Bill Bass - 1963
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LHS Class of 1963
40th Anniversary Reveries
by Bill BassDecember 29, 2003

 It is funny how a foundational principle for a life is formed.  For example, my definition of the perfect place to live includes hills and a river.  Of course, wouldn’t you know, since graduating from Louisiana R-II High School (Go Bulldogs!!!) and with the exception of those transitional college years, I have not lived in a place that has had a significant river or hills like those river bluffs that stand as sentinels to the rising of the sun over Illinois.  But wait – I do get ahead of myself.

 This is to say that my time in Louisiana, Missouri, was foundational to who I am, what I have done in life to this point, and where I have been.

 Though having been born in Louisiana, Missouri, having gone to kindergarten in the library basement on north 3rd Street (I still have the little chair that my parents bought for that experience.), and having starting 1st Grade at the old Field School (My mother kept a scrapbook.  Thus our class picture and the Press Journal picture of our class and others in that school at Christmas.), my entire education did not come from the educational system of Louisiana.  Our family moved a lot in my early years.  By the time that I was back in town and to start the 4th Grade with Mrs. Shaper, I had lived in Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and Illinois besides in my home town.  But Louisiana (MO) was home.  We had family there – maternal and paternal.  We were rooted there – hills and a river.  This was where I was born, where those small town values were instilled, and where I learned to speak using phrases and pronunciations about which I have been teased by friends and acquaintances in every place I have lived since – things like “you-all,” or “Looz-i-ana,” or “Miz-ur-ah” meaning “all of you, “Louisiana” and “Missouri.”  (However, due to a professor in college, I no longer consistently pronounce the word “Wash” as “war-shing.”)

 Yes, from our 4th Grade year on I was “home,” and Margaret Shaper was to be an important part my life.  Upon reflection it seems that she was always there.  I had her was my teacher in the 4th Grade at Meriweather Elementary school and for a number of classes in high school, as well as our class sponsor/advisor/”mom.”  Add to all of that, she went to the same church I did.

 (It was Mrs. Shaper that caught me in a lie in 4th Grade.  In social studies we received a homework assignment of making something that would have been used in the culture that we were studying.  I was to make an animal trap, but completely forgot it.  On that Monday when she asked for the assignments to be presented to the class, I had none.  Believe it or not, I used the excuse that our dog had torn it up.  She was nice about it and went on with the lessons.  However, as the story came to me, she talked with my mother someplace, and in the conversation my missing homework was raised.  Mrs. Shaper mentioned how sorry she was that the dog had been so bad and was “disappointed” to find out that no such homework had been completed, and thus not wrecked by my loyal pet.  I could have received no better punishment than to hear how “disappointed” she was in me.   She was also the teacher who asked me to show her the back of my pants where the seam had ripped out.  (How embarrassing!!!)

 One should not get the impression that I saw her as omnipotent or omnipresent (though it seems that she almost was).  Rather, I now see her as having been one of those foundational pillars for me and my development.  Since I had moved so much during my early elementary education, I had not received a consistent educational foundation in reading.  The summer of 1954, after the 4th Grade, she tutored me in reading at her home.  She has had a profound influence on me.

 As my memory (which may be flawed) serves me, our class seemed to be the class on which experiments in education prevailed.  While in the 5th Grade, our teacher, Mr. Stark, (I think it was his first teaching position.) threw chalk as a means of discipline in his classroom.  I was afraid of him.  In the 6th Grade we had what I remember to be a “split” class (5th and 6th grades in one room) and “shared” teachers.  (That was the year that I discovered the need for glasses.)  In the 7th Grade it seems that things were quite normal, except for the debate the boys had about which car was the best, Fords or Chevys.  In the 8th Grade, we had to move to different classes, like in high school.  It was like the administration didn’t know what to do with us.

 I was known for, and teased about my involvement in music and dance.  I think my mother wanted me to be a child “star,” not unlike Shirley Temple.  She saw to it that I received dance lessons, piano lessons, voice lessons, and drum lessons.  It is now somewhat of a blur, but I do remember performing in variety shows, talent contests, and a wide variety of programs while in the junior high and high school years.  Jan Thomas and I played an accordion duet for one program.  (It was the first and last time I did anything with an accordion.)  Music contests, plays, the Senior class play (“Lost Horizon”) and the school musical (“The Singing Freshman”), all flood my memory of those years.

 As I recall, we had three basic school sports, football in the fall, basketball in the winter, and track in the spring.  (Baseball was a summer activity.)  I wanted to play football, but my dad said that I would have to quite taking dancing lessons if I did.  He said, “I’m not going to pay for dancing lessons just to have you break a leg in football.”  I was lousy at basketball – too short and not accurate with my shots.  Besides I didn’t like all that constant running.  To prove myself to those who would tease, I went out for track during my sophomore year.  Long distance running was not my thing, but I wasn’t bad in the short sprint or getting over low hurdles.  As a senior I was on the relay team which set a school record at the Quincy Relays.

 One of the “pleasures” I had in track was to warm-up by running up through the cemetery.  Whether it is due to my family that is buried there, the beauty of the overlooks, or something else, the cemetery is an important place for me.  That is to say that whenever I am back in town, I go there.  My family knows of this attachment.  As a gift for officiating at my son’s wedding a couple of years ago, he and his wife gave me a drawing by John B. Stoeckley looking down the Mississippi from the cemetery.

 I could go on and on, but won’t.  However, I will say that because of the size of the school system and community, I was afforded the significant opportunity to experiment in a variety of areas and fields thus offering many life-forming experiences.  However, these experiences would not have been as fundamental had it not been for the people who were a part of them.  Embedded in my memory are those adults like Ms. Hastings (her strong discipline and authority in typing class), Mrs. Branstetter (her musical ability), Mr. Webb (his struggles with the band), Mr. Blair (his demands during track season), Mr. Giltner (his “give-and-take” humor while teaching), Mr. Durso (the science experiments with unexpected results), Mr. Coxsey (dissecting things in biology) and Mrs. Morrow (her matter-of-fact approach to the field of math).  To this day I don’t know how Mrs. Morrow was able to leave the classroom in mid-sentence and, upon her return, pick-up the sentence exactly where she left off.

 Since graduation in May of 1963, my pursuits and experiences have been many.  I studied at Culver-Stockton College both music and religion.  The opportunities to perform were many.  As a music major with voice as my instrument, recitals, musical drama, like “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and “The Beggars Opera,” and a wide variety of concerts were my life.  As the choir director’s assistant, I was afforded the opportunity to conduct a very well trained college choir and be influenced by choir directors who were quite gifted.  During college I began to nurture an interest in writing music, which I later pursued while in a master’s program at Butler University in Indianapolis.
 It was at this time that I also pursued the focus on my relationship with God and worked in and through the Church.  In 1964 First Christian Church in Louisiana, Missouri, in coordination with the denomination of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Missouri, licensed me as a minister.  The dual interests of church/faith and music was planted and nurtured in our home town – its institutions and culture.

 Beginning much earlier, but gaining an increased focus from 1964 on, interest in religion and music would pervade my life.  This time line of my educational pursuits shows what I mean.
 1967 –  Bachelor of Music in Church Music, Culver-Stockton College, Canton, MO
 1970 –  Master of Music in Voice, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN
 1970 –  Master of Sacred Music, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, IN
 ‘70-‘71 –  University of Iowa, seeking a PhD in the history of music theory (uncompleted)
 1977 –  Doctor of Ministry, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, IN
My work experiences tell the same story.
 ‘64-‘67 –  Part time minister in variety of churches in Missouri
 1966 –  Summer Intern at Peachtree Christian Church, Atlanta, GA.
 ‘67-‘69 –  Student minister in Winamac and Salem, IN
 1970 –  Ordained at First Christian Church, Louisiana, MO
 1972 –  Pastor, Atlanta Christian Church, Atlanta, IN
 1978 –  Pastor, First Christian Church, Nevada, IA
 1986 –  Associate Regional Minister, Christian Church in the Upper Midwest (Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota) based in Des Moines, IA
 1998 –  Congregational Services Consultant, Church Extension based in Indianapolis, IN

 In 1968 I met the love and companion of my life, Carol.  We were both counselors at and music and drama church camp.  She says that I was there for music and she was there for comic relief.  (Actually she was there because of her vast experience with group camping, her work with children and youth, and her recreational expertise.)  The camp was two weeks long, one week at the campground and a second week touring churches with the program we prepared.  After the final night’s concert, I asked her to marry me.  She had a contract as a guidance counselor in a school in Arizona and had to leave about two weeks later.  We survived that separation and married the next May (1969).

 We have two children, now adults.  Our son, Wm. L, Bass II (Bill), now lives in the St. Louis area.  He became an English teacher, soccer coach, and gymnastics and cheerleading coach, and has recently received a Masters in Educational Technology.  He has married an intelligent and wonderful lady (Kim) who we deeply love.  She brings to their relationship many gifts, insights and experiences.  In just a few days (January 7, 2004) they will become parents of twins, a boy and a girl – our first grandchildren.  (This is a joy which Carol and I have been waiting with much anticipation and will be celebrated with an original song.)

 Our daughter, Cheri R. Bass, now lives just south of Atlanta, Georgia.  She has pursued an interest in music.  She has just received a Master of Education in conducting from the University of South Carolina.  She is an assistant band director in a high school in Henry County.  Her main instrument is flute with which she touches my heart when she plays.  (She really is very good.)  She had a solo at an International Youth Symphony in California in 1998.

 This 40th year anniversary of our high school graduation has given me the opportunity to focus on my time in Louisiana and has caused many memories to flood back into my consciousness.  I name here just a few that are random and unconnected.

• My mother and I playing “hide and go seek” with Jeannie Allison and her mother after the basketball tournament our Freshman years.
• The Christmas party during our 7th Grade year when we played “Flashlight,” “Spin the Bottle” and other kissing games.
• A New Years party at Billy Shepherd’s home.
• A party (I don’t remember the occasion, maybe halloween) at Randy Deverger’s house.
• Riding horses with Linda Jane Hostetter.
• Water skiing with Mike Griffith.
• Hunting with Bart Griffith.
• Walking down the aisle to graduation services with Carolyn Kritz.
• Playing in the Ordonia neighborhood with David Whiteis and Mike McCluskey.
• Hanging out with Leroy Sevier, Jerry Robinson, Jerry Green and others.
• Billy Leverington first telling me about “the birds and the bees” in 7th Grade.
• Senior class officers with Bill Leverington and Margaret Mosley.
• Choir with Bob Campbell, Jan Thomas, Karen Millner, Mike Griffith and others.
• “Lost Horizons”, “The Singing Freshman” and other shows.

  Since I was unable to attend our class reunion in 1978 (I was moving at that time.), I was devastated that I had to miss our 40th Anniversary.  That weekend I had major responsibilities for the unit of our church for whom I work at an international gathering in Charlotte, NC.  You can be assured that my mind and spirit was in Louisiana that weekend.

 Having lived for 20 years on the plains central Iowa and around 16 years in and around central Indiana, I have pined for the presence of a major river and some hills.  However, scenery is only one part of the “right” place to live.  The place is nothing without the people.  I can truly say that I have been fully blessed throughout this life.  I was blessed with a hometown which had both beautiful scenery and wonderful people.  I am just thankful that the members of the Class of 1963 were a part of the basic foundations on which my life has been built.

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