St. Petersburg High's Class of 1954 reunites to talk of good times, old friends and a prank
By Kathy Ferguson, Times Correspondent
In Print: Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Parading in poodle skirts are: Lois Gillies Phillips, St. Petersburg; Nancy Carson Parker, Houston; Pat Reeves Acklin, St. Petersburg; Myrtle Siemers Larson, St. Petersburg; Edie Kaple, St. Matthews, S.C.; June Ward Fleisher, St. Petersburg; and Bette Ann Jackman LoBue, Seminole.
They became engineers, nurses, artists, pilots and one was mayor of St. Petersburg. But some members of the St. Petersburg High School Class of 1954 haven’t waited for a reunion to learn more about each other.
“Amazingly, many friendships are still in place that started in elementary school and continued at St. Pete High,” said Myrtle Larson, 72, a Green Devil alumni and retired nurse.
Larson serves on a 30-plus member team from the Class of 1954 that helps set up its reunions.
Every three months, they get together to plan.
But their association goes deeper. They share the joys and challenges of the past, present and future.
“In our minds, we are still 17 years old,” Larson said.
Last week, she joined more than 100 other St. Petersburg High School graduates celebrating their 55th reunion. The weekend event included a welcome dinner at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club packed with memories and awards.
The theme of the reunion mirrored the famous song, Those Were the Days. It was complete with a ’50s All-American Date Night with poodle skirts on parade.
One graduate flew in from Norway to join the festivities.
Ron Rasmussen, 72, is the ring leader of the reunion core team. He was proud of being the high school track team manager who helped the school win state championships two years in a row.
Rasmussen, an engineer at Honeywell for 36 years, said he owes his career to a fascination with physics and a teacher who encouraged him. He urged today’s students to “make a career choice and stay focused.”
A passion for the technical side of things also drove Lyn Provo, 73. But first, there was the incident. “In the school’s chemistry lab, we made fluorescent dye and put it into test tubes,” he said. “We poured it into the outside fountains and watched them light up. It was rather fun.”
Provo couldn’t account for the condition of the fish on that day.
He graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with degrees in chemistry and nuclear science and worked for several decades at the former Lockheed Martin Specialty Components business.
Perhaps as penance of sorts for his high school antics, Provo volunteered in the department’s Safety Leader Program.
Larson, who became a nurse, has been married to her husband, Fred, 78, for more than five decades. He was the “older man” back in the days when the beaches were wide open, and development along the waterfront was little.
She served on the school newspaper, participated in sports and was involved in many clubs. “It was such a positive, happy place,” said Larson about her high school. She also loved the music of her generation that “had words you could understand and weren’t afraid to sing in front of your mother.”
Former St. Petersburg Mayor Charles Schuh, 73, said that serving as band color guard at St. Petersburg High School was the “best job in the world.”
Schuh was mayor in the mid 1970s.
He encourages soon-to-be high school graduates to recognize community obligations.
“Vote, go to college, run for political office and be a good citizen,” Schuh said.
Already, the planning committee is looking forward to the 60th class reunion. “This is a wonderful way to stay young,” Larson said.
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