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Gladewater Former Students’ Association A TEXAS NOT-FOR-PROFIT DEDICATED TO GHS ALUMNI

P.O. Box 1425, Gladewater, TX 75647 Phone/Fax: 903-845-2631 Email: ghsalums@suddenlinkmail.com

www.gladewaterformerstudents.com

Letter from GFSA President

September 20, 2020

Dear Alums,

I hope all of you have experienced a great summer. Surely, you had better luck taking a vacation than I

did! We had two trips to the beach cancelled because of Covid-19. Hopefully, all your family and

friends have remained safe. So many of us know someone who has been ill with Covid-19. My hopes

and prayers are that whomever you know that had Covid-19, that they have made a full recovery.

There have been a few former students who have had the virus and had a profoundly serious case.

Now in September, most of us would be preparing for the All School Reunion. Well, hold on to that

thought, because I know the Class of 1970 is busy planning a great Reunion for February 2021. It will

be a pleasant break in an otherwise cold winter.

The GFSA Board is looking at a couple of projects to improve the building. We are not sure when we

will be able to have them done, but we are hoping to tackle one or both in the near future. Our next

Board meeting will be October 13th. It has not been decided if we will meet in person or via Zoom. We

welcome all who wish to attend either in person or virtually. We have many subjects on the agenda,

so if you would like to attend, we look forward to seeing you.

There is not a lot of news to report since the summer has been quiet. We have been receiving many

membership applications and renewals, so we say, “Thank You” to those of you who have joined or

continue to support GFSA. Your membership helps sustain the organization. Stay safe and I hope to

see all of you at The All School Reunion on February 27, 2021.

Bye for now! GO BEARS!

Larry Clemens,

GFSA President

O R A N G E A N D B L A C K F O R E V E R

2020 All-School Reunion

The 2020 All-School Reunion will be held on the last Saturday in February 2021. The date will be FEBRUARY 27, 2021. As you know, the date change is because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The Class of 1970 and the GFSA Board decided to move the reunion because of the safety and health of our Alumni and guests. Assuming that we will be able to have the Reunion at that time, registration forms will be in the next GFSA Newsletter posted at the end of December. For any additional information, contact Elizabeth Osteen Ferguson at (214)642-3439 or Nancy Dees Long at (903)738-7115 or email Gladewater70@yahoo.com

MEET YOUR BOARD…. Danny Ray Sorrells

Danny is a 1975 graduate of GHS. He is a true Bear, playing football and tennis during high school and

taking pictures for the Yearbook. He had the nickname of “Slobberknocker” because he knocked the

slobber out of the opposing football players. After graduation, Danny went to Kilgore College where he

continued to play tennis for two years. In 1977, he started working for McKaig Chevrolet and the in

1999, joined J. O. Williams as a salesman.

When not selling cars, Danny enjoys playing tennis, golf and pickleball. He insists that he is a much

better player than GFSA Board Treasurer, Jon Keller! Danny also has a passion for collecting and fixing

watchers and clocks. He is a deacon at Gladewater Bible Church and a past President of the Lion’s Club.

Danny has been married to the love of his life, Beverly, for 38 years. (She is an angel on Earth to put up

with him!) They are the proud parents of two adult children, Casey and Abbey.

If you are fortunate enough to know Danny, then you know he has numerous friends and enjoys

spending time with them. He tells the story that the Rodeo grounds neighborhood where he grew up

has produced several coaches, a college professor, a district attorney, a mechanical engineer, a doctor

and a poor car salesman. But he is the richest man in East Texas because of knowing these special

people. Several of these guys still get together and eat breakfast at a local café every morning. (Until

COVID hit…)

Danny has served on the GFSA Board for the last 2 years. He is an example of a man who serves God,

family and community.

CLASS of 1975

Connecting the Past to the Present … Who’s at GHS Now?

Left to Right: Becky Lantrip, Bruce Head and Cathy Bedair

Cathy Bedair, Principal

Cathy has been in education 32 years and with GISD for 22 of those years. She boasts that Gladewater is the best district by far that she has worked over the years. Her career has spanned the gamut from teaching 2nd-6th grades, administrator at elementary and middle schools and then being the principal at GHS for 7 years.

Cathy is proud of her administrative team, staff, students and community. She claims that this year is unlike any she has ever experienced. It is challenging to keep teenagers following the social distancing guidelines, but they are doing it. The students are resilient and are happy to be back together while getting used to the “new normal.” The biggest challenge has been adding remote learning to the school day because teachers are doing two separate jobs. They teach all day and then continue to work hard in the evening as they communicate with their remote students and parents, grade papers and prepare lessons while taking care of their own families. It is two full time jobs, but our teachers are the best! I am honored to work at GHS with this amazing staff and our amazing students.

Bruce Head, Assistant Principal

Bruce is a 1981 graduate of Marshall High School. He enlisted in the United States Army and served 6 years. He was stationed at Ft. Irwin, California and Robert E. Lee Barracks in Mainz, Germany.

Bruce began his teaching career with Taft ISD in 1995. He and his wife, Deborah, moved to the New Mexico Boys’ Ranch in 1996 and taught 6th-8th grades. In 2000, they moved back to Marshall ISD and worked for 7 years. Currently, Bruce works at Gladewater High school where he has been the Assistant Principal for 14 years. He enjoys the students and community of Gladewater and will finish his career at GHS.

Becky Lanham, Assistant Principal

Becky is a 1985 graduate of Gladewater High School. She took the knowledge that she gained from Jimmy Rowe in the GHS Print Shop and went to work in the commercial printing industry. In 2002, she received a life-changing call from the GHS principal, Sam Chenoweth, asking if she ever thought about teaching the program that she dearly loved. After the initial shock wore off, she accepted the Graphic Arts teacher job in August 2002. Becky spent the next 5 years at GHS as she and her students produced all the printed materials used by the District.

In 2007, Becky married Bruce Lanham and moved to Nacogdoches where she taught Graphic Design and Audio-Visual Production for 7 years. She eventually moved into an Assistant Principal position.

Another random phone call changed her life in 2017 when Cathy Bedair called her to get a reference on a counselor. The

question came up whether Becky would come interview for an open Assistant Principal job at GHS. Becky jumped at the

chance to come “Home”. She has been a proud Gladewater Bear ever since and loves the community.

Left

BE

BE A GFSA MEMBER & SUPPORTER

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Our Alma Mater lost the following sons and daughters from June – September, 2020:

Floy Meadows Vessakosol 1959

Brad Cagle 1976

Hilma Joan Snow Ferguson 1951

Dolores Brock Spradlin 1955

Charles (Chuck) Mears 1967

Joe John O’Brien 1963

Gladys Dillard 1946

Francine Johnson 1985

Lona “Deenie” Money Judd 1953

John (Jay) Ward 1949

All will be sorely missed by their families, friends and classmates to whom we extend our deepest

sympathies.

Please notify the GFSA Office if you know of anyone that needs to be added to the “Gone But Not

Forgotten” list. Phone number and email address on front page of this newsletter.

GFSA Officers & Board 2020-21

OFFICERS PRESIDENT: Larry Clemens ’68 VICE PRESIDENT: Shirley Elliott Willett ’68 CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: Leslie Blount Willeford ‘77 RECORDING SECRETARY: Cheryl Moore Copeland ‘69 TREASURER: Jon Keller ‘92 PARLIMENTARIAN: Barry Cook ‘68

BOARD MEMBERS Dale Lange ‘69 Margaret Liddell Pevehouse ‘66 Steve Scurlock ‘68 Debra Shipp ‘75 Danny Sorrells ‘75 Mandy Williamson Wood ‘95

ASSOCIATE BOARD MEMBERS Cathy Phillips Shipp ‘65 Leon Watson ‘59 Patricia Martin Watson ‘60

GFSA, P.O. Box 1425, Gladewater, TX 75647 ghsalums@suddenlinkmail.com

The great generation of the 30’s and 40’s was a strong supporter of GFSA and its mission. Unless the younger

generations of BEARS are willing to join the organization and financially support their Alma Mater, GFSA will not

have the funds to continue the good work of our originators.

Please continue to support GFSA with your $25 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DUES and influence your fellow GHS peers to do the same. Encourage your classmates to become a member, buy a brick or become a KODIAK! GFSA gives us a home for our class reunions, gives $1000 scholarships to GHS seniors, honors our veterans and encourages all of us to be connected through friendship and kinship of being a BEAR for life.

F O R E V E R O R A N GE A N D B L A C K!

~ PAST PRESIDENT LIFE MEMBERS ~ ’38 Nauty Byrd Pelphrey Mayer 1989-1990

’38 Hulon Broyles 1991-1992, 1996 ’40 Truman Wilson 1995

’61 Sherry Waggoner Beall 1993-94, 2011-12 ‘56 Dr. Syntha Traughber West 2004-2006

’59 Leon Watson 2002-2003, 2008-2009 ’68 Barry Cook, 2007

’60 Roy T. Van Houten, 2010 ’62 John Paul Tallent 1997-2001, 2013-15

’68 Shirley Elliott Willett, 2016-2018

‘30 George Wilkins ’38 C.W. Williams, Jr. ’38 Gladys Browning Best ’39 Dr. John Heit ’39 Helen Adams Thomas ’40 June Strawn Gelvin ’41 Dr. John Artie & Arra Browning ’41 Gladys Williams Dreeson

’41 Margie Brewer Morrison ’42 Jack Phillips ’42 Ralph Weiser ’43 Juanita Bagley Dusse` ’50 Janet Burnett Hill ’56 Leland Stracener ’63 Alla Burago

would like to RECOGNIZE and THANK the following alumni who

have supported this organization through the years with

“KODIAK” contributions of $1,000.00 or more:

The GLADEWATER FORMER STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

Dorothy Dake Anderson, Class of 1943 and John Paul Tallent, Class of 1962

’33 Gwendolyn Hamilton Hogue ’38 Lee Fisher ’39 Glenn (Squeaky) Lange ’39 Jane Neal Sellers ’40 Ernestine Wilson Sawyer ’40 Truman Wilson ’41 Johnnie Pace Brown ’41 Dr. Robert Brutsche ’41 Emma Dean Hinton Fetzer ’41 Jean Clark Hughes ’41 Dr. Helen Chapman Williamson ’41 Charles Gilpin ’41 Dr. Harold McDowell ’41 Patricia Nichols Summer ’42 Ann Ruth Stone Gentry ’44 Lafon Dorrough ’44 Georgia Waters Dorrough ’44 Jo Nell Adams Lucky ’44 Robert H. Schmidt ’44 Roy A. Tallent ’45 Lawanna Lee Ballard ’46 Billy C. Dale ’46 Gladys Ronita Dillard ‘46 Bobbie Milliorn Modisette ’46 Dr. Jack “Spot” Collins ’46 B.M. “Mack” Rankin ’46 Virginia Henley Mankins ’48 William “Billy Bob” Green ’48 Nelda Jean Barr Young ’49 Jack Foshee

’49 Robert Honeycutt ’49 Bill Looney ’49 T. E. “Ed” Maxwell ’49 Richard D. Tallent ’51 Colleen Tallent Coffman ’52 Frances Ann Brown Shanks ’52 Beverly Hutson Lancaster ’53 Alice Ruth Wallace Cater ’53 Jerry Don Lancaster ’53 Sherman Kennedy ’54 Barbara Smith Mackey ’54 Dr. Calvin N. McKaig ’54 Martha Williams Squibb ’54 Jimmy A. Tallent ’54 Lula Mae Walker Waters ’55 Mary Lou Wilcox Palmer ’56 Travis Stanley ’56 Donald Williams ’56 Ronald Williams ’57 Homer Beck ’59 Mary Barr Price ‘59 Grace Ann Rose Shore ’60 Tom & Nita Zajicek in memory of Paul & Agnes Zajicek ’62 Jack Butler ’62 Barbara Brooking Henderson ’62 Ellender “Cookie” Owens Holcomb ’62 Glenna Rush Ishmael ’62 Loretta Blear Mitchell ’62 Ronny Moore

’62 John Shepperd ‘62 Paula Jones Smith ‘62 Betty Jean Thomas Stegall ’62 Kay Pothoff Wallace ’63 Melvin A. Tallent ’65 Danny Strickland ’67 Jerry D. Tallent ’68 Mark Abernathy ’68 Shirley Elliott Willett ’71 Sue Clifton Moore ’76 James Hugman ’76 Sharon Scurlock Berryman ’76 Tommy Willingham ‘77 Jayson Wynn ’85 Cindy Tallent Rowe ’85 Jon Rowe ’89 Johnny Tallent ’90 Andrea Slover Tallent 2011 Alyssa Rowe 2013 Leslie Rowe 2015 Rebecca Rowe Class of 1943 Class of 1945 Class of 1958 Class of 1961 Class of 1962 Class of 1965 Class of 1966 Class of 1968 Beverly Brunson Tallent

“It’s a Wonderful Life”…….. Editor Feature

After GFSA letters were sent out in June, I received and e-mail from Emma Dean Hinton Fetzer, Class

of 1941. We continued to have engaging chats with one another, and I thought it would be a great story

to share with GFSA members.

Emma Dean currently lives in Florida and is 97 years old. I am sure that she is one of the few oldest

living GHS alumni. What an exciting life she has lived! “Back in the Day,” Emma was editor of the Bear

Facts at GHS. After graduation, she worked for The Times Tribune for $1.00 a day. Emma had been

writing since the 6th grade for The Cub Facts. In 1944, she married an army officer and joined him in

Tokyo in 1947 for the army of occupation after the war. She went to war crimes trials and visited

Hiroshima. She shook hands with the Emperor Hirohito and planted a cherry blossom tree for peace in a

park with the Empress. Emma’s husband was encounter Intelligence and was a ranking officer in the

small group of servicemen in Kofu.

In 1950, she and her daughter came back to Gladewater because of the Korean War. This was after

T.W. Lee had started the Gladewater Daily Mirror. Emma started working as a reporter and then as

managing editor. She also had a 30-minute program called “News Naturally for Ladies” on Gladewater

Radio Station KSIJ. Later, she was rejoined with her husband in Salzburg, Austria and then Heidelberg,

Germany for 3 years. While there, they toured most of Europe.

One of the most interesting experiences was when her husband met with the Austrian Minister of the

Interior (like our U.S. FBI Director) and asked if he would take them to the places he had taken Vice

President Nixon after the Hungarian uprising. The Minister said, “Only for you and do not tell anyone

because I have refused several American politicians.” They took a 3-car group to where Hungary and

Czechoslovakia borders with Austria. Both had barbed wire fences, fresh plowed ground, lookout towers

and soldiers with guns. The Minister changed his license plates 3 times that day!

The life and times of Emma Dean Hinton Fetzer; what a life she lived! At the end of every e-mail, Emma

Dean would always sign off a certain way, so I leave you with her precious words:

“May God richly bless you and yours”,

Leslie Blount Willeford, Class of 1977

Emma Dean Hinton Fetzer

Class of 1941

Gladewater Former Students' Association P. O. Box 1425 Gladewater, TX 75647

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

SCHEDULED 2020 BOARD MEETINGS

Tuesday, October 13 @ 5:30 p.m.

Our meetings are held in the board room of the GFSA Building unless via ZOOM during COVID-19.

Upcoming Events

All School Reunion – February 27, 2021