Sparta High Class of 1965

09/19/2025

09/12/2025

Grateful for all who chose to come together again. How did 60 years fly by so fast??

07/29/2025

Here is a special invite to party on Friday... the NIGHT BEFORE our official 60th Class reunion on Saturday.
This invite is for the SHS Classes of '64, '65, and '66
DOWNTOWN TRINI'S AND MARGARITA JOE'S in SPARTA
Friday night, September 5th from 5:00 - 8:00 PM
RESERVATION COST: $10 per person to be submitted to Bill.
(The $10 fee per person is to cover the venue and food costs supplied by Trinis for this event)
IMPORTANT!!!
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN THE COMBINED ALUMNI EVENT AND GET TOGETHER, PLEASE CONTACT BILL REED, '65 FOR DETAILS ABOUT WHERE TO SEND YOUR RESERVATION.*
Call or Text Bill at (616) 560-3135
His email is: [email protected]
*He will need to alert the restaurant to the numbers attending so that they can be prepared with enough appetizers and space to accomodate the group.
Thank you.

07/28/2025

Sadly yesterday Colleen Clark Matzen, another dear classmate, passed away.
She was a sweet friend to many and dedicated to her precious family.
She will be deeply missed.
Please hold her family in your prayers.
🌹🙏🏻🌹

Aging and the good times and the trials the years have brought to each of us is a common bond that continues to draw our friendships and our class together.
We have always been remembered as a spirited and resilient tough class in SHS history. Let’s hope that hasn’t changed .

With our 60th class reunion coming up on September 6th, we know that it will be meaningful to come together.
Please know that if you are able to be there, it will make a positive difference to see you again for a time to support one another and celebrate that we can renew friendships as the class of ‘65.

Invites have gone out. If you didn’t receive yours, please let us know
Reservation deadline is August 16th.
If you have questions or concerns please contact me.

06/03/2025

Attention all SHS CLASS OF ‘65 members.
The invitations to our 60th Class Reunion went in the mail yesterday, June 2nd.
Please watch for them to arrive soon.

PLEASE NOTE:
If you have not received your registration invite by the end of June… PLEASE CONTACT Me… (Renae Wilmarth DePagter).
Email me at [email protected]
Or text to 616 446-2180.
Include your Name, current address, phone number and email address.
We want to have you with us on September 6th

Thank you so much!
Reunion Committee

05/17/2025

ATTENTION !!
Important update on changes for the the Sparta '65 Class Reunion
Please see the NEW Location, Date and Time below:

Classmates and guests of SHS 1965,
Mark your calendars for September 6th this year to celebrate our 60th CLASS REUNION in Sparta
WHERE: GARDEN PATCH RESTAURANT on STATE St
( located in the bowling alley)
DATE: Saturday, Sept 6th
Time: 5:00 Cocktail Hour
6:00 - Buffet Dinner
COST: $35 per person/$70 per couple
(Your guests are welcome)
We look forward to coming together to celebrate the friendships and share memories of so many years ago, as well as making it a time to enjoy catching up and celebrating that we are still here as the class with a lively spirit for fun and a sense of support for one another.
Please share this information with classmates you are still connecting with in case they didn't get this message.
We hope we have your current addresses for the mailing, but if you've moved within the last year or two, please send your new address to me... Renae DePagter... message me at 616 446-2180.
Looking forward to a great turn out because we want to see you again and have you with us.
Your reunion committee... /SHS Class of '65

01/05/2024

Sadly we have lost another friend and 1965 classmate.
Please keep her family in your prayers.

Linda Dayle Lamb, age 76 of Sparta, passed away in her home surrounded by her family on Wednesday, January 3, 2024.
Linda was born on March 17, 1947 in Kent City, Michigan, the daughter of Dale and Violet (Elkins) Towns. She married Vern Lamb Sr. on November 30, 1984, and together they loved to travel and would spend time in Florida in the winter with their dogs, Conner and Cole.
Funeral services for Linda will be held at 12 noon on Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at North Ridge Funeral Home, 88 E Division Street in Sparta.

10/16/2021


Please include in your prayers, our dear friend and classmate, Linda (Meyer) Sartore who has been seriously injured by an accident at the Last Stop Rescue horse farm near Gainesville, GA., where she has dedicated so much of her time, energy and care to saving numerous horses. One week ago Friday, She was knocked to the ground due to a defiant horse issue and it is assumed she was then stepped on by one of the horses causing 5 broken ribs and some serious internal bruising and significant pain along with breathing issues.
After a 4 day stay in the Gainesville, Ga trauma center, she has returned home to recuperate from her injuries.

10/26/2020

Sadly I got the news that we have lost another classmate. Linda Morgan Vargo passed away Saturday. She always had such a sweet and kind heart. She will be deeply missed.
Please keep her family in your prayers.
Rest in peace, dear childhood friend. 😪🙏🏻❤️

05/28/2020

Per my sister-in-law, Cheryl Freeman Meyer who is on the reunion committee:
“FYI 1965 SHS graduates .....After much discussion it has been decided to postpone our 55th class reunion until next year . Town and Country Days and the Summer concerts have already been cancelled and the restaurants have not opened up. Any suggestions for the newly named ‘55 -1’ reunion would be appreciated. Also please share this information with other classmates”

05/07/2020

The date for our 55th class reunion right now is August 1st. It has been scheduled to be held at the Garden Patch Restsurant in the Sparta Bowling Alley where several other classes have held successful reunions in the recent past. Brenda Spangenberg is the head of the reunion committee and Cheryl Freeman Meyer is a committee member. I am not sure who else is on the committee at this time. Because of the current situation with the virus the Garden Patch is closed right now but when Brenda returns to MI from wintering in FL this month she and her committee will meet to make further decisions.

05/04/2020

Linda Sartore: As the creator/co-administrator of this page several years ago, I feel remiss in that I have not done enough to post information on it to make it a living, breathing FB page (yikes)! But for me, I found that not living in Michigan, let alone Sparta, I found that I was at a loss at what to post. I certainly did not want to duplicate the things I was posting on my personal FB page but yet now think there are “some” things I could have posted. I am thinking of visits back to Sparta, spending time with my brother and sister-in-law, Chery (Freeman) Meyer; the times several of my female classmate friends and I rented cottages/cabins in various places for a week, etc. So, I will attempt to remember those types of messages in the future and post them. For now I will reach back to positngs about some of those events on my personal page and add here. But since some of you are friends on my personal page as well this will be old news and for that I apologize. And that is where this gets tricky!

Also, as the administrator I have added some clarification as to what I hoped the purpose of this page would be and how we would use it. I hope you all are comfortable with that. And please if you are FB friends with other classmates from our graduating class and they are NOT friends of this page, please invite them here. And PLEASE post about yourself using those new guidelines that will follow in the next comment. In order to make this a viable page it will take an effort by all of us to keep it fun and interesting.