Harry Burnette

Posted on: Dec 25, 2024 at 1:50 PM

Happy Holiday's to fellow Mac Alumni

I put on 3 lbs. at the reunion. My complements to the chef!!

The Mac Class of '68 is cordially invited to join the Mac Class of '69 for its 50th Year Reunion the weekend of October 18-20, 2019. The Friday night event will be held at La Hacienda de los Barrios, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. A light buffet will be provided and there is no charge except for beverages of your choice. The Saturday night event is at the Old San Francisco Steak House and pre-registration is required. For further details, go to the Mac Class of '69 website. Ken Kenneth H. Pearce Attorney at Law 1410 W. 26th St. Houston, Texas 77008 713.303.8351 khplawyer@earthlink.net

Posted on: Feb 23, 2019 at 7:54 PM

Classmates,

We received notice that our principal, Mr. George Vakey passed away on February 21, 2019 at the age of 97.

Tribute & Message From The Family


George H. Vakey... educator and life long resident of San Antonio ...

George H. Vakey, educator and life long resident of San Antonio, died on February 21, 2019 at the age of 97. He was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur and Irene Vakey; his sister, Dorothy Easter Gemmell Vakey; and his loving wife of 50+ years, Elizabeth Sansom Vakey. He is survived by his brother, John Ken Vakey; and his nephew, Michael Gemmell, and Michael's wife, Elaine.

George was born in San Antonio, Texas on June 30, 1921. He graduated from Harlendale High School in 1939 and then attended Texas A&M College where he studied agriculture until the attack on Pearl Harbor. In January of 1942, he left A&M to join the Army Infantry and served for 4 years in the famed 27th Battalion, 25th Division of the Wolfhounds regiment. The Wolfhound regiment was known for being "fierce in battle". George served 3+ years in the Pacific participating in 5 campaigns, including 165 days "on the line" in battle in the Philippine mountains which was the world record for days in combat during World War II.

After the war, he attended Trinity University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Studies and Psychology, and a Master's degree in Guidance and Counseling and School Administration. While working on his Master's degree, he taught as an instructor of psychology at San Antonio College.

In 1950, George started his first job in public education teaching at Harlendale High School. However, he only taught in the classroom for 3 years before he was promoted to High School Counselor; Dean of Boys, Assistant Principal, Principal of a new school (McCollum High School) from 1962-1966, and finally Principal of MacArthur High School from 1967-1971. During the 21 years that he spent working at the High School level, he made many lifelong relationships with teachers and students. He then spent the remainder of his career working in North East Independent School District's Administrative offices in several management positions: Director Planning & Research, Director of Attendance, Supervisor of Student Teachers K-12, Supervisor of Textbooks Discipline and Safety. Before retiring in 1983, George ended his career as the Associate Superintendent of Instruction K-12.

When he was 94, George wrote a book about his amazing life which can be found on Amazon, "George's Rendezvous with Destiny". There is also a photo show on YouTube for those unable to attend the funeral: https://youtu.be/91qeHl7YDXM

George will be deeply missed by his friends, family and the many teachers and students that he helped during his 33 years in the field of education.

Family, friends, and others whose life George touched are invited to attend his Funeral Service at the Porter Loring Mortuary (1101 McCullough Ave 78212) at 9:30 AM on Friday, April 5, 2019. Reverend Michael Passmore from the Central Christian Church will officiate, and burial will follow at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, 1520 Harry Wurzbach Road, 78209.

Posted on: Jan 01, 2019 at 12:05 PM

Happy New Year, classmates! Hoping 2019 is a great year for everyone!

Classmates, Darelyn (Fry) Jennings found a treasure trove of 30 year old forms in a drawer and sent them to me. Included was survey forms many of our classmates filled out in 1988 for the 20th reunion. I have scanned and posted these on the "20th Reunion" page, if you would like to view them.

http://www.macarthur68.com/20th-Class-Reunion.htm

Calling all photographers!! If you attended either event at the 50th Reunion in May, and took pictures, we would love to include them on the website. If you have any that have not yet been posted on the 50th Reunion page, please drop me a note here and we will get them posted.

Thanks!

Posted on: Mar 04, 2018 at 4:13 PM

James Kitchen dug up a student directory for 1966-1967. If you can't remember your old phone number, you can look it up! It's under the "From our Archives" section on the left.

Old friends and classmates. Blaine Smith, Lee Temple, William Leeper, Chariles nephew, David Ylitalo, Sandra and Charlie Malone, Mike and Elosie Bunger.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Enjoy your day of friends, family, food, and football.

Posted on: Oct 16, 2017 at 10:03 AM

Who can forget our last game against Robert E Lee? Heartbreaking 1 point loss, and our district hopes vanished. But otherwise, what a great senior year football season.