Laura (Kelly) Harris

After graduation I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up so I started out attending SIUE and lasted one semester. It just didn't feel right, so I quit and decided to moved on. My lifelong friend Robyn (Cionko) had gone to Arlington Texas to a small private college, and after talking to her a few times, I decided to join her. My parents where going through a nasty divorce so I decided and see what Texas had to offer. Reluctantly, but my Dad finally agreed to finance the venture and I was on my way.

Interior design was never something had I thought about, but I did enjoy the classes and found that I did well in school. I stayed there for a little over a year, but after awhile I felt I needed to be home to help my Mom and Dad cope with their divorce issues. Unfortunately, I did not finish my degree.

Upon my arrival home, my Dad asked what I wanted to do next. I didn't know. He was able to get me a job with Madison County which I did not care for and did not stay with very long. My Dad had bought the old Eddie's Tavern while I was away in Texas, so when he asked my to start doing the bookwork for him I took the opportunity of having my Dad as my boss, and quit at the county. However, I was still unsure of my place in the world.

A few years passed, and one evening while listening to a band my brother was in, I met Allen Harris. He had gone to North high school and played soccer there and at BAC, but was four years older than me so I didn't know him in high school. We hit if off instantly, were inseparable, and married six months later. I had to kiss a lot of frogs before I met Allen, but that was 26 years ago, and I wouldn't do it any differently if I had it to do all over again.

We have two daughters, Jolene and Kelly both of whom make our lives complete. They were both all around athletes, so our lives were filled with; smelly socks and tennis shoes, basketballs in the back yard complete with a hoop and court, cheer leading poms, tennis rackets and you name it. There were also catholic school functions, prom dresses, sister rivalry, boyfriend problems and many, many memories I will be forever grateful for. They are both well functioning young adults now, have graduated from college and are making there own path. We are very proud of both of them. I am currently helping (and paying for) Jolene's upcoming wedding and I'm sure Kelly will follow shortly.

I have worked as the bookkeeper at Granite City Township for the past 16 years. Prior to that, Allen and I had a general contracting business which we opened and closed after 10 years due to an injury Allen had while working as a paramedic/firefighter at the fire department in Granite. His injury consequently disabled him from the fire department. He has since taught for the past 15 years at Grigsby Middle School and was a soccer coach at the high school and with the Elks. We also recently began "flipping" houses as a past time after we became "empty nesters". It's a lot of work, but truly rewarding at the end of a project. I think design has always been my unknown passion because I have been involved with it in some capacity since I left college many years ago.

We currently live at Holiday Shores in Edwardsville in yet another home we built for ourselves. We love the lake and all it has to offer, and have met some good friends. We are looking forward to retirement and if all goes as planned that will be in seven short years. And yes, grandchildren will be great when the time comes, but for now we love to travel and simply hang out.

I have really enjoyed reading the blogs of others, and look forward to seeing old (not intended literally) friends at the reunion. It certainly doesn't seem possible that we have been out of school for 30 years ! ( I keep saying it, but it just doesn't sound right !) But for me, it's been a very good 30 years. I feel blessed to be able to sit here and write this blog, as some have not been so lucky. I also count my lucky stars that my life has turned out the way it has. Even with some adversity through the years, and a few regrets, I have to mimic my Dad's words as he said them just before he passed away..... "It's been a good run" .

Friday Baseball Game

John Shable and I bought 4 tickets to the Cardinals game Friday night. Wondering if any out of town Alumni would like to go. We have one ticket unclaimed. Cost $50. Normally a 70 dollar ticket. We will be sitting in Section 139 Row 3 right by Albert! May have another ticket if Shannon Glasgow can't make it....

ap

Dennis Turck

Following graduation, I attended SIUE, and then joined the US Coast Guard, where I served for 12 years (in Kentucky and Virginia as a Search & Rescue Instructor). I got married and had two boys (Josh, now age 23 and Matt, now age 21 – currently in Navy Boot Camp). Shortly after leaving the Coast Guard and returning to the Granite City area, I went through a divorce. The best thing that came out of that situation, was reuniting with an old high school friend in the grocery store (Mary Paterson), and then marrying her on Valentine’s Day in 1998. Mary has three children (Amy, age 29; Donny, age 26; and Phillip, age 17). So, our combined family consists of 5 children, and now 5 grandchildren.
Our family enjoys camping, swimming and vacationing – we’ve been on 8 cruises together, have went on two all-inclusive vacations (Negril, Jamaica and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico), several trips to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, several trips to Las Vegas, a couple of trips to California (Long Beach, Ventura, San Francisco and Sacramento), a couple of trips to Miami, Florida, and a couple of trips to New Orleans. I have also traveled for work (to Washington, Indiana and Kentucky).
When we’re not working or vacationing, we are usually attending Granite City High School sporting events (football and track). We even went up to Chicago, Illinois with a group of parents and teachers for the Varsity Football Playoffs in 2007.
I previously worked as a Branch Manager for a temporary labor service, until I had two heart attacks and started having seizures which keep me from being able to work/drive. I am currently under doctor’s care, but hope to regain my health soon.
I attended our 10 year and 20 year class reunions, but was not able to make our 25. I am looking forward to our upcoming 30 year class reunion, and being able to see everyone again.

Attending

1. Lisa (Waltenberger) Maurer
2. Mignon (Moerlien) Fetterhoff
3. Lorraine(Peach) Knox
4. Cindy (Kofahl) Lamkin
5. Shannon Glasgow
6. Rocky Lupardus
7. Shawne Duenning Justine
8. David Oliver
9. Becky (Foote) Havener
10. Lori (Jones) Weber
11. Tammie (Newton) Brewer
12. Angie (Griffey) Bigham
13. Carla (Francis) Synak
14. Karen (Doty) Beasley
15. Mark Whitehead
16. Mary (Earney) Whitehead
17. Greg Altenberger
18. Kimberly (Dittrich) Deist
19. Cherie Hahne
20. Jodi (Alexander) Bennett
21. Joseph Petty
22. Susan (Prokopich) Montgomery
23. Kathy (Hadly) Rozycki
24. Margaret (Lovins) Brandt
25. David Throne
26. Eldon Hubble
27. Richard Buecker
28. Pamela (Roberts) Roberts
29. Cindy (Mueller) Milton
30. Glenda James
31. Vicky (Barnstable) Tognarelli
32. Lynn (Blum) Wilson
33. Jan (Purkey) Cook
34. Kit (Walmsley) M0rrissey
35. Ed Knowles
36. Chris Coleman
37. Donald E. King Jr.
38. Elizabeth Mullen
39. Anita Fernandez
40. Pam (Brokman) Stein
41. Dana (Harris) Ponder
42. Dianna Conley
43. Sherri Diller
44. Ronnie Langford
45. Vernon J Thomas
46. Christina (Mink) Humphrey
47. Lydia (Crews) Rohn
48. Lenora Gaye Norris
49. Paul Blattner
50. Kathy (Lawson) Hart
51. Jodi(Harrington) Arnett
52. Scott Arnett
53. Greg Laub
54. Beth (Worthen) Parente
55. Sherri (Walker) Austin
56. Keith Malench
57. John Six
58. Brenda James
59. Cheryl (Conaway) Balsai
60. Fred Schuler
61. Judy (Hartman) Mudro
62. Laura (Werths) Buehrer
63. David Mendoza
64. Gina ( Johannigmeier ) Dowdy
65. John Prazma
66. Jerry Harrington, Jr.
67. Carol (Lange) Macios
68. Ron Downs
69. Janet (Hartman) Werner
70. Todd York
71. Laura (Kelly) Harris
72. Elaine (Kayich) Sneed
73. Kirk Potillo
74. Thomas Hansen
75. Jeff Blasingame
76. Christy (Hayes) Lackey
77. Kathy (Barnes) Wehling
78. John DeRuntz
79. Gary Vogeler
80. Colleen McCabe
81. Bob Stegemeyer
82. Robert O'Bear
83. George Whaley
84. Al Yount
85. Darren McGovern
86. Shari (Gosnell) Schafer
87. Deborah (Pfeiffer) Henke
88. Barb (Wood) Moore
89. Sharon( Guenther) Gonzalez
90. Sandra (Weathers) Batiste
91. Jackey (Chapline) Timman
92. Melinda (McCallister) Duniphan
93. Dennis Turck
94. Kathy (Longos) McKinney
95. Alex Paz
96. John Shable
97. Marilyn (Moehu)Weissman
98. Michelle (Reznack) Fitzgerald
99. Paula (Bogosian) Costillo
100. Andrew Costillo
101. Karen (Teitloff) Buzzell
102. Kris McGovern
103. Doug Cook
104. Beth (Smith) Kovach
105. Daniel Mendoza
106. Joyce (Mangan) Heiman
107. Vicki (Johnson) Royce
108. Ken Fuller
109. Sandy Dietz
110. Sandy Robinson Kovalik
     

Larry Johnson

I've been living in Belleville with my wife Kris since 1985. We have 2 boys, freshman and junior in university. They are brilliant, like their mother. Kris knew what her future career would be as of junior high school and she attained it right on schedule. In contrast, I wandered from field to field. In GCHS, I decided I would become a pro-musician due to 4 fun-filled years in the band. Not being one to blaze a trial, I followed two of our class's true musicians from school to school. After a year in music schools, I eventually realized the talent and dedication required and that I was short on both counts.

So I took the road for which I was more suited, and followed another friend into engineering. After working nearly 10 years at McDonnell Douglas in electronic engineering doing kind of sciency stuff, I jumped on the internets bubble for another 8 years as a 'consultant'. Which is a high faluttin' word that really means 'contract laborer'. For the last 6 years a couple friends and I have been working under our own company. Life's been good.

Wish you all well,

Larry Johnson

Susan Prokopich Montgomery

Life after High School

Let’s see, after high school, I had BIG plans. I was going to sponge off my folks, get a job, buy a really cool car, and go clubbing with my best friend Mary. Five months later Mark Montgomery motioned for me to pull over and invited Mary and me to join him at Pere Marquette. While there, he was trying to move a big log and his pants split. I was a goner and a year later, we were Mr. and Mrs. Mark Montgomery. We were financially independent, Mark was happy since he got to drive my cool car, and I went clubbing with my husband, his brother and his brother’s wife instead of Mary. I was still on track.

When I gave birth to our first child Benjamin in May 1983, my job and clubbing lost their appeal. As the youngest of four who never babysat, I had no idea how to be a mother, but I was determined that he would survive. A friend told me I should have named him Velcro because he was always on my hip. As if motherhood wasn’t enough of a challenge, I found out the man I married was an atheist. Who knew?

Foolishly, I decided to become June Cleaver. I cooked exactly like my mom, burnt fried chicken, roast as tough as a hockey puck, and tuna casserole so dry you had to pour milk over it before it could be swallowed. Mark decided to teach me to cook and I was the world’s worst student. Plus, he was frustrated because he really wanted me to set Ben down every once in a while.

Okay, I decided I would take on the task of seeing to Ben’s spiritual education. Mark wasn’t too keen on the idea, and he promised to boycott any children’s program in which Ben participated. Like the housewife challenge, I rolled up my sleeves and committed myself 100%.

Pretty soon I could crank out a weekly menu’s worth of meals that were fairly edible so I started teaching Mission Friends to children ages 2 – 5. Mark was true to his word, boycotting Ben’s baptism and he also shared his beliefs of evolution with Ben. As I got a little better at this homemaker stuff, I became more involved in the church, teaching both the 1st and 2nd grade class and children’s church. With my 30th birthday around the corner, it was time to add to our family. In January 1991 during a horrible snowstorm, our daughter Rachel was born.

Now we had two beautiful children, I was lucky enough to be able to spend all my time with them since Mark was an excellent provider, my meals were still improving, and I began what would become a long run teaching 5th and 6th graders at church. On the home front, I was ready to tackle flower gardening.

When it was time for Rachel to go off to school I discovered your children could go to parochial school even if you weren’t Catholic. Rachel started Holy Family School and I did something I hadn’t done in 16 years—I got a job.

I chose a gas station down the street because I could start after I took Rachel to school and end my day when I picked her up. I was close to home so Ben could stop in to see me whenever he wanted, I didn’t have to invest in a wardrobe, and when Rachel was on school breaks, I could switch to evenings so she could be with daddy--no babysitter worries.

Trouble takes many forms. As it turned out trouble came to us because I was competent at something--ordering inventory, stocking shelves and waiting on customers. Who knew?

In a fairly short amount of time, I became a shift supervisor, then got a promotion and began working in the oil offices in Edwardsville as the administrative assistant to the CEO. Rachel went into daycare after school, Mark took over the cooking (thank God!), I managed to keep up with the laundry, but the house fell apart. As the result of pressure from my job, an unhappy family, the loss of my father, and the adjustment of my mother’s new marriage, I suffered from a lot of stress and an enormous amount of guilt.

Quitting my job a year later, I went to work for Vicki Johnson Royce and her husband John answering phones and setting up house showings—no pressure there. Unfortunately, it was too late. The die had been cast, the ill-feelings were still there, and by then I was completely miserable and terribly depressed.

In October 2001 I walked out of a 22-year marriage, leaving behind my beautiful garden, my clean home, and even my two kids. My best friend Mary took me in, and I began the pursuit of the fastest divorce of a long-term marriage in history so I could get my kids back. In January we were officially divorced, and I found a house to rent on St. Clair Avenue that was close enough to school that Rachel could walk. I was sleeping on an army cot without a single curtain on a window, my food was kept fresh in a cooler outside my kitchen door, everything I cooked came off a camp stove or an electric skillet, and my son Ben was so angry with me that he stayed with his dad. Talk about tough times.

Leaving Royce, I went to work for a temporary agency. The pay was good and the benefits were non-existent, but I desperately needed a work history. I bought a mattress and springs, a refrigerator, a stove, curtains, and a dryer. Eventually I got my current job working for a federally funded program at a local community college. My house was becoming a home, but Ben still angry with me. He went from being a wild child to a man living dangerously.

Time is the great physician and, in time Ben got the help he needed. He now owns his own home, has a wonderful job, and recently began school. In three years he hopefully will complete an apprenticeship program and become a machinist. Rachel graduated high school and will begin her freshman year next month at Benedictine University. She has decided to use her artistic talent to work with troubled kids as a career. After I got my present job, I bought my rental house and earned my associate’s degree in management. I started my bachelor’s but I stopped when I started focusing on Rachel’s college life.

At present I’m trying like the dickens to get a government job in Springfield, but that is proving to be more difficult than I thought. Rachel will be living with my mother until I can get a job there. Along with Mom, I have other family members living in Springfield waiting for me. In time I hope to join them.

So, as it turns out, there was life for me after divorce. Who knew?

Donna Smallie Klopfer

The last 30 years- I worked at National Supermarket until they sold to Schnucks in 1995. I then back to school and got a Associate Degree in Hotel/Motel Management and for the last 12 years I have been the manager of the Hampton Inn/Collinsville. I was married for the first time in 1983 to Tim McGrath and had daugher,Whitney who is now 21! We divorced in 1995 and I remarried in 2001 to Jack Klopfer from Alton. He had a daughter who at that time was 24. We all now live in Glen Carbon with both daughters and a 2 year old granddaughter. Picture attached is in front of my nephew's tour bus when they openned for Santana last year.