20 | JULY 28 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

T

wo years ago, Oak Park 
High School alumni 
were planning a 60th 
reunion but the pandemic 
intervened, and the special cele-
bration was canceled. However, 
the determined group perse-
vered and now a 60+2 reunion 
is planned for Aug. 12-14 with 
an added celebration of their 
80th birthdays.
“It will be a whole weekend of 
memories and a chance to see 
what’s happening in Downtown 
Detroit,
” says reunion commit-

tee co-chair Penny Fishman 
Brode.
The class of 1960 had about 
250 members and was the 
fourth graduating class of Oak 
Park High School. At that time, 
the building was much smaller 
and there was no swimming 
pool. 
The reunion is expected to 
include about 50 alumni partic-
ipants as well as some spouses. 
“COVID is keeping some peo-
ple from coming, and others 
have serious illnesses. About 

71 individuals from the class of 
1960 have died,
” Brode says. 
Alumni are traveling from 
California and Florida for the 
reunion. The group previously 
had 50th and 55th reunions.
A committee of 12 has 
planned this year’s celebration, 
which includes a barbecue at 
a park in Oak Park on Friday 
night, Aug. 12; a luncheon at 
Bay Pointe Country Club on 

Saturday; and a special tour and 
lunch at the Detroit Institute of 
Arts (DIA) on Sunday. Then the 
group will take the Q-Line from 
the museum to Downtown for a 
special tour of the city.
Key reunion planners include 
Brode, Stan Dorfman and 
Elaine Margolis Lippitt. Alumni 
who want to join the fun can 
contact Brode at pbrode@twmi.
rr.com. 

Alumni will also be celebrating 
80th birthdays.

Oak Park High 
Alumni Plan 
60+2 Reunion

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Reunion co-chairs 
Penny Fishman 
Brode, Stan Dorfman 
and Elaine Margolis 
Lippitt

C

lass reunions evoke a mix of 
emotions — happiness at seeing 
old friends and reminiscing 
about high school, amazement at changes 
over the years, and sadness at the empty 
seats of alumni no longer able to attend. 
On Aug. 7, about 30 graduates of the 
Central High School Class of 1952 will 
gather for an afternoon of camaraderie, 
enjoying the close connections 
maintained over 70 years. Gloria 
Feinberg, one of the organizers, points 
out that 70th reunions are rare.
The original class had about 210 to 
220 students. “We liked the smallness. 
It was like a family. Some were blue 
collar of modest means, and some were 
well-heeled. Nobody seemed to notice a 
difference. There was not that major of a 
class distinction,” says Feinberg, who had 
a business career as a boutique owner and 
wardrobe consultant. 

 Classmates Fritzi Roth, Marilyn 
Rosner Markel, Gloria Meer and Barbara 
Weindling Coden are also working on the 

reunion.
“There were many very renowned 
graduates. Central was known for people 
who went into big things. Getting into the 
University of Michigan wasn’t an issue,” 
Feinberg adds.
Roth, who worked at Desilu Production 
Studios, notes that many graduates 
became doctors and dentists, teachers 
and nurses, as well as prominent 
businesspeople. They include the late 
Robert Sosnick and Guy Barron, who was 
class president, as well as Robert Marans, 
Ph.D., an emeritus professor at the 
University of Michigan’s Taubman College 
of Architecture and Urban Design.
“It was a phenomenal class of 
phenomenal people. Each story is 
different and remarkable,” Roth says.

STAYING IN TOUCH 
The student body “was predominantly 

The tight-knit class of 1952 is “like a family.”
Central High’s 70th Reunion

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Carl and Barbara Levin flank Benny 
Wasserman at Central High’s 65th 
reunion.

continued on page 21

