Hope High Class of 1954 Meets

The Hope High Class of 1954 held its 70th Class reunion on Saturday. This class included some notable members such as Kirk James – a Major General who flew in 180 combat missions in Vietnam.

Another member was Benja Owens who received 2 purple hearts in Vietnam.

Sonny Griffin played high school basketball with Garvey Hatch with the season score of 32 wins to 3 losses. After Hope, he went on to Oklahoma A & M and played with Eddie Sutton. He then went into the oil business where he was been ever since.

Garvey Hatch played basketball for Old Miss and was the head coach at Abilene Christian College for four years and Administration for 24 years. He was the Department Superintendent. He currently lives in Patmos.

Don Ruggles was the founder of Life Net Helicopter and a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War.

Dwain O’Steen was the son of well-known Brother O’Steen from Garrett Memorial Baptist. His father was a preacher there for 10 years.

O’Steen has lived in Springhill, Louisiana and has been in the furniture and appliance business as a part owner. His offspring include 2 daughters, 3 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.

John David Whitlow is the son of the former pastor of the First Baptist Church. He lives in Little Rock currently. He worked with the AR Department of Health where he inspected all the medical and dental equipment. Whitlow did environmental surveillance around AR 1 Nuclear Facility where they established a background radiation level. He worked for the AR Department of Health for 26 years and has been retired for 36.

Billie Jo Rodgers nee Thomas taught at Eastern Texas Christian Academy in Tyler, TX.  She lives in Jasper, AR and retired back to Texas to babysit her grandchildren.

Other members of the class were Sybil Herndon who was the owner of the Lois Beauty Shop in downtown Hope, Ralph Ebens and Tommy Lively.