Penny Kaler Smeltzer Passes Away on October 2, 2023

Penny Kaler Smeltzer passed away on October 2, 2023.

Her sister, Patricia, passed away in 2015 (see here).

When Penny Kaler married Robert Smeltzer in 1963, she became Penny Kay Smelzter.

Penny Kay Smeltzer, 77, of Decatur, Illinois, passed away October 2, 2023, at home.

Penny was born in Decatur on August 22, 1946, the daughter of Raymond and Fraudonna (High) Kaler. She married Robert Smeltzer on January 4, 1963, in Monticello, Illinois. Her chosen work was cleaning houses for others, which led to many of her clients becoming cherished friends. In her spare time, she was an avid reader, baker, and watcher of court-TV shows. She was a former member of the Early Idlers Car Club, a pastime she enjoyed with her husband Robert. Her greatest joy was spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren.  

Penny is survived by her children Paula Burris of Decatur and Pamela (Michael) Card, both of Decatur; siblings Karen (Rodney) Beard and Raymond Kaler, both of Decatur; sisters-in-law Marilyn Merry and Karla Campbell; grandchildren Benjamin Smeltzer, Brandie Jones, Megan Burris, Abbey Burris, and Sunshine Zuber; 10 great-grandchildren; and a host of extended family and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and sisters Paula Rae Kaler and Patricia Michaels.  

Visitation for Penny will be held from 2pm to 4pm on Saturday, October 14, 2023, at Graceland Fairlawn Funeral Home. Following the visitation, Graceland Fairlawn will provide cremation services, and burial will be held at a later date in Mt. Gilead Cemetery.  

Love & Marriage Among Mac '65 Grads

These are the individuals in the Class of 1965 of MacArthur High School who married other graduates of MacArthur High School.

Sheila Blankenship '65 - Jim Roppa '65

Tracey Boyle '65 - Gary Devore '65

Richard Ogden '65 - Cheryl Richardson '65

Mike Braughton '65 - Bunny Newton '65

Mike Bader '65 - Jill Mirus '65

Dave Wooten '65 - Sydney Weaver '66

Carole Carter '65 - Tom Hill '64

Steve Haury '65 - Sue Patrick '67

George Slater '65 - Nancy '68

Darrell Van Fossan '65 - Suzanne Brown '66

Donna Camp '65 - Wayne Maddox '66 

Do you know others?

John R. Coutrakon at Law School

Earlier this month, I received this email for Jeff Skrysak:

I am currently a law student in Oregon at the Willamette University College of Law. In our hallways, photos of past graduates are hung on the walls. The photo of John R. Coutrakon (class of 1976) is remarkable, so I decided to research him on the internet.
I found your blog post about him here.
Illinois is my home state; I grew up west of Chicago and moved here for law school, so I was happy to see that Mr. Coutrakon was also from Illinois.
I am writing you now to ask if you would like to see the photo of Mr. Coutrakon that is shown in the class graduation frame? He must have been quite the character because half of his face and head is shaved clean while the other half has a hair and a full beard. Such a fun person must surely have been appreciated by those around him.

I asked Skrysak to send along the photograph, and share it below:

After graduating from law school, John became the founding partner of the law firm of Coutrakon & Badin, Brookings, and a member of the Oregon State Bar.

On the page I posted about John, I noted:

JR Coutrakon, who was born on January 10, 1947, died in a wreck involving a logging truck, according to what his friends have shared.
His obituary was published in the Decatur Herald & Review on Valentine's Day, 1987. The sterile details in the paper give little hint of how awful the crash was. "John Roberts Coutrakon, 40, of Brookings, Ore., formerly of Decatur, died Tuesday (Feb. 3, 1987) in Coquille, Ore., from injuries suffered in an automobile accident."

May John rest in peace, and again, condolences to his family and friends.

For more information on the Class of 1965's 50th Reunion, please click here.

Still Missing! Please Help.

In about a month, the reunion of the Class of 1965 will take place. We are still looking for some missing people. Can you help?

From the Class of 1965, MacArthur High School, Decatur, Illinois, the following people are still missing.

Do you have any information about them?

1    Barb Baker

2    Donna Barfield Barlow

3    Floyd Campbell    [Found ~ 2.4.2011]

4    Darrilyn Castelli Lewis

5    Robert T. Cross

6    Annie Kate Currie

7    Diana Dotson

8    Carolyn Elbert Camp

9    Sharon Goldman

10    Pam Goodwin Kemp

11    Shirley Grupe McCartney

12    Maria Lynn Harris

13    Michelle Highley Zaba

14    Robert F. Hunter

15    Barbara J. King

16    Jim Douglas Klausmeier

17    Joan McElrath

18    Darrell Lynn Miller

19    Leslie (Skip) T. Perks

20    Susan Ramsey

21    Kathy Elaine Reeter

22    Linda Mae Rutherford

23    Joanne Marie Singleton

24    Nancy Smith

25    Jeanette Anne Sullivan

26    Carolyn Trudy Summer Cummings

27    Joanne Elizabeth Taylor

28    Lucille Paulette Taylor

29    Claudia Voelcker

30    Lamae Wachholz

31    Linda Jane White Edelhofer

32    Charles Winegardner

Contact me, lcoleman@maine.rr.com, if you do, and I'll pass it on to the Reunion Committee.

Thank you.

45 Years Ago!

Today, June 4, 2010, is the 45th anniversary of the graduation of the Douglas MacArthur High School Class of 1965.

Where we all went, what we did, and whom we became have their roots on that day. Graduation.

The other events happening on June 4, 1965, were mostly ignored, missed, or forgotten because we were so preoccupied with ourselves, our futures, our celebrations, and our fears of our tomorrows.

Therefore, for some memory moments, here are some highlights of what occurred on June 4, 1965.


The big news of the day was that Gemini IV was in its second day of flight. Gemini IV performed the first American extra-vehicular activity (EVA), also called a space walk. Astronaut Edward White took his space walk for 22 minutes, the previous day. It thus was all over the news on the 4th.


President Lyndon Johnson, meanwhile, was giving one of the most famous speeches of his life, his Civil Rights address at the Howard University commencement, as we were graduating from MacArthur:

To shatter forever not only the barriers of law and public practice, but the walls which bound the condition of many by the color of his skin. To dissolve, as best we can, the antique enmities of the heart which diminish the holder, divide the great democracy, and do wrong — great wrong — to the children of God. ~ LBJ, June 4, 1965.

Miss USA 1965, the 14th Miss USA pageant, took place in Miami Beach, Florida on June 4, 1965. It was the first Miss USA pageant to be televised live (on the CBS network). The pageant was won by Sue Downey of Ohio.



Life ran a story on this date saying that only baseball players wore sunglasses to keep the sun out of their eyes, and everyone else wore them because they were cool.


Some trains had a decidedly modern deco look then. Pictured is the 20th Century Limited, Train #26, taken in the Midwest, on June 4, 1965, by Dr. Louis Marre.



Memorable music was released on June 4, 1965. There was a Beatles album containing "I'll Follow the Sun," "Baby's In Black," and "Words of Love." The Rolling Stones' classic, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" first appeared, as well, on this day.


On June 4, 1965, Andrea Jaeger, a future American tennis player was being born in Chicago, Illinois. Jaeger would later become an Anglican Dominican nun in 2006.



Finally, Life ran an ad on June 4, 1965, for a new vehicle that would be just right for an emerging generation who liked to travel around in groups, to concerts and on various exploratory road trips.

After graduating on this date 45 years ago, many of us moved on from Decatur and explored the globe, in VWs and other means of hitting the road. Many others stayed in Decatur, investigating systematically the brave new world from there. In June 2011, hundreds will find their way back to Decatur, to say hello again, no matter where you've been.

Congratulations, everyone!

Who Is Missing?

Do you know where any of these people are?

In the attempt to find everyone before the June 2011 Reunion for the Classes of 1965, 1966, and 1967, a concentrated effort is occurring to locate all of the missing.

The following list, initially compiled by Millie McCaddon and enhanced, is posted here to see if you have any information on the following people. All of the names below are graduates of the Class of 1965, Douglas MacArthur High School, Decatur, Illinois, whose whereabouts are unknown. Some may be deceased, of course, but, as of right now, up-to-date info is lacking.

If you have any data about them, please pass that along by clicking here. If you have updates or additional information for this list or the earlier one on "Who Has Died?", please use the safe contact form here to communicate info.

Mac '65: Who Is Missing?
Updates are added, in bold.

Martha Allen (Taylor)
Barbara Baker
Andrew Eugene Barber
Donna Lee Barfield (Barlow)
Mary Ann Bass (Danis)
Murray Halleck Beck - Found, living in Illinois.
Cindy Anne Best (Danner)
Donna K. Bottrell (Martin) - Found, living in Wisconsin.
Donald Eugene Brewer - Found, living in Florida.
Sharon Ann Bridgeman
Terri Louise Brown (Stuhlmann)
John Burkehart
Richard Allen (Dick) Burrous - Found, living in Oregon.
Greg Lee Butler - Found, living in Texas.
Carol Louise Buttz (Hawes)
Lynn Franklin Calhoun - Found, living in Decatur.
Floyd Campbell
Darrilyn Faye Castelli (Lewis)
Pat Charles (Bilyeu) - Deceased
Robert (Bob) Thomas Cross
Donna Jean Cunningham (Ferhenbach)
Annie Kate Currie
James Stephen Dehority - new add to missing
Diana Lee Dotson - new add to missing
Carolyn Joyce Elbert (Camp) - Located, more info needed.
Ray Edward Estes
Joseph Don Garvin Jr.
Stephen L. Gideon
Richard Gilaspie (sp?) or R. L. Gillespie - new add to missing
Sharon Lynn Goldman
Pam Goodwin (Kemp)
Becky Diane Grant (Revell) - Deceased
Shirlee Grupe (McCartney)
Linda Kay Gulino (Ogden) - Found, living in Arizona.
Keith Douglas Hamman - new add to missing
Peggy Harper (Sipes)
Charles Thomas (Tom) Harrington
Sheila Jo Harrington (Telford)
Maira Lynn Harris
R. Steve Hill
Donnie R. Howard - Perhaps found, Chicago
Richard Lynn Huston - new add to missing
Carol Ann Irvin
Paul Young Irvin
Barbara J. King
Jim Douglas Klausmeier
David Knight
Shirley Ann Macklin (Bates)
Joan McElrath
Paula McGehee (Foran) - Found, living in Illinois.
Ken McGlade - Found, living in Decatur
Daniel Edly Mahnke - new add to missing
Thomas (Tom) Edward Manship - Found, living in New York.
Margarette Ann Meisenheimer (Repass) (Gault) - Found, living in Decatur.
Rebecca (Becky) Lou Miller (Dick) - Found, living in Decatur.
Darrell Lynn Miller
Connie Nixon (Wilber)
Janet Lee Owens
Susan Beth Parry (Gordon)
Michael (Mike) (Skip) Pieszala - Found, living in Illinois.
Susan Ramsey
Frances Lynette Ray (Whitehurst)
Kathy Elaine Reeter
Beverly Ann Rogers (Donavan)
Charlene Ann Ruff (Smith)
Linda Mae Rutherford
Gay Lee Schlacter (Johnson) - Found, living in Chicago.
Edwin Leon Scott - Found, living in California.
John Shields
Joanne Marie Singleton
Sharon Sue Sledge - Found, in Arizona.
(Mary) Stephany Smith
Nancy Karen Smith (Rickemann)
Carol Joann Steele (Lemons)
Cynthia Sue Sterns (Sample)
John Carlbert Stroup
Jeannette Anne Sullivan
Judy Swam (Ray)
Donald Roy Swartz
Joanne Elizabeth Taylor
Lucille Paulette Taylor
Patricia Kingsley Teare - Found, living in Chicago.
Tom Tomalla - Is he really in Missouri? Further confirmation needed.
Sue Todd (Lewis) (Woolington) - Found, living in Decatur.
Claudia Voelcker
Lamae Wachholz
Nancy Jane Walker (Morrison)
Marilyn Sue Walton (Anderson)
Ralph Weaver
Linda Jane White (Edelhofer)
Gary Wilhelm
Charles Winegardner
Gary Lee Word - Found, in Arizona.
Alice L. Young (Hardenfeld) - Found, living in Indiana.

If you have any new information, pass it along!