Springfield High School Class of 1962 Springfield,Illinois

"THE GALS" photographed by Henry Hagen.
First picture - Karen Whiteside Hagen, Suellen Frederick, Jill Walko Cooper, Jan Schmidt Artz
second row - Carol Engel, Marianne Rogers
third row - Jan Harton Dullenty, Sylvia Boosinger Gray, Kaye Herman Childs

Second picture - Suellen Frederick, Jill Walko Cooper, Jan Schmidt Artz
second row - Carol Engel, Marianne Rogers
third row - Jan Harton Dullenty, Sylvia Boosinger Gray, Kaye Herman Childs, Janet Seymour Hasson
partially hidden in back - Jenny Jackson Baur, Carol Godfrey (back of hair), Barbara Brunsman Olson (in red)

Karen

SHS TRIVIA QUIZ
This quiz was presented to those who attended the reunion. Fair warning: it's pretty tough. At the Reunion the top scorer got 25 correct out of 35 questions asked.
SpoilerAlert: the answer key can be found by continuing to scroll down past Question 35.

Part 1
SHS History
(6 questions)

Question 1
In what year was Springfield High School founded?
A. 1853
B. 1857
C. 1868
D. 1902

Question 2
How many years did “Old Central” serve as SHS’s main campus?
A. 20
B. 25
C. 30
D. 35
Question 3
In what year was construction of the current main building completed?
A. 1907
B. 1913
C. 1917
D. 1919

Question 4
What had to be moved before the current building could be constructed?
A. Harms’s Market
B. Hutchinson Cemetery
C. Kelly Stables and Livery
D. Watson Orphanage

Question 5
How many times has Springfield High School had a new building constructed?
A. Two
B. Three
C. Four
D. Five

Question 6
The athletic field south of the school was constructed in what decade?
A. 1910-1920
B. 1920-1930
C. 1930-1940
D. After 1940

Part 2
Faculty
(6 questions)

Question 7
What was the FIRST name of SHS’s principal during our time as students there?
A: Warren
B. Edward
C. William
D. Edmund

Question 8
What was the FIRST name of the assistant principal?
A: John
B. Paul
C. George
D. Ringo

Question 9
What was the name of the SHS school librarian?
A. Miss Zimmerweiss
B. Miss Zimmerman
C. MissZelinski
D. Miss Zinfandel

Question 10
What was the name of the school nurse?
A. Dorothy Southton
B. Dorothy Southworth
C. Dorothy Southwine
D. Dorothy Southwick

Question 11
Who was your guidance counselor during your senior year?
A: Clifton Tozer
B. Lola Elliott
C. Margaret Hausen
D. Wesley Hilligoss

Question 12
Who was SHS’s head basketball coach in 1961-62?
A. Albert Plain
B. Dave Sponsler
C. John Sowinski
D. Ray Page

Part 3
Student Life
(9 questions)

Question 13
Who was the senior class president for 1961-62?
A. Dan Stapleton
B. Bob Harmon
C. Stewart Cain
D. Stan Girdler

Question 14
During the 1960-1961 school year, the school newspaper changed its name to “The Senator.” What was its name before then?
A. The Capitol Courier
B. The Lewis Street Chronicle
C. The SHS Times
D. The Senator Speaks

Question 15
Who were the 1961 homecoming king and queen?
Pam Romence and Randy Johnson
B. Judy Brewer and John Sullivan
C. Anne Smith and Bob Wanless
D. Carol Goodman and Stan Girdler

Question 16
SHS lost its 1961 homecoming football game to:
A. Lanphier
B. Bloomington
C. Feitshans
D. Danville

Question 17
What was the theme of the SHS 1962 senior prom?
A: Romance Under the Sea
B. Somewhere Beyond the Sea
C.The Sea of Clouds
D. Sea Mist

Question 18
Who was the 1962 senior prom queen?
A. Nancy Stein
B. Jill Walko
C. Karen Boardman
D. Barbara Tomlinson

Question 19
According to the 1962 Capitoline, which was the most successful SHS athletic team of the 1961-62 year?
A. Swim Team
B. Cross Country
C. Golf Team
D. Wrestling Squad

Question 20
What was the title of the senior class play?
A. Our Town, by Thornton Wilder
B. Itchin’ to Get Hitched, by Richard Henry
C. Time Out for Ginger, by Ronald Alexander
D. A Young Woman of Property, by Horton Foote

Question 21
In what year did our class have its first reunion?
A. 1972
B. 1973
C. 1974
D. 1982

Part 4
Luminaries
(3 questions)

Question 22
What 1962 classmate went on to become a tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals and then a sportscaster?
A. Bob Trumpy
B. Bob Harmon
C. Bob Holiday
D. Bob Laycock

Question 23
What is the first name of the 1897 SHS graduate and poet who wrote “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight”?
A. Vachel
B. Eustace
C. Nicholas
D. George

Question 24
SHS grad Richard Fortman is a two-time world champion in, and author of a seven-volume guide on how to play:
A. Badminton
B. Cribbage
C. Checkers
D. Bridge

Part 5
The Wider World
(11 questions)

Question 25
Most of us started at SHS the first week of September, 1959. According to the Billboard Hot 100, what was the Number 1 hit song playing on the airwaves that week?
A. The Three Bells, by The Browns
B. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, by The Platters
C. The Battle of New Orleans, by Johnny Horton
D. Cathy’s Clown, by The Everly Brothers

Question 26
A popular boy’s hairstyle in which heavily pomaded hair was combed back around the sides, and parted centrally down the back of the head was called:
A. Ducktail
B. Duck’s Ass
C. D.A.
D. All of the above

Question 27
Who was mayor of Springfield while we were at SHS?
A: Nelson Howarth
B. William Telford
C. John McWherter
D. Lester Collins

Question 28
On Feb. 10, 1962 Francis Gary Powers parachuted from what model of airplane?
A. SR-71
B. B-52
C. U-2
D. X-17

Question 29
Which of these products could not be bought during our high school career?
A: Mrs. Butterworth’s Syrup
B: Etch-A-Sketch
C: Twister
D: Coffee-Mate Creamer

Question 30
Which of the following won the 1962 Tony award for best musical?
A: Gypsy
B. Bye Bye Birdie
C. Oliver!
D. Once Upon a Mattress

Question 31
What iconic novel set in the south was released for sale on February 10, 1962?
A: Suttree, by Cormac McCarthy
B. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
C. The Reivers, by William Faulkner
D. Another Country, by James Baldwin

Question 32
In what 1960 movie did Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, have a very bad day?
A. Psycho
B. The Apartment
C. Midnight Lace
D. Please Don’t Eat The Daisies

Question 33
A favorite Friday evening pastime among many SHS students was cruising MacArthur Boulevard. What was the name of the drive-in restaurant that was a focal point of this activity?
A. Phil’s
B. Don’s
C. Charlie’s
D. Mel’s

Question 34
Another favorite after school activity was roller skating. What was the name of the roller rink on Wabash Avenue?
A. Midnight Garden
B. Moonlight Garden
C. Melody Garden
D. Magnolia Garden

Question 35
Again according to the Billboard Hot 100, on Graduation Day, June 4, 1962, what was the number 1 song?
A. The Twist, by Chubby Checker
B. He’s a Rebel, by The Crystals
C. I Can’t Stop Loving You, by Ray Charles
D. Sherry, by The Four Seasons

END OF QUIZ. SCROLL FURTHER DOWN FOR THE ANSWERS.

TRIVIA ANSWERS

1. B. 1857
2. A. 20
3. A. 1917
4. B. Hutchinson Cemetery
5. B. Three
6. B. 1920-1930
7. A. Warren (Evenson)
8. A. John (Turner)
9. B. Miss Zimmerman
10. D. Dorothy Southwick
11. Any letter is correct. All of them were guidance counselors.
12. D. Ray Page
13. A. Dan Stapleton
14. D. The Senator Speaks
15. B. Judy Brewer and John Sullivan
16. B. Bloomington
17. D. Sea Mist
18. D. Barbara Tomkinson
19. B. Cross Country. “The Cross Country squad had one of its most successful seasons ever, compiling a dual meet record of 9 and 0. They won the City Championship, finished third in the conference, won the District Championship.”
20. A. Our Town, by Thornton Wilder
21. B. 1973
22. A. Bob Trumpy
23. C. Nicholas (Vachel was his middle name)
24. C. Checkers
25. A. The Three Bells, by The Browns
26. D. All of the Above
27. D. Lester Collins
28. C. U-2
29. B. Etch-a-Sketch (not introduced until 1966)
30. B. Bye Bye Birdie
31. B. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
32. A. Psycho
33. B. Don’s
34. A. Moonlight Garden
35. C. I Can’t Stop Lovin’ you, by Ray Charles

LIFE IN THE 1950S (Author Unknown)
Recited aloud by Karen Holmes Hagen:

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,
For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born, Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was p**n.
We learned to gut a muffler, we washed our hair at dawn, We spread our crinolines to dry in circles on the lawn.
We longed for love and romance and waited for our Prince, And Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since. We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee’
And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.
Only girls wore earrings then, and three was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.
And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,

And when they made a movie, they never made it twice.
We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three, Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me. Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp. We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn't talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me. We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.
For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson and Zeppelins were not Led. And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkeys lived in trees, Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We'd never heard of microwaves or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed, but they were not grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free, And dorms were never co-ed in the Land That Made Me, Me.
We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag. And hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea, And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.
Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks, And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks. And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.
We had no Crest with fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We all wore superstructure bras, designed by Howard Hughes
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for personal things in the Land That Made Me, Me.
There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was thirty-five and old was forty-three, And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.
But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline, we swear by Retin-A.
They send us invitations to join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.
So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans, And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines. And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be, Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.

FIFTY THREE SONGS
Here is the playlist for the reunion party. These songs are Billboard Magazine’s number one hits, listed in chronological order beginning with our first day at SHS on September 5, 1959 until our graduation on June 6. 1962. You gotta admit, there is some great music here!

The Three Bells, The Browns
Sleep Walk Santo and Johnny
Mack the Knife Bobby Darin
Mr. Blue The Fleetwoods
Heartaches by
the Number Guy Mitchell
Why Frankie Avalon
El Paso Marty Robbins
Running Bear Johnny Preston
Teen Angel Mark Dinning
Theme from "A
Summer Place " Percy Faith
Stuck on You Elvis Presley
Cathy’s Clown The Everly Brothers
Everybody’s
Somebody’s Fool Connie Francis
Alley Oop The Argyles
I’m Sorry Brenda Lee
Itsy Bitsy
Teeny We**ie
Yellow Polkadot
Bikini Brian Hyland
It’s Now or Never Elvis Presley
The Twist Chubby Checker
My Heart Has
a Mind of Its Own Connie Francis
Mr. Custer Larry Verne
Save the Last
Dance for Me The Drifters
I Want to Be Wanted Brenda Lee
Georgia on My Mind Ray Charles
Stay Maurice Williams and
the Zodiacs
Are You
Lonesome
Tonight? Elvis Presley
Wonderland
by Night Bert Kaempfert
Will You Love
Me Tomorrow? The Shirelles
Calcutta Lawrence Welk
Pony Time Chubby Checker
Surrender Elvis Presley
Blue Moon The Marcels
Runaway Del Shannon
Mother-in-Law Ernie K-Doe
Travelin’ Man Ricky Nelson
Running Scared Roy Orbison
Moody River Pat Boone
Quarter to Three Gary U.S. Bonds
Tossin’ and Turnin’ Bobby Lewis
Wooden Heart Joe Dowell
Michael The Highwaymen
Take Good
Care of My Baby Bobby See
Hit the Road Jack Ray Charles
Runaround Sue Dion
Big Bad John Jimmy Dean
Please Mr. Postman The Marvelettes
The Lion
Sleeps Tonight The Tokens
Peppermint Twist Joey Dee and the Starlighters
Duke of Earl Gene Chandler
Hey! Baby Bruce Channel
Don’t Break the
Heart That
Loves You Connie Francis
Johnny Angel Shelly Fabares
Soldier Boy The Shirelles
Stranger on
the Shore Mr. Acker Bilk
I Can’t Stop
Loving You Ray Charles

LOST CLASSMATES, SHS Class of 1962
If you have information about any of these, email [email protected]

Barker, Gordon
Blankenship DeClue, Barbara
Brache, Pat
Britz Phillips, Nancy
Cleveland, Jerry
Comingore, Jan
Conrad Decker, Haley
Cross, Sharon
Dieckman Flynn, Carol
Dodson, Nancy
Dow Patterson, Patricia
Egizii McDonald, Carol
Evans Bertolino, Clara
Fishback, Wayne
Fisher, Alice
Folkes, Tammy
Glass, Jim
Hammons, Pat
Hart, Delores
Hilgeman Avram, Marcia Sue
Imlay, Bob
Jacobs Church, Beverly
Jung-Kuntz, Gay
Konrad Decker, Galey
Krarup, Lona
Laycock, Bob
Levis, Pat
Lloyd-McCloud, Carol
Loibl, Cherrie
McAfee-Dodson, Nancy
McCarthy, Bill
Moore Birdwell, Sharon
Mudge, Michael
Najim, Edward Lee
Nitchmann, Irene
Pace, Ruth Ann
Peterson, Larry
Ramsay, Kathleen
Randolph, Timothy V.
Reagan, John
Shoemaker-Gottschalk, Cindi
Scott Beatty, Madeline Margaret
Skeeters Butchek, Judy Ann
Thomas, Harry
Tucker-White, Betty “Delores”
Turner, Joe
Tyler, Basil
Watson, Pat
Yenne, Yenina

THE DEPARTED
This is a compilation of names and some death dates of those in the Class of 1962, for which we can confirm their deaths:
Ackerman, Kenneth
Balmer, Darrel
Barbee, Charles
Barnosky, Janet
Baum Cutler, Mary Ann
Blottie Sundertland, Carol
Boardman McCord, Karen
Bowles (orig. Pauli) David M. 2018/09
Bradford, Robert 2005/11/09
Bradley, Philip C. 2016/06/27
Bradley, Ronald R. 2009/08/17
Briggle, Charles 1967/12/13
Bristow, Robin 1979/10/22
Burgener, Larry 2016/12/24
Burnett, Russell 1994/02/27
Butchek, Anton Albert “Butch” 2022/04/16
Chandler Messersmith, Eunice 2010/09/07
Chew Greer, Gay 2007/09/24
Coleman, Robert 1996/08/27
Condit, Pete
Conover, Steven 2001/02/14
Crabtree Wrightman, Linda 2020/01/?
Crown, Donald Eldon 2015/09/21
Douglass, Roger 2018/07/06
Downs, Jack 2018/07/06
Driskell Fairchild, Jane Elizabeth 2022/05/29
Edwards Cavenalle, Brenda 2013/01/14
Elzea Brown, Lynn 2013/11/28
Fitch, William 2016/06/25
Friend, John 2007/03/21
Furlich, Jim 2008/07/31
Gheen (Barbish), Kenneth 1998/02/23
Gillette, Clayton 1982/03/09
Girdler, Stan 2013/01/17
Haak, Richard 2007/07/05
Hawley Isaacson, Martha 2006/02/09
Hodde Stram, Suusan 2017/04/03
Huckaby, Huck 1998/03/17
Jeffery, Emily 1994/09/14
Jenkins Hatfield, Sally 2014/02/10
Johnson Butler, Nancy 2022/11/01
Kastein Wyburn, Kay 20012/10/07
Kerr, John 1972/03/28
King Tannehill, Carol Diana 2019/12/07
Kolbmann, Thomas 2009/01/05
Krueger Viste, Carolyn 2019/06/24
Kuizin Bauer, Judy 2014/08/14
Kwedar, Michael 1996/04/11
Lanham Vinson, Shirley 2022/03/21
Laverty, John 1990/06/04
Gathard, Anna Laycock 2018/10/19
Leefers, Robert 1996/08/04
Levine, Marc
Love, Claude
MacKinlay, John 1987/06/26
McAfee, Roy 1998/11/28
McAlpine, Robert 2006/04/21
McCasey Thom, Leslie 2004/09/09
McHenry, John (Jack) 2002/02/20
McKelvey, John 2019/04/07
Moon Holland, Nancy 2001/01/05
Moore, Gary 2011/03/19
Morris , Robert 1998/07/23
Moss, Henry 2017/04/26
Mudd, Mary Jean
Murphy Carr, Sharon 2003/05/25
Netzke, Marcus 1997/12/06
Nickey Danielson, Sue 1998/06/30
Oblinger, Carl 2017/01/22
Parrent, Randall 2009/08/09
Pearson Hopken, Celia 2022/02/05
Ratteree Spears, Carolyn 2007/01/07
Richardson Milligan, Vicki 2008/06/07
Ryburn, Carol 2017/01/02
Scharf, Charles 2007/02/09
Seman, William 2021/06/06
Skeeters Butchek, Judy 2020/09/04
Sonntag, Herbert 2009/10/01
Stanton, Kaye 2009/05/24
Stelling, Richard “Dick” 2011/04/17
Stinnett, Kenneth 2011/04/17
Sullivan, John 2015/01/29
Sweet, Robert 2010/01/31
Sweet, Roger 2005/08/11
Swirin Bloom, Barbara 1996/12/17
Tishar, Lynn 2007/06/07
Trutter O’Brien, Carolyn 2021/09/28
Turner Brackney, Terry 2018/01/10
Vancil, William 2017/05/12
Waitkus, Robert 2014/05/20
Walton, Ronald 1988/03/05
Wanless Wheeler, Julie 2015/07/16
Willey Thelen, Kaye 2012/01/06
Wylie, William 1994/02/09

SHS Class of 1962 Holds 60th Anniversary Reunion

On October 7, about 30 alumni of the Class of 1962 met at the Springfield to celebrate 60 years (and a few months more) since graduating high school. And as the old cliche goes, “a good time was had by all.” The chef at the Motorboat Club put out a delicious array of hors d’oeuvres and canapés. The background music, courtesy of Spotify, included every Billboard Magazine #1 hit song played on the air during our years as high schoolers. Looking at the playlist (which is posted elsewhere on this page) proves that we had some incredibly good music when we were teens.

The main event was a 35-question trivia quiz (also to be found on the page) focusing of events that occurred during our student days. You can try it yourself. It’s pretty tough. The quiz was supposed to be just for fun, but Chip Filson had visited the school earlier in the day and the staff gave him a bunch of very nice swag, including three varsity jackets with the school’s blazon on the front, but were rejected because the trim, which had been ordered in black, was delivered in blue. So we punted and gave them away as prizes for the top scorers.
Karen Whiteside Hagen recited a Poem entitled “Life in the 50’s” (or perhaps “The Land that Made Me, Me”) which Chip had sent in a couple of weeks earlier. It has been posted many times on the internet, and is is now posted here as well.

The Committee that organized this reunion has declared that this would be the last one, but several people commented that they would like to see at least one more, perhaps in five years. We’ll see how that plays out in the future. This page is a good place to make your views known. If you would like to reunite once more, post a comment. Perhaps the committee will change its mind.

Remember Oct 12-14, 2012 is fast approaching as days do these days. See you there in thought or body. :) If you can't make the meeting please send any suggestions you want to share to any of us. :)

Our next scheduled meeting to plan the 50th Reunion is June 9, 2011 at Lyn Wainwright Sisson's home at 6:45. If you want to eat together before, plan on meeting at the KofC west a ways at 5:00. If you let Darlene know, she can make a reservation. This is exciting. I have made a few contacts by working on the mailing list. :)

We need some comments and photos. Can anyone help out with this need? Help Me!! Marilyn :) Go to my profile for a note I wrote to be on this page. What can I say. I am a novice.

This is a Flash Mob West Coast Swing Dance that I am teaching at Prairie Land Dance Club. This dance choreographed dance originated with a couple in Houston. Did you know that dancing helps to keep you young. Do you all remember the sock hops we had after school and at the YWCA on Friday nights. Marilyn :)

Choreography

Continued.....I so appreciate your efforts to stay in contact and to get to know more
about each other. The little I shared with Eunice since this site was
created made my life fuller. Let's continue to keep growing. Marilyn
Cruickshank Ferry :)