How is YOUR class holding up?

[sofadoc]

I've just been added to a FB group for '76 grads of my high school. They're getting an early start on our 40th reunion in 2016.

They've listed all the students that are no longer with us. 54 out of 322. 43 boys, 11 girls.

A lot of people from our class seem to think that number is unusually high. Basically, it means that about 1 out of 6 of us didn't make to age 57.

But it also means that a little more than 80% of us will be around for our 40th reunion.
If someone had predicted that back in '76, I would've been skeptical. So I think the number is probably right in the norm.

Just curious. Do any of you guys have any idea what your class mortality rate might be?

[byhammerandhand]

We had a class of 99 (largest ever, I think, for my HS).  Peak of the baby boom in 1969.

I know there was at least one who committed suicide, one killed in a car accident and a couple with cancer. 

Out of the 99, about 15-20 show up for reunions and they are mostly all who have moved away.  People who stayed in town just don't show up at all with the exception of one or two of the organizers.   None of the class officers even show.   With a few exceptions, I think we had a bunch of under-achievers.  I think only 10 of us even started college and half of those were in education.  Not that that's a bad thing.   We had such a blue-collar town, most of us never had any role models.  Besides the family doctor and pastor, the only college-educated people I ever knew were teachers.   And sadly, the career path for females was one of usually one of:
* teacher
* nurse
* secretary
* housewife

[MinUph]

Never thought to look on FB for my class. My wife and I graduated HS in 69. I found the FB site for our class. There were two posts and 1 member. Maybe that tells me something. Either they all are dead, not into fb or not interested. One guy there didn't graduate in 69 but 70 and one woman did in 70 but he husband did in 69.
  If I remember correctly we had a class of 500 that year. Or maybe it was the whole school who the hell remembers that far back LOL.
  If I find anymore cool info I will refresh this post. We did go to our 40th and it was fun. There was one guy that wanted to fight with me still for the fraternity razing I did to him. Nothing I didn't go through. He is a drunk and I guess holds grudges for ever. The rest was fun and he didn't really spoil it anyway. Andy was just drunk.

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Graduated in '74.  We had 376 (I think).  At the time, largest class for GISH.  We were notable for a couple of reasons: A) Senior class play cancelled due to cast getting drunk on school property; B) outdoor commencement exercises cancelled after our ceremony due to our absolute rowdiness (M80's, purple & gold smoke bombs, rolls of tp tossed during Superintendent's words of wisdom.  (Note, I did not participate in either A or B but did find B quite funny and it also shortened graduation ceremonies greatly which I thought was a good thing.)

Went to our 20th reunion.  We had one for sure death at that time and a lot of people that no one knew anything about.  Did not attend our 30th or 40th because nothing had changed at our 20th.  Might as well have still been walking the halls of GISH.  Jocks would only talk to jocks, high-crotches only talked to high-crotches, heads were hanging with the heads, etc.  Drove me crazy as I had lots of people I wanted to talk to and I didn't care what crowd they had hung with but that's not how things went down.  I've talked to people from other schools and I'm told that is pretty typical.  Dumb is what it is.

We have had 4 die since we moved back to Grand Island 9 years ago that have obits published in the local paper.  Another one soon as he is battling inoperable cancer and has already exceeded time doc gave him. 

Overall, I think we are hanging pretty well.  There are lots of us registered on classmates (about 180 last time I went there), if that's any indication.

Virginia

[Mojo]

Dang Dennis, that seems pretty high. I am a 76 graduate and I believe we may have lost just a couple. Our class size was about the same as yours. But then we were all good Catholics living good clean lives in Michigan. Maybe the cold weather preserved our bodies. Must be the Texan lifestyle
( heathens ) and the boiling temperatures in the Lonestar State are not good for you.....:)

I guess I lost track of time and didn't realize next year is our 40th. Yee Gad's........:(

Chris

[mike802]

Wow you guys have a long way to go to catch up to my class, we only have 40 left!  But than again, we only started with 40.

[gene]

1200 in my graduation class. Split into middle class and lower class.

I think I may have been the only one from the lower class to go to college.

Went to the 10 year anniversary. Only about 50 people there.

I would think the middle class folks would be the only ones motivated to have class reunions but I would also think that they would feel obligated to invite the lower class folks.

This may be why there haven't been any other reunions. Unless I happen to be the only one out of 1200 still alive?!?

gene

[gene]

On second thought, maybe I'm the only one out of the 1200 who is not getting an invitation?!?

gene

[bobbin]

2 of the people I liked most are now dead.  I've maintained a few contacts (mostly teachers) and as they've died off I have to say that, generally speaking, I really don't care 2 straws about my high school years.  It was OK, but OK is enough to tell me that those years were little more than the excavation for NOW.  Any desire to retread that lonely, isolated path?  I don't think so. 

[sofadoc]

2 of the people I liked most are now dead.  I've maintained a few contacts (mostly teachers) and as they've died off I have to say that, generally speaking, I really don't care 2 straws about my high school years.  It was OK, but OK is enough to tell me that those years were little more than the excavation for NOW.  Any desire to retread that lonely, isolated path?  I don't think so. 

I'm really not into reunions either. But I did find the stats from our high school class intriguing. Of the 300+ that I graduated with, I would estimate that nearly half never moved away. I still see them around town all the time. The rest are either passed, or have seemingly dropped off the face of the Earth.

I enjoyed my days in high school. But the day I walked out for the last time, I never looked back. I didn't even attend my graduation ceremony. Just wasn't interested in killing a whole evening.

[NDAV8R]

Class of 1974. We had 133. I was chairman of the 30year class reunion. So far about 12 to 15 are gone now. We may never know since some move away without ever making contact again. Never had a formal 40 year reunion. Now our High School will have an All 70's reunion in 2016 since numbers are dropping.
  Weird about reunions is the people will return from thousands of miles away, while most of the local classmates who stayed in town never show up to the event.
  I never left town and have attended every one.

Ndav8r

[Mike]

there is a FB page for my hometown kids that left to early  a lot I never knew from classes after me 1978
but I havnt seen a name from my class yet ive never gone to a reunion busy with life snf I never heard about them pre internet even  though I was a state away I didn't have a large group of friends