At their 50th reunion from Rolling Meadows High School last year, a group of classmates reminisced about who had been their favorite teacher. Their choice was unanimous: their fourth grade teacher at Westgate Elementary School in Arlington Heights, Miss Karen Streckert.
Miss Karen Streckert with her fourth grade class, 1967
From encouraging research in the library and furthering their debate skills, to leading modern dance sessions in the cafeteria, and teaching fractions and ratios through cookie recipes, they all agreed that Miss Streckert was one of a kind.
They were in her class at Westgate from 1966 to 1967, the third and last year Streckert taught there. She then left to study in study in Europe on a Fulbright Scholarship. She ended up staying 30 years, living in Germany, where she met her husband, Helmut Theimer. In retirement, they moved to the United States.
Karen and Helmut Theimer
“She found something individual in every student,” says Dr. Paul Anfenson, a retired Arlington Heights dentist. “Her caring was always felt — and appreciated.”
Another student, Chris Sanderbeck, reflected that Miss Streckert was a feminist before her time, and consequently her influence on girls was empowering.
“She made you feel like you were the only student in the class,” Sanderbeck said. “She’d identify areas you needed to work on and give you extra attention in those areas.”
In fact, the more they reminisced about Streckert, the more they wanted to find her — to tell her, some 60 years after she taught them — of her profound influence on their lives.
It was Anfenson who wanted to organize a reunion of her students. He set out first to find their teacher. He began his research, not on the Internet, he says, but at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, again crediting skills he had learned from his former teacher. He poured through newspaper archives and finally found an obituary for Streckert’s mother, which led him to learn where his beloved teacher lived: in the tiny village of Winthrop, located in the state of Washington.
“I called her that afternoon,” Anfenson said. “I think she was pretty surprised, but we had a great conversation. I told her about my idea and she was game.”
Next, he found their class photo, from 1967, with students’ names listed at the bottom. He set out to locate as many as he could, and this time, with the help of the Internet, he found many of them. With the help of his classmates, like Sanderbeck, they connected with them and proposed a plan: to travel to Winthrop to meet with their former teacher.
Remarkably, 10 of the classmates did just that, including: Anfenson and Sanderbeck, as well as brothers Mark and Randy Barnard, Karen Daniels, siblings Pete and Sue Harper, Julie Hazlett, Jody O’Callaghan and Peter Sarratori.
In June, they gathered — coming from eight different states — in Washington, before driving over to Winthrop to see Theimer. They rented a house and spent four days together. Their reunion even drew the attention of the local newspaper, which interviewed some of them and published a feature story.
The group shared their favorite memories with Theimer, but they also presented her with a commemorative blown-glass apple, accompanied by copies of their tributes printed out.
“She was a young teacher but had such incredible insight into treating us as individuals,” Sanderbeck said. “She took special interest in providing guidance for us. It was safe in her classroom — she made it possible to speak up, to take direction, and to accept criticism.”
Anfenson agreed, adding: “In Miss Streckert’s classroom, every day there was an adventure in store.”
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