BRETT GRUETZMACHER

Brett is a guy who showed up at Clarke. I believe he arrived in 6th grade.

At some point that year, or perhaps the previous summer, he hooked up with Drew Konop. They were on rival little leage baseball teams or something, and became friends that way.

I'm really surprised that I don't have a whole lot to say about Brett. I had him in many classes. But not a whole lot stands out.

I had Brett in Mr. Franke's 8th grade science class. Two memories come to mind. For one, earlier in one day, Brett had "burned" my books. So I told my friend Mark Schreiber that I was going to do the same to Brett's. Mark thought I was joking, as he viewed Brett as a guy not to be messed with. But tit for tat so to speak. I went up to Brett's table and whipped all of his stuff onto the floor. I think he swore at me. But he didn't do anything.

At some point in the year, Mr. Franke brought in a police officer to talk about alcohol's effects on the blood. Somehow Brett was volunteered to take a breathalyzer test. The cop looked at the reading and said, "Umm... what did you have for lunch?" He was joking of course. Then he proceeded to "arrest" Brett. And as he tried to lead him away, Brett kept jerking his arm forward as if he were resisting. It was pretty funny actually.

For the most part, I always viewed Brett as a pompous guy. However, that being said, in my opinion, Brett is someone who improved with age. He got a lot nicer as high school progressed. Perhaps a woman had a calming effect on him. Who knows? If so, that woman was fellow graduate Angie Owens. I think they started going out near the end of our junior year - or perhaps that summer. They even got a couple of hamsters that they called "their kids."

I ran into Brett and Angie many times at the video store. And both of them were incredibly nice. This is one high school romance that has lasted. They eventually did get married. I believe they have at least two kids.

After high school, Brett planned to become a teacher. He did just that. He actually taught on an Indian reservation in Arizona for three years. He then moved to Indiana in 1996, where he taught social studies for four years. Now he is an assistant principal at that same school. Below are a couple of recent photos of Brett. The bottom one is from one of those polar bear plunges in the middle of winter.





UPDATE - 8/17/06 - Brett has been an assistant principal at his school. However, the current principal is resigning. Starting this coming year, Brett will be the new principal.

UPDATE - 11/10/06 - UPDATE - 11/10/06 - Here is Brett, along with Drew Konop, from our senior video.



UPDATE - 6/18/07 - Thanks to Shannon Koch for providing this photo of Brett from graduation day, June 4th, 1989. He can be seen in the middle, between Lisa Koch and Randy Klein.