......LHS News......
Originally sent June 6

There have been several great stories about LHS/grads in the Lawton paper recently.
One was in paper of May 25 and featured the LHS Class of 1933. In particular this article focused on three grads who have remained friends all these many years and still meet regularly at their Kiwanis meeting. Dr. Byron Aycock, T.P. Brammer, and Harold Short.

Harold Short said he lived on 'E' where the post office is now located. Short was elected class President and ran track and played left halfback on the football team. When he wasn't in school he worked, mainly construction. "Just like the rest of the kids, anything to make a buck. I was a water-boy for Wilson-Whitener Construction Co.
"One of the projects he helped with was construction of the Ritter Funeral Home. Short said he didn't have a car so he hitchhiked a lot which was common at the time. He said he used to go out to Fort Sill for dances and said they had dances at the Midland Hotel. [4th & C].
Short says his best memory of Lawton High is the first time he walked across the stage to get a letter sweater for their all-state football team. They also got a little gold football with a raised 'L' on it. The sweater is currently at LHS.
Short said his next best experience was when he stood on stage in front of his classmates as class President!
Short served in the US Navy and eventually became the Director of Maintenance for LPS.

Byron Aycock was active in band, orchestra, and vocal music all his high school years. He also obtained rank of Eagle Scout and was well known for his grades. When Aycock wasn't in school he did hard manual labor for an uncle who had a rural electric co-op. Among his duties...putting up power lines.
Brammer says he & Aycock often sat next to each other because of alphabetical seating. He says he remembers most about Aycock that he was "trustworthy."
Aycock also did a stint in the Navy and returned to set up a medical practice, specializing in EarNoseThroat. Many years later was my doctor! Very good doctor, very nice person.

T.P. Brammer's high school experience was somewhat more difficult. Brammer was partially responsible for supporting his family which kept him too busy for sports or other extracurricular activities. His Senior year was especially hard. He was raised on a farm and set to graduate in May when his father passed away in February. His mom was in her 60's so he had to get up and milk cows before school each morning. However, Brammer did have a Model T Ford that he used to make extra money. He would pick up four other farm kids and charge them .50 cents a week to haul them to school.Brammer said when he did have time and money, friends would get together and go to the movies...the Dome Theater, the Orpheum, the Lawton, the Palace. All now gone. Brammer is the only one of the three that still has his high school class ring. He said it cost $5.50 and he paid it off at .50 cents a week.
Brammer ended up with a chain of photography shops and for many years was the man with the camera on school picture taking day.

Almost three-quarters of a century after graduating, all three men recall their high school days with pride and chant...."Once you're a Wolverine, you're always a Wolverine."

Another great story in same paper, about a 1932 LHS grad, Jo Andrews, Jr. Andrews 94, is one of the oldest surviving grads of LHS. (Jo is father to our Washington School classmate Charles Andrews and his brother Ross Andrews - deceased). I think they moved away for a short time and Charles missed graduating with us - class '59.
Jo said 1932 was tough, nobody had any money. He said Lawton had been booming in 1928 but the crash came & by the time he graduated in '32 the economy had crashed hard. Jo's dad had a plumbing business and had done great through the late 20's, but by the time Andrews walked across the stage at LHS, "Dad had to scrounge enough money to get me a suit to graduate in." In spite of a money crunch, Andrews said he & his friends had great times. They would pile in someone's car and take dates to Medicine Park, Fort Sill, and the Midland Hotel [home of Canton Cafe]. Andrews remembers 'hanging out' in the balcony of the Lawton Theater, shooting pool at Rameys, and a place in the 200 block of D called Chili Billy's. A bowl of 3-way chili - had chili and beans and all the crackers you wanted for .15 cents!
Andrews and his buddy Homer Speck went to the Chicago's World Fair in 1932, after they graduated, as guests of Speck's mom. Jo married his high-school sweetheart Florence Crandall in 1936. They were married 57 years before Flo passed.
note: While I knew Charles from school and a bunch of us played together all the time, I also remember Mr. Andrews very well. The house where I lived (11th & Gore) originally had steam heat (radiators) and we used them for many years before dad removed them & installed central heat/air in '60's.Jo became a plumber like his dad & he delivered kerosene every fall that fired the boiler in the basement of our house that heated the water to produce steam for radiators! Pumped it in through a pipe from the outside. Big production...or at least seemed so at the time. Jo also worked on the boiler/system occasionally when there were problems.

Kept bad news till last this time.....Sorry to report the passing of Linda (Cooper), 59, of Marlow. Linda passed on June 1. She is a '67 grad of LHS. She is survived by two brothers: James and Lonnie; two sisters: Joyce and Mary.Services were June 5 at Callaway-Smith-Cobb Chapel in Marlow.On line sympathies cards at: <www.callawaysmithcobb.com>

Hope all enjoy this history of our school and graduates.
Regards from the 'home town' ........ Georgia