In 1953 Nancy Turner, an alumni of Lake View High School, and her family moved to the Lake View area. Three months into that move, the tornado of May 11, 1953 destroyed her home and “obliterated” a large part of the Lake View community.
“I was not in Lake View school yet,” Turner said. “My sister and I were still in the San Angelo schools and we were finishing out there. The main thing I remember is how horrible a time I had going home from school that day.”
Turner added that her father always picked her up after school, and when he didn’t show up, she knew something was wrong.
“He didn’t show up because our home had been destroyed by the tornado,” she said. Not only had her home been destroyed, but both Turner’s parents suffered injuries.
“It sounded like a freight train coming, and they went outside to see. They were caught outside, so they were beaten up pretty bad,” Turner recalled.
Luckily for the then 9th grader, five football players who had just finished practice offered to take her home.
“By that time, the National Guard was out and had the road blocked,” Turner stated.
Additionally, it took some time to convince the Guard members she lived in the area. She said simply wanted to get home to her family
Beyond that event, Turner enjoyed her time in the Lake View community, and the school provided a family atmosphere.
“There were about 68 students in my graduating class,” Turner noted.
Turner’s story was one of many shared Wednesday afternoon at the Lake View Monument Dedication ceremony. The dedication was held at the former Lincoln Junior High building, which was demolished in 2014.
Turner and her husband traveled from Bryan, Texas to attend the event that honored the history of Lake View’s public schools, dating back to the first opening of the school in 1911. The monument, which now stands in front of the old junior high school and faces toward the northwest Corner of 42nd Street and Bowie, consists of red brick façade and was formed with the bricks from the demolished Lincoln Junior High School building.
“The structure at the top of the monument mimics the original building, and the capstone was salvaged from its roofline,” said Bill Dendle, Lake View alumni of 1974 and a current trustee on the San Angelo Independent District School Board. “The monument faces the area where Lakeview originally got its name: the lake view; however, it was dry when I went to school.”
Jamie Highsmith, public information officer for SAISD explained in a press release, prior to the event, that the monument pays tribute to various events of 40 years during which Lake View was its own independent school district, Lake View ISD. The district was independent from 1927 to 1967.
“Four items are set in the monument: a 1928 inset from the building’s foyer, marble plaques from 1928 and 1938, and a bronze plaque from 1953, referencing the tornado of that year and the resulting reconstruction of the school building,” explained Highsmith.
Duane Helweg, who played an integral part of getting the marker and donated funds that helped bring the monument to fruition, remembered the day of the tornado as well during his presentation.
“Our entire house was destroyed except the main bearing wall,” he recalled. “Other than that, I enjoyed the rest of my years at Lake View.”
Helweg aslo shared the story of how, during his time, the students who attended Lake View came from farming families; so in honor of them, he wore blue jeans and a white shirt.
“Even the athletes wore blue denim and white shirts,” he told the audience.
Honoring the past was a great pleasure, Helweg said; and to share a more in-depth history, he shared his own memories of the community in writing, and more than 30 alumni, administrators, faculty and guests got a copy of that history with the event program.
“I’m just thankful to have the opportunity to remember all the way back to 1911 when Lake View became a school here, and until it ended and became Lincoln Junior high,” the alumni stated
During the dedication, the Lake View High School Band performed patriotic songs to honor the history of Lake View and those veterans who played a role in that early history. Lake View’s JROTC provided the color guard.
“This afternoon we get to honor and dedicate this site to help us preserve the memory and history of Lake View High School and Lincoln Middle School,” said Dr. Carl Dethloff, superintendent of SAISD. “It’s good to be here on Veteran’s Day as we honor the people who allow us our freedom such as public schools.”
Dethloff told guests that Lakeview High School and Lincoln Middle School have been the starting block for many local legends, many of whom attended Wednesday’s event.
“Our neighborhood schools are the glues that bind this community together,” the superintendent noted. “Today was a day to honor the rich history of both Lincoln and Lake View, and look forward to the future.”
After the dedication, Dethloff said it was a great thing to honor such a rich history.
“It’s the foundation that brings back fond memories, and it really brings the whole community together,” he stated.
For some time after the ceremony, the alumni who attended, like Mrs. Turner, enjoyed those fond memories.
Sharon Shirley Helweg, Duane Helwig’s wife, said she graduated from Lake View in 1965, and her best memory was the pep squad, the football games and “the excitement of it all.”
Her mother, Yvonne Shirley, said she remembered a time when everybody knew everybody. Shirley was the eldest alumni at the event and graduated in 1944.
“When I graduated, there were about 40 of us and we were all close,” she said.
Yvonne Nichols, Nancy Turner’s sister-in-law, said her father, whose name appears on the monument, was on the school board for nine years. She graduated from Lake View in 1947.
“I have lots of memories,” she said. “I was always in sports, and we always traveled. We went to San Antonio for track and came in first place.”
Nichols said that was a state playoff in 1945 or 1946.
To end the dedication ceremony and to give alumni one more trip down memory lane, the Lake View Band played the high school’s fight song. Everyone chimed in and sang, “Cheer, Cheer for ol’ Lake View high!”
It was a moment where students of the past joined those of the future.
Dr. Dethloff said, “I simply cannot wait to see and hear how future generations of Lake View High School and Lincoln Middle School students will make us proud as they stand on the shoulders of giants that have gone before them.”
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