Seventy Years and Counting: Boyertown High School Class of '53 Holds 70th Reunion

By Jane Stahl

Graduates from Boyertown High School’s Class of ’53 gathered at Trinity EC Church on June 10, 2023, to celebrate their 70th Class Reunion.

Seeing their fellow graduates is always the highlight of class reunions that includes reminiscing about events they shared as classmates, catching up with the goings-on in one another’s lives, and generally reflecting on the “good old days.”

Learning of one another’s accomplishments, challenges, family events, and changes provides unlimited conversation among those who attend.

Nineteen of the 111 graduates—43 who are still living—attended the latest reunion and enjoyed a sit-down dinner catered by Bause Catering, followed by the movie “Singing in the Rain.” 

Harold (Hank) Bishe led the group in prayer and projected the senior class photographs of each of their deceased classmates along with the dates of their deaths.

Harold (Hank) Bishe--in 1953 and today.

Door prizes, donated by the classmates, were distributed.

Classmate Dave Bause took photographs of all of the attending classmates and, following the event, created a single composite photograph that included each of them. (Missing from the group photographs are Dave Bause and Daniel Ellis.)

Veronica Knepp oversaw the event, with the help of Stuart Spohn, Virginia Langan and her committee.

Veronica Knepp

Above in 1953 Virginia Langan; below Stuart Spohn

Historian Luann Zambanini offered details about the graduating class:

- The class of 1953 had their baccalaureate service the Sunday before graduation at 7:30 p.m. in St John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.

- The students had class night on June 2, 1953 in the high school auditorium.

- Commencement Exercises were held on June 4, at 8 o’clock. Dr. Brunner, head of the Department of Agricultural Education at Penn State College, was the guest speaker for graduation. Five honor students were selected to address their classmates, faculty, and guests on various phases of the commencement theme “Evolution of the Boyertown Schools.” The classmates who spoke were Joanne Fritz, Hugh Kelly, Aaron Longacre, Sherril Sell and Janet Spohn.

- A two-day tour of Washington DC on June 5th and 6th included the monuments in Washington DC and even a boat cruise on the Potomac, which was the climax of the graduation festivities for many of the class members.

- The class of 1953 still holds a unique title as the last class to graduate from the “Boyertown High School.” The following year the school changed its name to the “Boyertown Joint High School,” and the year after that it was changed to “Boyertown Area High School” which is the name it still uses today.

Luann shared interesting facts she discovered in the class’s yearbook:

• When a mock election was held at the school, Ike came out ahead. “Ike” is Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States.

• BHS girl’s hockey team won the Perkiomen-Schuylkill Valley League Championship for the first time in the history of hockey at Boyertown.
• The men’s basketball players (the men being called the Basketeers back in 1953) had one of the most successful seasons in BHS’ basketball history. They had 13 wins and only one loss.
• The girls’ basketball team called the Bearettes were Co-Champs for their season. The girls’ coach, Marcella Wise taught Health and Physical Education from 1950 until 1986. Miss Wise died recently on March 14, 2022 at the age of 96.
• Researching for this article about the class of 1953, some ads in the Boyertown Times brought back memories. For example, an ad for Bause’s Super Drug Store at 42 E Philadelphia Avenue, Boyertown included a second location at N Charlotte Street in Pottstown, and suggested a Father’s Day gift of Seaforth Shave Lotion and Presto Lather Shave Cream for only $1.50.
• The number of grocery stores that were in the area was surprising: the IGA Werner’s at 600 E Philadelphia Avenue, Acme at 17-19 Philadelphia Avenue, Ritter’s Food Market at 300 E Philadelphia Avenue, Grim’s at 3 E Philadelphia Avenue and Johnson’s Fairlawn Food Market.
• Bus trips through Perkiomen Valley Bus Company to Gettysburg were advertised for $5, to Longwood Gardens for only $3. I
• Staying closer to home, the State Theatre offered the movie “Niagara” starring Marilyn Monroe was playing the month before graduation and, for one day only, “In Old Amarillo” with Roy Rogers.

Luann reflects on her research wondering what the class of 1953 might say to the class of 2023: “Perhaps [they’d say] something like ‘Times have changed especially with the modern technology of having everything at your fingertips.’ Maybe they’d say, ‘Put down that modern device and introduce yourself to your neighbor in person. Neighbor helping neighbor is how to reunite our community and our world. Try it!’ But reviewing the class of 1953 has brought back memories for many and given the younger generations a look back at local history."

Pictured are the staff photographers: First Row, l to r: G  Zerr, K. Boyer, D Kolb. Second Row, l to r: E Hare, C. Haddad

Following the reunion, I met with Hank—the gentleman his classmates deem the class historian—who shared memories of mischief he and his classmates incited from his years as a high school student.

He recalls incidents of tormenting their teachers—especially his English teacher Mrs. Fryer who was determined to treat them as mature adults. “We were anything but [mature],” Hank insists, laughing at the memory.

During one gym class held outside, they captured a garter snake, hid it in a gym bag, and released it during their English class. Adding Joy detergent in the aquarium provided moments of humor.

In another class, they set the classroom clock ahead 10 minutes and convinced the teacher that class was over even though the end-of-class buzzer had not sounded. A box of band-aids served as another prank when the class members placed band-aids over one eye. All students coughing on cue became another opportunity to disrupt the lesson of the day.

While Hank offers that the class produced no one of exceptional importance—“We were ordinary,” he insists—he maintains that “no one went to jail, did drugs, or had a sex change operation.”

Impressive is the information Hank has collected, organized, and maintained in on-going research bound in thick notebooks and scrapbooks about his classmates since graduation.

His research comes from hours spent reading the Boyertown Times on microfiche. Newspaper articles and photographs are mounted neatly, preserved in individual plastic sleeves, detailing each classmate’s history.

One notebook contains information about teachers; another holds information about each of his classmates. A third is devoted to classmates who have died and includes their yearbook photographs, obituaries, recent photographs, and sometimes newspaper articles about their lives and accomplishments. He notes that three members died in accidents.

“It’s tougher these days to collect information about those who pass,” he explains. “Not everyone is buried; some are cremated without notice or do not include information in today’s newspapers.”

Included in his notebooks are classmates who weren’t included in the class yearbook, who didn’t graduate. “We decided at our 40th or 45th reunion to invite a dozen or more classmates who didn’t graduate. It was a good idea; those dozen individuals have been very involved in our reunions and events ever since.”

A self-acknowledged trivia buff, Hank offers that of the 57 girls and 54 boys who graduated, 68 are deceased, 13 members did not graduate but 10 have become very active; 11 classmates live out of state; 7 are living in retirement facilities; the classmate who died the youngest developed cancer and succumbed in 1955. The most recent death occurred at age 87.

Hank recalls that the class song was “Side by Side” and the class motto was “Launched, but not anchored” and offered his “Historical Account of the Class of 1953” for this article.

He writes, "Our class begun to form in the year of 1935 although we had classmates with the birth year 1933, 1934 and 1936.

"The year 1935 was not the best of times to be bringing children into the world. Our country still had not recovered completely from the Depression of 1929. There was also unrest in Europe with Hitler coming to power. So by the time we started first grade in 1941 there was the threat of war and in December of 1941 it happened with Japan attacking Pearl Harbor and then Germany declared war on us because we were helping England with their war with Germany.

"I remember my parents listening to the radio of the news reports of the attack of Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941. Because we were so young, we really didn’t realize what war would mean. We would soon find out. Who can forget the Draft, Service Flags hanging in the windows of houses, Rationing, Ration Cards, Tokens, Travel Restrictions, Auto production stopping in 1942, Scrap Drives collecting the cans and milkweed pods, Air Raid Tests and taking cover under our desks in case we were attacked, War Bonds, daily reminders of the war in newspapers and on the radio. First through fifth grade we learned to do without and we grew Victory Gardens to grow our food.

"In 1945 when we were in fifth grade there would be two notable deaths. One was welcomed; one was not. On April 12, President Roosevelt died and I remember walking to school and seeing the flag at half-mast at the Post Office and then finding out at school what this was all about. On April 30 Adolf Hitler committed suicide. On May 7 Germany would surrender but Japan would not surrender till August 14 after we dropped two what they called Atomic Bombs. Peace at Last, we won the war and we had a secret weapon no one else had. How long would that last? In a few years there would be war in a country called Korea. Thankfully this would end on July 27, 1953.

"Searching through the yearbooks and looking at the class pictures of seventh through eleventh grades I found 101 different boys and 101 different girls that were in our class at one time. By graduation time there would be 54 boys and 57 girls receiving their diplomas. Today, 70 years later more than half are deceased. There are three we have no way of contacting; there are six that show no interest in our class or events. Today we have 20 classmates in attendance.

"The day will come when the class will be no more. Who will be the last surviving member” The way this world is today WHO WANTS TO BE? "

The class has reunited regularly. Their first reunion was held at Hickory Park, but the 5-year reunion was skipped because many were serving in the military and not in the area. Over the years they have held breakfasts and picnics every five years.

Hank suggests that the recent 70th reunion may be their last, but I feel certain he will continue his work cataloging information about his classmates and will eagerly share his collections with anyone who has an interest in learning about the class of ’53.

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