DALE HUFFMAN
COMMENTARY
Old Steele High School was a beauty of a building with arches and turrets; it was four stories tall and inside it was constructed mostly of wood. In another age, it stood proudly at the intersection of Main Street and Monument Avenue in downtown Dayton near the Great Miami River.
The school was fondly remembered during conversation on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at a reunion of former graduates of the school, and a few of their friends, during a lunch at the Kohler Banquet Center, 4572 Presidential Way in Kettering.
About 40 former students, devoted to the historic school that was built in 1891 and razed in the late 1940s, gathered for what was billed as “the final class reunion.”
They are in their 80s now, and many are dealing with the ongoing challenges that accompany age.
But they are the remaining few of thousands who graduated from those hallowed halls, and the gathering was festive, alive with conversation, memories and laughs.
Marjorie Stanley, of the Class of 1939, said alumni of Steele have been getting together, once a year, for about 50 years. “We figure this is the last official reunion,” she said. “There comes a time when all good things must end.”
Stanley, who worked on the committee to arrange the farewell reunion acted as emcee for the event and warmly greeted fellow graduates with a prayer: “Lord, we feel it is a blessing that we could be together. May we have a good life ahead filled with happiness and contentment.”
Ruth Rankin, a graduate of the Class of 1940, the final group to graduate, said she was pleased to be at the reunion. She reminded others that, “I had 12 years perfect attendance when I picked up my diploma from Steele even though I worked part time at McCrory’s Five and Dime downtown to make extra money.”
Cookie Bucher, whose father was a graduate of Steele, said she felt like a fish out of water. “I graduated from Stivers,” she said. “We were Steele’s No. 1 rival, especially on the football field. We all remember when we would sneak over and paint the Steele Lion with paint before the annual big game.”
She added, “We are all survivors. I am pleased to join the Steele grads since my dad played football for Steele. This is a lovely occasion.”
Jack Lewis, one of the reunion committee members and a Class of 1939 graduate, was on the Steele football team in his senior year.
“We had a principal named J.W. “Willie” Holmes,” Lewis remembered. “He had a forceful personality and I remember when he rode on the bus with the football team to our games, so we wouldn’t be too rowdy.”
Holmes was so important to Lewis that when he went into military service, and joined what became the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942 during World War II, “I sought out Mr. Holmes to tell him I had joined the Army. I remember he said he was very proud of me.”
Conversation drifted from conjecture on how many graduates of Steele gave the supreme sacrifice in the war to how many of the girl students sewed and created their own dresses for school in that age.
Nilah Lewis, Class of 1939, and wife of Jack Lewis, remembered “riding to school every day in a rattle-trap trolley car.” She added, “We had wonderful times in that old school. All of us were prepared to handle life ahead of us. And we are also proud of all the Steele graduates who have contributed to Dayton’s history.”
Among those remembered was Katherine Wright, the famous sister of Wilbur and Orville Wright, inventors of powered flight.
“She not only graduated from Steele, but she came back as a schoolteacher after graduating from Oberlin College in 1898,” Stanley said. “She taught classic literature and Latin until she took a leave after Orville was injured in an airplane accident in 1908. From then on, she took care of family business.”
Near the end of the meeting, Stanley invited the graduates to join in singing the old school fight song. It was a melancholy moment, as around the room the members helped each other stand and get their balance, and several faintly sang while others just hummed a verse that began, “Cheer for Steele High School. Hail her bright name. Down through the ages her name will forever remain ...”
Dale Huffman wants your suggestions and story ideas. He’d like to share a story about you, your family, or a friend. This column is for you. Send e-mail to dhuffman@DaytonDailyNews.com or write to Dale at 1611 S. Main St. Dayton, OH 45409. Fax: (937) 225-2489. Phone: (937) 225-2272.
About the Author