Vicissitudes

Happy October to you all. The fall flurry of activities is already underway, and there is rather a lot of news to report, so we’ll get right to it.

New neighbors: next to Sandy Rothschild on the 5900 block of Waterman, Jim and Sue Gamble have only very recently moved in. Jim is a lawyer and Sue a teacher in University City. We hope to be meeting them soon. Also on that block, Peter Malecek, son of McPherson’s Maleceks, has purchased a home. Great! We welcome also Paul Metzler, who has bought next to Sheltons on the 6100 block of Westminster.

Last year we welcomed two Vietnamese families and one from Finland to our area. We reported last month on the Koskelas, and this month we can tell you that the Huynh and Dung families have moved, together, to California. We wish them well, of course, and we will recall the interesting experience of meeting them. We will surely miss those pretty little girls, and those of us lucky enough to be near the hors d’oeuvres table to sample Mrs. Huynh’s excellent egg rolls, etc., on several occasions at St. Roch’s will not soon forget those culinary delights.

This fall, we hope to meet soon a family from Chile who are living now on Waterman after spending seven weeks with the Renards. They are Mr. and Mrs. Ivan and Raquel Rivera and their sons Pato, in Kindergarten, Ivan, in 2nd grade, and Manuel, aged 2½. Mr. Rivera was a political prisoner in Chile for two years, and they are, of course, happy to be here. He is working as a banquet waiter at the Breckenridge Inn and doing very well there. We encourage any of you who speak Spanish to drop in and meet Mrs. Rivera, and we all will look forward to meeting the family soon. Welcome to our neighborhood!

A fine Bon Voyage party for Don and Francey Couch was held on September 10 at the home of Rick and Joan Bender on Kingsbury. It was a delightful evening, appreciated by all, and certainly by the Couches, who will be in Germany by the time this arrives on your doorstep and theirs. The Couch home has been rented by Ann Vachon, who has come here from New York to teach dance at Webster College, together with her three children. Welcome!

Paul Brammeier, of 6100 block of Westminster, has taken on a new position as principal of Wade School, one of the newly established magnet schools. Wade is the elementary school which emphasizes individualized instruction. Congratulations and good luck to Paul.

We may have to add a whole new column to keep up with the Magnet Schools. This month we would like to tell you about those neighborhood children attending the Elementary School for the Performing Arts at St. Wenceslas School. From Washington Heights, Norma Ragsdale is majoring in Dance, and Allan Michell is majoring in Art. From Rosedale, Laura Green is majoring in Drama. And from Parkview, Laura Schwarz is majoring in Music. Apparently, those who are studying Creative Writing will be helping to write plays for those majoring in singing, dancing, drama and music to perform. We sense some real excitement about this and all the Magnet Schools and we feel sure they are going to be smashing successes. We would like very much to feature all the youngsters from our neighborhood who are attending these new schools, but to do that (as well as lots of other news), we need your help. If you have or know of a child in a magnet school, please give me a call. We’d like to be able to include all the “pioneers”, so please let us know!

Another of our neighbors to change jobs this fall is Jim Parker, who is now Assistant Principal at Roosevelt High School. We wish Jim well in his new job in Administration.

We are pleased to tell you also of the new teachers who have come to St. Roch’s this season. Mrs. Jean Sanders, who taught here several years ago, has returned to teach first grade. She last saw this year’s graduating class when they were seven years old, so it’s an interesting experience for her and for them. New teacher for the 7th grade is Mr. C. Wesley, who has already captured the imagination of the students by his just begun effort to set up a science lab. Incidentally if you have anything which might be useful in a lab, it would find a good home at St. Roch’s. Call Mr. Wesley at the school (721-2595) if you can contribute to their effort. Two other new staff members at St. Roch’s are helping make this a super school year. They are Mr. Derek Ross, 6th grade, and Mrs. Margaret Mahon, 5th grade. Welcome!

Lots of news also in the Buckley household on Westminster. Kitty went on a three week cruise on husband Mike’s ship from Ft. Lauderdale through the Gulf to Lake Charles, La. Then their youngest son, Stephen, flew all by himself to join them in Louisiana, where they had a week together. Kitty and Mike celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary while vacationing too. All in all, it sounds as if the Buckleys had a happy and eventful summer. Mike has gone on with his ship to China and will be flying home from there.

The Buckleys, as well as Lawson and Ann Phaby, and Betty and Paul Bettonville of Parkview, were hosts to three members of the Stuttgart Choir, who were here in St. Louis to sing for the Bicentennial celebration. Sabrina, who stayed with the Buckleys, Willie, who stayed with the Phabys, and Ute, who stated with the Bettonvilles, were able to enjoy many activities in St. Louis and found it a friendly place to be. Our neighbors who entertained them seem to have had just as much fun as they, and Kitty appears to have really enjoyed hearing, speaking, and singing the German she grew up with.

Surprise! Horace and Anna Busch are grandparents! The thrilling event occurred September 7 when their daughter Vivian and her husband Dwight Robinson had a 5 lb. 12 oz. daughter. We know how busy Anna will be spoiling her and we wish the baby and the Busch clan well. Also of note in the Busch family: Debra has recently received a scholarship to Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. Congratulations and good luck to Debra.

It seems we have a rash of grandbabies this month! Vince and Patsy Magee of the 6100 block of McPherson are happily introducing Jennifer Marie Brigman, born on Sept. 5, daughter of Katherine and Michael Brigman. As their son-in-law will be stationed soon in Germany, the Magees will have Katherine and the new baby with them for a few months. We will expect to see Grandma and baby soon! The Magees had a busy September, with not only a new arrival but also a wedding. Their son Larry was married on Sept. 11 to Diane Taylor. Congratulations to the newlyweds. By the time you read this, Patsy will hopefully have successfully completed a hospital stay. Hope she’s fine and has had a good rest too!

And speaking of new grandchildren, the Schiller family also has been blessed this summer. Steve and Joanie Schiller and their daughter Molly welcomed Matthew, weighing in at 8 lb. 1 oz., on July 27. The happy grandparents are Bill and Pat Schiller, of Parkview and Colonial Rug, of course. Congratulations!

We are happy to inform you of the birth of a daughter, Erin Teresa, born on September 21, to Bobbie and Dan Lodes of the 6100 block of Kingsbury. Bobbie is, of course, daughter of Al and Betty Nerviani, and she, Dan, and two year-old Danny moved this summer into Dan’s family home on Kingsbury. Art and Mary Lodes have retired and moved to their long-awaited home in the country, near Cedar Hill. Congratulations to Bobbie and Dan and to the Lodes and Nerviani grandparents too! We understand that Erin is the 23rd Lodes grandchild, a fact which will probably awe most of you as much as it has us. What an exciting prospect—to think that our children may like living here as much as we do!

And we’re not finished yet. Lee and Liz Hall, of the 6000 block of Kingsbury, are proud to announce the birth of their first grandchild, a girl named Tenille. She was born on July 16 to Frank and Pat Hall. We are delighted to share their happiness, and we extend our best wishes to the Halls, the Nervianis, the Lodeses, the Schillers, the Magees, and the Busches. What a month!

It’s no news to anyone, we’re sure, but we’d like to take this opportunity to commend a Mestres here. Six year-old Timmy Mestres suffered a leg injury in an auto accident on Labor Day and has recently returned home from his hospital stay. A brave young man, we hear, and we hope his recovery will be complete. First grade will surely be welcoming him! Make this a reminder to caution yourselves and your kids about the dangers of traffic even in our usually quiet neighborhood. We are certainly glad to hear that Timmy is up and around again.

We extend our sympathies to the family of Mary Parker, whose father passed in September.

A scoop! We have just learned from our confidential sources that Parkview’s Gary and Peg DeYoung are expecting their second child in April. Congratulations!

May we ask your assistance? If there is anyone out there who could endure listening to gossip on the telephone, we could really use some help compiling the information for this column. If you have news, please call me (726-6974) or write it down. Your friend who has a new soninlaw, the new homeowner on your block who would like to feel like a neighbor instead of a stranger, the new grandma, the kid who’s doing something new and important to him—all these and more love to learn that someone else thinks their news something special. Help us perform that service, won’t you?

Originally published in The Paper, October 1976.

Read this article in the original newspaper issue.

Archival transcription note: Printed “stated” for Ute’s stay and “commend a Mestres” retained.

Original source: SD_Times1976_10.pdf, printed page(s) 5; PDF page(s) 5.