#52 Ancestors Week 22 - Commencement - The Class of 1942

Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small has a weekly challenge to write the stories of your ancestors. This is week #22 and the suggested theme is COMMENCEMENT.  To commemorate the ending of the school year I want to share how my parents school years ended and one of the ways they continued those friendships through the years.

I had been going through the boxes of memorabilia I got while cleaning out my parents home several years ago.  I came across a scrapbook that my Mom had kept.  It was stuffed full of all the pictures, news clippings, and programs from all her class reunions.  My parents grew up in a small farming community in Indiana. 

The picture below is of the eighth grade class of three local schools.

!938 Eight Grade Classes from Greene County, Indiana
Esther Jane Moehlmann is in front row, second from left
From Moehlmann Family Collection

In Green county at the time you graduated from eighth grade common schools and then from High School.  Here is Dad's eighth grade diploma.

Eighth grade diploma for Arnold Sargent in 1936
from Sargent Family Collection

The next commencement exercise was for Dad in 1941:

1941 Diploma and Commencement program for Arnold Sargent
Linton Stockton High School
from Sargent Family Collection

Mom graduated a year later in 1942:

1942 Class of Linton Stockton High School, Linton, Indiana
Esther Jane Moehlmann - 3rd row, 7th from left
Sargent Family Collection

My parents missed the 20th reunion because they had just moved to Florida. But they were there for the 25th reunion.

25th Renion of 1941 and 1942 Linton Stockton High School Class in 1967
Top photo - Esther Jane Moehlmann Sargent - 2nd row from bottom, 3rd from left
Bottom photo - Arnold Sargent - back row standing, 3rd from right
Sargent Family Collection

Ten years later they met again:

35th Reunion of 1942 Linton Stockton High School 1977
Esther Jane Moehlmann Sargent back row 3rd from left in blue
Sargent Family Collection

Five years later, 1982, they met again to socialize and reminisce about their high school years. 

40th Reunion of the 1942 Class of Linton Stockton High School - 1982
Esther Jane Moehlmann 5th from left
Sargent Family Collection

This group is not slowing down. They are together again in 1987 for the 45th reunion.

45th Reunion of the 1942 Linton Stockton High School Class 1987
Esther Jane Moehlmann back row 6th from left
Sargent Family Collection

By now  you know what is coming. The BIG 50th reunion. The commencement program had listed 82 graduates in 1942. The news article said that 27 from the class were deceased. That leaves 55 classmate and 42 of them attended the 50th - that's 75%.  I think that is amazing.  I have yet to attend one of my reunions and its getting close to the 45th.

50th Reunion of 1942 Linton Stockton High School Class 1992
Esther Jane Moehlmann Sargent - front row, 2nd from left
Sargent Family Collection

This is a tight knit group. They met again in  1997 for their 55th.

55th Reunion of the 1942 Linton Stockton High School 1997
Esther Jane Moehlmann Sargent middle row 5th from left
Sargent Family Collection

The 55th was the last reunion that Mom and Dad attended. But their classmates sent them a picture from the 60th.

60th Reunion of the 1942 Linton Stockton High School Class 2002
Sargent Family Collection

An interesting note. Harold Powell is the mustached man in the back row to the right.  Mom was engaged to Harold for a short time during World War II.  Both went on to marry and raise families. In 1988 Harold married my father's sister.  So my Mom's ex-fiancee became her brother-in-law.

I feel that the Commencement exercises for this class were not the end but rather the beginning of a lifelong friendship among classmates.  The fact that they would travel from all over the state of Indiana and from far away places such as Texas, Florida, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan, to attend so many reunions shows the value they placed on those friendships.