RHS Class of 1972 Ridgewood, NJ
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Plans for a Memorial

We dedicated a purposeful space on the evening of the reunion, and offered a meaningful display of our classmates who are no longer with us. But we realize that not everyone could attend, and the purpose of this website is to be a place where everyone can get caught up, stay in touch, and hopefully find each other, at some time, once again. That said – the video, below,  is for everyone, and is dedicated in memory of our mates.

Remembering Our Classmates and Friends

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE MEMORIAL  FROM DEB LITTLE COHN

While planning our 50th reunion, one of our goals was to create a complete, up-to-date list of our deceased classmates so that we may remember and honor them at our October 1st gathering. The last time we got together for lunch in Ridgewood in 2014, over 50 of us attended. With some improvisation, we all contributed to a list of names, right then and there, on a whiteboard in the restaurant.

Using that list and the input you provided this past year on our survey, I began tracking down death records and obituaries from around the United States. Unfortunately, we have lost several more classmates since that lunch in May of 2014, including at least two who attended the lunch.

The Ridgewood Herald is digitized on Newspapers.com and, it turns out, is a remarkable resource for searching for classmates because its extensive society pages included many wedding announcements in the ’70s and ’80s. Using it as my primary source and complementing that with ancestry.com, I not only verified names but also retrieved many obituaries and death notices. With that task completed, we could start assembling yearbook photos and designing a display. I have created a binder of obituaries in plastic sheets for all to see.

Much of our work to make this reunion a reality is performed individually and in small sub-groups – and it’s been a sheer joy. But it became apparent to all of us working on the memorial that it was taking an emotional toll, sometimes requiring we take a break and go for a walk. As of this posting, we have identified 60 classmates who have passed away in the past 50 years, nearly 10% of our graduating class. Given that we have not reached everyone, it is likely that number is even larger.

The beautiful, moving video that Chris Nilson created in memory of our classmates is, we believe, a fitting tribute to them.  Chris describes the music he chose to accompany the video this way, “The music is from a young Norwegian composer named Ola Gjeilo (pronounced Yaylo) called ‘The Crossing.’ He has written many sacred choral pieces and is one of my favorites whose vocal work we have performed in my church choir.”

The experience of creating a meaningful way to remember and honor these classmates has been sobering, reminding us of how fleeting life is. Bob Broadhurst observed, “What’s so wonderful about this presentation is these photos, which were taken at a time in our lives when we were all so full of hope for our futures. The yearbook photographer captured that look in our eyes so well.” In Chris’ words, “Life is precious, we are so fragile” and “how lucky we are to be able to get together.”

We hope you will join us at the reunion on October 1st if you are able.