Members of the 1940 Gaffney High class are pictured here outside the Piedmont Club on Friday. Gaffney High’s homecoming weekend had a special place in the hearts of Pat Meredith Crump and other members of her 1940 graduating class.

Crump traveled from her home in North Ridge, Calif., with her daughter in-law Rebecca to attend her 65year Gaffney High class reunion. She joined 30 members of the class for a luncheon Friday at the Piedmont Club in Spartanburg.

Crump, a former Gaffney High cheerleader, left her hometown when she was 20 and has since lived primarily in Burbank, Calif. She supervised 30 dentists in a clinic on Hollywood Boulevard among the movie stars and neon lights of Hollywood.

Class of 1940 Gaffney High graduate Mary Lee Phillips greets Gladys Daniel Stokes on Friday during their 65th class reunion at the Piedmont Club in Spartanburg. Her high school class graduated shortly before World War II. While nearly all the men joined the military, women helped with the war through organizations such as the Women’s Army Corps (WAC).

She returned to Gaffney from 1993-2003 and left again to be closer to her family in California.

“I’ve known Frances Millwood since we were little girls,” said Crump, referring to one of her high school classmates. “It was great to see old friends and be with them again.”

There were 165 seniors in the 1940 Gaffney High class. Class president Roy Elmore said it was the largest graduation class in the school’s history at that time.

“There are 83 remaining from our class. There are 63 girls and 20 boys still living,” Elmore said.

There were the expected regrets and a few last-minute cancellations for this year’s reunion.

The group observed a moment of silence for classmates who had died since their 60th high school reunion in 2000.

“I never thought I would live to see 65, yet alone attend my 65th high school reunion,” Elmore said. “At 65 years, we are still the best-looking kids on the block.”

Mae Francis Hummon traveled from Texas to attend the reunion and despite being hospitalized recently with a stroke, Claud Vaskin McGuinn had his daughters drive him up from Atlanta so he could see his classmates again.

Local residents from the 1940 GHS class include Bert Cline, Dean Ross, and Dr. Jay Hammett.

While all have gotten older, time has not dulled memories of their high school classmates.

Joe Melton greeted Hammett by reminding the Gaffney doctor about the time he got injured on a roller coaster in 1949.

“We had gone to the Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park. It was my first time on a roller coaster. I was riding in one of the front cars and didn’t brace myself,” Hammett said. “I was in a lot of pain for the next two or three days. I have never been on another roller coaster and don’t intend to.”

The 1940 Gaffney High class is already planning another reunion in 2008.