top of page
  • Writer's pictureRochelle Gridley

1929 Irving School Graduates


Audrey Mays: In 1930, Audrey was working as a seed sorter for a seed company in Bloomington at the age of 14. She had eight brothers and sisters and her father was laborer in foundry.

John Lebkuecher: John continued his education through high school and two years of college. In 1940 he was a master mechanic. He died in 1980 in Normal. He was an amateur photographer and worked for Illinois Power for 42 years.

Harold Morgan: Harold's father died in 1921, and he was raised by his mother in his grandparents home on the West Side. He was killed in WWII at Iwo Jima, March 5, 1945.

Rosa Duncan: Rosa grew up with her two older sisters and widowed mother on the West Side. She married J.D. Madness and moved to California, where she provided a home for her mother. Her mother worked as a hotel maid in 1930 and Rosa's sisters worked as salesladies.

Fred Graue: Fred attended Illinois Wesleyan in 1934 and was in the freshman class with his older brother Kenneth. Their father was a mail clerk with the steam railroad. He worked in Washington D.C. in the Department of Agriculture. He died in 1990 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Frank Herrin: Frank was raised by his mother, Nellie, who worked as a waitress. He worked at Eureka-Williams and the Admiral Washing Machine Company.

Dorothea Naffziger: Dorothea attended Bloomington High and a Chicago Business College before working at State Farm. She married in 1940 to Russell Ross.

Virginia Farmer: Virginia's father was a machinist at Meadows Manufacturing. She attended Bloomington High School and married Richard Weber. She died in North Carolina in 2008.

Helen Peifer: Helen was the first of her class mates to marry. She married Stanley Swick November 9, 1931. Stanley Swick was the foreman of the Park Hill Cemetery and worked there from age 15 to age 65. He and Helen lived in a house on the cemetery property for many years, and he lived there even before the cemetery was created, because the Swick family farmed that land before it became a cemetery. Helen Swick was married to Stanley Swick for 48 years (Stanley died at age 67). Helen was the subject of a Pantagraph article on Mother's Day, 2016 at the age of 102. She worked at the Woolworths from 1945 to 1978 and remembered the excitement of the end of WWII.

Mildred Haworth: Mildred graduated from Bloomington High in 1933 and married Donald Mellor soon after graduation. She later married Cleve Hand and died in 1988.

Lelia Lyons: Lelia moved to Washington State in 1932 to marry Floyd Kirby, who had moved there to find work. They managed an orchard for 50 years and were members of the local yacht club. She died in Washington in 2007.

Willard Moore: Willard attended University High. In 1934 he married Ruth Downs. Years later they moved to Iowa. In November 1958 Willard was killed in a automobile accident.

Alice Radley: Alice worked at the Beich Candy Company for 35 years and was a member of the Park Methodist Church. She was active in many charitable organizations, such as the Moose. She died in 1972 at the age of 56 and was buried at Park Hill.

Dorothy Sandstrom: Dorothy attended Bloomington High and married Vic Lindstrom. They lived in Glendale, California.

Donald Eastman: Donald's family moved to Chicago during the Depression, and he married there to Ione Bothe. He worked as a salesman in Chicago and died in 1964.

Charles Peters: Charles served in WWII and was discharged after being wounded in an aerial attack toward the end of the war in Leyte, the Philippines. He was awarded the Purple Heart during that war. In 1958 he was awarded the "Ideal Pantagrapher" award by Loring Merwin. He died in 2007 and like many of his classmates was buried at Park Hill.

Andrew James: Andrew attended Bloomington as a freshman in 1931 and was photographed with the ISU track team in 1934. At Bloomington High he was a member of the "B" Club, an organization of young men who earned a letter in sports. He was the only African American in that club. As a cross country runner he came in first in a meet with Decatur. Although the census reflected his college education, in 1940 he worked as a cleaner at the city bus lines.

Alvin Leicht: Alvin worked as an apprentice at the railroad in 1930. He served during WWII as an Army cook. Alvin died in California in 1978.

George Zier: George served as a military policeman during WWII and was living in Washington D.C. when he enlisted. He died in 2004 in Frederick, Maryland.

Theodore James: Theodore was two years older than his brother, Andrew, when he graduated from Irving School. He continued his education at Bloomington High for just two years. He worked as a shoe shiner in 1940.

Maynard Nuckles: Maynard Nuckles became a civil engineer and work for the G M & O Railroad in McLean County. He died in 1986 and was buried at Park Hill.

Gilbert Carlson: Gilbert attended Bloomington High and worked as a switchman on the Illinois Central railroad. He died in 1974.

Hugo Leicht was two years younger than his brother Alvin when they graduated from 8th grade. Hugo was an accomplished bowler and competed often in Bloomington. He worked as a meat cutter, in production at Eureka Williams and owned the Kozy Korner Cafe in Downs. He served in the army in WWII and the Korean War.

152 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page