Mark Lister Speaks at Alumni Gathering; Kerwin Family Awards Two Scholarships

The Worth County Alumni Association held its annual alumni reunion Sunday, with 51 alumni and 15 guests for a total of 66 people. Scholarships went to Rikkayla Beier and Ashlynn Barnett. In addition, the Kerwin family, in memory of Carol Ann Kerwin, awarded special scholarships to Haley Hunt and Grace McElvain. Kerwin was a long-time teacher at Worth County and an officer of the Alumni Association for 42 years, from 1976 until her passing in June of last year.

After Trent Gabriel sang three songs on short notice because Josh Daniels was unable to be there, Mark Lister of the Class of 1969 spoke. He said that he hadn’t seen many of his classmates since they walked out of graduation in 1969, and a lot of memories were shared. One time, Mark was with Bull Reece when they were watching PE. He called him over and addressed him by his first name, which was uncommon for the Bull. He asked Lister about his plans and told him that college would be the four best years of his life. “That was the last conversation I ever had with him,” said Lister.

Lister went to MU, and then went to Pike County (IL), where he sold feed. It was in the heart of hog country, and he would be pleasantly surprised whenever someone who farmed cattle walked in. From there, his uncle got him a job in car sales in North Platte (NE). Lister recounted that his mom didn’t think that would last, but it turned out to be a keeper. He met his wife, and they have been married for 42 years in March; they have five daughters and ten grandchildren.

He said some of the biggest changes involved the ability to cultivate more and more land. When he was growing up, he thought a four row planter was state of the art; he considered working 40 acres a good day’s work. Now, there are 24-row planters, and farmers can work ten times that.

At first, Lister thought about doing PE and History and doing coaching. But then, his dad sat him down and encouraged him to pursue what he knew. It turned out to be the right decision, and he has been in sales and agriculture ever since. Throughout his 42 years of marriage, he said he was blessed with his life; his grandkids all live within two hours of him.

In 2017, Lister and his wife celebrated their 40th anniversary, he retired from his job, he was ordained as a deacon in the Catholic Church after five years of study, and he got his fourth grandchild, who was born on the Fourth of July. “It’s hard to believe we’ve been out of school for 50 years,” he said.

There were plenty of stories shared about members of the Class of 1969 at the reunion in Bar-X in Albany, and one such story concerned Steve Combs, who was always up for something. He wanted to pull the fire alarms during the last week of school, but the teachers knew all about Steve and his penchant for pulling pranks, and stuck pins in the fire alarms so they wouldn’t be pulled.

Five different veterans and eight different teachers were recognized at the banquet Sunday. Reunions were reported on; the Class of 1969 had 14 members present at Bar-X in Albany. The Class of 1957 celebrated an 80th Birthday Party in Allendale; there were 17 members and 10 guests present. The Class of 1964, which was the last to start 7th grade in the old building, reunited in Allendale with 19 members and 14 guests.

There was $315 raised for the scholarship fund through collections Sunday. The oldest alumni present were Virginia Scott (Class of 1952) and Marilyn Calhoun (Class of 1951). The family with the most graduates was the Adams family, with six. The farthest away was Lynn Adams, who drove 1,200 miles from Arizona to be present. The most present were eight members from the Class of 1969.