***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. WALTERSSK8@GMAIL.COM
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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 Student Body
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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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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 ’73
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 ’73
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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.
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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 ’68
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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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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Barbara Lamar-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 –Class of 1951
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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South High Alumni and Friends 