Lee High School - Huntsville Alabama Alumni

Evelyn "Poochie" Parker London

Class of '65

Nov. 5, 1946 - April 20, 2008

Published in The Huntsville Times on 4/22/2008

Our beloved wife and mother, Evelyn Parker London, 61, of Huntsville went to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Sunday. In our sorrow and grief, we are still joyous and victorous because she trusted Jesus. Evelyn was previously employed with GTE Automatic Electric and Chi-Ho. She is survived by her husband, David London Jr.; daughter and son-in-law, Frances and Rob Freese; son, David London III; mother, Marguerite L. Parker; father, Douglas J. Parker; brother, Milton F. Parker; sister and brother-in-law, Donna and Earl Battle; two nieces, Maggie and Todd Reynolds and Karen Battle; a great-niece; a great-nephew; and uncle, Milton R. and Callie Lockmiller. Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Berryhill Funeral Home. A graveside service will be conducted at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Maple Hill Cemetery with Bro. Stanley Tucker officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Jackson Way Baptist Church.

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Hanging with

The Hatchers

by Tommy Towery

Class of '64

When Gary Hatcher, Class of '66 and wife Sharon Pickett Hatcher, Class of '66, called me up last week and invited Sue and me to dinner, I had no idea we'd be cruising past Graceland in a Pink Cadillac Limousine. Yet, there we were...limo driver and all, headed for Marlowe's Ribs and Restaurant.

Turns out Gary was in town for an FAA meeting and he and Sharon drove to Memphis in their RV, parking it in the Heartbreak Hotel RV Park. He had called and invited us down so we met him at his rolling palace and was shocked to see that our ride for the night was a "very" pink limo.

Gary and I only met at one of the mini-reunions a few years ago and were not buddies at Lee. You'd never know it now. We both retired from the Air Force and besides the halls of Lee, we had that in common. As we ate on ribs and Bar-B-Q chicken, Sharon and Sue talked over the pros and cons of the Military Tri-Care for Life medical plan and kids and grandkids. A lot of the evening was spent talking about traveling to various places.

Over the course of the evening I found out that both Gary and Sharon moved to Lee late in their high school careers. I also found out that they will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in May. Way to go!

Another interesting subject of the evening was about the yearly trips they both make to Mexico to build houses for the underprivileged. They drive down to San Antonio, then cross the border at Eagle Pass and each year their church group builds a home for a family. I thought that was a very honorable thing to do.

Gary is still with the FAA but they are both looking forward to retirement and a chance to use the RV more and make frequent trips to their other place up by Ft. Payne.

The evening passed fast - almost as quick as the plate of appetizers of fried green tomatos, hush puppies, chicken tenders and fried pickles. We passed on the dessert! I hope they get a chance to visit again and have the time to let us show them the secrets of Memphis.

As always, there's an open invitation for any of you who happen to pass this way to give us a call for a get together. As for Gary and Sharon, all I can say is "Thank ya, very much!"

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Last Week's Baby Boomer's

Telephone Trivia Challenge

Polly Gurley Redd, Class of '66 - That was fun to do. I was impressed with my score of 8. I had forgotten the difference between the Trimline and the Princess until I saw your pictures. Thanks for your hard work to give us a reminder of our past.

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Linda Beal Walker, Class of '66 - I scored 9 on the telephone trivia. I didn't know the name of the group in the first question. After 25 1/2 years with South Central Bell/AT&T, I knew the phone styles - trimline and princess. I even remember the brief form that described them on service orders. I did enjoy "Because They're Young" by Duane Eddy at the beginning of the video.

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Charlie Hancock, Class of '66 - I got 7 right. I started feeling pretty confident then it slid downhill fast. I never saw the Liz Taylor movie. I just missed the other 2 questions.Good trivia challenge!

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Jim Myrick, Class of '66 - Tommy, great job on the Boomer Telephone trivia. Got 8 out of the ten right. Keep up the great work. It is much appreciated.

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Alice A. Brigman, Class of '64 - Tommy, I missed two of the questions. That was a great telephone quiz.

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Joy Rubins Morris, Class of '64 - I loved your idea. I had to go way back and even played it twice to jog my memory. Believe it or not, I acutally got nine out of ten. I missed the first one and knew seven of the others. That is when I went back and replayed the questions and really just guessed at the other two. You do such a terrific job and I truly appreciate all that you do. You are an amazing person and we are so very lucky that you were and are a part of our lives.

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Sarajane Steigerwald Tarter, Class of '65 - I'm sure my father would have expected me to score 10 out of 10 on your telephone challenge since he thought during my high school years that a telephone was just an extension of my head. If I wasn't on the phone I was listening to music. Unfortunately the old mind didn't live up to my father's expectations and I only scored 6 out of the 10.

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ADVICE FROM AN OLD TENNESSEE MOUNTAIN MAN

submitted by Dianne Hughy McClure, Class of '64

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

Words that soak into your ears are whispered... not yelled.

Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

You cannot unsay a cruel, or unkind word.

Every path has a few puddles.

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

The best sermons are lived, not preached.

Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

Don't judge folks by their relatives.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back,

you'll enjoy it a second time.

Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with,

watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from

bad judgment.

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

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Subject:Alabama Song

J.R. Brooks

Class of '64

I have an Alabama story. In 1967, I was part of an American student exchange program in Budapest, Hungary which at the time was very hard line communist country. We stayed in a youth hostel along with many students from around the world, most of whom were studying in communist countries. One night, there was a dance with a band playing in the hostel basement. The band did not know very many songs. In fact, it only knew one slow song, “Stars Fell On Alabama” which it played at least 6 or 7 times that evening.

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Subject:Alabama Song

Sarajane Steigerwald Tarter

Class of '65

I also have a story about Alabama songs. Several years ago I did a presentation in Ethiopia to about a dozen men who worked for their Department of Education. On the last day we were all eating lunch in the courtyard and the men suddenly stood up and broke into song singing 'I come from Alabama With a Banjo on my knee'. They were so pleased that the missionaries who taught them as children to speak and read in English had also taught them American songs and that they still remembered all the words!

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(Editor's Note: Talk about weird...in the last two days, I heard "Oh! Susanna" twice. Once yesterday while watching an old Bat Masterson rerun on Encore Westerns, and the other time was, of all places, while watching "Platoon" today. If you don't remember, "Oh! Susanna" is the real title for the song that starts out, "Oh, I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee.")

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Subject:Bleacher Bum Photo

Steve Craig

Class of '71

Rrussell Pass- thanks for the photo of the bleacher bums- what memories that brought back.

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Subject:Bleacher Photo

Lynne Berry

Class of '7o

Thanks so much for doing this. PLEASE add me to your email list. It was the photo of all the guys with their shirts off in the April 21 issue that did it!

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