History in the Making

Was home on Sunday then after I took Deb to work on Tuesday headed out again. I've been really great at taking care of her since her foot surgery. We'd had this weekend at Kalaloch planned for a long time, and one of the agreements was I'd be able to leave early, drive to the Puget Sound area and visit with some family and friends before going down to Kalaloch. Among other things was a chance to visit with some of my High School Classmates.

Our 50th Reunion was this summer. In fact, it occurred the Saturday following our summer camping trip to Kalaloch. However, I over did it at the ocean, and could hardly walk from the car to the house when we came back to Rochester, so missed the Reunion. Fortunately, the class has a monthly Luncheon in Tacoma and I asked Karen K. if they would mind doing it on October 20th or 21st when I was in town. Of course, she set it up, and on Thursday the 21st we met at Oscars in Tacoma. WOW!!!!! What a great opportunity for me.

Now for a short segue. Our elementary school was Edgemont, which ran through the eighth grade. From there, we could go to one of four High Schools. I chose Sumner since it had the best reputation for academics. Thus, many of my Sumner High Classmates were of a special subgroup who had also attended Edgemont. As I walked in, the first three people had already arrived, and two were Edgemont grads as well. So I immediately caught up on not only high school but grade school friends as well.

We recalled many of the teachers we had, and one in particular was remembered -- Miss Wilson, Miss Ida Mae Wilson, teacher of State History among other classes. Ida Mae was very emphatic about the Miss. A spinster well past the age of marrying (38 in olde England), she had become a legend at Sumner Senior High by the time I attended. As State History was a mandatory course, everyone who went through high school had Miss Wilson for a teacher. As we wondered how old she really was, I shared with those at the table the following:

Miss Wilson had taught my mother State History in 1935. And before that, she had taught my Great Uncle Jim Calvert State History when he attended Sumner High School in 1919. Allowing for at least twenty-two years of schooling before she could teach, she must have been born prior to 1897.

She of course knew Washington State History better than anyone. I recall one of the things she was emphatic about was the pronunciation of the Nez Perce tribe which populated Eastern Washington. Today they call themselves Nez Perce (purse). Miss Wilson used the pronunciation from the early French Trappers who named them for their pierced noses -- Nez Perce (per-say) with the accented last "E". One has to wonder how many students she taught over the years -- must guess something nearing 2000. Wow, that lady impacted a lot of lives.