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The William Chrisman High School class of 1944 will observe its last formal reunion with a special observance at the Memorial Wall at Veterans Courtyard, on the southeast corner of the Truman Memorial Building, 416 W. Maple Ave.
At 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 23, some 60 or so people attending the three-day, 65-year reunion will do something Charlie Brewer believes should have been done years before by his class of 112 boys and 157 girls.
And that was to recognize its fallen classmates whose names are etched on the large granite wall, as well as to remember the other deceased classmates from the 279-member class, says Brewer, who organized the special observance.
Because the class roll is being depleted at a rapid rate, the World War II veteran and former football coach says the class decided three years ago – at its last reunion – to recognize the boys from William Chrisman who sacrificed their lives for their country during World War II.
The class not only decided to salute their fallen classmates, but also to “recognize those who contributed to the war effort in whatever way,” Brewer says, noting participation was communitywide. “The girls did, the boys did and those in the (armed) services did.”
The observance, he says, “will give us a period of time to remember what (classmates) did in that time frame (1942-46) and how they were involved (in the war effort) and how the community of Independence was (involved).”
Calling the war years a “unique period of time to be recognized and remembered,” the 83-year-old Lee’s Summit resident says as a class, we will be “selfishly remembering ourselves. But that’s the way it is.”
The class of ’44, Brewer says, was “kinda unique in that we were a class in the war years” ... “motivated by the war and everything that went on around us.”
In addition to participating in ROTC, athletics, drama and debate, the class of ’44 and the classes behind it were actively involved in the war effort on a small scale.
The girls, he says, learned how to “knit for Britain.” And in shop classes, the boys made wooden models of enemy airplanes, used throughout the community to teach Civil Defense spotters how to identify enemy aircraft.
“We were involved in a lot of war-time activities,” Brewer recalls. There were scrap drives and war bond drives. Then there were the letters the girls penned in study hall to lonely, homesick U.S. servicemen in both theaters of war.
And it was these hand-written letters, sent with either “S.W.A.K” (Sealed With A Kiss) written on the envelope or “Postmaster: RLH (Rush Like Hell),” which Brewer believes was the biggest local contribution to the war.
Many of these sealed-with-a-kiss letters were handled and processed by Chrismanites who worked part-time at the Independence Post Office near the Square, because of a shortage of full-time workers.
Working at the post office, where Edgar Hinde Sr. was postmaster, was a good experience, Brewer recalls.
“In fact, a lot of us made tuition in the summer or were able to buy an engagement ring or something like that” from the postal job.
Brewer, who played fullback on Chrisman’s football team, called the war years “the worst of times and the best of times.”
The worst, he says, “Because our young men were giving their lives for their country, and there was a lot of lonesomeness and a lot of grief and maybe a little fear.”
The best, “Because we all had an opportunity to contribute to the war effort. Our mothers did.
They may never had worked outside the home. Now they were at Lake City making ammunition.”
The last class reunion isn’t going to be a sorrowful occasion, even though it will be the last time most members will see each other to shout, “Go, Chrisman Bears” and to relive their high school experiences.
“If there is anything that will be kind of misty, it will be the observance at the wall,” Brewer says, because the men whose names are etched in the wall “didn’t have the opportunity to live the life we did. So, we feel it is a double loss. They lost their life and we lost whatever contribution they would have made to our country.”
Following the short ceremony, lunch will be served in the President’s Room of the Truman Memorial Building, 416 W. Maple Ave.
On Saturday, the Class of ’44 is hosting a Golden Anniversary Class Reunion Social from 10 a.m. to noon in the Palmer Center dining hall, 218-A Pleasant St. Anyone who graduated from an Independence school in 1959 or earlier is invited to the coffee and pastry social. Cost is $3 per person. Preregistration is required by Wednesday, Oct. 21, by calling 325-6200.
That evening, the class will gather for a 5 p.m. reception at Drumm Farm Golf Club, 15400 E. 34th St. Dinner follows at 6.
Then, at 11 a.m. Sunday, classmates will say their final good-byes at their last function – a champagne brunch at V’s Italiano Restaurante, 10819 E. U.S. 40.
The reunion committee, composed of Hugh Bueneman, Mary Jo Clark, Shirley Ford Lumsden, Betty Huff Sturman, Ed Mathews and Charlie Brewer, extends a cordial invitation to all Chrismanites in the war-time classes of 1942-46 to participate in their Last Hurrah.
If you can attend some of the activities, give Brewer a call at 816-350-1133. He’d love to talk to you.
The William Chrisman High School class of 1944 will observe its last formal reunion with a special observance at the Memorial Wall at Veterans Courtyard, on the southeast corner of the Truman Memorial Building, 416 W. Maple Ave.
At 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 23, some 60 or so people attending the three-day, 65-year reunion will do something Charlie Brewer believes should have been done years before by his class of 112 boys and 157 girls.
And that was to recognize its fallen classmates whose names are etched on the large granite wall, as well as to remember the other deceased classmates from the 279-member class, says Brewer, who organized the special observance.
Because the class roll is being depleted at a rapid rate, the World War II veteran and former football coach says the class decided three years ago – at its last reunion – to recognize the boys from William Chrisman who sacrificed their lives for their country during World War II.
The class not only decided to salute their fallen classmates, but also to “recognize those who contributed to the war effort in whatever way,” Brewer says, noting participation was communitywide. “The girls did, the boys did and those in the (armed) services did.”
The observance, he says, “will give us a period of time to remember what (classmates) did in that time frame (1942-46) and how they were involved (in the war effort) and how the community of Independence was (involved).”
Calling the war years a “unique period of time to be recognized and remembered,” the 83-year-old Lee’s Summit resident says as a class, we will be “selfishly remembering ourselves. But that’s the way it is.”
The class of ’44, Brewer says, was “kinda unique in that we were a class in the war years” ... “motivated by the war and everything that went on around us.”
In addition to participating in ROTC, athletics, drama and debate, the class of ’44 and the classes behind it were actively involved in the war effort on a small scale.
The girls, he says, learned how to “knit for Britain.” And in shop classes, the boys made wooden models of enemy airplanes, used throughout the community to teach Civil Defense spotters how to identify enemy aircraft.
“We were involved in a lot of war-time activities,” Brewer recalls. There were scrap drives and war bond drives. Then there were the letters the girls penned in study hall to lonely, homesick U.S. servicemen in both theaters of war.
And it was these hand-written letters, sent with either “S.W.A.K” (Sealed With A Kiss) written on the envelope or “Postmaster: RLH (Rush Like Hell),” which Brewer believes was the biggest local contribution to the war.
Many of these sealed-with-a-kiss letters were handled and processed by Chrismanites who worked part-time at the Independence Post Office near the Square, because of a shortage of full-time workers.
Working at the post office, where Edgar Hinde Sr. was postmaster, was a good experience, Brewer recalls.
“In fact, a lot of us made tuition in the summer or were able to buy an engagement ring or something like that” from the postal job.
Brewer, who played fullback on Chrisman’s football team, called the war years “the worst of times and the best of times.”
The worst, he says, “Because our young men were giving their lives for their country, and there was a lot of lonesomeness and a lot of grief and maybe a little fear.”
The best, “Because we all had an opportunity to contribute to the war effort. Our mothers did.
They may never had worked outside the home. Now they were at Lake City making ammunition.”
The last class reunion isn’t going to be a sorrowful occasion, even though it will be the last time most members will see each other to shout, “Go, Chrisman Bears” and to relive their high school experiences.
“If there is anything that will be kind of misty, it will be the observance at the wall,” Brewer says, because the men whose names are etched in the wall “didn’t have the opportunity to live the life we did. So, we feel it is a double loss. They lost their life and we lost whatever contribution they would have made to our country.”
Following the short ceremony, lunch will be served in the President’s Room of the Truman Memorial Building, 416 W. Maple Ave.
On Saturday, the Class of ’44 is hosting a Golden Anniversary Class Reunion Social from 10 a.m. to noon in the Palmer Center dining hall, 218-A Pleasant St. Anyone who graduated from an Independence school in 1959 or earlier is invited to the coffee and pastry social. Cost is $3 per person. Preregistration is required by Wednesday, Oct. 21, by calling 325-6200.
That evening, the class will gather for a 5 p.m. reception at Drumm Farm Golf Club, 15400 E. 34th St. Dinner follows at 6.
Then, at 11 a.m. Sunday, classmates will say their final good-byes at their last function – a champagne brunch at V’s Italiano Restaurante, 10819 E. U.S. 40.
The reunion committee, composed of Hugh Bueneman, Mary Jo Clark, Shirley Ford Lumsden, Betty Huff Sturman, Ed Mathews and Charlie Brewer, extends a cordial invitation to all Chrismanites in the war-time classes of 1942-46 to participate in their Last Hurrah.
If you can attend some of the activities, give Brewer a call at 816-350-1133. He’d love to talk to you.
