The picture isof the class of 1959 which is my class. There are 42 in the picture and I can remember about 15 of them.
See how many you know even it is not your class and do you know where any of them are?
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This is a blog for St. Matthias Transfiguration Grammar School reunion which is located at 4910 Claremont in Chicago, IL.
I made the picture to big and so the lettering to the right is the biginning of the writing. Just read down and then across. That is how they taught us at St. George.
ReplyDeleteYou learned to read but not to count as there are 42 people in the picture. I only recognize a few people so I'm no help in filling in the blanks for you.
ReplyDeleteOops 43 people
ReplyDeleteJim, I'm going to guess a couple of people in the class picture. In the first row to the right, 5th desk, is that Tim Keane? In the 5th row, 1st desk, is that yourself?
ReplyDeleteYou got those two right let me throw a couple of names out there. first row on right & first seat Mike Monahan,2nd seat Mike Kane,4th seat Chuck Zimmerman, 2nd row, second to last seat is Theresa Zajac. 3rd row from right, 1st seat Marge Feller, 4th row, 1st seat I think is Marybeth Miller. 5th row, second seat Gerry Vigil, 6th seat Salvatore something, Last row Jim Juhas 1st seat, 4th seat Dale Roscoe, 6th Gerry McGolkin (wrong spelling)
ReplyDeleteJim, I swear I was going to say that was Mike Monahan in the first seat, first row. I really didn't know too many from your class. I did go to school with Marybeth's sister Mary Lorraine, and I vaguely remember the Roscoe brothers. Their parents had the floral shop on Western Ave. and their dad was in the service with my dad.
ReplyDeleteHere are my guesses. The girl with the sign on her desk which spells Matthias incorrectly is Maureen Hellwig. She went on to become a nun. Also won the essay contest in 8th grade and got to go to Alaska. The girl behind Marge Feller is Therese Cottner and she also became a nun. So much for sitting in the front of the room.
ReplyDeleteThe 5th girl in Marge Feller's row is Veralyn Hurley. I'm pretty sure about that. Her brother John was in my class.
I think the third guy in Jimmy McDermott's row is Danny Wise. I know the guy behind him is John Burns because he didn't change at all and ended up graduating with me from St. Gregory H.S.
My guess is that the big guy in the corner is Bill Sutterlin because there was nowhere else to put him. He was always the biggest guy in that class.
I think there was a girl named Mary Lou Futterer in your class. Is she sitting behind Maureen Hellwig? Just a guess.
I do love the fact that the girls had a pocket for their handkerchief. Such a nice accessory to the fashionable uniforms.
I think some of the kids were absent that day and their parents sat in their seats for the picture. Did you ever notice how the nuns were never allowed in the pictures?
Kathy, I can't believe you could recognize all those people, especially as it wasn't even your class. You remember those books I had about the parishes of Chicago. I was looking at it, and I was amazed to learn that when the convent was built in 1923, it was made to accommodate 22 nuns. The building must be like a tardis inside. I know for a fact, that one of the rooms was used for piano lessons. It's ironic when you think of the size of the rectory in comparison; and it being occupied by 4 priests. I just happened to be thinking of all the fads and trends. You ladies will recall the felt skirts with a motif on the side (usually a poodle), then there was the white pleated skirt, mostly worn with a patterned top, mainly of a floral design. You would have to own a twister blouse and a Dr. Casey blouse as well. Another must have was a straw purse for the spring/summer season. You would also have several clutch bags to accessorize your more formal outfits. At one time, you needed a suitcase purse. It worked out well that it happened to be in fashion when our class went to see Ben Hur. We were able to stock up on our provisions the night before. I used to spend hours adjusting my bobby socks to insure they were perfectly matched. I could laugh, because my eldest daughter did the same thing with her uniform socks. I referred in an earlier blog about wearing hats. Later, they were replaced by the more versatile chapel veil. It was so convenient, just pop it in your purse or your pocket. I remember baseball shoes being popular. Of course, you had a pair of plain white gym shoes, and you would keep them looking new, by polishing them with white shoe polish. There were leisure time items, like hula hoops, yo-yos, slinkys, silly putty etc. But, by far the "must have" ultimate item was the portable transistor radio. It was the preferred 8th grade graduation gift. You were nothing without your radio. How could you forget the torture of the Toni perm. It really was awful, between the smell, the time that it took and the pain from how tight those plastic curlers were wound. Once perms lost their popularity, we would set our hair in rollers. I think I was in rollers more often than I was out of them. You used to tie a small triangular scarf at the back, to keep them in place while you were outdoors. Talking about hair makes me think of Ellen Carr. She had the first hair dryer. It had a bag that you put over your head, and it would blow hot air evenly over your hair. She also had the first colored TV I had ever seen. Her birthday parties were legendary. You would go to lunch, followed by bowling, then there would be party games, where the prizes were better than the present you had bought her. Once she had an awesome Halloween party. There was this course set up. You were blindfolded, and your hand placed in various containers. There was a spooky narrative as you walked along. Boiled spaghetti would be intestines, peeled grapes were eyeballs, etc. It really was well done. She was like someone from Beverly Hills 90210. She actually did move to California shortly after the start of freshman year; maybe that's where she ended up.
ReplyDeleteKathy, I think you are right on all counts from what I remember, which isn't much. I guess it was a good thing I didn't date any one from my class what so many of them becoming nuns. I might have thought I drove them to become nuns if I had dated them. Aileen, Life was a lot easier for guys. all we had to do is roll out of bed, slip on our string ties and off we went.
ReplyDelete