​Looking Back: The Class of 1925

by Marcia Napier, Grain Valley Historical Society


The Seniors in the photograph below were members of the last class to graduate from the original Grain Valley Consolidated District No. 3 building on Broadway (now Main Street). A few months after this photo was taken the building was completely destroyed by fire on November 7, 1925.

Grain Valley High School
Class of 1925

Shown in the photo are: Row 1: Mr. Holman, history teacher, Opal Rumbo, Lucille Rowe, Wilma Howell, Lois Tritt, and Nadine O’Connell. Row 2: Charlie McQuerry, Leonard Stephenson, Henry Wyatt, Marie Beggs, Eleanor Hendrickson, and Delores Warren. Row 3: Miss Caster, English teacher, Mrs. Holman, mathematics teacher, Maurice Frost, Theodore Holman (the son), Lawrence Williams, and Ernest Dobson.          ​

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Grain Valley School
1909 – 1925
 
 
While many of the students moved on after graduation, a few remained in and around Grain Valley and continued to make their mark on our community. Opal Rumbo (my aunt) married Clyde Fristoe. Prior to World War II, they owned a grocery store in town. Aunt Opal played the piano at the Methodist Church for more than 35 years.

Lois Tritt lived on Walnut Street, and became a fixture at the Bank of Grain Valley where she worked  for many years. In her late 40s, she married Clarence Dobson, Ernest’s father. They were both lifelong members of First Baptist Church.

Nadine O’Connell was the daughter of Creola (Warren) and John T. O’Connell. Her daughter was Patricia Davis Parr (Grain Valley, Class of 1944). Although Pat moved to Blue Springs, in her will she donated $25,000 to the Grain Valley Historical Society. Charlie McQuerry was one of the eight McQuerry children for which McQuerry Road, north of Grain Valley, was named. Leonard Stephon was one of the eight Stephenson children with a long history, all living in and around our town. There are still numerous Stephenson descendants in the area.

Deloris Warren married Howard Mollenkamp. After college, she returned to Grain Valley and taught at the elementary school for many years. Mollenkamp became president of the Bank of Grain Valley after the death of her father, William Durwood Warren. Maurice Frost ran the family grocery store in town for many years, but I don’t know where he landed after WW II.

Finally, Ernest Dobson became a builder. Although he and his family moved to Blue Springs, he is responsible for more than half of the new houses built in Grain Valley in the 1950s and 60s.
 
If you are interested, visit the Historical Society (after the Smithsonian exhibit closes on December 13, 2025) and together, we can research others from the Class of 1925. Or, for that matter, any other year!