The first thing I want to do here is to let readers know that I meant to say I am downsizing our home instead of “downgrading,” a word that I mistakenly used in the headline of my last column.
I am still working on downsizing and I’m sure it is going to take a little longer than expected. In the meantime, I found a column I wrote on our class reunion 40 years ago and am taking excerpts from it to create this week’s column.
There were 78 graduates in our class when we graduated 40 years ago. We were the largest class to graduate and held that record for 10 years when the class of 1976 graduated 83.
At least 30 members (possibly 33) of our class are deceased and are truly missed.
Among the deceased are our senior officers, President Phil Replogle and Vice President Jay Morrow. Other officers were Patty Jennings, secretary; Carol Henderson, treasurer, and John Peters, reporter.
From here on out, when I talk about the girls in the class, I will use their maiden names.
Valedictorian was Sara Miller and salutatorian was Gloria Carter. Top school officials at the time were Marlin Thompson, superintendent, and Jerry Walsh, principal.
We may have graduated with 78 students, but I wrote in that column in 1986 that in our first -grade yearbook, 48 students started with us. More came in when part of Greenville Township merged with Ansonia in November 1967. Woodington closed its one-room school in July 1959 and then Beamsville School split four ways that same year, which also contributed to the growth of the class of 1966.
Among our classmates were three sets of siblings, including myself and brother Ron Moody; Jean and Ralph Whittaker; and Sara and Steve Miller. The three brothers all died in 2025; Ron on May 9; Ralph on July 24 and Steve on Oct. 10.
Several of our classmates have gotten married to each other in the last 40 years: Nick Cox and Paula Muhlenkamp; Albert Duncan and Linda Doyle; Gary Gibson and Anita Whittington, and Stan Cox and Carol Bowman. All are deceased with the exception of Paula, Stan and Carol.
Popular names in our class seemed to be Pat, Patty or Patricia (Patrick Barga, Patty Nunley, Patty Jennings and Patty (Rhynard) as well as Toms (Landis, Liette and Prosyk); and Jims (Lewis, Hunt and Owens).
A variety of occupations attracted a lot of our classmates over the years, probably with most of them retired by now if not semi-retired, like someone I know well.
I am pretty sure most of our teachers are now deceased, but we had many good ones along the way.
I feel proud to have attended and graduated from Ansonia schools.
Life has gone by so quickly, and I will repeat my thoughts from the column 20 years ago with this: “It doesn’t seem like this could have been two (now four) decades ago since we had marched to the tune of “Pomp and Circumstance” on the stage of our alma mater to receive our diplomas.
That was when the high school was still located on West Canal Street. I don’t exactly remember the year that a whole new school system was built on East Canal (State Route 47) in Ansonia.
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Jamie and I send our condolences to the family and friends of: Cynthia Chrisman, Joyce Bernhard, Julie Huntington, Sally Mescher, and Judy Baker.
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Please pray for Trendon Spence, Rick Elliott, Tonya Kelly, Terri Hunt, Michele Good, Carol Schuh, Carol Martin Price, Nancy Kelley Eardly, Daniel Gibson, Evelyn Riffell Sebring, Beverly Brumbaugh, Jeff Sanders, Gary Gilmore, Dennis Riffell, Carol Good, Katie Cothran, Margaret Bonifield Middleton, Debbie Isaacs Miller, Melissa Anderson, Rick Beam, Kathy Stone Brewer, Carl Francis, Katrina Hoening, Rick Riffell, Vickie Martin, Jim and Amy Hanes, Tom Everhart, Fred Dakin, Ted McCabe, Tracy Pratt, Kierra Reichert, Eddie Cline, Sharon Lapp, Terri Baker Buteau, Judy York, Roxie Thornhill, Sharon Miller, Allen Whittaker, Mike Hopkins, Don Rhoades, Dave Brewer, Clarence “Sam” Wilker, Chuck Cruze, Roan Brubaker, Vic Bothast, Tom Brewer, Gloria Hodge, Ralph Byrd, Beth Davis, Terry Overbay, Katie Cothran, Lynne Bruner Hinshaw, Donn Thornhill, Carissa Rodriguez, Kevin Christman, Ivan Christian, Roger Fleckenstein, Bob Jackson, Penny Hopkins, Sherry Lawrence, Kevin Schlechty, Darla Printz Whittaker, Sandy Partin, Sandy Gunckle, Linda Johnston, Patricia Maier, Dan Lockhart, Delores Beisner, Jodi Gilpin Snyder, Charlie Bulcher, Charlyee Severance, Justin Fritz, DeWayne Yohey, Katrina Hoening, Kara Didier, Don DeBord, Otis Stewart, Slug Midlam, Bob Peters, Judy Collins, Carol Hemmerich, Roberta Hall, Kelly Kelch, Nikole Baldridge, Mark Lovejoy, Connie Stachler, Randy Heck, Ronnie Norton, Clinton Randall, Bruce Kaiser, Amanda Mote, Doug Whittington, Randy Garrison, Kathy Gragorace, Donna Bixler, Cathy Melling and all others who are suffering from other life-altering illnesses.
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Happy birthday:
April 15 to Allan Addington, Tammy Tollefson, Kary Tollefson, Kevin Osterloh and Fred Dakin.
April 16 to Todd Gasper, Pat Barga, Carla Hummel, Annie Sonner, Ken Mescher, Kim Warner Hiegel and Tressa Emmins.
April 17 to Bob Christian, Joe VanVickle, Kyle Schlechty and Jackie Ford Lephart.
April 18 to Katrina Widener, Jeanne Lyme, Delbert Fourman, Brian Harrod, Diane Jones and Kathy Smith.
April 19 to Connie Keller, Dan Whittington, Renee Whittington, Debbie Reel and Denise Mayo Lee.
April 20 to Maggie Jenkins, Megan Ward, Taylor Meadows, Monica Saintignon, Michael Kerrigan and Patsy Niese Snyder.
April 21 to Marvin Peters, Scott Rudnick, Don DeMange, Greg Amspaugh, Dixie Gray and Scott Gibboney.
Happy anniversary to Kelly and Cris Moody and Lori and Mark Kimmel, all on April 16; Ron and Cindy Cox on April 19; and Ron and Laura Turner on April 21.
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Think about it: “It would be great if people never got angry at someone for doing something they’ve done themselves.”– Rodney Dangerfield
