JEFFERSON ALUMNI 
                Updated: Friday, 18. June 2004      

                                       CLASS OF 1981

CONGRATULATIONS ON A 60TH CELEBRATION

"I'll Be Seeing You " in 2006

60TH ANNIVERSARY OF GRADUATION.
On May 22, 2004, the Class of 1944 gathered at the El Rancho Restaurant in Millbrae.
Chairperson Metha Woods McDavid reports:
The El Rancho was the right spot for our luncheon celebration of 60 years since we left dear old Jefferson. There were forty-seven of us to enjoy the food which was hot and delicious and the wonderful comradery of old friends.  They filled the room with music just loud enough to allow us to remember, but soft enough to allow us to talk.   If you know the El Rancho, you are aware of the huge water tank and we did have two swimmers--one a bit chubby who rewarded us with a little "peep" show.  His swimsuit slipped a bit and the crack in his behind showed a few inches. It brought the house down.  A great way to loosen the crowd.  Our luncheon ended at 3:00, but the party continued in our room. 
We all decided we are going to meet again in 2 years instead of 5 because in 5 years we will all be pushing 80. In fact, we even picked a date, May 20, 2006.
We are so lucky to have so many classmates who are eager to see old friends.
I hope everyone had a wonderful time,
Metha
I've asked Metha for pictures--perhaps someone will send them to me and I'll share them with those of you who could not be there.
 


Metha Woods McDavid

  
 

At the helm of your '55 Reunion was Elsie Belli Tonelli who was well assisted  by Metha Woods McDavid, Frances Vaughn Kelly and Bianca Ratto Caserza.

  

Elsie attended the 75th Anniversary celebration at Jefferson.  Here she is putting on her VIP name tag.
I wish I had a picture of the cheerleading routine that she did at the History Guild Jefferson night.

The Class of 1944 entered Jefferson in the fall of 1940.

This view is what the Jeffeson campus looked like at that time. 

Notice the winding driveway in front of the school.

HAIL
J
E
F
F
E
R
S
O
N
     
 In December of their Sophomore year our country went to war.  Life was very different from that moment on and the students of Jefferson became very involved in the war effort.
   

During World War II, Jefferson didn't have yearbooks as we know them today.
 I believe the 1944 yearbook was a mimeographed document highlighting the school year.  
 So, we're a little short of pictures.  Do you have any to share?

I did find a yearbook picture of Bicana Ratto
and she signed it.

Actually, she was teaching English at Jefferson when I was a student.

This picture is from my 1953 yearbook.

It must have been quite exciting for Bianca to return to her alma mater to teach--with staff who had been her teachers.

If you would like to send pictures for this site, please make sure they are pictures. Copy machine prints just won't work out here.  In this wonderful day of scanners, you can keep the originals and send me copies--or even pictures on floppy disks/cds making my work even easier.
 

1944 CLASS OFFICERS

FALL OFFICERS
President         Marie Smith
Vice President               Marjorie Schreiber
Secretary-Treasurer                                      Helen Oxley
 

SPRING OFFICERS
President        Ken Hatt
Vice President               Eugene Lowry
Secretary-Treasurer                               Harry Kent

THE CLASS OF 1944
Our Members are listed in BLUE
These classmates attended the reunion.
Those we have lost are listed in purple.

GRADUATES OF 9 FEBRUARY 1944
Beaver, Rudolph
Bernardi, Angie
Bistolfi, Peter
Borg, Katherine
Camillo, Roy
Caserza, Dolores Foppiano
Chelone, Albert
Christen, Tim
Coen, Frank
Dunn, Helen Bywater
Gamba, Ray
Goldstein, Dorothy Weinstock
Jauch, Florence Perdue
Johnson, David
Kroncke, Richard
Layne, Mary Lou
Migliore, Carolin
Miller, Louise
Nelson, Donald
Newton, Elizabeth
O'Keefe, Elizabeth
O'Keefe, Rose
Oxley, Helen
Percival, George
Ratto, Bianca Caserza
Rud, Bette
Sambucetti, Emma
Smith, Marie
Sorg, Nancy Mary
Svani, Richard
Wadiker, Beverly
Woods, Metha McDavid


 

ALUMNI GUESTS in 2004
Paul Camenzind
Eve Claus Aiello
George Cordellos
Pat Morocco Hatt
John Marin
John Mossman
Joe Nano
Andy Parodi
Louise Ross Mahaffie

 

THE CLASS OF 1944

As described in the 50th Anniversary booklet created by Bianca Ratto Caserza.
 We were before television, penicillin, antibiotics, polio shots and Frisbees.   Before frozen food, radar, fluorescent lights, credit cards and ball-point pens.  We were before disposable diapers, Scotch tape, M and M's and Post-it Notes  ...and before man walked on the moon.

In our time, bunnies were small rabbits and rabbits were not Volkswagens.  We were before house husbands, computer dating, dual careers and commuter marriages.  We were before day-care and group therapy.   There were no news breaks, interviews, sports segments, fashion reports, movie reviews, documentaries, comedy bits or game shows, MTV wasn't.

Hospital bills exceeded our weekly, not annual salary.  Gross meant a measurement; square was a four equal sided figure.  Contacts meant friends who could help you get a job and Word Perfect meant your composition was flawless.

In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable; grass was mowed; coke was something you drank and pot was something you cooked in.   We were before jet planes, helicopters and interstate highways.  In 1944, the term "making out" referred to how you did on an exam.

In our time, there were five-and-ten cent stores where you bought things for five and ten cents.  For a nickel, you could ride the bus, or a ferry, or make a phone call, buy a coke, a BIG candy bar, 5 all-day suckers or enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards.  If you could afford to buy a new car, you couldn't because WWII was on.  Gasoline was only 15 cents per gallon, but you could only buy it if you had a ration stamp.

We were before pantyhose and drip-dry clothes.  Before ice makers and dishwashers, clothes dryers, freezers and electric blankets.  Before Alaska and Hawaii became states.

When we were in school, shopping malls, frozen orange juice, instant coffee, KFC and McDonalds were unheard of.  We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent.  We were before yogurt, plastics, hair dryers, FM radio, tape recorders, electric typewriters, word processors, electronic music and disco dancing.  CD's, cordless phones, VCR's hadn't even been thought of.  For us time-sharing meant togetherness,

If anyone in those days asked us to explain CIA, NATO, UFO, NFL, JFK or ERA, we would have said alphabet soup.


GRADUATES OF 21 JUNE 1944
Belli, Elsie Tonelli
Boscolo, Carmella
Bush, Lois
Capps, Helen
Cattaneo, Augusta
Chapman, Fred
Ciarlo, George Vincent
Crossland, Alice
Cuneo, Corinne
Davidson, Margaret
Davidson, Ralph
Day, Ernest
Denton, Marjorie Guthrie
Dyer, Jack
Fasshauer, William A.
Fellows, Wilbur "Bud"
Foster, Sue
Giusti, Jennie
Godfrey, Alice
Greene, Muriel
Greenfield, M. L.
Hatt, Kenneth
Hilbish, LeAnna
Hughes, Walt
Ingram, Emma
Kent, Harry
Lane, Robert
Lauretta, Claudia
Lowery, Eugene
Marks, Alberta
McCardell, Charles "Rex"
McDonnell, Nadine
Miller, Merrill
Mjehovich, Frances
Morris, Irene
Nelson, Dorothy
Nopper, Gloria
Oberg-Green, Rozelpha
Pastrikas, Toula
Pendola, Virginia
Petersen, Earl
Petiti, Frank
Prescott, Ted
Reed, William
Rentz, Tommy
Rockey, Ethel
Ross, Lenore Rigler
Sackett, LaVonne
Saul, Elaine
Schioldager, Isabelle
Schrieber, Marjorie
Simonetti, Alma
Sinclair, Robert
Slocum, Elaine
Sommerkamp, Dorothy
Terry, Louise
Thomas, Deloris Van Kirk
Tiffany, Patricia Moore
Underhill, Paul
Vaughn, Frances Kelly
Veronello, Doris Nicolini
Walling, George
Yonan, Daisy




Hoping to share more memories from this class.

Come back soon and see what I found!


Mr. James Ferguson

The Class of 1944 graduated on June 21, but sadly on Tuesday, June 20, they listened to the news that Principal-Superintendent James Ferguson had died in his sleep.
"Our beloved principal, whose former students are now serving with the armed forces of our country all over the world, passed quietly in his sleep, thus bringing a great and good life to a serene end.
May his brave and sturdy spirit find the light that he sought through his long and useful life."

In Memoriam
We will always remember the time we shared together.

Carmella Boscolo Fred Chapman Tim Christen
George Ciarlo Ernest Day Alice Godfrey
Kenneth Hatt Walt Hughes David "Pat" Johnson
Harry Kent Richard Kroncke Claudia Lauretta
Mary Lou Layne Merrill Miller Elizabeth Newton
Virginia Pendola Earl Petersen LaVonne Sackett
Emma Sambucetti Elaine Saul Isabelle Schioldager
Robert Sinclair   Marie Smith
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