Thanks Blaine!
Jim will enjoy this as I have.
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2012 12:45 PM
Subject: Response to Jim's High Notes artice
“Serendipity”
Serendipity is defined as “the
occurrence and development of events by chance.” When I read Jim Kegley’s “High
Notes” column in the April 27, 2012 edition of the Scioto Voice newspaper concerning his
friendship with Howard “Skip” Brehmer and Richard “Dick” Hansgen growing up on
McConnell Avenue in Portsmouth, the word “serendipity” immediately came to my
mind. How in the world did three PHS lads who graduated from high school in the
1950s come to be teachers at a junior high school in the affluent Columbus
suburb of Upper Arlington?
Skip Brehmer graduated from PHS in
1953, attended Ohio State, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education in
June of 1957. He was hired as a social studies teacher in the Upper Arlington
Schools, starting in the fall of 1957. I graduated from PHS in 1955, went to
OSU, and graduated with a bachelor’s in education in June of 1959. I was hired as an English teacher in the
Upper Arlington Schools, beginning in the fall of 1959. It was a pleasure to
have a fellow PHS grad teaching with me at the junior high school. Skip had
always been a fun-loving fellow. One particular memory of him comes back. In
those days the UA Superintendent of Schools had his office in our junior high
building—right at the front entrance. He made it a habit to stand inside the
front door to monitor students and teachers who were not on time for school.
Skip sometimes was late to class. To circumvent being caught by the
Superintendent, often he would climb the fire escape in the back of the building
to the second floor to get to his history class. His daring feats were a legend
among our faculty. Skip stayed in education until June of 1961 when he left to
sell insurance. He had a very successful career in finance and investments. He
retired as senior vice president of Cardinal Industries. Unfortunately, he died,
by his own hand, at the age of 64 in 1999.
Dick Hansgen graduated with me from PHS
in 1955. He attended OSU and got his bachelor’s degree in education in March of
1961. He was hired as a science teacher at the Upper Arlington junior high for
the 1961-1962 school year. Dick and I taught together for three years until he
left at the end of the 1963-1964 school year to go to Wayland Academy, a
private, coeducational college prep boarding school in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. In
1978 he received his Ph.D. from Ohio State and is now retired from Bluffton
University in Bluffton, Ohio, as an emeritus professor of education. He lives
with his wife, Karen, in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
I retain many pleasant memories of
teaching in UA with my PHS classmates. I stayed at UA for my entire education
career: nine years at the junior high school teaching English and 27 years at
Upper Arlington High School as a school counselor and director of guidance. I
retired in 1995 and now live with my wife, Carolyn (PHS ‘58), in Hilliard,
Ohio.
Blaine Bierley
(PHS ‘55)
[500
words]
