Brownsville High graduates display class over the years

It was, as reunions go, an exercise in endurance -- a poignant four-day marathon down Memory Lane for Brownsville High School graduates.

"This is great, so many wonderful people and a lot of good memories," Larry A. Franks (Class of 1965) said as he waved his hand in the direction of the more than 300 alumni gathered on the spacious and scenic picnic grounds of Bakewell Post 904 of The American Legion in West Brownsville.

"Naturally, you see some people on a regular basis, those who still live here, but this event is special because it brings together people from across the country."

Franks, who owns and operates a real estate agency that carries his name and still makes his home in Brownsville, was obviously delighted with the celebration involving BHS classes from multiple graduating years. The unique reunion, the brainchild of Pat Purcell (1958), began 11 years ago. This year's festivities included the annual Brownsville Community Picnic at Kennywood and a casual gathering at Purcell's home on Thursday; the Picnic On The Mon on Friday, a traditional dinner at the American Legion on Saturday, and a Sunday breakfast at the home of Woody Davis in Grindstone.

"Are they having a good time?" Purcell smiled in responding to a question from a non-graduate visitor at the picnic. "Look for yourself. They look forward to being here. It's a lot of work, but the response and their reactions, the enjoyment, is worth the effort."

Purcell, a gregarious dynamo who could give the Energizer Bunny a run for his money, then excused himself to check on food and refreshments as the disc jockey played "You're A Thousand Miles Away" by the Heartbeats, a classic oldies song from 1956.

Dr. Michael L. McNulty and his wife, Dr. Darlene Mitchell McNulty, traveled nearly the distance mentioned in the song to attend the festivities. The McNultys are 1959 graduates, she from Brownsville High and he from Bentleyville High School, and live in Iowa City, Iowa.

"It took us about 14 hours," Michael said of the 720-mile journey in their SUV. "We have family along the way, so we stopped a few times. But we were eager to be here."

Others who made long-distance journeys expressed similar sentiments.

"I took my time and (the trip) was OK," said William L. "Willie" Byrd, a 1948 Brownsville graduate who has lived in Baltimore for 40 years. "I'm not up to making those long drives anymore, but I wouldn't miss this for anything."

Byrd, 78, is a cousin of Lenora Byrd (Class of '58), of LaBelle, who helps Purcell with the preparations and production of the reunion. A former coal miner who also enjoyed a long career with Westinghouse Corp., he relaxed at one of the picnic pavilion benches with his aunt, Eunice Byrd (Lenora's mother), 87, of LaBelle. Adding to the family touch was Chantay Lindsey, Lenora's daughter who lives in Virginia.

"(Eunice) is such a wonderful woman," Byrd said of his aunt, who raised him. "We're having a grand time meeting with everyone and talking about the good old days."

Lenora Byrd, a retired U.S. Army major turned author who recently published her first book, an autobiography, compiled albums for the BHS classes of 1954-1962. Replete with photographs and biographies of the graduates and past reunions, the yearbooks drew plenty of attention from the graduates.

"These are excellent," Faye Guseman Cox said as she and her husband, Jon Cox, perused the 1957 album. "There's so much information here, I could spend all day (looking) at them."

The Coxes, both 1957 graduates of Brownsville High School, live in Belle Vernon.

"We have such fond memories of our lives and times in Brownsville," said Jon Cox, a retired educator. "Brownsville was a vibrant town in those days, as were other communities in the Mon Valley. We had great times in high school and going downtown. I also remember going to The Hollywood (theater) in California for their late-night horror movies and also going shopping in Charleroi with my parents."

George Baker, a 1959 graduate and a retired Washington, D.C., police officer who lives in Lanham, Md., and his wife, the former Mary Bagley (Class of 1960), also reveled in the festive mood that prevailed at the reunion.

"We got into town about 5 o'clock, checked in (at a nearby motel) and came here," Baker smiled. "We have so many friends still in the area, and we don't get to see them as often as we'd like. This provides that opportunity in a very relaxed setting. It's a great way to sit down, walk around, listen to the oldies and bring back the memories. Nobody gets wrapped up in who traveled the farthest or who made the first reservation. It's just a lot of good food, fun and fellowship."

Jim Lynn (Class of 1966), a retired corporate (PPG Industries) attorney who specialized in international law, also pointed to the past several times. He, classmate Bill Zosky and '56 graduate Ralph Eisenhuth held court for a long time with "stories from long ago."

"There are so many good people here," said Lynn, who retired with the rank of colonel after 30 years in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1989. "It's nice because we get to see people from a variety of years, not just those with whom we graduated. It's a unique experience, one that I look forward to every year."

Lynn was the commanding officer of the 430th Replacement Company when Larry Franks and his brother-in-law, Tom Park, served in the Reserve unit in Hiller. Franks is married to Park's sister, Renee, also a 1965 graduate..

"This is a lot of fun," said Park (Class of '61), accompanied by his wife, Lee, as he quenched his thirst in the humid surroundings with a cold drink. "Larry, Jim and I and some other friends still do a lot of things together, but there's something special about seeing so many other people like this."

Judy DuMay, a 1958 graduate who works at her brother's (Dr. Bernard Dolobach) dental practice in Brownsville, agreed. She's been back home for some 19 years after living elsewhere around the United States.

"I haven't seen a lot of these people in a long time," DuMay said. "It's very enjoyable and nostalgic."

Lanie Gabriel, who received her Brownsville High School diploma in 1962, has lived in the South Park area for 45 years but looks forward to the reunions.

"I love to come back home, even though I've been away for so long," she said. "My family, for the most part, has passed, so I don't get back this way very much. I come home for funerals, but the reunion is such a happy occasion."

Gabriel's ties with Lenora Byrd run deep. Her father, the late Benny Gabriel, taught Byrd to play the guitar and, along with Ace Carlin, gave her a start in the entertainment business when she was only 16.

"My father was a very talented man, a good softball and baseball player and an excellent musician who played the piano and guitar," Lanie Gabriel said. "I can still see and hear him practicing in my grandmother's living room. It was a big deal for me to sit there and watch him."

Benny Gabriel, a coal miner by profession, also taught his daughter to drive.

"I was only 12 years old when he began giving me driving lessons," Lanie said with a fond smile. "After I got the hang of it, shifting gears, etc., he would let me drive to the store we had on the main road. It wasn't far, but it was something I'll never forget. Remember, I didn't have a driver's license, but my father had a lot of trust and confidence in me."

Her father, she emphasized, "stayed in my life, supported everything I did," until he died in 1977.

"He was the light of my life, everything a father should be," she said. "When he passed, he took my last (family) link to Brownsville with him."

Lanie left Brownsville not long after graduation to seek employment in the South Park area. That's where she met John Fleming, "a handsome and nice young man." They were married and Lanie is the mother of five children.

Gabriel lauded Lenora Byrd for her accomplishments in life.

"I'm very proud of what she has done," Gabriel said as she watched Byrd direct one of the many video interviews of graduates. "I always thought she was a special person, from the time she joined my father's band and then over the years. I followed them everywhere, up and down the Valley, from Rankin and Wilmerding to Monessen and on the Holiday Inn circuit. I have some pictures of her in her cap and gown at graduation and also from the prom, and I treasure those snapshots. We stay in touch as much as possible."

Which is what the Brownsville High School graduates are able to do, thanks to the enterprising efforts of Pat Purcell, Lenora Byrd and the others who organize and carry out the marathon. In doing so, their classes transcend time in a classy way.