Five 1944 Graduates Now Live In Same Place

Five classmates, five high school seniors, Dorothy Jackson, Bud & Jan Richter, Melba Walker, and George Zerlang, who all graduated the same year from Theodore Roosevelt High School in 1944.

"Were we in the same class?" Walker said.

All of them went their separate ways, but now their together again at the Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens, sharing their stories.

"It was called a sockhop and the boys were all so bashful, they’re all on one side of the room and the girls are on the other side," Jackson said.

"Boys pants were at the waist," Jan Richter said.

"We used to get 5 gallons of gas for a dollar and have 2 cents change," Zerlang said.

"You could get a hamburger for a dime and a big milkshake for a dime," Bud Richter said.

Reminiscing about old times.

"We didn’t have air conditioning in the cars in those days," Richter said.

And remembering how Fresno once was.

"We’d ride the streetcar out there in our swimsuits," Jan Richter said.

"Kids would be out at night, never had a worry. Doors were unlocked, keys in the car," Richter said.

With phrases like rumble seats and going steady still part of their vocabulary. Two of them, Bud and Jan, actually started going steady in high school.

"I had my eyes on him, I chased him from 2nd grade," Jan Richter said.

And the two are still married today.

The group still meets regularly with other classmates too, knowing the importance of staying in touch.

"We enjoy trying to remember," Bud Richter said.

The five classmates say they plan to continue meeting and actually have a high school reunion coming up in September.