DEAN HORNBURG

Dean is a guy who showed up at Clarke. I got to spend all of 6th grade with him, as we had Mrs. Casey together.

Dean wasn't all that popular. The reason was simple. He was annoying. He was really annoying. There was just something about him that rubbed people the wrong way.

One day at recess, as we were all heading inside, Dean yelled out, "Last one is is nigger-lipped Schenk." That of course was a reference to Trey Schenk's big lips. Well, Mrs. Casey overheard this remark and was none too pleased. It was nice to see her go after someone else instead of me. She scolded Dean big time, then made him write two long essays. One was on negros. The other was on lips.

At some point that year we were in class. And we were reading something. As was the norm, we'd read it out loud. Mrs. Casey would pick students to read a paragraph or two, then pick someone else, and so on. Whenever someone got stuck on a word, there would be a pause. And Mrs. Casey would say the word. Then we'd move on. Well on this day, Dean took it upon himself to blurt out the word if the reader got stuck. Dean sat in the front row, right next to me. And everytime he did this, I saw Mrs. Casey get angrier and angrier. She was fuming. Yet she didn't say anything. I've always wondered why. At one point, the reader got stuck on a big word that even Dean didn't know. I was waiting for Mrs. Casey to scream, "Say something Dean!" But she didn't.

Dean lived in the country, on Highway VV, just outside of town. So he'd walk by my house everyday after school.

In 7th grade, I found myself in the hot lunch line standing behind Dean one day. He told me a joke. "Where's the beef - not in your pants. Ha ha ha!" I understand the joke. It's just not funny.

I believe Dean left us after 8th grade. Although I don't think he moved. Maybe his parents sent him to Roncalli. I don't know. I can't say I missed him. Today Dean lives in Manitowoc. It looks like he's married to a woman named Joanne.