History
of the
Senior Class of 1943
The Class
of '43 started off with a bang in 1931 with many of us
terrified at the thought of going to school. Among this
group was Paul Wilson who cried each morning because he
wanted to go home to his mamma! But after struggling through
that first year it didn't prove to be so bad after all. But
it wasn't long until these young ones began to find out what
it was all about - this was the result of Max Young and Glen
Tush running away from school each sunny afternoon - they
started young, didn't they? When this
class of beaming faces entered the third grade, the boys
began to notice there were girls around and vice versa. For
instance, Roy Wack riding on his under-sized bike to get
Erma Lou Billhimer every morning and noon. Jack
Moler started his musical career in the fourth grade when he
received a trombone for Christmas. Then in
the fifth grade, Marcella Dunaway entered the East Side
Grade School, and Rod Dever fell for her like a ton of
bricks. There would never be another girl for him, but we
shall see . . . When Mary
Cortner was in the sixth grade, she had pneumonia and had to
drop out of school for a year. This was a break for us since
she then joined our class. Jack
"Junior" Spears, now 1A in the Army has always been A1 with
the girls even back in the grades when he and Bill Piggott
fought over all the cute little "chicks" in
school. Remember
when teachers pet, Hazel Mathia, used to tell Mr. Reman
where Jimmy Buckman and Bill Thomson hid his pointer . . .
Shame, Shame! Prior to
the seventh grade, the Class of '43 had its quarrels when
the East Side played the West Side in Softball. Even after
the score was counted, the outcome of the game was
officially decided by slug fests on the streets. However,
when we all joined forces in the seventh grade, we were just
one big happy family. Remember
the American Legion contest in which everyone nearly racked
their brains trying to write a better essay than the other
fellow? But in the end, Margaret Kleinhein and Richard
Meuller won the medals. The first
display of our dramatic ability was in the seventh grade
when we presented "Beep-Beep, Clang-Clang,
Boop-Boop-a-Doop". It took Billy Dean Heckart two weeks to
learn when to say "Clang-Clang". Remember
the fistic combat in which Marcella Dunaway scored during
our eighth grade year? And when Walt Howell won all the
nurse's hearts while in the hospital for five
weeks? None of
us can forget the swell times we had at "out of town"
basketball games in Junior High - Ah, yes, those were the
days . . . before gas rationing. In the
Autumn of '39 we entered high school with the Pendergast
regime of '39 backing Bill Pierce for Presidency. This was
the year the Freshman sponsored that Sadie Hawkins Dance, in
fact this was one of the best school parties O.H.S. has ever
seen - we think. During
our second year in high school, Mary Cortner was elected
President. We also added further honors to our collection:
"Woman Hater" Bill Thompson was Vice-President of the
student council; Ray Cottrell hurled his mighty body into
the air and made a high jump record of five feet eight and
three-fourth inches; Jack Moler won a highly superior rating
in the music festival at Lawrence and superior at Topeka,
Ona Mae Hays was the only Sophomore on the debate team, and
Doris Winslow was one of the few Sophomores to attend the
Speech Festival. Miss
Frances McKerna, one of our sponsors, started her little
brain working again when she helped organize
Spotlight. Tennis
was introduced into O.H.S. and Bill Pierce won the East
Kansas League Tennis Singles Championship. Remember
the East Kansas League Contest Plays held here two years
ago? Louise Weaver winked at the judge and he in turn
complimented her on her "Skillful
Characterization". When we
were Juniors, our class was well represented with eleven
members on the football squad. Jack Moler, Ona Mae Hays, and
Anna Marez were on the debate team. Again this year, Jack
Moler was at his best, with the winning of three highly
superior ratings for his trombone playing at Osawatomie,
Lawrence, and Omaha. Again our
acting ability was displayed by thirteen members of the
class in the play "Going on Seventeen" which we gave on
December 4th and 5th, 1941, directed by Miss Frances
McKenna. Both of
the girl cheerleaders this year were Juniors, Mary Cortner
and Erma Lou Billhimer. On May
16th the Junior Class entertained the Senior Class at their
annual Junior-Senior Banquet. This
year, Jack Moler, Margaret Kleinhein, Ona Mae Hays, and Bob
McLaughlin were elected to the National Honor
Society. During
the latter part of our Junior year, Bill Pierce, Eddy
Erickson, Merle Weaver, and Bob McLaughlin were chosen by
various organizations to represent them at Boys' State in
Wichita. And by the way, over twenty Osawatomie girls were
attending their annual Job's Daughters Convention in Wichita
at the same time. From all reports, both boys and girls had
a gay time. During
the football season of 1942, nine regulars on the team were
members of our class. It was at the Thanksgiving Day game
this year that we secured the Tom-Tom by defeating Paola.
For this game, Marcella Dunaway was elected Football Queen
by the football team. Mary Cortner and Gladys Lloyd were her
attendants that day. Oh, by
the way, this was the day when Heckart presented Dunaway
with the flowers from the school and she won his
heart. Remember
how excited everyone was when Wayne Springer was the only
Senior that received his National Honor society letter
before school started in the morning and the following had
to wait until later; Marcella Dunaway, Doris Winslow,
Lavenia McQueen, Eddy Erickson, Bill Piggott, and Richard
Meuller. Our
Senior Class play "Sadie of the U.S.A.", directed by Miss
Billie Ann Hutto, was given April 15th and 16th, and was put
over in a big way. On May
5th, the Senior Class set forth on their annual "Picnic
Day". this was the day Mamie Pedrow displayed her bravery by
saving Beth Wiseman's life. The truth is - she held a
playful goat while Beth passed, screaming every
step. In
closing we might add that seven members of our class dropped
out to join arms with Uncle Sam. Harry Mills, Eugene Reedy,
and Floyd Brunts joined the Navy; Damon Floyd and Richard
Sharp joined the Army and Henry Bledsoe joined the
marines.