Iva Joyce Scheidemantel:
CLASS OF 1963
Elk City High SchoolClass of 1963
Elk city, OK
Kansas State University - JournalismClass of 1983
Manhattan, KS
Horace Mann Intermediate SchoolClass of 1960
Wichita, KS
Deady Junior High SchoolClass of 1959
Houston, TX
Park Place Elementary SchoolClass of 1956
Houston, TX
Iva Joyce's Story
These past 3 years since our last reunion have taken a toll on my youthful appearance and added inches to my waist line. Smile :) Surely, it has something to do with moving back to Oklahoma's hot, sunny weather!
Yesterday's mail brought me the info and registration form for our August 1 & 2 reunion for this year. I would like to see any of my teachers who are still around. But, I would really enjoy seeing Mary, Mary Quite Contrary! She is just about everyone's favorite.
I been thinking about the absolute wildest thing I ever did while in highschool. Several unnamed cohorts and myself skipped school after lunch, a few weeks prior to our graduation, and went over to our football couch's house just up the road, and we spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with his really neat wife. Needless to say, we got suspended for a couple of days. But, no one ever found out what we had done!
Hmm. Unbecoming of a "preacher's kid," eh?
My very first serious "crush" was David Wingo. I had this crush on him all the way from elementary school,
Park Place Elementary, Houston, TX, to Deady Jr. High, also in Houston. When my family moved to Wichita, KS in 1958, I moved on to another crush. I assume grew up, married, and had a family.
If I were to die today, I would hope my old friends and classmates remember me in my adult life. More confident, outgoing, comfortable around people and someone with a good sense of humor and moral sense.
I would be truly happy if I were experiencing the Beatific Vision in Heaven with our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Saving my soul is my ultimate goal in life.
The most significant surprise in life that I never even considered when I had children was that my daughter (oldest) would marry a French Army Lt., move to France & give us 5 (so far) wonderful grandchildren...
all living in France. Consequently, I never imagined I'd be crossing the Atlantic a couple of times a year to see family.
If I had to do anything over again, I would be more concerned about the souls of my children while they were growing up. But God does work in mysterious ways, and He has and is taking His Own time in this matter. Two down and one to go!
I must say the weirdest job I've ever had is being a Mom.
As a military family, while our children were growing up, we moved frequently. We lived in Kentucky, Alabama, Texas, Alaska, and Kansas, then back home to Oklahoma after hubby's mil...Expand for more
itary retirement in 1982.
The most memorable, though, was a little Eskimo village in Bethel, AK, for almost 2 years. The population in the winter was about 1000. In the late spring and summer months, the population doubled, with the influx of Japanese merchants coming for salmon roe for caviar, new construction work, and numerous sea faring barges from Seattle, making their way into the Bering Strait and up the Kuskokwim River to the Port of Bethel.
These barges were normally 7 stories high, carrying everything from construction supplies, automobiles, furniture, and enormous amounts of non-perishable food stuff and many other items to maintain Bethel residents during the long, cold snowy-icy, and mostly dark winter months.
There were only 7 miles of road around the village and none going in or out. The only way to get in or out of Bethel was to fly to and from Anchorage or... stow away on one of those barges. Although, in the winter months, when the Kuskokwim was frozen thick, the Yupik Eskimos used it as a highway to travel up and down to smaller villages situated along the river.
One of the most memorable and long awaited events was Break Up. Bets were made as to the exact moment when the break up of the river began.
The whole village would line up along the banks of the Kuskokwim and listen for the first sounds of cracking ice. And when the huge crackling chunks began to move slowly down river, everyone would cheer, as these enormous chunks of broken ice took with them the the 8 long months of dark days, sub-zero
temperatures, huge mounds of packed snow, cabin fever, & the onset of flooding villages.
Most important, it was the start of spring, the shedding of multiple layers of clothing needed for each time one stepped outside, of salmon fishing - commercial, subsistent, and sport, and the onset of 20 hours of daily sunshine.
Along with these memories are those of the Yupik friends we made while living in Bethel. The Yupik are shy and reserved and one has to gain their respect before they become friendly, but once you do, they are dependable, loving, giving and always smiling friends.
After 18 years of living in Ohio after our military days, we returned to Oklahoma in 2005 to be near our families. Three years in Oklahoma has aged me 10 years. When I said that to one of my longtime high school friends recently, she said, "Oh, no! You're just getting older." Hmm.
Register for Free to view all details!
Reunions
Photos
Register for Free to view all photos!