George Abbott

I remember playing Little League and pitching for North Texas Steel when I was 12 or so.  Wendell was playing for another team whose name I can't recall, but I do remember he swung a black bat.  Well, the first time he came to the plate, I wanted to throw it hard and see if I could get it by him. I threw a pitch that I thought looked good and right where I wanted it.  Turns out Wendell thought it looked good, too, because he hit it over the fence for a home run.  I walked him a lot after that.  R.I.P., big guy!

Kipp Baker

Wendell Ward. Great guy. I'd agree. How do I know? Consider this:

In 7th grade at McClean Jr High, Wendell Ward was a stocky, football-player-kind of guy. I remember him trying out for the team. I thought I could play football too. We had faced each other in Gra-Y & Tiny Mites football, now we were rookies together.

Wendell had the size - and, if I recall, some good speed for a lineman. He also had a good football attitude of being tough when it counted. His friendly demeanor evaporated when competition showed up.

I had shown I had good eye-to-hand coordination and relatively good speed, but at 4'5" and 100 lbs I was relatively small. When my 6'3"/235lb. dad showed up at practice with a new Riddell Pro style helmet, Coach Bray and Coach Clark decided to give me a chance to "grow" into the team. I was to learn it was a team that protected its own and did not care for special favors like a new pro-style helmet - just for one.

Next play, pads and helmet in place (sort-of, since it sat slightly askew from its too large adjustments), I took the position roughly described as left cornerback. My job was to cover our star wide receiver, Jimmy Perez as he cut over the middle. I had great position, but Jimmy's great hands made the catch. While I rejoiced over taking him down with the perfect "no-yards-after-catch" tackle, the coaches and rest of the team just glowered in disapproval.

The problem was, in PRACTICE, our star players - like our quarterback Johnny Meyerson and wide receiver, Jimmy, were NOT to be tackled.

Wrap them up - but keep them standing, yes!
Give them a polite shove? No problem.
But a picture perfect tackle to the dry, prickly half-grass hard-packed dirt of McClean's practice field

- BAD MOJO.

Who knew?

Another play immediately followed; the defensive line stepped aside and allowed the entirety of the offensive line to pounce and crush me...and my football dreams.

OK. Lesson learned.

What's this got to do with Wendell Ward?

My foggy memory is convinced  it was Wendell - HE was the guy that stepped into that haze of crushing boy-humanity, gave me a hand up, helped dust me off and never hesitated to greet me with a friendly smile and a "hey Baker!" in the hall or in the lunch room. Even if I didn't sit at the "football boys" table, those verbal tokens of acceptance, if not outright approval, have always been important to the hormone-challenged early teen. I was no different.

Like I said, Wendell Ward? Great guy.

Kipp Baker

Mel Cunningham. Another "great guy". Good golfer too.
Please forgive, this should have been posted back last August when Mel passed - but I didn't know how to put this into words. Inspiration struck today - and for whatever reason, I recalled that Mel had a wonderful and impish sense of humor. It served him well. Especially when remembering this story:

Growing up we lived just a short distance from each other(a good three-wood shot) he might have said, and we often saw each other around the neighborhood, sometimes at school.

One summer (1964?) Mel showed up with a shiny new Mo-ped - essentially a glorified bicycle with gasoline powered assist. I would see him puttering up the boulevard we knew as Bellaire - and its big hill - or down and around the neighborhood all summer long.

One day he showed up walking and very glum. A couple of us asked the obvious "Why?". I thought it was obvious because school was resuming in a few short days...

Long pause, then a sigh..."my bike won't run..." he answered...

One of the guys took his arm and said, "hey, let's go look at it...maybe it's a bad spark plug..." The next time we saw each other was in the hall at school. I asked, "What was the deal with your bike?"

He flashed that sheepish smile of his, his eyes crinkled in revelation, head looking down in a bit of embarrassment...

"She was just out of gas!" he replied.

Mel had enjoyed riding around on that Mo-Ped...the whole summer on ONE TANK of gas.
We laughed hard at that.

Suzie Allen (Graf)

I am sorry to hear of the passing of Wendell.  We went all the way through school together.  He was a genuinely nice person.

Claudia Kay

Received a call a few minutes ago saying Royce Andrews has died.  Have no further details at this time.  She has been living in Shreveport LA.

Cathy Hurley

Royce Andrews Simmons Murray

I just found out on Facebook that our friend Royce Andrews died today in Shreveport where she had been living. Sadly, I never knew Royce at Paschal. I wish I had. We seemed to have a lot in common. I know that she had been a fine nurse for many years. She was happily married and had children. She reached out to me a few years ago, and we became friends. She was so kind, gentle, and had the sweetest soul. We were both from railroad families and loved trains. I will miss her forever. My thoughts and prayers are with Royce and her family. I am hoping someone will post about arrangements.

Nicki Thompson (Tyler)

Cannot recall if we ever posted the link to the 50th Reunion Video.  Copy and paste the link below into your browser.

2018 PHS68 Highlight 1 copy.mp4 (dropbox.com)

Gyrene Koonce (Kennedy)

Thanks Nicki for posting the link to the Reunion Video.  Well done!

Ruth Ann Jackson/Woodard (Butler)

Steven McCommas

I just thought of something. Back when we were at Paschal, getting ready to graduate, if we had been visited by some alumni celebrating their 55th reunion, they would have graduated in 1913!  1913, people!  

John Wittman

Yikes...1895 was a very good year...grandparents were born then...

Rick Selcer

Brother Steve:  

Glad to hear you're still alive and kicking, friend! I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that's it's been FIVE years since our 50th Reunion. And now you've got me thinking about 1913 for a 50th graduating class in 1968. (Actually, I think I saw a few of those folks lurking around outside our party in 2018. Gee, the Class of 1895 -- that's back when Paschal would have been segregated not just blacks and whites but also Indians [Native Americans] and whites! Grover Cleveland would have been president. That would make Grover just about old enough now to run for president in 2024. He'd fit right in with the 2 leading candidates. And if you remember your U.S. History, the U.S. was in the midst of a depression [Panic] then so he could speak on his infrastructure bill. Is Donald Trump for bimetalism or the gold standard?) 

Keep kicking, my friend! Hope to see you in October.

Rick

Gyrene Koonce (Kennedy)

I may be overlooking it -- but what time is the Reunion?

Debbie Turner (Monroe)

The reunion starts at 6:30.  Click on 55th reunion on the left side of the home page for all of the information!

Gyrene Koonce (Kennedy)

Thanks Debbie!!

Nicki Thompson (Tyler)

Hope to see everyone at the 55th reunion on 10/21/23!! According to the registrations as of today we have a wonderful group!!! It’s so cool that after seeing friends at the 50th reunion and the 70th birthday, most names are recognizable and I’m so excited to see ya'll again!! In preparing the memorial video for our class it has been so emotional recognizing our departed friends, some of whom we just visited with at a prior reunion and they are now gone. Don’t miss your chance to see each other, make a connection, share a tale, share your past or present, and make a difference! We want YOU there so don’t hesitate, please join us!

Greg Brooks

Word has it the facility is wheelchair and walker accessible.

Kathy (Mary Katherine) O'Byrne (Bradham)

Dear Classmates--

Sometimes words are hard to form our feelings, right?   I'll give it a shot, but would love to hear from all of you about last night!   
While driving home to Argyle/Denton with Elisa (our photographer), she just couldn't stop talking about our  unusually close class, that genuinely cares for each other.  She was right.  It was so wonderful seeing all of you, don't think anyone wanted it to end.  Thank you for the warmest, sweetest hugs that are still with me.  
We are extremely fortunate to have Debbie Turner Monroe, always at the helm, making things happen.  Then there's Billy Rosenthal, with his big generous heart, providing literally everything!   Thank you both for your kindness and the outstanding Paschal spirit in which it was given.  

You know it's not over till our next reunion---so, when Debbie posts our periodic get togethers, usually at Rogers Roadhouse, please come!  

Happy Trails, till we meet again!  

Love you all,
--O'Byrne

Claudia Kay

It was a wonderful event.  We are so fortunate to have people like Billy and Debbie at the helm. 

Good to see you there

Rick Selcer

Kathy:

I think you summed it up perfectly! I, too, hated it to end. Lots of warm, fuzzy feelings from seeing everyone again. Has it really been 2 years since our last get-together? And yes, we are a surprisingly close and caring group -- especially when you consider that when we graduated 55 years ago there were more than 900 of us and at least half of the people we see at these reunions we didn't know then -- and some of them we didn't like! Fifty-five years (and a little more maturity) changes a lot. I never knew Billy Rosenthal or Debbie Turner until these reunions. Now I correspond with Debbie regularly and look forward to seeing them both semi-periodically at these soirees. I spent Saturday night chatting with people I hadn't seen or thought about in a million years. One of them lived right up the hill from me in my Tanglewood Elementary days, and another I hadn't seen, much less talked to, since the 6th grade, but Saturday night we hugged and chatted like old friends. There were 150-something there Saturday night. What happened to the other 800 or so in our graduating class? So many have passed on. So many of us are limping along on bad knees, nursing bad backs and worse. We share memories and music and life experiences with each other that not even kids and grandkids can understand or appreciate. They look upon us like we looked upon our parents and grandparents. We need to hang onto each other and have these get-togethers regularly as long as there is still a handful of us still upright. Debbie, if you'll keep organizing 'em, and Billy, if you'll keep hosting 'em, I'll be there --bad knees, sore back and all! Kathy, thanks for the reminder of what a GREAT night it was.

Gyrene Koonce (Kennedy)

I am so sorry to have missed the event!  It was on my calendar a LOT longer than the family wedding invitation that trumped it (but that was the right decision and it was a beautiful wedding!).  Hope to see everyone at the next one and I can't wait to see the pictures posted from it.

Blessings,

G

Kathy Shields

The event Saturday night was AMAZING.  I had a FABULOUS time and since I was only at Paschal briefly during my senior year, I did run into a few people I knew, but met many, many more and enjoyed every minute!  The venue was incredible and the food, some of the best ever.  Thank you Debbie Turner Monroe, for always taking the lead with these and to Billy Rosenthal, who made this venue available to us all.  Looking forward to the next one!  

Cindy Gray (Anderson)

Hello fellow classmates ... Bill and I just went through all these wonderful pictures and tried to put names to as many faces as possible. Looks like a good time! We wished we could read every name tag -- but these old eyes can't quite read all the last names. We recognized many of you -- Debbie Turner, Paul Williams & Suzie, Billy Rosenthal, Randy McFarland & Dianna, Van Green & Marcy, Don Stanford (no Dianne Byers?), Mike Irvin, Stanley Eisenmann, David Keltner, Dan Anthony, Chris Hawkins, Becky Whitten, Barbara Agee, David Bloxom, Martha Ankele (didn't see Ralph Dean?) Nancy Chatmas, Cynthia Wendland, Susie McDonald, Debbie Coker, Kathy O'Byrne, Melinda Wexler, Linda Taylor, Hope Griffith, Mike & Andy Nance and Cheryl, Don Payte & Cynthia Chapman, Greg Brooks, Lewis Hall, Richard Melina, Bill Carson, Joan Landrum??, Brice Parks, Barbie Simons, Suzie Allen ... just to name a few. Good to see you all! The rest of you -- we just couldn't quite put names to the faces. But to be honest, we didn't know everyone in our huge class even in 1968 (the downside of going to a big school like Paschal.) Even Bill and I barely knew each other then -- we reconnected in Austin in 1972 -- married the next year -- so we just celebrated our 50th in May.

We looked for, but DIDN'T SEE good friends Tom and Karen Rall (guess they sat this one out, like we did -- the 50th was our last) or Nicki Thompson, or Charlie Davis, or Nancy Maples & Steve Madsen, or Cheryl Williams & David Browning, or Cyndi Yoder, or Rick Seltzer, or Shannon Sedwick (you've never come!!!) Hope you are all well.

Then we went through "In Memory" and spoke the name of every person we actually knew. There are invisible threads weaving through the universe ... connecting us all ... and so many great memories.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Cindy (Gray) and Bill Anderson -- below, with our son Austin & his two boys

Claudia Kay

If this ticks you off, I do not care

Many people from Bluebonnet through McLean and Paschal were unkind to Joyce Abramowitz and Royce Andrews becasue of their weight.   Those are scars both women expressed, stayed with them all of their lives.  

It is to late to apoligize now,  Hope people have grown  up and have taught their children and grandchidren not to bully their classmates.

Rick Selcer

Claudia:

I hear your emotion and agree with you in principle. The irony is that more than 60% of Americans have a "weight problem" nowadays. (For what it's worth, I was one of those people when I got to PHS -- not a "weight problem" but just FAT.) The result of those numbers today is that being fat is no longer a "problem" but a money-making opportunity. Thus you have heavyweight stars in their own movies and TV shows, and even featured in commercials that aren't just selling weight-loss products. You have "plus-sized" clothing stores for men and women. I'm afraid the cruelty of half a century and more ago is no longer reprehensible; it's passe. Another example of how the times have passed us by -- like the music I listen to. There are more current battles to fight.