The unbreakable bond of friends

(Photo submitted) Harold Gross and Wayne Kress, both of Spencer, Floyd King, of Ruthven, and Ernest "Sam" Andersen, of Spirit Lake, from left, are all 1939 graduates of Gillett Grove Consolidated School. Their class of 10 was the first to graduate from the town's then-new high school and gymnasium. [Click to enlarge]

Before South Clay, there was Gillett Grove Consolidated School. Four students from the former school's class of 1939 remain steadfast comrades to this day. They've also stayed avid supporters of the northwest Iowa community they grew up in.

Ernest "Sam" Andersen, of Spirit Lake, Harold "Dutch" Gross, of Spencer, Floyd King, of Ruthven, and Wayne Kress, of Spencer, are all in their late 80s today. Even though each man continues to be a strong character in his own right, it was evident when the friends gathered together in Spencer this past year that they still complement one another -- just as they did while students at Gillett Grove.

The four men have experienced a lot over the decades. Growing up during the Great Depression, Andersen, Gross, King and Kress saw the prohibition of alcoholic beverages firsthand.

World War II, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the invasion of Normandy and the atomic bombings of Japan during the 1940s are not-so-distant memories for the group. Neither are the 1950s, when the baby boom was under way, the transcontinental broadcast of television was introduced, the Korean War commenced and concluded, racial segregation was ruled unconstitutional, the first successful organ transplant occurred, and Alaska and Hawaii were declared the 49th and 50th states.

The mates also transitioned from American forces arriving in Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis, delivery of the historic "I Have a Dream" speech, a president's assassination, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 being signed into law and Apollo 11 landing on the moon during the 1960s to the hippie culture, opposition to the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons, an oil crisis and a year of uprest in Iran during the 1970s.

While the fall of the Berlin Wall dominated the 1980s, the 90s were marked by events such as the Gulf War and the Soviet Union's collapse. The 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., the Enron scandal, Congress authorizing force against Iraq and General Motors declaring bankruptcy rank among this decade's historical events.

While notable moments such as these find their way into discussions between the friends today, familiar tales about the cars they rode in, the activities they excelled at and the friends they shared during school more often than not still take precedence when the four gather together. Their passion for anything related to their former school -- which was one of 12 in Clay County at the time -- is also shared by fellow Gillett Grove alumni during all-class reunions, generally held every three years.

School day reflections

In September 1927, 10 first grade students took their places in the schoolroom of Myra Evans, their first school teacher. Andersen and Gross were among them.

Kress and King, who attended all four years of high school together, transferred from Dickens their junior year to join Andersen and Gross in Gillett Grove. Noting he'd attended six schools in Palo Alto, Clay and Buena Vista counties during his schooling, Kress further explained, "It was just my mother and I. My father had diabetes, and passed away the year insulin came on the market. He died when I was 1 1/2 years old.

"And, at that time, people were renting farms; they didn't own their farms. But if you lived on a farm during the Depression, you were better off than people in town, especially if they didn't have a job, because you could butcher a hog or you had your milk and eggs. We used to take our cream down to Sam. Sam's dad, (who owned the H. Andersen General Merchandise store in Gillett Grove), bought the cream and eggs."

Attending classes in Gillett Grove afforded Kress his first ride on a school bus. But as King recalled his first days as a student there, he remembered being the one who brought wearing jeans, then known as bibless overalls, into fashion for the guys in Gillett Grove, who were accustomed to wearing nice dress pants to school.

"By the second week of school, the rest of the boys were all wearing them, too. So, you see what an influence I had," he reported with a smile.

The blizzard of February 1936 -- and not having school for one month -- was something Gross vividly recollected about their high school days.

"They just closed it down because most of the kids were country kids, and they couldn't get to school," said the student known for excelling at basketball and baseball all four years of high school. Gross, a "natural" baseball player, was often seen pitching to Raymond, his older brother, on their Clay County farm. His other three classmates also recall the Gross' father never missing a ballgame the two suited up for.

Andersen, Gross, King and Kress all participated in their junior and senior class plays, production of "The Gillett Star," their school paper, as well as assisted with compiling and publishing "The Hilltopper," the school's 1939 annual.

The four young men's senior year marked the first year Gillett Grove students had the opportunity to use a new gymnasium in a new high school. Annual staff members publicly thanked the board of education, then-Superintendent Beryl Martin, voters and area taxpayers for making this a possibility for them in "The Hilltopper."

"I think I had the record for shooting the farthest basket on our new gymnasium floor in 1939," Andersen, who also holds the Gillett Grove school's record for having the most broken bones during his years as a student there, said.

But music was something Andersen really pursued with passion in the former Clay County school's classrooms. When a high school band was officially formed his sophomore year, he remembers Mr. Erickson, an Everly-based music teacher, traveling to their school every Wednesday to offer Gillett Grove students half-hour lessons.

"I was too busy to try to learn to read music, and he was too busy to even try to have any patience with me, so he'd put a piece of music up and say, 'Play that, Sam,'" Andersen, a first-chair trumpeter, recalled. "Well, I'd already heard it played a couple times before, so I knew it's melody, and I'd start playing it. ... Today, I still don't read music."

Of the 10 Gillett Grove Consolidated School seniors who received diplomas May 18, 1939, Andersen and Gross were the only members of the graduating class who had started school in the original class of 1927.

"With 10 kids in the class, everybody had a job. We had four teachers, including the superintendent and the principal. That was our staff when we graduated," King said. "When my stepdaughter graduated 10 years later, they had nine students and a teacher for every student."

Gillett Grove grads spread their wings

Following high school, Gross attended Buena Vista College for two years, where he played baseball and contemplated becoming a coach. Even though he was observed by a New York Yankees scout, Gross opted to return home to help his father farm when his older brother entered the Army during World War II.

Gross would meet Louise, his future wife, on a blind date. After marrying in 1947, the couple lived on a Gillett Grove farm for a few years before moving to a farm near Royal, where they reared four children -- David, of Arlington, Va.; Mary, of Brunsville; John, of rural Royal; and Steve, of Buffalo, N.Y. -- and lived for 45 years. The couple moved to Spencer in 1985.

Gross has since blended his loves for farming and baseball. He travels to the farm every day to assist his son; he also remains an avid New York Yankees fan.

"I told my wife when I die, one of the songs I want at the funeral is 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game,'" Gross said. " ... I've loved the Yankees ever since I was 10 years old, and I still love them."

After graduating from Gillett Grove, Kress stayed on the farm with his mother until 1945, when they moved to another farm near Webb.

"I lived in the same house there for about 60 years. The farm's still here," he said.

Kress and his wife, Shirley, moved to Spencer two years ago. The couple have three children: Russ, who lives on the farm near Webb; Deb, a CPA in Des Moines; and Julie, who works in real estate in Raleigh, N.C.

1939 classmate King served as the school's basketball scorekeeper for a few years following graduation. Like Gross and Kress, he also chose to farm before serving his country from 1946-47, six months of which were spent in South Korea.

"When I got home, I had a Dear John letter waiting for me. It was 8 or 9 years before I got up the nerve to get married again," the veteran revealed. "My wife, Margie, and I farmed until we moved to Spencer in 1999."

The Kings, who live in Ruthven today, have two sons: Dennis, of rural Dickens, and David, of Estherville.

Fellow Gillett Grove graduate Andersen still continues to pursue his interest in music. Besides singing in his church choir, he's formed several bands, all of which performed at various area events over the years. After being drafted into the service in 1942, he served as a bugler, as well as a mail clerk.

"I ended up in the infantry and served in North Africa and in Italy. That's where I was at the close of the war, in Italy," Andersen said. "I landed in Italy and worked my way up to the Alps. We almost got into a conflict with Trieste because Marshal Tito was trying to defend his right to have Trieste given back to the Yugoslavs again."

The World War II veteran also vividly remembers boarding a ship Aug. 6, 1944, in Naples and heading to Japan, as he said, "to finish up the mopping up there."

After marrying in 1945, Andersen drove a Gillett Grove school bus, operated a filling station in Laurens, sold meat products to stores and restaurants throughout northwest Iowa, and worked for Stoller Fisheries until he retired in 1988.

Tears welled in the Spirit Lake resident's eyes as he peered at Kress, King and Gross during their most recent meeting, and he said, "I love these guys. They love me, too, but they won't admit it."