Famed artist Pablo Picasso was in his 60s when asked about the significance of age.
“Age only matters when you are aging,” he responded. “Now that I’m at a great age, I might just as well be 20!”
Tell that to the Davis High Class of 1942. They’ll chuckle. Life’s been good, they’ll say, although old age is not for sissies! Jean E. will say with a smile, “Seems our lives are spent going to doctors – and buying pills!”
But what memories….and friendships they share. The Class of 1942 contained all the graduates in the county. They were seniors when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, giving most of the boys an early invitation to join Uncle Sam. For over 60 years, the class has held reunions every five years. And with over half of the men and women still alive (169 of the 307 graduates), many of the 85-year olds meet in Utah to tell stories of riding the Bamburger electric train to school or winning the state basketball championship, or shenanigans that went unobserved and unpunished.
They are part of what Tom Brokaw called “the greatest generation.” They weren’t cogs in a system, but rather architects of the lives their children and grandchildren now enjoy.
Spencer H. operated a private school and practiced law…Golda taught high school for 30 years…Alice was an airplane riveter during the war, but later sold real estate and traveled to Africa, Siberia, Fiji, China, and Peru…June spent her career at a bank…Vivien split time as a farmer and a police officer…
LaMar served the postal system…May was a professor and later ran two marathons…Daryl, injured in the Battle of the Bulge, made a career in public relations and sales for an airline…Stuart worked as an air traffic controller…Charlie started a successful sheet metal business.
They had their share of sorrows and disappointments. Margaret’s father died just months after she graduated and her husband passed away several years later…Noriene lost her leg in a traffic accident…Many grieve over deaths of parents, spouses, and children.
But they fought through and prospered. They found delight in friendships and faith and family. Some, like Maxine, enjoy “just puttering around”, others like Alice have begun new professional careers (at 78 she applied at Zions Bank and is now the company’s oldest employee).
They give credit to their teachers, with one building a cabin by remembering the skills he learned in his high school wood shop. They give credit to their parents, with William D. recalling that his father didn’t have money for toys, but taught him “how to work, to be responsible and to get happiness from helping others.”
So Picasso may have been right. We’re all at a great age. One unnamed member of the Class of ’42 put it bluntly, “I’m 85, my husband and I have had a wonderful 67 years together – and it gets better every day!”
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