ATTENTION CLASS OF ’63
So, here we all are again.
And yes, five more years have passed.
We have another chance to meet
At Tommy G’s, June 16th, at last.
Not everyone will be with us.
We’ve lost so many, it’s true.
Tough to see that remembrance list–
Friends of each one of you.
The rest of us will come together
To share memories of yesterday.
It’s so good for all of us
Cause we all have something to say.
Some of our best years
Were spent at Kaukauna High School.
Life seemed to be so much simpler,
And we all “SEEMED” to follow each rule.
Again, the date is June the 16th.
Tommy G’s is the place.
For the class of ’63
We’ll save each of you a space.
PLEASE BE THERE!!
When I started with the Alumni organization, I never realized what a dedicated group of people who give so much of their time, talent and expertise to keeping the Alumni Rally, Newspaper and classmates so
connected. This year we are celebrating 87 years having a rally. There is no other Alumni in the United States who can beat this accomplishment. Within those 87 years, we have seen many changes. The biggest this year is the discontinuation of the Alumni Newspaper. It seems communication in today’s world exists with Facebook, Twitter, Skype, E-mails to name a few. We still want and need your stories as the Alumni has developed a website: https://www.kaukaunaalumni.com. This website will be
continually up-dated. So, please take time to send us some information for the sight. What an easy way
to see what is happening with your classmates (and other alumni classes), changes and up-dates at
Kaukauna High School and the City of Kaukauna in its growth.
Stay “KAUKAUNA STRONG”
Janet Van De Hey
Advisory Board Member
Lyle Hansen
Class of 1963
Five years went by very fast and over that time the Class of ’63 has lost several more classmates. So sad to see them go.
My wife Linda and I have been married for 57 years going on forever. We have four children and six grandchildren. We now live in Appleton after moving seven times over the past 57 years.
I was very busy all my life and still have a hard time sitting still. I do wood projects during the day which when sold the money gets sent to children’s programs. In the evenings I still write stories for the Kaukauna Time Machine trips. These stories come from the old issues of the Kaukauna Times and 8000 hits are recorded each month. I completed a long-delayed children’s book this past year called “Mama Said.” This book was inspired by my grandchildren. The sales from this book have been very good and the funds are donated to Make a Wish. I am looing forward to seeing the class of 1963 again.
Growing up in Kaukauna has been good luck for most of us, and I will always be thankful for those roots. In fact, moving back to Kaukauna had been our plan for many years, but life interfered, and so it goes. Some of the best people I know go back to my Kaukauna days, some of life’s best memories go back to Kaukauna, and we all had the opportunity with our foundations, on which to grow, because of our Kaukauna backgrounds. Life certainly was much less complicated in the “OLD DAYS”, and I would not have changed those years for anything.
After student teaching in Kaukauna in the later 60’s, I had the opportunity for a teaching position there, but I had met my future husband, Hank, and it changed everything! Kaukauna would have been my first choice, but we married in ’68, moved to Waukesha, and Hank finished law school at Marquette in ’70, while I taught for two years at Hadfield Elementary. After that we moved to Oshkosh, where Hank was offered a job, and that is where my 30 plus years of teaching began at the one and only school: Oaklawn Elementary. Loved my teaching years, which was a much better time for teaching than today.
We are obviously both retired now like all of you, but with that can come new challenges, right? Hank has had MANY serious health issues for 5 1/2 plus years, and we thank God everyday that he is doing decently. Life changes during these senior years, as many of you know, and we are not able to travel like we used to do, along with other things. And, again, so life goes. Our families and friends are our blessings and the biggest parts of our lives–nothing like them–so faithful and good and supportive.
Our class was really a very special group. So, PLEASE, come and join us once again for our 60th reunion and share YOUR stories on June 16th at Tommy G’s , and on the 17th at the Alumni Rally at Van Abel’s. While I worked on the Remembrance board, I think of how many of our classmates will not be with us and have this opportunity. May God bless them all. They are SOOO missed!!
Hugs to all of you,
Sarah (Berens) Mathewson
In spite of COVID, we managed to do a family celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary at Disney World in 2021, a year late. The trip was great. Traveling with 6 grandkids was quite an experience.
Gerry still has a golf membership at Mid Vallee Golf Course so he spends a lot of time playing golf in the summer. On September 29, 2022 he had his first “hole in one”.
Gerry Ebben, class of 1963
Jeanne Pieters Ebben, class of 1968
