LHS Class of ‘65 Reunion Held in West Point

The La Grange High School Class of 1965 held its 57th year reunion Saturday, Oct. 1, at the historic Prairie Valley Schoolhouse in West Point. A total of 36 classmates attended the event. Seven military veterans and first responders were recognized. They are Larry Bartosh, Ellinger Volunteer Fire Department Chief and U.S. Navy, and first responder as a member of the Ellinger Volunteer Fire Department; Willie Drab, Jerry Hess, Tom Kubena, and Milton Luecke, all U.S. Army veterans; Marvin Tanecka, Air Force; and Walter Wessels, U.S. Army. A moment of silence was held for the deceased classmates since the last reunion in 2018. They are Carol (Eilers) Thompson, Marianna (Kulhanek) Burk, Barbara (Mueller) Silvus, Kathy (Cornes) Sechriest, Kathleen (Seidel) Pulido, and Donald Brandt. There are a total of 24 deceased classmates from the class. Members of the reunion committee were also recognized. They are Mary Jane Bayless-Henning, Darla Brandt, Gloria Heinrich, Tom Kubena, Betty Moore, Joyce Ruley, Lestell Villanueva, Melba Young, and Judy Zuhn. Travelling the farthest to the reunion was Bruce Jaster of Dallas. The class voted to have the next reunion, which will be the 60th, in October of 2025. Pictured are (front, from left) Dorothy (Zoch) Loewe, Joan (Wenke) Hoffman, Melba Young, Darla (Dippel) Brandt, Arlene (Fischer) David, Betty (Schulz) Voss, Kay (Carter) Crockett, Ron Kaiser, Marvin Tanecka, Lestell (Zapalac) Villanueva, Linda (Giese) Oltmann, Dorothy (Srubar) Lastovica, Judy (Koopmann) Zuhn, Gloria (Freudenberg) Heinrich, May Jane (Roensch) Bayless-Henning, Valerie (Thuemler) Luecke, Dorothy (Schmidt) Berger, and Janet (Kruse) Pickering, (middle row) Shirley (Chovanec) Koch, Betty (Moore) Moore, Mary (Pratka) Kubena, Bruce Jaster, Tom Kubena, Bob Fritsch, Trudy (Hajovsky) Hilliard, Walter Wessels, Milton Luecke, Donald Barnes, Joyce (Lehmann) Foerster, Donald Peck, and Jerry Hess, (back row) Wayne Roitsch, Willie Drab, Rick Peters, Larry Bartosh and George Schaefer. First Responder/Military Classmates, from left: Tom Kubena, Bill Drab, Milton Luecke, Marvin Tanecka, Larry Bartosh, Walter Wessels, and Jerry Hess.