Whippet Echoes November 2022

This 195^th edition of Whippet Echoes brings word of cross country running championships, cross nation hiking success, and reunions – big and small – aplenty. 

Reactions to October 15 edition of Whippet Echoes

“Great job as always!”  Mike Martin ’72 

“Have always enjoyed your notes on SHS history, sports, and alums. At one time I held 3 football scoring records (game, season, and career) which have now been reduced to none, due to some great play by younger (and probably better) SHS football players. However, I doubt that any of them had better teammates than I did in the \’58, \’59, and \’60 football seasons – especially our QB, Mike Greene, who just recently passed away. Our teammates were the greatest, both in support and character!! I still credit them for helping me earn my 3 varsity letters at Purdue.” Russ Pfahler ’61 

“When I open my email and see news from you devoted folks it makes my day. Thanks again.” Nancy Nicholson Yoder \’60 

“Thanks! Always a good read!” Leonore Witchey-Lakshmanan ’79 

“Whippet Echoes staff:  Please do not stop sending out our Whippet Echoes.  I enjoy reading them on my very old computer and hearing all the news from our Alumni classes and students.  Please take care and God Bless all the staff for your great work.”  Linda Smith Wahl \’71

Passings. 

• Jim Biddle ’57 died at 83 on Aug. 21 in Marietta.   
• Sharon Copeland Warrick ’60 died at 79 on Aug. 26 in Ashland.  Surviving are John ’61, her husband of 61 years, and sons Tim of Mansfield, Randal of Greenwich, John of Ashland and sister Bonnie Rain ’58. 
• Larry Keiser ’58 died at 83 on Oct. 2 in Shelby.  Surviving are Mary Jane, his wife of 61 years, kids Todd ’82 of Shelby and Kelly ’83 of Crestline, and brother Jerry ’67. 
• Gerald Hawk ’54 died at 86 on Oct. 2 in Shelby.  He was an Army veteran.  Surviving are Joyce Kuhn Hawk ’60, his wife of 62 years, and kids Sherry Gale of Dayton, Scott of Lewis Center, Roger of Miami, FL and Ruth Watts of Shelby.  
• Grace Lightfoot Stiving ’52, Mansfield resident, died at 87 on Oct. 3 in Ashland.  Surviving are sons David of Columbus and Michael of Shelby.   
• Ron Brown ’61 died at 78 on Oct. 4 in Ashland. Surviving are wife Stephanie and kids Rhonda Leibolt, Steve and Natalie, all of Ashland.  
• The McFarland kids – Callie Callender ’99 of Shelby, Bill ’01 of Mansfield, Maribeth ’04 of North Fairfield – lost their dad when Jim died at 66 on Oct. 5 in Shelby.  He was a Loudonville HS grad.  
• The Mabe brothers – Jeff ’87, Dennis ’91 – lost their mom when Diana McClain, Shelby resident, died at 72 on Oct. 8 in Mansfield.  Also surviving are siblings Donna Blanton ’66, Randy McClain ’73, Rhonda Johnson ’77.    
• Emily Floyd Messersmith ’59 died at 81 on Oct. 10 in Kansas City, Missouri.  Surviving are son Brad and daughter Marla Messersmith.  
• The Keller brothers – Dahryl of Inez, KY; Charlie ’77 of Shelby; Keith ’83 of Tiro – lost their mom Janet Stepp Keller, Shelby resident, when she died on Oct. 13 in Ashland.   Also surviving are Dahryl, her husband of 65 years, and brothers Joe ’63 and Jim ’66.
• The Lamb brothers – Keith ’91 and Kevin ’97, both of Shelby, and Kirk ’99 of Mansfield – lost their dad when Arthur Lamb Jr. died at 74 from pancreatic cancer on Oct. 14 in Shelby.  He was an Army veteran.    
• Dick Allwine ‘55, Shelby resident, died at 85 on Oct. 16 in Cincinnati.  Surviving are Dolores, his wife of 67 years, and kids Marcia Kluesener ’74 and Brenda Moyer, both of Cincinnati, and Terence ’86 of Columbus.    
• Marcia Daniel Anderson ’75 died at 65 on Oct. 16 in Springfield.  Surviving are Ron, her husband of 34 years, daughters Kristin Anderson and Kari Stalter and siblings Bill Daniel ’70, Greg Daniel ’71, Mary Kay Daniel ’72. 
• The Sexton family – husband and father Richard ’65, kids Roy ’89 of Mansfield, Montei ’89 of Columbus, Alvin ’93 of Clarkston, Michigan – lost their wife and mom when Tamako died at 88 on Oct. 18 in Shelby.  Richard was Tamako’s husband of 55 years.  She was born in Kyushu, Japan.   
• Marilyn Stiner Terman ’44, Shelby resident, died at 96 on Oct. 19 in Ontario.  Surviving are kids Susan Hootman ’66 of Stuart, FL, and Randy ’71 of Shelby. 
• Ronald Noel Jr., Shelby resident, died at 59 on Oct. 21 at the Cleveland Clinic.  Surviving are Sharon, his wife of 32 years, kids Jason ’10 of California and Brandon ’13 of Japan, both currently serving in the Navy, as well as siblings Russell ’85 of Atoka, TN and Robin Stiteler ’81 of Shelby.
• Ed Ernsberger ’75 died at 65 on Oct. 21 in Shelby.    
• Ralph Thauvette ’63 died at 77 from cancer on Oct. 30 in Shelby.  Surviving are Linda, his wife of 16 years, and kids Andrea Doriot of Mobile, Alabama; John Thauvette of Shelby; Terra Steindl ’03 and Charissa McComas, both of Raleigh, NC. 
• Karl Egner ’84, Shelby resident, died at 57 on Oct. 30 in Mansfield.  Surviving are Cindy, his wife of 27 years, and sons William Sparkman ’08 and Hunter Egner ’17, both of Shelby, plus brother Kelvin ’79.   
• Jon Gray ’98 lost his dad when James Gray, Mansfield resident, died at 85 on Oct. 31.  Also surviving are Jon’s brother Brad and sister Patty.  James was a grad of Crestline HS.   
• The Biglin kids – Robert ’59, Richard ’63, Linda Moore ’62, Janice Wolford ’62, all of Shelby, Ron ’64 of Crestline, Diane McCumber ’70 of Lakeside Marblehead – lost their dad when Lawrence died at 102 on Nov. 8 following a brief fight with covid in Shelby.  Predeceasing Lawrence was Mary Alice Briner Biglin, his wife of 73 years. 
• Bill May ’57, Shelby resident, died at 83 after a brief illness on Nov. 10 in Mansfield.  He was an Army veteran.  Surviving are Rosann Metzger ’58, his wife of 57 years, and kids Cindy Workman ’84, Mark ’88, Tony ’94, all of Shelby.   

New Alumni Email Network Members

• Cindy Parsons Mohler ’71 

 

News

70ers celebrate 70^th.  From Tom Armstrong comes this report of a gathering of Class of 70 mates who gathered to jointly celebrate their milestone birthday. 

This year the SHS Class of ‘70 turned 70.  In recognition of that milestone, this past August 17 classmates celebrated the event by taking a golf trip to Daniels, WV, Glade Springs Resort. Saying we had a great time doesn’t come close to describing how much fun we had and the memories we shared.

Arriving Thursday late afternoon/early evening and after the usual drinking, cigar smoking, story-telling (lying) and speech giving, the group feasted on a surprise treat, Leaning Tower of Pizza subs out of Mansfield, supplied by Dave Downs. All of us could remember late nights from our youth and ending up at the Leaning Tower for those subs.   Good luck trying to sleep as Classic Rock blared into the wee hours throughout the weekend.

Friday was our first day of golf.  A bunch of hung over 70s meant enough mulligans, foot wedges, score keeping errors, torn up sod, missed shots, swearing, praying, and more swearing when prayers failed to correct an errant shot that I was surprised the course let us play the next day. Friday evening, we drew names for the single elimination Euchre tournament and card play began in earnest. 

Saturday four-man scramble teams competed for the bragging rights to be held until our next golf get together.   The Euchre tournament finished up and we all got ready for our celebratory dinner at the lodge.  Winners of the four-man scramble:  Ken Albert, Kevin Foster, Gary Sutter and Eric Vale.  Euchre Tournament Champions were Tom Armstrong and Dave Hursh. Many thanks to Steve Eyler who once again put together a great trip.

Left to Right:  Kevin Foster, Ked Varble, Dave Hursh, Jeff Fort, Jim “Scoot” Anderson, Tom Armstrong, Jerry Schumacher, Bill Daniel, Dave Downs, Whitey Kollmeier, Gary Sutter, Steve King, Eric Vale, Jeff Heck, Kenny Albert, Steve Eyler, and Chuck Harrington.  Glade Springs ’70 golfers unable to make this trip and not in the picture were Dave Crenshaw and Rick Randall.  Pat King, Kinger’s wife, though not in the golf picture, was there Friday evening and Saturday morning to celebrate with us at Glade Springs.

Double Champs.  At the MOAC cross country championships, the Whippet Girls won their second straight team championship, and the Boys notched their 6^th straight team title. They are ranked 9^th in the state.  For the girls Kayla Gonzalez (pictured below) broke the school record and won the individual conference title.  Her teammates Emma Montgomery and Channon Cundiff finished 3^rd and 7^th respectively. All three made first team All-MOAC.  For the boys Huck Finnegan finished 1^st, Indy Mayer 2^nd, Luke Dininger 3^rd.  All three boys made first team All-MOAC. 

And Double Champs Again.  Soon after winning the MOAC cross country championships, Kayla Gonzalez and Huck Finnegan both triumphed in the regionals.  Their successes set a precedent as they became the first SHS boy and girl to both win a cross country regional championship.  Huck finished 6 seconds ahead of the 2^nd place finisher, and Kayla finished 16 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.

Later, at the state meet in Columbus, Kayla finished 4^th which was good for All-Ohio!  In the boys final, Huck fell twice but still managed to finish 30^th, the last All-Ohio spot!  Congratulations to two All-Ohioans!!

The Gang from ’72.  These members from the Class of ’72 gathered at Shelby Crossing for their 50-year reunion.  Smiles reflect the joy they shared. 

Have you? In the years since the SHS Alumni Association was founded in 2022, have you ever donated to the organization?  If you have, wonderful! The Association – of which all alumni automatically become members upon graduation – is very grateful.  If you haven’t, we hope you will.  To date the Association has donated more than $276,000 to purchase equipment, study materials, musical instruments and other items not covered by the school’s operating budget and which go to enriching the educational environment for current and future SHS students.  To donate a tax-deductible gift write a check made payable to Shelby High School Alumni Association and send it to Treasurer, SHS Alumni Association, 92 Grand Blvd. Ext., Shelby, OH 44875. 

Your Faithful Foursome – Greg Daniel ’71, Susan Scharenberg, Christina Yetzer Drain ’75, Mike Johnson ’63 – continue to welcome input on for the newsletter which is in its 22^nd year.  You can send word of births and birthdays, weddings and wedding anniversaries, passings, graduations, jobs and career changes, family and class reunions, hobbies, travels, moves, awards, honors, recognitions, honors, community involvements to gdaniel0488@gmail.com.  All in all, such input remains the lifeblood of Whippet Echoes.