College Elementary School

Jack Rodenbeck provides the following information:

“The teacher, of course, was Miss Heilbronn (other teachers were Miss O'Neil, Miss Praeger, Miss Adams; our teacher for French and Spanish was Miss Lamore, who later taught me Latin and French at MPHS)  and I remember a lot of  classmates, some of whom came and went before we entered the sixth  grade.”  

Here are notes on classmates which Jack furnished: 

(MPHS = Mt. Pleasant High School, CMCE = Central Michigan College of Education, CE = College El, * = deceased)

*Lavigne Albar.         His father owned a farm and the Nash agency. His sister Nancy was a class or two behind.

Barbara Amburn.       Graduated from MPHS IN 1954.

George Barr.             ca.  1948 and later/          

Mary Bennett.            Graduated from MPHS. Her father was a football coach and toured Africa on an educational mission. We first heard about Hastings Banda and "Uhuru!" from him.

Virginia Bordine.        Graduated from MPHS. Her father was a CMCE administrator. My first "crush."

Eugene Bragg.           From a farming family. Graduated from MPHS in 1954.

Gaylord Brunel.         Son of the Presbyterian minister, ca.  1942-3.

Beverly Campbell.     Her father was head of the CMCE printshop during the war.

Kay Collins.               Graduated from MPHS IN 1954. Left CE when her family moved from South Main to Mission Street.

Beverly Coon.           From a farming family. Graduated from MPHS IN 1954.

*Bill DuPuy.              His brother Eugene was a class or two ahead.  French Protestant background: the family probably originated in the region where I live now.

Mary Beth Erdman.   Suggested in fourth grade. I think that we learn about "Iraq," a place that none of us had heard of. And indeed we did.

David Evett.               His brothers Doug and Stu were in classes behind. His father was a professor of English and died c. 1970. His mother was still alive a couple of years ago.

Bill Finch.                  His brother Tom was in the class ahead, which had many stars.

Robert Gerard.          Another Navy brat. His father was a medical officer.

Robert Hall.               Graduated from MPHS. His father was a doctor.

Charlene Hibbelen     She lived in a house south of Ethan  (the local handyman, who could ride a bike to a job carrying a ladder) Delator's with an Indian trail-marking tree in front. I think both the house and the tree were cleared away to make room for a greater CMU.

Pat Hosford.              My best friend for a few years, until they went back to Texas or Oklahoma.  His father was an oilman originally from Tulsa and his mother was part Indian (Apache or Commanche). They had a dog named Tippy. Pat had an uncle who was a prisoner of war in Japan, so that supplies an approximate date.

Marilyn Kelly.            Graduated from MPHS. Her father was a football coach.

Ann Kelso.                Navy brat. Her father was commandant at CMCE during the war.

Nancy Moose.           Graduated from MPHS.

Phœbe Moss.            ???? Graduated from MPHS.

Katherine Nedele.      From a farming family

Jean Nelson.              A niece, I think, of Miss Heilbronn.

Guy Nicks.                Lived on College Street during the war.  Introduced what we quite correctly called "knickers" as an item of fashion.

Jack Osborn.             Graduated from MPHS IN 1954. His father  owned an insurance agency. Went to Annapolis and did well in business.

Mickey Price.            His father was something, I think, at CMCE in the early 1940s.

Dolores Recker.        Graduated from MPHS IN 1954.

David Stockman.       Graduated from MPHS IN 1954. His brother Cal was a class or two behind.

Darcy Sullivan.           Graduated from MPHS IN 1954, but may have transferred out of CE.

Imogene Utterback.   Graduated from MPHS IN 1954. Her father owned a local construction company.

Gary Veit.                  Very local. The family owned Veit's Woods, where CMCE students used to go for a little sylvan sex.

*Donald Welsh.         From a farming family. Graduated from MPHS in 1954.

Jack Wiley.                Graduated from MPHS IN 1954. Our star athlete. His mother was head of one the statewide educational organizations.

…..                           I will remember the name of the girl whose family had the next farm after the Albar's. She had a singing voice like an oboe or English horn and was killed riding an improvised beach buggy on M21.