Providence High School Class of 1959: Patsy Golob Decker

THE PIONEERS

THE PIONEERS

We are the Pioneers because we were the first. We started school in tents due to the steel strike in 1955. We were the only class - all freshmen, then in the following years, always the upperclassmen. Because we were such a small class, we all knew one another. We chose the school colors, uniform, and wrote our alma matter. We published the first yearbook and named it "Esprit" for our sense of spirit. And we were the first class to celebrate a 50th reunion - still the Pioneers. How wonderful to reminisce and reconnect with one another!

PHS 50 YEAR SCHOLARSHIP FUND

PHS 50-YEAR CLUB SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Following our 50-year class reunion in March 2009, the class of '59 gifted Providence High School with a special scholarship fund to be used for financially-needy students. This fund is called: PHS 50-Year Club Scholarship Fund. This fund will last in perpetuity as long as we, and other classes as they reach the 50-year anniversary of their graduations, continue to contribute to it. If you are able and willing to contribute to our alma mater, will you please designate "PHS 50-Year Scholarship Fund" as the payee on your check or credit card gift. With our assistance the scholarship will go on forever -- and the Class of 1959 will always be remembered.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Patsy Golob Decker

In the fall of 1959 I attended Valley College. This experience lasted only a year and a half due to a tonsillectomy. I left school sans tonsils, but with a fiancé, Fred. I then worked for a title insurance company, and we were married in February 1962. We moved to San Diego where Fred was working and daughter Kathleen was born the following December. In January 1963 we moved to Burbank when Fred began working for Lockheed. In June of that year he was transferred to the U. S. Navy base at Moffett Field south of San Francisco. In December it was on to Jacksonville, Florida for a year then back home to Sherman Oaks for daughter Molly’s birth in January 1965. When she was two weeks old, Fred received more traveling papers, this time to South East Asia. I was a single mom for 8 months until he returned home.

We bought our first home in late 1965 in Granada Hills. Our daughter Michelle was born in April 1966, and we made a vow to stay put. Our son Andy was born in May 1969 and I was happy to be a stay-at-home mom. During this time I belonged to a guild that supported Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Fred and I were blessed with active, healthy children and I wanted to contribute by helping others.

In June of 1977 Lockheed had us “on the road again” and this time to Montreal, Canada for three years. So much for a vow to stay put. ”Itchy feet” struck again and in 1980 we were transferred to Derbyshire, England for a two year stay. During our stay we were able to travel extensively in Europe. Our experiences in both Canada and England were very rewarding for the six of us.

We returned home to live in Ventura, CA with interesting accents and a desire to embrace all things American.

With our daughters in various colleges and our son preparing for the same, I decided to back-up my enthusiasm for higher education by enrolling in UCSB, graduating in 1989 with a BA in English. (Ironic it has taken me this long to write this Blog!)

I helped Fred with a book he was writing about his Great-Great Grandfather’s regiment during the Civil War. We were thrilled when “Yates Phalanx” was published in 1994.

Fred took early retirement from Lockheed in 1995 after 33 years. After a short period of being “at leisure” he went to work for a small aerospace company in Fullerton.

By this time the drive from Ventura was too much and we moved to Glendale. In 2003 we bought a townhouse in Monrovia where we again “vowed to stay put!”

We are blessed with happily married children with wonderful spouses and 8 terrific grandchildren. I guess our daughters caught our “itchy” feet and it has given us more travel time to Seattle, WA, Holland, MI and Richmond, VA. Our son decided to stay put and he and his family live in La Canada Flintridge.

Since 1998 I am back in the volunteering mode. This time with a guild that supports the USC University Hospital and the Keck School of Medicine. We raise funds for scholarships for graduating medical students. We also enjoy tailgating at USC football games (especially the past six years!)

It was wonderful to see my classmates at the Reunion and to hear about their lives and families. The PHS experience taught me to live my life to the fullest and to strive to be whatever I wanted to be.

Fred and I have watched the DVD several times and it is fabulous! It evoked many wonderful memories…and the music was great. Thank you, Devi. And thank you to the Reunion Committee for a wonderful weekend in March.

Fondly,

Patsy

POSTED BY PATSY GOLOB DECKER

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Margarita Acosta

I remember that Margarita was a National Merit Scholarship Winner and I was very impressed when I found out later that she was in the top 1% of tested Seniors.

I also have a funny memory. Margarita convinced me to join a group called THE FIGHTING 69ers. It was for young women who would pledge to uphold the principles of the 6th and 9th commandments. Joiner that I am, I signed on and became a card carrying member until Tom Wright found the card in my wallet and MADE me REMOVE it IMMEDIATELY. I had to wait for the reason why. I don't want to offend anyone, but that is a true story. Does anyone else remember or admit to being a member of that little organization?--- Devi Savitt Bellows

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Margarita was one of six who entered the order of the Sisters of Charity of Providence a few months after high school graduation, and she was the only one who did not eventually leave the order. In 1963, before she finished college, she was called to teach biology, chemistry and Latin at Providence Academy in Vancouver. The following year she returned to Providence Heights College of Sister Formation to finish her BA and obtain grade and high school teacher certification. During the next 10 years she taught at schools in Washington and Burbank, California. In 1975 she chose to explore her writing abilities by joining the Public Relations Office of the Sisters of Providence health care corporations. She eventually became a writer and photographer for the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Seattle, all the while developing a growing interest in health planning and administration. In the early 80s Sr. Margarita received a Master’s degree in public health from Yale University, with a specialty in hospital administration, planning, marketing and finance. She was always interested in current events and the plight of the poor. In the mid '90s Sr. Margarita was diagnosed with leukemia and eventually underwent a stem cell transplant. She passed away about 2 months after the procedure. Her funeral service was at the same facility where she entered the novitiate a few decades before, and her pall bearers were 6 other Sisters of Providence.--- Carol Lex Tanner

Marcia Adams Henry

Marcia was the third of five children in her family. Her brother, Michael, who became a priest, was the only boy. She came to PHS from St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Burbank. After graduation she became a stewardess with United Airlines, based in San Francisco.
Marcia married Hal Urban, who was a basketball star at USF. They had three boys: Daniel, Mark and Michael. After a divorce, she continued to live in the Bay Area and married Larry Henry. She was the Executive Secretary for the Director of the SF Bay Area March of Dimes Foundation. She died on New Year's Eve of a massive coronary while driving a car.

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Marcia's mother's nickname, "Sunny" could easily apply to her, also....the outgoing, friendly manner, often with her cohort, Mary Baedeker.... with twinkly eyes and ready for fun! --- Kathy Thesing Ramdin

Patt Collette Scannell

I am blessed to have had Patt for my close friend for almost 50 years. We met the first day of school at PHS and our friendship continued until she died.
Patt was one of the most positive people I have ever known. She was very smart though she did poorly in school, but she worked hard and never gave up. She used to tell me that she had trouble reading, that things did not make sense to her; she found out many years later that she was dyslexic.
She raised three wonderful children pretty much single-handedly, and suffered poor health for many years. In spite of her hardships, Patt always found the silver lining. When she was going through chemo for her cancer, she told me she looked forward to chemo days, because she met many nice people and it gave her a chance to socialize; she thought maybe she even helped cheer people up sometimes. I am sure she did - MANY times. She was a person of great faith and it never waivered. She smiled far more than she frowned and she loved to laugh. She also loved Providence. Often she told me that her 4 years at PHS were among her happiest memories. How she loved to reminisce!
About 5 months before she died, she called us. We had moved to Alaska by that time. She called to say goodbye. She was very close to my husband, Peter, as well, and she wanted to talk with both of us. She told us that she thought she would not make it through the night and she wanted us to know that she was ready and that it was ok, and that she loved us and we were not supposed to be sad; she was going to a better place and she'd always "be around" watching us. It was very hard to hang up the phone, and of course, we cried.... the next day, we received another phone call. It was Patt. Her opening words "I'm back!" and she was laughing. It seems that there was an insulin problem and she was in fact, dying. Fortunately they discovered what went wrong and brought her back. That gave us an opportunity to see her one more time and talk with her on the phone often; we "heard" the smiles in her voice. I know she will be with us for our reunion; she wouldn't miss it!
These photos reflect her wonderful smile. The last one was taken at our final visit with her, less than four months before she died. We had a wonderful visit, filled with laughter and those reminiscences---Carol Rando Irsfeld

Dianne Dvorak

Dianne Marie Dvorak was born October 21 1941 in Cleveland Ohio. Beginning in grade school, Roller-skating developed into a lifelong passion. Dianne won many competitions and awards figure skating and dancing with a partner. The Dvorak family relocated to Southern California during Dianne's High School years.
After graduation from Providence H.S. Dianne started a family. Always a working mother, she sought out paid work that could be done from home until her children, Cheyenne and Brian reached school age. After twelve years of employment at United Recording Electronics Industries, Dianne moved with her family to Pollock Pines in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of Northern California.
After a divorce and a second marriage, Dianne embraced a rural lifestyle. At one point, using the telephone required driving down an unpaved road and climbing a telephone to get onto a party line ala the television sitcom Green Acres. While helping her husband to run his construction business, she and the family raised pigs on their land.
After a second divorce, Dianne continued to enjoy an outdoor lifestyle when she acquired her own ten acre property. After seeing a flyer advertising a fund raising bike ride for breast cancer, Dianne participated in a ride that sparked a love for cycling. She enjoyed dating, taking weekend road trips and took great pleasure in making many beautiful quilts that she intended to be her loving legacy to her family.
After a mastectomy in 1988, Dianne continued to live with cancer, going into and out of remission until her death in May 1994.

Frances Nairn Hansen

Soon after graduation, Frances married, had a son and moved to Philadelphia. After a short, unhappy time, she divorced and returned to North Hollywood CA, her former home, and worked as a supermarket checker. Her husband, Raymond, tells the following story: After a stint in the Navy, Raymond was hired as a box boy at the same market as Frances. When he was being shown around the store, he saw Frances coming down the stairs. He said to himself: that's the girl for me!.....He found his soul mate. They married, raised three boys and had 37 years together. She developed a brain tumor, battled for a year before the end on November 17, 2003. She will be rememered fondly for her quiet manner and sweet smile.

Janet Opperman Correa

Obituary from Lancaster Eagle Gazette (Ohio)

Janet Esther Opperman Correa, age 74, went home to be with the Lord on December 12, 2016. She is preceded in death by her loving husband, Arthur Correa and grandson, John Joseph. She is survived by her children, Dean, Melanie, Darren, and Terah; grandchildren, Avree, Skylar, Riley, Lucas; and siblings, Jack and Jean. Janet was a lover of genealogy, photography and most importantly her family. She was the greatest wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend who will be deeply missed.

THE PIONEERS

50TH REUNION

PHS 50 YEAR SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Monday, March 30, 2009

Patsy Golob Decker

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