response to last post

 Great story! Good for you both🙌🏼

Frances Woods Steagall

Great Story

 I (Donna Collette) want to share a bit of good new news.  The last time I saw my good friend, Judy Lee, was the night we graduated from Carroll High School May of 1970.  I moved to Tennessee following graduation and Judy started school in June.  Throughout the years, we’ve been busy raising families and working.  I wanted to see Judy at our 25th reunion, but she went on Friday and I attended Saturday, so we missed seeing each other.  I couldn’t make last year’s reunion, so we missed each other again.  This month, May of 2023, she vacationed to Nashville.  The timing was great and we had a wonderful reunion with hugs and tears shed, 53 years after graduation night.  Time flies.  Photo below.

Sad news

 OZARK… Marilyn Judah Baker, a resident of Ozark, died early Friday morning, April 7, 2023, in the emergency room of Dale Medical Center. She was 71.

            Funeral services will be held at 10:00 A.M. Sunday, April 16, 2023, in the Fuqua Bankston Funeral Home Chapel with Chaplain Lisa Eller officiating. The family will receive friends from 9:00 until 10:00 A.M. Sunday at the funeral home. Fuqua Bankston Funeral Home of Ozark is in charge of arrangements.

            Ms. Baker was born December 6, 1951, in Dale County and grew up in Ozark. She was a 1970 Graduate of Carroll High School in Ozark. While serving as a faithful Army Officer’s wife, she held the position as President of the Officer’s Wives Club, while stationed in Ansbach, Germany.  She enjoyed cooking for her family, word search books, was an avid music lover, and was one of the most kind, sweet hearted person anyone could meet. Ms. Baker was preceded in death by her parents, Curtis Donald Judah and Eloise Snellgrove Judah; a son, Robert Vernon Baker, III, and two sisters, Louise Judah and Lucy Judah.

            Surviving relatives include her daughter, Brooke Baker Lee, Dothan; her son, Curtis Judah Baker, Jacksonville, Florida; grandchildren, Lauryn Grace Lee (Jayden), Mason Robert Baker, Noah David Lee, Grant Kenneth Baker, and Margeaux Kight Baker; several cousins including, William Judah (Tammy), Ewell Community, Pam Herbold, Pat McCaron, and Kim Littlefield (Greg); her caregiver, Melony Snell.

I also received a call informing me that Jeff Parker's wife, Peggy, died this morning. Services will be next week. Thank you all from Jeff for your prayers.

 We have also learned that Dan Byrd died on February 26th. Cards and prayers only please may be sent to Lynda at: 405 Florida Lane, PCB, Florida 32413

 

Asking for Prayers

 We are asking for prayers for Jeff Parker's wife Peggy Parker who has fallen and has an inoperable brain bleed. She has suffered from dementia for many years now and this. We are asking for prayers for Peggy and also for Jeff and his family as they go through this time.

 I am also asking for all to pray for Carl Andrews and Barbara. Many asked me about him at our last reunion and they are about the same. It is just good to know that others care about you and are praying for you.

Prayers or cards only, please no calls

Jeff Parker

1136 Kensington Court

Seymour, IN  47274

Barbara and Carl Andrews

2925 West Roy Parker Road

Ozark, AL 36360

News about Bill Moore

 

Obituary of William "Bill" Moore

William “Bill” J. Moore, Sr., 70, of Enterprise, Alabama, went to his heavenly home on March 2, 2023. Bill was born in Columbus, Ohio, and moved to Ozark, AL as a child. As a career, Bill was always involved in criminal justice. He started his career as a Deputy for the Dale County Sheriff’s Department and moved to the Enterprise Police Department, where he retired after more than 20 years in law enforcement. He had a second career as an attorney in Enterprise. Bill is survived by his wife of 48 years, Rae Nell Smith Moore; his three children, William J. Moore, Jr. and his wife Amanda, Joshua Moore and his wife Lauren, Hannah Brantley and her husband Colby; four grandchildren, Ava, Ella, John Luke, and Jake; his brother, Gary Moore and his wife Cathy; and many friends. Besides his parents, one brother, Robert J. Moore pre-deceased him. Bill and his wife Rae attended Heritage Church in Enterprise, AL. The family invites you to a visitation at Heritage Church, located at 2911 Rucker Blvd, Enterprise, AL 36330, on March 11, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. The funeral will be a private ceremony with only close family members present.

From Chester Combs

 To all those who touched my heart - shared their thoughts with me years ago or simply called me classmate or friend:

   At his time of special feeling - allow me to thank all of you for  
the impact that you had on each of us, our small world & the rest of the people who made our day better. Please be of good cheer - enjoy the time with your families & thank God for his blessings granted to us. I am not a theologian, but I do have a huge amount of gratitude for God & his son Jesus Christ. It works real well for me. Reach out - it does not hurt. Remember that this special day started with the birth of a wonderful child.

   I read more sad notes & my heart hurts. In my many years in law enforcement, I came across many people who were hurt, lonely & sometimes suicidal at this time of year. I choose not to dwell on these thoughts. I do say that you can always find someone to share the holidays with & to think of the good times we all shared with others.

   As for me, I was fortunate to receive a visit from Barbara & Tom Adams this year. They told me about the lives of some. Gratitude touched my thoughts again. To recall fond times & great memories was terrific. I was elated & felt blessed by their visit. I wish such good feelings for all who are still with us. I was also able to read about some of our classmates. It was a sad moment in time. It was also a moment of reconnect. I will direct my thoughts to happy times & venture ahead. Please do the same.

   So give your spouse, children & grandchildren a huge hug & take a moment to tell them how much they mean to you & how much they are loved. I look forward to the day when I can attend a reunion & hear stories of how well you impacted our world & the lives of others. Be of good cheer.

   Be safe & make the 25th a great day for your family.

   Chester Combs

P.S. A little note of illustration. Years ago I came in contact with a family of four (M-F-S-D). Mother & father had become addicted to drugs & lost everything.We arranged for food & lodging for a couple of nights along with the return of their vehicle to them. It had been towed away. The mothers family had contacted me & I was able to provide a lead with the result that mother & the children received needed help & a loving home with the grandchildren cared for once again. I got a call from the grand parents & was happy to hear of the blessed return for an almost lost family. My heart was again ecstatic with good feeling. You see - I got the call on a snowy Christmas eve.

   God Bless You All.

Class ornament

 Sent  in from Sharon Cobb Davis

A double !!!

 Sent in from the Lee (Mitchell) and Mick Steltenpohl , (They got two!!!)

an ornament to remember

 If you were able to join us in June for our 50th reunion, you received one of these ornaments. Hopefully it is on your tree this Christmas. Merry Christmas to you all!

A new note came in.

 Jan, I agree with Chester. It saddens me so much to be losing our classmates yet there are so many blessings in each of our lives, I sincerely hope. I would love to hear some of the happy things in your life. I will keep you in my prayers because I also know we all have struggles everyday. May God richly bless each one of you. With much love and gratitude for being my friends.

Tina

Just a little note

 I have been getting all kinds of emails back since I posted the news about our loss of Lynn Allen. The following one really sounded good. I also take care of the blog for my husband's class. Since they had their 50th class reunion, 99% of the new posts are related to the loss of classmates. That seems to be the only news or information sent to me so that is what I post. Please look at the following information and let it inspire you as it did me.

 I feel sad when I hear of my friends & classmates who are no longer with us. Many like Bob Adams were good & close friends. The point of my story is to say that I wish we could hear more wonderful & good stories that our friends have experienced. I have three daughters - son in laws & seven grandchildren who continue to make an experienced man feel alive & young.

   So maybe those of us who are remaining can share many good stories & speak of the accomplishments that we achieved in our lives. I am a maverick so tell me of the wonderful side of life.

   Rest assured that I will attend the first reunion that I can. God bless all of those wonderful classmates that allowed me to be called their friend & those who shared their lives with us all.

   Always the friend of all,      Chester Combs

P,S, I had a superb day today & will have a better day tomorrow.  I will not settle for anything less. I wish the same for you & all my classmates. Gratitude for the time that has past & optimism for the days ahead. It has worked for me. I know it works for others also.

Sad news about Lynn Allen

 

Obituary

Arnold Lynn Allen, a resident of Luverne Nursing Home, passed away peacefully Tuesday, November 8, 2022. He was 70 years old.

Mr. Allen was born on November 12, 1951 to the late Arnold Lee Allen and Alma Ladine Love in Ozark, AL. He was a 1970 graduate of Carroll High School. Mr. Allen lived in Ozark for part of his life then moved to Panama City Beach, Florida where he worked as a Night Auditor for several hotels. After retiring from work due to health reasons he moved to Luverne, Alabama. Mr. Allen resided in Luverne Nursing Home for the last three years.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his stepfather, Walter Eugene Akridge; sisters, Patricia Wilkinson and Renita Bowers; and brother, Rickey Bush.

Survivors include his sister, Saubrena (Ronnie) Lewis of Ozark; brother, Anthony (Judy) Akridge of Dothan; and many loved nieces and nephews.

A private memorial service was held at 1:00 pm on Thursday, November 10, 2022 at Sunset Funeral Home.

a note from David Bolich

 Wanted to let everyone know that our class signature board and photo from our 50th reunion is now on the wall of the foyer of the new school. 

A note from Chester Combs

 Dearest Jan,

   I trust the information I received from Tom & Barbara is indicative of a long & good forecast & trend. They advised that your health is still good. Use the time that God gives us to love your family & enjoy the time you spend with them.

   Let me express my gratitude to all my classmates who imparted their kindness & pleasant thoughts to me during my years as a student at CHS. My many memories are truly good ones. I formed many friendships with people in Ozark, Enterprise & Daleville. I was blessed by the good cheer & friendliness of the great people of Alabama. I graciously thank all of them.

   In many years of military life & law enforcement I developed the habit of initialing the reports of those I supervised. Habits once formed stay with me. I shall endeavor to be mindful of this & correct it in the future.

   I was sad when I read the list of deceased classmates. Happy thoughts returned when I read the list of the remaining classmates. I will ask the good lord in heaven that he continue to bless those who remain here on earth. I do regret that circumstances do not allow me to attend these reunions. Maybe some day!

   Gods blessing to & for all.

Your permanent friend now & always,

   Chester D, Combs

P.S. Please forgive any spelling errors & my slowness to respond. I am not exemplary with computers at all. Typing is still by the hunt & peck method. Many days go by without me checking this inf___al device .

more sad news

 

Obituary of Timothy John Byrd

Mr. Timothy John “Tim” Byrd, a resident of Ozark, died Wednesday, June 29, 2022, at his home surrounded by his family. He was 70 years old. A memorial service for Mr. Byrd will be held 1:00 P.M. Friday, July 1, 2022, from Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Ozark with Reverend Jim Hill officiating, Holman Funeral Home of Ozark directing. The family will receive friends Friday in the church from 11:30 A.M. until service time. Mr. Byrd was born March 9, 1952 in Ozark, Alabama to the late John Mixson Byrd and Geraldine Snellgrove Byrd. He was a 1970 graduate of Carroll High School. Mr. Byrd was a graduate of Auburn University with a Criminal Justice Degree and worked with the Auburn Police Department. Tim worked with the Enterprise Police Department where he served as Police Chief for several years. He created and supervised the Dale County Criminal Justice Information Center and served as Director of one of the three Alabama Regional Computer Centers to identify and help prevent criminal activity in the Wiregrass. Tim served as Chairman on the 911 Board in Ozark for many years. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Susan Paige Byrd. Survivors include his wife of 48 years, Sherry Morrow Byrd of Ozark; one daughter, Natalie Lane (Blake) of Madison, Alabama; one son, Dustin Byrd (Jennifer) of Dothan, Alabama; four grandchildren, Charlotte and Caroline Lane, Rosemary and John Martin Byrd. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Ozark-Dale County Humane Society, P. O. Box 2502, Ozark, Alabama 36361.

Sad news

 

Obituary of Sara Nell Andrews

Sara Nell Andrews, a native of Ozark and a long-time resident of Dothan, died late Friday evening, June 24, 2022, at her home after an extended illness. Funeral services for Sara will be held 10:00 A.M. Thursday, June 30, 2022, in the Chapel of Holman Funeral Home and Cremations in Ozark with Reverend Dave Walsh officiating. Interment will follow in Center Ridge Baptist Church Cemetery, Holman Funeral Home of Ozark directing. The family will receive friends at the funeral home in Ozark during visitation hours which will be held Thursday from 9:00 A.M. until service time. Sara was born on March 9, 1952 in Dale County, Alabama to the late James Travis Andrews and the late Mary Thompson Andrews. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by several members of her extended family. She is survived by her friends and members of her extended family. Sara graduated from Carroll High School in Ozark, AL and attended several colleges and universities as she pursued her chosen profession as an educator. She studied Social Science at Troy University and at Georgia Southwestern State University. Later, Sara studied Special Education and School Administration at Auburn University in Montgomery and Educational Leadership (Ed.S.) at Troy University in Dothan. As an educator, she began her career at Worth County High School in Sylvester, Georgia. She taught Special Education classes at Alexander City Junior High School and taught Social Science classes at Dothan High School where she also served as the cheerleader coach. Before retiring with the Dothan City School System, Sara served as an assistant principal at Northview High School. She taught education classes at Troy University Dothan as an adjunct faculty member both before and after retiring from the Dothan City School System. Sara was an avid reader and a staunch and vocal advocate for animal welfare. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Center Ridge Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, C/O Nelson Senn, 373 County Road, Ariton, Alabama 36311; or to the Wiregrass Humane Society, 255 Jerry Drive, Dothan, Alabama 36303 334-792-6693 FAX 792-5693 Very special thanks to Tracy Gissendanner, her primary caregiver, who gave so much comfort. Special thanks, also, to Cindy and Marc Crews who have been incredibly supportive of Sara for years. Glenda and John Lynch have been providing invaluable support to Sara as well as to Sara’s late mother, Mary Thompson Andrews.

 

Please add your photos

  Hopefully you got lots of great photos at our 50th reunion in May. Please add them to our Google photos page or send them to one of us who might be able to do that for you. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FwnCr8REB1CrNa9V6

A good time was had by all!!

   In April of 2019 a group of CHS graduates of 1970 led by John Runkle got together to plan their 50th class reunion in 2020. We finally got to celebrate that event on May 20-21 of 2022. The events were interesting for us all and go basically like this. 

  During the first committee meeting a date in June, 2020 was made.  We had some push back on that because of the weather. Because of that we moved it to April 24-26 of 2020. We all know what the world was getting ready to experience so on March the 29th of 2020, the committee cancelled the April event. At that time the committee decided that a year was probably a good choice and opted for a 50 + 1 reunion to be held April 16-18, 2021. 

  Our committee sort of got a kick in the head when one of our committee members, Bob Adams, died of Covid in November of 2020. The committee reconvened in January of of 2021 and cancelled the April 16-18, 2021 event. After this cancelation, John Runkle returned each and every check that we had received to pay for the reunion.

  Luckily we kept everyone on track with their duties. Lee and Mickey Steltenpohl did a stellar job actually finding lost classmates and identifying classmates that we had lost during our 50 years apart. Many other committee members came and went but eventually we all got it together. Many of the committee got a bit discouraged and sort of fell by the wayside, but then the class of 1971 decided to have their 50th in September of 2021. Reinvigorated, we decided to have a reunion at the same time hoping that many friends from the two classes would be able to reunite with their classmates. Unfortunately, they too, lost a committee member to Covid and eventually both classes cancelled their events in August of 2021.

  Never stopping, we were called  together yet again in January of 2022. A new date was made, May 20-21, 2022.  This time, the event was pay at the door and nothing was mailed in. The committee members got to work, each did their jobs, and we carried it off. I would list the members but fear of leaving one out leads me not to do that. We are sorry to say that we lost another committee member during all of this, Terry Tolbert.

  Wow, what a great weekend it was!. It took us a long time and many individuals had to change their plans also.  Many who were coming could no longer and many who could not come could now make it. We were able to  contact over 100 classmates and ended up with about 67 classmates and 30 guests. More than we actually felt would stay with us.

So far the reviews we have received from classmates who came have been positive. The committee is taking a break and John is still working to clean up! But I heard he was calling an "after action meeting" in June!!

Two group photos

 The photo on the steps was made on Saturday morning at our Breakfast before the school tour.

The other photo was made Saturday night just before our big Saturday night event.

What a great weekend!!

 Oh What a Night . . . or two!!

As expected, those of us who actually got to attend our 50th + high school reunion were not disappointed.

Hopefully those that were able to come were able to see long lost friends and get reacquainted with others. It was truly great to see how things have changed for us all. Hopefully we will have a solution for photos that were taken to be added to one site so that all may see. Many people had camera phones so we were able to capture the weekend from many different perspectives. 

  Thank you John Runkle for keeping us all going and getting to a satisfying weekend of fun. Many dates have come and gone but we made it!

IT'S HERE!!!

 Finally, we can say that we are going to celebrate our 50th class reunion!! We all know the reasons for our delays but eventually we made it. Hopefully you are planning to attend just to be with friends made long ago. Good people and good weather are expected so come along and enjoy!

Reunion update, May 20-21, 2022

 The Carroll High School class of 1970 is still on for a reunion. Please mark your calendars for May 20-21, 2022. Information concerning this reunion will be arriving in the mail soon. We certainly look forward to being able to meet and greet some friends from years gone by. Please make sure to check your spam or junk folder just in case John's letter came to you there. 

September 50 + 1 Reunion has been postponed as of August 15th, 2021

 The 50 + 1 reunion planned for September of 2021 has been postponed until April 29 - 30, 2022 because of concerns about the Delta varient of Covid 19 in the Ozark area. We hope the new dates will work for you and encourage you to send in your information to John Runkle at (703) 298-4390 or johnrunkle2014@outlook.com, regardless of what information we may have for you. 

Deceased Members

 Below is a list of names that we are aware of that are deceased.

Deceased classmates

Tim Byrd

Sara Nell Andrews 

Mae Olivia Crittenden

Jerry Cook

Zadie L. McGlon-Simmons 

Brad Trim

  Terry Tolbert

 Bob Adams

  Patricia Ann Allen Powell

Donna Bridges Perrett

Diane Hackney Gren

Ray Mowery

Charlotte Strickland Mitchell 

Joe Bankston

Fredrick Beasley

Bubba Bodford

Larry Brown

Larry Jack Brown

Coleman Campbell

Andy Cannon

Pete Carlson

Mary Grace D’Andrea Hood

Jimmy Day

Eddie Foote

Jimmy Fuqua

John Howell

Joe Howell

Susan Jernigan

Rondall Johnson

Linda Linstrand

Aubrey Matthews

Steve Napier

Doris Norman

Jessie Pearl Shipman

Ken Smith

Cathy Smithey

Beverly Snell

David Snook

Don Sterzenback

Eugene Sullivan Jr

Sandra Ward

Steve Warrick

Tommy Whatley

 Lorretta Barrow 

Annie Pearl Dowling

Merita Grant  

Jerome Flowers                                                       

Gerald Douglas Spradlin

Ronald Beasley

Jacqueline Frankline

Janice ( Jackie) McLeod

Calvin Clark

Edward Everett

James Ellis

 Linda German Jones