‘A class of friends’: University High School class of ‘67 celebrates 57th reunion

In 1967, answering machines, athletic bras and automatic car windows debuted. Jimi Hendrix performed at the first Monterey Pop Festival and Aretha Franklin released her enduring hit “Respect.”

In Spokane Valley, the fourth graduating class of University High School received their diplomas.

Fifty-seven years later, members of the class of ’67 will gather for what has become a yearly reunion.

“It seems impossible that we are all turning 75 this year,” said Janet Clemons Weaver. “When we were in high school, 30 was old!”

Weaver served as class secretary and was on the drill team.

“Our big hangout was the University City Mall,” she recalled. “Girls weren’t allowed to wear pants to school, only skirts or dresses at mid-knee length.”

She’ has missed just one reunion over the years and has enjoyed the evolution of the gathering.

“At our 10th-year reunion, some were just starting to have children, and what you looked like still mattered,” Weaver said, chuckling. “That doesn’t matter anymore. Now, we ask each other, ‘How are you feeling?’ ”

After their 50th reunion, the class agreed to meet yearly. Karl and Tamy Wilkinson host the event at their Otis Orchards property.

The Wilkinsons met at U-Hi.

“He asked me to go steady so many times!” Tamy Bromling Wilkinson said.

During their junior year, Karl even mounted a campaign to get her named Homecoming Queen.

“She was the junior class homecoming princess, but the queen was always a senior,” he recalled.

He recruited several friends and started a fundraising campaign to ensure her selection.

His efforts failed.

“We raised more money than the senior class, but on the last day they took money out of their treasury to ensure their princess was crowned queen.”

He and Tamy did go on a few dates, but it wasn’t until a few years after high school that she agreed to be his bride.

Karl served in the Marines during the Vietnam War. When he was sent to Hawaii for R&R, Tamy flew out to meet him and accepted his proposal. They married in July 1970.

“I tell him he’s my best date, best dance and best kiss,” she said.

At their 50th reunion, attendees visited the “new” University High School, which opened in 2002.

“We can’t relate to the big behemoth it is now!” Weaver said.

The old school, built in 1960, was purchased by Valley Christian School.

Scott Williams knew that building intimately.

As student body president, he was supposed to sign up for a class or go to study hall after the student body meetings; instead, he and a buddy roamed the halls.

When that excitement paled, they discovered the tunnels beneath the school and decided to explore them.

“We came out of a drop door in the gym and a girl saw us and screamed,” recalled Williams. “The principal said he thought it was time for us to attend a sixth-period class or go to study hall.”

He made some of his closest friends in high school.

“The reunions aren’t huge, about 20-40 people, but it’s a group that genuinely enjoys getting together,” he said. “When you’re in your mid-70s, you’re about 50 years past pretension.”

Jan Marshall Campagnari travels from her home in California to attend, rarely missing a reunion.

“These people are just dear to me,” she said. “We were a class of friends.”

She served as student body secretary/treasurer, was captain of the drill team and had leadership roles in Future Homemakers of America and Future Teachers of America.

Following graduation, she attended nursing school at Washington State University and joined the Army Nurse Corps, serving from 1969to 1973. She’s the lone female veteran in her class.

Her daughter is a physician, working at the VA hospital in San Francisco.

“I took care of them as young men and she takes care of them now that they’re old.”

Marshall Campagnari credits her years at U-Hi with honing her leadership skills.

“I didn’t know I was a leader, but with this group of students I learned I was a leader, and a good one,” she said. “I look back at high school and feel like that’s where I learned how to be my best self.”

An attitude of thankfulness compels the class of ’67 to gather each year.

“Reunions allow us to appreciate each other more,” said Weaver. “We celebrate our strong connection.”

Williams agreed.

“We had a loving support system at U-Hi and the friendships have deepened over the reunions.”