Category: Bio

Kenneth “Kenny” Cline (Deceased – DOD 12/7/07)

Obituary: Kenny’s funeral was held December 13 at Glidden Ediger Chapel, McPherson, KS. He was born November 22, 1939 in Enid and died Dec 7, 2007 in McPherson.

He graduated from Enid High School in 1957. He served in the Navy as an IC3. He worked as a machinist at Bradbury Corp in Moundridge, Kansas prior to his retirement. He moved from Newton, Kansas to McPherson in 1991. He married Shari L. Crane Stewart June 23, 2001 in McPherson.

He is the Father of one daughter, Patricia Cline of Oklahoma City. He was step Father to 4 step-daughters, Ashley Stewart and Katelyn Stewart of McPherson, Rocky and Jamie Darrah, of Kansas. He was Father to 5 sons, Kenneth “Corky” Cline of Medford, OK, Thomas Cline of Oklahoma, Scott Cline of Edmond, John Cline of Midwest City, and Justin Cline of McPherson. He also had 3 stepsons, one brother, Charles Cline of California, 3 sisters Dorothy Ritz, Mary Kennon of Independence, MO. and Phyllis Jacobs of Bethany. Kenneth had 26 grandchildren!

Kay Mason-Byler

Dear EHS friends,

I thought I was going to see you at the reunion next month, but my plans have changed, partly due to the fact that my house sold faster than I expected, and I’m still in the moving mode, and partly due to some family doings later in October, for which I’ll need to be away, and I can’t do both. It sounds like the committee has done a great job to make it a fun reunion.

I have just now gotten around to reading some of your biographies. It is neat to find out “the rest of the story” of people we knew “back when”. I remember one of our first reunions, when several of our teachers attended, and they told me they had always thought of our class as very special out of all they had taught. As a teacher, I now know what an accolade that was. When I came to Emerson Jr. High in 1953, I had already attended nine schools, some of them in Enid, and some in schools in different OK towns, and in California. It was a pleasure and relief to get to stay in Enid for 31/2 years. What a wonderful time that was! I loved high school! Then my father got transferred by Champlin Oil to Chickasha, where I attended Okla. College for Women my freshman year. I dropped out for a year and a half and worked in Enid at Security Nat. Bank, where I learned I hate office machines and need to avoid them if at all possible. (The only subject in which I “earned” an F in was high school typing! My father said it was because I was into too many extra curricular activities. Go figure.) I struggle at the computer to this day, but it is worth the struggle. Grow or die, right?

When I returned to school, it was to (then) Central State College. I earned my degree in elementary ed., and was recruited before the end of my sr. year to teach in Jefferson County, CO. I had one yr. there before I married my college sweetheart, Richard Byler, and we moved to Junction City, Ks. where we both taught. We next lived in Greeley, Co., where our daughter Becky was born and Rich earned his master’s degree in Parks and Rec. Next move was to Flint, Mi. where son Brad was born, and then to Columbia, Mo. where we finally settled for six years, the longest I had ever lived in one place in my life! I taught in all those places, sometimes only as a substitute, while the kids were young. We had always wanted to return to Co., so when the opportunity arose for Rich to work for Foothills Parks and Recreation, in Lakewood, Co. we jumped at the chance, though we had loved our life in Columbia. I once told a Lakewood resident how much I loved seeing the mountains from every part of town, and she said, “Oh, you’ll get so used to it, you won’t even notice them”.. That has NEVER happened. I love looking at them and being in them in all seasons, though I don’t visit them as much in the winter these days. Richard and I divorced in 1980, but we have been very cooperative parents and still do a few family activities together during each year.

I taught various elementary grades in Jeffco for 20 years, earning my master’s along the way. It was a satisfying career, for the most part, but times have changed, and I am glad I could retire when I reached 60. I have so many good memories and friends here that this is truly my home. I lived for 32 years in the first house we bought here, in which we planned to live for just a few years. It suited me and my lifestyle very well, but I cannot keep the yard , etc. as I like it any more. I was lucky to sell it at this time, and I have just moved. (What a job!) Since retirement, I call myself a “dabbler”. I love volunteering, and have done too much to mention. My favorite thing right now is story telling (for which I am sometimes paid, so I can call myself a professional.) I also am active in our local history museum, and I give tours, paint faces and do other activities as needed. Of all my experiences, the most rewarding was being MOM during my kids’ growing years. I enjoyed (almost) every minute of it! Those years passed much too quickly. Both of my kids have settled in the vicinity. Becky is the mother of my ONLY grandchild, Zachary, of whom we are very proud and dote on him, as you can imagine. I love Derek, the son-in-law she has given me. Brad has not yet married, but we still have hopes. If you read the Rocky Mtn. News, you will see Brad’s byline in the sports section, especially when the Broncos play in town. (That is his second, part-time job. Keeps him too busy, but he likes it.)

Since retiring, I have had more time to travel farther than my usual destination, Oklahoma. Though I have been out of the country and continent, I most enjoy going to historic American places that I used to teach about. That is heaven for me!

I have a very nice man in my life. He loves to travel. We have had some health setbacks, but both doing well now, so want to do more while we can. For those of you who remember my family, here is a little update: My father Fred died in 1972. Mother Dorothy is still going strong at 88, in Edmond,OK. My brothers Terry and Hart live in Texas. Brad lives in Edmond near Mother, which has been good for all of us. They all have nice families and are doing well.

I’ll be thinking of you during the first weekend of October. Have a wonderful time! Let errr rrrrip! (I’m sure those ornery boys will try to mess it up to this day – but I’ll miss hearing them do it. 🙂 Hopefully, I’ll see everyone at the next reunion.

Sincerely,
Kay Mason Byler

August 2017 update:

Hi,   EHS friends!  I’m sorry I won’t be at the reunion again this year.  I do hope I can come next time and that we are all still here by then.  I enjoy reading about you, except when the news is bad.  My heart goes out to all who are having a rough time and the families of those who have died.  We just don’t seem that old to me. And each one is a shock!  Hopefully, most seem to have enjoyed good lives.

My life, like yours, is like one of those Bad news/Good news stories.  I love all of Dennis’s old folks jokes, as they are so true and so funny!  Due to COPD, I am now using oxygen 24/7 when at this (Denver) elevation and higher.  Good news is that I am able to do most things that are important to me, and I am in good physical shape, due to my exercise regimen.  I have been fighting to keep my teeth for many years, and two years ago, I had to have many pulled. My new teeth are pretty, but I still can’t eat very well.   Good news is that I now weigh about what I weighed in the 9^th grade!  Recently, I started using hearing aids.  Of course, the good news is that I can now almost understand most conversations on TV and movies.  And I don’t say Huh? so much!  But with all of these, you can imagine how much longer it takes for me to get ready to go somewhere!  The good news is that I can still go on my own!

After many years of volunteering in various places, which I enjoyed immensely, I am cutting back, except for mostly social events, like my book club and activities here in the townhouse community and of course, fun with family and friends.  I mostly travel to low elevation places, but we take many day trips into the mountains, which I still love!

My kids are doing well, and I now have TWO grandsons.  One is 22 and one is 8.  They are half brothers, and the young one is our miracle boy.  So much fun!  Wish I had many more, but so grateful for the two.

I’m very thankful for my mainly good life and the health and many blessings my loved ones and I enjoy.  I have such good memories of EHS and you, and I hope you have a wonderful time together!

  Best wishes always—–Kay (Mason) Byler

Beverly McCoy-Chapman
Beverly is pictured with husband, Clif.}

I’ve heard it said you can never go back, which I guess is to your roots? “But I’m back”, back to my old HOME TOWN Enid. It’s here I grew up and have always wanted to be. I left one daughter here, her own choice, so I’ve always felt I have permanent ties and roots here.

I married Clif Chapman soon after graduation. Marriage, home and lots of babies were always a dream. Now remember, in the 50’s you couldn’t vote until you were 21 so I had three babies before I could vote. I chose to be a stay-at-home Mom and my MOTTO has always been: “I thrive on chaos.” We had our last baby in 1962, a boy after three girls.

Clif was with Safeway Stores Inc., and we stayed in Enid until the kids were grown. Safeway transferred him to Dodge City, KS and then back to Oklahoma. We resided in Oklahoma City until 2005. At the time we started moving and leaving the kids behind, I experienced total empty nest syndrome so I decided to go to work. I had several interesting jobs and gained a lot of experience. This experience allowed me to work as a floater for Safeway in their corporation offices. For almost five years I had a new job every Monday morning. I couldn’t name the number of offices Safeway had, but each office was different, each having its own place in the grocery business. This afforded me a lot of freedom and a whole lot of diversity, which made it a lot more interesting. After Safeway closed, I went to work for Eskridge Lexus of Oklahoma. I was the secretary in the collision center. I was the only woman there and became Mom over the next few years to a lot of guys.

In 2005, because of my husband’s bad health, I retired after having worked for Lexus 17 years, and we came back to Enid. I can no longer care for Clif in our home so he is in the Commons Living Facility. We just celebrated our 50th Wedding Anniversary and he still knows my name, of this I am thankful.

I enjoy writing and was finally published in 1993 in the Quarterly issue of the Heartland Magazine, under random sighting. My story is called, “Greasy Spoon.” At the heart of almost every small town is a great café or diner. It describes my growing up in Enid and working at my Daddy’s café. I like short stories and currently have TWO pending publications. We have five grandchildren and one most wonderful great-grand daughter, Hana Kay. She is almost two and she keeps us young.

I never expected to be spending my GOLDEN YEARS doing volunteer work at a rest home (Excuse me, an adult living facility to be politically correct) but we are needed and getting here from 1957 has been a trip. Psalm 143:8 says, “Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning, for in thee do I trust.” I am constantly reminded that the words God speaks to me are spirit and they are life. How could I not trust him with my every waking hour?

Barry Clement
Photo at right taken from 1955 Quill yearbook
Barry attended Sophomore and Junior years at Enid High School.

I completed my senior year at Colorado Springs High School, Colorado Springs, CO. (My high school won the Colorado state highschool football championship in 1957). I also attended the University of Colorado and UCLA. I met my wife (Priscilla Hallett from Santa Monica, CA) at the University of Colorado. We lived in Southern and Northern California, Washington State, Houston and Dallas, Texas. My business was managing manufacturing companies.

We have two grown sons: Craig (Wichita Falls, TX) who is married with two wonderful little girls ages 8 and 2, and Scott (Dallas, TX) who is unmarried, but with a string of serious girlfriends.

I joined a team of investors and purchased an Auto parts company in 1984 which brought us to Dallas. I left the Auto parts business in 2003 after 19 years of fun.

My brother, Tracy, was two years behind me in school, so he finished the ninth grade at Emerson Junior High while we were living in Enid. He is now a retired veterinarian living in Phoenix. Thanks to you (Jim F.) and Jerry (Kunkel) for all the work you have done.
Sincerely,
Barry Clement

Barbara Parker Adams

It’s time to stop procrastinating and get this done — so here goes 50 years.

After graduation I attended OSU and married David Adams (class of ’55). When David graduated in forestry we moved to Idaho where he got another degree and I had a (boring) job on campus. From there we were in Wyoming at the most remote ranger station in the U.S. Our first daughter was born in Cody. Then came Ft. Collins, Colorado (where our second daughter was born), Arcata, California and back to Moscow, Idaho in 1971 where we have lived since.

I have been mostly a “stay at home Mom” but did work for 9 years in the Athletic Department on the Univ. of Idaho campus and continued my education in Child Development. For several years I was a hospital volunteer and a volunteer in grade schools. I currently enjoy my flower garden and Book and Bridge clubs.

David’s position at the University required a lot of travel both in the U.S. and abroad and I have been fortunate to accompany him on many trips. We still enjoy traveling and are seldom at home for very long. We also spend time at our cabin on our forest property.

We have a wonderful family — two daughters and sons-in-law and three very special grandchildren, ages 18, 15 and 5. All of our family live in Boise.

As I have written this I realized how lucky I have been. I have the best of all husbands and a great family. We have lived in many beautiful locations: mountains, the redwoods, on the northern Pacific coast and the lovely steep hills of northern Idaho.

This will be my first Reunion and I am looking forward to seeing friends again.

By the way, if anyone checks the senior pictures in the Quill my name and Jeanine Paris are reversed and the list of activities are combined.
Barbara

Barbara Cox-Booze
{Barbara is pictured with husband, John.}

After being coerced by a certain classmate, 🙂 I am reluctantly going to write something but only out of respect for my other classmates.

John and I were married in April of 1957, just before graduation in May. We moved to Wichita in June for John to attend school. I worked as a secretary for Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. After John finished school we moved to Great Bend, Kansas and he went to work as an engineer for KVGB Radio. Two of our sons, Steve and David, were born in Great Bend, Kansas. Steve appeared in 1959 and David in 1964.

I have lots of great memories of that time in my life: bowling, PTA, League of Women Voters and most important I learned how to play Bridge. In October of 1967, David, our youngest son, then three, was hit by a car and killed. In December of that year we moved back to Enid and John went to work at Vance Air Force Base. He retired in 1998 after 31 years.

In 1971 our third son, Tod, was born, resulting in a space of 12 years between our two boys. I spent a lot of years in PTA, Home room mother, Youth Group at church and Band Boosters. I loved it all. We have three grandchildren, all girls, and two great grandchildren, a boy age 6 and a girl age 3. Steve, our oldest son, works at Tinker AFB in OKC and Tod, our youngest, is employed in Dallas by an architect firm.

I was a stay at home mom during our boy’s growing years and just worked part time jobs. When Tod was a senior I went to work for DHS (Dept of Human Services) and retired in 2001. I love to travel and have been from one coast to the other. The only countries I have been to are Mexico and Canada. I still play in two Bridge Clubs, forget the bowling and still love to travel. I learned a long time ago that happiness is not in material things but in a relationship with our Lord.

Bless you all.

Eugene Pugh

Great to hear from another former Enid resident (referring to Bob Zimmerman). I attended Garfield in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade with the same teachers you had. Guess I did not make much of an impression. LOL. We moved to Florence, Kansas for some of my junior high years. I think Florence is about 30 or 40 miles from Newton.

Now to summarize the last 50 years.
Personal: Married to one wife forever with 3 children and 4 grandchildren.

Education.
Undergraduate degrees from Purdue and graduate degree from Central Michigan.

Work experience: Returned to Enid and worked for an Air Force contractor at Vance AFB for about 6 years in their computer department, with 2 years out for active army duty. Then accepted Civil Service position in Mineral Wells, Texas as Chief of Systems and Programming. After a few years there, I transferred to Indianapolis, Indiana at the Defense Finance Center. Finished my Federal career in Indianapolis with temporary assignments throughout to US. Retired at the end of 1995 and have spent my retirement years with some teaching, some income tax preparation, and other short term jobs.

Current activity. We just built a new home south of Terre Haute, Indiana. Home was finished in October of 2007. We have only lived there for a couple of months. This is due to the fact that we spend the winters on the Texas Gulf Coast at Mustang Island. I am now 68 years old and believe my work history is complete. We will be returning to Indiana in April and my next project is to take care of landscaping my property. Then lots of travel and visiting family and friends. Have a great retirement.
Gene

 Frances McManemin

After high school graduation I attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. I majored in education and received my BS in the summer of 1962. During high school I dated Paul Gauley. We married September 10, 1960 just after he graduated from pilots training at Vance AFB. We moved to Plattsburg, NY where he flew KC-97s and I attended The State University of NY at Plattsburg. I spent the summer of 1962 at OSU and completed my degree. When I returned to Plattsburg I taught school for 2 years. At that time Paul was transferred into KC-135s and we lived in Merced, CA while he received his training. We then moved to Ft. Worth, TX in 1964 and lived at Carswell AFB for about 2.5 years. While there I started graduate school at TCU majoring in Speech and Hearing Pathology.

In the spring of 1964, Paul received a much coveted transfer to fighter pilot school and we moved again to North Las Vegas, NV where he trained to fly F-105s. In November, 1966 he left the US and was stationed in Thailand flying the F-105s over North Vietnam, Laos, and NE Thailand. On January 10, 1967 he was shot down. He was declared KIA but his body has never been recovered although the site where his plane went down has been explored by the teams excavating such sites in both North and South Vietnam and Laos. During the time he was overseas I stayed in Stillwater but after his plane went down I moved back to Ft. Worth and returned to graduate school.

In May of 1968, I married Al Jones and acquired a 5 year old step-daughter, Holly at the same time. We lived in Weatherford and I was a stay at home wife for awhile. On December 2, 1969 we had a baby daughter, Heather Allison. Heather is now 37 years old and has 2 daughters and a husband, David. My oldest granddaughter is Allison (19) who will be a sophomore at SMU this fall. Her sister is 14 year old Sarah who will be in the 9th grade in Midlothian, TX.

Al and I moved to and worked in Baton Rouge, LA for 2 years and then moved back to live and work in Ft. Worth for 2 more years. We both worked for Tandy Corporation. We were then transferred to Tulsa and lived there about 3 years. When we moved to Dallas, I worked for about a year and returned to graduate school at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX. I had intended to find a masters program in psychology but instead found myself in a doctoral program in Clinical Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine. I graduated with a PhD in Psychology in Dec 1985. I did an internship at Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas, Tx. and a post-doctoral fellowship at a rehabilitation center in Dallas and stayed with them for about 10 years (till 1995). Al and I divorced in 1990.

Since 1995 I have had my own business, seeing private patients, and consulting in physiological monitoring (biofeedback, neurofeedback, phototherapy, Heart Rate Variability, and Quantitative EEG). I taught biofeedback at the UNT (North Texas) psychology department from 1991 to 1998. In 1998 I moved to San Francisco, CA . During this time I also traveled back and forth to Belgium doing consulting work there. I moved back to Dallas in 2001 and have lived and worked here part-time ever since. During these years, I have had some health challenges but seem to keep on keeping on.

For those of you who knew my family, my father died in 1966 just 6 months before Paul; my sister, Lois in 1987; and my mother in 1999. My other sister, Ruth, lives near me in Arlington, Tx.

Gary Easton

After graduation from Enid High, I attended Oklahoma University then Oklahoma State University, graduating in 1962. Commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force through the ROTC program, I went directly into the Air Force at Springfield, MA. My other “sister,” Sue Holley Hagopian was living there, so it was like having “family” in MA. After three years in Massachusetts, I was offered an assignment to Wiesbaden, Germany, jumped at the opportunity and ended up spending 24 years in the Air Force, with over 10 years in the Pentagon. While in Germany, I learned to speak German, much to the great surprise, I’m sure, of my old college German professor. From 2002 to 2004 I was on a consulting job near Frankfurt, Germany and much to my surprise, I hadn’t lost my German.

After living in Washington, DC, for ten years, when it was time to retire, in 1985, I took a job as a manager with Arthur Young and Company in downtown Washington. I was in the international consulting practice providing industrial engineering management support to government agencies in the US and Europe. Arthur Young tanked for the same shady auditing practices like the other “Arthur,” Arthur Anderson, auditor for ENRON. One of my old Air Force buddies offered me a job with his consulting firm, where I spent the next 14 years providing industrial engineering consulting support in the US, Europe and the Balkans. In 2004, I took a teaching position with the Defense Acquisition University, developing and teaching government contracting courses to federal employees. I am still working there because, like Jim Faulkner, our wives would have us busy doing really “important” things, around the house! Jim and I have a contest to see who will work the longest!

I am married to Myra, whom I met, thanks to one of our 1957 classmates, Derel Schrock. Derel was a pilot for TWA in Kansas City. He was having a New Years Eve party and when I indicated that I would come, Derel said that he would introduce me to a special friend. One year later, Myra and I were married – thanks to Derel! Myra was a TWA flight attendant, so we had lots of opportunity to travel – which I am not totally enamored with, since it seems like I spend most of my life in an airliner seat anyway! Myra retired from TWA in 1992 after 24 years in the air and went back to school to obtain her second degree in interior design. After graduation from Marymount University here in Washington, DC, she started her own business as an interior designer.

My wife and I have two children: a daughter, Susan, age 40 something, married to Colonel Jim Post, 20th Fighter Wing Commander at Shaw AFB, SC. They have two children, Lauren and Nelson. Our son David, age 39, is an Accounts Manager for a food service company and lives in Austin, Texas. He is married to Kristi, a self employed medical records accounts manager, with three children, Kelsey, Jacob and Dylan.

Other Information /Comments:
–Favorite Subject in school: Sciences
–Favorite teacher: Mr. Hemphill
–Favorite song: “In the Mood” by Glenn Miller.
–Favorite eating place in 56-57: Mike’s Steakhouse, North Enid. Alleged to have been a “speakeasy” during prohibition, and still had the aura that something not quite legal going on in, since Oklahoma was still a “dry” state in 1957.
–Favorite teen age hang out: Cruising the Main Street Dairy Queen.
–Favorite past time: Hanging out with the guys and gals.
–Name of a friend with a car: My sister Jeanne. Since I was grounded so much, I had to bribe Jeanne to use the car since she was the only one with the gasoline ration!
–Favorite person you dated in school: You’ve got to be kidding! We’re having a reunion!

Gene Bodes
Carrollton Texas.

After graduating from EHS, I enlisted in the Air Force at the insistence of my mentor, Bob Hayes. We were going to see the world. Bob ended up in North Texas and I in Japan. I enrolled at Oklahoma State University in 1961 and graduated with a degree in Economics in 1965.

I married Ada L. Johnson of Kemp, Texas in 1964. We have two daughters and one grand daughter.

In 1965, I became employed by a Dallas consulting company: DeGolyer and MacNaughton. I worked for them 34 years and made business trips to a number of foreign countries. The best trip was to Australia and the worst was to Nigeria.

I was a member of Carrollton Parks Board and a manager of a girl’s softball team for eight years. I also was a member of Safari International. My current occupation is managing my IRA. My favorite hobby is playing the ponies.