Photo Current
Paseo High School Class 1952
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REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE
As a member of the Paseo Family, I was saddened when I was informed the famous letters on the hill are in severe disrepair.
The famous Paseo Letters have deteriorated to the point of serious repair.
The letters were built and finished in the spring and summer of 1951.
The first four pictures below are current and show the deterioration. The fifth picture
is from the Kansas City Star (1951) showing Stanley Shane (51) and Jordon Cohen (52)
putting the finishing touches on the letters. The Class of 1965 gave the letters a face-lift.
Do to the lack of maintenance and upkeep the letters are again in need of repair.
There is an effort under way
by several alumni groups and current
Students and principal Dr. Juanita Hempstead to bring the steps and letters back to
Life. The city has been contacted - we are in code with what is underway..
Will YOU help to work on the repair?
Will YOU financially support the continuing maintenance?
Would YOU like more information?
What are YOUR suggestions?
We as Seniors Again – Remember where you came from.
Paseo High School History
There are three articles please take the time to enjoy each.
Early Paseo
In past years
Writing by Ted Anderson Class 1948
Early Paseo
Paseo High School opened in September of 1926 With Mr. B. M. Stigall as principal. He remained until 1945, when Mr. J. C. Bond became principal and remained until his retirement in 1958. Mr. Paul M. Marshall formerly of Central High School, assumed the principal ship.
Approximately 1300 students attended Paseo that first year. Miss Irene Blase, Mrs Lottie G. Reber, Mr Paul Constant, Miss Elizabeth Mickemeyer, and Mrs Neva Christine are the only remaining staff members who have served Paseo since it was first opened. (the date of this article is unknown)
Before it was officially opened Paseo was on record as the Highlands High School, but later it was changed to Paseo because of convenient identification with Paseo. Boulevard, which was directly to the west . The building was constructed of natural stone, quarried from the site at a cost of approximately f$1,500.000. The front portion of the school the side hall and the boy's gym were built at that time. A girls play ground and ROTC drill field were completed in 1936. The southeast side was left unfinished with the intention of later adding wing corresponding to the one on the northeast. As a part of this plan, the girls gymnasium, the swimming pool, and the locker rooms were added in 1939.
Student activities in the early years included special interest clubs Each student was required to belong to at least one of these. They ranged from the Know Kansas City Club, Formal Games Club, Girls Hiking Club and the Speed Demons' Club, to the Hooked Rug Club, the Needle work Club, the Quilt Club, and the Ask Me Another Club. In the 1930's each homeroom had a softball team which competed with the other teams until one emerged as school champion. The school had an annual carnival to help raise money for needed equipment. Beginning in 1937, an elaborate freshman induction ceremony was held annually, These continued until 1949, when the first eight grade class entere
In Past Years
Authored by someone on the Paseon staff
The history of Paseo has been as varied as the history of our country. Although this school has not participated in such terrible wars or such vilent crises as ours country, its career and growth has been most interesting to the majority of students. Contrary to popular belief, the site of Paseo High School was purchased at three different times instead of one. On July 31, 1920 the first unit was obtained, the second on June 15, 1922 and the third March 5, 1925. The contract for the first unit was let December 1924, that for the second on August 15,1926. The Cornerstone was laid on June 20, 1925. Although some excavation had been made, actual construction did not begin until this time. The building itself is made of native stone, quarried from the very place on which Paseo stands. At the time school opened Mr. James E. Nugent was president of the school Board and at present time Mr. Edwin C. Meservy holds that position. There have been various other changes in the school board among them being the change in superintendent. Mr. I.I. Cammack was superintendent at the time Mr. Nugent was president. Mr. George Melcher is the present one. In September, 1926 school opened with its regular classes and faculty. Many of the faculty came from other high schools in the city. Mr. Stigall our principal came from Northeast high school. Mr. Shephered, the vice principal, was teaching at Manual Training High School before he took the position of vice principal here. Not withstanding the fact that changes have been made, many of the teachers who started at Paseo at the outset are still here.
During its earlier years Paseo was so occupied in getting started, that not much attention was paid to city and state affairs. However, the Paseon, our annual, took first place in several state contest. Various clubs and organizations arose in order for school life to function more smoothly and with more interest. On the other hand in the course of the school year, 1932-1932, the studenst massed all their efforts togther with the result Paseo took first place in nearly all competiton. She won the football, basketball, and track championships. She tool first place in the music and art's contest.
This year, 1932-1933, our Alma Mater received national recognition for the safety campaign carried on by the student council.
As we look back on the seven years of Paseo's career, we can view with satisfaction the fine spirit that has been developed -a spirit of loyalty that has made it possible for our school to become one of the best. It is not an accident that Paseo's athletic teams win championships, that her student council is able to produce a circulation for Paseon unequalled in Kansas City, that such productions as Dido and Aencas and the Washington Pageant are possible, or that Paseo boasts the best collection of original paintings of any high school in Kansas City and perhaps in the United States. It is not a matter of chance that Paseo graduates have won honor and recognition in some the great universities or that her students have made names for themselves in the fields of music and painting. If we of the present year and of the future keep on " remembering who we are," remembering we come of a group whose achievements in so short a time are already receiving notice, our outlook is bright. "let us strive on in the work we are in..." so that each of us may be able to say, "I helped a little to make Paseo the finest high school in our country."
Authored by Ted A. Anderson Paseo graduate1948
Ted's brother Neal Anderson also graduated from Paseo 1951
The article is from Ted To Jim Harper Chairman Reunion Committee
From Ted A. Anderson 48 First thanks for the great job you are doing with "Passing-On. I am enclosing a short article about Paseo High School and the Fogel and Anderson families connection to the first 25 years of this great school. Also enclosed for your use as you see fit are an original building photo, an early 1940 photo, other Miscellaneous photos as described at the end of my article, copies of old newsaper articles with photos, and a photocopy of the first and last page of the 1927 Paseon. Most information I had from childhood or working with company. The research filled in a few gaps and confirmed a few dates. Connie Smith, our Human Relations Director, did most of the research for me and helped write the article. Her grandmother, Mary Virginia Vaughan, attended Paseo from the first class in 1926, but dropped out in early 1927 due to death of her father and the need to work to help support the family. Roberta Fogel told me there is a Jim Harper, class of 1935, who is putting out a Paseo newsletter for that class. He lives in Johnson County. owner and CEO of Fogel-AndersonConstruction Company, I wanted toshare a short history of our connection, business and family, with Paseo High School for its first 25 years. The Fogel and the Anderson Have had a long association with Paseo High School. Fogel Construction Company, the forerunner of Fogel-AndersonConstruction Co. , Built the original Paseo High School which was created to ease the overcrowding at Westport and Central High Schools. Fogel Construction Co. was organized by Martin Fogel and his two sons, Paul and Lyle,and started the business in 1917. My father, O. T. Anderson, joined the company in 1922, Lyle Fogel's son John began with the company in 1946 and myself in 1953. The company name changed to Fogel-Anderson in 1954 construction of Paseo High School started in 1924 and the cornerstone was set in 1925. Native limestone Quarried from the hill on the job site provided the stone veneer. An article in the Kansas City Star dated August 18, 1926, brags that the school has "a faculty of forty members and a room for every teacher". The newspaper goes on to say that "within and without, it is representive of all that is modern and substantial in the way of school Architecture". The building was ready and opened for the beginning of the school term on September 9, 1926. Approximately 1,500 students enrolled that first semester. The first class graduating the following spring of 1927. My father, O. T. Anderson , worked at the school jobsite as a clerk of the works. He related to me years later that he had placed some paperwork into the capsule and had helped set the cornerstone into the building. Unfortunately, the papers my father placed in the capsule were destroyed during the during the opening of the container when the school was taken down. Fogel Construction Co. also built the annex to Paseo High in 1938. Lyle and Mary Fogel lived at 4949 Tracy with their children, John and Mary Ruth, whom both attended Paseo. John Fogel class 1935, married Roberta Lutz, Class 1934. Roberta, her brother Bill, Class 1930, and mother Lena, lived at 5734 Virginia. John and Bill are now deceased, but Roberta is currently living in Johnson County, Kansas and doing well. Mary Ruth Fogel-Ferris, Class 1939, also is deceased. My brother Neal Anderson, Class of 1951 , a retired auto dealer, lives in Aurora, Missouri--I am still active in our company and go to the office most every day. although we do enjoy spending long weekends at our home in Table Rock Lake. I love our business and all the people involved. As a sidelight, the fogel family also built, owned aand operated the Pla- mor at 31st Terrace and Main Street , From 1927 until 1951. I am sure many people in Kansas City and elsewere will remember the Pla-Mor. All that remains of the Pla-mor now is the roller rink, which is used as a body shop for Major Cadillac. The building photo, taken early April1926, shows the school near completion. Note the Fogel sign atop the tower. The night shot shows the center section and tower standing after the first effort to blast the building down. My son Andrew Anderson took the photos in November 1990. *(following is the only photo reprinted in "Pressing-On)
This is the end of Ted's article.
FYI: I don't know the date of the article, I thank he passed a couple or years ago.
The articles have been rewritten because the originals were old had small print.
Pressing-on is a newsletter for the classes 1945 / 1949.
Still under construction
I welcome your input doycegentry@sbcglobal.net
lRight Rear Paul Barker Doyce Gentry Fred Riley Jim Rendia Bill Blowers Ed Gerson Ed Stoner Kathleen Frisbie Perry
(continued from right) Wilton Dod Richard Mather John Sankey John Phillips Harry Dilley Richard Carr
Left Front Ann Crawford Simpson Martha Ober Lester Marcia Zaun Morris Charles Harvey JoAnn Oppenheimer Gore
(continued from Left) Betty Brown Swearinger Marlene Samberg Seidel Carlene Crago Gillespie Elizabeth Shane Hedenberg