GI High School’s first graduating class to have 40th reunion

by Alice E. Gerard
Grand Island Dispatch, June 16, 2006

Shown here is the Class of 1966 reunion organizing committee. They are, front row, from left: Nancy Carlson, Cathy McNamee and Terry Swain; in the back row, from left: Nancy Braddell, Linda Johnstone, Linda Hillock, Sharon Benzing and Terry Funk. Swain explains that for clarity, during the reunion event, women use their maiden names. (photo by Alice Gerard)

When the first students, all sophomores, entered Grand Island High School in September, 1963, they quickly realized that they were few in number in a large school. The class of 1966 was a unique group, the first to begin their high school years in a Grand Island school. Previous classes had been sent to neighboring communities, including Niagara Falls, Buffalo, and Tonawanda.

Grand Island High School’s first graduating class was comprised of just 136 students. Today, 1,050 students attend the school.

On Friday, June 30, and Saturday, July 1, the first graduating class will reunite to share their experiences of the past 40 years. They will start with a tour of the school at 3 p.m., June 30. That evening, they will hold an icebreaker at 8 p.m. at the Mallwitz’s Island Lanes. People attending are encouraged to bring musical instruments and participate in a jam session. The next afternoon, at 2 p.m., they will board the Grand Lady near the Grand Island Holiday Inn at Whitehaven and East River roads to take a cruise up the Niagara River. After the cruise, they will meet at reunion leader Terry Swain’s house on Webb Road for food, an open bar, and music.

Class of ’66 a Unique Group

The class of 1966 was a unique group and had a big impact on the future of the school. Linda Pinzel, a member of the reunion planning committee, said that she belonged to several decision-making groups, including the school newspaper committee and the committees to help design the school ring and the yearbook. Pinzel was also a member of a group called the “Committee of Eleven.” “We had lunch with the principal (Dr. Clyde Eidens) once every week or two to discuss school activities,” Pinzel said. Students also helped to select the school colors, mascot, and the school anthem.

The students had a great deal of camaraderie, said reunion committee member Terry Funk, who played on the school’s football team for his first two years. Swain, who played the trumpet in the school’s band and orchestra, said that he enjoyed participating in band competitions between schools.

Pinzel said that many of the boys formed rock bands. “We had record hops in Sidway when we were in middle school. Everyone had fond memories of those record hops,” she said. Some of the bands will get together to perform at the reunion during the icebreaker.

Graduates Entered Military, Jobs

Since graduation, the lives of the members of the class of 1966 have gone in different directions. Funk joined the U.S. Army and served in Vietnam for six months as an underwater salvage diver.

Funk was one of several members of the class of 1966 to become Vietnam veterans. Two of the classmates, Bobby Luther and Richard Trotter, died in Vietnam, Swain said.

After Funk’s discharge from the military, he became an ironworker and helped to build Buffalo’s convention center. He moved out west and flew helicopters and airplanes in Colorado and California for 24 years. When his son, now 34, was 13 years old, Funk returned to Grand Island and flew helicopters for Mercy Flight for 11 years. He now describes himself as “semi-retired.”

After Swain graduated from high school, he became a tool and die maker. “I worked in small shops for five years, went to General Motors in 1971, and worked there for 35 years. I am retired and can now I do anything I want,” Swain, the father of four grown daughters, said. He spends much of his time babysitting granddaughter Ella, 8 months old, and grandson Cobe, 6.

For the past five years, Swain’s daughter, Jodie Rudney, has been a special education teacher at Grand Island High School.

Pinzel, formerly Linda Johnstone, married Carl Pinzel shortly after she graduated from high school. After the couple graduated from college, they moved to Alaska and returned to Grand Island in 1973. Both of Pinzel’s sons, now adults, are Grand Island High School graduates. Pinzel now works in medical records for a medical center in Amherst.

Finding ‘Lost’ Classmates

Swain, Pinzel, and Funk are looking forward to the reunion. Thanks to computer technology, Swain said that the committee was able to find classmates whom they haven’t seen in 40 years. In addition to 1966 class members, attendees at the reunion will also include graduates from the classes of 1965, 1967, and 1968, as well as five teachers and a few advisers.

“I’m excited about the reunion, to seeing people, the whole thing,” Funk said.

Swain said that he is especially grateful for the assistance of his wife, Valerie, in making this reunion possible. Funk said that much of the credit for the upcoming event should go to Swain. “We were best friends for about 35 years, and he asked for my help.”

“We’re still getting responses from people who want to come,” Pinzel said. “We’re hoping for nice weather, especially with the boat ride. We have a lot of upper classmen and lower classmen that have put in reservations to come. We share our reunion.”

Approximately 120 individuals are expected to attend the reunion. Swain said, “We were able to reach all but four people.”

Members of the Grand Island class of 1966 are seen in homeroom photos back when they were
ninth graders at what was then Sidway Junior High. (photos courtesy of Nancy Luther Sandford)