MRS. KOEPPE

Mrs. Koeppe was the secretary at L.B. Clarke. She was around 60-years-old maybe, and wore old-looking glasses. She also had really big lips.

Koeppe was a pretty nice woman. She was always nice to me anyway. I spent a lot of time in the office, waiting for Mr. Vogt to drag me into his office for a screamfest. Prior to that, I'd wait in the office area, sitting on a chair. Koeppe was always pleasant.

Beyond the regular office jobs, Koeppe was also responsible for selling the hot lunch tickets. Every Monday morning, she would push a cart from room to room and sell the tickets to those students who got hot lunch. I was one of them.

I learned something in sixth grade. One day I didn't feel well, and needed to go home. So I went to the office. She told me to use the phone that was sitting on the counter to call my mom or dad - which I did. I found in interesting that at no point did she or anyone else need to speak to my parents. Cool! For the rest of 6th grade through 8th grade, whenever I felt like going home, I simply played sick, went to the office, pretended to call my mom, and even carried on a one-sided coversation for a few moments to make it look good. After I hung up, Koeppe would say, "Did she say it's ok to go home?" You can guess what the answer always was.

In 8th grade, against all odds, Mr. Vogt pulled me into his office to commend me for being such a non-troublemaker that year. I guess that's what happens when you have Kevin Dehne in only two classes, as opposed to all of them. Plus I didn't have Doug Wall in any classes at all. But anyway, as I walked out back into the office area, Koeppe said to me, "Good girl... ah, I mean, good boy... good job Burt." I laughed about it. But she was embarrassed.

Around 1990 or 1991, Meff and I went to L.B. Clarke with my new camcorder. It was a weekend. The doors were locked. However, I poked the camera into the window of the office. And lo and behold, Mrs. Koeppe was in there! She smiled, then put her hand in front of her face, so as not to be filmed. In fact, just a few days earlier, there was an article about her in the paper because she was retiring. That was the last time I ever saw her.

I've tried to find her, but have been shut out. I fear she might be dead. Perhaps if I knew her first name, I might have more luck. Anyone?