From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for June 17, 1990:

Members of the Liberty Memorial High School Class of 1940 were arriving in town for their 50th reunion, which was also their first. In the half-century since graduating, the alumni had never had a formal get-together, but this week they were converging on Lawrence from 20 far-flung states. Reunion organizers said World War II had scattered friends across the country and overseas. Finding all the members had been “like a big jigsaw puzzle,” said reunion committee secretary/treasurer Bob Nelson, but the committee had managed to track down all but 11 of their surviving classmates. About 90 members, or about 60 percent of the class, had registered for the reunion, a larger number than the committee had hoped for. “I was surprised at how eager everyone was to get together,” Nelson said. Visitors enjoyed their first glimpse of their old school and other Lawrence landmarks during a tour around the city. Maurice Abele, a retired Boeing engineer from Seattle, said his childhood home on Tennessee Street was still standing, but some of the city looked unfamiliar. “What used to be pastures and daisy fields are homes now,” he commented. Ida Frances Moyer Hekhuis, visiting from Maryland, said the city’s growth didn’t interfere with her memories. “It’s changed a lot, but there’s enough landmarks to make it exciting,” she said. Elizabeth Rothchild Parker, who had last visited Lawrence 40 years previously, said she was “very impressed” by the city, adding, “The homes are painted, the lawns look good and I don’t even mind the weather. It’s a wonderful reunion.”