Members of the classes of 1961 and 1962 were back on campus Feb. 23-25 for their 50-Year Reunion and to help celebrate Homecoming 2012: PartyGras. The reunion began Thursday with a Welcome Reception for classmates at the Woodman Alumni Center.
The next day at the 50-Year Club Luncheon, which has become the reunion's signature event, attendees were inducted into the club and presented commemorative medallions by WSU Alumni Association officials.
Also during luncheon ceremonies, a number of special class awards were given. Charles Schmitz '62 was recognized for having traveled the farthest to the reunion, some 1,400 miles from his home in San Diego.
Kuhlmann '61/65, during one of the three-day series of
50-Year Reunion events.
Oscar Martinez '62 and his wife, Estela, were noted as being married the longest, 57 years.
Vic Heckart '62 and his wife, Ruth, were recognized as having the most children, eight, and the most grandchildren, 18.
And Elaine (Woodman) Brady '61 was cited for having the most family members who graduated from WU or Wichita State — with her parents, three sisters and her husband, for a total of six.
Most of the 1961 and 1962 WU graduates who attended the reunion reside in Kansas, but there were also attendees from eight other states: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.
Education proved to be of key importance in the lives of many reunion attendees, nine of whom earned bachelor's degrees in education and went on to teaching careers. Eleven hold master's degrees or other advanced degrees. Among that group, Robert Martin '61 earned a doctor of optometry, and Virgil Brady '61 received a doctor of divinity.
After the luncheon, and a group photo, reunion-goers toured the Rhatigan Student Center — or the Campus Activities Center as it was named back in the '60s. Also on Friday afternoon, several classmates went to watch the Shockers beat North Dakota 7-1 in baseball.
On Saturday, attendees gathered for a special reunion reception at Koch Arena before Wichita State took on Drake in Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball action.
Back in 1961, the Shockers also tangled with Drake for the big homecoming game — that time in football, and WU won, 26-13. The outcome for Homecoming 2012 was once again in the Shockers' favor, this time by a score of 81-58.
Among both homecoming and reunion highlights was the halftime announcement of the PartyGras king and queen — and joining members of the homecoming royalty on the floor of the sold-out arena for the crowning ceremony was WU's 1960 Homecoming Queen, Elaine Brady.
