The legacy of a shuttered school

The location of the reunion itself — in a white, unassuming community hall — was a reminder of how much had changed since the school closed. The former school, just a few blocks over, had become a private residence.

In the community hall sat a temporary shrine to a school long gone. The walls were lined with memorabilia, from old sports uniforms and trophies to yearbooks and the fuzzy costume head of Brutus, the school’s beloved bulldog mascot. In the corner, a TV projected photos of the area over the years.

For a school that died more than 20 years ago, the atmosphere and rekindled connections felt very much alive.

Janice Farkell, class of 1972 and treasurer of the reunion committee, acknowledged that planning for the event was “unusual.”

“We’re doing an all-school reunion and there hasn’t been any graduating classes for 20 years,” Farkell said. “So we don’t have the young people to carry things out.”

Still, by most measures the reunion was a raging success. Barb Coffman, committee chair and class of 1987, said more than 200 people RSVP’d, including graduates’ family members, with some flying all the way from Mexico and the East Coast.

For Coffman and Farkell, Brady’s reunion put on display the powerful influence of one rural school — graduates who had gone on to work in farming and teaching, business and health care. That so many people came back to celebrate Brady and its long-closed school showed something else, too: a heartfelt connection with a place and a collective past.

“It’s very emotional, you know. It’s people that we haven’t seen for a long time,” Farkell said. “I think everybody knows this is it. Probably the last time.”

The childhood besties: Lorran (Burdick) Depner (left) and Julie (Rouns) Yates

Lorran Depner and Julie Yates, who graduated in 1983 as part of a class of nine, sit next to each other in the Community Hall and reminisce about the times they spent there. As kids attending Girl Scout meetings in the basement. As teenagers taking a hunter safety course in the building’s target range and as young adults at Yates’ wedding shower.

After graduating, both women went to Missoula for college, but left after their first quarter. Depner transferred to a college in Great Falls to finish her degree and went on to teach band and choir in Choteau. Yates ended up in Helena, where she eventually became the phlebotomy manager at St. Peter’s Health. Yates now lives in Virginia. Depner lives near Brady, about four miles from where she grew up. Despite taking different life paths, they’ve stayed connected on Facebook throughout their marriages, becoming parents and eventually grandparents.

Depner and Yates said it wasn’t just the two of them who shared a special bond — they remember being deeply connected to their classmates, teachers and neighbors.

“We were really close,” Yates said of the school community.

“We were a family,” Depner added.

Years later, the two said they struggled to recognize the Brady they remember, but were grateful the reunion made it feel alive again, even if only for a weekend.

“To tell you the truth, we really don’t know a lot of people here anymore who have just moved into town. You’re kind of a stranger in your own home,” Depner said. “So this is very gratifying just to see.”

The rancher: Gordon Schlepp

Gordon Schlepp, class of 1961, grew up on the family farm near Brady and forged life-long relationships on the sports fields and courts of surrounding towns. He played on the basketball, football and track teams at Brady in an era before the school had buses. Parents would drive the teams to games all over the state.

“You either participated or you sat out and watched,” Schlepp said. “Well, it was more fun to participate.”

After graduating from the Brady School in a class of nine, Schlepp attended Montana State University and studied agricultural business. While there, two hundred miles away from home, he reconnected with his childhood neighbor, Cheryl Kauk, and fell in love. They married in 1965 and returned to the family farm in 1969. Throughout his career he raised cattle and grew wheat, barley and irrigated alfalfa — even as Brady’s population dwindled.

“I just always had the town of Brady, and the people around it. We’re all friends, we know each other, and when they left and went on, it really hurt, I think, to miss all them people,” Schlepp said.

While others left, Schlepp never did, until three years ago. He retired from farming and moved up to Conrad to be closer to his kids and grandkids. Schlepp missed the first Brady reunion in 1979. This year, he was sure he wanted to attend.

“It’s really been fun,” Schlepp said. “I’ve seen people that I haven’t seen for decades.” Many of those people, he reflected, recognized Schlepp before he recognized them. “I mean, really, it’s strange,” he added. “I can’t believe it.”

The last class: Ashleigh (Tranmer) Doty,  Raylee (Bishop) Rask and Tera (Tranmer) Osborne

Throughout Saturday, Raylee Rask, Ashleigh Doty and her twin sister, Tera Osborne, moved as a unit, breaking into fits of giggles as memories resurfaced. Though there were six girls in the school’s final graduating class in 2005, only the three of them have remained close. Rask now lives in Scobey with her husband and kids, while Doty and Osborne are across the state in Missoula with their families. All said they still feel the pull of Brady.

“We don’t come back very often, but when we do it’s like you haven’t skipped a beat. Same people, same conversations, we love it. It’s just, it’s steady. You know what you’re coming back to,” Doty said. Osborne laughed in agreement.

Their favorite memory, they all recalled, was going to Disneyland for their senior trip accompanied by their favorite teacher. They also reflected on their graduation — the school’s last — which was three and a half hours long. The ceremony featured a speaker from every decade the school was open, from 1929 to 2005, none of whom stayed to the allotted five-minute speech time. It wasn’t just a goodbye to the final six graduates, but to the school as a whole.

Many of the older graduates commented on the emptiness of the town. But the last class doesn’t feel the same. With so many farming families in the area, Rask said, the town will never fade away.

“People aren’t willing to let it die. I mean, you’re talking generations of people growing up here doing the same thing, meeting in the same spots,” Doty said. “And luckily for us, we have people who won’t let us get away too far without bringing us back in. And we’re always back.”

The beloved teacher and coach: Tom Tranmer

As both a student and, later, a teacher, Tom Tranmer had a front-row seat to watch Brady change. His family moved to Brady when Tranmer was in fourth grade, in 1966. Back then, he said, the town had two bars, three cafes and a grocery store. He graduated in 1975 with 21 other students in his class and more than 80 students in the high school.

“The teachers were second to none here, I thought, and our education was wonderful. There’s a lot of students that graduated from here that went on and did super things,” Tranmer said.

He earned a teaching degree at the University of Montana in Missoula and worked in West Yellowstone for two years before being recruited by a Brady School board member to come back and teach in 1984. When he returned, the high school had only 18 students. Tranmer taught generations of students, including his twin daughters, and coached 6-man football at Brady until the school closed. He then moved over to the now-combined Dutton-Brady school.

“I think once the school closed, it’s like a gem, you know, on a crown. And our school was like the gem of Brady,” Tranmer said.

Tranmer said the town started shrinking as many farmers reduced production, requiring fewer workers. The town continued to shrink as farms consolidated and machinery got more advanced, leading to even fewer workers and, in turn, fewer families. Even though Tranmer’s teaching days are behind him, locals still find him on the field every fall. He’s entering his 45th year of coaching.

“We just have a special fondness in our hearts for this town, so I hope it stays as much as possible,” Tranmer said. “People get old and we pass away. But the generations after us, I hope that they keep it going in the right direction as well and keep it on the map.”