The Class of 1952 - Nurnberg American High School

A Retrospective

by Bob Giuliano

   The graduating class of Nurnberg American High School is now 68 years old. Yep, fifty years have passed since they left those wet plaster halls of the new high school.

    Fifty years! Can you believe it? There is still a warm spirit that accompanies my memories of these gentle and caring folk. Our school was in a city that was still bombed out. We were the first to enter the new high school and live in the new dorms. We were pioneers of sorts; the beginning of a very long tradition and story. There were only a handful. Thirty one kids in the graduating class, from all over the United States and Canada. In a strange land, but accustomed to adjusting, being from military families. They made friends fast and deep. They said goodbye and meant it. They grieved but got on with life.

   I came to the school late in September of 1951. Everyone knew each other and the community was pretty solid. I had come from three years of watching my mother die, moving to three different high schools, this would be my fourth. I was staggering from sorrow and confusion. They threw large, welcoming arms around me. They were healing angels. Now fifty years have passed. I want to name those kids before you. To remember each one a little bit. To pay my respects and say thanks. I want to bring those kids to life again for a few minutes. Here they are:

• Wally Jones was the only African-American in the school. He was friendly and courageous. It was a time before the time of change. He endured it and spoke openly of it. We learned from Wally and his energy and his kind anger and honesty made him a friend beyond color.


• Carl Peterson, president of the student council was a serious scholar, athlete and careful thinker. He was focused and clear about how things should be and where he was going. Math and history were his strong fields. He went to Princeton.


• Mary Diane Keely, quiet, trusted and able. She was a swimmer and tennis player, vice president of the class and had an artistic eye.


• Nancy Lurvey, soft spoken, kind and interested in everyone. Gentle with her humour, laughing at her self, especially her dancing and sense of rhythm. She was loved too. Elected Queen of the Prom! Really loved.


• George Cleaver had a kind of journalistic quality. Liked guns and writing. Somewhat distant, but in there when needed.


• Mike Clower, a southern boy with strong athletic ability and a good practical mind. A great dancer and jitter-bug whiz. Amazed and entertained us all with his dancing. Brush cut, square jaw, stocky build. Sharp about the Black Market.


• Meg Andreas, a crack shot on the rifle team, shy, flirting eyes, wry grin and always did her homework.


• Michael Bell was a singer, a little distant from the rest, but practical and worked hard enough. He had a sense of tomorrow and was saving up for it.


• Winona Caraway with the mounds of lovely blond curls. Mature, like lots of the girls, dating outside of the school. A scholar too, with a good mind and a willingness to work patiently.


• Marie Coleman. Tall brunette, often smiling and laughing. Did her homework on the train. Didn't waste time. Carried responsibility well.


• Ellen Futch was another lovely blond. Southern girl, with slow, easy speech. Loved Latin, for gosh sakes, and books. Dated outside the school.


• Stan Gappa, of blessed memory. 'Adams Apple', he was called. Tall, gangly, wiry, quick witted and strong to support the work of others. Loved a laugh.


• Jinny Hadfield, sparkling eyes, eager to be involved and to explore life. Agile cheerleader, and able scholar. Won some scholarships. Liked to ski, ride horses and study. Went off to a private school in Pensylavania.


• Roma Lee Hatfield, tall brunette with broad smile. She wore her uncertainties openly and honestly. Easy to be around.


• Janus Jones, fellow Canadian was a quick minded, insightful gal who had intuition that would scare you. But she trusted life and was pretty determined to live it to the full. Good student. Liked folks.


• Joan Kohlman was a New Yorker with a street-wise presence. Laughed a lot and enjoyed her time at Nurnberg. She was waiting patiently for what was to come later. Mature.


• Angeline Magliochetti. A pretty, petite Italian presence. Open and expressive and chummed with the studious and fun loving folks. A nice voice.


• Dick Markham. Tall, impatient to get out of school. More mature than most. Seemed like an old man sometimes. Our resident cynic. Tough minded, but soft at the center. Always kept his promises.


• Marilyn Louise Nelson. A chaplain's kid who suffered that identity along with me. She was quietly faithful to her God in the midst of a lot of other stuff. She was admired and liked. A good student. A kind of quiet sister.


• Beattie Rae Owens. Outgrew us all fast. Dated outside, but had an affection for those of us not yet mature about those things. She was fun and sparkled with her own courage. A great cheer leader. Soft.


• David Page. Awkward kid, hair wild all over his head. Smart, interested and self directed. Liked the sports and one of the girls whom he never told.


• Patrick Skelly. Philosophical guy with a penchant to go it alone most of the time. Was hurting. Did his homework.


• Thomas Ruley. Tall, scowling with an uncontrollable grin. Serious with a tickled pleasure is everything. A good shot. Liked guns.


• Dick Smith. Tall, quiet, off to himself. Didn't get too involved, but went steady with someone I can't recall. Was it ...


• Frances Snead. Also a quiet soul, but present to her friends and did her homework. Mature, like Dick.


• Ray Trapp. Liked guns. Studied hard. Did OK. Socially seeking friends and sometimes the butt of bad painful humour. He took it well and chuckled his responses.


• Barbara Vaughan. One of those who was at the center of community, adding her thoughts and giving it her heart. Did not stand out, but you knew her to be something of the rhythm that the rest of us danced to.


• Beverly Willis. 'Bubbles', with wide dark, mischievous eyes that were always aflame with joy. A good student but loved to get beyond the boredom of classroom material to more exciting stuff. Could, with batting, innocent eyelids, lead a teacher to never never land.


• William D. Willis. A scholar, confident and with jaw set was heading some place private and important. Loved baseball too. Had an easy friendliness in spite of his focus.


• Pauline Worthington. A great cheerleader and friend. Pauline had the capacity to be a friend, to foster friendships and to love many people openly and honesty. You knew you were OK when she was with you. And so was she. Intuitive and forgiving. Suffered too.

   Now, dear reader I have spoken here of people who were seventeen years old fifty years ago. Let your imagination wander and reflect on them now. Can you see them? I can.

   I want to honor them. I want to salute them. I want their names to be remembered. I want you and them to know that I am thankful - that they were the kind of people who took in the wounded kid that I was and made a place for me. They healed.

   They have now completed their working lives. I am sure that they were for fifty years, wherever they were, a healing and caring presence. They will hear, one day, I am sure of it,
      'Well done, good and faithful servant, enter,
      come, inherit the place I have made for you.'

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