A Self-Portrait By Round Top-Carmine’s Class of 1950

In 1950, Harry S. Truman was President of the United States, the Korean War had begun, and Senator Joseph McCarthy was continuing to spread fear about alleged communist and Soviet influence on American institutions. In a new comic strip called Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz introduced America to the much-loved cartoon character Charlie Brown.

In Fayette County’s Democratic Primary election, Henry J. Schovajsa defeated incumbent Judge H.W. Pitman. In other local news, owner and operator V.A. (Boss) Hrbacek announced the grand opening of the Cottonwood Inn in the Riverside addition of La Grange, across the highway from the entrance to the Sky-Hi Theatre.

Another important date was May 29, 1950, because 14 boys and 18 girls graduated from Round Top-Carmine High School.

The Ties That Bind

With a little assistance from family members, friends and caregivers, nine of the surviving 12 class members gathered for a reunion at JWs Steakhouse in Carmine in September 2023. Reminiscent of a meaningful family reunion, the get-together sparkled with warm memories, bright smiles, laughter and even a few tears.

The Round Top-Carmine High School classmates of 1950 were born during the Great Depression to rural Fayette County families, primarily of the Lutheran faith.

“We all come from a similar background and don’t have to put on airs,” says Floradell Fay Spies Boecker, who now resides near Brenham. In her 1950 graduation profile, Floradell listed her favorite subject as English,giving credit to her teacher Mr. William Graeber, whom she said made the coursework easy. She also enjoyed learning grammar. Back in 1950, she assessed her greatest ability as academics. Her hobby was listening to the radio and she had a pet saying: ‘Now really?’ A word that aptly describes Floradell, then and now, is patient.

Loretta Hartfield Leonhardt of Red Rock, Texas, recalls, “I helped with everything on the farm. I picked cotton, cut corn stalks, harvested corn, helped with the hay. I milked cows every morning before I caught the school bus. The making of molasses was very important to my family. There’s nothing like bacon, eggs and toast with molasses for breakfast, but all those things took work.”

Loretta started school at Rock Hill School, skipping the third grade. When the small schools in the area consolidated to offer better educational opportunities, she entered the fourth grade at Round Top. She moved on to Round Top-Carmine High School in the seventh grade. In preparation for graduation, she noted her favorite song was ‘Whispering Hope’ and her favorite movie ‘The Green Promise.’ Loretta’s hobbies were reading and collecting stamps; she was a good dancer and her ambition was to be a secretary. For several years, Loretta has served as the class historian and reunion organizer with help from her classmates.

Even though Grace Wagner Crawford’s family ran a small store in the Shelby-Round Top area, she, too, helped on the farm, working in the field picking cotton and lending a hand with the garden. Grace, who now lives in Bellville, fondly reviewed her high school years and recorded that her favorite sport was basketball and her favorite subject was social studies. She wrote on her profile several characteristics of an ideal mate: blue eyes, 5’7”, a good personality who ‘must’ have a car. Grace answered to the nickname of Baby back in those days and thinks the word independent describes her perfectly, then and now.

Ruby Dornhoefer Meier, who lives in Brenham, grew up on the family farm near Winedale. She attended the one-room Winedale School near her home, where she never had a classmate in her grade, so she worked with older or younger students. The school finally closed because no teacher was available. Starting in 1944, Ruby was bussed to Round Top-Carmine. Her favorite subjects were math and science and her favorite teachers were Mrs. Leola Tiedt and Mr. Alton Kiecke.

“I helped with picking cotton, harvesting corn, raising chickens, feeding the farm animals and milking the cows,” Ruby remembers.

Jenell Braun Jaster, who now calls Round Rock home, lived one and a half miles from Round Top. Like her classmates, she picked cotton and corn and helped with the housework and farm chores. Her family put up hay every summer to feed the farm animals.

“History, taught by Mr. Herman Schulle, was my favorite subject. I played some volleyball and basketball; my favorite pastimes were seeing friends and going dancing,” she recalls. Instead of going to college after graduation, Jenell stayed on the farm and helped her family for a while. She describes herself as friendly, happy to be with people.

Cordell Levien’s boyhood home was one and a half miles north-northwest of Round Top. His family grew row crops and raised cattle.

“I was expected to do any job necessary,” he says. Cordell started school at Round Top and later attended Round Top-Carmine High School. “I was good at math and felt comfortable with the subject. Mr. John Banik explained the work clearly.”

As a youngster, Cordell looked forward to playing the card game skat, watching sports and hunting. On his graduation profile, he listed game wardens as a pet peeve. Although he dreamed of being a successful farmer, he spent 36 years making a living with Alcoa at Rockdale. Every chance he got, however, he returned to Round Top and, in retirement, lives about 200 yards from where he was born and raised. A word that sums up Cordell, who values living close to nature, is sincere.

Floyd Braun of Round Top recorded several of his preferences upon graduation. His hobby was hunting, his favorite food ice cream and his favorite subject typing. At 6’1”, he also noted that he enjoyed basketball and considered swimming his greatest ability.

Doris Jean Ullrich Wehring of Brenham shared some of her favorites back when graduation time rolled around. Her favorite food was baked turkey, her favorite subject geometry and her favorite sport basketball. Her hobby was drawing. ‘There’s no Tomorrow’ was her favorite song and the movie she liked best was ‘Sea of Grass.’

After her family moved into town from the farm, Willie Mae Schoenberg Lueckemeyer lived two houses down from Carmine’s rock school. Her dad was working as a cattle buyer when he passed away. Willie Mae was 13 years old.

English and Texas history were Willie Mae’s favorite subjects. She played volley-ball and basketball and was a cheerleader. Mr. Graeber was her favorite teacher. Willie Mae enjoyed attending dances, reading, spending time with friends, riding her bike and singing in the church choir. As a teenager, getting up early was not to her liking.

Willie Mae has the distinction of being the class poet. Her tongue-in-cheek verse entitled ‘Beginning School’ relates how the WPA’s new rock school was unfinished when it was time for school to start in 1939. That’s how she happened to begin her schooldays in the Cedar Creek Schuetzen Verein – the Carmine beer hall – where partitions divided the classes.

Best Wishes

Two classmates who could not attend the reunion shared some thoughts about their youth.

Delvin Jaster, who resides in Victoria now, grew up on a farm between Round Top and Carmine, where he helped with all the chores. He attended Hill and Round Top-Carmine schools.

“I liked PE because I liked moving around,” Delvin reminisces, “especially basketball and baseball. Superintendent John Banik was my favorite teacher.” Perhaps Mr. Banik’s influence helped set the course for Delvin’s professional career as a teacher and coach, a choice he very much enjoyed.

Charles Keilers, now a resident of San Angelo, moved to Warrenton from Woodsboro in the sixth grade. Cotton was the family’s primary source of income, although they also raised cattle and sheep. Charles helped with all the farm work. His favorite pastimes were hunting and fishing during his high school years at Round Top-Carmine.

“The squirrel population was a problem until Dad showed me how to shoot his .22 rifle and we had a dog that would tree squirrels. One summer, Dad and I put 32 squirrels in the freezer. Not one had a hole in its body because we shot them all through the head.”

When the county 4-H club agent approached Charles during his sophomore year about entering the Houston Fat Stock Show and Rodeo, he agreed.

Since he milked cows every day, his dad thought he should win and he did. He returned to school with a gift certificate to purchase a dairy heifer that won a blue ribbon the following year.

That entitled Charles to interview for a four-year scholarship to Texas A&M. He won that, too.

What’s So Great

About a 73rd

Reunion?

For Ruby Dornhoefer Meier, attending the reunion means she is still connected to her old friends who were classmates. Cordell Levien adds that friends are important and Jenell echoes that sentiment.

Floradell Fay Spies Boecker cherishes those in her class, explaining that she has always been comfortable in their presence and enjoyed their company. Loretta Hartfield Leonhardt says a bond, a closeness, is forged going through school with your classmates. That friendship is not broken even as we get older, she adds. Delvin Jaster says staying in touch with his classmates still means a lot. According to Charles Keilers, it’s a good time to reminisce about old times and talk about the present, as well as the future.

Willie Mae Schoenberg Lueckemeyer, who describes her classmates as a close-knit group, misses those who have gone on before her. God is good, she says, and she trusts Him always.