One of the most enjoyable things about working on the Sunset Newsletter is reading the letters we receive from former Sunsetters, their family members and friends. Of course, many times it is sad news about someone who has passed on. But, most of the time it is enjoyable reading. They tell me where they are living, what they have done since they left Sunset (including wartime experiences) and what they did for a living and what they are doing in retirement. It usually is very interesting stuff. I try to acknowledge the receipt of letters and emails but quite a bit of the time I let it slip my mind.
I am able to put very little of it in the printed copy of the newsletter due to space limitations. We have to limit the newsletter to two 11" X 17" sheets. With this online version, I can use as much space as I want to. I am happy to be able to share my correspondence with you. Most of these printed here are unedited, except for obvious typos and personal info the writer may not want to share with the world. Enjoy and write to me if you have something you would like to share with our readers.
This will be of more interest to the members of the Class of 1942. Dan Simpson '42 has an updated address for Dr. Roy Zuefeldt. We had lost contact with Roy and Dan was able to track him down. Roy and wife Katie are now in a skilled nursing care facility in Austin. They do not have a phone in their room and we don't know the nature or extent of their illness(s). The current address is:
Roy and Katie Zuefeldt
The Summit at Westlake, #2229
1034 Liberty Park Dr.
Austin, Texas 78746
I suggest you drop him a card to let him know he is remembered. At least that is what I plan to do.
Roy is one of the most brilliant people I have ever known. Even in high school, he was playing multiple chess games at the same time and winning them all. I fully expected him to go into medical research after we graduated. He became a doctor all right, just not in the medical field. Roy graduated from the University of Texas-Austin with a degree in chemical engineering, which is one of the toughest undergraduate degrees available. He worked three years as an engineer when he received his call to preach. He attended theological seminary in Chicago and received a fellowship for additional study. After two years of study in Scotland, Germany and Switzerland, he received a Ph.D in biblical studies from the University of Edinburgh. He pastored churches in Cross Plains, Fort Worth, Dallas and Abilene, Texas. In addition, he taught as a visiting professor at Thailand Theological Seminary in Chaing Mai, Thailand.
It was while at First Central Presbyterian Church in Abilene that Roy did a series of sermons about important New Testament figures in which he spoke from the first person. That is, it was as though the New Testament person were speaking. The series was so successful and he was asked for so many reprints of his sermons, that he assembled them in a book entitled "The Living Vine." Copies of Roy's book are available from First Central Presbyterian Church for a $20 contribution to their Presbyterian Medical Care Mission fund. I guess you could say that Roy got involved in the medical field after all.
Another lost Bison heard from. Of course, Don Corekin '42 has known where he has been all this time. We just did not know where he was. He is wanting to make contact with his old classmates. Contact him at: coremike80@aol.com .
Hi, R. Kinslow:
My name is Don Corekin. Left Sunset to join the Navy Oct 1942. Been thinking of my classmates and wonder if there are many of us left (I'm 82 soon to be 83 ). Is there any way of connecting with them, a list or something ? Would appreciate any info. that you could give me.
Thanks, Don.
We hear pretty regularly from Snuffy Brown '41, who lives in California. Most of the time it is a joke or an aircraft picture. Last week (10-24-07), he told us about the wildfires near San Diego and how they are affecting him. He also included an email from his daughter-in-law, who had to evacuate her home for a short time. It's getting to be an annual thing for her.
Snuffy said "Here the fires are about 5 miles from my house but the winds are sure raising havoc. The Santiago fire is about one-half mile from the church [Rick Warren's Saddleback Mountain mega-church] and lots of our people's houses are real, real close to it.
"The smoke is very think here at my house and the tanker planes and helio's come over the house all the time. For us folks with lung problems, it makes it hard for us to get a good breath. I called the doctor (of course, you never get to talk to the doc) but the nurse said for me to stay indoors and not breathe any of the smoke. Pray tell, how can I breathe and NOT get any smoke?
"Believe it or not, this is worse than the earthquakes we have. Would you believe that more people have evacuated their homes than during the Katrina hurricane? San Diego County is a mess!
"Thank the good Lord the winds have died down a lot. This morning when I got up, the sun looked like a bright moon, all red and just not very bright. We are not out of the woods yet. The fires are still out of control."
Here is his daughter-in-law's email. She makes some good points at the last of her email about future emergency response and preparation for wildfire situations in California.
"Hello, All,
"It seems that just four years ago I was emailing a similar message. There are many likenesses between this, the Witch Fire, and the 2003 Cedar Fire. The blessing is that the outcome for our family is currently the same, and once again the people of San Diego County have come together to help and support as family. Scott and I are fine and have been told that we may return to our home.
"The fire began the same weekend of October as the 2003 Cedar Fire. That one started in the wee hours of a Sunday morning, and this one started a little after noon on a Sunday. The Cedar Fire swept through Ramona where I am Director of Music for Spirit of Joy, just as this one did. Scott was in L.A. visiting Michael and Lauren when the Cedar Fire erupted; Scott and I were in L.A. visiting Lauren when the Witch Creek Fire erupted. We were watching the smoke from the Malibu fire. The Witch Creek Fire began to follow the same path as the Cedar Fire. We prepared to evacuate, and that is where most of the similarities stop.
"With this fire we received earlier notice mandating evacuation, so we had more time to plan what to take. With Scott's help, we were able to load two cars instead of one. Evacuations from the different areas (Ramona, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch, etc.) were more methodically planned so that there would not be total deadlock getting to designated evacuation sites. In our case our home is located on the south side of a major highway in San Diego, and our lab is located on the north side in Poway. The house was in an evacuation zone, but the lab was not; so we invited some neighbors to join us, and we traveled the couple of miles to BPD to wait out the hours. Our evacuation from Scripps Ranch was precursory this time; whereas, the prior evacuation was necessitated by immediate danger. Consequently, we played cards and tried to boost optimism. We actually went back to our home to spend the night "illegitimat ely."
"Unfortunately for others, the Witch Fire followed an alternate route to the north of us. We were told that there was a strong possibility the fire would burn all the way to the coast. At this time I don't know how far it has traveled, but I know it has covered much more ground than any of us anticipated. I have several friends who have lost their homes, but none of those are in Scripps Ranch. It is unimagineable that some people have lost two homes in four years!
"An interesting point of discussion: After every earthquake occurrence in California legislation has been passed to prevent such damage in the future. However, after every major fire procedures have been fine tuned to deal with the next occurrence, but no legislation has been considered to diminish catastrophic fire damage in the first place; i.e., legislation determining where development should be allowed and where it should not be allowed; how land may be developed and how it may not be developed; what landscape is allowed and likely to survive in the area and what should not be planted because of limited resources and other reasons. Housing statutes have changed in that tile roofs are mandated and open eaves are no longer code. However, even with these measures in place and given that the fire was fought almost perfectly, there was still too much damage. Is it time to legis late to the next degree?
"Thank you for your concern. Please keep all in your prayers: the exhausted fire fighters, the leaders coordinating efforts, homeowners, medical personnel, shop owners, animals, insurance agents, pilots, those injured, and many many many more not just in San Diego but throughout the state.
"If you know of anyone in need of housing, we have extra bedrooms and floor space."
If you would like to contact Snuffy, his email address is snuffy9@cox.net .
Here is a nice email from Clyde Perkins '42 telling what he has been up to lately. I've emailed him back asking for more info on the screen reading software he mentions. I need the info for my wife who also has macular degeneration. I will post some photos of Clyde in his bike riding garb on the photos page.
Macular degeneration zapped my central vision in 1991. I made the transition from being an avid reader to being legally blind, unable to read the largest headlines in newspapers, within two weeks. I accepted my vision loss as a challenge rather than a defeat. Technological advances in vision aids through the years have helped to keep me involved in many activities. I lost the ability to browse in book stores, but the Texas State Library Talking Book Program kept me reading books of my choosing through the years. In time I was able to browse in a book store at http://www.audible.com, where I could download books to read, much like I had done before losing my vision. I have missed being able to drive an autonobile, but I kept my dear wife from having to drive me everywhere by riding a bicycle to take care of some chores and provide more freedom for both of us. I started doing organized bike rides in 1995, advancing to doing my first century ride in 1997. Through the years I completed nine century bike rides including seven Multiple Sclerosis 150 mile rides, the El Tour de Tucson and the Hotter'N Hell Hundred. I retired from long distance bike rides in 2004 after completing the MS150 at age 80. Common sense finally prevailed. My vision had deteriorated such that I was missing too many turns and hitting too much road kill. Doing 1500 miles of training rides each season to prepare for a century ride became more than I could really enjoy. I have been using a lot of my time sending e-mail messages and FAXES to our imperial leaders urging them to do something for the good of our great country. The only time I feel moderately safe is when they leave Washington.
OK! So what if I do ramble a bit? I recently purchased a screen reading software program that was designed for the totally blind. Now I can read just about anything on the Internet. I went to your web site and reread the August 2007 newsletter. The screen reader handled the columns perfectly except for page 7. For some reason the screen reader read the page as a single column. Having previously read the page using my CCTV, it actually conveyed some meaning. A few million neurons may have been damaged by that exercise.
I always enjoy the efforts of you volunteers in preparing, printing and mailing the newsletter. I lived in Dallas less than seven years - from January 1940 to October 1942 when I attended school at Sunset and then from March 1946 to June 1950 when I studied electrical engineering at SMU. Your articles about changes in Dallas are always of interest. Now I will be visiting your web site often. Thank you for a great job.
Clyde Perkins '42
We received this letter from Evelyn Swaiu Webb '36 about the article we had in the newsletter about Tyler Street Church. It seems her family was intimately involved in the formation of the church way back when.
August 14, 2007
I noticed information in re Tyler Street Methodist Church in the recent newsletter. I have copy about the organization of this church in 1912. They met at the home of my grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. Baldwin H. Hill on Kings Highway. The Rev. L. Leonard Rea was the first minister.
Also, a mention of George Peabody school. I was in the first grade at Peabody the year they opened. In fact, if I remember correctly, students were enrolled and then sent home while the building was being finished. There was a small group of trees next to the school and sometimes I would ride my shetland pony to school and stake him out in the "woods". We had to leave Peabody for the 7th grade and go to Lida Hoe.
During '32 and '33 we lived at the old L. O. Daniel home across the street from Sunset. At times, if we were running a bit late, we would climb over the high fence that ran between the interurban track and the street.
Last year I was thinking that I might be able to come to the reunion (my70th) but I didn't get my newsletter until the week after the reunion. I would love to come this year but am really not up to it. I gave the last newsletter to my old school buddy (3rd grade on), Maude McDonald Suggs. She would enjoy the newsletter. Her address is:
Maude M. Suggs, 2432 Western Trails, #311, Austin,TX 78745.
My brother, Edgar Swain, '34, passed away Oct. 2005, In Stillwater, OK.
I really appreciate your newsy newsletter.
Thanks
Evelyn Swain Webb, '36
She included a copy of a newspaper clipping about the first meeting of the church. Click on Tyler St. Methodist to see the clipping.
Here is a letter from Doris Gertrude Lutes Hudson '39. She now lives in Mesa, Arizona but she has lived several places since she left Sunset. but let her tell you about it. She sent us this picture of Molas Lake, which is about 30 miles north of Durango, Colorado.
July 15, 2007
Mesa, Arizona (111 degrees today)
Dear Roy Kinslow:
You said to send letters to you, so will and hope you receive it.
Thanks ever so much for sending the newsletter. I read and re-read every inch. That way I can
keep up with what is happening in Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I only have one brother left (of a family
of eight) four boys and four girls. We have survived. He was 88 in June and I turned 80+ in
April. He lives in Richardson and lost his wife two years ago (an Adamson grad) after a 58 year
marriage. He felt lucky this summer without getting hit by a tornado and/or flooding.
I was bemused about the location of the upcoming Roundup (2007). I grew up in Trinity
Heights. Transferred to Sunset in Low 9 from Boude Storey Jr. High - God's gift to all chosen
from an area full of kids even out Lancaster way.
When Duncanville began, there was not yet an airport or country club. An older sister and her
husband built a home out there (from Cedar Crest) and an older one also built two doors away.
They were happy to see a nice grocery store go in on Red Bird. She lived on Camp Wisdom
Road.
STEVENS PARK: My nephew's wife, Kay Portman, found that area for her doctor father to live nicely
for several years. If I dare to remember this, across the avenue there was a Polar Bear ice cream
parlor. There were two public swimming pools, Lake Cliff and Kidd Springs. I do believe
Wednesday was a free day. We walked everywhere so I'm guessing Lake Cliff was closest to us.
I went to 1st and 2nd grade in South Dallas at Silverstein at the end of the Ervay street car line-walked a street over to school, red dirt street. 3rd and 4trh brade (family moved to Trinity Hts.)
And that was also the name of the school. Three of my brothers left there and graduated at
Technical sort of downtown. I think it was demolished not long ago and/or a plaque put in place?
I'm still in shock about no more department stores an/or movies (except I heard the Majestic is
for stage shows only). My husband-to-be and I were there when "News Briefs" came on the
screen announcing "Pearl Harbor has been bombed." Everyone turned to each other "Where is
that?"
After a family crisis, an aunt and uncle from Ft. Worth came and I went home with them for two
years-in Carroll Peak elementary school for 5th and 6th grades. For making perfect grades, there
was a "party" and I had to make a speech and introduce the smartest boy! My aunt had to make a
cake and bring it (all mothers had to). A cousin told me that Carroll Peak school is now an
assisted living place.
I met two lifelong friends in the 3rd and 4th grades and re-united with them after coming home at
Boude Story and on to Sunset. Wanda May (her last name was May) became Wanda Francis and
introduced my future husband to me "as you both like to dance" she said.
I don't have a yearbook, but her name is on an Honors list. As is Grace Deuhler Hendricks. All
three have left this earth within the last two years. The other was Floy C. Stevenson. She had to
quit Sunset as she had no father left, a kid sister to look after as her mother died of food
poisoning from a pie she had bought in downtown Dallas. Floy never made her grades back but
worked at the Dallas Times Herald in classified ads for years. Had two girls, twin boys, worked
and died of a stroke. I had a beautiful letter from one of the twin boys (men now).
Floy's cousin was Anita Malone, a cheerleader, and so cute. She married a doctor and lived in
California but visited at Christmas time.
SEARS ROEBUCK: Fills our life for years. The big red building. Wanda May, Vance Francis, Joe
Hudson, my brother Leonard all had jobs there. Since the loft make over, a Negro lady got the
"head buyers" corner street office for an apartment.
My brother retired from there. My younger brother, Cal, got a mail post there for awhile. I
worked there two and a half years. Punched a time clock at 6:00 a.m.. Over the viaduct at 5:00
a.m. I quit and worked for an insurance company at the Thomas Bldg.
After our '39 graduation, my boyfriend took me to the Baker Hotel for a dessert bar. After I quit
the insurance company, the office gave me a maternity party at the Baker (baby clothes). I
married at home March 21, 1941 and kept working for a while.
April 2, 1942. Five busses lined up on Elm St. and #2 bus carried my brorther, Len, #4 my
husband. Joe. Took them to Mineral Wells to be sworn in and sent to wherever - Joe to
engineers, Len to Air Corps (desert islands for two years) - Joe to a lot of training for Normandy
it turned out. I have a shadow box for all his medals above our desk. I visited him in Abilene,
Missouri, skipped pontoon training in Lousiana - weekend in Tulsa. In New Jersey they let him
come home for the birth and she waited until he was on the ship to be born and he first saw his
19-month old daughter after PEACE. He was on the Maginot Line, the Battle of the Bulge, etc.
We bought a small house at White Rock next door to his mom for four years. Later bought a new
home in Wynnewood built by James Smith (from Sunset) - his mom wrote down our color
preferences. He and his girl (a beauty) used to walk the halls at Sunset holding hands. His sister,
(Joan).
Birth of wonderful son October 17, 1947. He will be a geezer in October - 60 years.
BACK IN OAK CLIFF: In '53 opened Sears store in Sherman, traveled. '54 moved opened Sears
stores (2) in Ft. Worth. 1959: went to Pagosa Springs, Colorado and bought a 'dude ranch.'
Rather, made it into one. 8,500 feet elevation, beautiful. 1964, sold the ranch and ran for office
as County Judge for four years, re-elected for four more and quit because of elevation and cold.
[Note: When I put this in the newsletter, I got it wrong. SHE was the one that was elected
County Judge. See her follow-up letter for the correct info.] Our children live in Durango and
Denver and we have two grandsons and four greats - two boys and two girls. Our son and his
wife have no children. Love horses, dogs, cats, birdfs, fish, flowers and are phlebotomists (blood
takers) in Farmington, NM.
A first cousin, age 98, was buried two weeks ago in Ft. Worth. Her son turns 75 tomorrow (July
17). I was there then and Len sent me a photo of us (himself in dress up cap and sweater). I was
11 and living with his grandmother for those two years. She just lived around the corner. I have
a joint love affair with Ft. Worth (two streets are named after my family) and Dallas.
I really appreciate all your info and hearing about: Cotton Bowl !!!! Will now be close to that 75
year old kid! We left before amusement park opened near Arlington, Handley, etc.
Hope your Roundup is a great success and do hold me in your thoughts - I realize your work.
Best
Doris Gertrude Lutes Hudson '39
That is the letter Doris wrote in July. After the print copy of the August newsletter came out, she
wrote again, gently chastising me for a couple of mistakes. Here is what she said this time:
Friday, August 17, 2007
Mesa, Arizona (temp. only 110 degrees today)
Many thanks, Roy- co-ed, for another mention in the Sunset Newsletter. It's my feeling that we
of that era DO personify Tom Brokaw's definition of the "Greatest Generation" and you help
define it.
However, I have to slap your "knuckles." My husband, Wiley Joe Hudson, will be 89 on August
27 and we have been married 66 years, 4 months (but who's counting?).
You have given him credit for being elected county judge in Colorado when, in fact, he was in the
insurance business (after the lodge) and said he voted for me. Sure enough, I was elected on the
Republican ticket (he is a Democrat) and our county (Archeleta) voted Goldwater when the U.S.
voted Johnson.
So, I was sworn in for four years; "retained" in office for four more, and resigned in mid-term.
Three more females became judges that year in counties that didn't require one to be a lawyer.
That one does require it now as it has grown to be a small metropolis.
Our son lives in Durango about 60 miles from Pagosa and sends me notes and newspaper
clippings from Pagosa Springs.
Thanks again and have fun at the "gathering."
Doris
She enclosed another little note: "We had a year before his deferment. [She's referring to her
husband, Wiley Joe Hudson, of course]. Joe trained all over the U.S. and I spent some weekends
on the bus - a lot in Abilene, some in Waynesville, Mo., Tulsa, Oklahoma - how to build pontoons
in Louisiana (I didn't go there).
All to lead up to D-Day when he was in the 315th Engineers, 90th Division and on Utah Beach the
second day.
He has a lot of medals and I got a shadow box and they're on display on the wall above the desk
I'm writing on.
Of course, we had a "furlough baby" who is is 63 now and was 19 months old before he saw her.
There are a lot of stories like our out there, aren't there? D.G."
Aren't those great letters? And so reminiscent of the times our generation went through. I had
not heard the term "furlough baby" in a long, long time. But, it accurately describes an event that
occurred many times during WW2.
Everyone has their own story. How about sending me yours to share with others? Or, not to
share, as you prefer.