High School

Letcher High School
(Photo taken in 2005)

Darrell, David, and Oscar graduated from Letcher High School in Letcher, SD. Thomas attended Letcher High as a freshman, Mt. Vernon High in Mount Vernon, SD, for his sophomore through senior years.

John Darrell
Class of 1951



David Dean
Class of 1953

In high school David most enjoyed math and science courses. He graduated as Salutatorian of his class in 1953.

One advantage to attending a small high school is the opportunity to be involved in lots of activities. David was on the basketball, track, and football teams and earned letters in several sports. He played in the band and earned a letter for that, too.

David shared a special memory: "Our school had a large tube on the outside of the building for fire-escape. When we were in general assembly and the teacher happened to be outside of the room, some of the boys would open the door and slide down the fire-escape to the ground. It was fun watching Miss Hilton get angry. But she wouldn't send us to the principal's office."

"I think I got caught for every thing I did," David reminisced, "but I have one incident I'll pass on: After school, the basketball team would go down to the auditorium and practice. One day we arrived and the door was padlocked. (I guess the janitor just forgot to do his job.) We were determined to get in so we used a tire iron (mine) to beat the lock until it broke open. The breakin was soon discovered and the Mr. Marek had the gang leaders down in the janitor's office and gave us a good workover. It turns out that building was used by the National Guard so it was a federal offense to breakin."

And one more special memory: "I'll never forget Albert Selland would treat the basketball team to steaks after the game-----------when we beat Woonsocket!!!!! He would pay the bill but not show up while we ate!!"

Oscar Cleven
Class of 1955



Thomas Andrew
Class of 1959