Dana Schillinger (Class of 1949) celebrated the 75th anniversary of his graduation from Lima High at the Alumni Reunion. Photo by Donna MacKenzie
Good times, good friends and good food were all found at the annual Lima High School Alumni Banquet on July 13 at Lima Country Club.
The 2024 Alumni Reunion banquet was attended by around 75 people, 49 of them who graduated from the school which was open from 1919 to 1969. Lima merged with Honeoye Falls during the summer of 1969 to form Honeoye Falls-Lima Central School District. Until 2019, the banquet celebrated the 50th anniversary class. This third banquet post-COVID celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Class of 1949, the 70th anniversary of the Class of 1954 and the 65th anniversary of the Class of 1959.
At the head table this year were Dana Schillinger (Class of 1949), Richard (Dick) Garey and Beverly Miller Slocum (Class of 1954) and Norm Caccamise and David Swartz (Class of 1959). Marilyn Wemett Smith (Class of 1954) was also originally going to attend, but was unable to because of illness.
After welcoming remarks from Schillinger, Roy Moses (Class of 1964) recognized the several military veterans in attendance, asking each to stand and state what branch of service they were in. Moses then led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Laurie Dechau Wolf (Class of 1969) gave the invocation prior to the buffet dinner.
Following the dinner, Shirley Franskavish Caccamise (Class of 1960) introduced those at the head table and those who chose to do so took the microphone to make some remarks. A solemn moment came when the names of those alumni who have passed since the reunion in July 2023 were read aloud. They are Onalee White Mack (Class of 1936), Mary Jane Hendrick Culotta (Class of 1937), Helen DeCamp Annis (Class of 1945), Margaret Adams Burse (Class of 1948), Mary Louise Chatterton Junot (Class of 1948), Pauline Menz Shaheen (Class of 1948), Bruce Storke (Class of 1953), Liz Reynolds Grube (Class of 1957), Rita Tubbs Simpson (Class of 1957), Frank Reynolds (Class of 1960), Henry Gibson (Class of 1961), Sue Gray O’Grady (Class of 1964), Ann Reynolds (Class of 1964) and Megan Doran (Class of 1967).
Mary Recktenwald Blazey (Class of 1958) then presented the Roll Call of Classes, reading the names of those present at the reunion by class year. Schillinger was from the oldest class represented (1949) followed by Howard Schillinger (Class of 1952). The Class of 1968 had the most alumni attending with eight, followed by the Class of 1965 with six members and the Class of 1960 and Class of 1966 with five alumni each.
Class of 1965 members Sharon Dechau Neenan and John Recktenwald talked about the HF-L Alumni Hall of Fame which accepts nominations for graduates from Honeoye Falls High, Lima High and HF-L High School for induction each year during Fall Weekend. This year, there were no nominees from Lima High and both urged the attendees, that if they thought that a graduate should be recognized, to nominate them. To date, 39 members of the Hall of Fame are Lima High graduates with nine of those present at the banquet this year. Those 39 Hall of Fame members are Josephine Green (Class of 1930), Joseph Hogan (Class of 1933), Jane Decker Barnard (Class of 1934), Vernon Gillette (Class of 1936), Vincent Peter Tollis (Class of 1938), Charles Richard McNeilly (Class of 1939), Michael Hogan (Class of 1943), Kenneth Mix (Class of 1943), Louise Nowack Dolliver (Class of 1946), Raymond Davison (Class of 1947), Alfred Carmen Gillette (Class of 1948), Dana Schillinger (Class of 1949), Ronald Yorks (Class of 1949), Donald Conner (Class of 1950), Louise Perry Stanford (Class of 1950), Donald Barrett (Class of 1952), Maryanna Sage Garling (Class of 1952), Patricia Gayle Schillinger Barrett (Class of 1952), William Harvey (Class of 1953), James Slocum (Class of 1953), David Conner (Class of 1954), Roger Sherman (Class of 1955), John Papietro (Class of 1958), Mary Recktenwald Blazey (Class of 1958), Norman Caccamise (Class of 1959), Tom Reynolds (Class of 1959), Shirley Franskavish Caccamise (Class of 1960), Frank Reynolds (Class of 1960), Jack Tubbs (Class of 1961), Margaret Briggs (Class of 1965), Sharon Dechau Neenan (Class of 1965), John Neenan (Class of 1965), John Recktenwald (Class of 1965), Theodore Wiggins (Class of 1965), Pat Reynolds (Class of 1966), Rose Reynolds (Class of 1967), Carl Luft (Class of 1968), Gary Krest (Class of 1969) and Karen Krupp-Tremer (Class of 1969).
The evening closed with a 50-50 drawing and the singing of Lima High’s Alma Mater and God Bless America.
Lima High’s Alumni Committee is seeking information on the whereabouts of several alumni. They are Monica Tubbs Scheuring (Class of 1933), Nancy Osborne (Class of 1937), Esther Lloyd Freyermuth (Class of 1937), William Nordenbrook (Class of 1941), Eleanor Sherman Bush (Class of 1942), Kenneth Slocum (Class of 1948), Ruth Barber Deck (Class of 1950), Robert Morrison (Class of 1955), Donald King (Class of 1955), Beverly Hanna Sawyer (Class of 1957), Nellie Bugbee Vaughn (Class of 1958), S. Barnhart (Class of 1960), Gail Shutt Berger (Class of 1960), Patricia Farley (Class of 1960), Barbara Dubbs Bowman (Class of 1961), Kenneth Clark (Class of 1961), Thelma Marie Barnhart (Class of 1962), Anita Gibson Sprague (Class of 1963), Dennis Buckley (Class of 1964), Frederick Hegeman (Class of 1964), Douglas Kirkpatrick (Class of 1964), John Long (Class of 1964), Nancy Simmons Semmel (Class of 1964), Sally Stevens Bunting (Class of 1964), Nick Fair (Class of 1965), Herbert Meyers (Class of 1965), Rose Marie Cyr Hackett (Class of 1966), David Nowak (Class of 1966), Sandra Peterson (Class of 1966), Ann Edwards Smith (Class of 1966), Jacqueline Ostrander (Class of 1967), Carolyn Davis (Class of 1968), Joan Davis (Class of 1968), Mary Dierks Eidman (Class of 1968), Larry Cummings (Class of 1969), Teresa Roykouff Peterson (Class of 1969), Andrew Telerico (Class of 1969) and Edith Willoughby (Class of 1969).
The next reunion will be July 12, 2025 at Lima Country Club.
