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NAA

Vol. 23 No. 3 Nürnberg Alumni Association, Inc. Winter 2011

Der Nürnberger Trichter, sicher und schnell, macht de Köpfe hell! The NAA Funnel reliably and quickly makes one brighter!

A publication by and for the alumni, faculty, and staff of the former Nürnberg American High School.

Trichter

by Bob McQuitty About this time of year you’re apt to see a Santa or two at the mall

with his padding and fake beard. Gerry Williams is an NHS Eagle who needs no fakery to be Santa. With him, being Santa is a lifestyle.

Shortly after graduating from NHS in 1964, Gerry joined the United States Air Force. An air base where he was stationed asked for a volun-teer to play Santa for a community project for the children that lived on base. Gerry was reluctant to volunteer at first, but when he was told he

(Continued on page 12)

Being Santa is a lifestyle…

Gerry Williams ’64 personifies the season

by Gail Bursch ’74 When the reunion rolls around every three years, the game is on. How many of our

friends will we be able to convince to attend? NHS Eagles from the ’70s are preoccupied

with the flurry of middle age and it can be a challenge to find the time and money for a

‘get away’ trip back in time. The prize is a weekend of collective reminiscing of being a

teenager in Nu rnberg. Family commitments, life in the fast lane and the economy have

resulted in smaller reunions. However, we can always count on Coach Tom and Maria

Gussner being there: arriving early and seeing the last group off with a wave and “See

you next time!” The ’70s group of alumni considers them our ‘Royal Couple.’

Attending their first reunion in Lake Tahoe, Tom and Maria spotted Coach Cletus

Campbell right away even though they hadn’t seen each other in 16 years. Clete asked

Tom, “What class are you from?” confusing him with past students. During the San Anto-

nio reunion, I told him that he looked a little like Paul Newman and Tom quickly said, (Continued on page 14)

Royal Couple for the ’70s Era…

Coach Tom and Maria Gussner

Gerry Williams ’64 as Santa

Maria and Tom Gussner in their ’70s best for the dinner in Boise.

2 NAA Trichter, Winter 2011 Vol. 23, No. 3

You never know when you will run across a fellow Eagle. Several years ago, my dad was cleaning out the basement and came across my NHS annuals. He asked if I wanted them. I said of course and he shipped them off to me. As I glanced through them, I noticed a face that looked familiar, that is more familiar than just old memories. I was working as a reporter at the time for our local weekly newspaper and spent many an evening at school board meetings. One of the board members was named Terry Palmer. Hum, there was a Terry Palmer at NHS in the dorm when I was in the dorm. It just so happened that the board meeting was that week and I ap-proached him and asked if he had attended NHS. He looked shocked and said well yes both he and his wife had. I then explained about the annuals and how I was living in the dorm at that same time. Of course, I

would not expect him to remember me since both the hair color and the waist had changed a lot in those close to 20 years and he really didn’t but we had a good laugh out of the connection.

On more than one occasion, I have been approached at the local Y when wear-ing my Reunion shirts. (Sorry, Terry, that is about the only place I’ll wear them!) One man said his older sister had attended and I gave him the Internet link to our web site. Pat Wood told me that the brother of one of her NHS friend lived in Dripping Springs where I live and I found I had been working

on the political campaign for the son of a fellow Eagle. Small world!

What brought these to mind was T. D.’s mention of his conversation with a flight attendant on his way to a Michigan State football game. Turns out she had attended NHS and another flight attendant took this picture of them with his cell phone. You never know when you might run into a fellow Eagle.

Here’s wishing all of you a safe and joyous season, whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza, or Winter Solstice!

NAA Trichter Volume 23, No. 3 Winter 2011

The Trichter is published three times a year by the Nürnberg Alumni Associa-tion, Inc., a 501(c)7 not-for-profit or-ganization, for the enjoyment of its members. All content is the property of the individual author. For reprint information, contact the editor. Editor: Pat Gibson Editor Emeritus: Bob McQuitty Proofreaders: Terry Jorgensen, Jeanette

and Bob McQuitty, Pat Wood Send material for publication to: Pat Gibson 12700 Pauls Valley Road Austin, TX 78737-9507 or [email protected]

Terry wrote of his encounter: I was on-board a Delta flight to Omaha from Atlanta, for my Nebraska vs. MSU football game weekend with some of my former military buddies. Our flight attendant (for the section in which I was sitting) and I began a conversation as she was serving drinks of choice, and realized we were both former military BRATS from overseas! I told her I graduated from Nürnberg American H.S., to which she retorted, "I went to Nürnberg American H.S.!" There was a difference in graduation years, but sure enough ... she was the real deal. A GREAT, chance meeting! She is Bridget Rasmussen (Sp?), class of 1983. She lived at Pastoriusstrasse, and rode the bus into school daily, M-F, and her father was with the 2nd A.C. (Armored Cavalry) at Merrell Barracks near Soldiers' Field. I believe she actually graduated from Frankfurt H.S. in 1983, but attended NHS during 1981 and 1982, her sophomore and junior years.

Vol. 23 No. 3 NAA Trichter, Winter 2011 3

Shelley (Flippen) Conroy EdD President [email protected] 9222 Esplanade Dr. Dallas TX 75220 C: 214-790-2224

Reni (Peek) Michael V.P. – Advertising [email protected] 6209 Puget Road, N.E. Olympia, WA 98516

Terry ‘T.D.’ Jorgensen V.P. – Operations [email protected] 2002 North Woods Dr. Marietta, GA 30066-2947 H: 770-928-4948 C: 404-680-0735

Diana (Bock) DuPree Treasurer [email protected] 10002 Apache Village San Antonio, TX 78245-1159 C: 210-385-4215

Don Hutchins Secretary [email protected] [email protected] 1446 Harvest Crossing Dr. McLean, VA 22101 C: 703-626-3238

Doug Veith, JD Legal Counsel [email protected] 8922 Grant Street, Overland Park, KS 66212 816-569-3512

Robert A. McQuitty, PhD Historian/Archivist [email protected] [email protected] 4034 Highland Dr. Tahlequah, OK 74464 918-456-8443

Pat (Knighton) Gibson Trichter Editor [email protected] [email protected] 12700 Pauls Valley Road Austin, TX 78737-9507 H: 512-288-1751

Pat (McCarroll) Wood Era Rep, Faculty and 1940’s/1950’s [email protected] [email protected] 6902 Raintree Forest San Antonio, TX 78233 210-656-2260

Bob Hervey Era-Rep 1960-1969 [email protected] 443 Tucker Trice Blvd. Lebanon, TN 37087 [email protected] 615-453-5568

Tom Kappelman Era-Rep 1970-1979 [email protected] 13509 Copper Hills Dr. Manchaca, TX 78652 512-280-8412

Linda (Moreira) Langford Era rep, 1980’s - 90’s [email protected] 3 Vine Street Eltham, Victoria, Australia 3095 03-9431-5726

Board of Directors Era Representatives

Nürnberg Alumni Association, Inc.


By T.D. JORGENSEN, Founder

It’s always a treat for me to represent the Nürnberg Eagle alumni at the annual Overseas Brats’ Gathering as your

Ambassador-at-Large, and to try to give back to the Brat Community a little more than they’ve given me, or our Nürnberg

Alumni Association, Inc., over the last 25-years. Without Founder Joe Condrill’s 500-referrals over those early years in

the 1980’s, I sometimes wonder how many NHS Eagles we would have found prior to the introduction of The Internet.

But, this year’s Overseas Brats’ Gathering was even more special. It was Joe Condrill’s 25th Silver Anniver-

sary Celebration, so Joe and his BVD`s (Brat Volunteer Directors) pulled out all the stops, and created a very impressive

black-tie affair for their big dinner-dance, which we won’t soon forget. Our eternal thanks go out to Joe Condrill with our

congratulations on an impressive ride down Memory Lane these past 25-years, and for all he’s personally helped to create

in the Brat Community for us all. Well done, Joe.

This year’s event was even more special for this Board Member, in that we actually had a total of six (6) NHS Ea-

gles on-hand for the celebration, which included Class Rep Joan (McCarter) Adrian ’49, Co-Class Rep Betty Thomas

’54, perennial Hospitality Suite-host Pete Turner ’62, yours truly (’62), Ranelle (Gray) Fortier ’75, and our newly-

elected Treasurer Diana (Bock) DuPree ’75. Good times were enjoyed by all, as is seen by the group photo op herein.

Some of the special treats during this particular 25th Silver Anniversary Overseas Brats’ Gathering included a so-

cial mixer at Bloomington’s Pool & Yacht Club, followed by a very scenic riverboat dinner cruise down the Mississippi

River to St. Paul, and back. The music was very entertaining, and the Brats on-board took advantage of cutting-the-rug

throughout the cruise. One of the band members enjoyed our group so much, he took us up on our invitation to come back

to our hotel to continue the celebration.

Dennis Campbell (Heidelberg-alum) is Co-Host of the `Brat-Con Radio Show` weekly with our favorite

Berlin Brat Jeri (Polansky) Glass ’72, and they broadcasted their show, LIVE . . . from the restaurant in The Mall of

America where the Brat troupe of 100-attendees were dining & imbibing for that early evening event. As you might ex-

pect, many of the attendees there were interviewed and/or asked to offer their opinion(s) on topics of interest being dis-

cussed that early evening. Brat-Con means, “Brat-Connection,” and is a national Internet radio show in its inaugural year

of broadcasting. You are invited to listen-in every Thursday at 7:00 PM E.S.T at www.bratcon.com.

A late-breaking “Braggin’ Rights” blurb (too late to make the “Braggin’ Rights” column in this issue) – The `Best

Male Karaoke Performer` at this year’s Overseas Brats’ Gathering was . . . T.D. Jorgensen. And, no. I am NOT

going to be giving-up my daytime job. Hee hee . . .

Our son JR (a.k.a., Terry) began his quest for his PhD (in a double-major of Quantitative Statistical Analysis &

Psychology, with a minor in Physiology) at the University of Kansas this past month. Whew!

I met a Delta Air Lines flight attendant on my flight over to my Michigan State Spartan vs. Nebraska Cornhusker

football game in Lincoln this past month, and we learned that she was a former Brat herself, who just happened to live at

Pastoriusstrasse, and went to NHS for 2-years. She’s Bridget Rasmussen `83. However, she finished at Frankfurt.

Life’s just full of wonderful, unexpected surprises.

Snow-skiers and winter lovers might like to join us in Breckenridge January 21-28, 2012 for our “Alumni

Discounted Ski Week” at The Beaver Run Resort? To receive the .pdf-Flyer, email me at: [email protected].

Prosit !


From the President…

Shelley (Flippen) Conroy ’73

Fall is in full-swing for most of us and the holidays are fast approaching. Whenever I see the signs of fall and win-ter in the world outside, I am reminded of the hit song writ-ten by Pete Seeger that was taken from the book of Ecclesi-astes and recorded by The Byrds (hmmm, is this where TD gets the spelling for “Early Byrd”?) back in 1965, titled “Turn, Turn, Turn.”

You may recall the first line of those lyrics, “to everything there is a season, and a time and purpose under heaven.” Often, we use these words to explain changes that oc-cur in our lives. As alumni of NHS, each one of us had a time to say goodbye to each other and our school. It was bittersweet for me, in that I had to say goodbye to some of the best friends of my life, yet a new beginning was in front of me as I headed off to college, and my “short” days had finally come to an end, as I was finally “leaving on a jet plane” to get home to the States.

While I am using all these clichés, let me add that there is often truth in the saying, “you can’t go home again.” A couple years ago, I finally returned to Nürnberg after leav-

ing high school back in 1973. I am sad to say that I could not go home again and still find things like they remain so firmly entrenched in my memories. The military presence is completely gone; and today’s young people in Nürnberg could not even tell me directions about where to find our old high school. The good news is that today we are fortu-

nate to have the opportunity to reconnect with our fellow Eagles and faculty through the Nürnberg Alumni Association. Your Board of Directors is committed to keeping the Association alive and vibrant. We are diligently work-ing to prepare for the next reun-ion in 2014. The venue should be selected and ready to announce in the next issue of The Trichter. And speaking of changes, I will be packing up and making the move to Dallas in December. I have accepted a position with Baylor University starting on

January 2, 2012. Maybe that is why that song keeps playing over in my head…. Until the next issue, Shelley


Lawrence ‘Skip’ Lewis ‘59

My wife, Linda, and I spent nine days travelling in Israel with our church. It was a life changing experi-ence. It is the trip of all trips. I am blessed that I had the opportunity to walk where Jesus walked. As you read the Bible you get the impression of all the sand but when you get there it is really a beautiful country. From Megido to a boat on the Sea of Gali-lee. From the top of Masada, where the Israelites fled the Romans, to Bethlehem. Walking through Geth-semane and following the path of Je-sus from entering the prison to Golgo-tha where Jesus took our sins and gave all of us the opportunity for eter-nal life. If you have the opportunity don’t pass the chance to visit Israel.

Joanne (Powhida) Roll ’59

This September marked the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps. There were celebrations and reunions in Washington DC to mark the date. My husband and I attended and it was great! I served in Colombia as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1963 to1965.

I found friends I had served with and hadn't seen in almost fifty years. After a commemorative ceremony at Arlington, there was the traditional Parade of Peace. Thousands of re-turned Peace Corps volunteers marched together, with the flags of the countries in which we served, from Arlington to the Lincoln Memo-rial.

I think those of us who have so benefited from the sacrifices of sol-diers have a special obligation to try

and find paths to peace. We are still trying.

Molly (Gehan) Brewer ’60 Now that summer is combed out of

our hair (with the heat and humidity here in the Ohio River Valley it can get downright damp), I can write you about our summer trip to both the reunion and elsewhere. We went first to Montana to stay for a few days with my sister Gay (Gehan) Bernard, who lives in Great Falls and who came to her first reunion. Although she graduated from Stuttgart, she went to Nürnberg also and I have been talking and talking...something at which I'm far too adept, I fear...to get her to come to one of 'our' reunions. Partly because she is entitled to come and partly, or mostly, because I get tired of people asking about her. She can come and talk about her very own self! The reunion was immensely en-joyed, and both Don and I were very glad we came. From there we drove to Yellowstone Park, Grand Teton Park, Zion Park, and both the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. If you don't have a Golden Eagle Passport, which gets us seniors into the National Parks for free, rush out and get one! Costs about ten dollars and this trip alone it saved us at least a hundred and fifty. Then we went on the gravesite-visiting part of the trip. Don had never been to the

gravesites of all the parents and step-parents and we decided to visit all of them. Well, we made it to three of the four.

Now hunting as a sport is great. Don is a bow-hunter (and good at it, too), BUT hunting deer with a van isn't precisely what we had in mind. We hit a female deer, broad daylight, in the middle of the West Texas Nowhere which snapped the neck off the radiator and banged up the passenger side of the van very nicely. Did the deer no good either, might I add. We limped into a totally wonderful dealership in Dumas, Texas, who had us back on the road with a new radiator in less than five hours...and this included getting the radiator from Amarillo. We ended up having to bypass one of the gravesites due to time constraints. We got the van fixed and this last weekend we went back and made the gravesite-loop again, getting to all of them this time. We also stopped at Ft. Sill at the Field Artillery Museum and found Don's father's name on a plaque–completely unexpected. We went to the Thunderbirds Museum in Oklahoma City and got some more information about his father's time in WWII. Finally, we went to Ft. Gibson Nation-al Cemetery and in driving back to the in-terstate after-wards found Ft. Gibson Histori-cal Site–a re-creation of the original Ft. Gib-son, open from the 1820s to the 1890s. It was both Union and

Linda and Skip Lewis on a boat on the Sea of Galilee.

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Confederate during the Civil War and in point of fact Jefferson Davis was the adjutant there and caused the hospital to be built, or so they say. Now we are home again, and likely to stay here for a bit. It was a fun, long, and educational summer.

Mary Jane (Myers) Soyenova '61 Don't mess with the sign painter!

Our town has property smack-dab in the center of town. The town board is anxious to sell the property, but when Walgreens made an offer, the citizens came out in force to say that we don't want a Walgreens store in the center of our little town--we already have FOUR pharmacies. The people want to see a park there, and the saga continues!

Even though I've retired from sign painting, I still get involved with so-

cial issues. I've lived in Black Moun-tain for the past 20 years, and certainly don't want to see a big box store domi-nate our downtown.

Bob Hervey ’64 I would like to announce that our

son Seth and his wife Lisa welcomed a son on Friday evening, Oct. 21, 2011. Abram Robert Hervey hit the ground running at 8 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 ins. long. He joins our lovely granddaughter Paige.

Sue Sellars '64. My life has quieted down very nice-

ly in retirement though friends are amazed at my continuing, high energy level. I'm tutoring two high school stu-dents in history. I'm always happiest when I'm teaching. I'm loving having so much time to read. I recommend the following books: Nortin Hadler, M.D.'s Worried Sick - A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America and Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. My brother Duncan spent a week with us in September. We enjoyed our time together. He retired last year.

Ranelle Fortier ’75 I was just recently in Minnesota

for the Overseas Brats 25th Anniver-sary Celebration. One of the day’s events was for the overseas schools to be represented with a School Spirit Table, so I put together one for Nürn-berg. T.D. brought a few pictures, one of his great shadow box, to add to the display. Diana (Bock) Dupree ’75 also brought a few pieces of memorabilia to add as well. I designed and pre-assembled most of the board at my Oregon home and then transported it, my yearbooks and many other school and Germany related articles in my suitcase. I finished the assembly onsite the day of the event. I've only been to one OSB gathering in the past and they didn't do this event then, so I

Mary Jane’s signs made the point!

Above: Marvin and Sandy Herron, Jack Neville, Yvonne Jorgensen, and Judy Neville Over the Labor Day Weekend, Jack and Judy (McLane) Neville ’62, Margaret and Pete Turner ’62, Marvin and Sandy (Maddox) Herron `61, joined Yvonne and T.D. Jorgensen ’62 for some post-Boise reunion activities in Marietta, GA. The Arts Festival on the Square in Marietta showed real creativity with some cleverly painted Porta-Potties®.

Terry Jorgensen ’62

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wasn't quite sure what I was doing compared to what others would do...I just knew I wanted to participate and represent Nürnberg in a strong way. So using my scrapbooking skills and gath-ering history from the NAA website’s archives, I put together a “Timeline” of Nürnberg High. I was relieved to see when other schools were setting up, that I was on track with our dis-play. The OSB held a little contest, and though we didn't take any of the top 3 prizes, we did get the 4th place (an honorable mention). My fellow alum had me go up for the award presentation which was a certificate and a toy “winner” medal which I will put in my scrapbook!

All in all it was real good fun and amazing to see some of the other schools’ tables. But the best part was the camaraderie and getting to know the other NHSers. I had so much fun talking with Joan and Betty, hearing their stories of the first years of NHS,

and hearing about Betty being in the first group of students to move into the

building that I knew and loved as NHS. What great history...and they lived it!!!

Top: Betty Thomas ’54, Pete Turner ’62, Joan (McCarter) Adrian ’47. Diana (Bock) DuPree ’75, Ranelle (Gray) Fortier ’75, T. D. Jorgensen ’62. Center: The tables Ranelle set up and the award. Bottom: Pete Turner ’62, Ranelle (Gray) Fortier ’75, Betty Thomas ’54, Joan (McCarter) Adrian ’47, Diana (Bock) DuPree ’75, T. D. Jorgensen ’62 at the dress–up dinner.


by Larry Shuman ’57 The Winter 2010 issue of the Trichter included an arti-

cle from the 1959-60 issue that among other things sati-rized the wearing of the Hofbräuhaus pin. The guy in the article, Kimballi, could live with the assault and abuse he underwent but he simply could not abide the stealing of his Hofbräuhaus pin. Take my money, take my dignity but do not take my Hofbräuhaus pin. “Imagine” I thought. “Three years after I and a few other guys introduced the Hofbräuhaus pin to the ‘N’ letter, the pin evolved into an iconic token.”

I will not represent myself as the first Eagle to affix the Hofbräuhaus pin to his letter but I will certainly position myself as one of the first. The Nürnberg lettermen in the Class of ’56 and prior would never have countenanced its wearing. (I am certain Hank Reed would have quietly undercut the prac-tice.) In late 1956 we, the basketball team, traveled to Munich for a game. We noticed that the Munich lettermen wore Hofbräuhaus pins on their letters. I just had to have one of those pins. I cor-nered a Munich letterman and asked if I could buy his pin. “You can always get another one,” I added. (The Hofbräuhaus was and is a famous beer hall in Munich, a cloned replica oper-ates in Cincinnati, Ohio.) The Mustang removed the pin from his letter and gave it to me. “How much?” I asked. “I don’t want your money, man,” he said. I rendered profound thankfulness.

Back home in Schwaebisch Hall, I pinned it on my let-ter. My Dad spent more than a few words expressing his displeasure. He had no objection to the pin itself. He had no problem wearing it on a jacket or shirt front; however, he felt adamantly that on the letter, it constituted disrespect and mockery. He likened it to his military uniform. “Why don’t I just put one on my left pocket along with my deco-rations?” he proffered. I reminded him that the Army had regulations governing the uniform. We had no regulations about wearing a varsity letter. He countered that argument with some passion that they should establish regulations. He even mentioned a general he knew in Heidelberg (USAREUR headquarters) who he felt certain would agree with him—a veiled threat that he might just take the matter

up with his friend the general. I guess he thought better of that because USAREUR never issued “Proper Wearing of the USAREUR High School Varsity Letter” regulations—as far as I know.

About 30 years ago I came across my letter stored in a box with a lot of junk. (Long before then I had removed it from the sweater. I needed the sweater for my meager col-lege student wardrobe…without the letter.) The Hofbräuhaus pin itself had twisted off of the needle. I found the pin buried at the bottom of the box. My Beloved asked what the pin represented. She listened to my explana-tion, frowning all the time. “That’s disrespectful” she cried. “A beer pin on an athletic letter.” I told her that her reaction echoed my dad’s when he saw it. She made it clear to me that she agreed with her father-in-law.

What does one do with an old high school letter? I found an old wooden plaque. Onto that plaque, I mounted the letter (sans Hofbräuhaus pin). I had four kids ages 9 to 15 at the time. I decided I would pass it along to one of them. I anticipated a big fight thinking that my kids would kill for their dad’s high school letter. Somewhat taken aback I learned that only one of my kids had any interest. The other three did not express even curiosity. I think Jenny accepted it for the novelty. I did not

detect enthusiasm beyond what I would get if I offered her a candy bar. Nonetheless, she took the plaque and hung it on the wall in her room. I suggested for historical purity that I should buy another Hofbräuhaus pin. But Jenny did not really care about historical purity and her mother cer-tainly did not encourage the return of the pin.

I thought I should finish this article relating the origin of the pin practice. I talked to “Joltin” Joe Leseney who played football at NAHS his junior year then moved to Munich for his senior year. (I have previously told the story of Joe intercepting a pass against us in the 1956 game, stopping a drive that would have won the game for us.) I asked if he knew the history of how the Hofbräuhaus pin became popular at Munich, where the affixation began. Joe had no recollection of the practice of wearing the pin. I am fairly certain he wore the pin on his “M” but he has no


Hofbräuhaus Pin on the Varsity Letter


Of course I remember…but…who is that? Virgil Jones ’61 sent me some pictures from his days at Nürnberg and I had one to add. We have names for a couple

of folks here but need help. Can you identify some of the unnamed folks in these pictures?

The photo above was taken at the AYA and Nancy McLane has been identified as the third girl on the couch and there is no mistaking her in the picture at right. Who are some of the others in this picture? Send your ideas to the editor and we’ll try next edition to identify the rest.

Two well known faces are to the right and below. Coach Campbell sits on the bus and below, a bemused Mr. Rosin listens to the band. But, who are these homespun musicians?

And whose well waxed crew-cut can be seen here?


More pictures…

This shot above is marked football prac-tice in 1959. I think that is Virgil Jones ’61 is in the middle with his hand on the football, but who are the others? At left: Virgil, Joe, Rick and Jack Neville ’62 at the San Antonio Reunion in 2008. But, Joe and Rick who?

A gathering of friends in December 1960, just before your editor headed state-side. I found this picture in a card in the back of my annual from that year. I know that Gerry Swartz is the middle man on the bottom of the pyra-mid. I am the one with my head down trying to get up on the second row, Ric McLaughlin is the third person on that row but I am not sure who the others are. Can anyone help?


would arrive at the base in a fighter jet, he was caught. As Gerry says, “The flight was great fun, but the expres-sions on the faces of the children over-shadowed the ride. Now I was hooked.”

When Gerry retired from the Air Force, he worked for a time at a mo-torcycle maintenance shop. Then he moved to Tucson, AZ, where he has worked in the engineering field in a hospital setting for the past 24 years.

Now he no longer needs padding or a fake beard. He has a full white beard that he keeps the year round. He says, “The children love it and I’m rather attached to it also.”

At the hospital where he works now there is a large children’s unit for which he plays Santa every year. At first, he says, seeing kids in the hospi-tal at Christmas time was a little dis-turbing, but now “when I enter the room with a Ho Ho Ho, it’s great.” There is picture taking and he gives out a stuffed animal to each and every child in the room.

He also visits at Christmas time three daycare centers and two assisted-care centers. The senior citizens seem to enjoy Santa almost as much as the children. Gerry says, “Most of them cannot tell you at lunch what they had for breakfast, but they can tell you what happened in the ’30s and ’40s like it was yesterday. All they want is for someone to listen.” They all want to sit on Santa’s lap and Gerry obliges as he listens to stories of their child-hood and times when money was tight.

Gerry’s daughter thinks he should do something about his weight, saying he could just wear padding when play-ing Santa. But Gerry knows that chil-dren can tell a fake Santa from a real one. Once he was sitting on a bench at

a mall watching the mall Santa. A young girl, about five years old, sat down beside him. Before long she was pulling on his shirt and asking for a new doll for Christmas. Gerry told her she needed to get in line and tell Santa what she wanted. The girl looked up at him with her big blue eyes and said, “He’s not the real Santa.”

Once while being Santa at the hos-pital where he works, Gerry went into a child’s room with a big Ho Ho Ho. The girl in the bed turned over and looked at him as he talked to her but would not respond. When he asked if she wanted a stuffed animal, she nod-ded yes. As he was leaving Gerry noticed the child’s mother was crying. Outside he asked the nurse if he had done something wrong. The nurse said no, that the mother had probably seen something in her daughter’s eyes that she hadn’t seen in a long time.

Like many NHS students, Gerry was only there for a short time. His family arrived in Hof, a small town 135 kilometers northeast of Nürnberg on the Czech border, with less than six weeks left in his junior year. He lived in the Dorm and in his senior year was Dorm Council president. He describes his dorm experience as “pretty good.” He remembers well his dormie friends: room-mate Bob Hervey, Louise “Boogie” Hymanson, Jan

Thornburg, and Steve Pullem. His favorite teachers were Coach Cletus Campbell, Fred Mueller, and Werner “Charlie” Rosin. He even liked the bus rides to and from Hof on the week-ends. He felt that living in Hof, which is in the area called Franconian Swit-zerland, gave him a great opportunity to enjoy the German countryside.

Gerry has been doing Santa for a lot of years and is not planning on giv-ing it up soon. He says he won’t work at a mall because they exploit the par-ents by charging them for photos. He says he has never charged anything for the pleasure he gives. He feels that for the most part Santa is a fantasy for the children and that they need this fanta-sy. He says, “I know there are people that feel children should be taught the real reason for the season, and I agree, but there is nothing wrong with them having a memory of the good times during this season.”

(Continued from page 1) ’Tis the Season…

Jim Hedrick ’64 and Gerry Williams ’64 found these walking sticks for sale at the street fair behind the hotel in Boise. See, Gerry’s beard is for real!


memory of it. So I hearken back to what I remember. As I recall the Mustang lettermen originally had to “earn” the wearing of the pin by drinking five liters of beer, at the Hofbräuhaus located in Munich within I think a two hour period. After awhile the lettermen took the easy route and simply bought a pin. Many of my fellow Eagles also attend-

ed Munich High. If any of you know the full story, please contact me. ([email protected])

Jenny passed the letter along to my grandson Steven, currently serving a mission in Taiwan for our church. Ste-ven has it hanging on his wall, back home in Utah. I never told Steven about the Hofbräuhaus pin. Maybe I will when he returns from Taiwan next year. Maybe he will embrace historical purity. I will let you know next year.

The Hofbräuhaus Pin… (Continued from page 9)

Jean (Wendelschaefer) Garlick ’65 was sorting through some memorabilia and came across this 1961 copy of the “literary magazine” Some Like it Cool. Wonder how many of these “gifted” writers went on to publishing prominence? Dr. Bob McQuitty reports that Miki Korp is the only one of these writers who has published pro-fessionally as far as he knows.

Some Liked

It Cool!


“Gail, I am not that old!” In Boise

this year, they danced in the opening

performance of “Soul Train” with ‘77

and ’78 Eagles. In between reun-

ions, he stays in close touch with his

past students. In fact, he always

kept in touch with

students and their families more

than fellow faculty members. Lots of

phone calls through the years and

visits around the country, because

there is always time to stop and visit

an Eagle while traveling! They trav-

eled back to Germany in 2001 and

2004.

Coach Gussner has an uncanny

ability to remember names, faces

and positions played on each team

he coached. We wondered if he

studied the yearbooks before each

reunion, but no, he remembers all of

the details about the athletes and

games. Rob Hueber ’74 attended his

first reunion in San Antonio in 2008

and was astounded by Coach’s crys-

tal clear memory:

“Coach Gussner was in the ‘70s

era reception room that first night in

San Antonio. Shortly after greeting

the group, I went over to introduce

myself to him. He not only knew

who I was after 34 years, but he de-

clared that I was one of the Bobbsey

Twins. That is what he called Mark

Bryant and me, because he thought

we looked alike in our foot-

ball uniforms. Coach had a

rare quality of being able to

be a tough disciplinarian, yet

everyone respected AND

liked him! That is not an easy

combination: always tough,

but always fair!”

Coach called Mark Bry-

ant ‘75 right away when I told

him Mark had been shot in

the forearm when climbing

onto a helicopter during a

Special Forces mission in Afghani-

stan. During the 2005 Florida reun-

ion, I explained that Ron Rich ’75

had died from kidney cancer a cou-

ple of months before the reunion.

Ron had hoped to make it and was

the first to send in his registration.

Tom called Ron’s wife,

Marsha, after the reunion to

offer his sympathy and

relate his fond memories of

Ron. There are regulars who

check in with him to talk

about old times and updates

on how life is going - you

know who you are. That is

not to say they are his favor-

ites, because he has a big

heart for everyone.

Maria is originally from

Dearborn, Michigan and Tom

from Seattle, Washington. In

1969, they met in the Philip-

pines while both were work-

ing as teachers for DoDDS.

One night Maria and her

roommates’ house was on

fire and the local firemen

stole some of

their belongings

while others

were putting out

the fire. Maria

was transferred

to Luxembourg

and Tom to

Vilseck, a train-

ing area near the

Czech border.

His first stop was

NHS and he over-

heard the assis-

tant football

coach asking the

Athletic Director

to find a JV coach.

The rest is history – he told the Ath-

letic Director he had no intention of

going to the Middle School at Vilseck

anyway; the high school students

were in the dorm at NHS.

(Continued from page 1)


Maria and Coach Gussner…

Coach Gussner signals to the ’72-’73 basketball team

Teaching cinematics in ’72-’73 — The yearbook caption is: “When Gussner says smile…”

On the sidelines at a game with Joe “Spidey” Houston ’74


The deal he cut to stay there in-

volved working in the dorm and

teaching two classes of social stud-

ies. “Working in the dorm” meant

living in the back annex five days a

week and taking care of the

“Dormies.” His reward was football

on Saturdays and playing basketball

with a German team on Monday

nights. He taught cinematics from

1972 to 1977; the curriculum was

based on training from USC’s School

of Cinematography. During those

years, his teaching responsibilities

also included junior high health.

The couple was stuck with a

long-distance romance until Maria

was transferred to the Nu rnberg

American Elementary School in

1973. Maria did most of the com-

muting on weekends to and from

Luxembourg, a seven hour trip with

periodic stops for sheep in the road,

because Tom had a full schedule of

sporting events. They were married

on July 6, 1973 in the Fu rth Rathaus.

Their daughter, Jamie, was born

in 1976 during one of the basketball

games and Maria chuckled, “Tom

was on the phone coaching the bas-

ketball team during the birth!” That

dedication to coaching was men-

tioned in an article by Stars and

Stripes reporter, Dan Synovec.

Thanks to Dan, NHS had the best

newspaper coverage of any team in

Europe from 1973 – 77. He bonded

so much with the Eagles that he be-

came Gussner’s assistant JV football

coach in 1974.

Tom coached five years of foot-

ball and seven years of basketball

for NHS from 1970 – 1977. Coach

was the proud owner of two unde-

feated football seasons before he

resigned from football in 1974 after

Wade Axton was seriously injured.

There was a small number of fresh-

man players that year; 18 instead of

the usual 40. One of the Heidelberg

players took a cheap shot during a

play and broke Wade’s neck. With-

out knowing the extent of the injury,

they sent Wade back on the train.

Dan Synovec met him in Nu rnberg

and said, “Let’s get you to the hospi-

tal!”

Successful treatment was a halo

device to stabilize his neck followed

by a body cast for six months.

Coach wasn’t going to finish the sea-

son; however, Wade’s parents insist-

ed that he stay on ‘for the team’. In

1974, during the last game in Bit-

burg straw was put on the field to

absorb the standing rain water. Un-

fortunately, the straw had pig ma-

nure in it, resulting in very messy

and smelly white uniforms by the

end of the game. Nu rnberg won (8 –

6) and the game ball was auto-

graphed by all and dedicated to

Wade.

Originally, they were going to

settle in Arizona, but a Nu rnberg

friend encouraged them to look in

the Carmel area. They bought their

current house in 1976, even though

they didn’t know anything about

purchasing a house. They arrived in

California in 1977 with a 1 ½ year

old and no jobs, but they had a

house to move into! They left Eu-

rope thinking that schools would be

better in the US. It was a wrong as-

sumption; they found schools to be

worse with lots of bullying between

kids.

These experienced teachers

were soon shocked to find out that

they were not qualified to teach

without the required California

teaching credential which would

require completing another year of

school! [Can you imagine those two

not being qualified after teaching for

so many years and traveling the

world?] It took six months for Tom

to land his first job in retail selling

TV’s. They owned a deli for five

years – well, they claim it owned

them. Tom became an insurance

adjuster for claims and discovered

lots of insurance fraud through the

years, sending some to jail. Always

drawn to sports, he volunteered to

coach freshman boys’ basketball at

Alisal High School on the east side of

Salinas. In 2001, he was the assis-

tant coach for women’s basketball at

Monterey Peninsula College and the

head coach for women’s basketball

at Cabrillo College in 2003.

What is life like for Tom and

Maria Gussner day to day back home

in Salinas, California? They are ded-

icated to their family which includes

daughter Jamie, son Dion born in

1978, and three grandchildren:

Courtney (5), Logan (3) and Reese,

the baby at 8 months. The proud



NHS Room at the Gussners’ home

Royal Couple for the ’70s Era…


grandparents tease each other

about how their grandkids are really

the ones in charge. They live seven

miles away and meet frequently at

the swings in the park. When Court-

ney comes over and says, “Papa,

come play with me.” Tom drops

what he is doing and plays Barbie

dolls or dress-up…her choice. After

the recent reunion, he wrote in an

email:

“It was great to see our grand-

children again, and we enjoyed an

unbelievable greeting from them.

There can be nothing better than

small children running in your di-

rection with happy smiles!”

They were planning to take the

kids out to lunch at their favorite

restaurant and to see the movie Cars

2. Tom has coached two seasons of

T-Ball for Court-

ney’s team and

hopes to coach her

future soccer teams.

Hobbies in-

clude compiling

photos and baby

pictures, making CD

mixes of music from

the ‘70s and adding

memorabilia to his

Nu rnberg Room.

There are team pictures, buttons,

and pennants. Roger Haddad, a

friend who still lives in Nu rnberg,

purchased trophies at an auction

when the school closed – a nice ad-

dition to the Nu rnberg Room. Tom

also collects German and Anniver-

sary clocks. He learned to work on

clocks by reading repair manuals

and trial and error. He assisted a

repairman with anniversary clocks

for awhile, but

ran out of time.

Maria gave him

his first wall clock

in 1970 and there

are currently 22

clocks in the col-

lection. That

makes for a lot of

winding and

chiming!

After a De-

cember 1973 bas-

ketball game in Nu rnberg, it was

snowing and the bus drivers refused

to take the players to the Youth Hos-

tel due to the dangerous driving

conditions. The Wiesbaden team

had to be dispersed to homes in the

NHS Kalb community overnight.

Wiesbaden’s two best players, Sam

Rock and Ron Barber ’74, stayed



At the 2011 Boise Reunion: Gussner, Scott McHardy ’75, Ron Crosby ’75, Barbara Covington, and John Covington ’73.

Coach Gussner and Bob Crosby ’73 at Lake Tahoe 1993.

Granddaughter Reese: “I can’t wait to wrap you around my little finger, Papa!”

Maria and Coach Gussner…


At the 2002 Las Vegas Reunion: Gussner, Don Connell ’73, Gail Bursch ’74, Jim Murphy ’73, and Ron Rich ’75

with the Gussners. They couldn’t

sleep with all of the clocks chiming

through the night and therefore, did-

n’t play very well the next day. So,

NHS pulled off the victory, 54-53,

with Ray White hitting the final shot

in the last seconds of the game. During the last hour of the Boise

reunion, Tom was standing be-

side Maria with his chin tilted

up in solidarity, blue eyes intent

on the crowd and a quick nod to

say, “It was good to spend time

with you again and we’ll have an

even better time at the next

reunion.”


In Boise 2011, Coach Gussner reminisces with some of his former students. From left to right: Tom Kappelman ’77, Coach, O’Dillard Johnson ’77, Fred Robinson ’78, and Larry Kiley ’76 with his back to the camera.


Marching Backward

to 1960-61 School Year Edited by Bob McQuitty, NAA Historian/Archivist

Important Events of 1960-61 • July 25 – Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, NC, the location of an earlier sit-in, serves a meal to its first black customer.

• Aug. 17 – The newly-named Beatles begin 48-night residency at the Indra Club in Hamburg, West Germany.

• Aug. 19 – U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers sentenced to 10 years for espionage.

• Sept. 26 – Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy meet in first televised debate.

• Oct.12 – Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a table in UN General Assembly to protest discussion of the Soviet Union's policies toward Eastern Europe.

• Nov. 8 – John F. Kennedy elected President in narrow contest.

• Dec. 5 – Supreme Court declares segregation in public transportation illegal.

• Dec. 12 – Supreme Court declares Louisiana segregation laws unconstitutional.

• Jan. 17 – Eisenhower warns of the increasing power of a "military-industrial complex"

• Mar. 1 – President Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.

• Apr. 17 The Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba begins; it fails by April 19.

• May 14 – White citizens attack Freedom Riders in Anniston and Birmingham.

• May 25 – Pres. Kennedy announces his goal to put a man on the Moon.

Undated and On-Going

• During 1960-61 many African colonies break away from their European masters to form independent countries. • Cold War (1945-91 • Vietnam War (1959-75)

Excerpts from the Trichter Elaine Hudson, editor

Robert McQuitty, adviser All 12 issues extant,

Sept 30, 1960-June 8, 1961

HEADLINES Enrollment Rises to 678, 43 Teachers and 67 Seniors Lenny Habas Elected Student Council President

Seniors Elect Herby Browne NHS to Have Own Annual, “The Eagle’s Nest”

Homecoming Queen Nancy McLane Commands Team to Win – They Do Football Team Wins 5, Loses 1 But Finishes 2nd in League

Teacher Terrors

Vanquish Varsity

Basketball Team

by Larry Voelker

Pandemonium reigned in the last few

seconds of the recent Teacher-Varsity

basketball game when the entire Teacher

bench raced onto the floor to help its

beleagured comrades protect a

diminishing 45-42 lead.

The referee then called a technical

foul on the whole team, giving Eagle Pat

Moran five free throws, but he only made

two of them because he was greatly

hindered by Mr. Goold’s unorthodox

behavior. Final score: 45-44.

Mr. Jahnke led the Teachers’ all-out

attack with 20 points. Dave Worland,

unruffled Eagle, tallied 14 for the losing

Eagle Varsity.

The Eagles’ Nest by Marie Ertl

George Bingham doesn’t know what to make of faculty sportsmanship.In the Faculty-Varsity game, George kept trying to get

Editors of ‘Trichter,’ ‘Pennalen’ to Exchange Stories

[Uwe Schinzel, a student in the German Oberrealschule for boys on Kaiserstrasse, approached Trichter adviser Robert McQuitty and offered to write feature stories about life in a German school in exchange for stories about life in NHS for the paper he edited, the Pennalen. Trichter editor Elaine Hudson agreed to the exchange. Excerpts from Schinzel’s first story follows. (Schinzel later became editor of Nürnberg’s most important daily newspaper, the Nürnberger Nachrichten.) – Ed]

Our summer vacations ended on Aug. 30. Sept. 1 at 8 a.m. the “seriousness of life” was to begin again. ... At 8:15 the school doors are solemnly opened, and the “eager” students rush in, almost killing each other. Ten minutes later the new homeroom teachers arrive. He hasn’t yet quite opened the door when the struggle for the “best” seats (which means as far away from the teacher as possible) begins.

Next is the time for the personal data form. This is the so-called “warrant” for the new year in which all of a pupil’s punishments are registered.

At about 9:15 the first school day is over. Then with a lot of noise or silence, which depends on the teacher, the students leave the “jailhouse.”

The following day they all attend church services, and after this work begins with new energy.

NHS Demands Recount, Nixon Should Have Won Whoops! What happened? Nixon was supposed to win acccording to a mock election conducted by the Student Council. In the NHS election, Nixon came out on top with 185 popular votes against 140 for Kennedy.


up after a scramble for a loose ball, but he couldn’t do it because Mr. Hedden had him by the arm. “Mr. Hedden! Mr. Hedden! What are you doing, Mr. Hedden?”

We hear that Charlie Eagle is named after Mess Sgt. Charles Homer Labert Savoie, who presides over the Eagle Hall of Fame downstairs.

Trichter Topics by Elaine Hudson, editor

“How does a human react when his head is cut off?” This was a recent topic in Mr. Rosin’s English class. Next?

Gil Frisbie and Toni Miller are keeping their distance nowadays–not because of incompatibility but because of incapability (crutches and a cast). Next?

When Jenna Skirving was asked what one thing she would take to the moon, she promptly answered, “Tom.” When Tom [Turnmire] said he’d take a football…Next?

December Dateline: Joe Gazzo and Dianne Wiest, Sue Worley and Dave Worland, Judy Brown and John Sanderson, Bob Lipscomb and Nancy Marvin, Terry Morley and Buddy Goins. …What’s Next?

AND NEXT I WANT . . . says Mr. Ferguson, senior homeroom teacher, as he explains his Christmas wishes to old Saint Nick himself, or is it really Ralph Mogel in disguise? Eagerly waiting to talk to Santa are Dave Worland, junior, Dianne Wiest, freshman; Ron Coburn, sophomore; Don McClure, senior; and Peggy Miller, eighth grader.

PEP JUG TO PEP UP PEP RALLIES WILL BE PRESENTED

AT ASSEMBLY JAN. 20 Today the newspaper will award a

pep jug to the class which shows the most spirit during the pep rally. The Tricher staff discussed school spirit and decided that a pep jug to pep up pep assemblies was just what NHS needed.

Support Helps Team To Win One side of the gym was cheering

madly. Mothers and fathers were standing, yelling, and clawing the air with their fists, cheering their sons on to victory. Brothers, sisters, friends, and classmates were putting all kinds of pep into their cheers, and the team they were yelling for felt big, acted big, and won.

Such was the scene at the recent Nuernberg-Heidelberg game. Perhaps it was because of the pep assembly held that morning. Perhaps it was because of the Trichter’s presentation of the Pep Jug, which stood under the Eagle goal during the whole game. But whatever the cause, Nuernberg never saw such a game as the one played that Friday. Never did the cheerleaders have such a responsive audience.

The opposing team was amazed! Several turned to watch and stood in awe at the roaring crowds.

This is the kind of spirit Nuernberg cheerleaders have been looking for. This is the kind of spirit that the team appreciates, the very kind they need to lead them into the tournament, the kind that will make them a big team.

Seniors Win Eagle Week Competition, Spirit Soars Taking full advantage of the chance

to work for their class and school, NHS students, led by the seniors, winners of the Eagle Week II competition, will convene in the Community Theater May 19 for the culminating event of the week.

At the assembly the senior class president, Herby Browne, will be awarded the Eagle Week trophy by Lenny Habas, Student Council president. Herb Barker will present the Eagle of the Week, replacing the usual Student of the Week citation. The Pep Jug, won by the freshmen in January, will be presented by Elaine Hudson, editor of the newspaper, to the class that showed the best spirit, sportsmanship, and participation in all activities.

Benita Boehm, senior, won the spirit contest with her poem entitled “Eagle

Week.” She will read it at the assembly. All classes were driving hard all

week and class rivalry was high. “Go Senior Eagles” was the motto of the Class of ‘61. Last year’s seniors had won, and this year’s class didn’t want to forego the tradition, but things looked bad by Wednesday.

The seniors began picking up points that night when AFN disc jockey Bill Reed picked the senior couple winner of the dance contest. Thursday the senior had achieved a shaky two-point lead and when the senior girls won the Tug-of-War, and Boehm won the spirit contest, the victory was cinched with a total of 142 points.

Trichter Staff Revels At Year-End Banquet

To celebrate winning a second place certificate in the Scholastic Press Association’s annual contest, the Trichter staff met for a banquet at the Steichele Restaurant in Nuernberg May 24. As the banquet progressed Mr. McQuitty declared, “Only journalistic jargon is sanctioned here.” This checked Terry (Ace) Jorgensen’s penchant for bigger and more impressive-sounding words in his dinner speeches.


Gone but not forgotten Dick Phillips ’54

Jack Phillips ’52 reports that his brother Dick Phillips died on Sept. 14, 2011, at Battle Ground, WA of pancre-atic cancer. He was 75.

Ron Holmes '81. Reni (Peek) Michael reports that

Ron died in Dupont, Washington, October 27, 2011. Many of you who knew Ron know that he was a very gifted athlete in both basketball and football. Ron was a member of the 1980 Washington State 3A champion-ship basketball team for Timberline High School as well as a THS Hall of Famer. Ron was also a football scholar-ship recipient at the University of Washington where he was later inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame.

Ron went on to be drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following college where he played for several years before being traded to the Denver Broncos. Ron played along side John Elway as a starting defensive end in

Superbowl XXIV. Ron played a total of 8 years in the NFL.

He was a gentle giant who, despite his great size, was kind and patient with a heart of gold. He would help anyone who asked. Ron was very com-mitted to his relationship with the Lord.

Ron is survived by a pre-teen daughter Riley, who he lovingly referred to as Riley Roo and a son Jeffrey who is a basketball player at Amherst College. Ron was preceded in death by his brother Paul, who passed of cancer last year and a sister who passed away at a young age in the 60s.

Lori Kilgore ’82

Lori passed away in Longmont, Colorado, on September 9, 2011, at the age of 47 after battling inflammatory breast cancer for a year and half. She was born on February 3, 1964, in Nash-ville, TN, to Jerry Twilla and Lee Kil-gore and was later adopted by her step-father, Darryl Kilgore.

She graduated from high school in Nürnberg, Germany, and then the University of Tennessee at Martin with a BS in Criminal Justice. She was com-missioned into the US Army and was honorably discharged as 1st lieutenant. In her civilian life she was an animal control officer and then later studied to earn her building inspector/code enforcement officer certificates. She loved helping people and animals and volunteered in search and rescue during Hurricane Katrina and during the tornado in Windsor. Lori's favorite activities were training dogs in urban search and rescue, watching Rockies baseball, skiing and traveling the coun-try and the world.

Lori is survived by her partner of 16 years Shelley Scheideler, grand-mother Margaret Stitt, parents Darryl and Lee Kilgore, sisters Elisabeth Long (Tim), Kathryn Woodall (Tony) and niece Samantha Long and nephew Eric Long and 4 beloved dogs Ben, Danni, Ron-nie and Emily, and many friends and other family members.

Left: Ron’s annual picture his Sophomore year. Above: Ron and his daughter Riley .

trichter - nurnbergeagles.org€¦ · gerry was reluctant to volunteer at first, but when he was...

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