Alumni, Student Musicians Headline AHSAA Membership Mixer

May 12, 2014 by

Anaheim High alumni, family and friends enjoyed an evening of Colonist connections and outstanding entertainment at the AHS Alumni Association’s June 9 Membership Mixer, which featured entertainment by accomplished musician and famous piano man Dave Bourne from Anaheim High Class of ’57 and by the Anaheim High Jazz Band directed by Breysi Garcia from Class of 2000.D. Bourne

The event, which celebrated the Alumni Association’s 6th year as a non-profit corporation, was at the Anaheim Plaza Hotel and featured hors d’oeuvres, an opportunity drawing for special prizes, a silent auction and memorabilia display.

Thanks to the generosity of alumni, family, friends and the business community, the AHSAA has donated $80,000 to Anaheim High and its students, including this year’s scholarship awards totaling $10,500. Please join the AHSAA in supporting “Old AU” by joinging today: Click here for the 2014 Membership Donor Form!

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: , , , , ,

Anaheim High Fallen Heroes & Colonist Veterans

May 10, 2014 by
Class of 1944 Colonists graduated on D Day, June 7, and left directly for boot camp in San Diego before heading to the Pacific Theater.

Class of 1944 Colonists graduated on D Day, June 7, and left directly for boot camp in San Diego before heading to the Pacific Theater.

The AHS Alumni Association is working diligently to honor the valiant men and women from Anaheim High School who perished while serving their country from WWI to the War on Terror. Thus far, the Anaheim High Fallen Heroes and Colonists Veterans Project has resulted in the identification of 59 Anaheim High Fallen Heroes who are listed here: Fallen Heros-2013 – NOV 11

Started in 2009, the Project is still undergoing and will ultimately produce a list on more than 1,000 Anaheim High veterans. Biographies and photos of several Anaheim High’s Fallen Heroes and Colonist Veterans are available by visiting the “Wall of Valor” on this website.

To submit a name, please fill out the AHSAA  Military Form and email back to anaheimalumni@yahoo.com or mail to AHSAA, P.O. Box 389, Anaheim, 92815.

As time permits, each Fallen Colonist will have his or her story published on the AHSAA website to ensure that our Anaheim High veterans, who served in the Pacific, Atlantic and all parts of the world in all branches of the military, will never be forgotten.

For additional information, e-mail anaheimalumni@yahoo.com.

 

 

Filed Under: Colonist Wall of Valor

Oanh Nguyen – Class of 1991

May 3, 2014 by

Anaheim High alumnus Oanh Nguyen, founder of the award-winning Chance Theater in Anaheim Hills, has built a career in the entertainment field as an actor and director since graduating in 1991.

Originally from Saigon, Oanh and his family came to the United States in the ‘70s. Spending most of his formative years in Orange County, it was at Anaheim High School where he first discovered theater.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Hall of Fame 2009

Al Wisser – Class of 1942

April 12, 2014 by

Al Wisser from Anaheim High Class of 1942, passed away peacefully with his family by his side on April 11, 2014 at age 89. He is pictured here at the Alumni Breakfast in June 2012 with his three daughters: Carol   ’70 (standing at left), Karen Walters ’72 (seated); and Susan Opperman ’75 (standing at right),
More about his life and his family’s ties to the City of Anaheim and Anaheim High School are included in this story published by the AHSAA in June 2012, titled “Wisser Sporting Goods: A Household Name in Anaheim.”
 
Wisser Sporting Goods A Household Name in Anaheim
As the only high school in Anaheim from 1898 to until 1959, it’s common for multi-generations of the same family to be Colonist graduates. The Wissers, whose roots in Anaheim go back more than 100 years, is one such Colonist family.
Wisser is a well-known name to Anaheim residents who remember their family-run sporting goods store that offered customers a personal relationship, advice and suggestions. The name was so trusted in the community that parents often sent their children to buy a ball glove or a pair of shoes with a blank check.

Opened in 1920, Wisser Sporting Goods operated at 169 Lincoln Ave. for more than 75 years until closing in 1981. The store became an Anaheim icon and was a favorite gathering place for local businessmen and neighboring farmers who came to town to tell tall tales of their fishing and hunting adventures.  One such adventure took place right in the store when one of the mounted taxidermy specimens, a stuffed bobcat, was jarred loose by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake and landed on a startled proprietor.

The store’s connection to the community and to Anaheim High was also realized through other family members, including Marion Wisser Harvey, Class of 1938, and her daughters, Norma Harvey Brown, 1960, and Barbara Harvey, 1968. Other family graduates include: Al’s wife, Jean Allen Wisser, Class of 1948; and Al’s brother Edwin Wisser, Class of 1940.

The popular store evolved from the business dealings of family patriarch Roman Wisser (pronounced Weeser), who first opened a restaurant on Los Angeles Street in Anaheim in 1886. When his cook proved unreliable, Roman sent to San Antonio for Miss Emily Meyers, a young woman he had met while living there. Emily became his bride and helper in the restaurant. They had a son, Lucien “Pete” Wisser, Class of 1907; and three daughters, Mary, Emma (Class of 1917) and Alice (Class of 1921). (Al is Pete’s son.)

Roman and Emily tried opening a saloon in Fullerton, but returned to Anaheim to stay in 1898. They next opened a new saloon in the building at 144 W. Lincoln Ave., a property that later housed Lind Rexall Pharmacy. They called their establishment“Favorite Saloon”and advertised Schlitz beer on draught. The family liquor trade prospered and, in 1906, Roman built a new “Favorite Saloon” across the street at 169 W. Center Street (now Lincoln Avenue).

When Roman died in 1913, Pete took over the business until 1917, then left to serve with the U.S. Army in Europe. Emily ran the saloon until Prohibition in 1918.

Pete returned to Anaheim following World War I and was reunited with his sweetheart, Edna Nichols, a Santa Ana school teacher, whom he married in 1920.

The significant changes in Anaheim during the 1950s, including the arrival of Walt Disney, occurred while Pete Wisser sat on the City Council from 1950 to 1958.

In 1958, blindness caused by a diabetes condition led to his retirement from the Council and the store. Sons Edwin and Allan, who both served in the Navy during World War II, returned in 1946 to join their father in the sporting goods store and, with their sister Marion, continued running the store until downtown redevelopment ended their long run as Anaheim’s favorite sporting goods store.

Check out the following links for more history and photos of the Wisser Family:

Wisser’s Favorite Saloon: http://www.anaheimcolony.com/EarlyAnaheim/saloon.htm

Wisser Sporting Goods: http://www.anaheimcolony.com/Newspaper/Post1950/wisserhistory.htm

Wisser Family Pictures and Documents: http://www.anaheimcolony.com/web/wissers/wisserpictures.htm

Filed Under: In Memory

Coach Brant Cowser (1925-2014)

March 31, 2014 by

BRANT COWSER (September 1925 – March 2014)

Across four decades as a teacher and a coach, Brant Cowser made an indelible contribution to Anaheim High School, and was an important member of the Colonist varsity football and boys basketball programs during the school’s legendary heyday. By every measure, he was Blue & Gold through and through. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame 2007, In Memory Tagged With: , ,

E.M. “Speed” Castillo

March 25, 2014 by

E.M. “Speed” Castillo

Speed Castillo referee004A long-time educator whose two children graduated from AHS, Speed is the most recognized referee in Orange County sports history. Since 1959, he has officiated thousands of high school football and basketball games and was named the California Coaches Association’s Official of the Year for his contributions of time, service and dedication to the coaching profession and athletics. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hall of Fame 2010

Ross Johnson – Class of 1957

March 24, 2014 by

Though he spent the first three weeks of his life in Drake, North Dakota, where he was born while his mother was visiting her parents, Ross Johnson proved himself a true native son by devoting his life to serving California as a public servant.

Johnson was a long-time California State Legislator and the first person ever to serve as a party leader in both houses of the legislature. He most recently served as chairperson of the California Fair Political Practices Commission. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hall of Fame 2010

Gary Dennis Shepard – Class of 1959

March 24, 2014 by

Gary Shepard - Class of 1959

Gary served our country for 25 years as a fighter pilot in the US Air Force. He flew 100 combat missions over North Vietnam and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with eleven Air Medals.

In Vietnam, he did the planning for and leadership of 82% of the combat missions that he flew. His missions only lost one plane. They always hit their specified targets and never got lost. He was recognized as the most proficient air combat maneuvering pilot in his Air Command. He was selected as the Command Representative by a 4 Star General to represent him and the command at major unit deployments throughout the United States.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Hall of Fame 2009

U.S. Senator Thomas Kuchel – Class of 1928 (1910-1994)

March 24, 2014 by

U.S. Senator Thomas Henry Kuchel was born Aug. 15, 1910 in Anaheim to Henry and Letitia Kuchel. While growing up, Kuchel often aided his father who, for 48 years, was publisher of the Anaheim Gazette, the city’s newspaper of record.

From an early age, Thomas grew to have an interest in the political process by regularly reading the Congressional Quarterly out loud to his father.

Another defining event in the life of Thomas Kuchel came during his teenage years. In 1924, the Ku Klux Klan began to aggressively recruit members in Southern California. At one point, the Klan claimed to have a membership of 1,400 in their Anaheim chapter.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Hall of Fame 2009

Sharron Backus – Class of 1963

March 24, 2014 by
Sharron Backus - Class of 1963

Sharron Backus – Class of 1963

Born Feb. 12, 1946, Sharron Backus is an Anaheim’s hometown girl who made good as an all-star athlete. A softball icon, she coached the UCLA women’s softball team for 21 seasons between 1975 and 1996, leading the Lady Bruins to nine national championships.

A member of the UCLA Hall of Fame, Sharron was architect of the UCLA softball dynasty and holds the record as the winningest Division 1 softball coach in NCAA history, posting a lifetime record of 847-167-3 (.835).

Backus and the Bruins brought eight national championship trophies to Westwood (seven NCAA and one AIAW) including an unprecedented three in a row (‘88, ’89, ’90). The Backus-era trophy case also includes four second-place trophies and three third-place awards.

Her UCLA teams played in the College World Series 16 times. Sharron coached a total of 53 All-Americans, including Player of the Decade (1980’s) Dot Richardson and Lisa Fernandez, the first softball player to ever win the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup as the top female collegiate athlete in 1993.

Sharron was inducted into the Women’s Sports Foundation Hall of Fame in 1993, the National Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Hall of Fame in 1985. She was also named coach of the year four times in her career.

As a player, the Cal State Fullerton graduate had a legendary ASA career. A star shortstop, Backus was instrumental in seven ASA championships (‘61,’65 and ’71-‘75) and two international championships (‘72 and ’74) as well as three professional World Championships (’76-‘78).

During her amateur softball career, she played from ‘61-‘75 for the Whittier Gold Sox, and from ’64-’66 for the Orange Lionettes. Backus batted .268, .298 and .301 for the Gold Sox and was a second-team All-American in 1961, as the Gold Sox won the national title.

During her three years with the Lionettes, she was a first-team All-American in 1964 and 1966. She batted .285, .293 and .263 those three years.

Sharron spent the last seven years of her career with the Brakettes, achieving a .292 batting average (.361 in 1971 was her highest batting average) and earned All-America laurels three times.

While at Anaheim, Sharon was an all-round athlete. At AHS, she was a star player in softball, basketball, swimming (held the record for the 25-yard backstroke), basketball, hockey and badminton. Sharron was Girls’ Athletic Association president and named GAA Girl of the Year in 1963 for her outstanding play at shortstop.

Filed Under: Hall of Fame 2004
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