*1926-2026*
100 Years of South: Alumni Reflections
As we prepare to celebrate South High School’s 100th Anniversary on April 11th, we are reminded that a school is more than a building. It is a collection of moments — teachers who changed our lives, friendships that lasted decades, games that brought us together, performances that made us proud, and lessons that shaped who we became.
To honor this remarkable milestone, SHAFI is inviting alumni to share their favorite South memories. These reflections will be featured here on our website throughout the Centennial year.
Each story is a thread in the fabric of South’s history. Together, they tell the story of a community that has endured, evolved, and remained deeply connected for 100 years.
We look forward to sharing these voices — past and present — as we celebrate a century of South.
SEND ME YOUR MEMORIES… Pam at walterssk8@gmail.com
The event schedule on posted on our home page.
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Jen Frenkel–Giving Grocery
My favorite memory from South is every graduation I’ve ever attended. It is wonderful seeing the students I’ve known for years through the Giving Grocery receive their diplomas, and the “I am Denver South” speeches at the end give me the chills every time!
Jen
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Robert Brockish–Class of 1949
This is my football story.
In the fall of 1948-49 I made the starting varsity lineup for
South High Football Team. During my Sophomore and Junior years
I tried out for football but didn’t do it well. Now in my
senior year I made the starting team. Our first game was
preseason against Colorado Springs. The team traveled to
Colorado Springs in a school bus and was treated to dinner at
a nice restaurant before going to the stadium to prepare for
the game. I played left and on both offense and defense.
At the appointed time we entered the stadium and proceeded to
play the first half of the game. All went well during the
first half and then on the kickoff of the second half I ran
downfield to turn in the receiver. When I was about to cancel
the receiver, our right guard who was the only player on the
field wearing a face guard came in from the other side.. We
both tackled the receiver, one from each side and his face
guard slammed into my face and knocked me out temporarily. I
was removed from the game and sat on the bench waiting to go
home.
We rode home on the school bus and I was in agony just
wishing to get home.
One of the coaches gave me a ride home from school to my front
door. When I entered my mother met me and asked if I was all
right. I asked why did ask that. She said a friend in Colorado
Springs had been listening to the ball game on the radio and
heard my name. Her friend then called my mother and told me
what she had heard on the radio. So when I got home my mother
was of course concerned about how I was.
It seemed that my mother always knew more about what was going
on than I ever suspected. So this is my football story and I’m
sticking to it.
Bob-’49
VP of the South High School 1949 Student Body
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Judy Pottle — Class of ’74
As a preschool teacher, I learned that what really matters to parents is whether their child will make friends -and the same is true for students entering high school.
Although I came to South with friendships from St. Vincent’s and Merrill, one of my clearest memories is meeting an outgoing group of girls from Rishel Jr. High at Sophomore Orientation. We quickly became friends especially Cathy Archuleta and I. Our PE teacher had us throw a ball to someone while saying their name—a simple exercise designed to help us make friends the first week of school.
These girls became not only close friends, but lifelong companions. I also formed lasting relationships while serving on Social Board and as Yearbook Editor, where we spent many late nights working together to meet deadlines—long before technology made things easier.
Over the years, we’ve shared weddings, traveled to exotic places, and even celebrated the birth of our son, who was delivered by my classmate, Dianne Stone.
Speaking of travel, Dr. Ton inspired in me a desire to visit Egypt through his enthusiastic teaching of Ancient History. Somehow, that girl sitting in class—27 years earlier—with her mind on friends and one particular boy during their lunch hour, was still absorbing knowledge that would later enrich my travels. I was sure to send him a sincere thank you note along with other notes of gratitude for coming to our reunions to present his famous student slide show.
I still get warm feelings every time I pass by South. I truly embraced my academics and years of non-stop activities, developing leadership skills that helped shape who I was becoming—and who I am today.
South has also been a meaningful part of my family’s story. My mother, Maurine Brockish Mulqueen, graduated in 1952. Her six children attended South in the 1970s and 1980s, followed by her granddaughter and her great-grandson. It’s a legacy that spans generations, and one that has meant a great deal to our family. We are honored to be part of the 100 year history!
Judy ’74
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Steve Hall–Class of ‘74
My favorite memory of South High School was being part of the 1973 championship football team. Going into the last week of the regular season we were undefeated and playing Kennedy in our final game. Kennedy was also undefeated. The anticipation for this game had been building all season. The winner would be the city champion. The last championship that South had won was in the 50’s.
On game day, as we walked out of the South locker room and down to the field, you could feel the excitement. The stands in the DPS Stadium were completely full. They had put up temporary seating to handle the overflow.
From the opening play we dominated the first half. Our offense scored twice and our defense limited Kennedy to one first down. We took a 14-0 lead into halftime. The second half was a battle with Kennedy scoring in the fourth quarter to make it 14-7. Kennedy was driving for the tying touchdown when we forced a turnover. We followed that with another touchdown to increase our lead to 21-7. Our defense stiffened and shut down Kennedy for the rest of the game. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, I remember being in the huddle and starting to jump up and down with my teammates. I had been playing football with some of the guys since I was seven years old and we were about to win the biggest game of our lives.
After the game many of our loyal fans came onto the field to celebrate with us. I remember hugging classmates that I had been friends with for years and some that I had never met. It was pure joy for everyone. We were city champions!
Steve ’74
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Roann Riedel — Class of ’74
When thinking of a favorite memory of my time at South High, I have a hard time choosing just one. There are so many that make me smile and warm my soul.
But my best memory occurred before I was even a student.
My big brothers were on the football team, 74’ and 75’ classes.
We went to all of the games as a family and cheered them on to a state victory. How proud I felt watching them and how proud my parents were. A time of closeness and support that shapes our lives.
The community I felt as a girl, followed me into my experience as a student.
I have warm memories of the people in school that I was able to grow and share time with.
Go Rebels Class of 78’
Roann
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Bill Conklin–Class of ’63
My Spanish teacher was Miss Evans, and she was excellent. I loved Spanish so much that I majored in it in college, attended the University of Mexico in Mexico City, and became completely bilingual. Learning Spanish was probably one of the most important things I have ever done in my life. It has opened doors for me constantly.
My suggestion is that all high school students begin Spanish and continue it through college. Being bilingual greatly increases your chances of getting a job — the bilingual applicant is often first in line. I believe Spanish should be the first foreign language taught. If a student wants to pursue a second language, I would recommend Portuguese, Arabic, or Chinese — languages that will help prepare young people for the future. Other languages certainly have cultural value, but from a global and practical perspective, Spanish provides unparalleled opportunity.
Ironically, before coming to South, I wanted to take Latin in ninth grade at Merrill Middle School, but I was told I wasn’t “smart enough” and was placed in Spanish instead. They gave the right advice for the wrong reason — and it changed my life.
I have traveled to over 100 countries, 23 of which list Spanish as their primary language. There is only one Spanish-speaking country I haven’t visited — a small nation on the west coast of Africa.
I traveled extensively during the wars in South America and even narrowly escaped being killed by a Contra rocket in Nicaragua. I’ve explored every country in South America and traveled throughout Spain. Today, Spanish is one of the most important languages in the world and the second most studied foreign language in Europe. In my opinion, Spanish should be required for all students in the Denver Public Schools system.
Bill ’63
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Illène Pevec (Suzy Lawyer) –Class of ’66
I was so happy to get to South and enroll in drama and the drama club every year. The most fun was senior year, doing Comedy of Errors. Mrs. Nordstrom was thrilled to have identical twins, Barry and Tuggie (now Tug), to play the twins separated at birth. I was the courtesan. I was teased a lot in Senior Hall by the boys.
Barry and Tug went on to professional careers in theater and TV. I did some fun playwriting and directing with kids and developed theater workshops with a cross-cultural focus that went to the schools in Vancouver, BC, through Arts Umbrella.
I was sooo lucky to have Mr. Keables sophomore year for Creative Writing. Life Magazine named him Teacher of the Year in 1960. He went to Iolani School in Hawaii, and he taught till 1980. He must have been 80 then.
I had Miss Evans for Spanish every year, and I have used Spanish pretty much constantly in my work professionally and as a volunteer for many decades. I wish every child in Colorado was learning both Spanish and English.
Illène Pevec, PhD- ’66
Growing a Life: Teen Gardeners Harvest Food, Health and Joy, published by New Village Press, 2016
“Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it. Begin it now! ”
Goethe
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Susan Musgrove– Class of ’65
It’s hard to think of my time at South for very long without memories of creative writing teacher Harold Keables. A slight man with thinning hair, he wore high-top shoes and ruled his class with a fierceness born of his love of the (correctly) written word.
Strolling through the classroom as he lectured composition, he carried a 12” ruler that he whacked on the desk of any student who wasn’t paying attention. Seeing those rather scruffy leather high-tops nearing was always a signal to sit up straighter. “There isn’t anything that you might want to say,” he admonished, “that isn’t better said with correct grammar.
The Macmillan Handbook of English was his bible and every mistake in our submissions was noted with the correct rule number — I’m sure he had every single one memorized — and we were each required to write out the rule for every mistake and then rewrite the sentence correctly. It was a time-consuming process, so it didn’t take long to learn the rules. Sure enough, using proper grammar and sentence structure improved even the most supposedly avant-garde writing.
I can’t help but wonder how Mr. Keables would feel about AI.
Susan – ’65
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Pamela Goodman– Class of ’67
One of my favorite memories from South High School occurred in 1966. It was the very first musical produced at South, and I was a Junior, new to the school. I auditioned for “Bye Bye Birdie” and was assigned to the chorus as one of the teenagers. Joyce Nordstrom, from the Drama/English department, Dr. Dana Wells from Vocal Music, and Edward Lenicheck from Orchestra/Band served as producers and directors for the production, while the sets were built by students from the Art Classes and Shop program.
All was going well until the third night of the performance when Marna Malag (Kim McAfee) came down with strep. Throughout the three performances, I was assigned her solo parts to perform. Mrs. Nordstrom felt that I was the logical person to replace Marna.
Joyce and Bayard Dubois (Hugo Peabody) rushed to my home to break the news that I would be replacing Marna for the last show that night. I had under four hours to learn lines and blocking, just an hour after getting my wisdom teeth removed. Though I was anxious at first, Joyce and Baird guided and supported me throughout. Prior to the performance, Joyce announced that Marna was unwell, and I would be assuming the role of Kim McAfee. All cast and crew members received notice of this meaningful change and were strongly supportive. When the night finally arrived, Joyce Nordstrom waited in the wings, backstage. Throughout the show she fed my lines scene by scene. Bayard was a pro as were the other major cast members.
We performed in front of a packed auditorium and the applause we received made all the nerves and hard work worthwhile. That moment of shared excitement and accomplishment is something I’ll never forget.
Mrs. Nordstrom, Dr. Wells, Mr. Lenicheck, the cast, band members, and crew were all professional and supportive. This was a tribute to the excellence of the South High School staff.
My parents, George and Betty Lou graduated in ’41 and ’43, aunts and uncles and siblings (Janet, ’69, Patrick ’72) all graduated from South High School, and I am proud to have been a student as well.
Pam- ’67
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Lonnie Parker– Class of ’65
It was November 22, 1963. I was walking down the main hallway. There were several girls around a table in the hallway. I can’t remember what the table was for. They were all crying terribly. I stopped to ask what was wrong. They told me John F. Kennedy was shot. We would later find out that he had died. Kennedy was the youngest President ever elected, and our generation related to him and his youthful personality. Later, people would say that everyone remembers where they were when they found out that Kennedy had been shot. I certainly do.
Lonnie -’65
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Yolanda DeMots–Class of ’68
I remember some classes that I liked such as Concert Choir. Gymnastics for PE was fun. It was something new for girls, as girls did not have many sport options back then. (My grandkids do that now) I liked Ancient History class, and that was probably why I made trips to Greece and Egypt. Geometry was a good class and the teacher, Miss Troute. was a great teacher and I did well in her class and I enjoyed being her assistant. All in all I liked my years at South. Yeah, Rebels! (Not any more)
Yolanda-’68
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Margaret Myers– Class of ’68
The teacher who inspired me most was Dr. Carl Johnston, who taught journalism and sponsored the South High newspaper. The writing skills I learned from him are life skills that I still use in my job today. He taught us teamwork, to have pride in our work, and the importance of meeting deadlines as we sought to publish the best newspaper possible. We paid him back by winning journalism awards that put South High on the map nationally. He is the only teacher with whom I maintained contact after graduation until his death a few years ago.
Margaret ’68
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Jessie Brooks–Class of ’68
On the first day of Physics class, Mr. _____ (male, if I heard it again, I would remember it) wrote on the board, “F=MA, and don’t you EVER forget it!” I never have (force equals mass times acceleration).
Jessie-’68
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Sara Hoagland– Class of ‘74
I was new to Denver Public Schools—South– and only knew my neighbors, Steve and Amy Carder. They were wonderful and introduced me to their friends. It was homecoming 1971 and what I loved was the students took charge. It was not the faculty. It was not our parents or the PTA—but us. We decided to make a float for the parade. We took a giant snowman prop from one of my ice skating shows and turned it into an enormous Lightbulb with the slogan—“Sophomores for a Brighter Idea”. I still remember this quite vividly. As I raised my kids, I lamented the reality that parents took over a thousand things the kids could have done themselves and learned from the experience.
Cheers, Suki ’74
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Will Meiklejohn– Class of ’62
I have many, many great memories of the time at South. Concert Choir, many outstanding teachers, challenging classes, super friends. However, one special memory that came to mind follows.
Each spring, all school elections were held to determine student officers for the coming year. Each class received points for Color Day and participation in the voting was one of the criteria. The class with the most points got to ‘win’ Color Day and crown their class queen as the Color Day Queen.
There were a couple of proposals on the ballot in addition to student officers so that seniors might be able to vote. In the spring of 1962, one of the proposals caught the eyes of a small group of senior ‘Rebels’ who felt it should not be approved. This cadre of seniors, filled with springtime joys, began politicking anyone they could corner, urging a ‘NO’ vote on that proposal. After the election, the results were announced by the school administration, and all proposals had passed! The ‘Sons of Liberty’ felt something wasn’t above board and began circulating petitions for a recount. After two or three days had passed, there was an announcement that there would be a ‘special assembly’ that morning. The student body all went to the auditorium, waiting with bated breath for this ‘important’ gathering. The designated staff spokesman went to the podium and said, “After further review, that proposal did not pass!” Many of the ‘Sons of Liberty’ were in the 3rd-floor balcony and loudly cheered as they left the auditorium. The slogan, “Once a Rebel, always a Rebel,” carries on to this day.
Thanks again as we celebrate a century of our great school,
Wil – ’62
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William Davis– Class of ’67
Most of my memories of South High are about the athletic teams I was a member of and the team mates I was friends with. I was on the varsity cross-country team, varsity basketball team, and varsity track team. My best memory regarding sports was my 1966 cross country team that was Colorado State Champion that year. My most satisfying memory relative to sports is basketball team victories over Manual and East High Schools. Academically, I was preparing at South to enable me to enter the engineering college at C.U. While I studied a lot of math and science at South and throughout my engineering curricula, it was surprisingly one class at South that set me apart from other students in my CU engineering classes, and was very beneficial to me in the professional working place. That class was a college composition class at South that emphasized concise and technically sound writing techniques that really helped me as an engineer in writing detailed specifications and technical reports. The lesson: communications is the key!
Bill – ’67
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Jere Friedman-Class of ’55
Whoever was lucky enough to have Mr. Keebles for any class, considered themselves to be happy and better informed than those who missed out on some excellent teaching power. He was the best of the best ! A class above.
Jere ’55
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Irma Roth Vanderpol– Class of ’55
One of my favorite memories is singing with the Acapella Choir under Dr. Eichenberg. Meeting friends under the clock and of course Senior Hall.
Irma-’55
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William Wiederspan–Class of ’68
Not being an athlete, nor wanting to participate in drama, music, or student government. I merely wanted to get through the process of getting an education so I could move on to being an adult.
I do however have one great memory branded into my failing brain. It is something that no other South student in the past fifty years has experienced and it can’t be taken away, ever. This would be the aroma of bread baking in the school cafeteria on a cold winter morning.
Bill– Class of ’68
Please see Bill’s entire Letter on our HOME PAGE.
****************************************Beth Adrian New– Class of ‘72
My years at South were wonderful and I have many fond memories of moments, fellow students and teachers. As I think about particularly special memories, one that quickly comes to mind is my time in band and orchestra. The reason this is such a special memory is because of Mr. Ed Lenicheck, the music director. He was very kind, encouraging and inspiring. I played the flute in the Marching Band and in the Concert Band and Orchestra. Mr Lenicheck genuinely cared about each one of us and always had a smile on his face. He made it fun and challenged me to be the best musician I could be. I will always remember Mr Lenicheck as a very special person: he was a wonderful part of my South High experience.
Beth ’72
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Christel Hamburg Scanlan–Class of ’75
Some of my best memories of high school were from my time spent on the Johnny Reb yearbook staff under editor Nancy Seccombe. As layout editor, my job entailed designing each page. At the time, it was a slow, manual process to write the stories, captions, and headlines and to select associated photos. The next step was to determine where the copy and each photograph would be placed on each page.
We had a hard working, cohesive team that pulled together to meet each deadline after some very long days and nights.
Our finished product, the 1975 Johnny Reb yearbook, was a source of great pride and achievement when distributed prior to commencement in the spring of 1975. How fun it was to see classmates reconnecting and reminiscing over the yearbook at our 50th reunion last year.
Christel ’75
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Camille Smith Cave – Class of ’68
Over the years since graduating in 1968, there have been many opportunities to visit and tour SHS. A highlight of each visit is the climb up the stairs from the lunchroom to the band room. Memories of making music with others who have remained friends to this day come rushing back. While concert band was mind expanding, my favorite times were playing at football games and pep rallies. The camaraderie and team spirit was real, and we were (and are still) all proud to be South High Rebels.
Camille ’68
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Barbara TerHar Haifley–Class of ’55
There are so many memories it’s hard to pick one.
The best part of going to South is that I met so many wonderful people and am still friends with them today. We meet once a month for happy hour.
One of the dances we had was a Pep Club dance and I was in charge of decorations. We made a huge football and hung it from the ceiling.
Barb-’55
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William White–Class of ’53
A wonderful memory submitted by Lynn, Bill’s daughter.
“Jim Lundstrom, Dale Walkup, and I were hitchhiking home from school. The police pulled up and asked us our names. I said, my name is William Alden White but my friends call me Willie”. He has been teased about that to this day.
I’ll just say, dad cherished his friends from high school. He has outlived them all and it’s been heart breaking to watch him lose his friends. He was still friends with Thayer Aldrich until he died ( in his 80s), and they went to Kindergarten together.
I’ve never seen such bonded friends for life. He still gets together once a month with his high school friends but it’s just the wives who are left. All of his good friends from his class are gone, however, a few still here from other classes. He also still talks to his friend Jerry Diffee. He was a childhood friend, they went to different middle schools and then sort of ran in different circles in high school, but they both were Marines.
My dad lost his dad when he was a senior at South. He was on the basketball team who won state that year and he had to back out of basketball to get a job and take care of his mother.
These people from the classes in the fifties will always be the South High Rebels. 🙂
Willy — ’53
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Lisa Lombardi Reynolds–Class of ’83
I have so many great memories of my 4 years at South (Class of 1983 was the last class that spent 4 years in High School).
Painting the pump house was always a very fun time of pride and socializing with classmates. As was the competition between classes, each class trying to “outpaint” the other classes and be the current class displayed on the pump house.
Sporting events, especially football games, were always great fun. We used to have a Homecoming parade, and folks would decorate our cars and make floats. One year, we made a float of a large plaster of Paris Rebel Head, and (now famous artist) Quang Ho painted the face. We drove it in the bed of our 1947 Chevy truck. (There is a photo in the yearbook).
We used to have 24 hour ‘Dance-a-Thon’s” at an old Barn in Glendale, off of Cherry Creek Drive that were a blast.
We used to have car wash fundraisers that involved all the clubs… raised money and had a GREAT time.
Lisa ’83
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Katherine Rowley-Class of ‘65
I don’t have any long stories, but actually my very favorite memory of South high is when the concert choir came out of the auditorium singing “Let us break bread together”. I always regretted that I couldn’t read music and was afraid to try out for the choir. At this stage of my life, I would definitely try out!
Kit-’65
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Ken Wright–Class of ’64
My best memories of South mostly revolve around the music program. I was a member of the choir all three years, the first two in Bach Choir, which was kind of the junior varsity choir, and then Concert Choir as a senior. The classroom periods were intense rehearsals on the risers in the third-floor room, among talented and dedicated kids. We had “sectionals” one evening a week, where the sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses would meet at someone’s house to practice their parts. There were plenty of talented parents to play piano for us and help with the music. The feeling of belonging and the joy of musical collaboration remain in my heart to this day.
Then there were the performances, where we donned our robes and gathered on the risers in the auditorium. We’d sing our entirely memorized program (no sheet music) and finish with our signature tune, Break Bread, where we’d file off the risers and exit up the aisles of the auditorium as we sang. That was always a very inspiring experience for me, but I didn’t realize until my 40th class reunion that it also had a substantial impact on much of our audience. As we sang Break Bread to the assembled crowd, I saw tears on many cheeks, mine included, and friends came up to thank us for that song, both for that night and for their time in the Class of 64.
Ken-’64
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Richard Steivers–Class of ’58
Here’s a little-known bit of history at South High. I attended 1956 to 1958 and was a member of the USAF Axillary Civil Air Patrol. There were around 24 cadets, both male and female.
We wore USAF summer uniforms and had USAF ranks. As I recall we would meet once a week, probably on Mondays in the ROTC room. The meetings would start with close order drills and marching around the first-floor hallways. Following that we would assemble in the ROTC Classroom where Senior adult Officers would give lectures on aircraft, flying and life in the Air Force. We would attend weeklong Summer Encampments at Lowery AFB or Warren AFB in Cheyanne WY. We lived in the barracks, marched too and ate at the mess halls. Since Lowery AFB was a training base, we got to tour the various schools and facilities. Our Squadron had a small two place single engine recognizance plane L-16 that we would get to have rides in. They would also have practice search and rescue drills SARCAP where we would meet with other squadrons from the other Denver High Schools and participate in simulated rescues.
While in the CAP I, I obtained the rank of Cadet First Lieutenant and was our Squadron Cadet Commander.
Dick (Hamblin) Stivers, ’58
Bainbridge Is. WA
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Robert Brooks–Class of ’68
Rather than a favorite single memory from my years attending South, what sticks with me most is my overall experience during my three years at South.
What I may not have fully appreciated at the time, but definitely do now, is the sense of established history, permanence and privilege of being able to go to a school that had already been around for nearly 40 years, and even more sense of history in that it’s the same school that not only my sister, but also my mom, had graduated from.
South offered me so many experiences that shaped my adult life to follow.
Our terrific band teacher, Ed Lenicheck, helped create a love of music that lasts to this day, through my experiences with Concert Band, Jazz Band, Marching Band, Show Orchestra and others. I haven’t touched my trombone in many years, but my love of music transferred to a love of singing that I’ve enjoyed for over 40 years in various community choirs.
My great swimming coach, Jim Crist, helped establish a lifelong commitment to exercise and conditioning that have shaped my life through running, skiing, backpacking and an active lifestyle.
And South, of course, provided a terrific place to establish my foundation in academics that shaped my lifetime career in engineering. It allowed me to have the privilege of being awarded a Boettcher Scholarship which helped me through my bachelor’s degree from CU Boulder and on to a master’s degree from UCLA.
With gratitude,
Bob ’68
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So many have remembered Mr Ed Lenicheck from the Music Department. Mr Lenicheck was a warm and friendly face around the halls of South.. even if you were not lucky enough to be in Band or Orchestra.
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Gwen Murdock — Class of ’68
I have fond memories of many facets of my South High experience, playing in the concert band with Mr. Lenicheck, learning about the names of all the trees on our campus just by looking at the winter leaf buds in botany class with Ms. Price, learning about the lives of the Romans in Latin class with Ms. Guindon and learning advanced algebra and math analysis with Mr. Temple. I also had the best time being on the first “girls” track team with Nela Mona McFarland, Carol Adams, among others.
But, I think that being a member of Pep Club really enriched my high school experience. I remember that every Friday, we had to wear the Pep Club uniform to school, which was a white shirt and a purple wool vest and pleated skirt. They were a little dorky, but probably no dorkier than my regular clothes. One requirement was that members had to attend a certain number of athletic events. If it wasn’t for those, I would have had hardly any social life!
As it was, my core group of friends, Darleen Stiny (the “keystone”), Susie Hermes, Pat Dutton, Kathy Klein and Laura Toepfer would coordinate about who could borrow her family’s car. Susie and Laura’s cars were Volkswagen Beetles, yet we had a system where we could all 6 ride in whatever car was available. Generally, we would attend the sporting event, at the Denver Arena for basketball or various high schools for baseball, wrestling, gymnastics, and swimming. Of course, football was played at the stadium, which was literally in my backyard. After cheering on our teams, we would typically go somewhere for a snack and cruise Colorado Blvd. We were looking for some sort of extra curricular excitement, but I’m not sure we were really prepared for the consequences if we had actually found it! The McDonald’s at Colorado and Mississippi and the Holiday restaurant at Buchtel and Colorado were key destinations. We also drove past the houses of boys we had crushes on (who shall remain nameless). During the off season, we still did the cruising, but under the guise of a slumber party at one house or another.
Somehow, the summer before our senior year, I was put in charge of the committee to plan the homecoming dance. I remember that many Pep Club members worked on subcommittees, decorations, bands, etc. It was great fun, doing the research for each facet of the dance. Another event that was organized by Pep Club was the spring fashion show. Libby Thomas was the chair of the show. Pep Club members served as models. I never imagined being in a fashion show and as I recall, I modeled only one outfit. Nevertheless, it was fun.
I enjoyed my time at South, but felt ready to move on to college. Many of my friends that I hung out with in college (CU-Boulder) were people I knew from South. When I went through sorority rush, I decided to remain independent. I felt that Pep Club had been my sorority and a college sorority couldn’t have topped my Pep Club experiences.
At the end of our senior year, I thought I knew the names of everyone in our class. However, I must have been delusional or my memory is not serving me well, now. After moving back to Denver in 2020, I have met new people who also went to South in different years. It is always a thrill. Just this January, I was excited to see the SHS Drum Line in the Stock Show Parade. The drummers probably didn’t hear me yell, “Go South High Ravens!” a throwback to my Pep Club days.
Gwen ’68
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Submitted by Kathy for William Keith Patton, Class of 1949
Keith Patton recalls that his best memories of South High School centered around sports, especially the influence of Coach Bob Wilson and Coach Ketchum. He also fondly remembers his teammates, including Keith Berry and Jack Newell.
Best wishes to all South High Alumni on 100 years!
Keith ’49
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Barbara Lamar Walters–Class of ‘49
I have all good memories of South. What I remember most is Jr ROTC and that we wore our uniforms every Thursday. I got to work in the office as part of my job. In those days there were over 267 “marching men” and 15 honorary girl cadets including 24 “Rebel Officers”. It was the second largest program in the Denver area. To this very day, I enjoy my South Yearbook, “Cotton Kingdom” and chuckling about the “Naughty Nine”.
Best Wishes on your 100th South High!
Barb ‘49
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Jayne Lamar Babcock –Class of ’51
I have many fond memories of being at South High. I remember ski club trips to Berthoud with my wooden skis, which are now used as a decoration at my daughter’s cabin! As a member of the A cappella choir, we all got to sing at Red Rocks. Also, I remember Mr. Page, the English teacher that all of the girls had a crush on. Mr. Ketchum was the Dean of Boys and Mrs. Burnham was the Dean of Girls — we would say “Catch ‘em and Burn ‘em!” I loved my years at South and the good friends I made.
Jayne ’51
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Sarah Nelson –Class of ’85
I attended South in the early to mid-eighties, for 3 years. We came in as 10th graders (the same year they added 9th grade to high schools; I was glad not to have to be the youngest class!) I was a very studious student, and very quiet (shy); mostly I went to class, did my work, got good grades, and didn’t talk to a lot of people. Not that I didn’t want to; but I was very afraid of rejection. I did have a few friends, but not many classes with them.
Certain teachers stand out in my memory, for instance Dr. Ton for history. I even heard of him from my junior high history teacher, who kept telling us how “scary” Dr. Ton’s classes at South were, and how we’d be er buckle down and learn to write essay questons, etc. When I saw Dr. Ton’s name on my 10th grade class schedule for Ancient History, I was worried… but discovered that although his classes were tough and you had to do the work, he was a good teacher and willing to help and answer ques ons (not “scary.”) I will say his AP American History class senior year was the single best prepara on for college that I experienced. (Lots of exams and papers, and you needed to both a end lectures and take notes, as well as do the reading, to do well.)
Other teachers who stand out: Mr. Meech for Chemistry; I remember him star ng out many examples/questons in class by saying, “Suppose you have an element, let’s call it Meechium…”
Dr. Johnston, who taught English and journalism, and who recruited me to join Newspaper Staff senior year (along with my friend Jane, who also helped convince me.) Newspaper staff turned out to be a lot of fun; often Jane and I would collaborate on stories for the school paper, and some times class me would be allocated for working on our stories. We had “press passes” so we could leave the classroom to go interview people for our stories. I remember we went to the basement to interview the custodians, and once we finished our interview, we had sometime left , so Jane was playing poker with them, and we both got Cokes from the pop machine in the custodians’ area (in those days, there were no vending machines in the student areas.) Dr. Johnston always told us how he liked to do his Elvis impersonation, but he needed to lose a few pounds before he could get into his purple velvet Elvis suit. (I never did get to see his impersonation; guess he never was able to fit into the suit to wear it to school!)
I was never in the “in groups” and usually never heard about the parties, etc. that a lot of students attended… but toward the end of senior year, as plans spread for a “senior ditch day,” even I heard about that. Everyone was going to spend a Friday at Cherry Creek Reservoir, rather than an attend classes. At first I wasn’t considering going, but nearly all of my teachers said some version of “in case some of you can’t make it to class Friday, remember the assignment is……” But Mr. Beitler, my physics teacher, was saying “hmmm, maybe I should have a pop quiz on Friday.” Finally I decided to not let one (possible) pop quiz keep me from a fun day out with classmates – so I went on the outing. It was great fun, and it was a chance to feel I belonged and fit in, and to spend time with classmates, some that I knew a bit and some new ones I met. I figured, why not ditch one day out of three years!
One other fun memory is the Beach Dance our senior year. I didn’t go to many dances at all, as many of them seemed to be couples only (and I didn’t have anyone to go with.) But for the Beach Dance, tickets were sold individually, and all the posters said “Surfers welcome; bring your boards!” Jane, my sister, and I figured we could get away with bringing our skateboards to this dance! It was in March, and since it’s Colorado, it was snowing on the evening of the dance. So we had our shorts, beach shirts, ski jackets, and beach towels to cover our legs in the car. And, of course, our skateboards. We were really popular at this dance! We’d skate around the gym, and various classmates would ask to try out our skateboards, so we’d give them a turn… At one point Mr. Beitler (my physics teacher, one of the staff members working the dance), asked to try out my skateboard. He put one foot on, pushed off, tried to get the second foot on—but the skateboard shot off in front of him toward the wall! He landed on his feet, but that was enough skateboarding for him!!
Sara ’85
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Steve Hutt–Class of ’74
When I reflect back on what was most impactful about my experience as a student at South (from 1971-1974), it would be the time I spent on the staff of the newspaper, then-named (now politically incorrectly) the Confederate.
I worked on the newspaper staff all three years, serving as its Editor-in-Chief during my senior year. My many fond memories of my work on the Confederate include: the many hours spent in our secluded perch at the top of the building, above the 4th Floor, a tall flight of stairs up from the west side of the Lunchroom, with a gorgeous view west over Washington Park to the mountains; managing the relationship with the newspaper’s faculty sponsor, Dr. Carl Johnston, a unique personality with a background very different from mine but with whom I came to have a very good working relationship; being part of the transition from the newspaper being printed via the decades-old process of each story and headline being set in metal type, proofread via galley sheets printed from that typesetting, and corrections then made by the printing company’s employees physically removing the hot-metal type and inserting replacement lettering – – to the then-revolutionary process of the original text being laid out via computerized word-processing (not by us at South, but by us taking typewritten text to the printing company, whose employees would then re-key it all via a huge word-processing console); and the time spent as Editor-in-Chief working with our Editorial Editor, now Congresswoman Dianna DeGette!
I say that this work was so impactful because in addition to determining much of my focus during those days of high school, my work on the Confederate surely honed my writing, editing, and proofreading skills. During my working years, co-workers often turned to me to write or review reports and publications. When my own kids were in high school and college, they asked me to edit and proofread many of the papers they wrote. Still today, as a member of a board of directors of a non-profit organization, one of my tasks is to edit and proofread all the written publicity materials that the organization sends out.
When I left my position as the Denver City Treasurer, one of the members of my management team gave me two red pens, as a memento of what had become my trademark editing of the writing of my colleagues. When asked over the years, in a variety of settings, how it was that I had a knack for finding even small errors in typing, punctuation, or grammar, I often responded: “I can’t help it. I was the editor of my high school newspaper.”
Steve ’74
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Robert Beck– Class of ’59
A memory from South High days, when there were only five high schools in the DPS. BTW, this still makes a good trivia question: if four of the high schools are East, West, South and North, what is the name of the fifth one?
All the high schools were overcrowded. South had about 3300 students, scheduled in 12 periods during the day. Some students came early, for first period starting about 7:20. Some stayed late for 12th period, which ended about 5:30. There were three lunch periods, with the idea that 1/3 of the school population would be at lunch, so the other 2/3 could fit in the classrooms. This meant that the lunch period was 43 minutes long, just as long as any class period. Having the time available, and really no other place to go, a group of us took up playing bridge at lunch every day, and at least every month in the evening at someone’s home. The bridge players, at least some of them, are in touch with one another almost 70 years later. A couple have passed away, a few have gone missing, and the rest of us get together by Zoom or in person almost every month. High school friendships do last, connections remain bridged, even though we have given up playing the game when we get together. And getting together is more difficult since we are scattered from Washington, DC to Portland, OR; from Amherst, MA to Atlanta, GA; with a few still in Denver.
Best wishes for an exciting celebration.
Bob Beck ’59
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John Flock — November 1963
One of my most vivid memories of South came in late November of 1963. It was lunch hour, and I had been assigned the job of hall monitor – a job that required no particular skill.
It was nearly 1:00 when a woman came out of the main office carrying a handful of small, mimeographed slips of paper and handed me one. It was torn by hand to just fit the message printed on it in blue ink: “President Kennedy has been shot in Dallas. More information to come.”
We were sent back to our classrooms. Shortly after I reached my 1:00 class, Bill Neusteter arrived carrying a television set. He had run home the moment he heard the news and brought back one of the only TVs at South that afternoon. It was tuned to CBS, where Walter Cronkite was anchoring the coverage with a young Dan Rather reporting live from Dallas.
At 1:38, an emotional Cronkite announced that President Kennedy had died. A wave of grief swept through the room. The days that followed brought one stunning headline after another — Oswald’s escape, the murder of Officer J.D. Tippit, Lyndon Johnson’s swearing-in aboard Air Force One, Oswald’s capture, his shocking on-air killing by Jack Ruby, and finally Kennedy’s funeral. It was overwhelming.
Looking back, I can trace the roots of my admiration for Kennedy to just over a year earlier – the Cuban Missile Crisis. Those two weeks were among the most dangerous in human history, and the atmosphere at the time was unlike anything I had experienced before or since. We practiced “duck-and-cover” drills and lived with a constant, low-level awareness of what nuclear war would mean. Right in the middle of that crisis, South held its first dance for the newly arrived sophomores – our first real chance to meet kids from the other feeder schools, Byers and Merrill. (I went to Grant.) I remember standing there among the teenagers dancing and having the time of their lives, thinking that I might never get to really know the people behind these new faces if we all went up in a mushroom cloud. Kennedy navigated that crisis with skill and nerve, and the threat passed. My admiration for him was deep and genuine, which is why his assassination little more than a year later hit so hard.
That moment, and others like it, captures something essential about my three years at South. It was a time of real events, real consequences, and real learning – preparation, as it turned out, for everything that came after in my life. It was a valuable time, and a fun one.\
John ’65
Jean LeBaron Laverty – November 1963
We heard that President Kennedy had been shot, and I ran to the ROTC office (I was an honorary cadet), where we gathered around the radio. The announcer said that the President had died, and our regular army sergeant said it was not official until the chain of command was changed. No sooner had he said that than the phone on his desk rang and he was informed that Lyndon Johnson was now the Commander-in-Chief.
Jean ’65
Terry Laverty – November 1963
I have never forgotten the photo taken of the flag pole from the second-floor library on November 22, 1963. An assembly was after school and the flag was lowered to half-mast. The photo is in the 1964 (page 270) and 1965 (page 275) “Johnny Reb.” The 1964 “Johnny Reb” photo subtitle is “None of us will ever forget the emotion conveyed by silence and tears in the assembly after school.” It was a shock for all the students and school staff as they heard of the death of President John F. Kennedy. It is a South High experience I will always remember.
Terry ’65
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Edward Hurry— Class of ’64
My fond memories of South center first on the wonderful, high-quality, well-educated, dedicated and engaging faculty. If you and your friends wanted a specific subject that wasn’t offered, and you could gather the minimum number of students to sign up, the faculty and administration would make that class happen—something that made the learning experience feel truly personal and responsive.
I also remember making friends—many of them lifelong—from all ethnic and social and economic backgrounds, from students at the State Home to those from very wealthy households. That diversity created a unique and meaningful environment where friendships crossed all boundaries.
High school athletics played a major role in shaping my experience, instilling a strong sense of community, teamwork, grit, and responsibility. I played football from my sophomore through senior year. My senior year I was lucky enough to start as a first-string defensive guard. I competed against offensive players much larger than I was and perfected a forearm shiver that Coach Pagliasotti taught me, which made me both tough and highly competitive.
Wrestling was another important part of my time at South. I competed from sophomore through senior year and became a versatile wrestler. As a senior, weighing around 150 pounds, I wrestled across multiple weight classes—including 154, 165, 180, and even heavyweight, something that is no longer allowed today. My most memorable match was against George Washington High School, where I wrestled in the heavyweight class against an opponent who was much taller and weighed over 220 pounds. South would win the meet if I could avoid being pinned and only lose by decision. I did just that—losing by decision—and South won the meet. Needless to say, the students, coaches, and I were elated.
One of our class faculty sponsors was our wrestling coach, Robert Conklin
It was Spring time and the Senior Prom was coming up and Coach was involved with the planning of the Prom. Coach Conklin approached me and asked if I had a date for the prom, and I replied no. Coach said there were a number of girls that had worked very hard on planning the prom and they didn’t have dates. I said I would be happy to invite one of the girls and he gave me the name of one of them, whom I invited and she accepted.
Coach then asked if I had any friends that didn’t have a date, and I said yes. I successfully recruited a boy I had known since grade school and drove my friend on the day of the Prom to downtown Denver to rent a tuxedo. We double dated and had a great time at the prom!
This event demonstrated the compassion and care our Coach/Sponsor had for his students!
At that time, South was a wonderful place to attend high school—truly one of the best in the entire Metropolitan Denver area.
Ed ‘64
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South High Alumni and Friends 