Denice Meyer
Reading current obits, I found Tom's & wondered if he was the Tom I knew from Nims. The family lived on the same block as the school. He was in many of my classes, as we both were born in 1955. He was my first biggest fan & admirer of my short stories. I would write, sort of like a soap opera story, & he couldn't wait til the next day, in class, to read it. Mrs. Mapes (before she married & then she was Mrs. VanDonklaar) was our teacher. Tom had a sense of humor, like me. One time the teacher reprimanded Tom & told him to turn around in his seat, so he actually did, in a complete circle. He also saw the humour in simple things. The teacher wrote on the blackboard some pronouns... "he she it.." He began laughing... & always got the class laughing. I always wondered what happened to Tom. I remember him having short hair, kind of chubby (not skinny but not fat) & a really fun person! Mike Ashendorf was in our classes, too. In that particular one, he would sell "creepy crawlers" to make money. He died of a cancer in his neck a few years ago. Danny Keck, in our class, died, too, (as well as Rick Kesteloot)... Thanks for letting me share these memories. From Denise (Aley) Meyer