SHARON HOLT WYMAN'S OBITUARY 11/16/1946 - 7/22/2022

Thanks to Pat Moisio I have just today received the obituary of our classmate Sharon Ann Holt Amelung Wyman.  I knew Sharon at KHS, I believe we had a class or two together, but later in my computer company days, McDonnell Douglas Field Service Co., I met and worked with her husband Bob Wyman.  Bob is now married to our classmate Sharon Merritt whom I knew better as we went to Robinson School together and were in Scouts together.  Herewith Sharon's obituary, another gone earlier than should have been.

"Amelung Wyman, Sharon Ann (nee Holt) died peacefully, surrounded by her family on July 22 at the age of 75.  Born to Robert C. Jr. and Lettie Holt on November 16th, 1946 in Nashville, TN, the family moved to Kirkwood in 1955.  She was married twice, first to Scott Amelung and later to Robert Wyman, but was a fiercely independent woman in her later years.  Each Marriage produced one child:  Christopher (Sarah Horton) Amelung and Noelle (Scott Roth) Wyman Roth.  She was a lover of music, literature, gardening and animals.  She is also survived by her brother Robert (Gay) Holt III, 5 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins....In lieu of flowers the family requests donations in Sharon's name to the Endangered Wolf Center, the St. Louis Zoo or the MO Humane Society."  You might remember, if my memory serves, that Sharon's brother Bob was a writer/reporter for the St. Louis Post Dispatch in the past. 

I joked with Bob that he had married two KHS65 girls both named Sharon, wondering if there was a reason?  There is a good story about how I met Bob and he discovered I too was a KHS65 girl; it's much too long to type, but come to some of our KHS65 "do's" and I might tell it!

Poet Laureate Alan Yount and son Arlen writing poetry together - doesn't get much better than this especially on Father's Day!

 From my Facebook post of today, 18 June 2023:

Oh my goodness, KHS65 folks AND anyone interested in jazz music, Duke Ellington, trumpets or just easy listening, check this out. I've been waiting for 2 months to post this today but had to wait until it was first published on Jerry Jazz Musician website. Our class poet, Alan Yount (The Count from our high school dance band years), and his son have written poetry together. It is published today as Sunday Poem but really it's a series of several, about Alan and his dad's visit to a performance of Duke Ellington in 1964. Even if you're not a big poetry fan, you should read it. Read it with your father or son if one is at hand. At the end of the poems Arlen and Alan read the poetry so you can hear the words. There is a blurb about each one of them at the very end. I am so excited to be able to bring this to you all. Alan had a serious heart attack awhile back and can't travel much, and if you read my posts you may have seen that Alan's mom recently died at age 102; dying of natural causes very peacefully and not in any pain or distress. Check back a couple of months on my FB posts. A wonderful family, and Alan is still playing that trumpet! Think back to the dances on Friday nights at the KHS cafeteria OR the gym when his band played for our dances! Fond memories -

congratulations to US for having such talented contemporaries, still making a difference! Enjoy and again Happy Father's Day!  The below link takes you to the page where you'll see Sunday Poem on the right then scroll down a bit to see the beginning of the poem on the left....then keep reading until you've seen the short bios of both Alan and Arlen.

 

https://jerryjazzmusician.com/the-sunday-poem-duke-ellingtons-big-band-orchestra-live-at-basin-street-east-new-york-city-summer-1964-by-alan-and-arlan-yount/

The Sunday Poem: "Duke Ellington’s Big-Band Orchestra: Live at Basin Street East, New York City. Summer 1964" - by Alan and Arlan Yount - Jerry Jazz Musician

The poet Alan Yount and son Arlan write about a live 1964 performance by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra

Kirkwood's Hall family making the news once again, Class of 1969 and 1965 star pupils and their wonderful family!

 I know our classmate Mattie (Carol) Hall is very proud, another honor for her family!  From the current KHS Alumni newsletter sent via email:

Kirkwood School District Foundation’s KTOC Scholarship Receives Donation from KHS Alumni in Honor of Reverend William Edward Hall

Kirkwood students will benefit from a $5,000 donation by Henry Edward Hall in honor of his father, Rev. William Edward Hall. Rev. Hall was a product of Kirkwood’s Booker T. Washington School and became principal of the school and an active leader in the local civil rights movement.

The Booker T. Washington School opened in 1870 on Adams near Geyer Rd. to serve the community’s African-American children. Rev. Hall, who was born in Kirkwood in 1912, attended Booker T. Washington School for all of his local public education. He then pursued higher education, graduating from Lincoln University in Jefferson City with a Bachelor’s in Education, from New York University with a Master’s in Vocational Guidance & Counseling and extending his studies to St. Louis’ Stowe Teachers College and the Teachers College at Columbia University in New York. In Kirkwood, he served as principal of the Booker T. Washington school twice, once from 1940-1942 and again from 1946-1948. In June 1950, the school closed and the students were transferred to the J. Milton Turner School in Meacham Park.

The Kirkwood School District Foundation (KSDF) Named Awards program is one of many ways KSDF works to enrich the lives of Kirkwood students.

For more about Rev. Hall and KSDF's Named Awards visit our website.

Rev. William Edward Hall in 1944	(From left) - Stephanie Collet, KSDF Executive Director; Roberta McWoods, Master Mentor for KTOC; Mildred Jones, William Halls’ sister-in-law; Jeremy Mapp, KSD Executive Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion who is displaying a 1943 picture of Rev. Hall; and Mary Loida, KSDF President	Henry Edward Hall, KHS Class of 1969

Bill Mueller, another classmate gone way too soon...

As I traveled last month our wonderful classmate Jim Day let me know that Bill Mueller passed away.  I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get it posted, just a busy time.  I drove 3700+ miles and spent much time on the road, in hotels and visiting good friends and a cousin, but most of all with my adorable grandson in Maine.  Please know I normally try to get news posted in a more timely way, but sometimes it just doesn't happen.  What a shame that another of our favorite classmates has left us too soon.  Thanks as always to JD for keeping his ears to the ground to keep us posted on our friends.


    Mueller, William Bryant (Bill),  75, of Midland, Texas, passed away on Thursday, April 13, 2023.  A visitation will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, April, 21, 2023, at Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home. Memorial service will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 22, 2023, at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.

    Bill was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Roy and Daisie Mueller.  He grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri, and was a standout athlete and student at Kirkwood High School.  He attended The University of Tulsa, where he earned his bachelor of science degree in geophysics and joined the lifelong brotherhood of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

    It was at TU where he met his soulmate and wife of 53 years, Ann Brooke Sloss Mueller. Bill is survived by his children, Bryant and Bridget Mueller, Aaron and Ireland Mueller, and Ashley and Brandon King. He has been blessed with seven wonderful grandchildren: Ali, Mason, Peyton, Brooke-Ann, Braxton, Brylee, and AJ.

    Bill loved all sports and was a staple at the local gym. He began his career with Union Oil Company, which led to a successful 35-year journey around the globe searching for and finding oil and gas. He then followed a dream and co-founded Antlers Exploration, LLC, an independent exploration company where he continued to be an industry leader in the field of geophysics. He was very active in his alumni associations for TU and Sigma Chi, and industry associations such as SEG and SIPES.

    A dedicated husband, father and grandfather, Bill was a generous philanthropist and passionate supporter of the Midland Children’s Rehabilitation Center.

    Bill is preceded in death by his loving parents, Roy and Daisie Mueller; James and Elizabeth Sloss; and sister-in-law Kate Tabor.  

    In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Midland Children’s Rehabilitation Center: www.midlandchildrens.org.

    Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory in Midland.  Online condolences may be made at www.npwelch.com.

Jane Harris Yount, age 102, dies - her funeral information...the mother of our classmate Alan "the Count" Yount

 Dear dear Mrs. Yount, with whom I had the nicest chat in February, has died at age 102.  Please read her obituary - what a life she led!!!  Alan inherited a lot of his 'good' from his parents.  His dad and mine were acquainted at MAC back in our childhood.  Mrs. Y remembered my dad's picking up her husband in his Morris bus in which he drove a carpool of Kirkwood MAC men to "the plant" on weekdays.  I was amazed when Alan said she remembered that!  Please keep Alan and his sister in your thoughts and prayers.  I'll be at Bopp Funeral Home Saturday to pay my respects and visit with Alan...

May she rest in peace, we know she was very much loved and will be missed.

https://www.boppchapel.com/obituaries/Jane--H--Yount-?obId=27587313#/obituaryInfo

Kirkwood School District Foundation Grant program benefits from generosity of KHS65 Classmate to pay it forward!

 This was posted via email by the Kirkwood School District Foundation  today; please read down and note in the 3rd paragraph under the photo - the Mr. and Mrs. Rodger Riney are better known to us as Rodger and Paula Fauks Riney.  They are often found paying their goodness forward in the Kirkwood realm.  Thank you Paula and Rodger!  You are among the group of KHS65ers who continue to make us all look good!  We're proud to know you!

KHS COLLEGE KICKSTART GRANT

On Thursday, March 9th, the Kirkwood School District Foundation (KSDF) awarded a $5,000 grant to the Kirkwood High School (KHS) College Kickstart Program. KSDF representatives surprised grant applicant, Melinda Hall (KHS Social Worker), and her colleagues with the award during National School Social Work Week.

 

“We all know how expensive it is to send a child to college for the first time with heavy upfront expenses for various items such as bedding, electronics, clothing, personal care items, etc. The College Kickstart Program will help relieve this upfront burden and help our kids feel confident and comfortable as they begin their first semester at college," said Hall.

 

This donation was made possible by a generous gift to KSDF from Mr. and Mrs. Rodger O. Riney, made in honor of retiring Principal Dr. Michael Havener and his years of dedication to Kirkwood students. Dr. Havener expressed his desire that a portion of these funds in his honor be directed to the KHS College Kickstart Program.

Alan Yount on David Sanborn - and WoodStock

 I've been cleaning up my email files again - I had a nagging feeling I had something from Alan "The count" Yount I wanted to post and didn't...so here it is.  Thanks Alan for always keeping us up to date on music and poetry!

"DAVID SANBORN PLAYED ALTO SAX AT THE WOOD STOCK MUSIC FESTIVAL.

 He played on the third day, afternoon.  He played with the “Paul Butterfield Blues Band.” Paul played a great blues harmonica.  Sanborn stayed with him for several years.  I think Sanborn stayed because this helped him get into Time Warner, Reprise, Electra records for the next 30 years.

 On the internet, I saw a great picture of Sanborn under a tarp along with the tenor sax player.

 I think I did mention before, you can get the 3 CD album, “Anything You Want”  of 30 years of Sanborn’s pick of his albums."

 

UDELL CHAMBERS KHS66 REMEMBERED

 I am forever trying to catch up with myself, cleaning off my ultra messy desk or some such.  Story of my life!  This time I find a folded up front page of the St. Louis Post Dispatch for 11/14/22, an issue with looks back to things Veterans of course.  The first page headline that day was "This veteran's story is about more than war."  There is a 5" x 7" color photo under the headline which shows Udell's portrait photo in uniform, the flag from his funeral and no fewer than 9 medals/awards.  The sub-title is "Udell Cambers hit .325 in the minors, then died in Vietnam".  The first line of text is "His name was destined to be on a baseball card, but it ended up on a tombstone first."  Udell had siblings in other classes, Ted and Larry in our class for example.  You may remember them as singers.  Udell signed with the Atlanta Braves soon after graduation.  In 1967 he hit .325 for their Class A affiliate.  In 100 games he hit 13 homers, stole 28 bases.  OPS was .952.  "He was drafted that fall and dead by summer."  In Feb. 1968 he was assigned to the 1st Infantry Div., 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment arriving in Viet Nam during the Tet  Offensive. On June 21, 1968 the Atlanta Braves played in St. Louis against the Cardinals; that is the day Udell died.

 Folks from Meacham Park would flock to Kirkwood to watch him play.  He hit homers at Turner School, fans wondered how he could play so well, only 5' 8" and 150 pounds but so nimble, and humble.  There were 7 children, and while not wealthy, sister Josephine is quoted as saying "With the small amount of money, we never saw a hungry day.  We never really knew we were poor."  Udell signed for $500 per month and had dreams of buying his parents a house someday.  Udell left a legacy for KHS though, his great niece played softball for KHS, she wore #19, Udell's number too.  Sadie drew a U in the dirt each time she stepped up to bat.  She later played for St. Louis U and finished her career this past season, one of the best ever to play for the Billikens.  In 2020 she set the school record for batting average, .438. In 2022 she made third-team All Region.  Her father is Mike Wise, the son of Udell's late sister Mardell.  I love the close of the article, which I have paraphrased for brevity, by Benjamin Hochman of the PD staff, "[Sadie's grandmother, Udell's mom] would love to watch Sadie play...she would say that Sadie reminded her of Udell because they could both dominate during the game but were very humble and unassuming as soon as the game was over."  Another wonderful, notable Kirkwoodian, gone too soon.  And yet another veteran gone in that awful war.  War is such a terrible thing.  Perhaps if older men, politicians, military gurus, etc. were the ones being drafted, rather than the youth of the world, war would become more unpopular!  Udell is buried at Jefferson Barracks; next time you're there you can easily look up his location and pay your respects. 

RINGING OUT 2022, LOOKING FORWARD TO A BETTER YEAR AND SO LONG FAREWELL TO YET ANOTHER CLASSMATE

 

Well friends, another year has come and gone. For many gone is a good word for 2022.  For Jack and me it was a year of chaos with no kitchen save fridge, microwave and toaster oven for half of it - it's finally finished and beautiful!  Let's all look forward to a happy, healthy, sane New Year. As one of the youngest members of our Kirkwood High School Class of 1965, I finally turned 75 earlier this month. UGH is all I have to say. Yes, I know I'm very fortunate to be this old and in at least as good shape as I am, while not as good as I'd like to be. Maybe '23... did you get that rhyme? I don't do poetry and now you see why, but in looking through some papers the other day I realized I hadn't posted any recent poems from Class Poet Laureate Alan Yount lately. I went on a search and don't see any new ones, but ran into this one below that Alan posted when he turned 74 last summer. It resonates with me now, just change a digit of the year! Alan treated us to so much wonderful music in years past - remember his band playing at our Kirkwood Kettles? In the cafeteria on Friday nights and at our dances...such fond memories.
Waxing nostalgic on this yet another New Year's Eve, now we way too often are remembering our classmates who are passing all too frequently. You'll see on my Facebook page and below that Christmas Eve brought the death of classmate Donna Heckelman Halsband, still living in Kirkwood, a member of the local Kiwanis group and a retiree of Meramec Community College. May she rest in peace - and on a happier note perhaps some of our classmates are having a nice party up there in heaven, celebrating the great lives we have had in our shared past! May your New Year be everything wonderful!
 
"Happy Birthday, Finally
……………..“For My Seventy-Fourth”
……………..“June 6, 2021.”
it still seems amazing to me
I try to play the trumpet everyday
and can still make it..to high “c.”
*****
awhile back I had my old horn
professionally cleaned & worked on.
it’s so good to play on it looking forward.
it seems now there is no more old arthritis in the slides
and the sticking values are all fixed.
*****
I now feel I still have some more notes to play!
and feel, also for sure now I have
just a few more poems to play & sing out high, like high “c.”
 
[Alan's poem resonates with me right here, even after the not-so-welcome milestone birthday I do feel this way, thankfully - even if I don't carry a high "c"!!!  I hope you all do too... lvr]

Postscript: A very sincere birthday wish. My hope, is a wish for a lot
of people, who survived the virus era. Those that made it both mentally and physically. And now the wish is, they all feel a lot better, finally!
by Alan Yount"

How the Frisco Bell came to be the Prize for the winner of the Turkey Day Game

After I posted on Facebook about the Pioneers' huge win over the Statesmen last week I offered to tell the story of how the bell came to be the prize.  Several readers wanted to know so here it is courtesy of Ron Krieger and published in the Autumn 2022 Kirkwood Historical Review, the newsletter of the OTHER KHS, the Kirkwood Historical Society.  I will paraphrase and direct quotes will be so marked, it's a long article!

First Editor Ron gave an introduction to set the stage.  Some of he following information was taken by Ron from the Webster-Kirkwood Times, Nov 21, 2003.  The source at that time was Peter Bredehoeft, a fellow KHS53 classmate of Ron's.  The occasion to write the story was the Class of '53's 50th reunion.

Early in the 1953 school year, Murl Moore, principal, received a letter from the Frisco Railroad asking if the school would like to have a bronze bell from a steam locomotive due to be decommissioned because steam locomotives were being replaced by diesel.  [See my commentary below, this is not the complete story, ed.] You may recall that Bev Sarff's father (she our classmate of course) was the assistant principal and he asked the Student Council if they thought it should come to the school...according to this article the Council's mood was that anything free is worthwhile, but had no idea what they'd do with it.  Peter had a trailer used to haul equipment for his business so he was designated to go the rail yard and retrieve the Bell.  It was on a skid next to the train, but too heavy for anything but a forklift to move.  "The Frisco employees volunteered to make a rolling stand for the bell in their shop."  When Peter returned in a couple of weeks, the railroad folks "could not have been more accommodating or nicer." The bell arrived at the school and was displayed outside Mr. Moore's office, which proved problematic.  "Some daring students thought it was great fun to wait until the officials were all in the office, sneak up to the bell and give it a few healthy rings and then run like the devil.  The bell very quickly became a liability, not an asset to the school administration."  No kidding...

Soon it was relegated to "...the bowels of the school near the boilers and out of harm's way."

Peter said he wasn't sure where the idea came from to give the bell to the winner of THE game, but obviously it seemed like a good one and it stuck.  Peter continues, "As an aside, I am sure that the school administration was glad to see it go.  Mr. Moore contacted the folks at Webster and the deal was struck."  "...in 1953 a tradition was born, thanks to the generosity of the Frisco Railroad and the Class of 1953.  (More information is written in Shawn Greene's book "Turkey Day Game Centennial 1907-2007" page 107.)ed.  Thus ends the Kirkwood Historical Review article.

If any of you don't know, Shawn Greene is the son of our classmate Phil Greene and his wife Caroline, also a pal of mine.  So there we have it, and Kirkwood now has the bell for the 9th year in a row. Last I saw, it reposed in the library, but that's been awhile back.  We know it's somewhere!  If you didn't know, this year's score was 56 - 7.  I do not remember ever knowing this story in the past, but maybe it was well-known and we've just forgotten, sure has been a fast 57 years since we were hanging around the hallowed halls of dear old KHS!

After typing all of that, it dawned on me to go look at page 107 in Shawn's book!  I own the late Jim Olson's copy autographed by Alvin Miller.  I had a copy Phil & Caroline gave me, but I believe I passed it on to a KHS65 alum who was green with envy, no pun intended.  Later, Jim gave me his copy, now a treasured memory of our friendship.

Back to THE BELL.  ..   Page 118 of Shawn's book is headed Bring Back The Bell!  And it begins thusly:  "In the fall of 1951, [Mr. Moore] was contacted by an old neighbour and friend, Robert Stone, who was the VP of the Frisco RR Co.  The Railroad was in the process of replacing its steam locomotives with diesel and Stone asked Moore if KHS would be interested in having one of the bells from a replaced locomotive...the Student Council accepted the gift."  Note this says fall of 1951.  The article goes on to tell about Peter Bredehoeft, KHS53 and his being chosen to get the bell because of his flatbed truck and this article goes along like the above.  "It became an obligatory prank of the students to ring the bell and quickly flee before Moore could catch them.  This may have necessitated a decision for a use for the bell."  A bit different (I read that as tongue-in-cheek) but similar to above.  According to this article by Shawn Greene the bell was introduced at the 1951 Turkey Day Game, won by Kirkwood 33-0, but was awarded for the first time to Kirkwood in 1952 after the game ended in a 0-0 tie.  Kirkwood was awarded the bell by default because Webster had the Little Brown Jug from the previous year's loss.  Thus the first team to actually win The Bell was Webster in 1953, winning 33-13.  At the time of the publication of Shawn's book, 2007, the Bell had changed possession 25 times and only five graduation classes never had it during their tenure: Kirkwood 1966, 1972 and 1973, Webster alumni 1984 and 1990.

I have spent too much time on this today so will stop here.  There is more "lore" about The Bell and the Turkey Day Game.  I believe there is a copy of Shawn's book at the Kirkwood Library.  There should be, I am pretty sure I ended up with another copy which I donated to them not too many years ago!  What a fun bit of memories...in looking at the pix of the teams over the years, I see SO many names I know...our Football Maids, our players, the coaches and others.  What a place that Kirkwood is!