Discuss Detroit » Hall of Fame Threads » Who remembers Finney Jr and Sr High School » Archive through March 07, 2008 « Previous Next »
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Sumas
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Username: Sumas

Post Number: 51
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - 2:47 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I attended Finney for both Jr & Sr High. The time frame was too long. I doubled up on classes and went to summer school to graduate early. I do have great memories of teachers, good and bad. My senior year, I was co-editor for our high school year book. For our cover we picked a bas relief of a black and white hand shaking in apparent harmony.

At that time, our football team were called the Highlanders. No doubt the name has changed. Our mascot always turned out in full highlander regalia. We commissioned a fight song that year and an alma mater song. I remember all the words to our fight song, but the only words from our alma mater that I remember is," Finney, Hail to Thee". The following are the words to Finney's fight song.

Stand and cheer for Finney, brave highlander lads are we. Wave our colors green and white for all the foes to see.... marching on to victory like Scots of days gone by... We sing of our Alma Mater and the days gone bye. Hey!
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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 410
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - 9:42 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Finney High School had some very good swimming teams in the early 1970s.
.....and.....
In 1975, during my senior track season at Mackenzie, a fellow from Finney by the name of Joe Lipari won the City League pole vault championship.

What were your years there?
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 6393
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - 1:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Finney High School yearbook was known as "The Cairngorm". Never knew what that meant until one day I looked at a map of Scotland and found the Cairngorm mountain range.

Some of my favorite teachers there were... Miss Jonides (science), Mr. Marokian (history, the one with the wooden paddle, back when teens could still be paddled), Mr. Ramsey (English), and Mr.Dessinger (Chemistry). During my years we had Ms. Catherine E. Kelley as principal, but she seemed so low key (and old).

I disliked my early years at Finney. My older brother attended Marquette Elementary School until 8th grade before going to Finney (he was only at Finney for 9th-12th grade), but they switched things around, and I had to go there for grades 7th thru 12th. I hated 7th grade... eveyone else was so old!!

Class of '71...
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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 414
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - 1:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I always thought that Finney HS was a futuristic building; was it built in the middle-1960s?
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 6394
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - 1:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Actually parts of Finney were the old grade school (with the sloped roof) and are much older. Then there was the 1st expansion to create the High School... early 1960's I believe. Then later in the 1960's they added on the north wing (along Southampton St.) that included additional classrooms and the Swimming Pool and Gym). I believe that in the 60's they were using the Cannon Recreation Center's gym, just across the breezeway from Finney.

And lasty in the 1970's they added a 2nd story wing on stilts in front of the Cafetorium.
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Sumas
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Post Number: 52
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - 9:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I graduated prior to the swimming pool. Mrs Kelly was the principal when I first went to Finney. She was old and fat. A carry over from when Finney was an elementary school. She would sit on the stage at school assemblies but couldn't keep her knees together. Not pretty.

I remember all the teachers mentioned above. I liked them all except for Ramsey. Mrs Jonides (SP?)was married to him briefly. My favorite teacher by far was Ernie Stengel. He was insanely brilliant. He also taught at a local community college and would have his English classes grade papers for him. Did I mention he was lazy? He hated stupidity. I remember one story he told, where a college student was assigned to write a daily diary, in the diary, the student wrote that they had gone to Hamtramck and bought a shirt for a buck. Unfortunately, the student spelled shirt as shit. Ernie wrote in the margin, "It's only a dime at the Greyhound Station". The kid did't get the joke, I think Ernie flunked him.

I graduated Finney, in 1971. A year ahead of my class. If Finney ever had a class reunion for 1972, I've never heard of it. I attended Marquette Elementary, a feeder school to Finney and have great memories of so many classmates.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 6398
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - 10:10 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sumas, then you might remember the following teachers at Marquette... music teacher Mrs. Pagoda (did she check your classes fingernails for cleanliness?), still alive in her 80's, and Mrs. Markey, passed on at 89 about 10 years ago. My mother used to clean house for them both (Mrs. Markey for 20 years). Loved them both, although Mrs. Pagoda was a trip...

And do the names Kiswiney, Peterson, Gardner, Schneider, Price, Bloom, Kantine, Henderson, Beauchamp and McConnel ring a bell? Mr. & Mrs. Kantine (she was the kindergarten teacher) both died tragically in upstate New York about 10 years ago when they were both hit by another vehicle while they were pedestrians.

Sumas, I'll bet we both know a lot of the same people in both grades, as well as the half grade in between that still existed back then.

My favorite part of Marquette was whenever Miss Schneider took us to the Nature Center between Marquette and Balduck Park.

And I remember when in the Marquette Auditorium our class did "Horton Hatches the Egg" play... and Mrs. Pagoda was backstage uttering those immortal words to one of the kids...
"Get that shovel out of your mouth!" :-)

(Message edited by Gistok on March 04, 2008)
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Lefty2
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Username: Lefty2

Post Number: 1346
Registered: 07-2007
Posted on Tuesday, March 04, 2008 - 10:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I didn't go to Finney but to me it always looked forbidding. Square bland yellow brick with very little landscaping and a unappealing entrance way.
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Sumas
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Username: Sumas

Post Number: 53
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 5:54 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yes, I remember all the teachers you mentioned. Do you remember that Kiswiney and Peterson used to meet in the hall for a cigarette break during classes. I was in the Glee Club and was in the chorus for Horton Hatches the Egg. Another production I remember was The Gypsy Operetta. Both were very clever. I started school in the half year, January. I was four. That is one of the reasons I was able to graduate Finney so young. I've lost track of all my elementary friends and most of my high school friends.

To Lefty2: Yes the Finney addition and expansion is seriously ugly. The side that faces Cadieux always looked a prison yard to me.The original building is kind of grim too. The original facade doesn't face Cadiuex and is not to bad.
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Eastside61
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Username: Eastside61

Post Number: 1070
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 2:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Highlanders - anyone remember 1960's faculty......Bill VanVleck and Jim Campitelli....?????
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Goblue
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Username: Goblue

Post Number: 1320
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 3:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gistok: Remember a Mrs. McDonald who taught at Marquette?
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Sumas
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Username: Sumas

Post Number: 54
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 4:24 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Bill VanVleck had a twin who was a male model. Both, were drop dead beautiful.
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Oladub
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Username: Oladub

Post Number: 143
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 5:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I went to Finney for 9th grade in 62-63. It had no senior class that year and only 4 black students. Bussing began the next year. Some Italian name students were arrested then for, among other things, having guns in a car trunk.

My favorite teacher was Mr. Georgakis who taught social studies. He collected some intellectual type students after school for discussions about Marx, Jesus, and Freud and chess games. Doug Kierdorf of Bedford, Dennis Peterson of Neff (later a philosophy professor in Germany) and ? Jenkins were included students. Mr. Georgakis left or was forced out of Finney. I read in the paper, some years later, that the he was kicked out of Greece for political activities. Many more years passed and he showed up on the book jacket of a book my wife had borrowed from the library. No longer dressing like Ralph Nader, he had a Southern California persona in the book photo.

The Italian Hour used to be on before the top 40 music on CKLW(?) every morning. I would practice my word of the day on Santina Vitale, of Neff, in Mrs. Leonard's English class. Tina turned bright red when I called her 'simpatica' which was, of course marivagrosso. Mrs. Leonard was a Palistinian Maronite who used to collect broken pencils to send to the refugee camps which she told us all about.
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Chuckjav
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Username: Chuckjav

Post Number: 434
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 6:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Oladub....can you recall any details of this 1963-64 busing program?

I do know that the Sherrill School Desegregation Court Case was decided at roughly the same time. This particular case involved a parent group that took DPS to task for directing black school children away from attending Mackenzie High School.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 6406
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 7:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Marquette:

Goblue, no the closest name I can think of was Art teacher Mrs. McConnel.

Finney:

Did anyone ever have Miss Bartnicke for math? She was the strangest teacher I have ever known... she had a lot of very strange quirks... such as telling people to stand up when they addressed her. She would often say "don't just stand there... speak to me!".
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Lafontaine
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Username: Lafontaine

Post Number: 16
Registered: 06-2006
Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 8:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gistok

I remember Mrs Pagoda and Mrs Markey all too well. I couldn't go a day without getting in trouble with one of them. Mrs. Schneider could never pronounce my name, even though it is only 3 letters long. When were you there? I was there in the late 60s. Mr. DeLiso(?) was my homeroom teacher. Do you remember Miss Ritz, the art teacher?
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Oladub
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Username: Oladub

Post Number: 144
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Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 9:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Chuckjav - No, I moved to near Base Line and Mack by 63-64 and was in a different school district.

Just remembered, Dr. Singelyn was the librarian at Finney then. She was the aunt of my high school sweetheart.

Figas, Banowitz, and Mazur were other teacher names at Finney then.

Finney did use the Canyon Recreation Center gym at the time. I was acquainted with the Center because my Father used the shop room there and my parents went square dancing there in the mid 50's.
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Crawford
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Username: Crawford

Post Number: 212
Registered: 10-2006
Posted on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 - 11:13 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Finney was one of the last integrated high schools.

It was integrated from about 1970-1980. Majority white with a large black minority until about the mid-70's, when blacks became a majority.

During the 1970's, many of the white students were Greek. Most of the African Americans were bused and were from middle class backgrounds.

The school was quite good until about 1980. Once white flight accelerated, the school went downhill. Most of the middle class blacks also left, and the school became one of Detroit's more troubled schools.

I got all this from my former next-door neighbor, who was an English teacher at Finney in the 1970's.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 6410
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:13 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks for reminding me Lafontaine (gee I wonder what street you lived on :-))... Mr. DeLiso was the 5th grade Homeroom teacher. I couldn't remember his name.

I attended Marquette from 1960-65. Mrs. McConnel, the art teacher, was already old and must have retired when you were there.

I got in trouble with Miss Schneider once, and had to spend an hour in the Conservatory.

Mrs. Markey lived on Birch Way in Grosse Pointe Woods. Her husband was a dentist and died of heart problems in his 60's. Mrs. Markey lived until the age of 89 (circa 1995). I attended her funeral.

One can't help it when seeing the movie Hairspray and think of short Mrs. Pagoda's hair, with her hair like John Travolta and his (her) daughter.

Oladub... it is a small world... I will always remember (Dr.) Miss Singleton's laugh... "ah-hee-hee ah-hee-hee".

Crawford... I attended Finney Jr./Sr. High from 1965-71. I didn't have any African-American kids in my class until 10th grade (1969). You are also correct about a lot of Greeks at the school. Jim Saros (the real estate guy) was a classmate of my older brother.
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Whithorn11446
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Username: Whithorn11446

Post Number: 204
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:25 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Was Parkside Homes in the Finney boundary when the school opened ? In 1960 Parkside was 95% white and contained many Southern migrants. However, by the mid 1960's that was changing rapidly due to Kennedy-Johnson administration policy change.

I seem to recall seeing a DPS map from the late 1960's and noticed Finney's boundary looked long and narrow. It looked like along most of way I-94 was on the north, Mack on the south, the other side of Balduck Park on the east, and Cadillac on the west.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 6413
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:38 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Whithorn11446, I always thought that the western edge was Conner (which would explain the Parkside part), but I'm not sure.

Also some folks on an old thread thought that there was some cross border attendees between Detroit schools and Grosse Pointe schools. But as it turns out, the 48236 zip code includes all of Detroit EAST of Canyon St. (the street that is the eastern perimeter to Balduck Park), so it turns out that some Detroiters have a Grosse Pointe mailing address, and nothing more.

I'm sure Lafontaine (the poster) lived on one of these streets (also called Lafontaine) with a Grosse Pointe mailing address going to a Detroit school.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 6414
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:42 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Found it... the map showing the Detroiters with a Grosse Pointe mailing address in the far east side 48236 zip code:





Detroiters living in this zip code likely attended either Finney, or one of the parochial schools (such as Austin High School).
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Whithorn11446
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Username: Whithorn11446

Post Number: 205
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 12:56 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gistok,
I had a relative that lived on Opal. I know Grosse Pointe students were not attending Finney and didn't mean to imply that they were. I was just lazy regarding a more detailed Finney boundary.

The Conner boundary on the west would make more sense than Cadillac, especially since Kettering came into the mix around 1965 or 1966. My second guess for Parkside would be Southeastern. I doubt Denby went south of I-94. Just too may kids in those neighborhoods around Denby, even with the high percentage of Catholic school enrollment.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 6416
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 1:07 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Whithorn11446, I knew you didn't imply anything about Grosse Pointers... I just mentioned it cuz it was discussed on an old thread about a year ago, and some folks back then were puzzled by it.

Yes, I-94 was the boundary between Finney and Denby. I didn't know any Finney students that lived on the north side of I-94.
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Lafontaine
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Username: Lafontaine

Post Number: 17
Registered: 06-2006
Posted on Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 6:11 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gistok, yes, our zip code was 48236, even though we were in Detroit. I always felt cool with that. You are a little older than me, so I didn't know you at Marquette, but it is fun sharing memories of the teachers there.
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Laveo44
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Username: Laveo44

Post Number: 1
Registered: 09-2007
Posted on Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 7:59 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sumas, I graduated from Finney in 1981. I remember Ms. Johnides and Mr. Ramsey. When I was there he had another wife, I can't remember her name, but she was also an English teacher. She had brown hair and glasses. I also had Mr. Stengel for English. In the late seventies he rode a motorcycle and would show up for class late dressed in black leather and hung over. He would give us these lectures about the dark side of life. I don't remember learning any English.

Does anyone remember who the English teacher was who was an ex nun. I had an early class with her and I was usually late and/or half asleep.

Does anyone know what happened to Ronald Bailey? He was a math teacher.
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Sumas
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Username: Sumas

Post Number: 55
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Thursday, March 06, 2008 - 10:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think the ex nun was Mrs Dunn. I'd pull out my yearbook but it is storage. Mrs Harris was my councilor. She was seriously great. I would go hang out with her in her office just to talk. My last year at Finney. I skipped a lot of classes. Mrs Harris knew I was wild to be gone. She told me that the school really only cared about liability and if I wasn't coming to just call her myself and say I was sick.

I also have great memories of Cannon Recreation. As a yearbook staffer our office was the camera projection room for the Cannon Auditorium. The room had a lock on the door and blinds on the windows that overlooked the auditorium but we all had keys. Ernie Stengel was our advisor, whenever we wanted to smoke we would go there. Ernie had a stack of presigned hall pass slips so getting there and back to class was never a problem. Most third hours, Ernie would leave the school and eat breakfast at the Clock might have been a Palace Restaurant. Any one who had a studyhall joined him. Naturally the new principal disliked this practice. Once he showed up with security guards from the school to try to catch us. That day we decided to go to Biff's for a change of pace. They never did manage to catch us.
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Sumas
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Username: Sumas

Post Number: 57
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Friday, March 07, 2008 - 12:02 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Laveo44

I am sorry to hear that Ernie was hung over (back in the bottle) in your time at Finney. In my six years at Finney, he was a recovering alcoholic. He drove a VW. I spent alot of time with him in and out of school. All platonic. we were just friends. His thermos was always full of coffee but he would tell stories of the days past when his thermos held strong spirits. He died some time ago. I clipped the obit. He had a very interesting and strange life. He ran away from home at age 13. Supported himself on the streets. Was a full blown alcoholic by age 15. At some point he decided to go back to school and got his teaching degree. He was working on his masters when I knew him. He was married/divorced several times. He swore after he sobered up in his forties that he would never marry again. I heard through the grapevine that after I graduated in 1971, that he did. To a former student, a year younger than me. I knew her from Marquette, we were in Girl Scouts together. Don't know if that marriage lasted.

He always made it such a point to stress sobriety. I attended AA meetings with him and other students. My first airplane ride was with Ernie and a few other students. The pilot, also a recovering alcoholic, had to get sober or lose his pilots license. The Ernie I knew was a brilliant, passionate and challanging teacher. He was enormously funny and very eclectic. He was always a rebel from rules, they did't apply to him. For example, he lived in Mt. Clemens at a time when teachers were required to live in Detroit. He was like Tephlon and seemed to break all rules with impunity. For all his arrogance, he had tremendous compassion. One student of his, (I knew her but she was slightly older) was a very beautiful girl, who already had a promising career as a model. Her mother had re-married and her stepfather was raping her. She went to Ernie, he hid her until she was 18. About six months until she turned 18 and did't have to live in her mother's house. Times were different in the sixties. In this era, the step dad would be in jail. Ernie could have lost his teaching license.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 6423
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Friday, March 07, 2008 - 12:05 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Sumas, you are correct... it was Mrs. Dunn. I was wracking my brains out trying to remember her name.

Originally I had Miss Coyne as a counselor, but later I had Mrs. Harris... she was great!

I remember in my 9th grade Jr. High graduation from Finney in the Cafetorium (since it was 6 years of school there, you received a Jr. High graduation into Sr. High)... Teagarden & Van Winkel performed. I still remember someone ripped part of the Van Winkel part of the sign so that it looked like "rip" Van Winkel.

One of the most interesting experiences at Finney was study hall in the Cannon Auditorium. We had Mr. Marukian, who had a large wooden paddle. Back then teachers were allowed to paddle the students, and I remember some guys who misbehaved in the study hall got a real good swat of that very heavy paddle.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 6424
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Posted on Friday, March 07, 2008 - 12:10 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Mr. Ramsey always wore 3 piece suits with a 20 dollar gold piece hanging from a chain... very prim and proper like.

I ran into Mrs. Johnides in the Detroit Science Center about 10 years ago... she was a volunteer. I always liked her and her sense of humor.

Some of my other favorite teachers were Mrs. Davenport (History) and Mrs. Grabowski (English).