Princeton High's Class of 1943 Publishes Its Book of Memories

Candace Braun

High school memories are ones many of us remember all our lives.

That's why high school sweethearts Bob and Helen Cleary have created a "Memories" book for the Princeton High School class of 1943.

Princeton seniors from 1943, some of whom are now 80 years old, had a different high school experience than most due to the effects of World War II. School days were cut in half due to rationing, intramural sports were played rather than interscholastic sports due to a lack of transportation t= o other schools, and the annual senior trip was cancelled.

In addition, the class also never had a yearbook because of financial
constraints. Consequently, Bob Cleary, vice president for the class, decided
to get together a committee to create a book of memories from his years in
high school following the class's 60th reunion at the Nassau Club last year.

The 66-page book, which was distributed in mid-December, has everything
from biographies and current photos of classmates, to the last will and
testament of what former students will leave their classmates and teachers
upon death, including an entry from Verna O'Kane and Jimmie Hopkins, who
said they would "leave their jitterbugging ability to [teachers] Mr.
Chesebro and Miss Valdisseri."

The book details what made the 1943 class special, and the memories they
shared together. Among those was the first-ever senior week at the high
school, which started when the senior trip to Washington D.C. was cancelled
due to hardships related to the war.

Instead students came together to create various activities just for the
senior class during one week in November, which included the sole-use of a
stairwell for classes, front-line priority in the cafeteria, a third-period
dance every day that week, and a day where students traded places with high
school teachers.

Another memory that Mr. Cleary said he found to be a favorite among his
classmates was the scrap drive. Freshman through seniors competed to
accumulate the largest pile of scrap metal, which was donated to the war for
reprocessing. Mr. Cleary said a lot of the metal was obtained from nearby farmers, asked to donate their scraps.

"I think there were a few instances where we didn't get permission," Mr. Cleary said with a laugh.

The Clearys said they recall their class winning every scrap drive.

Many Years Apart

It was a long time getting the high school class together after graduation, said Mr. Cleary. The first reunion was forty years later, long after many classmates had left Princeton, and even the east coast.

The class's 40th reunion was held thanks to Mary Elise Roediger Cook, who headed the first three reunions, getting in touch with former classmates that now live as close as Lawrenceville, or as far as San Diego, Calif. It was through these reunions and the phone list that Ms. Cook started that Mr. Cleary was able to create a regional phone network so that everyone could keep in touch, for large class reunions, or casual lunches with old friends.

According to Mr. Cleary, approximately 60 students from the class still live in the Princeton area, including he and his wife.

The couple, who have been married for 52 years, say their most treasured memory of high school was dating each other during senior year. Calling his wife Helen, "the love of my life and a great partner and friend," Mr. Cleary said if it had not been for the scrapbook his wife had preserved of many of their senior year memories, they may not have had enough information to put the book together.

These include a ticket stub from the senior class variety show, which was printed in the book with the original ticket price: 55 cents.

The variety show was one of Mrs. Cleary's fondest memories of senior year, which was a series of several skits put together by the seniors. The class performed the variety show rather than the usual play because many male students weren't able to put in the time for an entire show, as they were taking training classes for the war. Training for the war in high school was new to the class of 1943, as it was the first year 18-year-olds were drafted.

McCarter Theatre showed an interest in holding the show at their theatre, however for lack of funds at the time, this never came about.

Having helped teach the dance steps for the variety show, Mrs. Cleary said she was delighted to find several photos of the show while leafing through bound copies of The Tower with classmates Sybil Parnes and Muriel Schafer. The three sorted through many of the 1943 clippings and photos to find information for the memory book.

With the help of Dick Douthit, photos from the Tower were resized and touched up, and articles were retyped for publication, appearing just as they had in the newspaper.

Preserving Memories

Since its publication in December, 78 people from the class have purchased the memory book, and Mr. Cleary says he expects more. With approximately 90 people from the 192-person class still living, he said he expects about 90 percent of the existing class to purchase the book.

The Princetonian said he has also had requests from children and siblings of those in the class for the book, who want to preserve memories of their loved ones' teenage years.

This is not expected to be the last project for the Clearys. With approximately $300 left in the class treasury, the next project Mr. Cleary intends to work on is a class newsletter, which he'd like to publish twice a year. Charging only $9 to classmates for the memory books, Mr. Cleary said he was fortunate enough to receive extra funds from some classmates, which has given him money to continue memorializing the class of 1943.

"At our age, we're not in the business to build up a treasury," said Mr. Cleary.

Despite the war and the many sacrifices students made during their time in school, high school was still a time they will always look on fondly, said the Clearys.

In the words of Mr. Cleary at his 50th class reunion, the class of 1943 will be remembered as "a class with unusual spirit =8B lighthearted and fun loving for sure, yet serious-minded and strongly motivated when need be."