Details:

Fri. April 20, 2012: Dedication Day at Austin High (Lakeside Campus)
Be sure to be there by 9:45 AM to get a seat when
they do the Roll Call of the Classes. See the memorabilia
on display!

Fri. Night, 5:30 pm: Fun mixer (on your own $$) at Jovita’s Restaurant & Cantina , located at 1619 South First St. Austin, TX.

Sat., April 21, 2012: All day event at Pancho Neal’s “Horse Thief Hollow” Ranch located on Spicewood Springs Rd. ($25) House Park Bar-B-Que serving Lunch – Set -ups BYOB

Sun, April 22, 2012: 10 AM Survivor’s Brunch (BYO$$) at The Night Hawk “Frisco”, located at 6801 Burnet Road.

MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW……..PLEASE SEND YOUR CURRENT SNAIL MAIL ADDRESS and e-mail address TO : nremadna@austinisd.org or Join our Facebook Group Page
http://www.facebook.com/groups/AHSClassof67/
Stephen F. Austin High School (Austin,Texas) Class of 1967
Alumni group for the Class of 1967 graduating from the Rio Grande Campus of Austin High.

The official alumni website: www.loyalforever.com, is the place to share information securely. I invite you to register at the site and review the contact information listed for you. By registering, you provide current data that will be added to the site by the webmaster. I encourage you to keep this information up-to-date so you will be more easily contacted by other AHS alumni for reunions or other events of this type.

Nearly two dozen 70-somethings poured into the Central Market Cafe on Thursday, drinking coffee, reminiscing and catching up on the latest news.

Joe had come straight from a medical procedure. Mary was talking about the holidays. Gene circled the group, snapping pictures and greeting friends.

This is Stephen F. Austin High School’s class of 1956. And if you go to Central Market at 4001 N. Lamar Blvd. on any Thursday morning, chances are that you’ll see this pack of seniors clustered around three or four tables, laughing and talking about all measure of topics: old teachers, grandchildren, vacations and, of course, medical problems.

“That’s where we are these days,” group member Keith Rhea said with a laugh. “We’re ticking time bombs.”

It’s been more than five years since Rhea and a former classmate started what would eventually become a weekly ritual. It was 2006 — the 50th anniversary of the group’s high school graduation — and Rhea wanted help trying to track down people for the reunion. Rhea invited a friend to brainstorm at Central Market. Soon, others joined them. Then more showed up.

Ultimately, the reunion came and went, but the former classmates continued to meet.

“We were just a unique class,” said alumnus Keith Harrell, who comes to the gatherings with his high school sweetheart-turned-wife, Gayle Grimmer. “We just stuck together, even after graduation.”

Let’s be honest here. High school came with baggage, right? Academics were tough. Clique warfare was tougher. Most of us never felt smart, pretty, athletic, cool or stylish enough to claim top social status. Revisiting that era can be intimidating — even when it’s been decades since you were stuck in sixth-period math on a sunny spring day.

But none of that matters when you’re 70-something years old and you know who you are, where you’ve been and what you want.

“Those lines existed when we were in high school, but we are so commingled now,” said former student JoAn Baird. “No one is worried about where you shop or what you drive.”

Besides, the class of 1956 isn’t interested in living in the past. Yes, they talk about old teachers (Ms. von Rosenberg, anyone?) and after-school activities (baton twirling for Joan Meadows Bostic, cross-country for Buddy Streetman). They share old stories about classmates and parties and sports events. (”When you get to be our age, stories are all you’ve got left,” joked unofficial class storyteller Bo Franks.)

But they also celebrate birthdays, go out to lunch and visit the Broken Spoke.

They recruit each other for their volunteer projects, continuing-education courses and Bible study classes.

They’re also very active in raising money for the Stephen F. Austin High School Continuing Education Foundation, which provides scholarships to post-high school programs such as community colleges and trade schools.

The group celebrates birthdays together (Mary Morris Hornsby is known as the “Cake Fairy”) at Central Market. And when someone is sick, alumni step up to bring food or escort them to doctor appointments. They keep up with each other between meetings with group emails.

“It’s such a supportive group,” Hornsby said. “It’s a place where you can go and visit and feel loved.

Alan R. MacDougall, class of 1967 (11-30-2011)
James F. Dear, class of 1946 (11-29-2011)
Antoinette “Toni” DeVane née Seekatz, class of 1943 (11-29-2011)
Floyd B. “Chuck” Inks, Jr., class of 1943 (11-29-2011)
Emily Ann Van Niel née Anderson, class of 1951 (11-28-2011)
Catharine “Bunny” Longenecker née Jones, class of 1951 (11-25-2011)
Mary C. “Marylee” Anderson née Beaver, class of 1941 (11-25-2011)
Donald Clark Senterfitt, class of 1957 (11-21-2011)
Marjorie Avant née Holcomb, class of 1941 (11-18-2011)
Alden Keith Traugott, class of 1950 (11-17-2011)
Nancy Schuller née Shelby, class of 1958 (11-8-2011)
Robert H. Bose, class of 1966 (11-3-2011)

Casey John O’Connell class of 1974 (10-31-2011)
Ingrid Warren née Berkman, class of 1938 (10-25-2011)
Wallace Lynn Smith, class of 1941 (10-18-2011)
Barry Bishop, class of 1960 (10-11-2011)
Kristine Michelle “Kris” Ross née Lane, class of 1989 (10-9-2011)
James Francis “Jamie” Struhall, class of 1950 (10-7-2011)
Aurora R. Rodriguez, class of 1950 (10-7-2011)
Billie Lou Guinn Leach née Berkman, class of 1944 (10-4-2011)
David Gordon Gannaway, class of 1941, (10-3-2011)

Robert William Abbate, class of 1976 (9-25-2011)
Ruby Elizabeth Reissig née Meschke, class of 1935, (9-11-2011)
Linda Anne Moran née Roberts, class of 1946 (9-10-2011)

Ellen Doris Kathleen Nauert née Johnson, class of 1944, (8-6-2011)
Vernice Tilford Smith, Former AHS Teacher (8-28-2011)
Paula Marie Sullivan née Petty, class of 1979 (8-25-2011)
Dorothy Castille née Anderson class of 1930 (8-23-2011)
Francis Leo “Hank” McNamara, Jr., class of 1952 (8-18-2011)
Paul B. Ragsdale, class of 1962 (8-14-2011)
James Vincent “Jim” Ruiz, class of 1952 (8-6-2011)
Ellen Doris Kathleen Nauert née Johnson, class of 1944, (8-6-2011)
Frances Louise Johnson Avant, class of 1948 (8-3-2011)
Patricia Griffin née Cox, class of 1949 (8-3-2011)

Ella Lee Ayers, class of 1931 (7-28-2011)
Dorothy Eggeling née Hunt, class of 1936 (7-28-2011)
Helen Bernice Polvado née McCaslin, class of 1931 (7-27-2011)
William Clydine “Bill” Rountree, Sr., class of 1949 (7-22-2011)
Davy L. Porter, class of 1949 (7-20-2011)
John Shary Shivers, class of 1958 (7-21-2011)
John Albert Johnson, Jr., DDS, class of 1939 (7-18-2011)
Fred S. Webster, Jr., class of 1933 (7-16-2011)
Kathryn “Kitty” Patterson née Petmecky, class of 1928 (7-15-2011)
Mary Lou Allison née Scott, class of 1941 (7-10-2011)

Dorothy Nell Roos née Gruesen, class of 1943 (6-21-2011)
John Holly Sheffield, class of 1965 (6-18-2011)
Maurine Viola Kocurek née Gustafson, class of 1930 (6-17-2011)
Mary “Bess” Lewis née Thomason, class of 1951 (6-16-2011)
Richard Glenn Wucher, class of 1947 ( 6-15-2011)
Michael Darcy Williams, class of 1957 (6-12-2011)
William H. “Bill” Pittsford, Jr., class of 1939 (6-9-2011)
Lillie Belle Dunn née Bryan, class of 1956 (6-7-2011)
Oscar John “Topper” Kramer, Jr., class of 1944 (6-3-2011)
Jackie Miller Allen, class of 1953 (6-1-2011)

Byron Lunsford Kidd, class of 1947 (5-31-2011)
Marybelle “Jinx” Canfield néeHooper, class of 1944 (5-30-2011)
Courtney Paige Griffin, class of 1999 (5-27-2011)
Martha Golda Daniel, class of 1941 (5/24/2011)
George C. “Bugs” Schutze, Jr., class of 1963 (5-16-2011)
Katherine Stewart née Wilson, class of 1945 (5-10-2011)
Gabriel Felder “Scoop” Thornhill III, class of 1944 (5-8-2011)
Paul Eugene Gren, class of 1940 (5-8-2011)
Anthony Nicholas, class of 1944 (5-7-2011)
David Kenneth Lacker, class of 1947 (5-8-2011)
Jeanette Irene Ligon née Sullivan, class of 1957 (5-7-2011)
Cornelia Bess “Sissy” Strauss Adams née Spears, class of 1934 (5-5-2011)
Polly Miller née Robinson, class of 1938 (5-5-2011)
Richard Holman, class of 1965 (5-4-2011)
Vernell Francis Thordarson née Roemer, class of 1943 (5-4-2011)
Pamela Jones Bodoin, class of 1962 (5-3-2011)

Ann Carter née Rogers, class of 1956 (4-29-2011)
John Marvin “Jack” Yancey, class of 1948 (4-24-2011)
Roy S. Nunnally, class of 1941 (4-24-2011)
Jack Parker Chance, class of 1939 (4-23-2011)
Ralph Wesley Jarmon, class of 1951 (4-23-2011)
Justine Brian née Gerling, class of 1946 (4-22-2011)
Eura Jean Clark, class of 1950 (4-21-2011)
Thomas James Bashara, class of 1981 (4-20-2011)
Malford Cornelius Edwards, Jr., class of 1945 (4-19-2011)
Bernice Caldwell née Peterman, class of 1941 (4-20-2011)
Janie Sosa née Martinez, class of 1949 (4-14-2011)
Stanley J. Peterman, class of 1944 (4-9-2011)
Duard Desmond Linam, DVM, class of 1937 (4-9-2011)
Linda Weeks, class of 1947 (4-3-2011)
Charles Hayden Bowers, class of 2008 (4-2-2011)

Charlotte Jane Gault, class of 1950 (3-30-2011)
Charles Durham Nash, class of 1941 (3-28-2011)
Hazel “Lucille” Mehner née Hergotz, class of 1947, (3-27-2011)
Danny Kasparek, class of 1963 (3-25-2011)
Gary Mark Bilberry, class of 1980 (3-23-2011)
James Earl Anderson, class of 1935 (3-22-2011)
James Earl Clark, class of 1941 (3-22-2011)
Emory Chapman Thompson, class of 1949 (3-24-2011)
Webb Dycus Woodland, class of 1945 (3-22-2011)
Loren Douglas “Bud” Fletcher, class of 1942 (3-20-2011)
Victor Alton Short, class of 1948 (3-12-2011)
James E. Shriver, class of 1978 (3-7-2011)
James S. Jones, class of 1945, (3-4-2011)
Thomas “Tom” Dodson McCrummen, Jr., class of 1951 (3-3-2011)
Carolyn Mercer née King, class of 1969 (3-1-2011)

Mitchell George Attal, class of 1953 (2-25-2011)
Joan Lykins née Sundberg, class of 1951 (2-23-2011)
Paula Gutierrez née Perez, class of 1944 (2-21-11)
Toppy Champion, class of 1949 (2-20-2011)
Max L. Noe, class of 1935 (2-15-2011)
Mickie Love Maufrais née Reid, class of 1939 (2-14-2011)
George W. Burnup, class of 1940 (2-13-2011)

Carolyn Lorraine White, class of 1979 ( 2-11-2011)

Louise Kyle née Daywood, class of 1951 (2-9-2011)
Rosemary Wagner née Matthews, class of 1936, 2-8-2011)

Geraldine Houser née Campbell, class of 1946 (1-24-2011)
Betty Murray née Nichols, class of 1930 (1-23-2011)
Gregg Anthony Kerley, class of 1966 (1-20-2011)
Mary Frances Cauthern née Kutalek, class of 1933 (1-18-2011)
August Frantz “Gus” Pacharzina, class of 1948 (1-18-2011)
James Bradley Whitworth, PhD, class of 1951 (1-15-2011)
Seth Darnaby Breeding, Jr., class of 1952 (1-12-2011)
Jim “Red” Berry, class of 1951 (1-11-2011)
Margaret Alice Bond née Hamilton, class of 1938 (1-9-2011)
Gloria McCalla née Holder, clas of 1948 (1-1-2011)
Forrest “Toddy” Preece, Sr., class of 1928 (1-4-2011)
Frances Gould née Harrison, class of 1938 (1-3-2011)

Special thanks to Randall’s – Lake Austin for their help, West Austin Youth Association & Austin High Coach Mike Rosenthal for equipment and a very big thanks to Coach Lou Mora, Tommy Cox, Mike Szymarek of AISD for generously providing us the facility.

Everyone did an amazing job. In the process, we received over $6,000 in donations with more still streaming in. Checks can still be made out to:

Austin Community Foundation – memo “Hayden Bowers Classic”
c/o Curtis Page
3008 Scenic Dr.
Austin, TX 78703

These monies will be used as directed by the Bowers family in a way to both honor and build on the memory of Hayden. As successful as the numbers were, most impressive was the way in which our community came together as family to celebrate Hayden’s life. This was our intent. Chris, thanks again for the vision, initiative and follow through as Hayden and his legacy of friendship and competitiveness were properly recognized and served by the event, its participants, its volunteers and its contributors.

Steve, if we may quote you “One of the things that made it truly special for me was the fact that while we were there in memory of Hayden, it wound up being an event not mourning his passing, but celebrating what he found most important about life: friendship and athletics.”

See you next year!

Loyal Forever!

Coach Rosenthal shared with the interview committee a most impressive plan for the future of Austin High School athletics. We are also impressed by his work with our students at Austin High School these past two years and his work with children outside of our school as he promotes fitness and a healthy life style. He is and will be a loyal Maroon for many years to come.

Please help me congratulate him and help him with his important mission.

Lucio Calzada Jr., Ed.D.
Principal of Austin High School

The cause was complications from a recent fall and Alzheimer’s disease. He fell and broke his leg earlier this month while living at an assisted living facility in Buda. With family around him, Pryor died at Hospice Austin’s Christopher House, where he was moved recently.

When Austin got its first local TV broadcast on KTBC in 1951, the folksy humorist was the first face viewers saw. Until 2008, he did commentaries about Austin haunts and personalities on KLBJ radio, but the station continued rerunning his old commentaries, a tribute to his lasting popularity with listeners. He ended each segment with a distinguishable but puzzling word: “thermerstrockimortimer.” Pryor never revealed what it meant.

“For nearly 90 years, he made us laugh, learn, love and sometimes cry, all at the same time,” said Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon Johnson. The president had Pryor emcee parties at the LBJ Ranch, and the family hired him to work at its radio station, KLBJ.

“I don’t remember life without Cactus, and I can’t bear to think of it now. But I know for sure that Mother and Daddy are leading the applause for his debut in heaven,” she said.

A local institution, many called him, his style distinguished by Southern-fried wit. “The funniest person ever in Austin,” said Dale Dudley of KLBJ-FM. Dudley, who called Pryor a mentor, referred to him as “Mr. Pryor,” but TV viewers and radio listeners knew him as Cactus.

“Very few cities or towns ever know the benefits and pleasures brought about by rare legends like Cactus,” said Bob Cole, longtime radio talk show host on the competing KVET. “These treasures are individuals that not only help define the culture and character of a community; the fiber they weave likely endures forever. Austin is Austin, in large part, because of Cactus Pryor.”

Pryor, who grew up on Speedway near the University of Texas, dipped in Barton Springs and fished Onion Creek, called his upbringing a “privileged” life. And he was everything to everyone. He entertained world leaders with the Johnsons. He had small parts in two John Wayne movies, “Hellfighters” and “The Green Berets.” He escorted stars such as Raquel Welch, Lucille Ball and Dean Martin on promotional tours.

He became an in-demand after-dinner speaker and roaster of politicians and entertainers. He sometimes used disguises. In 1971, he appeared as Count Krag Jansen at a gala at the new Highland Mall. The American-Statesman photographed and identified him as a Danish fashion designer. Unfortunately, the reporter left before the punch line. The next day, the newspaper had to note that Pryor had duped everyone once again.

“To me, he was a star,” said golfing buddy Theo Painter. “I saw him many times as an after-dinner speaker. He was the Bob Hope of Texas and could have been a national star, but he decided to stay in Texas.”

Behind the scenes, he was a sensitive man who cared about people, said Barbara Miller, who co-hosted “The Noon Show” with Pryor at KTBC from 1978 to 1983. “He was my son Lasater’s godfather, and every Christmas morning, Cactus brought him a present. He spoke at Lasater’s rehearsal dinner when he got married. Talk about spanning generations. Twenty-five-year-olds then were in awe of Cactus.”

A man who thrived in the public eye, Pryor told his KLBJ listeners in 2007 that he had Alzheimer’s disease. He joked about it in an interview with the American-Statesman: “My doctor has told me that I will be losing my memory because of a certain disease. I don’t buy that there will come a time I won’t even recognize my own family. No way. Me forgetting the name of my wife, ah, Jewell, ah, Peggy, or was it Harriet? No, that’s my sister who lives in Santa Monica – no, San Antonio.”

He was determined not to be slowed by a disease. “There’s still some living and laughing to do,” he said.
And that he did. He continued his regular commentaries on KLBJ, where he pecked away at the computer while trying to read handwritten notes.

“I write things down, and now the fun part is trying to remember what they mean,” he said.

He continued weekly golf games with four friends on his beloved Muny – Lions Municipal Golf Course in West Austin. The outings came to be known for tall tales as much as precious time on the greens.

“Golf feeds my soul,” he said. He wrote “My Sand Trap or Yours?,” which has stories of golf outings with friends, and “Playback,” a collection of essays. His first book was “Inside Texas” in 1982.

The second of six children, Pryor was born to entertain. His father, Richard “Skinny” Pryor, was a legendary vaudeville performer who ran the Cactus Theatre on Sixth Street – hence young Richard’s nickname. He graduated from Austin High School in 1941. He majored in radio at the University of Texas, but did not finish; he went into the U.S. Army Air Forces, and after a three-year stint, he returned to Austin in 1945 and married Jewell, his first wife.

His first radio job in Austin was with KNOW-AM, but the stint was brief because he couldn’t get along with the program director. After short stays in Corpus Christi and Houston, he returned to Austin for good in 1948 and began working as a disc jockey for KLBJ. He and Jewell had four children: Paul, Kerry, Don and Dayne. Jewell died in 1983, the same year Cactus met Peggy Davis, who was then working for Lady Bird Johnson. Cactus and Peggy married in 1988 and had been sweethearts ever since.

They enjoyed a life of Labrador retrievers, seven grandchildren, one great-grandchild and fishing in Port Aransas.

Pryor called Peggy “babe” and said, “I’m damn lucky to have her.” She felt the same and didn’t mind sharing her husband with the world.

“Everyone Cactus knew thought he loved and cared for them better than anyone else, and that was OK with me,” she said. “We had an ever-abiding presence for one another, able to listen. Through the joys and sorrows and messiness of life, we held on through the ride, loving one another completely, loving well. We have been richly blessed, and we knew it.”

Even in his declining years, with Alzheimer’s getting the better of him, he courted her.

Kerry Guthrie, Cactus’ daughter, recalled a recent phone call from her jubilant father, who was repeating over again that he was married to Peggy. One day while visiting a grocery store, her dad bought a flower arrangement.

“He was so proud walking out of that store with the flowers. They were for Peggy,” she said.

Pryor is survived by his wife, four children, stepson Stuart Clark, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

The family will have a private burial at the Texas State Cemetery. The public is invited to a celebration of his life at 2 p.m. Friday at Riverbend Centre, 4214 Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360).