Class of 1941 -------------
Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941, provided access to the annual.
Material provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941.
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Material provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941.
Thirteen years of growth and study usually resulted in the awarding of a diploma like the one shown above. Essentially every class from 1927 through 1947, when Frank Rackett retired from the board, had the same set of signatures on their diploma. There was no turnover in the school board, and Charles and Gladys Saur were at Godwin from 1924 to 1950.
Below, the class of 1941 as 7th graders, in 1935.
Material provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941.
Below, part of the class of 1941, perhaps as 5th graders, which would make it 1933. Does anyone know for sure when the photograph was taken?
Material provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941.
Material provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941.
Above, the Godwin marching band in 1941. Lee (Tanner) Collins is the second majorette from the left. It's notworthy that people are allowed to walk on the gym floor while wearing street shoes. The gym is about 12 years old in this photograph, and, based on the paint markings, appears to be substantially worn already. Perhaps the attitude about gym floors was different than it would be in later years when wearing street shoes on them would be cause for a major fit from someone. In the 1950s already, even pickup basketball games meant either wearing your tennis shoes or just using your stockings. Then there were the sock hops of the 1950s.
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Material provided by Mildred Annis, class of 1940.
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Material provided by Mildred Annis, class of 1940.
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Material provided by Mildred Annis, class of 1940.
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Material provided by Mildred Annis, class of 1940.
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Material provided by Mildred Annis, class of 1940.
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Material provided by Mildred Annis, class of 1940.
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Material provided by Mildred Annis, class of 1940.
As would so often be the case well into the 1950s, the women were the academic stars each class year. Ruth Becker set a record that can't be beaten - a perfect score of all A's. Can't be beaten under the same rules anyway. Honest grades, rather than feel good grades, probably gave students a feeling of pride that can only come from honest achievement.
In the salutatorian piece, once can see that one had to go to number four before a male showed up in the grade standings. For reasons not altogether clear, this situation changed some starting in the 1960s, and ambitious males often did take top honors. Perhaps life goals changed some. Or perhaps males getting good grades were no longer ostracized in some manner. It's also possible that in a post Sputnik ( October 4, 1957 ) world the notion of going to college loomed larger in many student's minds. It was a time of rising prosperity, and it would become more commonplace for students at Godiwn to go on to college after graduation.
Of course the opportunities for women to make use of their superior academic performance was more limited in the 1940s, so in a real way one's fate was more determined by the social norms of the time than by one's academic performance. Women could become teachers, but this was often merely a holding pattern until they got married and did the things expected of them at the time.
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Material provided by Mildred Annis, class of 1940.
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Material provided by Mildred Annis, class of 1940.
The June 5, 1941, issue of Godwin News is devoted to the graduating class. Small insights into what each student thought was their most significant characteristic can be seen in the "class will." Anthony Mihaik, twin of Ethel,notes that class of 1942 member George Watson peddled a bike from Burton Heights to Godwin each day. Apparently Godwin did serve the Burton heights area into the 1940s yet. While George Watson rode a bike, it's like that many walked. Other students walked south to at least 52 Street, and others to the Clyde Park and 32nd or 36th area. The world was safer back then, most students walked a lot, and none were obese.
While the US was coming out of the Great Depression, it was largely because of defense jobs. It's likely that most students gave little thought to events in Europe in 1941, and no one could know what December 7, 1941, would bring, but most of the students in the class of 1941 would become deeply involved, like it or not. Most did their duty.
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Material provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941
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Material provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941
Cleanup day, 1941, in anticipation of open house for parents. Things that could be done in 1941 that would be essentially impossible in year 2008.
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1941 class officers Al Wiersma, Beth Westgate, Carolyn Jazwinski, Dick Fox, in front of library.
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Material provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941
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Material supplied by Lillian Annis, class of 1941
John Schooley, class of 1941 - left click for a larger version.
Photograph provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941.
Roswel Leatherman, class of 1941 - left click for a larger version.
Photograph provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941.
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Material provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941
Lillian Annis and Lee (Tanner) Collins, in June, 2005. At the home of Lillian, in Traverse Bay, MI.
Material provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941
Material provided by Lee (Tanner) Collins, class of 1941
The canaries were owned by Lillian Annis as a child. When they died, Lillian and her mother, living just two doors north of Godwin, on Division Avenue, took the birds over to Frank Rackett's house, on the northwest corner of 36th and Division Avenue, to see what could be done with the birds. The result is shown above.
After perhaps 70 years, the birds are still in excellent condition, and show what the entire flora and fauna collection Frank Rackett donated to Godwin about the same time might still look like had it been properly taken care of.
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The material above is from the December, 2007, issue of the "Godwin Newletter," produced by Godwin Heights Highschool. Dorothy Nelson graduated from Godwin as Dorothy Bignall, in 1941.
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Taken during the 2008 Golden G Luncheon, the person on the right is Lee (Tanner)
collins, class of 1941. The one on the left is Evelyn (Hills) Hillard. In the
center is Joel Wyn.
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Godwin Graduating Class of 1941 Deceased - Up-dated May 2009 1. Anthony Mihalik Deceased ~ June 3, 1974 2. Ray Moore Deceased ~ October 2, 1961 3. Al Clark Deceased ~ Date Unknown 4. Marian Ryno Deceased ~ Date Unknown 5. Helen Kranenberg Deceased ~ Date Unknown 6. Fred Baker Deceased ~ October 19, 1944 7. Virginia Wanrooy Deceased ~ Date Unknown 8. John Schooley Deceased ~ February 12, 1945 9. Beth Westgate Deceased ~ August 19, 1978 10. Julia Dulyea Deceased ~ February 12, 1944 11. Laura Tanner Deceased ~ April 6, 1945 12. Rolland Cooley Deceased ~ Month & day unkn. 1991 13. Madelyn Drowne /Roberts Deceased ~ January 30, 1992 14. Margaret Mieras Deceased ~ Date unknown 15. Arleen Geelhoed Deceased ~ March 7, 1997 16. William (Bill) Lackey Deceased ~ November 19, 1993 17. Maggie Van Overon/Bagdon Deceased ~ August 27, 1995 18. Roswell "Stuby" Leatherman Deceased ~ March 10, 1995 19. Kay Hager/Tiemersma Deceased ~ February 9, 1996 20. Carolyn Jane Jazwinski/Bush Deceased ~ May 7, 1998 21. Verne Eadie Deceased ~ April 11, 1998 22. Wayne Redner Deceased ~ July 10, 1998 23. Dorothy Scharphorn/Eikoff Deceased ~ January 21, 1998 24. Tom Palmer Deceased ~ August 29, 1999 25. Ethel Mahalik Deceased ~ October 15, 1999 26. Elmer Brown Deceased ~ January 18, 2001 27. Larry Van Allsburg Deceased ~ January 26, 2001 28. Merton Zomer Deceased ~ July 11, 2001 29. Orville Whip Deceased ~ December 20, 2001 30. Donald Miller Deceased ~ August 19, 2001 31. Ben Stevens Deceased ~ December 12, 2001 32. Fred Nielsen Deceased ~ December 27, 2002. 33. Betty Lull/LaCouver Deceased ~ April 24, 2004 34. Richard (Jim) Fox Deceased ~ April 30, 2004 35. Al Wiersma Deceased ~ January 6, 2006 36. Ruth Becker Deceased ~ Date Unknown 37. Robert Zoerman Deceased ~ December 3, 2008 38. Phyllis Breen/Wyn Deceased ~ June 19, 2009 39. Dorothy Soepboer/Molt Deceased ~ July 24, 2009 Those never located, presumed deceased, unless notified otherwise. 40. Ruth Moorse Deceased date unknown 41. Evelyn Warren Deceased date unknown 42. Marvin Warren Deceased date unknown 43. Dora Randall Deceased date unknown If anyone has corrections or other confirmed information, please contact me, Lee Collins @ 616-534-4424 Thank You.
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