Blog 160  Unintended Blog Before you read this, just know that what follows looks nothing like I laid it out i.e. no color, no changing font or font size, and no control over the photo size of placement. I have spent a half-hour trying to edit this and give up. I suppose I am just not smart enough.

A time or two ago, I wrote about my procrastinating, and because of that, here I am once again.  My annual fee for the privilege to post on the Internet expired earlier in the month, and I fully intended to let it lapse.  However, some while ago, I clicked on automatic renewal, and by ignoring the renewal notice, I was charged for another year. 

While the blog was originally intended to stimulate attendance at our sixtieth reunion, it has continued most recently to announce classmate deaths, which is sad commentary.  There is not a lot of other news about classmates, butreading on, you will find info on three more. 

First, here is some uplifting news about one of our classmates, Mary Ann Lothringer.  Mary Helen Bell emailed about an article in last Sunday’s newspaper featuring Mary Ann.  Mary Ann ranks #3 nationwide in the over -85 tennis rankings.  Here is a link to the article.  If the link does not open, copy and paste it into your Internet search bar.  https://digital.olivesoftware.com/olive/odn/sanantonioexpressnews/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=SAEN%2F2024%2F04%2F28&entity=Ar04901&sk=093C1A3A&mode=text

Jefferson Methodist is Gone

Jefferson Methodist Church opened its doors seventy-eight years ago in 1946. It grew rapidly until the demographics in the area began changing and the congregation begin to shrink.  As I understand, the church had undeveloped grounds intended for later growth, which never occurred.  Then, when soccer became a school sport, the SA Independent School District purchased the land and added soccer fields behind the sanctuary.

Meanwhile, the church continued to meet. But two or three years ago, a schism in the United Methodist Church led to about 25% of the churches breaking away.  Some formed a new organization, and some became independent, which I believe Jefferson Methodist did.  As part of the withdrawal agreement, Jefferson Methodist was to pay $25,000 yearly to the Methodist Conference for continued use of the facilities.  The small congregation was unable to meet mounting financial obligations and were told to move.  A recent newspaper article indicated that the independent group will search for a new place to meet.  What is written here is the gist of what I remember without further research, so apologies for any inaccuracies.  I include it here because Jefferson Methodist at Donaldson and Wilson was so much a part of the landscape when we were students.

An aside:  Below is a fun item to remind us how truly fortunate (and lucky) we are to have grown up in the best of times, as the world appears to be approaching the worst of times as each year passes.  That item is followed by two more classmate deaths.

Some of us fit into the 1% Age Group

We are a part of this special group who were born between 1930 & 1946, covering 16 years.  In 2024, the age range is between 78 & 94.  Since I copied this, just substitute I and we when you read you and they.  Another vice of mine is laziness; hence, you can substitute as opposed to my doing it for you.

You are the smallest group of children born since the early 1900’s.

You are the last generation, climbing out of the depression, who can

   remember the winds of war and the impact of a world at war that rattled   

   the structure of our daily lives for years.

You are the last to remember ration books for everything from gas to sugar

   to shoes to stoves.

You saved tin foil and poured fried meat fat into tin cans.

You can remember milk being delivered to your house early in the morning

   and placed in the “milk box” on the porch.

You are the last generation who spent childhood without television;

  instead, you “imagined” what you heard on the radio.

With no TV until the 1950s, you spent your childhood “playing outside.”

There was no Little League.

There was no city playground for kids.

The lack of television in your early years meant that you had little real

    understanding of what the world was like.

Telephones were one to a house, often shared (party lines), and hung on

   the wall in the kitchen (no cares about privacy).

Computers were called calculators; they were hand-cranked.

Typewriters were driven by pounding fingers, throwing the carriage, and

   changing the ribbon.

‘INTERNET’ and ‘GOOGLE’ were words that did not exist.

Newspapers and magazines were written for adults and the news was

    broadcast on your radio in the evening.

New highways would bring jobs and mobility.

The radio network expanded from 3 stations to thousands.

Your parents were suddenly free from the confines of the depression and

   the war, and they threw themselves into working hard to make a living  

   for Their families.

You weren’t neglected, but you weren’t today’s all-consuming family focus.

They were glad you played by yourselves.

They were busy discovering the postwar world.

You entered a world of overflowing plenty and opportunity; a world where

   you were welcomed and felt secure in your future although the

   depression poverty was deeply remembered.

Polio was still a crippler.

You came of age in the ’50s and ’60.

You are the last generation to experience an interlude when there were no

   threats to our homeland.

The second world war was over and the cold war, terrorism, global

   warming, and perpetual economic insecurity had yet to haunt life with   

   unease.

Only your generation can remember both a time of great war and a time

   when our world was secure and full of bright promise and plenty.

You grew up at the best possible time, a time when the world was getting

   better.

You are “The Last Ones.”

More than 99% of you are retired, and you feel privileged to have “lived in

   the best of times!”

                                           Amen!

Our parents lived in a period of growth and invention, seeing the introduction of flight to putting a man on the moon and more.  But no one is as lucky as we were to live in a golden age!

For the Sad Section

Jeanine Kliefoth Price

Jeanine “Nene” Price, age 86, of Harlingen, TX, passed away on March 5, 2024, surrounded by her loving children. She was born on March 30, 1937, in San Antonio, TX to Arthur B and Pauline Kliefoth. Jeanine was known for her kind and loving nature, always with an infectious smile on her face. She found joy in spending time with her family, sharing stories, and laughter.

Jeanine is survived by her brother AB Kliefoth III, her children Kenneth Price Jr. (Amparo), Korby Price (Jane), Kristin Markland, Kendra Williams, Klayton Price (Jennifer), Kelly Price, numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and even a great-great-grandchild.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband Kenneth Dale Price in 1995, her father Arthur B. Kliefoth in 1986, and her mother Laura Pauline Kliefoth in 2002.

Before retiring from Valley Baptist as the Histologist Supervisor, Jeanine worked at Swift & Company. She worshipped at First Baptist in Harlingen, TX in earlier years. In her leisure time, she enjoyed playing cards with friends, talking on the phone, dancing, playing the piano, sewing for her children, participating in Bunco, and was an active member of the Harlingen Elks Lodge 1889 and the Red Hats Club.

A Celebration of Life for Jeanine Price will be held on Saturday, March 30, 2024, at 11:00 am at Heavenly Grace Funeral Home, 26873 N. White Ranch Road, La Feria, TX 78559. Following the Service, there will be a gathering for food and socializing from 1:30-3:00 at the Elks Lodge 1426 S. Commerce St. Harlingen, TX. This gathering will serve as a celebration of her Life and birthday, honoring her memory in the way she would have appreciated. We would like to thank Dr. Indal Seudeal for all the medical care he provided for our mother. Please join her family in celebrating her life with our love and memories. A Graveside Service will be held at Mission Park North in San Antonio, Texas at a later date TBD.

Robert David Newhouse

 “He tried college, but in the Fall of 1960, he visited me in Austin to let me know he was going in the Navy for four years. When he mustered out, he decided he would stay in California instead of coming back to Texas.

He got a job bartending in San Diego at a joint owned by a fellow who owned a string of bars in SD and LA. Places that catered mostly to members of the military. David ended up marrying the boss’ daughter-a marriage that lasted 62 years.

When David started having kids, he knew he needed to find a real job. By this time he had moved his family to LA-the home of Hollywood!

In the early 50’s, David (we lived five blocks apart) and I worked for an Aggie landscape architect. This stood out on his resume being perused by an HR clerk at Paramount Pictures who was looking for a “grip” to move plants around on movie sets. Landscape architect equals plants equals foliage grip.

So David was in the movies.

After the studio job, which lasted for years, I lost sight of what David was doing for a living. We stayed in touch by ‘phone, talking 2-3 times a year. He retired around 2000 and lived out his life with his wife in a home a block from their daughter, Lori.

Lon”

David died four days after his wife.