Euclid High School Online Directory

Where Were You ...

November 22, 1963 

When you first learned of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy?

Carol Barber (C '48)  I was at home waiting for my son to get home from school when I heard about President Kennedy.  My son was not quite six years old, but he came home as upset as I was.  The first thing he asked me was if I had heard about it.

Marti Bartel (E '68)  I was in Mr. Habbit's science class at Forest Park Jr. High School.  Then, afterwards, my family spent the next three days glued to the television set watching the events unfold.

Tim Baur (E '67)  I was in Civics Class at Euclid Central.  Coach Langer still made us have wrestling practice.

Russ Borger (S '36)  I was in my office in Cleveland when the news came over the radio.  He was a well liked president, looked up to by all, not only those of his Democratic Party ties.

Bonnie Bowman (E '62)  I was at work at the Ohio Bell Telephone Company in downtown Cleveland when I got a phone call from a friend in a different department and building telling me to turn on the radio.  This was the first any of us in my department had heard about the shooting.

Phil Bremser (E '50)  I was in the offices of Pittsburgh Steel Co. establishing procedures and training their employees on a new computer system to do order entry and production control applications.  I was with the IBM Company.  There was mixed emotions in Pittsburgh as President Kennedy was not supporting legislation on tariffs to stop the dumping of steel in the United States.

Joanne Buchar (E '58)  I was teaching at Whitehall Yearling High School in the Home Ec. Dept.  It was my second year of teaching.  Pat Perme, (E '58) was the p.e. teacher.  She came up to my classroom and told me of the shooting, which at that time had not yet been declared an assassination.  At first I thought it was a joke but soon found out it was not as we were all called to the auditorium to watch the happenings on one of the few TV's in the school.  My son was 6 months old and I remember watching the events unfold as we were all home the next day.  The Ohio State game was postponed to a later date.  Thanksgiving was not the same that year.

Doug Caldwell (E '61)  We had just pulled into the parking lot at the radio station where I worked part-time while going to Ohio University.  My then-fiancé and I had traveled from Athens to Lancaster to do something at the radio station that afternoon.  Whatever that was is lost to my memory and, of course, was quickly inconsequential.  The station's general sales manager was getting into his car to leave.  He was distraught. I asked what was wrong.  "Didn't you hear? President Kennedy's been shot.  He's dead," he said through sobs.  We hadn't heard as the radio in the clunker I drove wasn't working.  Then began what turned out to be one of the more surreal days I've had in news.  The radio station had no network and relied on United Press International's broadcast wire.  We spent the next several hours monitoring the printer and handing copy to the news director who read it over the air.  We fielded phone calls from listeners and sought out comments from local politicians.  Hours later the station ended its first-ever all-news programming and switched to whatever funereal music we could find.  As a rock and roll AM station with a country and western format on FM, there wasn't much of that around the record library.  We relied on some classical albums from the general manager's home until someone could get to a local record store and buy more albums.  That programming continued through the funeral.

James Candela (E '67)  I remember that I was home from school that day ... I can recall the daytime television shows being interrupted with the news from Dallas. It was pretty confusing at first.  Reports that he had been shot and had been taken to the hospital provided some hope that he would survive.  Of course a short time later the sad news that he had been killed began to fill the airwaves.  Not long afterwards we heard that a suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald, had been arrested.  The following Sunday I happened to be watching television as Oswald was being moved inside the Dallas jail and he was also shot and killed.  I can remember that I saw John Kennedy as he traveled in a motorcade westbound on Euclid Avenue as I stood on the corner of Chardon and Euclid Avenue.  This was during his campaign for President.

Carol K. Dallos (E '77)  It is my earliest memory as I was only 3 at the time.  The TV was on although my mom wasn't watching it as she was in the kitchen washing dishes.  I just remember her running to the TV with the dish towel in her hands so shocked.  I think she screamed.  I don't think I was old enough to comprehend what had happened, but I clearly remember my mom's reaction to it.  That image and moment is burned into my brain.

Joseph (Arnold) Dauer (E '53)  I was returning from lunch in San Francisco when all the corner newspaper 'hawkers' started yelling "extra, read all about it, President Kennedy shot."  That was a day of 2 firsts for me:  a President being shot and hearing the news 'hawkers' yell "extra."  When I returned to the Hartford Insurance company office I was auditing, a room of 50+ people was totally silent; the manager called me into his office and showed me a picture of him with President Kennedy.  The train ride home that night was eerily quiet.

Len Evancic (E ’58)  I was working in the office at Osborn Manufacturing Company when my wife phoned to tell me about what had happened.  Although I was well aware of past Presidents who had been shot including Lincoln and Garfield, whose Mentor Avenue home I had passed by hundreds of times, my first reaction was "this doesn't happen to my President."  Sadly, it had happened and what I felt for the next several days up through President Kennedy's burial in Arlington has been blurred by time.  I do remember skipping my Law School class the evening of November 22, 1963 so that I could be home watching the news.

John Fleshin (E '64)  I was working in the darkroom at EHS.  I first had heard the president was shot and was still alive.  I felt if he was alive and reached the hospital he had a chance.  Little did I know the real story.  I actually wanted to be alone with my thoughts, and when I returned to the Survey office, Barb Hille was crying and told me he was dead.  This was perhaps the last president, or even leader, about whom we could feel so personally.  I do not see leaders in the world today, just politicians.  I remember the television playing mostly classical music, and I remember as well thinking that John John in some ways was fortunate to be so young as to be able to forget much as I had the death of my own father when I was very young.  I also remember a strong negative reaction to "Hail to the Chief" as I think of the death of Kennedy when ever I hear it, to this day.  It was a cold Thanksgiving that followed and my grandfather died nine days later.  In my family we have come to think of the fall as a time when loved ones die with the summer.

Shirley Furse (E '71)  I was in band at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School when a teacher, with tears streaming down her cheeks, came in to tell our band director to send us back to class, because President Kennedy had just been shot.

Diana  Goodrich (E '60)  I was driving on the highway with my husband, Frank Noch.  We had taken off work because Frank’s birthday was on the 25^th.  I will never forget the way all the people stopped or slowed down on the road.  We stopped into a restaurant I think and it was on TV and you could have dropped a pin and it would have been heard.

Mike Gordon (E '53)  I was working in the engraving department at Di-Noc Chemical Arts on London Avenue.  I had just come back from a late break and the lead engraver was doing some hand work on a printing cylinder; He always wore an earphone plugged into a small radio in his pocket.  Suddenly he turned around and said, "They shot Kennedy in Dallas."  At first we thought is was just a bad joke.

Dave Gubanc (E '67)  I was in 9th grade at Forest Park, in the Mobile Public Library, which was parked behind the building that Friday afternoon.  Our class had just stepped into the "bus" and one of the teachers came in and told us President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, TX and we had to all go back to our home rooms.  I remember some of the teachers were crying, which for a kid was something we didn't see very often.

Alan Hitchcox (E '71)  I was in Mrs. Brunner's 5th grade class at Memorial Elementary School.  Mrs. Brunner had been in the hall, then came into the class and first asked if anyone knew what an assassin was.  Then she told us that President Kennedy had been shot and killed.  What remains etched in my mind is seeing the American flags flying at half staff.  I didn't remember ever seeing that before, and to this day, I think of President Kennedy's death whenever I see the American flag flying at half staff.

Walton Howes (C '44)  I was writing a technical report in my office at NASA when a coworker went by and said that President Kennedy had been shot.  It was a bit, but not overly, shocking since every 20 years a President dies in office one way or another.  Moreover, Kennedy had ventured to Dallas in a state known to be violently opposed to him.

Bernadette Inman (E '63)  I was at my first job, started the day after Graduation at Howell & Hanks Insurance on East 200th Street.  I was typing a homeowners policy for Paul and Sylvia Bader.  When we heard the news I cried and got the policy all wet.  Went home and stayed in front of the tv for next four days.

Mark Jerson (E '76)  I was at home and saw it live on TV.  It was the most impactful event of my life.  I was so swept by the event, I had nightmares for weeks waking up in the middle of the night feeling a bullet in my own head.  I had just moved to Euclid from the Collinwood area and had to wait several months before I could start school in the Euclid school system.  I had completed most of one year in Collinwood but the school year was different there.

Robert Lefkowitz (E '62)  I heard the news on a car radio while hitching a ride from BGSU to Columbus for my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary.  The guy who picked me up was a former Army Paratrooper.  He was from the Detroit area and was on his way to the Grand Olde Opry in Nashville.  When he dropped me off in Dayton, his last words to me were that he was going on to Dallas and see if he could help out.  I never saw him again.

Bob Johnson (E '74)  I was in 2nd grade at Thomas Jefferson Elementary school, but for some reason I remember being at the next door neighbor's house when she came out and looked startled.  Asking what was wrong, I was told that the president had been shot and killed. I remember the many, many days of television coverage; of the 'laying in State", and the funeral march to Arlington National Cemetery.

Jeff Legan (E '71)  I was in Mrs. Jones' 5th grade class at Benjamin Franklin.  Our principal, Mr. Steinmetz, came into the room and whispered something to Mrs. Jones, which caused her to burst into tears.  My first thought was that something might have happened to one of the students.  She then composed herself and told us that the President was dead.  Right after that, we started to hear the radio reports through the PA speakers in the room.

Nick Lundskow (E '75)  I was in 1st grade at Indian Hills Elementary School.  I have a clear memory of standing in line in our classroom when the news came over the intercom that the President had been shot.  We then proceeded on to the restroom for a break.  Several boys were making light of what we had just learned and I recall being mad at their reaction.  I'm sure my classmates didn't really understand the gravity of the situation.  I'm sure I didn't myself.  But I did understand something terrible had happened.

Roberta Minicucci (E '55)  I had just left a church service with a friend in Shaker Heights.  We were sitting in a coffee shop when a strange combination of crying and yelling and shock went through the place.  We were in absolute disbelief.  My friend and I went back to the church.  There were crowds headed there by the time we went a few blocks.  Truly a sad day in our time.

David Mog (E '60)  I was in an analytical chemistry lab at Case Western Reserve University, discussing a research project with a graduate teaching assistant.

Bobbi Monroe (E '58)  It was my sister Stevie's tenth birthday and I was on an airplane from Denver where I lived/worked, to Cleveland where I planned to spend the day with her.  The captain announced what had happened and was in tears before he completed his words.  The rest of the flight was absolutely silent - except for when the captain would come on with anything more to relate.  When I got to Euclid and walked in our old home, Stevie was crying and very upset saying some kids in her 4th grade class had yelled, "It's your fault!  You are a jinx!" as it was her birthday.  Kids can really be cruel.

Dave Newman (S '45)  I was listening to a technical lecture in a conference room in Michelson Laboratory, Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, California.  Someone in the lobby came in with the news.

Linda Palmer (E '65)  I was a junior at EHS and was in gym class when the announcement was made over the PA system.  As I recall, we were all sent home early.

Roger Petan (E '75)  I was in 1st grade at Salida elementary school in Mentor.  They sent us home early.

Nancy Piper (C '47)  I was at work at Applied Physics in California when a coworker entered the building and asked if we had heard the news about President Kennedy.

Tom Porter (E '51)  I was at work at International Rustproof in Euclid when I heard the news.  That whole weekend, all we did was sit and watch the TV reports about JFK in stunned silence.  The day of the funeral, we brought TV's to work and sat all day long watching the funeral instead of working.

Donald Reed (S '48)  I was a beat officer on the Oakland Police Department.  I had gone into a grade school office and found the ladies there crying.

Don Samuel (S '49)  It was a Friday and I was working at my Dad's Print Shop - running a V36 Vertical Letterpress - setting up the second color of a job I was running for Allied Oil Company when Norm Gueshke, a fellow employee, told me he had just received a phone call from his wife who worked for Ohio Bell Telephone Company telling him that President Kennedy was just shot in Dallas.  Immediately I went to the shop phone and tried to call my wife, Fran, at home in Euclid.  As I dialed our number and the first three numbers, "481" - I received the busy signal - "My God, I thought, the phone lines are tied up."  I was being picked up by Fran, Dot and Bob (my sister and bro-in-law) at the shop around 2:00 pm to drive to Detroit and attend the Ohio State vs Michigan Football Game the next day.  No one talked in the car as we listened to the news.  Of course the game was postponed and we spent the week-end watching TV - till Sunday morning when Ruby shot Oswald.  I will never forget that week-end.

Bob Sheppard (E '62)  I was in college at OSU when I came home and my roommate, with his stupid sense of humor said to me, "Well, I guess that's a victory for the Republicans."

Robert K. Smith (E '68)  I was walking home from school when someone yelled something at me about Kennedy being shot.  A few days later I was watching TV when the station cut in with the film of Oswald being killed.

Ron Spacagna (E '65)  I was in English class when the announcement came over the PA system.  Initially they announced that Vice President Johnson was killed and that President Kennedy had been wounded.  The school was closed early and we were sent home.

Kendall Stauffer (E '68)  I was in Mr. Habits 8th grade science class at Forest Park.  Kathy Aufmuth went to the restroom and heard that the president got shot.  Right after school I had a Clarinet lesson at Petromelli Music (E. 185th St.) and heard there that he died.  We all stood around a black and white TV and watched Walter Cronkite sob.  Everyone was devastated, including my dad, who had voted for Nixon!

Bonnie Sumner (E '58)  I was working as a nurse in the recovery room of Euclid General Hospital.  We had the radio on but I wasn't paying attention to it.  One of the patients woke up from anesthesia and said he had a dream that the President had been shot.  Then I heard the radio and turned it up to listen.  We spent the rest of the shift listening to the details.

Joseph Tannenbaum (E '61)  I was serving in the Navy on the USS Harry E. Yarnell DLG 17, which was out to sea off the East coast at the time.  I was on the bridge and heard the news when it was told to the Captain.

Joyce Tianello (E '71)  I was in Miss Martin's 5th grade class at Noble.  We were about to listen to a record of that year's classical music selections, to study up for the upcoming Severance Hall Concert with George Szell & The Cleveland Orchestra.  The teacher put on the record, then had to turn it off because some strange noises were coming out of the PA system ... like a radio, but unclear.  It was the transmission of the Dallas reports and we heard that the President had been shot.

Sharon Weaver (E '59)  When I heard of the news, I immediately called my husband who was working for a history professor at Ball State University to tell him the news.  The department had not heard of the happening and scampered to find a television or radio.

Don Whiteside (E '53)  It was after supper in Germany at Bitburg Air Base when I saw news of JFK's death on the evening television news.  I quickly jumped in our car, drove to a restaurant in Bitburg and relayed the sad news to our Air Base command officials who were attending an American/German cultural dinner.  Of course, everyone was shocked, the Germans especially, since JFK had had an extremely successful visit to Germany several months previous.  Our USAF fighter base went on immediate "alert" for the next 24 hours, since the President's death was not yet explained as to the cause of who actually committed the murder.

Bob Williams (E '73)  I was in Mrs. Schwartz's 3rd grade class at Glenbrook Elementary.  It was a Friday and we were drawing log cabins in perspective for art.  Mr. Alseop, the principal, came on the PA and announced that the President had just been shot.  Because of that, school was dismissed early.  I clearly remember teachers in the hallways talking and crying.

Barbara Wilson (S '49)  Ironically, I was in Baylor Hospital in Dallas having just had a baby.  Our son, Paul, was born exactly at noon, Central Time, on November 22, 1963.  The shots were fired about 28 minutes later.  I was still woozy from the anesthetic when a nurse said to me, "Honey, the President's been shot!"  When my husband, George, came in to see me, he confirmed the sad news but he didn't know what his condition was.  Still woozy, I remember saying, "C'mon Jack!" Talk about mixed emotions!

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Last Revised: May 31, 2008