Lafayette High School - Oracle Yearbook (Buffalo, NY)

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In flkmorzkzm MISS DELA K. HILFINGER l ISS HILFINGER once wrote, lf a Utopian school evolves, it will come as a resultof the contagion of learning which will have its inception in a scholarly attitude on the part of both instructors and students. Toward such a school she contributed greatly. Deeply appreciative of beauty, unstinting in her effort to work with others for it, warmly sympathetic with human vagaries, she inspired both associates and students. With the skill of a great teacher, she shared her knowledge and disposed us toward books. Miss Hilfinger lives in the minds and hearts of innumerable individuals who remember gratefully her guidance toward a better life. I9

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Hildegard Graf Scott, Freda Greenberg, Janet Griffiths, Lillian Gruener, Clara A. Haas, John J. Hallahan, Paul E. Harris, Kate B. Hathaway, William Heeb, Marion Hershiser Robinson, Frances Hickman, Claiborn R. Hill, Harry Hopkins Hubbell, Helen Huston, Ida E. Jenkins, Mina Johnston, Ruth Jones, Mary C. Kammerer, Margaret E.Kelly Blanche Kempner, Emma Klipfel, Alma Koletschke, Austa Kuney, Kate L'Hommedieu, Julia Lockwood, Katherine Logan, Dorris Z. Loomis Winifred McCarthy, Florence MacClelland, Marion MacDonald, Mary M. Marck, Laura Marvin, Helen Marhsall, Myrtle Massey, Margaret E. Maxwell, Ellen McCarthy Bieleski, Margaret McCarthy, Mary K. Mc- Dermott, Marie McEvoy, Helen McGarvey, Robert C. McGowan, Peter McGuire, Edward J. McNamara, Char- lotte Meagher, Mary Merington, Mildred Mueller, Irving J. Mulde, Vera Nickl, Helen Nies, Evelyn Notman, Florence Oberist, Bridie S. O'Day, Clifford Orr, Dorothy Pellman, Ethel Quinn, Emma Raeker, Louise Reimold, Estelle Ricigliano, Anne E. Roosa, Henry Rosenbaum, Alfred Rothman, Eugenia Sage Imogene Sanborn, Edith Savage, Katherine Schoepperle, Katherine W. Schulz, Hilda Schwarz, Millard F- Scott, Elizabeth Shapleigh, Estelle Sheehan, Helena Sheehan, Marie J. Schroeder, Wilfred Sherk, Eleanor Siegesmund, Donald Smith, Alfred Smith, lola Smith, Katharine Streater, Helen Taber Hood, Grace Teeter, Lucretia Terry, Lona Thurber, Maude Tobey, Catherine Valente, Prudence Veatch, Portia Walker Little, Mil- dred D. Warnhoff, Dorothy Warren, Julia Wechter, Ida Weimar, Irene Wendling, Ruth Wilfert, Marie Wolcott, Lulu Woodworth CHE tribute given to Miss Elizabeth Weiffenbach at a special assembly on June 10, 1952 indicated in small part the esteem and love she earned during forty-nine years at Lafayette. Just before this occasion the school 's motto, Loyalty, Honor, Service, was placed in gold letters below the pro- seenium arch in the auditorium at Miss Weiffenbach's request. An acrostic, for Miss Weiffenbach, written by Miss Dela K. Hilfinger, beloved former English teacher at Lafayette, was presented by the students. Portrait of a Teacher The portrait painter endeavors to give an interpretation of the personality he is considering. We should like to create a portrait of Miss Weiffenbach, for we feel that we have learned to know her well enough to trace her likeness. Each of the characteristics we shall present is a significant part of her personality. Wisdom is a rare quality which gives life and power to all other gifts of mind and spirit. It is the product of living, of learning and of giving. Effectiveness implies the ability to share one's wisdom with others. To a teacher this is an indispensable as- set. insight enables an individual to understand others so that she may truly educate them, drawing from them the talents others might slight. friendliness makes the daily routine more harmonious, more productive of the best a school has to offer. fortitude is the quality of spirit which encourages a teacher to scale great heights in her ideals for herself and her students, scorning the feeling of discouragement which so often confronts her. Endurance helps her to continue, even when the daily routine demands great effort, patience and skill. -Nobility is a precious asset which gives to the ordinary task a touch of greatness, marking the generous shar- ing of one's own power. Qelief in others gives the teacher the power to draw from her students the effort and confidence so essential to their own development. Appreciation lends to the daily intercourse a rich glow of pleasure which encourages a student to give of his best effort. Qheerfulness makes a comfortable classroom, with an atmosphere of good will conducive to friendly associa- tions and accomplishment. Honesty is one of life's greatest virtues. Honesty with herself and with others is basic in Miss Weiffenbach's nature and has been a vital factor in her success as a teacher and as a friend. This is our portrait. It is the likeness of a fine person, a loyal friend and an inspired teacher, Miss Eliza- beth Weiffenbach. We hold her in great esteem, knowing that through the years she has contributed greatly to the school she has so proudly served. May we suggest that this tribute for Miss Weiffenbach might well have been written for Miss Hilfinger also? I8

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'fniwmed fha!! Thy Honor and Oun' Ever Ben The Graduating Class of 1904 ROM the time of her very first class Lafayette High School has graduated students who have brought honor to her and to themselves. For the purpose of rewarding with special recognition the outstanding athletic stars of the year , THE LAFAYETTE ORACLE of 1924 started a department called The Hall of Fame . It gave first place to Ray P. Diehl, 1925, now consulting engineer in Oklahoma City, who in his senior year was class president, member of the football team, a senior marshal, and honor student. If we were to include such a department now to recognize outstanding Lafayette graduates in all fields, we should write books enough to fill the Lafayette library. May we instead reminisce proudly concerning a few of the vast Lafayette family as we leaf the pages of old ORACLES? Among the class of 1904 grouped at the girls' entrance, we seek Frank Wilson, retired head of the United States Secret Service and consultant on security for the Atomic Bomb Commission. The prophecy for the class of 1908, refers to Paul Hoy Helms, the class historian, The next three names, Wood, Dodd, and Helms, will go down in history for they have induced all the great powers to accept a new type of harmless battleship fWood's inventionj and thus done away with the peace conference at the Hague. WHO'S WHO lN AMERICA, which records his graduation from Lafayette, indicates among many other things, that Mr. Helm is instead the president of Helms Foundation, Inc. , director of the Los Angeles branch of the Federal Re- serve Bank of San Francisco, and director of the DeMille Foundation. WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA lists other Lafayette graduates. Among them is Leslie Dunn, 1911, now a famous author, geneticist, and professor of zoology at Columbia University, who is included in our ORACLE in football and cross country pictures. Lieutenant Governor of the State of New York, Frank Moore was graduated from Lafayette in 1914. Charles Kendall, 1926, since 1949 the general counsel for the National Security Board, led a full life at Lafayette, participating in the Lafayette Club, declamation contests, orchestra activities, and de- bate for three years. Thelma Altman, 1936, who thrilled her fellow students when she sang, won first place in a mezzo soprano voice contest in 1935. Many will recall the spring concert of 1936 when Thelma Altman sang Open Thy Blue Eyes by Massenetp others will remember gratefully her generosity in singing at the school's forty- second anniversary and alumni reunion of 1945, the last Captain Mellen ever attended, and in assembly the next day. Since 1943 she has been a member of the Metropolitan Opera. We feel pride in our athletes led by Charles Reidpath, Buffalo Director of Buildings of whom the class prophecy of 1908 said, Another who is always in the lime light is Charles Reidpath that marvelously fast runner, recently appointed by the city a special officer to catch automobiles who exceed the speed limit. This idea was probably suggested by Charles Reidpath's setting the record of 58 ZX 5 seconds for the 440 yard dash and 22 314 seconds for the 220 yard dash. Following his spectacular running in the 1912 Olympics when he covered 400 meters In 48.2 seconds, he was welcomed at a rousing assembly still rememberedxby students and faculty of that time. 20