8th Grade Graduation Party--1958

Members of the eighth grade graduating class from Trinity Evangelical Lutheran School gathered at the home of Steve Koepper in 1958. They would be the last graduating class from the Arsenal Street location as the congregation built a new school on East 16th Street.  Four of the graduates in these photographs went on to Thomas Carr Howe High School in Irvington. While the kids laughed and ate snacks in the dining room, the adult chaperones gathered around a card table in the living room and sipped on some coffee. Everyone is dressed up as they had just come from the formal graduation ceremony. Like many teens in the U.S., they likely kept up with popular culture.  The number one song on the radio on June 6, 1958, was "The Purple People Eater." by Sheb Wooley. If they had gone to a movie that year at the Irving Theater then some of these kids might have watched "South Pacific," the top grossing film for the year.  As more Irvington families added television sets into their living rooms, some of these teens might have spent some time watching "Leave it to Beaver," "I Love Lucy," "Candid Camera," or the "Ed Sullivan Show."  The baseball fans in that dining room likely enjoyed the start of the new Major League Baseball season as they followed favorite players like Willie Mays, Mickey Mantel, and Ted Williams.  If they were Yankees fans then they were in for a treat later in the year.

On the cusp of high school, the kids enjoyed a few light moments together in the Koepper family bungalow at 5263 East Tenth Street.  They were about to separate and leave their insular world of their smaller school for much larger institutions; however, on this lovely spring day they just had fun.

Treats in the Dining Room:  Graduates from the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran School gathered at the home of classmate, Steve Koepper, at 5263 East Tenth Street one final time in 1958 before moving on to various high schools. Pictured: Cheryl Ann Kubiak (standing), Grant Bernard Jacobson (drinking), Rose Anna Baumgart, Daniel Mark Edwards,  Sandra Lenore Griffin, Stephen Lee Koepper (sitting in foreground), Douglas James Felten (waving), Steven Ralph Deal (eating a sandwich)  

Rosa Anna Baumgart and Grant Bernard Jacobson had fun at their eighth grade graduation party at the Koepper home at 5263 East Tenth Street in 1958.  Cheryl Ann Kubiak stood behind the couple.  You can also see the cage for Pete the Parakeet behind young Grant.  Pete had free reign in the house and he particularly like to perch atop the eyeglasses of various family members!  

Chaperones Monitor Behavior from the Living Room:  Norman and Lora Meyer Koepper (couple on left) agreed to host a reception for the graduates of eighth grade class from Trinity Evangelical Lutheran School on June 6, 1958 in their home at 5263 East Tenth Street.  The Feltens joined them.  Henry Felten (foreground) was the principal and their teacher in the school. His wife, Erna, can be seen behind and to the right of him.  Their son was also a graduate and in the next room.  

The Wren House at 132 South Arlington Avenue in 1908

The Wren family moved into this lovely new home at 132 South Arlington Avenue in 1908. Sadly, Dennis Wren died just as the family set up housekeeping leaving forty-year old Mary Wren in charge of their five children. Mrs. Wren, whose parents had come from Ireland, used all of her resources to keep the house including inviting her own widowed brother, Bartholomew Griffin and his two children, to move into the house in 1909.  Nine people now crowded into the modestly-sized home.  While living here, the Wren family said goodbye to fifteen-year-old Cecelia Wren who passed away in 1909.  The Wrens and Griffins moved from the house in 1912 for another home nearby on Catherwood Avenue. More tragedy awaited Mrs. Wren at the new house with the death of her brother leaving her in charge of her nephew and niece.  Perhaps even more difficult to bare would be death of her eighteen-year-old son Thomas in 1917.  Thankfully, her other children would live well into their elder years as would she passing away at the age of 71 in 1939.

The historic images below were taken sometime between 1908 and 1910.  The home at 132 South Arlington had just been built and was owned by the Wren family.  The dwelling has just one dormer and it faces south similar to a home at 136 South Arlington so perhaps they were erected by the same builder.  In the top photo, four-year-old Bernice Wren (1904-1980) posed on the front porch of the newly-constructed home at 132 South Arlington Avenue.  Notice the wide open spaces and the dirt still around the house from the construction.  Someone has opened an upstairs window so it must have been a warm day.  In the second photo, taken c1910, Bernice and Thomas Wren posed on the front steps at 132 South Arlington Avenue.  They were clearly siblings! Just look at their faces. Mrs. Wren had put out a potted plant above them.  Sadly, Thomas only lived to be eighteen years old.  The final photo shows the home after a snowfall on February 15, 2014.  You will note that the house has been clad in vinyl siding and the historic front porch was removed at some point in time.

The Wren House at 132 South Arlington Avenue in 1908.  Pictured:  Bernice Wren.  Note the hipped dormer on the south side of the home as there is not a matching one on the north side. You will also note the wood shake on upper story and the original front porch.  

Bernice and Thomas Wren at 132 South Arlington Avenue c1910

132 South Arlington Avenue on February 15, 2014

The historic images are courtesy of the Wren-Griffin family via Ancestry.com