Kelso High School memories: 1945 to 1949
Tuesday, June 17, 2008 4:45 PM PDT
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E-mail this articleCelebrating Kelso's 100th graduating class
Colleene Cottenoir Armstrong, Class of 1945, senior class representative
The Kelso High School class of 1945 was the 37th graduating class from the old building.
Events of history put us in a unique situation.
World War II was raging all four years of our high school. Many of the young men enlisted as soon as they were old enough. Fortunately, none of them were lost in action.
President Roosevelt died in April of our senior year. A classmate, Lillian Hasegawa, was whisked away to a Japanese internment camp.
Shortages were abundant. Rationing of gasoline, sugar, shoes, etc., was experienced.
We were Mr. Roy Dennis’ first graduating class as principal. He later became a super superintendent. He always told us we were his “favorite” class, but knowing him, he probably told each group this same thing.
Our teachers were highly respected. The men wore suits and ties. The women wore either suits or dresses with “silk” hosiery with seams up the back.
The only sex education, as I recall, was Mr. Chapman’s biology class. We learned that men determine the sex of a baby and the women the number.
Our senior sneak was all the way to Battle Ground Lake. Prom dates dined at the St. Helens Inn in Longview. There were no tuxedos to be seen.
The girls’ basketball team (Blue and Gold) met for intramural games after school. Full court play was not an option then.
Our girls’ lettermen sweaters were made of harsh wool and only came to our waists.
On a personal note, shorthand was my favorite subject. Computer classes have replaced that.
One event that stands out in my mind was that I was allowed to ride my bike (one speed) from my home in Ostrander, up Old Highway 99 to Castle Rock, then down West Side Highway to Lexington where my P.E. teacher, Mrs. Tweedie lived. After checking in with her, I continued home through Kelso. I can’t remember how much extra credit I received, but I now know at 16 I had no fear and have lived to tell the tale.
Our class has met every five years for a reunion. We now also meet annually for a picnic in August.
For our 50th class reunion, three classmates challenged the rest of us to match their $30,00 pledge to the Kelso Public School Foundation. We did it, and then some — $13,000 plus was added to the foundation at our 60th reunion.
These pledges allow the class to give four $500 and one $1,000 scholarship each year.
We are proud to have four fellows in the Kelso Hall of Fame. They are Al Laakso, Charles Lougheed, John Shulene and Don Tegarden.
Rose Janke is our historian. She tells me we had 142 in our class and we have lost 83.
Vronia Bailey reminds the locals each month of the second Monday class lunch at the Kelso Elks coffee shop.
Yes, the class of 1945 is loyal to you, Kelso High.
Congratulations to the 100th graduating class of 2008.
Dan Wagster, Class of 1945
(Excerpt from May 2004 issue of the Kelso Public Schools Foundation newsletter regarding the Class of 1945’s $60,000 scholarship gift to the foundation in celebration of its 50-year reunion)
The idea of giving a class reunion gift to one’s alma mater is neither original nor unique. The story of our class, however, is unique primarily because of World War II. The war dominated our high school experience and was ever present in our daily lives. In 1942, the year we entered KHS as sophomores, the Allies were actually losing battles on all fronts. The tide turned during the years we were in high school. But fear of the future, uncertainty, a sense of urgency and added intensity — all war-related — were, to some degree, part of every school day. Nonetheless, I believe for many of us KHS provided a refuge from the war-torn world. The unique circumstances of that period contributed to unusually strong bonding between classmates as well as deep feelings of loyalty to KHS, which have stood the test of time. WWII also exposed us to a larger world and reinforced our basic values. Three months after the Class of 1945 graduated, the war ended.
The following is an attempt to paint a picture, or perhaps collage, of school life as we saw it in the early ’40s, which my grandkids call “The Olden Days”:
Disrupted Families
Relationships and families were disrupted in countless ways, first by the Great Depression of the 1930s, later by WWII. In retrospect, it almost seems that a functional family with two supportive parents was the exception rather than the rule. The Class of ’45 had an unusual number of members who found support at school when it was lacking at home, and this made the process of establishing friendships during our high school days all the more meaningful.
The Town
Kelso remained a small, friendly, homogeneous town full of decent, hard-working people. The high school was the best game in town; and, in some respects, the only game in town. To townsfolk, KHS was the center of attention, its hope for the future and a source of pride. Community support and involvement with the school was a given.
The School
School officials, teachers and coaches created a positive and supportive environment. They overcame wartime shortages of people, services and materials through teamwork and a contagious cooperative spirit. Many of the school’s adult leaders in those days became KHS icons. For example, Roy Dennis, Coach Schroeder, Virgil Hopkins, Kate Long and Coach Piper. At Class of 1945 reunions over the years, classmates have exchanged and retold stories about ways teachers or school officials provided support and guidance that not infrequently changed the course of a student’s life. I was one. In my case, Coach Schroeder helped me find a home with Ruth and Roy Mohr after my divorced parents moved out of town and I wanted to stay with my friends at KHS. Later, due to the help and support of the Mohrs and KHS mentors, I was awarded a full scholarship by Yale, which was a turning point in my life. To this day, anyone who knows me well knows I went to Kelso High. I will be eternally grateful for the help and encouragement I got there.
The Class of 1945
The KHS Class of ’45 had good kids, good students, good chemistry, good teams, good attitude — in other words, the right stuff. The high school was the center of all social life. Relationships between classmates were a function of spending time together; not everyone had a telephone, and alternative ways to communicate had not yet been invented. We liked each other. We learned from each other. Everyone in the class learned from our beloved classmate, Tommy Jabusch. Tommy was born with cerebral palsy. Burdened by a severely handicapped body and impaired speech, but blessed with a brilliant mind and indomitable spirit, Tommy fought and won his own unrelenting battle every day. His lurching gait and determination to be self-reliant made us less impressed with obstacles in our path and more aware of our own capabilities. Tommy was living proof that we could do whatever we set our mind to.
Bobbie Pritchard Losey, Class of 1946
Donna Shellenbarger, Sue Ditton Bunn and I were drum majorettes in 1944. We would go out on the field with the band during halftime and perform our routines. Sue and I wore leather majorette boots, while Donna’s were white rubber, which was popular at the time.
In those days the lines on the football field were marked with lime. Before one game everyone was unaware live lime had been used by mistake. Evidently it is much more caustic than the usual mixture.
When we got to school on Monday we found out several of the players had been burned. The day after the game Donna discovered the bottoms had been eaten out of her boots when she was pulling them on and they went half way up her leg. I guess the leather saved Sue and I because the only damage we could find was part of the tips eaten away on our batons.
Robert Dahl, Class of 1947
I am here because of Kelso High School.
In the early summer of 1922, Jacob and Anna Dahl, along with their 1-year-old daughter, Carolyn, left their 280-acre homestead and a very cold Montana winter to seek out the sun and warmth of California.
They paused when they reached Kelso to visit an old friend who was living in the Rose Valley area. Jacob noticed the new Kelso High School under construction on the high hill above Allen Street and decided to seek a few days work. The painting contractor put him to work varnishing all of the new doors.
Seventeen years later, that little girl, Carolyn, graduated from that same Kelso High School up on the hill with the class of 1939. She was followed by her brother, Jack Dahl, class of 1942; brother Robert Dahl, class of 1947; and brother Leroy Dahl, class of 1950.
In addition, all 11 of Jacob’s and Anna’s grandchildren graduated from Kelso High School. Most of their great-grandchildren have either graduated from Kelso High or are in the system to be future graduates of the high school.
In fact, their great-grandson, Paul Amaral, will graduate with the 100th graduating class of Kelso, the class of 2008. And, thanks to the Running Start program, he also will graduate from Lower Columbia College with a two-year degree.
The Dahl family never reached sunny California. They just traded the old frozen snow for a more gentle, warmer rain.
And, I personally am glad they did.
Melvin Doehne, Class of 1948
Some notable teachers I remember are Mutt Schroeder, P.E. class; Dino Gaff, wood shop; Lee Sonendecker, U.S. History; Monte Guglomo, track coach; Virgil Hopkins, home room, three years; Hazel Marcellus; Roy Dennis, principal; Kate Long (my favorite), Pacific Rim History and International Relations Club. She really knew how to capture your interest and expand the mind.
The old school on the hill was my second home for six years (Carl Puckett Junior High School was there, too.) It was there I met and dated my wife-to-be. We will celebrate our 58th anniversary in June. Ellouise Taft Doehne and I had four sons, all of whom graduated from Kelso High School, as did two grandsons.
From 1944 to the 1970s, I attended every Thanksgiving Day football game, even the few years we lived elsewhere. My favorite one was the 1947 game when Kelso lost 7-0 to a highly favored and great R.A. Long High School team led by Leo Gillnet. Bob Giles deflected a late-game pass that Bernie Donahue caught while lying down. Would love to see that game researched by Rick Alvord.
The Kelso community always has supported the school system. I particularly remember the several years of taxing ourselves to build the new school. One of my sons was in the first graduating class there. Another was in the first class to go all three years there.
Answers to The Daily News’ questions:
1. Favorite football coach — Ed Laulainen
2. We were at the Kingdome to see Kelso win the championship in 1983. Also proud to see nephew Scott Radcliffe score three touchdowns.
3. Walt Piper always intimidated me by his gruff, no-nonsense demeanor, but we became friends when he helped coach my son, Kent.
Janice (Riblett) Haupt, Class of 1949
The high school years can carry an enormous bundle of memories. One can’t hope to get them all down on paper. Similarly, it’s one of our times of greatest growing, of greatest energy, ability and inspiration.
Virgil Hopkins. Such a little bit of a woman. Who would guess that she could wield such power? She was not trained to teach music, but there she was, teaching us the two greatest facts of it — had work and great joy.
She trained us in full chorus, girls’ chorus, boys’ quartet, girls’ nonette and soloists. We did wonderful works we never thought we could do — the “Nutcracker Suite,” complete with dancers; Fred Waring’s “Meaning of Christmas”: and two piano numbers that Barbara Holiday and I worked on.
No matter how we worked, Virgil Hopkins worked harder. I can’t hope to remember the number of days she stayed after school to practice with us.
Many of the friendships I made in high school were centered around the music department.
Besides the full agenda of music, she taught Latin and English. She gave us a good foundation for writing and poetry. I know she gave extra help to many students in other areas. We were there only three years to her many.
I loved school at Kelso High. I would have stayed longer if I could have. Whether or not we knew it, the few years we spent there with the special teachers we had surely helped point us in the direction we were destined to go in our adult years.
Marjorie (Purviss) Ahrens, Class of 1949
Thank you for writing the article about Kelso High
it will be shared with our out-of-town classmates by and by.
’49ers time in school was big on sports, football, basketball and track.
Reliving those exciting times in memory is fun to take you back.
Personal bit of history. My Mom graduated from R.A. Long;
her older two brothers did, too; and their support was very strong.
Mom’s younger two brothers graduated from kelso high;
so at Thanksgiving table such fun rivalry jokes did often fly.
Then my brother played for Kelso, switched Mom over to “our side”;
although he played tackle, sometimes he’d have to go wide.
So this huge Thanksgiving dinner always revolved around the game;
when this game was no longer played; it didn’t ever seem the same.
Think I’m the self-appointed contact for the class of ’49.
Kelso High has always had the ability for each class to know they’re fine.
As a matter of fact, I’m sure most of us classes truly think we are the best;
and as long as we feel that way, I’m sure we’ve passed that test.
As KHS ’49ers; once a month at Sizzler’s we lunch;
I’m sure you’d have to search the world to find a more fun bunch.
This month, May 2008, we numbered 22.
Some of the regulars couldn’t make it, but we’ll not tell you who.
A card goes out each month. We call it Sizzlers roll call.
But it doesn’t matter the number, because we always have a ball.
When classmates come from out of town, we try to let each other know;
Then the numbers are really high because to Sizzler’s we all go.
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