Grandmother and granddaughter wear same dress for first day of kindergarten
There are big history lessons that make you think. The lessons have great importance. We need to ponder those for the bigger picture.
Then there are the family history lessons. We often hold these stories in our hearts. We laugh about them later and talk endlessly.
What we have here is a cute family history. It involves a little girl’s dress that was a prized possession. The dress survived several moves, decades of being in a packing crate, mothballs and another chance to go to school.
This is about Terry Grembowicz’s dress from first grade. It later became Rayna Claeys’ dress for the first day of kindergarten. Rayna happens to be Terry’s granddaughter.
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Terry is a longtime South Bend resident who now lives in Elkhart. Terry is a retired school teacher. Her father, Bobby “Slick” Leonard, played for IU and sank the free throw that beat Kansas in the NCAA tournament in 1953. He was highly regarded and was the first athlete inducted into the IU Athletic Hall of Fame.
He married Nancy Root, who was from South Bend. Bobby died in April 2021. Nancy lives in Carmel, Ind.
Bobby went on to play basketball in Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Chicago. He coached the Indiana Pacers. There were a lot of moves and lots of packing crates. (See, that’s what happened to the dress.) “There were five children and 10 moves,” Terry said. Things happened.
One more chunk of family history, Terry’s husband, Larry, is the grandson of Ollie Bejma, the great White Sox player.
Don’t you love South Bend stories that have 10 subplots and 15 relatives?
Terry said she wore the dress in 1961 for her first day at Lincoln Elementary School.
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“Rayna's mother, Katie Grembowicz Claeys, attended Lincoln from 1993 to 1996. I am a retired SBCSC teacher and taught second grade at the new Lincoln building from 2006 to 2008. I occasionally still substitute teach there. My mother attended Lincoln in the 1930s and 1940s,” Terry said in an email.
The dress was found wrapped in tissue in 2019. “It smelled, but it was in perfect shape,” Terry said in a phone conversation. “My mother knew immediately that it was my first grade dress.”
Terry believes the dress was homemade. There were no tags, no hints where it came from. There was a little damage. Not bad. It remains stylish ― in kindergarten/first grade terms.
Katie said as the first day of school approached in August, Rayna became excited for the chance to wear GG’s dress.
GG is Rayna’s name for grandmother. Just the letters and not Gigi, Terry insisted.
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“They have a special relationship. That makes the dress very special for both of them,” Katie said.
Rayna got many compliments about the dress and there were lots of responses on a Facebook post.
Following the day at school, Terry expected to take it to the cleaners. “I decided to take it home. I couldn't bear leaving it there. I might not see it again. I’ll put it away again. It was a one-time event for Rayna.”
They will treasure the dress and the memories.
Thanks, and a tip of the baseball cap to Bill Moor for filling me in on Slick Leonard’s story.
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Several weeks back, Roger Parent talked about his new book in this Sunday space.
In the book, Roger tells stories about successes, lessons learned, leadership and how to make things work.
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Roger will have an official book launch event for “Getting Things Done” from 5 to 7 p.m. Oct. 20 in the upper deck at Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium, 501. W. South St. Doors open at 5 p.m. Program will be from 5:30 to 6 p.m. There will be munchies and hot dogs.
It is a perfect place for the event, because the former mayor was instrumental in getting the stadium built.
Rub elbows with some of the big wigs from around town.
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A few stray memories and thoughts of people who need to be remembered. Richard Mesaros, 91, died on Aug. 17. He was a recipient of a Quilt of Valor for his military service. Dick served post-World War II in Germany. He was a longtime South Bend resident, worked at Oliver/White Farm for 40 years, loved dogs and kept a great lawn.
The presentation ceremony for the quilt was in 2019.
LeRoy Arden Daugherty, 81, died on Sept. 21. He was a gym teacher in the South Bend schools. He found a perfect professional home at Warren Elementary School.
He was gruff and no nonsense. He scared some of us there. According to the obituary, he wasn’t that way at all. He was good at the gruff part and good at what he did.
Speaking of good at what she did, Thelma Miller, 95, of Plymouth, died on Sept 17. She was an excellent baker, painter, mother, grandmother and friend. She always had a smile on her face.
Contact Kathy at kfborlik@yahoo.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: For her first day of kindergarten, granddaughter wears grandmother's dress
