September 26, 2012
		Long-time rural Rolfe resident, June Vaughn, died yesterday after being ill with Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) since the first week of September. Visitation will be on Saturday morning from 10 to 11am with the memorial service beginning at 11 at Shared Ministry of Rolfe.
	June (Shelgren) Vaughn graduated from RHS in 1941 and married Al Vaughn, who graduated from DMT in 1940 and died in 1995. She was a nurse, and they farmed in Des Moines Township where they raised four sons who graduated from Rolfe: Ed (class of 1965), Dennis (1966), Neal (1969), and Eric (1978). obituary
	Des Moines Township farmer, George Marine, age 91, died on September 19. He graduated from RHS in 1938 and was a standout player on the 1937 and 1938 Rolfe basketball teams that placed third, then second at the state tournament. He was married for nearly 71 years to Betty Harris Marine. They had three children who graduated from Rolfe: Bette Jo (1962), Becky (1966), and Mike (1971). George's funeral was scheduled for last Saturday at the Shared Ministry of Rolfe. obituary
	1938 RHS boys basketball team, 2nd at state Back row, left to right: Jimmy Taylor, Virgil Cox, Arnold Hansen, Forrest Tutt, Ray Boles, Coach Art Evans. Front row, left to right: George Marine, Al Budolfson, Bernard Ferden, Ed Smith, Leo Cornwell, Bob Watts. Mary Margaret Vainreb collection
	John Hauck Wiegman, age 83, died on May 23, 2012. He graduated from RHS in 1946 and became a highly successful architect in Fort Dodge, then Houston, Texas. obituary
	from John's essay for this site But, for all of the 18 years that I lived next door to Miss Marcum, the only favoritism that she showed to me was on my last Junior-Senior Prom day. As President of the 1946 Senior Class, I was to give the "parting charge" to Juniors that evening. About two o'clock in the afternoon, I asked her if I could be excused to go home and "practice my speech." (I really wanted to wash the car, and she probably knew it!) Her barely perceptible nod and Mona Lisa smile was a gift that I'll always remember..

September 6, 2012

• Rolfe-connected folks might appreciate this article about Lorene Hansen (class of 1934) that a close friend of her grand-daughter, Bronwyn Beattie-Hansen, wrote for the Wheatsfield Coop in Ames. Adam, the author, is produce manager there and tells about a Sunday dinner that he and other family members had with Lorene four days before she died earlier this summer and about her memorial service.

August 10, 2012

• The funeral service for Nancy Shelgren Martin  (class of 1951) will be at 10:30 am on Tuesday, August 14, at the Shared Ministry of Rolfe. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 pm on Monday, August 13, at Powers Funeral Home, in Rolfe.
• Lorene Kipfer Hansen (class of 1934) who died this week was the oldest alum at the 2005 all-class reunion. At the evening celebration at the Lutheran Church, she (dressed in red) and Deane Gunderson (class of 1935) received special awards from Master of Ceremonies Chris Pedersen for their seniority. You can watch them on You Tube.

Women and poppy sales - 1986
Left to right: Lorene Hansen, Irene Mehaffey,
Alice Johnson, Bonita Kipfer.

August 9, 2012

• Lorene Kipfer Hansen (RHS class of 1934) died this morning. She had lived in Rolfe most of her life until moving to a facility in Emmetsburg a few years ago. She had been married to the late Carl Hansen, who died in 1981. They had two children. Arlen (1954) was a popular literature professor in California and died in 1993. Dennis (1962) is a nurse and farmer in Emmetsburg. His daughter, Bronwyn, who lives in Ames is expecting her first child any day now. Life does go in cycles.
• We have received an email from Glenn Markley (RHS class of 1955) saying that Nancy Shelgren Martin (class of 1951) died last night. She apparently had been in a care facility in Colorado. Her daughter Mary Martin Field (1973) lives in Fort Collins, and son Randy (1975) lives in Windsor. Randy has been the Internet host for the RHS alumni Web site from its inception in 1999 until now. Nancy was married to Jim Martin (Albert City class of 1947). They lived on a farm east of Rolfe near the Des Moines River and both have been active RHS alumni, working often and hard on all-class reunions. According to Glenn, the family is flying Nancy back to Rolfe, and the funeral may be on Monday.

• Glenn Markley also wrote last week to say that Tom Clark (RHS class of 1951) died in O'Fallon, Illinois, on August 1. Tom was married to Mary Le Nelson Clark (1954) who also graduated from RHS.

July 19, 2012 We have posted several photos that rural Rolfe resident, Carmella Schultes, sent us from the 2012 Greater Rolfe Days parade. She has a business in Pocahontas called Studio C Photography.

 

July 11, 2012 The word is out. The committee planning Rolfe High School's all-class reunion is updating the alumni address book in preparation for the 2013 all-class reunion. It will be a year from now on July 13, 2013, in conjunction with the celebration of the town of Rolfe's 150th anniversary. A hearty thanks to those serving on the committee. If at all like Rolfe reunion committees of the past, it has the potential to be a stressful and thankless job but with so many people benefiting from the efforts. So any support you can provide, whether a simple thanks or helping find addresses or volunteering to help or donating funds, would probably cause a lot of smiles and warm hearts among the committee members. If you like reading Rolfe-related reflections, you might want to check out a long piece that our former editor, Helen Gunderson, wrote about the 2000 reunion. And if you wish, check out the index to all of our essays, read some, and consider writing and submitting your own thoughts. Or do like Mary Le Nelson Clark (RHS 1954) did when she helped her father, LeRoy Nelson of the class of 1927, prepare a piece for posting. Thanks.

  

July 7, 2012 People interested in researching family or community history related to Rolfe may be interested in a new tool: the Rolfe Public Library Digital Archive. It is an on-line tool for finding articles in old Rolfe newspapers and related publications. If you have questions about using it, contact the library or visit the Rolfe Community School Facebook group and ask for advice. A handful of people there are familiar with using the tool. Having the archive digitized and posted on-line was originally the idea of Louise Gunderson Shimon (RHS 1973) who raised funds by selling prints of her mother, Marion Gunderson's, watercolor paintings and persevered to see the project completed.

April 26, 2012

• Today, Helen Gunderson posted a YouTube video of the 1990 Greater Rolfe Days parade.

April 25, 2012

• Today, Helen Gunderson posted a YouTube video of the 1990 Greater Rolfe Days youth water fights.

April 12, 2012 The Rolfe High School All-Alumni Reunion Committee is planning an all-class reunion on Saturday, July 13, 2013.  In order to communicate with all alumni, the committee needs your help in confirming contact information for all alumni and faculty. Current name Last name when in high school  High school class/graduation year Current address Current e-mail address Please send this information for yourself, siblings, classmates and friends to Clara Gunderson Hoover (RHS Class of 1960). Please share this request with siblings and friends.  If you know of someone who has contact information for everyone in a particular class, please let Clara know that, also. Thanks for helping to make this a great reunion.

February 18, 2012

• A highlight from the Rolfe Community School Facebook page today is a message from Troy Pederson (RHS 1980) saying, "Way to go the people in Rolfe, by working together you FINALLY got back the School Victory Bell where it belongs." Does anyone have photos of the bell? If so, send it to Helen Gunderson. Thanks.

February 17, 2012

• There are two Rolfe alumni Facebook groups. One is "Rolfe High School Alumni" created by Kerri Beuchle Boker (RHS 1989) in 2008 with four members but several messages. The last message was in August 2011. Kerri is still the administrator. The second is "Rolfe Community School" created in about 2009 with 86 members and lots of messages and is current. Troy Pederson (RHS 198) started it, and Kerri was one of the original members. We will use these message centers for posting the kinds of announcements that have been on this page. But, of course, you can always check back here. Perhaps at some time, the two Facebook groups will merge.
• We have learned that Jeanne Jordan, a 1969 RHS graduate and film producer, living in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, area, has again teamed with her husband and co-producer, Steven Ascher, to create another award-winning film, "Raising Renee." Check out the trailer and read a New York Times article about the film.

• Helen Gunderson recently posted a new YouTube video that includes scenes of Rolfe from the early 1970s, including the highly-successful girls basketball team, homecoming parades, swimming pool activities, and other fun times.
• And we have created a one-page gallery that lists all the videos that have been posted on this Web site.