POSTS FROM 2009 -
Announcements -
Need to verify your address information with the Reunion Committee? Click here!
December 2009 -
31 - As the year draws toward an end, we get to welcome Sharon Bauer Culberson and Carol Hornal Boone as our newest registered classmates. Thanks for registering Sharon and Carol! Hope to see you in Collinsville next October!
30 - A big thanks to Wanda Bower Baker for her assistance in locating information about our deceased classmate Phil Bergfield. Phil's information on the "deceased" page has been updated accordingly. It's the help from folks like Wanda and all the rest that allows me to make the site more meaningful for everyone. Thanks Wanda!
18 - This morning we welcome classmate Lester Fulton to our list of folks who have registered on the site. Thanks Lester! Hope you're making plans to get back to Collinsville for the reunion next October!
15 - More sad news arrived today of the passing of classmate Charles Dill on Saturday, December 12th. Visitation at Herr Funeral Home will be tomorrow (December 16th) and the funeral will be on Thursday the 17th. Our condolences go out to his family and friends. His obituary is located on the "deceased" page.
9 - 
Dianne Mardus Parker has sent us the picture of the December get-together of the "Ladies of '65 Dinner Club". She writes - It's that season again and the Ladies of '65 joined together at Renee's beautiful home to celebrate Christmas! We had lots of good things to eat and drink and a wonderful evening of friendship and love. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!
8 - Received the sad news today of the passing of classmate Rose Miller Koehly. Rose died on December 3rd as a result of injuries suffered in a car accident. Our condolences go out to her family and fiends. More information is on the "deceased" page.
1 - We start the month off with a new registration - this one by classmate Michele Burger Hornacek. Thanks for registering Michele! Hope to see you in Collinsville next October!
November 2009 -
19 - Today we welcome Martha Bemarkt Phillips as our most recent classmate to register on the site. Thanks Martha! Hope to see you in Collinsville next year!
17 - Glad to let everyone know that today we have removed Gail Anderson Jackson's name from our "Missing" page. Gail registered on the site and is hoping to attend next year's reunion.
17 - We received the belated news today of the passing of classmate David K. Eckmann. David passed away in late 2006 after suffering a stroke. Other information can be seen on the Deceased page, and comments by his son Kyle are on the News Forum page..
14 - The agenda for Friday evening of our up-coming reunion has been set - we will be gathering at the American Legion for food and fellowship. The meal will be served from 5:00pm - 8:00 pm, and we have use of the facility for as long as we want afterward to visit and reminisce. No prices have been established yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I can. See you in October 2010!
October 2009 -
21 - We'd like to catch up on our welcomes to folks who have registered with the site. These folks registered between the first of August and now, and we say "thanks!" to each one -
Janice Thilman Macdonald
Nancy Morales Owler
Gene Fayollat
Paula Mitchell Wild
Linda Paul Hyatt
20 - 
Georgia Yost has provided photos from the October "Ladies of '65 Dinner Club". Click on a thumbnail for a larger view, and visit our download area if you'd like a copy.
18 - Classmate Dav Pauli under the alias of Fid Hawser has finally gotten his novella out to the public. It's called "The Fetish Of The Sun God" and it's available from Amazon.com for just $9.99 in Kindle format. Check it out by clicking on the title, and give our classmate some support!
2 - We learned today of the passing of classmate Willard Benearl 'Benny' Pittman. Benny passed away today. I'll post his obituary on the 'deceased' page when I receive it. Our condolences go out to his wife Asuncion, brother Pat, family and friends.
September 2009 -
25th - 
Georgia Yost has sent us some more pictures of the 'Ladies of '65 Dinner Club' get-together for September 2009. Looks like the ladies are always having a good time - maybe it's time you contacted one of them to find out how to join them in October! Click on a thumbnail for a larger view. 4x6 inch 300 dpi copies are also available for download for our registered users.
17th - Mark your calendars - Our 45th Class Reunion will be held on Friday October 1st and Saturday October 2nd 2010! More details will follow, but start your planning NOW!
August 2009 -
29th - I'm looking for a way for everyone to have the ability to comment or add their "two cents worth" to whatever may appear on this page. I've set up a test page that is essentially a "mirror" of this page, but it incorporates a "Search" function so that you can search for any word or phrase in any posts, and the ability to respond or comment on anything you see posted. You do not have to be a registered user to comment - anyone can. They will, however, have to be reviewed before they are presented to the "public".......just a means for me to try and protect the site from spam, offensive language, or whatever. If you'd be so kind to view this new page, you can go there by clicking here. Please make whatever comments you care to....let me know what you think. Thanks for your help.
18th - 
Georgia Yost has been kind enough to send us some more pictures of the monthly meeting of the "Ladies of '65 Dinner Club". Click on a thumbnail to see a larger view. Copies of the pictures are also available for download for registered users.
15th - For our registered users - you now have the ability to upload photos up to 5 megabytes in size directly to 65kahoks.com. Just log in and you'll see the "Extras" menu appear. Select the "Upload Photos!" menu, select the .jpg or .tif file you'd like to share, and click the "Send File" button. The larger the file the longer it will take to upload, of course, but when the upload is complete you'll see a message indicating that the upload was successful, and a copy of the image you uploaded. After I review the photos (they have to be in good taste, and I reserve the rigt to make that determination) I'll make them available for download to all the other folks who have registered. Come on! Share a picture or two!
July 2009 -
Earlier this month I received an email from a lady (not a member of the Class of '65) that has bothered me. She was a bit irate, wanting to know why I had given so much notice to the death of Coach Fletcher, who was technicallly not a class member, while at the same time ignoring the death of classmate Dale Kirsch. She was certain that I had been notified, yet weeks had passed and nothing concerning Dale had been posted onsite. Unfortunately, that email was the first that I had heard of Dale's passing. I was able to verify the lady's information and get the notice posted that day, but it has bothered me since then - that folks would "assume" that I had been notified, when in fact I had not. Folks, I don't live in Illinois anymore - I live in hot, sunny South Carolina, and operate this website from there. Please, please, please - if you know of something that should be posted on this site, take the initiative and personnaly send me an email about it without delay. Those emails are the only way I can keep the information on this site current and relevant.
We'd like to catch up on our welcomes to folks who have registered with the site. These folks registered between the first of May and now, and we say "thanks!" to each one -
Danny Spiker (not a 1965 class member)
Marylou Bernasek
Nancy Kingsbury Fox
Judy Schikowski Mentz
Beatrice Dickman Clayton
Randy Thomas
Dorothy Fike Johnson
I just learned today (July 7th) of the passing of classmate Dale Kirsch. Dale died on June 7th at his home in Canton, Missouri. Our heartfelt condolences go to his surviving family and friends. His obituary is posted on our "deceased" page.
With heavy heart we learned today of the death of Coach Vergil Fletcher yesterday, June 30th 2009. Coach Fletcher was 93 years old. He would have turned 94 today, July 1st. His passing marks a sad milestone in the voyage of our class. An article in the Belleville News-Democrat details Coach Fletcher's life and death here and here. His obituary is posted on our "Deceased" page. Coach, we will miss you. The Class of 1965 will be contributing to a charitable fund of the family's choosing. You can view and enter comments in his Legacy.com guestbook here.
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June 2009 -
We received notification of the death of Lorraine Votava Barker on June 5th, 2009. Our sincere condolences go out to her family and friends. Her obituary is posted on the "Deceased" page.
I received a request recently from an old Navy buddy of classmate Ellis B. Gossett. He did not realize that Ellis had passed away until he saw his name and picture on our "Deceased" page, and desired more information about when and how he had died. Unfortunately, I had no information to give him. Which got me thinking that I need to try and do more with that page. As a retired Army man myself, I fully understand the camaraderie that develops with military folks - a closeness that transcends time and space. And that same clossness exists between old classmates, even those we haven't seen or talked with in years. But as usual, I need your help.
We currently have 49 classmates listed on our 'Deceased' page. I only have death dates on three of them. Ideally I'd like to have information such as that provided by Richard Stowers' sister - click his picture here for an example of what I mean. If you have any information on our deceased classmates - when and where they died and/or from what cause - please drop me a line. I will add that information to our database so that when someone clicks on a picture on the 'Deceased' page they will be able to find out at least a minimum of information on their lost friend.
April 2009 -
We'd like to catch up on our welcomes to folks who have registered with the site. These folks registered between the first of the year and now, and we say "thanks!" to each one -
Lannie Altenberger
Carol Taylor Black
Donna Jean Wilson Schumacher
Linda Armstrong Beard
Georgia Yost
Terry Poneleit
Donna Kay Jones Preloger
Steve Eyman
Linda McCain Nekola
Ruth Ann Hubert Kelly
Mike Simmons
John Olson
Randy Whaley
Sherry Ahring Spiker (class of 1966)
(Note: Steve Eyman moved from Collinsville to Mattoon, Illinois following his Junior year. He graduated in 1965 from Mattoon High, but still considers himself one of "us" and so do we.)
Thanks for all of the help in locating classmate Ray Krek. I finally got in touch and was able to pass on the material to him. I won't mention the name of the classmate who made it happen, simply because I don't know if he would want me to or not. But thanks a million for the help.
On a related note - if you haven't taken the time to register with the website, please find the minute or two it takes to do so. It will enable us to get in touch with you for special announcements or whatever, and help us keep your contact information current so that you won't miss hearing about anything important. Thanks.
March 2009 -
I need a little help here folks - I've received something that I have been asked to forward to classmate Ray Krek, our own Chief Kahok. Trouble is, he has never registered with the site, and I have no contact information for him. If any of you know how I can get in touch with Ray please drop me a line and let me know. I'd sure appreciate the help. Thanks.
