RICHARD CROWE

Richard joined me at Clarke in 8th grade. I'm not sure where he came from. He may have had some American Indian ancestry.

I had Richard in a few classes that year. He and I got along pretty well. However, when he first arrived at school, he was "the new kid." And none other than Scott "Gokey" Gauthier befriended him. I remember telling Greg Flemal that that friendship wonuldn't last. And sure enough, it didn't. Richard didn't know Gokey yet.

I had both Richard and Gokey in Mr. Swokowski's art class. One day Gokey was in Richard's way. So he blurted out, "Move Gokey!" What did Gokey do? Well without even thinking (if he was even capable) he turned his body around and threw a punch towards Richard. What Gokey didn't know was that Richard happened to be holding an exacto knife at the time. And he had it pointing outward. Gokey's punch landed square on the kinfe, ripping his hand to shreds, right betweem the thumb and point finger. Blood was everywhere. And Gokey shrieked in pain. He tried his best not to cry. But he didn't do a good job. Gokey had to go to the hospital. He ended up getting a ton of stitches. It was an accident of course. So Richard didn't get in trouble. It was Gokey's own aggressiveness that got himself hurt. But from that point on, Swokowski made everyone walk with their exacto knives pointing down.

Later on that year, Richard and I had Mr. Ashenbrenner together. One dayI got a hold of Richard's "T-Square" and was tapping it onto my trapper keeper. It somehow broke. Ashenbrenner wasn't happy, and said that we each had to pay $3.00 to replace it. I actually paid. But I don't think Richard ever did. Richard wanted to beat me up or something for that. But he never did.

Richard must have moved after 8th grade. Because I never saw him again. Today I believe he lives near LaCrosse, with his wife Wendy. If he has kids or a job, I'm unaware of it.

UPDATE - 9/7/06 - It looks like Richard moved to Manitowoc after leaving Two Rivers. He's listed as a member of Lincoln High School's class of 1989.