1946 High School Graduate Bob Landry

I was looking through photos of my dad to use as a post today and came across one from around 1945.  It made me wonder what year he graduated from high school.  Last year I posted a photo of him when he was in junior high school at Landry Memorial.  I still didn’t remember the exact year that he graduated.  So then I found this page from a school publication that says that he was in the graduating class of 1946.  That would make this year the 75th anniversary of that graduating class.

I remember seeing this page when I was growing up.  It kinda surprised me because it shows that he was on the football team for one year and the softball team for two.  I never thought of him as an athletic type of person and I seem to recall that he was against any of us playing football in school.  Not that I ever wanted to!  He definitely was in favor of us participating in band and music.

It’s obvious from what they wrote about him that he was seriously interested in music from a young age.  He had four years of band, he received music awards two different years, and his hobby was playing and collecting musical instruments.  In another article I read, it says that he started teaching other students musical instruments during his senior year because there was a shortage of music teachers during World War II.  He taught cornet, trombone, French horn, bass, clarinet, and saxophone.

The article from The Clarion also says that he participated in Dramatics for four years and Sodality for three.  I knew what Dramatics was right away.  He must have been involved with plays and other productions at the high school.  But I had to look up that Sodality one.  It was a social group or fraternity for young men in the Catholic Church.  Since this was a Catholic school, that kind of makes sense.  I was surprised that he made the Roll of Honor for two years.  I must have just seen his bad grades when I was young.  Or they impressed me more.  I never thought of him as unintelligent in any way, but he did talk about studying just enough to pass what he needed to.

It also shows that he was involved with ROTC during his whole time at Landry.  That’s interesting.  I never noticed that before.  It must not have made an impression on me one way or the other.  I never think of him in that way.  I know he served in the Air Force, but he never fought in a war.  He was in the band, for Pete’s sake!  ( A nod to P.R.)  I don’t know what his motivation was for being in the ROTC for all those years.  It’s not something I recall hearing him talk about.

I’d better bring this post to a close, before I make it look like I didn’t know my own father!  I know that he graduated from high school on May 28, 1946.  Of course I only know that because I found his diploma in a box of his belongings he left.  But I take care of those family keepsakes like he did when he was alive.  I’m glad he saved them so we could have a peek into some of his high school activities.