Class Notes

“Newly minted southerner” following move from Long Island, NY in August, 2017. Except for the heat, I like it. Still have NY accent though.

Ms. Norma Nunn Stephenson, age 88, of Tyler, TX passed away Wednesday, September 21, 2022, at her home in Tyler, TX. Ms. Norma was born June 7, 1934, in Ripley, TN. She is the daughter of the late Hugh Stewart Nunn and the late Corolea Lewis Nunn of Ripley, TN. Her late husband was Joseph Edmond Stephenson. Also preceding her in death was her former husband, Arthur Justin Fisher, Jr.

She is survived by daughter, Lea (Jan-Harry) Kastmo of Tyler, TX, and two step-daughters, Elizabeth “Beth” (John) Bettridge of Bow Mar, CO, and Laura Thomas of Sunriver, OR; and four sons, Art Fisher III of Pigeon Forge, TN, Kyle (Barbara) Fisher of Wilkesboro, NC, Stewart Stephenson of Tyler, TX, Keith (Nadia) Stephenson of Ballwin, MO and step son, Joe Stephenson of Daytona, FL,; Sister of one brother, Stewart Lewis (Madeline) Nunn of Memphis, TN, and two siblings-in law Stanley (Judy) Stephenson of Boston, MA and Martha Anne (Ken) Carmichael Highlands, NC.

Ms. Norma was also welcomed to heaven by her daughter, Lauren Fisher West.

She also leaves 16 grandchildren: Arthur (Megan) Fisher IV, Julia Fisher, Bradford Fisher, Nicholas Branam, Kathleen West, Scott West, Joseph (Heather) Fisher, John (Lindsey) Fisher David (Simone Styr) Fisher, Bethany Kastmo (Fletcher) Jonson, Christopher Kastmo,Alisia Kastmo (Brian) Kemper, Katrina Kastmo (Kaleb) McClain, Evelina Stephenson,Joseph Stephenson, Ella Stephenson and 14 great-grandchildren: Kalen Partridge, Abigail Fisher, Emily Fisher, Samuel Fisher, Noah Fisher, Logan Fisher, Mason Fisher,William Fisher-Styr, Anton Fisher-Styr, Alexandra Jonson, Emily Jonson, Audrey Jonson, Rhoades Fisher and Adair Fisher.

Noel William (Bill) Thomas, age 79, passed away October 28, 2023. Mr. Thomas was in the class of 1961 MHS. He worked for the CIA and retired from TDOT. He was preceded in death by his wife, Glendia Carol Philpott Thomas; parents, Marion Leroy (Roy) Thomas and Anna (Ann) Mae Hinton Thomas; brother, Larry Grant Thomas.

He is survived by his son, Christopher Kevin Thomas (Jennifer); grandson, Zachary Ryan Thomas; step-grandchildren, Sara Harrington (Alex), Phillip York (Jessica), Andrew York; great-grandchildren, Maeve Riley Harrington.

Arlene Larson Weible passed October 10, 2016.

writes in to share that he now has two books “out there.” (1) “Floydiana,” an ebook on Floyd County, VA. randallawells.com (2) “Angel in Goggles: Earthly Scriptures.” Both paperback and Kindle Reader versions. Amazon.com

Howard Kendrick Young, 74, died on Sun­day, July 1. He was born in Sch­enec­tady, New York, on De­cem­ber 20, 1943, to Gor­don and Bar­bara Young. He grad­u­ated from Clin­ton Cen­tral School in Clin­ton, New York, in 1961 where he played foot­ball and par­tic­i­pated in band and or­ches­tra. He earned his bach­e­lor of arts de­gree in Eng­lish from Maryville Col­lege, Ten­nessee, in 1965 and moved to Ver­mont to teach for a “cou­ple of years” in­tend­ing to re­turn to grad­u­ate school. Forty years later, Mr. Young re­tired from teach­ing at North Coun­try Union High School (NCUHS), hav­ing formed last­ing re­la­tion­ships with count­less stu­dents and col­leagues. North Coun­try was an im­por­tant part of his life. He started his ca­reer as an Eng­lish teacher at Derby Acad­emy and then be­came one of the first teach­ers to open NCUHS in 1967. It was at North Coun­try that he met and soon mar­ried Ja­clyn Con­ley on June 21, 1969, and they taught to­gether for over 35 years. He coached the first fresh­man foot­ball team, or­ga­nized staff par­ties at Prouty Beach, and was the voice of Fal­con foot­ball for many years, do­ing play-by-play, color com­men­tary, and comedic re­lief all at once. Most no­tably, he di­rected and pro­duced mul­ti­ple mu­si­cals while at North Coun­try and started the Derby Stock Com­pany. His work in the fine arts at North Coun­try and in the North­east King­dom has had a deep and en­dur­ing im­pact on his stu­dents and the com­mu­nity. Mr. Young served the com­mu­nity in many ways. He was elected mod­er­a­tor for the Derby Town Meet­ing for many years, served as the chair for the board of civil au­thor­ity from 1997-2008, and was an ac­tive mem­ber of the Or­leans Board of Re­al­tors. He also served as jus­tice of the peace from 1992-2012, and would drive his ’59 Tri­umph to coun­try wed­dings in his “Mar­ry­in’ Sam” out­fit, bring­ing joy and hu­mor to the cou­ples he joined. He had many in­ter­ests and hob­bies. He was an avid reader, a good trum­pet player, and an ex­cel­lent singer, es­pe­cially with his sis­ters. He was a crafty poker player, an old-school skier, and an en­thu­si­as­tic golfer. He loved go­ing to hunt­ing camp and tak­ing one of his prized guns for a walk in the woods. He en­joyed pho­tograph­ing sun­rises over Lake Salem with his dog, Pippa, work­ing in his gar­den, and be­ing with his fam­ily. He was most proud of his chil­dren and grand­chil­dren and ar­dently fol­lowed and sup­ported all of their ac­tiv­i­ties and ex­ploits. Mr. Young is sur­vived by his wife, Jackie; his sons: Jonathan and his wife, Melissa, Chris and his wife, Mered­ith; his grand­chil­dren Jack and Cal­lie; his sis­ters Jan Fiske, Marge Eg­ger, Kathy Mar­tin, and Eliz­a­beth Young; and his brother-in-law Mick Con­ley. He leaves his nieces Amanda Con­ley, Ellen and Anacelie Verde­claro; and his nephews: Jonathan and David Mar­tin, Steven and Scott Fiske, and John Eg­ger. He was pre­de­ceased by his friend and brother-in-law Jon Con­ley. A cel­e­bra­tion of Mr. Young’s life was held at the Frank Knol­l’s Barn in Derby on Thurs­day, July 5. Do­na­tions in lieu of flow­ers may be made to the Howard Kendrick “HK” Young Memo­r­ial Schol­ar­ship that will be used to sup­port fine arts stu­dents at NCUHS, care of Ellen Stan­ley at Pas­sump­sic Sav­ings Bank, 1 Gard­ner Street, New­port, Ver­momt 05855. On­line con­do­lences are wel­come at cur­tis-britch.com.