DATE: Thursday, May 8, 1997                 TAG: 9705070178

SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS         PAGE: 04   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SCOTT McCASKEY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   69 lines

MAURY CLASS OF '47 MARKS 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION DRAWS WORLD WAR II VETS WHO TOOK CRASH COURSE TO GRADUATE.

Thomas A. Gates was 18 when he enlisted with the Coast Guard in World War II. After serving in France and the Philippines, Gates returned home to Norfolk to finish high school.

Last weekend, Gates had the opportunity to rejoin many of his fellow veterans and classmates at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Maury High School Class of 1947 at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott Hotel. ``I was on a troop transport and was lucky not to get hit,'' said Gates, a 69-year-old Norfolk native and resident. ``I got to come back, finish school and play varsity baseball and football. The main thing, though, is that we were all just glad to be back home.''

The reunion featured a Friday night reception and a Saturday harbor tour on the Spirit of Norfolk, followed by a dinner dance.

Norfolk native Frank A. ``Buddy'' Davis was among the more than 250 guests, which included nearly 100 of the more than 170 veterans that graduated in the class.

``The girls loved having us back after the war,'' said Virginia Beach resident Davis, 70, who was an Army sergeant in Trinidad. ``The vets hung out together and attracted a lot of attention, but the whole class was made up of a bunch of special people.''

The influx of returning veterans made the '47 graduating class one of the largest in Maury's history. With nearly 600 graduates, the ceremony had to be held in Loew's Theater in downtown Norfolk.

A. Rufus Tonelson was a biology teacher at the high school before serving in the war stateside. After the conflict, he was hired by the Norfolk School Board to put together an accelerated graduation program for the vets. The servicemen attended special classes and received up to two years worth of credits in one year, with only one week of vacation.

Tonelson attended the reunion, sharing stories with many of his former students.

``That graduation program was a real nice benefit for the boys,'' said Tonelson, 85, a Norfolk native and 1929 Maury graduate who served as principal of the school in the 1950s and '60s. ``My wife Sara and I keep getting invited to these reunions. I guess there aren't too many left from the faculty of my day.''

This marked the most recent of several reunions held by the '47 class. Norfolk residents Ruth R. Legum and Katherine B. Grant are two of the key organizers.

``There's a lot of energy still in this group,'' said Legum, 67. ``A lot of couples that graduated together eventually got married, including my husband Edward and I.''

Grant helped organize the first '47 class reunion, held at the old Cavalier Motel in commemoration of the group's 25th anniversary.

``It takes about two years to plan one of these things,'' said Grant, 68.

``Because this is the 50th, a lot of people have turned out, about 100 from out of town.''

George A. Phelps came from San Antonio, Texas.

``I've made every one of the reunions,'' said Phelps, 68, holding a worn, graduation handbook. ``It's great to see the old classmates.''

While many of the graduates spent time catching up with one another, the weekend heard many an old tale from both the war and high school days.

``The vets were more worldly when they came back from overseas,'' said Norfolk native Dick Aufenger, 68. ``We learned quite a few interesting things from them.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by TAMARA VONINSKI

Maury grads George Phelps, left, of San Antonio, Texas, and reunion

co-organizer Ruth Legum, of Norfolk, reminisce at the 50th

anniversary.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu