The East High Class of 1954 East High School, Memphis, Tennessee

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Rose Marie Barrasso - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Barrie Bright ("Red") - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Chuck Blake - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Charles ("Doc") Bland - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Barbara Brown ("Babs") - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Kay Butler [posted December 28, 2017] Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Bill Carden [last updated November, 2015] I received my BS degree and MS degree in Engineering from the University of Tennessee. I completed all requirements for the PhD degree except for the dissertation requirement. I am a retired aerospace engineer who worked to make the rocket engines on the Atlas ICBM dependable enough to carry humans into space. I conducted testing on reentry models using hypervelocity wind tunnels and free-flight ballistic ranges. I worked on protecting manned space capsules from meteroid impact. I was involved in testing the first Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite in a solar thermal vacuum chamber before any of them were ever launched. During the Cold War, I became an expert in the production of explosives and solid propellants, and used that expertise to help our intelligence community understand the capabilities of foreign nations in that arena. I became an expert in the production and weaponization of chemical warfare agents, and used that expertise to discover what foreign nations were capable of doing in that arena. I performed analyses of foreign missile systems and the ways to defend against the developing ballistic missile threat from rogue nations. The last job for which I received payment after my retirement was giving an all-day briefing to a roomful of intelligence experts in Washington, DC. Mike Cody - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Freddie Dauser - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Phoebe Dent [last updated February, 2004] Greetings to all class-mates and wonderful to be back in touch after close to 50 years ! After graduating from Wellesley College in 1958 I did graduate work in Art Conservation at New York University, had a Fulbright Fellowship to Brussels and was married to Mark Weil in 1963. We spent two years in Rome where he wrote his doctoral dissertation in Art History for Columbia and I worked at the Restoration Institute (Istituto Centrale del Restauro). We settled in his hometown, St. Louis, where he has taught in the Art History Department of Washington University ever since. I established the first conservation laboratory in the United States dedicated to the treatment of sculpture. The lab treated many important large-scale outdoor sculptures in major cities and also in museums throughout the US. I retired from conservation work in 1991 and spent three years studying theology at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA. Since 1999 I have been working in the area of historic painting techniques and run a studio devoted to research, practice and teaching. I have conducted workshops at the St. Louis Art Museum, and local colleges, and in the Fall of '03 I taught a semester course on historic painting practice at Washington University. In connection with the recent exhibition on the painter, Rembrandt van Rijn, I taught three workshops at the Museum of Fine Arts-Boston and will present a lecture on the same topic at the Chicago Art Institute on March 9. Mark and I still live in St. Louis. We have two grown sons and one grandson, age 5. Mary Glass - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. John Hembree - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Jimmy Don Hester - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Mary Owens Holmes [last updated June, 1998] Mary Owens "Mayo" Holmes. The first day that East High opened I was there in the 7th grade! Inez Rosamund was my homeroom teacher. I graduated from East in the class of 1954 after six terrific years. I first went to Hollins college in Roanoke, VA and then transferred to Vanderbilt where I met my husband, Ed Voss. We have lived in Nashville, Memphis, Tucson & Scottsdale,AZ and now we are in Franklin, TN. We have four sons: Ed,jr. is a lawyer in Dallas, married with three children; Andy designs computerized emmisions control engines for GM and resides in Tokyo with his wife and daughter; Jody is a CPA with Dell Computers and he and his wife and twin sons live in Austin,TX; and Mark, who is unmarried, has a Maters in history and works in Manhattan, New York City. Ed is retired after 35 years in trust banking and we are having a ball with our horses and boat and travelling. I will try to "spread the word" about the East High website! Eddie Horton - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Jim House - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Sigmund Hudson [last updated February, 2011] [E-mail address updated July, 2022] Carol Jackson Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. David Voss Johnson, Jr. - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Trish Johnston - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Don Joel Leachman - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Kittie Leming - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Barbara Matheson [last updated May, 2008] I have lived in the Columbia, MD area since 1964. I'm divorced and have two children. Two years ago I retired from GEICO and am loving retirement. I often think of our days at East High and am saddened when I log onto the Obituary site and find so many old friends who are no longer with us. Are we planning a 2009 reunion? Marilyn Means - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. George Morris [last updated November, 2003] After graduating from East High, I had dreams of traveling the world, then furthering my education, starting a great career and finally getting married. That was exactly the way it all turned out. After spending 4 years in the Navy, I came back to Memphis and attended Memphis State. I then entered into a retail management career of 34 years with the national companies of Woolworth, Montgomery Ward and finally with Wal-Mart. Relocations included the states of Tenn, Missouri, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida where I retired in 1996. I was married for 20 yrs and have 3 sons who live in Florida. I have been very blessed and have 4 beautiful grandchildren. Just this year another tremendous event happened when I won the Florida Lottery. My motto in the 1954 yearbook was "To be a great Christian". I don't know just how great I've been, but I have the joys of a Christian life and love every minute of it. Gordon Orr Deceased. Click here to read the obituary. Prior to his death, Gordon Orr was a participant with our alumni page. The following is his last posting with us. [posted August, 2013] Gordon Neil Orr Gretchen (Gay) Schlueter     (Igloo) Band 1, 2, 3; Captain 2; Vice President 2; Reporter 1, 2; Drum Major 2; All State Band Member 2; Hi-Y 1, 2, 3; Red Cross Representative 1; Chess Club 2,3; President 2; Vice President 3; Senior Class Historian 3 Thespian Club 3; E Club 3; Student Council Monitor Gretchen (Gay) Schlueter is my wife of 49 yrs and our anniversary is 11/14/1964. Gay had COPD (all you smokers STOP) and 2/11/2009 she received a new lung via transplantation at UAB in BHM, AL. The young donor was an 18 year old swimmer from Texas. By coincidence in 1988 our son Jeff was killed in an auto accident and we donated his heart and other organs. An attorney near Jackson, MS was on the "heart list" and he got Jeff's heart. The attorney lived 18 years after the heart transplantation and Jeff's friends would go visit him in Jackson. We do recommend everyone consider organ donations should there need arise. We have two sons now David Michael (46) wife Laura Ann - daughter Emma Reed (13); and Andrew Charles (after famous EHS quarterback) (42)-wife Angela Carter-son Andrew Charles Orr, Jr (1). Emma and Andrew Jr are wonderful as all our EHS Grands. Yes, I retired Jan. 1, 2011 after 44 yrs of “pure mayhem”. Expertise: "Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I jus sits"...... Darla Ozment - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Herb Porter - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Kenny Reasor - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. John "Muff" Ruffin - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Walter Scott ("Scotty") [last updated April, 2008] Two weeks after graduating from East Hi, I entered college at New Mexico State University as a Co-op student in science and engineering. I completed my degree in Math, and worked at Hollowman AFB, NM, until I entered the US Army (2nd Lt) for two years. After completing my tour of duty, I returned to work at White Sands Missile Range, NM. Eighteen months later, I transfered to NASA, Johnson Space Center, in Houston. I remained there, working as a subsystem manager, until my retirement in 1991. Following that, I worked for Boeing Aerospace until I retired again in 1998. Boeing recalled me back to work 6 months after I retired. I have 3 children and 9 grandchildren. My wife of 45 years died of cancer in 2005; I remarried in 2006 and still continue to support the Space Shuttle program on a part time basis. I supported the Apollo 13 mission and was on console for both the Challenger and Columbia losses. I also still do public speaking on the space program. My wife and I travel quite a bit, especially on cruise lines. I would like to hear from other class of '54 members and if another reunion is being planned. I'll answer all emails. Sue Scull [updated May 21, 2014] Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Prior to her death, Sue Scull was a participant with our alumni page. The following are her last two posting with us. [posted May, 1999] After I graduated from EHS, I attended the University of Oklahoma where I met & married my husband, Milton (Sonny) McDermott. After his graduation, we lived in Port Arthur, TX, Shreveport, LA, New Orleans, LA; Mobile, AL; Alexandria, LA; Nashville, TN; & finally back to Memphis. We have been in Germantown for 23 years & I have attended every reunion our class has held since then. After many college changes due to our frequent moves, I finally graduated from Peabody/Vanderbilt & earned my MA at the University where I taught English. I also taught at CBU. We have 4 children & 10 grandchildren; all of whom live in the Germantown area. I have kept in touch with many of my classmates & cherish the memories of those years at East High. Evelyn Shepherd [last updated, July, 2001] After graduating from East in 1954, I went to Vanderbilt and graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. I married Dr. Charles R. Pruden, Jr. in 1959 and we moved to Wilson where he is in practice. We have three children, Charles (Chuck)III, owner of a commercial/residential irrigation business, Anne Graham Brunner, a homemaker, and Elizabeth Pet(Libby)George, a CPA with North Carolina State University. We have 6 grandchildren, 3 boys and 3 girls, ages 4-15. I graduated in 1975 from NCSU with a MEd in Adult Education, in 1979 from East Carolina University with a Master of Science in Nursing, and in 1991 from The University of South Carolina with a PhD in Nursing Science. I am currently the Dean of the Barton College School of Nursing in Wilson. I have taught nursing for over 30 years. I have not been able to come to any reunions due to family and work responsibilities but look forward to the 50th in 2004. Norris Taylor - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Ginger Trenor [last updated November, 2003] [E-mail address updated May, 2013] Ginger Trenor Byrne Hawkins - grad class of 1954. My first day at East was the day it opened and I was in the 7th grade. I recall voting on the school colors, the mascot name, and the start of a large and beautiful school located in the Eastern most part of the city in 1948. After graduating I attended Stephens College and graduated from Vanderbilt. I taught school at White Station along with helping the Trenor's Day Schools. Then I made a wonderful career change to work for Delta Air Lines as Training Supvr for the Reservations Sales Dept.I was there when Jets and Computers made their entry! I was married to John Byrne until he passed away in 1994. After 30 years with Delta I retired and continue to enjoy traveling with my wonderful husband Campbell Hawkins. Between us we have 6 married children and 10 grandchildren. ******We are presently working on our 50 the reunion and hope to have all participate!!**** Walker Welford - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. Virgil Whipple - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. OTHERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CLASS OF 1954 People who attended East with the class of 1954 but were not graduated with it. Lamar Fike - Deceased. An obituary is available. Click here to read the obituary. R L Hunt [last updated November, 2005] I was an 8th grader during East High's first year. I remember Coach Welch, Mr Snyder and Mrs Volmer from the faculty. Coach Welch called me Lombard in Science class after he asked me what R L stood for. Cody and I played high school football as 8th graders because we didn't have a senior class. Memphis has fond memories for me. I managed pension money for The City of Memphis, Memphis Light Power and Water, and Equifax. I managed mutual funds and pension funds all over the world including Tokyo and Singaspore. Hi to my 8th grade friends, R L

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