Travels to Waseca

  Elizabeth Panzram Noetzel, a former resident of Waseca, passed away July 18, 2007, in Bloomington MN at age 100. She was the mother of a large family. I knew her son Steve (WHS 1958) and daughters Mary Noetzel Giese (WHS 1960) and Tina Noetzel Madson (WHS 1962), the younger siblings, well from school and church. I had recently learned from Tina that Mrs. Noetzel was still living in a Bloomington MN nursing home and I had discussed visiting her to have her tell me some of the early stories of Waseca and school life. Regretably, I wasn’t able to visit her before she died. 

Elizabeth must have been one of the earliest living graduates of Waseca Central School, if not the earliest (are there others who graduated in 1923 or before?), although I know she wasn’t the oldest living graduate (Archie Lortis – WHS 1925 - turned 102 in March). She attended the old Central School before it burned in 1923, her senior year. After the school burned, students attended classes in local churches and halls and the 1923 senior class graduation exercises were held in the Palace Theatre.

Mailings recently sent to the following Waseca Sacred Heart High School graduates at the listed addresses were returned as not deliverable. If you have current contact information on any of them, please contact us at WasecaAlums.com.

1931
McGowan, Catherine (Conway) Box 426, Fonda IA 50540, 1931

1934
Baumgartner, Marie (Gallagher) Box 253, Bird Island MN 55310, 1934
Brisbane, Helen  7609 NW 3rd, Vancouver WA 98665, 1934

1935
Ernst, Marianne (Zimmerman) 1742 Woodland, Fayetteville AR 72701, 1935
Nelson, Edna (Kuehnel) 609 15th St SE, Owatonna MN 55060 1935

1936
Davis, Irene (Conway)  4323 Girard Ave N, Minneapolis MN 55412, 1936
Hambley, Margaret (Gurnett) 6660 E Dodge St, Mesa AZ 85205, 1936
Spillane, John 6729 1st Ave S, Minneapolis MN 55401, 1936

1940
Hawkins, Vera  406 S. 3rd St., Stillwater MN 55082, 1940

1945
Weber, Donald  5643 Green Circle Dr, Minnetonka MN 55343, 1945

1947
McLoone, James W326 N6898 N Lake Dr, Hartland WI 53029, 1947

1950
Judd, Clara  117 E. Paquin #110, Waterville, MN 56096, 1950

1954
Simon, Margaret  1240 Leawood Dr, Elgin IL 60210, 1954

1955
Gerdts, Michael  715 Preston Ln, Hopkins MN 55343, 1955

1957
Hilton, Helen (Hayes)  8045 Xerxes Ave S #206, Bloomington MN 55431, 1957

1961
Gallagher, Jack  17105 T St, Omaha NE 68135, 1961
Smith, Shirley (Powell)  Route 1, Medford MN 55049, 1961

1962
Jewison, Gerald  1766 Fm 1778, Nevada TX 75173, 1962
Myers, Sharon  1921 Menomonie St, Eau Claire WI 54703, 1962

1963
Sylvester, Catherine (Stirens)  1235 Roma Ave, Roseville MN 55113, 1963

1964
O’Grady, Tim  708 9th Ave NW, Waseca MN 56093, 1964

1965
McCarthy, Gary 3022 Placer Circle, Eagle River AK 99577, 1965

1966 
Gallagher, Gary 3701 Lynbrook Dr NE, Cedar Rapids IA 52402, 1966
O’Brien, Margaret  2624 N 54th Place, Phoenix AZ 85008, 1966

1968
Netjes, Lois (McShane)  1138 N 9th St, Payette ID 83661, 1968

1971
Wilker, Sharon (Wheelock)  26151 128th St, New Richland MN 56072, 1971

No graduation year listed
Cottingham, Shirley  PO Box 60297, Palo Alto CA 94306
Danielson, Rita, Rt 2 Box 2, Sheimo SD 57060
Donahue, Patricia  73 Harbor Dr #415, Stanford CT 06902
Malling, Betty (Tollefson)  1976 N. Lemontree Ln, Chandler AZ 85224  
Miscka, Joanie  300 3rd St SE, Waseca MN 56093

The following graduates of Sacred Heart High School are currently missing. If you have current contact information on any of them, please contact us at WasecaAlums.com.

1919
Kaiser, Genevire – Sr. M. Fiato
Kramer, Leslie (Plummer)

1923
Mulcahy, Mary (Campion)

1932
Waples, Cecelia (Reycraft)

1935
Blackwood, Gerald
Feudner, Ruth (Kiely)

1942
De Lucctti, Suzanne (Brozik)

1943
Arp, Dorothy (Webber)

1948
Yess, Paul

1951
Emard, Carol

1954
Pantzar, Phyllis (Pfieffer)
Simondson, Joan (Sheeran)

1956
Blue, Rita (Gerdts)
Farnand, Shelia
Larson, Mary

1957
Brozik, Martin

1958
Bentley, Sharon (Josephes)
Gehring, Yvonne (Malecha)

1959
Kaiser, James
Miller, Lawrence
Zimny, Norbert

1961
Noe, Marie (Evans)
Josephes, Kathy
Moore, Sharon (Pfiefer)
Morgan, Joseph
Tollefson, Arvid

1963
Flores, Rafael
Gwin, Susan
Pomijie, Henry Bill
Schimek, Carol
Thompson, Betty

1964
Venecheik, Nickolas

1965
Ahern, Patrick

1966
Braughten, Mary (Kukuczka)
Hunt, Katherine (Turnacliff)
Leononsaco, Colleen (Cahill)
Mettler, Galen
Pomije, John

1967
Gabiou, Chris
Gilbert, Nancy (Gerdts)
Tollefson, Gary

1968
McLoone, Pat

1969
Mettler, Allen
Oliver, Theresa (Coulombe)
Pomije, Moira
Shuttleworth, Janet (Klein)

1970
Carter, Debra (Albert)
Klein, Patricia (Hanson)
Meyer, Robert
O’Grady, Robert

No graduation year listed
Brixius, Mary
Bryndilson, Gladys 
Cahill, Janet 
Degan, Ellen 
Holland, George 

A native son of Waseca, LeRoy Shield was a composer, arranger, conductor, pianist, and organist.

On Friday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m., a LeRoy Shield appreciation evening will introduce the Waseca native, who happened to be a person of great accomplishment, to the community in a two-hour program at Central Intermediate School auditorium. A brief history of Shield will be given.

Read about the program honoring Shields in the Waseca County News. Read about Shields in Wikipedia.

Kennard Kanne died July 17, 2007, in Faribault. I remember Kennard especially as the Waseca distributor of the Minneapolis papers in the 1940s and 1950s because I was a paper boy. We picked up our papers from his garage at his place across from Trowbridge Park. Kennard’s obituary is posted at WasecaAlums.com.

  Kent Knauss, a former classmate of mine, died July 18, 2007, in Waseca. Kent didn’t graduate with me but he attended Waseca High School with me through about the 10th grade. He was the nephew of our math teacher, Miss Ruth Knauss. The photo is from 1957, our sophomore year. Here are links to his obituary: Dennis Funeral Homes and Waseca County News. 

The Waseca County Free Fair starts today and runs through Sunday. I remember the fair as being one of the highlights of the summer. If you’re in the area, check it out. Here’s a link to their web site: http://www.wasecacountyfair.org/index.html.

I was emailing with Tina Noetzel Madson (WHS62) recently about her list of WHS 1962 classmates. She said her mother Elizabeth Panzram Noetzel (WHS23) is still living and she turned 100 last October.  Tina is wondering whether she is the oldest living or are there others from her class?  She would be interested in mentioning that to her.  Tina reports her mother is still really alert and her memories far surpass any that Tina has of her school years. 

Let’s hear about the old Waseca schools graduates from the 1920s who are still living. I’ll start with Archie Lortis; a WHS 1925 graduate, Archie turned 102 in March.

  Join Waseca Alums in celebrating the 4th of July.