| My thoughts today are with the survivors, families of the deceased, and ALL OF Americans remembering the tragedy of Sept. 11th, 2001. ************************************************************************* MAIL CALL from Billy Jordan
in from Shari Louvier Parker
(taken off of FACEBOOK) from Jeanette Constantine
Morgan
in Groves from Lana Oliver Baker
in Tulsa, OK from Lynn Eldridge Gill
in Dallas from Shari Louvier Parker
in New Boston, TX *********************************************************************** MISCELLANEOUS I spent quality time with classmates Debbie Borres , Jenny Rhodes , and Diane Richmond celebrating Diane's birthday this week at Logan's Steakhouse in Beaumont. We ate, laughed, ate, laughed, drank, laughed, and did I say ate? Spent a "date night" with my hubby and Ernie (Castaneda) and husband, Ron Bullion at the Major League Grill in Beaumont. The night ended too quickly. Phyllis Hargrove LaBove has moved from the area after all these years! She and her husband have bought a great home in Branson, MS and will be remodeling. We'll miss you, Phyllis. LAMAR UNIVERSITY has reconvened their FOOTBALL program. Red and White spirit is everywhere. Their first game was with McNeese last Saturday and it had 20,000 attendees with 17,000 seats. The first game at the newly remodeled Lamar Stadium is a sell-out for this Saturdays first home game. Season tickets have sold out for the year. Of course this is old news for the local classmates but many reading this don't live in the area anymore. You wouldn't believe how exciting all of this has been for the area and the school. Many are having their tail-gating parties starting early in the day!!! Classmate Susan Byrd LeBlanc's daughter, Allison, is on the twirling line! It was a long time ago, but I remember being in the Lamar Marching Band in '68 and '69. I made lots of friends. Go LU! Write and tell me if you attended and give us some details. *********************************************************************** NEWS FROM THE HOMEFRONT Well, all has been going pretty smoothly over this way. My sister's mental health seems to be on an even keel for the 'moment' and Dad is doing well. I guess you could say that even after the INCIDENT that happened here! Okay, you have to picture this: I told Dad to try not to get up so early the following morning since we didn't have to head into PA. Murphy got up and went to work at 5:00 as usual and I could just hear someone roaming in the house about 6:00 am. I got up and found Dad still in his pj's a little disoriented. I told him to go back to bed until I got him up. I checked on the dog out on the patio and returned to my room. I took off my gown, (can't stand to sleep in anything), and pulled the covers up from the bed to find my DAD LAYING THERE! After I screamed and FELL to the floor searching for my gown and throwing it back on, I stood up like nothing was amiss and politely told him to go to his OWN bed! Thank God his dementia allows him to not remember seeing me STARK NAKED, but I DON'T HAVE DEMENTIA! The memory is haunting me. Sad news : I brought my 10 year old white poodle to Tillman's at Groves Vet Clinic and she was diagnosed with diabetes. Tillman showed me how to give her a shot. Yuk! I gave her one tonight for the first time. It wasn't hard but I wanted to cry! *********************************************************************** SUPPORT from Jeanette Constantine
Morgan
concerning her husband's
health: from Laura Meece Darby
concerning her in-laws, Bart Darby's
parents This is her message from
FACEBOOK: *********************************************************************** CONDOLENCES Arthur Eugene Hufstetler (This was a story in the newspaper about our classmate that died Aug. 27th. KFDM also ran this story on the news station.) A GROVES MAN IS REMEMBERED AFTER DYING UNEXPECTEDLY August 31, 2010 PORT NECHES- Investigators are trying to learn the cause of a death of a man who was well known in Port Neches-Groves. 59-year old Arthur Eugene Hufstetler died Friday. He was found unconscious at the K-C-S rail yard in Port Arthur where he had worked for 42 years. Hufstetler died at a hospital. Another worker was shocked while trying to aid Hufstetler. That worker was treated at a hospital. Relatives of Hufstetler are waiting for autopsy results to find out if he was electrocuted or died from a medical problem. KFDM spoke with Hufstetler's family about his life and legacy. Arthur Hufstetler's two daughters look through a lifetime of memories including pictures and medals from when Hufstetler served in the army during the Vietnam War. "My father was charismatic, energetic, so much energy and so much life and he loved everything he did," says his daughter Alicia. Alicia Hufstetler was at work last Friday and had spoken with her father that day. "The last time I talked to my dad was about an hour before I got the call that I needed to go to the hospital." A call tht she'll always remember. It forever changed the family's lives. "It's very hard having your dad here talking to you hours before and get a phone call and he's just not there anymore. It hurts bad. I just can't believe he didn't come home that day" says Alicia. The family had traditional Saturday breakfast together. Now, there is an empty space at the table. Alicia adds, "I feel like sometimes he was the glue that held us together and now I know he wasn't because we survived this far. But, he was definitely our rock." Arthur Hufstetler was also known around the community of Port Neches. "If you're from Port Neches-Groves you know how important purple and white is." Colors that were very important to Hufstetler. He started making all the headdresses for the high school. Alicia says, "It got out of control. Behind his desk he has stacks of beads. We always laughed. My dad had beads in his tackle box." Headdresses were so much a part of his life, he kept making them after his daughters graduated. And a tradition started with buttons. "All he used to ask for was to make you a headdress and give me a button. That's how the buttons started. Every cheerleader, twirler, anyone in Port Neches that had a headdress, they gave him a picture button. They are in bags still, they are on hats, and he ended up wearing a vest." Arthur Hufstetler was only five weeks away from retirieng when he died. And a big party was in the works. "We are doing this party" says Alicia. A party that won't be filled with the same joy. While a family deals with the death of a husband and father and a community honors the memory of its number one fan. ( Arthur had more than
500 visitors honor him
at his visitation and
the funeral was standing
room only. His
wife, Vickie, was a
co-worker of two of our
classmates,
Cecile Trevino Esqueda
and Paula Daigle
Sheppard.
)
Elizabeth Hall
********************************************************************** Please do me a favor! Write to me so that I will have something to put in the NEWSLETTER next time. I do not like scrounging through FACEBOOK. You can do better keeping me informed.
Take care and contact a
classmate, |
| * |
.
