GHS Faculty - continued

As of 2015, Don and Sara Combs were living in Parsons, KS; Carolyn (Barrons) Lewis was living in Lawrence; Joan See McPherson was living in Cape Girardeau, MO; Judy (Smith) Cooper was living in Shawnee, KS; Bob Bodenheimer was living in Topeka; and Jack Eden was living in Garnett.
From talking to teachers in later years (mostly by email or phone) the most surprising thing I found was that several of them were not much older than we were. The most shocking to me was Miss Ruth, who was only 12 years older than us!
Ms. Barrons has attended a couple of our reunions. Her fiftieth class reunion (not sure if it was high school or college) was the same year as our forty-fifth. In an email from her in 2010, she referred to us as her "favorite GHS class".
I have not seen Miss See (Joan See McPherson) since graduation, but in an email from her in 2010 she said "I would love to see the 'kids' again but we will not be able to make the reunion. Please extend my best wishes to the class and thank you for recalling some GREAT memories for me. I have always treasured my experiences of teaching in Garnett. Of course it was the people who made it special."
From an email from Betty (Duff) Lewis in 2010: I thoroughly enjoyed viewing your website, which brought back a flood of good memories of the days at GHS with your class.
Miss Ruth taught her first eleven years in Garnett and then for 28 years in Neodesha before retiring and moving to her hometown, Girard. In a phone conversation in 2005, she said she remembered a lot of our class members and she remembered me because she found me amusing. I told her I remembered her scolding me but not laughing at me. She said that scolding me was her job but she laughed about a lot of the stuff when she got home.
I got a very nice letter from Judy (Smith) Cooper in 2010. It is long so I put it at the bottom of this file.

From what I have been told these teachers have passed away: Betty Duff Lewis - 2016; Ethyl Rugg - 2015; Evelyn Ruth - 2007; Cole, Claron/principal - at age 98

The four teachers on the top row were our class sponsors.

Barrows
Carolyn (Barrows) Lewis
Secretarial Practice,
Shorthand, Typing

Smith
Judy (Smith) Cooper
English I & III, Science,
Speech, Drama

Howard
Roger Howard
American History, Economics,
Sociology, Constitution

Carter
Emmanuel Carter
Business Law, Vocations,
Psychology, Bookkeeping,
Economics, Guidance Counselor

Anderson
Clarence Anderson
Vocational Agriculture

Bingman
Kirker Bingman
English I, Spanish

Blue
Karen (Kappel) Blue
American History, Spanish

Duff
Betty Duff (later Lewis)
Art

Bratcher
Mr. Bratcher
English

Bruns
Lawrence Bruns
Speech Therapist

Carter
Glennice Carter
General Science

Combs
Sara Combs
Bookkeeping, English III

Combs
Don Combs
History, Journalism,
English, Sociology

Cooper
Kenneth Cooper
Instrumental Music,
Boy's Glee Club

Davis
Mr. Davis
Vocational Agriculture,
General Shop

Bodenheimer
Bob Bodenheimer
Algebra, Advanced Math,
Physics, Freshman Coach

Deffenbaugh
Max Deffenbaugh
English II, Practical English

Eden
Jack Eden
Biology, Chemistry

McMillan
Douglas McMillan
American History, Spanish

Fishburn
Wilma Fishburn
English III, Debate, Librarian

Ruth
Evelyn Ruth
Home Economics

Lacy
Lucille Lacy
English II & IV, Vocal Music

See
Joan See
Girl's Physical Education

Rugg
Ethel Rugg
Girl's Physical Education

Holt
Marilyn Holt
Secretarial Practice,
Shorthand, Typing

Fawkes
Edith Fawkes
English IV, Constitution,
Sociology, Speech, Economics

Velvick
Elmon Velvick
Driver's Ed, Shop, Mechanical
Drawing, Industrial Arts

Wallace
George Wallace
General Math, Trigonometry,
Geometry, Assistant Coach

Letter from Judy (Smith) Cooper in 2010
I had hoped to join you Saturday afternoon at Joe Lytle's place for your 45th reunion. However some family responsibilities are going to keep me from being there.
I have very fond memories of my four years at GHS. And being your class sponsor for those four years are among the best of the memories. For those of you who were there as freshmen, you may remember that nearly every experiment I tried in General Science failed. If you only knew how much effort I put forth preparing for those experiments! I would go to the classroom the night before and PRACTICE until I performed them perfectly. Then the next day ... they never worked out as they were supposed to! But then after all, I didn't expect to teach General Science when I was in college, I expected to teach English! If you learned anything in science that year, it's nothing short of a miracle!
In my senior year at O.U., Walter Myers came to do mock interviews with several students so we would be well prepared when it came time for the real thing. I really liked what he said about GHS and told my professor that I'd like to teach in a school like that. He suggested I write Mr. Myers to thank him for the interview and express my desire to teach at GHS should an opening occur. Myers contacted me later and informed me there was an opening for an English/General Science combination. I had enough hours that I only needed 12 more in my last semester of college. I thought it was going to be an easy semester. However, I didn't have enough science hours to teach science and I really wanted that position at GHS. So I added 6 science hours to my final semester and took a summer course in order to have the hours needed to teach science! And I was hired for the job.
I remember pep club officer meetings held in my apartment (and taffy pulls) and many bus trips to those away games. I remember taking a group of FHA girls to Wichita and lost my whole carload of girls. I remember by '51 Chevy that could out drag any of you!
Later, after Mrs. Fawkes retired, I was able to leave science classes behind and teach speech and drama. That was a much better fit! When some of you were in speech class, I recall your knees literally shaking when you stood before the class for your first speech.
"We Shook the Family Tree" was memorable because it was scheduled to open on the night of President Kennedy's death. Mr. Cole and I debated whether to cancel the play or go on as planned. I knew how those of you in the play had practiced for weeks and I really didn't want to cancel it. I believe I said to the cast "If you can make people laugh tonight, you've done a good job!" And laugh they did.
Then "Dino" in your junior year holds a special memory. We had one scene in front of the curtain while things were being changed behind the curtain. Ronnie Benus was the only one on stage for this scene and as he spoke his lines, he was to sit on the only prop on stage, which was a roll-a-way bed. As it turned out he sat right on the center fold and the bed collapsed. He added a line to his part "I hate that damn bed" and went right on as though it was supposed to happen that way. Other than the fact that "damn" was frowned upon by Mr. Myers, Ron handled it perfectly!
Well, there's many more things I could mention, but you're not here to read letters. You were my first class of students and because of you, I taught more than one year. Have fun and as you remember ... know that you gave more joy to my life than you can ever know! I hope I'm able to join you when you celebrate you're 50th reunion!
Judy (Smith) Cooper

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