The Class of 1964 -  40^th Class Reunion was the result of plans initiated early in 2004 by Yolanda Garza-Barsuhn.  Yolanda kept up with many Franklin grads through personal and professional contacts.  She was not only a proud Franklin grad but spent a large part of her career as a teacher and counselor at the school.  She was interested in everybody and anyone who knew her called her “friend.”

At the first informal reunion meeting held at Yolanda’s house, discussions focused on old friends, getting caught up, and reunion brainstorming.  Later, it was decided to hold the reunion locally at the Brookside Country Club. 

Even though Yolanda was ill and in pain, she forged ahead with plans for this event and was the key player in getting things underway.  She had the address list and Dana, her son, designed the invitation with input from the committee members.  Together, Yolanda, Marty, and Janet labeled and stuffed hundreds of invitations into envelopes one Sunday afternoon.  Yolanda took time to write personal notes to some people to include with the invitations and carefully made sure that we did things “just right.”  She shared news of classmates and told stories about her life and even showed us some pictures of our school days.  We had a great day. 

Unfortunately, this was one of the last work sessions we would have with Yolanda.  Her illness progressed in the following weeks, and she reluctantly gave up the reunion details to Jill and the other committee members to finish. She still intended to go to the reunion no matter what and joked about wearing a wig to disguise what she thought would be needed because of pending radiation treatments.  This was Yolanda – the ultimate optimist who loved a laugh even if it was about herself. 

On August 17, 2004, Yolanda passed away.  She made it to the reunion in “spirit” only, but she would have loved it and cherished seeing you all. In tribute to her, the remaining reunion funds are being contributed to the Franklin Educational Foundation, a charity that Yolanda supported.  The Foundation provides scholarships to college-bound Franklin graduates.  Its mission is to insure that every graduating senior planning to attend college, who submits an application, receives some financial assistance.  Since it was established in the 1960s, the Foundation has awarded scholarships to thousands of students, many of whom have since graduated from prestigious universities throughout the United States.