Letter to the Editor - Remembering the Burnham School

Editor,

I enjoyed your article about the renewed interest in Burnham School on the Fresno Road west of Havre. The old school when it closed consisted not only of the stately school building itself but also a tool/wood/coal shed and a four-horse stable, and also a playground, grove and bomb shelter (Since the time was World War II and there was still fear of bombing attacks on western states).

There were eight students — five boys and three girls — as a part of the student body on that final year, all in the same classroom. Three of the boys finished grade school that year leaving only five remaining students, two boys and three girls for the following year. It was decided that the best approach was to close the school and transfer those five students to other schools.

I was one of those remaining boys in the last year’s continuing class, and my parents transferred me to school in Havre. Jim Pasma, a Havre businessman and artist, was one of the eighth-grade graduates. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps right after graduation. Bud Wilson, another graduate, became a farm worker and ultimately went to work for the Great Northern Railroad in Havre. Lyle Gilead, the third graduate, became a lifetime Havre businessman.

John Inman, older brother of Charlie Inman who currently owns the schoolhouse and site, was one of the boys not ready to graduate and he transferred school. I was the fifth boy and I moved to third grade and finished grade school, high school and college in Havre.

Alice and her younger sister, Lyle’s two younger sisters, transferred schools, while Ann Marie Gibson, the third girl, transferred to school out of state.

My aunt, Esther Naber, and my grandmother, Anna Grace, both taught at the school.

Sincerely,

William Thackeray

Havre