WICHITA HIGH SCHOOL WEST
GO PIONEERS!
TEACHER CONTACTS
WAY TO GO, CINDY! Cindy Hamby has been busy! Cindy is tracking down WHS teachers.
And she is getting results! Read on! Thanks, Cindy!
Please forward information about teachers to
Cindy. She will contact them and forward information for this webpage.
Cindy reports that Esther Lewis and Majel Nighswonger have passed away. Also, Mr. Blakemore. Helen Blakemore sent a lovely note. Mr. Blakemore died of a heart attach that he suffered at breakfast on October 30, 1997. She said that he loved hearing from his former students and was always interested in the stories that they shared. She added that he would wish us a well attended get together and that he would appreciate the hard work of the committees.
WEBMASTER NOTE 12/26/01: Loretta Kelly sent an email to me a few weeks ago, telling me of Mr. Kemp's death. Mr. Kemp wrote the following note to Cindy Hamby just before our 35th Reunion.
Mr. KEMP returned his form with lots of information. He said he would love to hear from former students but he does not have an e-mail address. They can contact him at his home address of 3941 Amidon in Wichita, 67204. He was born and grew up in Emporia and received his AB degree from the College of Emporia. He has 30 graduate hours at Colorado University and a Masters degree from Emporia State.
Mr. Kemp does not have children or grandchildren or pets. He is currently retired and an active member of West Wichita Lions Club. He spends a lot of time on those club activities. He is also the trustee of a family estate and he finds that to be very time consuming.
Mr. Kemp says that the years at West from 1955 to 1983 were very, very happy. He especially remembers the baseball games and the lovely music assemblies that the various music groups put on. He loves to remember the students in his government and history classes.
He spends his free time working in his yard and reading. He too would love to attend the reunion, but he will not be able to attend on thos dates. He is now 80 years old and doesn't travel too well. He was so pleased with the invitation and thanks us so much. He says he would love a picture of the group taken at the reunion. He wants to tell us to have a great time and sends his love to all of us.
Coach Denny Bretz Coach Bretz was born at home at 3rd and Flora
in Wichita and moved to North Wichita as a 2nd Grader. During his 9th Grade year, he moved to a farm in Iowa.
He returned to Wichita to attend and graduate from Friends University.
Coach Bretz tells Cindy that he "never did grow up." Besides his BA from Friends, he has a Masters from Kansas State Teachers College and he was a Shell
Merit Fellow at Stanford University in 1962.
Coach Bretz has 4 daughters and 1 step-daughter and 1 step-son, 2 grandsons, 1 step-grandson, 3 granddaughters and
3 step-granddaughters.
Cindy asked Coach Bretz if he had any pets. Here's his answer: "Just a few of my former students!"
Coach Bretz's first wife died of cancer and he remarried in 1996. He and his wife live in Maize, but take at least two
vacation trips from 3-7 weeks in length each year.
Coach Denny Bretz has many special memories of West High. "Probably one about each of your Classmates, or any one
in Student Council, or any of the athletes which were on teams that I coached."
He loves to do woodworking and makes mostly bird houses and does yardwork. Coach Bretz swims for exercise. He taught at
West High from 1957-1962; East High during 1963: returned to West from 1964-1978. He transferred to Heights in 1978 and
remained there until his retirement from USD 259 in 1992. Coach Bretz coached football at West from 1960-1962; basketball
and tennis from 1960-1962; and returned to tennis from 1964-1975.
Believe it or not, Coach Denny Bretz was the Mayor of Maize, Kansas from 1970-1985!
Coach Bretz told Cindy that he would be interested in coming to our reunion, if invited.
So, 1966 Pioneers! Here you go! We have Coach Bretz's email address.
Let's write to him and invite him.....and his family to attend our 35th Reunion!
And don't forget to tell him we'd like one of those bird houses for the Silent Auction!
NEWS FLASH! Coach Bretz has donated one of his bird houses for the Silent Auction! So now, all you have to do is say "thank you!"
THANKS, COACH!
Mr. Filby grew up in Junction City, Kansas and graduated from Kansa State. He has 3 children and 5 grandchildren and no pets. He is completely retired. He has so many memories of West he could not single one out. Teaching at West was such a great experience for him and he cherishes the memories. He has a large range of hobbies that include reading, music and painting, and working in wood. Currently, he is not painting a lot. Mr. Filby would love to attend the reunnion, but is not sure if he will be in town or not.
Cindy reports that VERLA GRIFFITHS sent us a lovely letter that she has forwarded exactly as MRs. Griffiths wrote it--
Dear Members of the Class of 1966,
After thirty-one years of teaching students how to write, I was looking forward to retirement so I could do some writing of my own. The difficulty of putting together two hundred pages for a book about my paternal grandparents, who were Missionaries for thirty-two years among the Seneca Indians of Northeastern Oklahoma, convinced me that teaching students how to write was much easier than doing the work myself.
Also, I know now that I must have had many literary geniuses in my classes to have produced some of the essays that they did in an hour of class time. Anyway, I gave up the idea of becoming a great author and have enjoyed many favorite activities in my leisure time--reading, knitting, cooking and growing herbs at the top of the list.
Visitation for University Friends Church and volunteer work for the health center and library at Prairie Homestead Retirement Village, where we live also keep me busy.
Traveling has been one of our most interesting activities, particularly camping all over the United States and in many parts of Canada. In addition, we have enjoyed visiting many foreign countries with several trips to Wales to see Tom's relatives. Our most recent travel has been to Hot Springs, Arkansas, for an Elderhostel Program, which was a wonderful opportunity for recreation and further education.
My life has been greatly enriched by the relationship I have with many former students. It is such a job to hear from so many of the people I knew in English classes and to have them for my friends today.
Tom and I have no children, but are fortunate to have four nieces and two nephews who share their families with us.
In November, 2001, we will celebrate our sixty-fifth wedding anniversary and are looking forward to many more years to enjoy this love affair we started so many years ago.
Thank you for remembering me. I will look forward to seeing you at your October reunion.
Mrs. Hamilton returned her form with a lovely picture of her home on her farm. She does not have an e-mail address. She grew up in Lawton, Oklahoma and graduated from Oklahoma
She has one daughter and one grandson. She loves animals and has 3 housecats, one horse and many, many barn cats. She says she is retired and currently living on borrowed time since she is almost 90.
Mrs. Hamilton's special memories of West include the monthly lunch meetings that the teachers had while she was there. She doesn't have a lot of hobbies these days. She says she still does some wood working crafts in her home shop and likes to exercise by swimming in her home pool. She would be interested in the reunion, but is concerned where it will be held and the time of day it will be held since she doesn't drive at night.
Don Olson Mr. Don Olson grew up in McPherson, Kansas and Barstow, California.
He graduated from Emporia State. He has one son and one daughter. He has no pets and is retired. Mr. Olson is a widower.
Mr. Olson's memories are the 27 special years he spent in education.
Mr. Olson told Cindy that he would also be interested in attending out reunion, if invited!
Get with it, '66 Pioneers! We have some emails to send!