Death of a classmate

Clarinda, IA 81º - 86% humidity.  Pretty muggy.   --  Click on pictures to enlarge.
     Got word yesterday that Carolyn Downin Ellis had passed away. 

    I went to rural elementary school - Lower Lodi, north of Oconto, NE.   This had been one of the last 10-grade country schools in Custer County, but at the time I graduated 8th grade there were only 8 grades.  There were just two in my grade, myself and our neighbor girl Carolyn Downin.  She is second from left, just below the teacher, in the photo at right, which I am guessing was taken in early to mid 1950's.

From this 1970 newspaper article, showing the gathering (I think the last) at this rural school - lower left shows myself, ex-teacher Valaire Robinson, Norman Downin (Carolyn's younger brother) and Carolyn Downin.

Though this does not show Carolyn, it shows my mother, Pearl Miles (at left in front of blackboard) and next to her is Carolyn's mother Elsie Downin.  I believe Katie West is beside Elsie.  This was the last day of school dinner in 1959 according to label of the photo at Lower Lodi rural school.  We would have been in high school in Callaway, NE at that time, but I assume my younger sister was in grade school here.  My mother telephoned Elsie Downin at least every couple days for many years, until Mom's death in 1986.  This area of the sand-hills was sparsely populated and they kept in touch by phone.

 Carolyn is the third from left of the ladies standing in this 50-Year Reunion of our Callaway High School in 2011.  While there were just the two of us in our grade at Lower Lodi School, we were in a class of 30 (I think) when graduated from High School in Callaway.
We were never real close, but she was my only classmate that was with me through all of grade  school and we had kept in touch occasionally over the years.  I had called her several years on her birthday - she was from March 16th to June 10th older than me - to see if the extra year was making any difference.  We stopped at her and Jim's house near Cambridge, NE several years ago.  At home, in Custer County she lived just east of us and  closest neighbor with her brother Norman and parents Morris and Elsie Downin  just "over-the-hill" though it was maybe a mile by road. 

We visited her brother Norman, who still lives on the home place, at the end of June when we attending the all-school reunion.  He runs a lot of cattle and was working with them the day we were there.  He is in picture at right in this "selfie".


My oldest brother, Roger called last evening saying Norman had called him and asked we be notified.  Said the funeral is going to be next Wednesday.  Wish we weren't scheduled to be on way to Michigan to visit our daughter over the Labor Day weekend, would try to make the drive to central Nebraska.

Today is Tuesday, August 26, 2014, and I just received 3 photos of Carolyn from her husband Jim.  He said Carolyn loved butterflies and these were taken at a butterfly shop in Florida - At right is Carolyn and her husband Jim Ellis.

More later, Lynn