Thursday, October 21, 2010

Glenn Rezabek Obituary

I don't check the Anchor Website every day but I did today and found this obituary:

Glenn Roy Rezabek, son of James and Myrtle (Olson) Rezabek, was born February 1, 1923, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. He attended grade school in Rutland and graduated from Fort Dodge High School. Following graduation, Glenn attended Fort Dodge Junior College for one year. In March 1943, Glenn was inducted into the United States Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, serving in the European and Pacific Theaters. He was honorably discharged in March 1946. Glenn was united in marriage to Lois LeClair. He was employed in the telephone business in Ruthven for nine years. Glenn entered a partnership with Gus Probst, operating a retail business selling appliances and doing television and radio repair in Ruthven. He moved to Slater, Iowa, where he worked for two years in the telephone business. Glenn then returned to college at Buena Vista and graduated with a teaching degree. Glenn taught chemistry and physics at Northwood High School for 30 years before retiring. Glenn retuned to Palo Alto County after Lois’ death and enjoyed being closer to his brother and sister. Glenn most recently lived in the assisted living apartments in Ruthven. Glenn was very active in the United Methodist Church in Northwood, serving on the financial board. He attended the First United Methodist Church in Emmetsburg after moving here. Glenn enjoyed gardening and took great pride in his gardens. He truly loved education and teaching his students at Northwood. Glenn died Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010, at the Palo Alto County Hospital in Emmetsburg, Iowa, at the age of 87. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife and his sister, Marian Meng. Funeral services were held Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010, at 10 a.m. at the Martin-Mattice Funeral Home, Ruthven, Iowa, with Rev. Roger Maize officiating of the United Methodist Church, Ruthven, Iowa. Inurnment was in the Crown Hill Cemetery, Ruthven, Iowa, with military graveside rites performed by Ruthven American Legion Post #33. He is survived by his brother, Charles Rezabek, and his wife, Rita of Emmetsburg, Iowa; nieces and nephews; as well as other relatives and many friends. Arrangements were made by Martin-Mattice Funeral Home, martinmatticefuneral-home.com.

So if he came to Northwood in 1961 he was 38 when he got here although he looked older than that at the time. 38 today is just a pup - younger than any of my kids. Age is relative, I guess.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Posted recently in the Anchor and forwarded by Marsha Gaarder Hasseler, who points out the Class of '62 was a 4-time winner at Homecoming (at least on the Queen side):

Who became homecoming queen EVERY year of our class? ...the gal who was Class of ’62 queen each of our four years! So here is from the Anchor’s October 13,2010 50 years ago column:

Betty Ryan, a junior, and Wayne Gaskil, senior, were crowned queen and king to reign over homecoming activities at Northwood-Kensett school last Friday evening. Roses were presented to the queen and identification bracelets were presented to both king and queen. They were crowned by football captains John Roberts, Dave Skellenger and Albert Adams.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Politics in the Good Old Days

Maybe we get too much information these days, with 24/7 cablecasts. Or maybe I was flat naive as a high school student because outside of having some knowledge that Nixon and Kennedy were running for president, and that Orville Loveless, the truckdriver who became our governor in spite of the revelation that he was an alcoholic, I was mostly clueless.

Kennedy certainly brought something new to the table. I can recall adults in my own family who were very down on his potential election, fearing our government would be run from Rome. Today the fear seems to focus on the Mormon Mitt Romney, now that we have moved past, for the time being, the color line. Or will it be a woman next? That would lack a fear factor, but likely would cause great consternation amongst traditional males. They're still out there for sure.

The most political person in my recollection was Chuck Helgeland, who was fully aware of the Nixon-Kennedy debates. Later, in 1964 I recall overhearing him debating with a fellow college student in the off-campus "lounge" as to the relative merits of Barry Goldwater. I suppose had I been eligible to vote I would have voted for Goldwater, although given some distance of time I may not do so today.

And it seems to me that Bob Scheib gave what might be best described as a political speech as the guest speaker at our senior prom. But why in the world did we have a need for a speaker at the prom? Mostly I recall wishing we were on our way out the door. Naive, I guess.