-- East Coast Edition –
-- Printed in Loving Memory of Wanda J.
Jackson 1934 - 2011 –
Read old/current issues and send news
or comments online at:
http://www.234enterprises.com/RooseveltNews/newscenter.htm
Editors:
E-mail: mmay@234enterprises.com
Carolyn Niebruegge May Michael L. May 
Vol. 1, Is. 9 Sept.
16, 2011
From the
Editor
I’m sorry, but get
prepared. If you look closely you’ll see
that I’m getting ready to “get on my soapbox.”
As you may remember, I’ve said before, “I can’t make news, I just report
it.” Well that’s not completely
true. For the last 8 weeks we’ve
reported a minimal amount of news that has been forwarded to us and for what
we’ve received we are very appreciative.
However, truthfully we have “made” much more of the news ourselves than
we had expected would be necessary and our coffers are running empty. For this endeavor to work, the relationship
between the editors and the readers needs to be a little like
a marriage of sorts--each side must participate. We have on several occasions asked for input
and know that with over 350 people receiving this publication input from only a
small portion can make a tremendous difference on the challenges placed upon
us. Please, please help us make this paper stand up to its potential by sending
us information, stories, news worthy items, etc. We have made a gallant effort to see that the
paper is not filled with “boiler plate” but rather new and different
information and articles each week. Only
with your help can we continue to publish the quality of paper that we feel we
have put out up to this point. You, the
readers, are the common denominator and can make the difference. Enough said.
Michael has now stepped off of his soapbox and has left the building…
mlm
Content
Contributors for the Week
Junior
Curtis
Teresa
Threadgill
All
those who sent messages to the Email “Bag”
Thank
you all!
Remembering Willard
Cook
In previous “remembering
articles” I have used the term “original” to describe the person being
featured. As I start writing this piece,
it occurs to me that I may have misused the term on the others and should have
reserved it exclusively for Willard. Who
could be more original than one having printed on his monument, “I’m Doing All
Right”?
One needs to keep in mind
that as I write these articles, I’m writing them from memories “stored” by a
very small boy and being retrieved by an old man. So, some things may get skewed over that 50
year or so span. I’m a little more
nervous over this one, because I know there’s nothing I may say that Buck Cook
didn’t live. So, Buck, if my
recollection strays a little from what you remember as fact, just chalk it up
to poor memory on my part and if you feel better about it, call it
fiction. I don’t think your Dad would
care. Whatever, I assure you, regardless
it will make for good reading.
Willard was a “bigger than
life” character or as my Daddy used to say describing someone who had a lot of
activity going on--“He bored with a big auger.”
During Willard’s early years he was wholly associated--in a big way with
Shetland ponies--a lot of them. How
many? I don’t really know, but if I had
to guess, I’d say upwards of one hundred or more. They were all stabled south of
Now comes the part that
caught this little boy’s eye. Obviously,
business had to spread well beyond his home base of Roosevelt and to do this he
had one of the most awesome fleets of GMC trucks and pickups in southwest
Oklahoma that he used to ferry these little giants around the country. Big, light blue and white and covered in
chrome. What a sight. They had a real “flash factor.” I could only dream of riding around the
country in one of those beautiful beasts.
All of Willard and Fern’s children--Buck, Paula (Tom as her Dad called
her), and Joel were all involved in the operation at one time or another. As I recall, each took a team of ponies and
scattered to the four winds. His Santa
Sleighs were huge and pulled by a team of around 20 ponies. Every Christmas parade of any consequence had
one of Willard’s sleighs as an entry.
I think it would be very
fair to also describe Willard as a “Showman.”
He liked chrome, flash, and sparkle.
A couple of his kids did too. In
1961 or 1962, Paula and Joel bought new
You need to understand that,
as a child, I had a first hand view of what was going on at the Cook residence
as their house was immediately south of the playground at the grade
school. Along with all the “pony stuff”
was a huge St. Bernard who spent more time than he would have probably liked
tied to the power pole at the corner of the lot. That was the first real, live St. Bernard I
had ever seen and I was impressed.
As with most of us, things
change. The grandeur of what appeared to
me to be a dream career eventually faded.
The ponies were sold off and were replaced with combines. I believe, unlike the ponies, a couple of
those trucks made the transition from hauling ponies to hauling wheat.
Willard Cook, his children,
and the Shetlands hold a special place in the history of
mlm
Thoughts from
the Squirrel Lair
Watch
this space for news on the upcoming Roosevelt High School Reunion which will be
September 30 and October 1. We will be
bringing you updates on the plans for the
********
20 Year Party
The
class of 1991 would like to invite everyone to come help them celebrate their
20 year class reunion. We will meet at
the Roosevelt Bar Friday night, Sept. 30, after the mixer at the grade school. Hope to see you there.
********
Auction
As
the 2009 Newsflash which was sent out with the Reunion Invite and Registration
form mentioned, there will be an auction again this year. The auction is very important as that is the
source of revenue to keep the Alumni Association functioning. The past auctions have raised funds which
enabled the Alumni Committee to make the decision to eliminate the $5
membership fees. So as we approach the
reunion, everyone needs to be thinking of items they will bring to auction. You might be surprised how much one of your
former classmates would like to have an item of yours. We thought it might stir up interest if we
could publish a list of items you are planning to bring. So please email us a listing of any items you
plan to bring, mmay@234enterprises.com.
Items
thus far:
Jerry
Hayslip:
Basketball
autographed by the 1995 OU Sooners girls’ team
Crank
telephone from the 1940’s or 1950’s
Jennifer
Moore:
2
(1 red and 1 white) XL Our Pride Roosevelt 1902-1993 tee shirts
2
OU fee shirts
OU
caps and several other OU items
Mike
May:
2
Carpenter Family Cookbooks (compiled, edited, and autographed by Carolyn
Niebruegge May)
********
Reservations
Reservations for the 2011
Roosevelt High School Reunion have been received from the following: Those in red are new this week. Please send in your registration form if you
plan to attend any of the weekend events.
We want to be sure you are registered and your name is on the list even
if you do not plan to stay for the dinner.
Class of 1943:
Class of 1945:
Joyce (
Class of 1946:
Emily (Martin) Bennight and Welsey; Mable Blackwood
Class of 1947: Bobbi (Alford) Buckner
Class of 1948:
Cotton (Muse) Mathis and
James; Richard McConnell; Dee (Muse) Moore
Class of 1949:
Bob Sheets; Pat Moore; Norene (Goodin) Jackson and
Willie
Class of 1950:
Paul Hay
Class of 1951:
Class of 1953:
Tom Alford; Shirley (Webb)
Cook and Dober; Evelyn Walters; L. D. Sheets and Oweeda;
Phyllis (Cook)
Class of 1955:
Beverly Gray and Don Taylor
Class of 1956: Rose (Chance) Anderson; Dwight
Peterson; Buck Cook; Bill Pitts and Edra
Class of 1957:
Jim Law and Alice; Johnny
Block; Walter Farrar; Darrell Cooper and Dovie
Class of 1958:
Merle Jones and Kathy
Falconer; Ronald Hebensperger and Janet;
Class of 1959:
Jerry Alford; Norwood
Pollard; Gene Janes and Janice; Mike Berridge; Dale Tufford; Dale
Cain; Jackie Davis; Dolores (Eaton) Earley; Betty (Gaidaroff) Morgan and Linda (Gaidaroff)
Clark; Lee Griffee and Shirley; Betty (Armstrong)
Barnes and James and Kendra; Yvette Nash
Class of 1960:
Henry Graves and Delois; Cheryl Eaton; Jimmie Johnson and Carolyn; Joel Cook and Deanna Cook
Class of 1961:
Paula (Miller) Block; Linda (Muldowney) Dills and Robert; Jim Hebensperger;
Linda (Goodin) Hash;
Class of 1962:
Joe Mac Ankney;
Howard (Rex) LaFever and Mary; Dan Hayslip and Susan;
Bill and Jean Ann (Schrader) Lyde; Ronnie Collmer;
Freddie Johnson and Joan; Austilene (Turner) Borum; Sam McNeil and Doug
Class of 1963:
Johnny Alford; Karen Denton
and Tommy; Stana Hammons
Class of 1964:
Bonnie (Pollard) Phillips and
John; Jerry Hayslip; Tommy Hebensperger
Class of 1965:
Class of
1966: Malynda Adams and
Donald
Class of
1968:
Class of
1969: Janet (Starcher)
Shirley and Randy; Sebi Alonzo and Linda Alonzo
Class of
1971: Glen Brazil
Class of
1972: Jenny Loveless and Paul; Joe
Rutledge
Class of
1973: Rick Hilliard; Bruce Cook and
Vickie;
Class of
1975: David Jackson; Gilbert Alonzo and
Tonya Burton
Class of
1977: Gayla (Cook)
Miller; Johnny Starcher and Donna Schiller
Class of
1978: David Stroud and Gayleen; Penny (Martin) McCustion
Class of
1979: Pam (Stroud) Jackson; Sabrina
(Stroup) Vincent
Class of
1981: Donnie Peterson and
Michelle and Danial
Class of
1985: Chris Ankney and Clelsen Ankney
Class of
1988: Mijo Chard and
Linda Melton
Class of
1989: Ryvers Simmons
Class of
1991: Glenda Jenkins and Cody; Krystal (Mahoney)
Lancaster, Bill and Tommy
Guests: Brenda (Stroud) Wilhite;
Clithia (Stroud) Kilbourne;
Carri Stroud; Carolyn Martin; Charles and Barbara
Pollard; Samatha Jo (Cooper) Beason
and Robert
Alumni Website
We have renewed the account that
Where have you
been? What have you done?
This
is the first week for this new section of newsletter. We have had readers suggest that we ask
former
********
As we mentioned in last
week’s newsletter, this new section, “Where have you been? What have you done?” is in response to
suggestions from readers who wanted to know about their former
schoolmates/friends. Then we got the suggestion
that we should tell you what Mike has done since graduating from
After graduating from
I should break here and tell
you how Mike and I met as we have received questions about that as well. During his first year at OSU, he became good
friends with my brother, Kenneth Niebruegge.
During Mike’s senior year, I was attending OSU, working on my M.S.,
living in an apartment, and cooking meals for Kenneth and me. Kenneth would invite Mike over to have dinner
with us. Mike says he realized he liked
my cooking and decided to ask me out. He
says my cooking led to love. Now, he was
slow coming to that conclusion, as I had accepted a teaching position at
Upon graduating from KSU,
Mike accepted a position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in
Our daughter,
We moved to our current home
in 1979. We are so fortunate to have a
nice wooded lot in a quiet neighborhood.
The deer wander through our yard and are sometimes accompanied by a red
fox. Squirrels are so plentiful that we
have a difficult time keeping feed in the bird feeders so that we can enjoy the
beautiful birds that come to them. The
drawback to all of this is that there is always yard work to be done so Mike
spends way too much of his time doing that.
Enough about us. Please send
us information so we can share “What you have been doing?” and “Where you have
been?” in our future newsletters.
Birthdays and
Anniversaries
We
have compiled all of the birthday and anniversary information we could from
Wanda’s files. We are sure we are
missing some. Please send us the
birthdays and anniversaries for your family and friends so that we can have as
complete as list as possible. We are
going to start with what we have from Wanda’s files so if we miss you, please
send us the information so we have it for the news next year. In addition, should any of the birthdays we
list be wrong, also please let us know.
Happy Birthday
To:
September 20 –
September 21 – Glenda
September
21 – Gereldene Durham
September 21 – Micheal Saville
September 21 – Cindy Garrison
September 21 – Ramona Cline
September 21 – Will Funkhouser
September 21 – Julie Funkhouser
September 22 – Brooke Chapman
September 22 – Rich Ainslee
Humor
Early
Morning Police Stop
An elderly man is stopped by the police
around 2 a.m. and is asked where
he is going at this time of night.
The man replies, "I am on my way to a lecture about alcohol abuse
and
the effects it has on the human body, as well as smoking and staying out
late."
The officer then asks, "Really? Who is giving that lecture at this time
of night?"
The man replies, "That would be my wife."
From the Email
“Bag”
Junior Curtis sent the
following to me. It is quite
moving. At the end you are asked to pass
it on. Hopefully, I’ve done my part by
sending it to over 350 of you. It is
worth passing on. BTW, better have some
tissues handy. If you don’t need them--you’d
better get yourself checked out!
http://dinarvets.com/forums/index.php?/topic/73849-may-god-bless-this-airline-captain/
********
September
8, 2011
I
sure enjoy the newsletter. Thanks for
doing this. I talked to a classmate for
the 1950 class, Barbara Hilliard. Please
add her to your list if she isn’t already on it.
Peggy
Wallis, Class of 1950
********
September
9, 2011
Michael, I
received this from a friend in N.C. I thought the
http://www.thestatenislandboys.com/U_thrill_me/
Jim Whitson, Class of 1957
********
September
9, 2011
Hi
Mike and Carolyn,
In
your last Roosevelt News you wrote about going to “beautiful downtown” Meers to
eat hamburgers. It reminded me of the
time your dad asked us to go there for hamburgers. Often some of us men would help him work his
calves but would ask for no pay. In
return Gayle would always have chicken on the plate when we returned from the
farm. One Saturday though he asked us
and our wives to Meers for hamburgers but having arrived after six o’clock we
were told we were too late for hamburgers but were told we could order
steak. Well, the steak was a dollar an
ounce and there was a big table of us.
When LeRoy started to pay the check, he was short of cash but refused
help from us. After digging in every
corner of his billfold, he came up with a $100 bill. They were good neighbors and we miss them.
********
September 9, 2011
Oh my goodness. I was sad to read where Joan Johnson
Christianson has passed away. I remember her all the way back from when I
was just a small child. Of course, with Marvin and Eunice living just
down the street, I knew nearly all of the Johnson Clan. She always came
to the reunions and of course she did not remember me... I could say I do
look a bit different from when I was a child!! Ha ha!
Looking forward to the reunion.
I loved the tribute to Carl Smelser. He was a grand man and
would do anything within his power for you. My very
first credit card (maybe that was not a good thing).
Jennifer Moore, Class of 1968
********
September 9, 2011
HI,
I was just wondering if you
were talking to 'Peggy" and your call had to be transferred to several
other people and still winding up talking to 'Peggy"?
Sorry you were having so
much trouble. Hope the internet will settle down and all emails will go
through.
You do write a very
interesting news letter. Keep up the good work.
See you eat the reunion
----
Hugs Austilene Turner
Borum, Class of 1962
********
September 12, 2011
Hi Mike,
Just
wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed reading the story on Carl. Any time
someone needed some money they would always say, “Well, I need to go and see
Uncle Carl.” Everybody knew what he or
she meant when they would say need to go see Uncle Carl. Mike, as you know we were a very poor family
but I never knew Carl ever turning Daddy down on a loan. I was with him many times and he always got a
loan. Not like today when you have to
put up your house just to get a $500. So
Mike, I agree with you that Carl was a great man and banker. It was fitting to
have that city park named in honor of him.
See ya in two weeks.
Jerry Hayslip, Class of 1964
********
September 13, 2011
Betty Block Broadus gave me your name - said you are
keeping up with news of
make it back to the reunions but would like to hear
about old class mates. I would also like to hear from anyone who
graduated about the same time I did. Please e-mail me at emmowery@gmail.com.
Thanks
for your help.
Edna
(Rader) Mowery, Class of 1950
********
September 13, 2011
I
hope I am writing to the right person regarding the
The info was forwarded to me by Peggy Wallis.
I sent a reservation in earlier but I will not be able to attend this
year. Please use the ticket however you
see fit or consider the cost of the ticket a donation to the Roosevelt Reunion
fund.
I was very surprised to hear of David Rule's death just yesterday. I have
talked with his wife Dorothy and given her my regards. David and I were good friends in
I would appreciate being added to your mailing list for any news of the reunion
and other
Out of curiosity, I did know a Charles May in
Thanks for your time and efforts and I am sorry to miss the get together this
year.
Paul D Hay, Class of 1950
pdhay2001@yahoo.com
Obituaries
Joyce
(Robinson) Sorrell, 67, wife of “Buzz” Sorrell (class 1960) passed away August
29, 2011. http://www.hightowersmemorial.com/sitemaker/sites/highto1/obit.cgi?user=445280Robinson
David
Rule, Class of 1950, passed away Sept. 12.
We will post further information when it is available.
Mike
Jackson, Class of 1970, passed away Sept. 14.
We will post further information when it is available.
Joan
(Johnson) Christenson, 78, (Class of 1951) passed away September 6. There is no online obituary available so we
are printing the obituary in full.
Joan (Johnson) Christenson
was born in
Joan attended Roosevelt
Schools graduating in 1951. She married
Lloyd Block, Jr. in January, 1951. They
had three daughters. She later married
Maj. Frank Christenson. His tours of
duty took the family to
The memorial service was
Monday, September 12, 2011, at the chapel at
Joan was preceded in death
by her parents, her brother Jerry Johnson, her infant daughter Janis Gwenn Block,
and her husband Frank Christenson. She
is survived by daughters, Teresa and husband Michael Threadgill, and Cynthia
and husband Bob Reynolds; granddaughters, Anastasia Layne and Courtney Booth;
great grandchildren, Damion and Natasia;
aunt
Useful
Links:
Becker
Funeral Home of Snyder, OK
http://www.beckerfuneral.com/?page=snyder
Ray
and Martha’s Funeral Home of Hobart,
http://www.234enterprises.com/Roosevelt%20Cemetery%20Layout.htm
http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/listing/user/rooseveltcemetery
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99397&CScn=roosevelt&CScntry=4&CSst=38
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99399&CScn=Hobart+Rose&CScntry=4&CSst=38
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2246374&CScn=Resurrection&CScntry=4&CSst=38
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=99042&CScn=Mountain+Park&CScntry=4&CSst=38
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=98391&CScn=fairlawn&CScntry=4&CSst=38
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