions as our class. I guess
I'm feeling pretty cocky about the Class of 1951 these days,
but when I think of how we were always in the shadow of the
class ahead of us when we were in school........... As a
group we have nothing to be ashamed of.
Many of us enjoyed Camp Whitley and it continues to be a
good summer program for kids. They operate on a shoestring,
and I'd like to see some kind of endowment or fund large
enough to insure continued operation for years to come. I'm
not sure who in Whitley county is in charge of the program,
however.
One very important thing I omitted from the last newsletter.
Jim Pletcher made it all the way from California for this
reunion, and most of us had not seen Jim since high school. He was
immediately recognizable. Other than adding a few
years, he was the same Jim. Jim told us how he had appeared
in a movie. So, many of us have seen him, but just didn't
know it! The movie is "All of Me", starring Steve Martin
and Lily Tomlin. Jim sings in the choir at his church, and
they have quite a good musical reputation. There is a scene
in the movie that takes place in a church with choir singing
in the background, so, naturally, they used Jim's church and
choir when they filmed the movie. It's a funny movie,
worth renting for laughs and to see if you can spot Jim.
Ralph L. Shoda passed away on Aug. 4, 2009 at
Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne.
He worked at Fibre Form and retired from Magnavox as a
mechanical engineer. He then worked for Kelley Automotive.
Ralph was a Korean War veteran. He and his wife were
owner-operators of Shoda's Miniature Wonderland in Fort
Wayne. He was a member of the New Haven Jaycees. He is survived by his
wife Agnes M. Shoda of Fort Wayne; two sons R.L.Shoda of New Haven and
Kevin (Claudia) Shoda of Fort Wayne; two brothers Paul (PJ) Shoda of
Columbia City; Raymond Shoda of Perrysburg, Ohio, a sister, Marilyn (Paul)
Johnson of Columbia City, a stepson John Lee (Joy) Ellis II of
Weatherford, Texas, five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He
was preceded in death by his daughter, Tonya Shoda.
Also received a note from Carol Heidenreich:
"As usual our summer has been been dominated by our annual
medical, dental and eye appointments. Lee and I both acquired two hearing
aids this summer and I will have two cataracts removed in August. We have
medical people we see while we are in Florida but we use them only for
emergencies while we are there. We will have to miss Lee's class reunion
in Minnesota in August due to my cataract surgeries but we will be able to
attend his large family reunion in Minnesota this month."
"This year marks the 50th year that Lee and I have both lived in Rockford,
Illinois. Lee and his deceased wife moved here in 1959 and
my deceased husband, Dean Magley, and I moved here in 1959. Our paths
never crossed until we were both widowed. At that time we found out that
we had several mutual friends, however, and we lived only a few blocks
from each
other."
On a personal note, the Kellogg house has been in an uproar
the last month or so. My youngest daughter, Athena, was
married (again) on August 1. Since she's nearly 50 years
old, I didn't expect such ado with all of the preparations,
but then, I'm a man. I made her wedding dress, and that
required several fittings, etc. Yes, you read that right.
I made her wedding dress. I spent lots of years as an
"efficiency expert" industrial engineer in the garment
industry. This meant that I had to have a thorough knowledge
of how garments were assembled, and determine the most
efficient way to do it. By way of home work I made some of
our kids clothes and made several of Ellen's very elaborate
party dresses, bathing suits, etc. (Back in those days, the
fitting was the best part, so long as we didn't get side
tracked for too long)
Please feel free to send me a note with updates on you or
your family and I'll include the information in my next
newsletter.
And, visit www.cchsaa.org to
update your information. Also
do everyone a favor, and update information on your
brothers, sisters, cousins, fathers, mothers, etc. that
attended CCHS. The Columbia City site is one of the best
Alumnae sites around, and will be used for reference by
genealogists for years to come. Our class is a leader as
far as information on the site goes, and updating our
relatives would give it a big boost, too.
Best Wishes,
Bob Kellogg, AE4IC@att.net
Greensboro, NC |