Shirley Schillinger Peters (photo above) and Thomas Allison (photo below) were from the Lima High School Class of 1955. Both photos by Donna MacKenzie
With members of five class years celebrating milestone years, it was a wonderful time at the annual Lima High School Alumni Banquet on July 12 at Lima Country Club.
The 2025 Lima High Alumni Reunion was attended by around 75 to 80 people, 54 of whom graduated from the school which was open from 1919-1969. Lima merged with Honeoye Falls during the summer of 1969 to form Honeoye Falls-Lima Central School District. Lima High School, built in 1936 on College Street, became Lima Primary School and currently houses kindergarten and first-grade students of the HF-L school district.
Until 2019, the banquet celebrated the 50th anniversary class. This year’s banquet, the fourth post-COVID, celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Class of 1950, the 70th anniversary of the class of 1955, the 65th anniversary of the class of 1960, the 60th anniversary of the class of 1965 and the 55th anniversary of the class of 1970. Members of the Class of 1970 were rising seniors when the merger occurred and were invited to the annual reunion.
At the head table this year were Louise Nowak Dolliver (Class of 1946), Dana Schillinger (Class of 1949), Lucille Harvey LeFeber (Class of 1950), Howard Schillinger (Class of 1952), Marilyn Wemett Smith (Class of 1954), Thomas Allison (Class of 1955), Shirley Schillinger Peters (Class of 1955) and Karl Semmel (Class of 1957).
After welcoming remarks by Peters, Mike Hayes (Class of 1965) asked all veterans in attendance (whether they were graduates or spouses of graduates) to stand and be recognized for their service, asking each to state their name and what branch of the military they served in. Following that, the attendees recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Laurie Dechau Wolf (Class of 1969) gave the invocation prior to the buffet dinner.
Following the dinner, Peters introduced those at the head table and also the three members attending the reunion from the Class of 1970. Bob Recktenwald (Class of 1960) introduced his classmates attending the reunion and his brother John Recktenwald (Class of 1965) introduced his classmates in attendance. The class of 1965 had 10 members in attendance, the most of any class, while the Class of 1960 had five members in attendance. The class of 1961 also had five members attending the reunion while the class of 1966 also had five members attending and the class of 1968 had eight members at the reunion.
A solemn moment came when the names of those alumni who have passed since the reunion in July 2024, or whose passing was just made known to the Lima High Alumni Reunion Committee, were read aloud and a moment of silence observed for them. They are Ronald Yorks (Class of 1949), Carolyn LiFeber Brisbane (Class of 1952), Eunice Nowack Davidson (Class of 1953), Jack Reynolds (Class of 1953), Jane Whalen Schuster (Class of 1953; passed away in 2022), Elizabeth Hartman Coleman (Class of 1957; passed away in 2023), Nellie Bugbee Vaughn (Class of 1958; passed away in 2022), David Dingman (Class of 1959), Roy Slocum (Class of 1960; passed away in 2021), Sally Stevens Bunting (Class of 1964), Linda Krebbeks Close (Class of 1965), John Thomas (Class of 1966), Charles Cole (Class of 1966), Andrew Telarico (Class of 1969; passed away in 2021) and Edith Deller Willoughby (Class of 1969).
Mary Recktenwald Blazey (Class of 1958) presented the Roll Call of Classes, reading the names of those present at the reunion by class year, excepting those classes who had already been introduced either because they were at the head table or they were celebrating special anniversaries.
John Recktenwald and Sharon Neenan (Class of 1965) then spoke about the HF-L Alumni Hall of Fame which seeks to recognize graduates from Honeoye Falls High School, Lima High School and HF-L High School. Those individuals who are nominated have contributed in some way to their communities through military service, their work/employment or their volunteer work in their communities. It was emphasized that it is not an athletic hall of fame although many of the inductees were fantastic athletes during their high school years nor is it a hall of fame based on wealth or influence or power that the individual may have held or currently holds. Individuals who are nominated should have at least three letters of support and the Alumni Hall of Fame committee goes through each nominee’s file and votes on whether to admit that nominee. Nominee names are then submitted to district administration and the board of education. Inductees are celebrated during HF-L’s Fall Weekend activities and are formally inducted into the Hall of Fame during a ceremony that is usually right after the Fall Weekend football game. There will be seven people inducted during Fall Weekend activities on September 27, 2025 and they include one Lima High graduate, Fred Nowack (Class of 1948). He will be the 40th Lima High graduate in the Alumni Hall of Fame.
The evening closed with a Treasurer’s Report of the Alumni Reunion Committee, a 50/50 drawing, the singing of Lima High’s Alma Mater and God Bless America.
The Alumni Reunion Committee is also seeking information on the whereabouts of several alumni. They are Marlin Icenogle (Class of 1953), Delores Gilbert (Class of 1961), Nick Fair (Class of 1965), Stephen Klitgord (Class of 1965), Robert K. Smith (Class of 1965), Patricia Harris (Class of 1966), Jacqueline Ostrander (Class of 1967) and Donald Krebbeks (Class of 1969).
