Email to a friend Printer friendly Font: * * * * On Friday, spouses are invited to join the grads as they hit the dance floor at the Hilton to jitterbug to the music of Bill Haley, Elvis and Buddy Holly and remember the good times at Vancouver's oldest high school. The school, at Oak Street and West 12th Avenue, churned out such famous notables as Yvonne De Carlo, of Lily Munster fame, who got her big Hollywood break in Salome Where She Danced in 1944. "In her day [De Carlo] was a knockout; one of the leading ladies of the '40s and '50s," said Shepard, master of ceremonies for the reunion.
"She was at that level." Other famous alumni include Percy Williams, who won the 100- and 200-metre sprints at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, and Duncan McNaughton, who won Canada's only gold medal in the high jump in the 1932 Games. Ackles, who played on the King Edward football team, undefeated city champs for three years, eventually found his way into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
Rock 'n' roll hall of fame DJ Red Robinson, 70, who laid claim to being the first Canadian disc jockey to play Elvis Presley records, also has roots at King Edward. "The class of '57 was the class at the birth of rock 'n roll," said Shepard, 68. "It was so tremendous.
We were an eclectic bunch of people from all over the city." The school, which changed its name from Vancouver high school to King Edward in 1905, burned down in 1973. Shepard has a soft spot for King Edward, saying it put him on the right track for the University of B.
C., where he got a degree in engineering. It's also where he met his late wife of 42 years, Diane Worth.
She and Shepard were the only classmates to marry each other. He plans to remember her at the reunion as well as others who have since died. He will also give a special tribute to his old football coach, Lorne Cullen, who led the team to the three straight championships.
Cullen, who is in his 70s, plans to attend. Science teacher Tom Dennett; Jim Carter, who taught geography; and phys.-ed.
teacher Norm Watt will also join the celebration. Shepard maintains the strategies he learned from Cullen on the football field have helped him in business -- the key being to ensure everyone knows what their job is and how to carry it out. Shepard was a CEO at Finning International, where he worked for 32 years before retiring seven years ago.
He is president and CEO of Canfor Corp., where he is leading the company's restructuring. Before he returned to work at Canfor, Shepard spent his winters in Palm Springs.
Since he can't get there this year, he has donated a week's stay at his place as a door prize at the reunion. "I went to King Edward and I was saved," Shepard said. "I owe the school so much.
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