The Class of 1961

On June 25th, 1961 we met for the last time as a group to attend our graduation from Levittown Memorial High School. For some, it was not the end of our schooling. College classes would begin in September. Others got married directly after graduation and many went into the work force or the armed services. A number of our classmates did a tour of duty in Viet Nam. Amazingly we did not lose any of those who served over there. Although the majority did not go on to college directly after graduation, it's interesting to note that a great many pursued higher education years after graduation.

Today we are a diverse group. We are spread out over this country. We have teachers, secretaries, doctors, lawyers, business owners, writers, actors, stock brokers, pilots, firemen, realtors, nurses, artists, and law enforcement officers- just to name a few fields- among our ranks. Many are retired, but there are still a good many who continue to work. If we counted up our combined grandchildren, they could probably fill our old school. We have at least one great-grandparent. One of our members has seventeen grandchildren. Some of our classmates have been married for forty five years. We are only a few years away from our fiftieth reunion. Sadly, some of our group have passed away. They continue to live on in our hearts.

Unlike our own children who learned computer skills in high school, we had no such training. It's incredible to think that so many sixty something folks are online and communicating with old friends. Technology has brought us closer together. I trust that it will continue to do so. There are still missing classmates. Each year that number goes down as we find a few more. I hope that the coming year will bring more of us back to the fold.

It is interesting to see where we have settled across the country. The states with a red c (for classmate) on them are those that have classmates in residence. In addition to these states we have Barbara O'Connell Lawrence living in Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands and Doug Greener in Israel. The majority of the class still lives in the state of New York and many of those remain on Long Island. Some of them are snow birds who spend winters in Florida. Some day I will count up how many classmates live in each state. But that's another day.

Submitted by Kathy LoMedico Polcari from our school newspaper
(Spotlight) June 9, 1961