In Memorium - Bill Lukenbill

Today I heard from Rick Roblek and Linda DeHaven McCarty that another member of the Class of '65 has passed away.

Bill Lukenbill's obituary was in the Pueblo Chieftain; the copy is re-printed below. Please keep Bill's family in your prayers. Take care, everyone.

William M. “Bill” Lukenbill, 64, passed away Oct. 2, 2011. Survived by his daughters, Lauren (Jonathan) Lukenbill- Hungerford and Jennifer Lukenbill; stepson, Eric Tammone; and grandchildren, Alyssa Lukenbill and Alivia Hungerford. Preceded in death by his wife, Judy Tammone-Lukenbill; parents, Howard O. and Thelma I. Lukenbill; and brother, Howard S. Lukenbill. Bill was born April 25, 1947, in Pueblo. He retired from the Pueblo Police Department in 1987. Bill enjoyed the outdoors, especially the beautiful Colorado mountains. Fishing and hunting were his favorite hobbies. There will be no viewing. Cremation, Montgomery & Steward Crematorium. An informal celebration of Bill’s life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011, in the Montgomery & Steward Reception Hall. In remembrance, the Pueblo Police Department Honor Guard will be present. In lieu of food and flowers, memorials may be made to the Arthritis Foundation through the funeral home. Online condolences, MontgomerySteward.com

In Memorium - Eddie Staton

Hi Central friends - - it's been a long time since I've posted a new entry, and I'm sorry that this latest posting relays more sad news. Our friend Loretta Douglas sent me an e-mail that our classmate, Eddie Staton, passed on Saturday of cancer. As the above photos attest, Eddie had one of the greatest smiles at Central - and it stayed with him throughout his life as evidenced by the top photo taken in 2001.

The good news about Eddie is detailed in an article published today in the Omaha World-Harold. Loretta was kind enough to provide the link to the story; it was sent to Loretta by Martha (Sampson) Harris, another of our Central classmates. Eddie had a tremendously full and meaningful life - quite a tribute to our fellow Central graduate.

Loretta wrote that Eddie was also a musician, Elder and pastor.   She wrote the following about Eddie, and I thought I would share it with you here:  "Eddie was so busy all the time; he was also a musician, Elder and pastor.  I spoke to him in July after our Pueblo Choir Reunion that he was really trying to attend but couldn't see.  He never sounded like he was discouraged or was as sick as he was."

On another note, Loretta was in the area hit by Hurricane Irene recently; although her street was flooded, fortunately no water got into her house. She wrote that she stayed with her daughter because she couldn't go home for a couple of days. Thankfully her family is all fine - even though Mother Nature had quite a romp through the Eastern seaboard - the area witnessed a hurricane, tornado and earthquake - all in the same week!

As soon as more information is available about memorial services for Eddie, I will post it here. In the meantime, please go to the link below to read about our good friend, Eddie Staton. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this sad time.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110904/NEWS01/709059960#mad-dads-co-founder-dies 

In Memorium - Anthony David "Soonie" Rivas

This morning I received e-mails from Tim Trujillo and Rick Roblek with the sad news that we have lost yet another member of our Central Class of '65 family. Anthony "Soonie" Rivas was 63.


The memorial service will be at 2pm on Wednesday (tomorrow, June 15) at the Romero Chapel. Family and friends will be received at Romero Courtesy Hall following the service. Military honors to be performed by the Pueblo Veterans Ritual Team. The family requests that you wear Central Wildcat colors.


Our hearts and prayers go out to Soonie's friends and family.

Service for Duane Takaki

Hello, Central Friends,
I just got word from Jan Fisher Jones that the final arrangements for Duane have been made. (Jan does the advertising for the funeral home.) A memorial service for Duane will be Thursday at 3pm at Praise Assembly of God Church in Pueblo. And after tomorrow evening (Monday, 2/21), online condolences can be sent by going to Montgomery and Steward Funeral Directors. I'm sure the Pueblo Chieftain (pueblochieftain.com) will have information on the service as well.

That's all I have for now...more to follow when I return home to California. Take care, everyone.

In Memoriam...Duane Takaki

I'm sorry to report that our good friend, Duane Takaki, passed away this afternoon in Pueblo. Don Dudley just posted this sad news on the Central Class of '65 group page on Facebook. Again, Duane attended the 45th and seemed to be in perfect health. Heartfelt condolescences and prayers to the Takaki family.

An evening with Dave and Marilyn

These two "kids" are incapable of taking a bad picture. I took three photos of them the other night and - three for three - they were all 'picture-perfect.'


I had this rare photo opportunity because my husband and I have been staying at our vacation home in Grand Lake - where, as it happens, Dave and Marilyn live year 'round. The day after we arrived in Grand Lake, my husband, Ralph, and I drove the 15 miles between here and Granby to stock up on groceries at the beautiful City Market built just a few years ago. And, standing right there in the produce department, was Dave Binkley!


This happy coincidence led to a dinner invitation from Dave (and no, I wasn't stalking him to try to finagle an invite) to join him and his wife of 8 years, Marilyn, (still newlyweds, sorta!) at their beautiful home located about two minutes from our house. So on Tuesday night we enjoyed a great chili (made by Dave), a healthy green salad and corn muffins. A perfect dinner for a cold and snowy February evening!


Even better was the opportunity to catch up on four and a half decades of "what's happened since high school" sort of banter. Although I'd spoken briefly with Dave and Marilyn at the reunion in September, there simply wasn't enough time to socialize with any depth during that time, so this opportunity was wonderful. We talked a myriad of topics - and in a very New Millennium sort of dinner chat accompaniment, whenever our conversational paths led to wondering about when this or that happened, or who this or that person was, Marilyn jumped onto her ipad to "google" the answers.


It was also good hearing more about the local lore around Grand Lake. Being just part time residents here, this filled in many of the gaps in our knowledge base - particularly about the beautiful new playhouse being built in downtown Grand Lake, which will open June 10.


It was a very fun evening and we hope to return the favor when we head back to Grand Lake in May. Thank you again, Dave and Marilyn! It was great fun.

Update: Duane Takaki

Hello, Central friends,
Don Dudley posted the following update about Duane on the Facebook Central High Class of 65 group page begun recently by Jack Tomsic. Don received this information from Joe Klune who had spoken with Duane's older brother, Alan. I am posting Joe's words verbatim below:


"...I thought I'd share a message I got from Joe Klune last night (Alan is Duane's older Brother and practicing partner):


"I talked with Alan Takaki today at the Takaki Dental Office and the news is not good. Duane has not responded in any way to any stimulus since the stroke. Alan said it was a stage 5 stroke brought on by a ruptured vessel. He was with his cousin in Denver at a rehab facility next to St. Anthony's Hospital when he started to fall. His cousin caught him and laid him down and he received immediate medical treatment. He has been in a sedated state and I believe on a respirator. They are to stop the sedation tomorrow and family will have to decide how to proceed. Alan did not sound positive at all."


Will post further updates as I get them. In the meantime, this gives us all pause and reason to appreciate and celebrate our all too short time on earth. Take care, everyone.

Duane Takaki - Call for prayers

Central friends,
I seem to be giving you all so many sad reports here on our blog, but I have been given news of yet another Central friend who has been stricken suddenly. I recently received word from Rick Roblek, Les Robinson and Crete Crawford Wood that Duane Takaki suffered a serious brain aneurysm while in Denver with his mom. I will post more information about Duane's condition as details become available. In the meantime, please keep our friend Duane and all the Takaki family in your prayers.

The above photo of Duane was taken on the Friday night social mixer in Pueblo at our 45th reunion. It was a joy to see Duane again last September, and we all sincerely hope he will make a full recovery. 

In Memorium - Tom Sarconi

I am sorry to write that yet another member of our Central family has fallen to cancer.

Today on Facebook, Tom's wife, Marilyn Connelli Sarconi, broke the sad news of Tommy's passing yesterday morning.

It was wonderful that we were able to see Tom in September when he and Marilyn attended the 45th reunion in Pueblo.

We all have good memories of Tom Sarconi and Central High; personally, I remember him fondly as one of the nicest boys at school. 

Our prayers and thoughts go to you, Marilyn, and to your family. We will carry you and Tommy in our hearts always. 

Take good care, friends from Central. We must all remember to live each day to its fullest.

A call for prayers

Love this picture of such a beautiful couple, Marilyn and Tom Sarconi...taken September 10, 2010, at the Friday night reunion mixer in Pueblo.

Hello again, Central friends...Marilyn Sarconi posted an update on Facebook regarding Tommy's health on Friday. He is out of the hospital and back home again, but he is fighting a tough battle with liver cancer. Just sending out a request to keep Marilyn and Tommy in your hearts and prayers.

Happy New Year! We get Letters!

Happy New Year, Central Alumni! 

We've made it through another year...Blessings to you all for good health and a Very Happy 2011!

I've heard from a few of you regarding the difficulty of leaving reader comments on the blog. And when Carol Nesland Rogers contacted me saying she'd also had this difficulty, she hung in there with me while I tested "the system." By tweaking a couple of things, I believe we have it fixed.

To leave a comment about one of the entries, just do the following steps: (this may look like a lot of work, but trust me, it's easy and the more comments you leave, the easier it gets!)

1. At the bottom of the entry or post, you'll see a number followed by the word "comments," i.e. "0 comments," "1 comments," "2 comments," etc. Click right there.

2. You'll get a "pop-up" window that says "Leave your comment." Simply type in what you'd like to say.

3. After typing in your comment, go to the next step, "Word Verification," which are some colored letters written in an odd, slant-y way. In the box provided, simply type in the same letters that you see. 

4. Below Word Verification it will say in orange type: "Choose an identity." I have found the simplest option to be the first one, which says "Google Account." If you don't have (or know) your Google account, the blue link that says "Sign up here" allows you to create a Google account. This is a simple step - you just need a user name (your user name can be your e-mail address since it's one you'll remember!) and then you'll choose a password (one that you'll remember). 

5. Last step: Click on "Publish your comment," and VOILA! Your comment will (HOPEFULLY) show up on the blog.

Because I LOVE your comments, I hope these instructions will provide useful and that you'll have lots and lots to say - this is our blog, Wildcats! Please visit often - and keep the feedback coming!

Get out your yearbooks! A Blast from the Past

If you haven't noticed the world getting smaller due to the Internet - this will make you a True Believer! Our friend and former classmate, Beverly Hardwick Nitschke, posted a message on Facebook recently regarding one of the teachers at Central when we were students - whether any of us had been in one of her classes between 1963 and 1965.

Ready to guess whose photo this is below? And, no, she's not one of our classmates, although she looks as young as we were and was actually quite close to us in age. I remember she was one of the more "popular" (to use the vernacular) teachers at Central. A lot of the boys thought she was pretty cute to boot.

This, friends, is Miss Carol Nesland who taught bookkeeping, typing and buiness law and business economics at Central. And the photo below that one (taken from my old 1965 Central annual) is Carol Nesland Rogers (still cute after all these years!) and her husband, Francis, at Gooseberry Falls State Park on the North Shore of Lake Superior near Duluth, MN. It was taken in October.

I spent an enjoyable morning communicating via e-mail with Carol who was kind enough to provide me with some "Pueblo Memories," which I am posting below the pictures. Enjoy!

I taught business education classes (typing I and II, bookkeeping, business law and business economics) at Central High from 1963-65. At 21+ years I wasn’t much older than my students. My most embarrassing teaching moment was the day I turned two words around and said I was going to show a “strip film” instead of a “film strip” in one of the classes! Word of that mistake traveled the school very quickly! I remember the moment at Central High School when I went into Mr. Raso’s office; they had just learned President Kennedy had been shot and were going to announce it over the PA.

I loved Central High School and Pueblo but left after two years to return to Minnesota to get married. Those were my only years of teaching. My husband completed college in SD and then went into the seminary. After ordination we moved every 2-3 years, living in cities in MN, SD, ND and Ohio (where we divorced). We have two great children who are married; one lives in Eugene, OR, and the other in Marietta, GA. I worked as a social worker, office administrator, transcriptionist and unit clerk before retiring last July. I have been happily married to Francis for almost 20 years. We live in Northern Minnesota. For fun I love to sing and play in the bell choir at church and have “Grandma time.” Some friends and I dress up and speak with Norwegian accents, calling ourselves Sven, Hilda (me) and Ingeborg. We have done routines for fundraisers. You can check out our pictures on my Facebook page. If you remember me, it would be fun to connect on FB or email (carolr2001@hotmail.com). I’d love to be back in touch with teachers from those years also, especially Mary Richardson, Kathleen Losavio and Sandy Hovland.

In addition, Carol also wrote the following e-mail, which adds a little more info to what she has written above (and don't you love the part about the "strip film??" Ok, Carol, so THAT'S how you got so popular with the guys :) Naw, I am only kidding - but don't we all have one of those Too-Embarrassing-to-EVER-Forget horror stories about our first jobs?

This sheds a little more light about how Carol ended up teaching at Central:

Back in the 60's, people came from School Districts to colleges to seek out teachers. Can you believe it? I had lived in Minnesota all my life and decided it was important to go someplace interesting and far away right away or I might end up in Minnesota the rest of my life. I interviewed (at college) for Bakersfield, CA; Glendive, MT; and Pueblo, CO. I knew I wanted to live near mountains. The offer came from Pueblo and I accepted--even though I would spend the first year there without a car and without knowing anyone there! That sounds amazing to me now. My parents were stressed to think of me being so far from home, but I never regreted it.

Thank you, Carol, for being in touch - and this is your official invitation to join us at our 50th Central class reunion - just 4-1/2 (or so) more years - yikes!!!

Happy New Year, Everyone - and GO WILDCATS!