Niles Class of 1938 celebrates 75th anniversary
Published 7:19 pm Tuesday, September 24, 2013
The Niles High School Class of 1938 members gather for their 75th reunion at Brentwood at Niles Tuesday. Pictured are: Anne Brelowski, Keith Hamrick, Genevieve Hamilton, Adah (Steiner) Goodhand, Madesta (DePoy) Robinson, Marion (Bessemer) Wedel, Margaret Peterson, Marg Brown and Richard Wurz. Donna Ochenryder, seated, helped with the program but is not a member of the class. Leader photo/CRAIG HAUPERT
Life was very different when Anne Mary (Hradel) Brelowski was a senior at Niles High School in 1938.
Milk cost around 23 cents a gallon and you could get a new car for about $760 on average.
It was the year when Orson Welles broadcast “The War of the Worlds” on national radio. The beach ball was also invented in 1938.
“It’s hard to believe it was that long ago,” said Brelowski, one of nine graduates of the Class of ’38 who met for their 75th reunion Tuesday at Brentwood at Niles.
They enjoyed lunch provided by Brentwood and caught up with each other.
Brelowski, 92, serves as the historian for her class, keeping tabs of her classmates and records of past reunions.
She said 185 people graduated from Niles High School in 1938. There were 186, she said, when the year began, but senior Kurt Crandall died prior to graduating.
The last time the class met was for their 60th reunion, which was held at the Pickwick Place Aug. 15, 1998.
Brelowski said at that time there were still 45 living members from the class. She isn’t sure how many are alive today.
Members of the Class of 1938 attending were: Brelowski, Keith Hamrick, Genevieve Hamilton, Adah (Steiner) Goodhand, Madesta (DePoy) Robinson, Marion (Bessemer) Wedel, Margaret Peterson, Marg Brown and Richard Wurz.
