The final class of Washington Union High celebrates still being here
On September 6th, Washington High School’s class of 1959 will celebrate 65 years since their graduation. “I don’t know how much longer we’ll be around,” said alumna JoAnn Faria, adding, “I don’t know if I’ll be the last one to turn the lights off.”
Sounding decades younger than her age, Faria still very much has her lights “on.” Now eighty-two years old, she drives, keeps an active social calendar and responds quickly to emails and texts on her smartphone — much quicker, in fact, than this reporter. Her classmate Mark Crutcher is similarly busy, delaying his interview because he was running late from another engagement. “Due to modern technology, I have your phone number,” he chuckled, promising to return my call.
This year, in consideration for a more octogenarian-friendly lifestyle, the Huskies reunion will be a daytime event at Spin-a-Yarn restaurant starting at 11am. Still, the meet-up sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun. In 2009, for example, the class posed for photos and commissioned an updated yearbook. Prior gatherings included multi-day events with long hours of cocktails and conversation.
“We just sit around and the stories get longer each year,” Crutcher said. “Initially, it was how important are you and what you are doing. Now it’s just, ‘Boy I’m glad you’re still here, you’re one of the five who came in without a walker!’”
With each passing year, communications also become more bittersweet. “I feel like the Grim Reaper because I’m always sending out these messages,” Faria said, as she was about to notify the group of a classmate’s recent passing. Faria estimated over 150 classmates known to have passed away from a total class of 400 students.
The class of 1959 has the distinction of being the last graduates of what was then called Washington Union High School, the final cohort from a bygone era. Founded in 1891, Washington Union was for decades the only institution serving a wide swathe of students roughly from Warm Springs to Hayward. But as the region’s population increased, the school changed its name and is now incorporated as one of Fremont’s five high schools. Today, according to the Fremont Unified School District, Washington has the second largest percentage of English language learner students in the city.
Throughout these changes, some alumni stayed involved in preserving the school’s legacy. After the main building was shuttered in 1972 due to safety concerns, new construction plans in the early 1990s spurred a debate about tearing down the original structure. In order to avoid destroying the historic romanesque facade, the Washington High School Alumni Foundation raised money to “save the arch” and preserve elements of the original appearance. “I saved a couple of bricks out of the building, and they’re in the patio I have in the backyard,” Crutcher said.
Like bricks from the old building, the past is simultaneously solid and fleeting for many of Washington’s older alumni. Reflecting on the arc of life, Crutcher noted: “When it’s all over, the only thing you take with you is absolutely nothing.” Time spent with family and friends becomes all the more precious.
When asked about the secret to healthy aging, Crutcher and Faria gave similar advice: Stay busy, and keep looking forward. The octogenarians walk everyday, filling their time by visiting friends and helping out in community organizations. Most of all, they remain optimistic and joyful about life.
“We’re happy to see each other,” Faria said, “and just happy we’re still here.”
For more information on the 2024 reunion, contact [email protected].
