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You’ve heard of Sudden Cardiac Arrest. It’s often publicized when it happens to athletes, but it occurs in the United States more than 250,000 times each year, with the vast majority dying.
Our classmate Steve Barrett is one of the few who survived this sudden heart stoppage. It didn’t hurt that he was in his cardiologist’s office at the time. Steve was undergoing a treadmill stress test and suddenly dropped to the floor. A paddle shock later, he was restored enough to undergo quintuple bypass surgery at Norton Hospital. It’s a good thing, too, because Louisville would have lost one it’s most enduring musicians, a career for Steve that started in Fern Creek’s band.Original members of the Steve Barrett Combo included classmate John Hermann and Creeker David Hilsenrad, brother of classmate Mike Hilsenrad. Steve played tenor sax and clarinet; John played alto sax and clarinet; David played trumpet. As with any music group, members come and go, but the one constant was Steve.Steve proved adept at recruiting skilled, experienced musicians, which kept his group in demand. One member had career connections to Lawrence Welk, Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys and had played with the National Symphony. A drummer played with Kay Kiser and Claude Thornhill. A guitar player had been with Dinah Shore. It was a talented and versatile group that appeared in all the best venues, including the Pendennis Club in Louisville, the Metropole Hotel in Cincinnati and the Belle of Louisville. There were a couple of USO shows and countless private functions along the way.Steve says he misses music, but had to make a decision to be a musical gypsy or a family man. He chose family and embarked on a career in the business world that took him to some interesting stops.He spent some time at Camp Taylor Lumber Company, a family-owned business, but then ventured out in the insurance and banking fields. He held several important jobs at Liberty National Bank and Trust, the last as senior vice president and general manager of the bank’s insurance subsidiary.Along the way, he found time to be a co-owner of Bearno’s Little Sicily restaurant. Steve also found time to make significant payback to the community, having been a member of the St. Matthews Jaycees, President of the Bon Air Optimist Club, a member of the Kentucky Foster Child Review Board and a member of the Norton Healthcare Diabetes Center Advisory Committee.Steve is married to Karen Browning, a Seneca High girl. He has three children, who have given him six grandchildren.His woodworking skills are considerable. He works out faithfully, and likes to fish when they’re biting.All in all, it appears Steve Barrett, late of the FCHS band, has had a rewarding life with more to come.
Steve Barrett dozing off at attention, after a long evening marching up and down the field at a Fern Creek football game. Even asleep, Steve embraces his beloved saxophone.
A more current photo of the action-man Steve Barrett, fishing for amberjack off the Florida coast. Steve reports catches of 55 and 65 pounds, one of which was tugging his line when this photo was snapped.
Woodworking is a favorite pursuit of former band leader Steve Barrett, now a retired banker with time on his hands. Steve has made several reproduction pie safes, along with other projects.
Former Fern Creek Band Member Steve Barrett dropped dead, but revived to continue his eventful life
Steve Barrett uncovered photos of the boys in the band on a trip to Washington, DC, where they marched in the Cherry Blossom Parade in May, 1960
Denny Nachand, the morning after the big
parade, wearing his morning-after expression.
The Steve Barrett combo in the late 70's, when the group's size ranged from 5-10 musicians, depending on the client's needs. The band played from 1960-1981, for a wide range of events from dinner dances to, believe it or not, a divorce party.
Bruce Wingfield, now deceased, had a fond memory of the band's 10 1/2 hours layover in a bus station in Athens, Alabama.
Steve Barrett says he lost track of Val Kimbel after high school, so he's not sure if Val ever got his finger out of his nose. Apparently, the shoes were shined before the nose incident. At least Val kept his shorts on in the semi-nude photo shoot. John Hermann, right, in what is truly a compromising position.
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As depressing as it was at the time. I remember the Homecoming Football game when I broke my elbow. After the surgery I was greeted by numerous class mates, at which time Coach Kenny Arnold presented my jersey to me. Momentarily spoiling the moment, Coach Milkovich said, "You can't do that.
Coach Arnold's response was, "I'll pay for it."As for my life in the last 50 years, I've been blessed to have lived it to the fullest. While most young people were concentrating on their careers, I was experiencing everything that interested me. Needless to say, there were ups and downs, but I wouldn't change a thing.I was blessed to have met my wife while I was stationed on Cape Cod, Mass. It was a blind date, but I knew I was going to marry her. (What a culture shock.) She has been a soul mate and help mate through the years.We're very proud of our son James, for being a great person, caring and giving. He's worked hard for all he has achieved. He obtained his masters and PhD in Economics in 2 1/2 years, after which he was a Fulbright Scholar and Fulbright Senior Specialist at the Institute of Economics in Zagreb, Croatia. He is now Dean of the Arts and Science Dept. at Illinois State University.We moved to Mooleyville 33 years ago, built our own home and have been doing antique restoration, custom upholstering, period reproduction and loving it. (Mother earth news!)Can't wait to see all the classmates in October.Jim Payne
Jim Payne, no longer wearing his cast or his presentation jersey.
Jim Payne Never Forgot Coach Arnold's Gesture
Stanley Haas claims his life hasn’t been very interesting, but it sounds like the typical American family success, a very popular thing for our generation. Stan lives near Indianapolis, where he and his wife raised one daughter, Denise Kinkead, and a son Paul, who lives in Phoenix. They have three grandchildren. Stan went to the Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville. After finishing at U of L, Stan joined Firestone Industrial Products, where he worked as a chemical engineer for 29 years. When you ride on air springs, think of Stan.Not being the retiring type, Stan is still working at Sobongo.com, an Internet shopping site, as a satellite technician. Stanley is the oldest of 11 children, eight of whom graduated from Fern Creek. He worked on a dairy farm throughout high school and also at Winn-Dixie. He was a good student, in the top 10%, and a member of the Beta Club.You asked for comments. I was also an introverted , heavy, nerd in high school and there are many memories of how I was treated at FCHS, but it also helped prepare me for the real world in Engineering school and at FirestoneI could choose to just focus on the bad times at FCHS, but I choose to remember the good times. There are so many memories, like Mr. Scearce's physics class, and Mr. Woodside's chemistry class when a student had to stop him from cutting a bar of sodium with a knife and risking an explosion. I remember the football and basketball games against our hated arch-rival Eastern and altercations after the games. Do you remember Cedar Creek drag strip and the unofficial Six Mile Lane drag strip? There are lots of good memories.
Stanley Haas as he appears on Facebook
Young Stanley Hass, with puppy, sits on the threshold with two of his 11 siblings, Bobby and Carol, circa 1948. Stan's father had recently returned from WWII, in the Pacific Theatre.
Family, Church, Work, Stanley Haas Lives The Quintessential American Life
Back in Washington State, following a divorce, I spent some years as a criminal defense attorney, before focusing on mediation. Finally running from the law, I owned an award-winning day spa and later became a higher education academic administrator. For five years, I was the Director of Academic Affairs for the University of Phoenix, Washington State campuses and the Northwest Region. Eight years ago, Deloris, my wife, and I moved to beautiful, bucolic Whidbey Island, about 35 miles north of Seattle. We share our view of Puget Sound with deer, rabbits, eagles, owls, and a myriad other birds and smaller wildlife.For ten years, I’ve been teaching for the University of Phoenix, the last seven almost exclusively in online Doctoral programs. In addition, I own and operate ADR Services, a conflict resolution company, and am a board member of several local community organizations. I’m also CEO of the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts, which offers an MFA degree in Creative Writing and I serve on the board of the Whidbey Institute at Chinook, a learning center which, as our website states “connects the human spirit with the natural world through education, reflection, and experience, liberating the capacity to serve the common good.”Today, much of my personal life is focused on being the primary caregiver for Deloris, who suffered a stroke five years ago. An award winning journalist and writer, she has recovered sufficiently to continue writing the novel she started before the stroke. Writing classes are helping me fashion a memoir from email blogs I’ve been writing about this journey. I love walks on the beach, especially the one which is minutes from our house. Other joys include spending time with friends, cooking and eating, movies, planting golf ball trees by strewing their seeds (golf balls) all over a course, reading trashy mystery novels and travel, especially to warm beaches and exotic Asian locations. Continuing my interest in theater, I’ve been involved for years in local productions of The Vagina Monologues, first as stage manager and then as producer. I’m studying improvisational comedy and performing with Wake Up Laughing, our local improv comedy troupe.My journey these past fifty years may seem somewhat non-traditional and less than linear. While not without disappointments and heartaches, overall it has been fun, educational and very rewarding.I have no complaints. Life is good. 
It was on to college after Fern Creek graduation. After attending undergrad school at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee and Northwestern University law school in Chicago, I made a short side-trip to Washington, DC, to work for several government agencies. Regaining my senses, I moved to Seattle, and have been living in the wonderful Pacific Northwest since 1970. During a short-lived marriage, I moved to the Republic of Palau, in Micronesia, with my then-wife and her two children. For a year, I ran a law office in the capital and advised the newly elected president and Senate of the Republic on the establishment of their legal system. Allan Ament Hasn't Lived Life, He Has Explored It
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Biographical Sketches and Photos Supplied by '60 Classmates
Vol. 50, No. 1 FERN CREEK, KENTUCKY - Location of Friendliest School in the County October 3, 2010
