5/19/2020 We have lost Ruth!
I was surprised and saddened to hear just now about the loss of longtime friend Ruth Hornback Orthober, whom I found to be an always chatty and vibrant soul.
We were members of the South
. . .
Continued
Below, something to keep your tummy warm: a big pot of taco soup!
Wondering what Southern High is like today?
Check out this "Southern Rocks" video from YouTube.
Not on our monthly birthday list? Email us
with your birthday info -- and please send us a recent photo, too. We'll put you on our Birthday Watch in right column of this page.
It's not like your age is a secret from your Southern High classmates!
Well, being 78-79 does have advantages ...
In a hostage situation we are likely to be released first.
No one expects us to run into a burning building.
Friends call at 9 p.m. and ask, "Did I wake you?"
People no longer view us as hypochondriacs.
There's nothing left to learn the hard way.
We can eat dinner at 4 p.m.
We enjoy hearing about other people's operations.
We have a party and the neighbors don't even realize it.
We sing along with the elevator music.
Our investment in health insurance is finally paying off.
Our joints are more accurate than the weather service.
We won't remember where we read this.
We're not older, just more colorful!
Among the two dozen attending our June 5 chili supper at Donnie Bradley's home were (l-r) Sandy, Joan, Brenda, Ruth, Kathy and Betty.
An impromptu aggregation of Trojanettes joined
entertainer "Rockin’ Ricky" Powell in warbling some Patsy Cline and Connie
Francis standards, among other golden oldies. None of them (tsk, tsk) knew the
words nor the tune to our SHS pep song much less the Alma Mater! (Left to right)
Barbara Ann, Joan, Betty, Ricky, JoAnn, Pat, Ruth, Kathy and Lana.
Looking elegant amid the glitter, Joan (Doyle)
McCurry and her husband, Terry, footed the bill for the evening’s professional
entertainer, singing DJ and funnyman "Rockin’ Ricky" Powell.
Yes, you can still order our 170-page, spiral bound printed directory of the SHS Class of 1960 by contacting Barbara Ann Forrester Fultz at (502) 417-9854. Plus, she also has the newly printed 200-plus page guide to the Class of 1961, as well. You may well want to have both books! She even has DVD slide shows, too. Get your own copy of the Saturday evening program simply by clicking here.
The lake view from our 70th birthday party.
Our Southern High School Class of 1960’s collective 70th
Birthday Party Bash at South Park Country Club on Friday, August 17, 2012, began
with a buffet line. Among the entrée selections, the fish was exceptional.
Our fellow Southerners may wish to visit our related Facebook pages, in
particular, "Southern High Class of 1960 Reunion," but also "Southern Grads,"
"Southern High Class 1960," and "Southern High School 1962ers" among others.
Gary and Gwen Robinson drove in from Lawrenceburg for our
collective 70th birthday party. “It was a nice, easy-going evening,” reflects
Gary. “I wish it could have lasted longer. I guess we talked more with those at
our table — David and Ceely, Rich, Joan, Buddy and Sue. I particularly enjoyed
getting to meet for the first time my ole buddy Harold Risner’s wife, Brenda.”
Gary and Gwen are making plans to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary at
the end of October. “And my mom will be celebrating her 95th birthday!”
I married Jan Coy (SHS 1961). We have four children, two daughters and two sons. We have nine grandchildren, God’s gift for raising the brats. All four of our children served in the military.
I attended the University of Louisville while working at Porter Paint Company. In 1968 I applied for a position at E-Bond Epoxy in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. First time I saw the ocean or any other salt water for that matter. The owner took me deep sea fishing on his boat. I hooked a 100 pound sailfish and he hooked me. I moved to Fort Lauderdale the week before spring break. Jan and the girls stayed in Louisville to sell the house. OMG. Also, I learned why it was called Fort Liquordale. Did I mention I married a Saint?
I enjoyed working as a chemist for E-Bond. I formulated the first adhesive for the highway lane reflectors. Also, when NASA scratched the Apollo lunar rover I was called in on a Sunday to made a quart of international orange epoxy to repair the scratch. We charged NASA $2,000.00 and, of course, I received zero.
I invested in a SCUBA business and started teaching. It was rough teaching all of the bikini clad students. We started building the Fort Lauderdale artificial reef. Today it is one of the largest artificial reefs in the world. We put the first boat on the bottom for the reef. Did I mention it wasn‘t on purpose? Our shop was "The Sea Shop" on McNab Road in Fort Lauderdale. Soon we opened the first SCUBA shop on South Bimini in the Bahamas. Now it was very difficult, I had to transport the bikini clad students to the islands twice a month. Did I mention I married a Saint?
The SCUBA community was rather small at that time and we mostly knew each other. We were involved in a search for the Santa Maria (Columbus’s mother ship) off of Haiti. Treasure hunters were constantly looking for investors. I felt very strongly about the Santa Maria. One day while my partner and I were both working the shop, we got a visitor looking for funding. His name was Mel Fisher and he wanted us to invest in a Treasure ship (Nuestra Señora de Atocha) south of Key West.
Since I knew we would be better off investing in the Santa Maria, I talked my partner out of us investing in the Atocha. This started a string of my investing prowess. We never found the Santa Maria. However I did visit Mel’s Museum of the Atocha’s treasure. Had to pay 10 bucks to get in.
My partner and I sold the SCUBA business and I started selling life and health insurance. I did fairly well in the insurance business. After two years my boss ask me to start I new agency in Georgia. He would finance the agency for the first five years. At the end of the five years the agency will break even. I said OK and moved to Atlanta. The first year I made twice my goals and won the company’s best new agency award. Three months later the company stopped all financing, and I was $40,000.00 in the hole. Did I mention my investing prowess? I quit.
It was 1976. I was unemployed and broke. I took a job selling printing paper in three states and enrolled in Law School. I graduated with a Juris Doctor degree in 1980 and took the Bar Exam in November 1980 and passed. I quit my job. I opened my law practice in our living room just before Christmas of 1980. Have I mentioned I married a Saint?
I specialized in criminal defense. I learned very early that that my clients would lie to me. On one of my first high profile cases, my client was charged with burglary. He told me he didn’t know anything about a camera that was found in his truck. During the trial, the state developed the roll of film in the camera and found my client’s picture just after the owner’s family pictures. I also found that some police officers will lie. I love it when they forget the video camera is on in their squad car. I believe that this country will remain great as long as someone will fight for and defend individual rights.
I also handled divorce and domestic cases. In doing so, I met some of the most selfish and mean people in the world. I always said I like criminal defense better because criminals are more honorable.
Around 2006, I changed my practice to real estate development. During this time, I invested money in some of the real estate developments and in Bank Stock. The way the market was going, I felt I would, at least, quadruple my investment. Did I mention my investing prowess?
In October 2007, I went to the Florida v. Georgia football game in Jacksonville, Florida. Before the game I had a heart attack. I didn’t get to the game. During the next two years my investments and my health fell through the roof. My law practice also declined because many of my clients went under and couldn’t pay what they owed to my firm. While I was in the hospital, for a quad by-pass, my best friend and client sued me for two million dollars. I retired.
Jan and I wanted to move to Florida. Well, I wanted to move to Florida. I wanted to live out my life fishing for billfish and other blue water fish. I researched the area and found the perfect place. I was going to fish for marlin this summer. However the feds ban fishing in my area. I move to Pensacola. Shortly thereafter, an oil rig exploded.
I am thinking about another career as an investment consultant.
All the above aside, I really have had a great life. I wouldn’t trade with anyone. I am blessed with 4 children that love me as I love them. My grandbabies are their greatest gift to me. The oldest is 25 years old and the youngest was born June 7th, 2010. My wife Jan is indeed a Saint. She has put up with me for 48 years. The oil is being cleaned up. Soon the fishing ban will be lifted. I have friends who will fish and golf with me.
Here are a few photos from the 70th birthday party. These were made by Barbara Ann (Forrester) Fultz. Hopefully, we have shots of everyone attending.
Paparazzo Barbara Ann caught these two dancing
before the music had begun, and she confided to me that they’re "an item." I can
keep a secret, Barbara. That’s our classmates Mary (Brown) Tewmey and Donald
Baird.
David and Ceely Shepherd made a family affair out of coming to Louisville for
our Birthday Bash. "We also are visiting my son and two grandchildren, who live
in Goshen, and my sister, who lives in Scottsburg, Indiana," David tells us.
Married for 42 years, the Shepherds live in Florida. "After I retired from the
railroad, a few hard snows is all it took," notes David. Among classmates he
enjoyed seeing, he mentions Mike Grider: "I bought a fishing boat from Mike way
back when. And Gary Robinson: same ole Gary, same ole laugh. We played in the
band together. I asked Gary, who is quite a gardener, what kind of tomatoes he
likes to grow, and he said ‘Mr. Stripey,’ the same variety I like down in
Florida, red with yellow and orange stripes; they grow up to two pounds!
Ask David about the time he riled Southern teacher Ruth Miss Willis. He’s still
explaining why "it wasn’t my fault!"
Mike and Sandy (Herdt) Potter, both Southern grads,
have been key movers in organizing our various reunion events. "We had a great
time," reports Sandy. "The food was good, and I talked to people I haven’t seen
in a long time!" The Potters celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on Feb.
23, 2012.
Morris and Barbara Sue (Sanders) Longacre arrive in
a splash of color. And why shouldn’t the late Morris be clad in purple; he was Southern
grad, too, (Class of 1957) and he was a standout athlete. Four years is quite an
age spread in high school, though. "Oh, we didn’t date in high school," explains
Barbara Sue, who swished her poodle skirt through the chemistry lab in our
junior year. "After Southern, I attended Western, and I posted a note on the
bulletin board, as college students used to do, hoping to hitch a ride home.
Well, the rest is history!"
We thought no one could come between Ernest "Sonny"
and Betty (Beasley) Miller — and yet! Sue, is that you gal? These early party
arrivals were ready for some fun.
Patricia Louise looks quite elegant in purple. Pat
(Cook) Riggs is retired from the Bullitt County Board of Education. Her favorite
pastime is "to work on genealogy. I have over 6,000 people in my report and go
back to 1613 on my family and to 1530 on Leon's family." She and Leon will
celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary in January 2013!
Janeffa (Bridges) Hall married Elmer in 1964. They
have three children, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild. "After Elmer
Ray retired, we bought a condo in Florida and spend six months there and six
months in Shepherdsville."
David and Carolyn "Connie" (Barmore) Gay live on
Peaceful Way in Shepherdsville. Connie wrote in the senior annual that her
favorite pastime was "talking on the telephone." Some things never change. (Now,
if we could get her to write a personal bio.)
As people began arriving at the South Park Country
Club for our SHS Class of 1960 collective 70th birthday year party,
Barbara Ann got this side by side shot of Carolyn (Anderson) Polston and her
daughter, Angela. Same size, same hair, same complexion and same eyes! Our
classmate was ready to celebrate, though her own birthday is in April.
Joe and Jo Ellen (Thurman) Crouch have three children. Jo
Ellen celebrated a big (Shhh) birthday on July 31, but she was happy to extend
the party to August 17 in order to include her classmates. Now, if we could get
her to complete her profile. (Regretfully, we must add that Jo Ellen passed away on May 27, 2014, Details are in our Family News section.)
"I think now is the best time of my life, and I’m
grateful to God for helping me realize that every day is precious," says Lee
Markwell, photographed with his wife, Marte. Any children? How about David,
Susan, Paul, Cynthia Lee, Michael, Jeanne, Sheri and Cindy Lynn! Grandkids, you
betcha!
Southern High reunions are a family tradition in the
Riggs clan, lately. While Melves and Martha Riggs are shown here at our 1960
get-together, Melves’ sister, Marcella Brooks, had her Class of 1961 reunion
event last year, and his younger brother, Joe, came in for his SHS Class of 1962
50th reunion on August 11, this year!
Beverly (Sanders) Humphress and her late mom, Jenny Cruse, who is also classmate
Pat (Hogan) Morgan’s aunt.
"David never meets a stranger," brags April (Burks)
Bond as her husband blends right in with April’s classmates at our 70th
Birthday Bash. "David likes to dance, too," continues April, "and he goes with
Bonnie and me when we line dance with the "Nuts and Honeys" group.
"I don’t need to catch up with my pal April at this
party," explains Bonnie (Carney) McMurray. "We see each other a couple of times
a week." Bonnie lives in Taylorsville, but works in the personnel office at the
Salvation Army in Louisville. "On my lunch hour, I like to walk over to Fourth
Street Live, just to see what’s going on, and I love to read when I can."
We jotted down David Shepherd’s phone number since we barely got to talk to
him and his pretty wife, Ceely, but he did have time to tell us about coming
across a passel of wild turkeys a while back. The Shepherds live in Crestview,
Florida.
Sounding like someone released from imprisonment,
Kathy (Pybus) Ryan told us, "June 1 was my first day out — it was my birthday,
too! — and I am still learning to enjoy retirement." We’re pleased you’re ‘out,’
Kathy, and we hope you have a long and happy tenure in your newfound freedom. At
Kathy’s behest, her friend, Cindy Smith, created the beautiful cake for our
recent birthday party bash!
Sandy (Priddy) Page brought her son, Sean Page, to our 70th
Birthday Bash. We are more accustomed to seeing Sandy photographed on a horse.
She is actively involved in distance and endurance riding with her Arabian
horses. "I have 36 acres in Southern Indiana and would love to retire, but
that’s probably not possible for a long time. My son and his wife are helping me
build a bermed house with an interior that uses logs made by the Amish."
OK, we photographers sometimes hand our cameras off
and "watch the birdie," too. I gave my Nikon to Barbara Ann Fultz, who deftly
grabbed this shot of me without even rising from her chair. – Jim Reed
Click above to visit our site on Facebook!
Impromptu on the SHS auditorium stage Friday afternoon starring Pat O'Bryan (left) and the late Sandy (Stone) Barratt.
Click
here to see lots more photos from
our 50th reunion tour of Southern!
Hover your mouse over the lower right of the teachers slide show window below and a small yellow block will appear. Click on it to display slide show full screen.
Southern High Faculty
Southern Saturday Nights
On weekends at Southern, the cafeteria often underwent a transformation. In addition to weekly sock hops, on occasion we added an extra touch for formal dances by hanging crepe paper and hiring a real, live band! Formals were a special opportunity for the girls to strut their stuff in high heels and their best party frocks complemented by color-coordinated corsages, while the guys grudgingly donned sports coats, ties and boutonnieres. The spell was cast and magic was in the air as we and danced the night away.
Family News Summary
Enter your Family News Item choosing from our pre-defined categories:
Anniversary, Award, Birth, Death, Diagnosis, Engagement, Graduation,
Lottery, Retirement, Vacation, Wedding, Other.
We need detective work. We have yet to find a number of folks. Maybe you can supply a lead. Let's find our missing SHS 1960 classmates
Let's find our missing partners!
Let's join forces to locate our "Missing" classmates.
The SHS Class of 1961 also asks our help. Their reunion was August 20, 2011. They have yet to find a
number of folks. Maybe some of us can supply a lead. Let's find our "missing" SHS 1960 and 1961 classmates
Let's join forces to locate all of our SHS classmates.
“This was my senior prom
picture taken by my mother at my parents’ home on South Park Road while I was
waiting for my date, Jim,” writes Joan (Doyle) McCurry. “Jim had a
Corvette! Trouble was, in my prom dress, I couldn’t fit in it. So, we doubled
dated that night with Delores Chancey and Bobby Knipp and had a
great time. After the prom we went back to Delores’ house and danced until two
o’clock in the morning! I know there were more pictures taken that night, but
they must have gone the way of the wind! The great thing about old pictures is
that there are no wrinkles.”
This photo "was taken graduation day in my parents' front yard on Shepherdsville Road," writes Carole (Miesner) Shramovich, who went with her husband, George, to his
own 50th high school class reunion last September.
As was often the case with Southern girls, Mary (Renfro) Coy reports , "I picked the pattern, and my mother made my graduation dress." A stunning redhead in a beautiful dress! "On graduation day, after the morning practice, Diane Clark, Joyce Phelps and I went downtown to a movie before the evening commencement exercise."
Our classmate Janet (Farak) Martin tells us, "As of June
27, I have hiked all the maintained trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park. My strangest experience in the Smokies happened on the very last night . .
. (Check our Message Board for the story!). Also an alpine skier, When not
in "travel mode," Janet was a trial lawyer for 25 years.
One of our driving forces in the SHS reunion planning effort is "Rapid Ruthie" (Hornback) Orthober who recalls that years ago, "My husband was racing cars at the local tracks and as an amateur on the local NASCAR circuit. I decided if he could, I could, and for a couple of years I drove in the Powder Puff series!"
Ruth tells us "Reconnecting with everyone has brought back lots of memories. I really look forward to this reunion!"
Barbara Ann (Forrester) Fultz has been behind a camera
since our days at Southern. She was told by a teacher that a girl couldn't be
annual staff photographer, because "girls wear dresses and, well, they can't
be climbing ladders and stuff like that to shoot photos." Incensed at such
discrimination, she's been shooting photos ever since. Barbara Ann launched our
SHS web site and spends hours each day keeping it updated and refreshed. It's just like her to peek from behind a tree since she so often works behind the scenes, but a girlfriend caught this shot of Barbara Ann a few weeks ago
for a moment making a pretty picture -- in front of the camera lens.
Where's the flattop go, Bob? Robert Hitt,
as he's known these days, lives in Maine now, but "I was a working actor for 20
years in New York City and around the country. I did plays, commercials and TV
sitcoms. My film work was a great experience, and I frequently worked in big
films, but my parts were often small. A couple of my favorite films are: All
That Jazz, and Missing (with Jack Lemmon)." Read more about this "Southern Man" in
our online profiles, and if you have not done, so please update your own
personal bio.
The Trojan Man: Fit, trim and muscled, always ready for action. Marlboros in shirt pocket, this one-time U.S. Army special agent lived in Cincinnati for 43 years, but is now back in Louisville. He splits his time between tennis and ballroom dancing. Rich Stevenson, shown above at age 33, is doing the final editing on "The Second American Revolution," to be published shortly. He still has an infectious laugh that soars above the crowd.
Harold and Brenda Risner live in the Prospect area and
are the doting grandparents of their daughter’s three girls. We saw Harold
table-hopping all evening. Harold’s dad, Ben Risner, taught math at Southern,
while his mother, Mildred, taught at Okolona Elementary. Harold donated eight
"sharp" door prize gifts for our 70th birthday party, all of which
would make Crocodile Dundee proud.
Linda (Rohn) Deutsch, John Moore and Ruth (Hornback) Orthober pose for a color picture -- in black and white!
Table after table of our 1950s vintage high school memorabilia included everything from wood shop creations to hand made "cootie catchers."
Vying for hands-on claim to the balloons as we head for the exit after an exciting evening are Lovie Ann (Higdon) Baker, Wendell Cash and Jo Ann (Stratton) Payton, who is clutching her copy of the updated yearbook.
Been in Louisville lately? Above is Waterfront Park. Click photo to
enlarge.
Look: We have an alternative short link to our
Southern High School Class of 1960 web site:
SHS 1960 "Seniors" seen
at Mike Linnig's.
Can you identify them?
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