Holy Trinity Grade School 1

Holy Trinity Grade School Class of 1955

50th Class Reunion - September 24, 2005

On Saturday, September 24, 2005, 20 members of the Holy Trinity Grade School of Columbia, PA met at the Knights of Columbus, 4th & Maple Streets in Columbia, celebrating 50 years since our graduation, for an evening of dinner and sharing our memories and memorabilia.

The overall class size was 36, with 3 members deceased and 3 more lost to follow-up (see below). Some of us had not seen each other since leaving grade school because, for one, we went to different high schools.

This page includes pictures of the past and of the Reunion, as well as some historical information. There is also an abbreviated movie (mpeg format) from the DVD of that evening.

First Holy Communion at the Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Columbia, PA (1949)

6th Grade Class at Holy Trinity Grade School, Sister Maria Sponsa, O.S.F. (1952-53)
All (L-R):
Top Row (standing): Susan M. Kaufhold, John J. Dinkel, Frederick W. Motter (Jr.), Peter E. Zipp (Jr.), James J. Resch, John J. Kennedy III, Oscar J. Foreman, and Theresa M. Herman.
Next Row (standing): Samuel G. Rineer (Jr.), Lawrence R. Schell, Arthur J. Fasig, Thelma J. Hamaker, Mary Ellen Weisser, Dorothy S. Golden, Patricia A. Yohe, Robert L. Wickenheiser, Bernard J. Wickenheiser, George P. Mackey, Robert J. Pelen, and Ralph J. Brommer.
Middle Front Row (sitting): Margaret J. Shive, Mildred E. Fischer, Janet M. Segro, Lucretia C. Schinzing, Bernard S. Myers, Brenda J. Broich, Margaret Ann Dailey, and Mary Ann Resch.
Front Row (boys, kneeling): Stephen E. Reehl, Thomas D. Fry, Richard J. Fischer, James E. Howe, Arthur W. Groft, and Robert H. Zercher.
Missing: Ronald J. Fischer.

Pictures of 50th Class Reunion, September 24, 2005 (ID's, as above)

The Roster:

(?) = Lost to follow-up

Comparative costs of living, when we were born, entered first grade, graduated eighth grade, and at the time of the Reunion:

Bios of four of our nuns (covering grades 4 through 8):

The 50th Reunion DVD (abridged).

Click on box below to view/download shortened version of the DVD of the Reunion material; downloading ("Save") is recommended, for less "choppy" viewing. This is also a very large *.mpg file, which may take several minutes to load.

"Duck and Cover" Civil Defense Movie, from the era of ducking under our grade school desks if the A-bomb hit, is in the National Archives and available through Google at:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1528313029232126903&pr=goog-sl

Ralph J. Brommer, Jr.

November 15, 1941 - June 20, 2008

It is with sadness that the Holy Trinity Grade School Class of 1955 and Lancaster Catholic High School Class of 1959 notes the passing of Ralph. He had been ill for some time and declined to attend our 50th Reunion in 2005 because of his difficulties, including the need for oxygen.

He was always well-liked by all in the class. Being the two shortest in our grade school class, he and I always led the processions of our class at church. In high school, he liked to sit in the back of the school bus, so he could carry on in his impish ways!

Because of the Tragesser connection (his maternal grandmother), he and I were third cousins, a fact of which he was likely unaware.

Here are excerpts from the Lancaster New Era (June 24, 2008):