Diana (Dyna) loved so many things about life, but she loved taking road trips most of all, when on the hot afternoon of Saturday, June 17, 2017 she decided to take her final road trip home, without a doubt taking a detour thru Yellowstone on the way. When she arrived at the garden in the sky she was greeted by her husband Jimmy Weaver (2013) and son James Weaver(1986) who preceded her in death. Surviving her is her daughter Deborah Striplin, granddaughter Elizabeth Allen, grandson James Striplin Jr., sister Sue, brother Preston and extended family.
Diana was born in Reno, Nevada, moving to Southern California during her youth, with the family later returning to Nevada, where she spent the rest of her years. Battle Born she was, and loved living in Northern Nevada enjoying all its beauty. Diana retired from Bank of America and was very active with the Nevada State Fair volunteering many years in the exhibit halls.
On April 23, 2021 Bronwyn died as the result of a tragic accident when the truck she was a passenger in went off the road. I believe her husband was the driver and was also injured.
Bronwyn was born on Jun 23, 1950 to Cyerl and Nell Hanney. Cyrel was the Episcopal priest, in Trona in the 1960’s. Bronwyn graduated from Trona High School in 1968. After high school she attended the Los Angeles County Medical Center School of Nursing. In 1971 she married Paul Grisson.
Bronwyn had an older sister, Gwyn (Hanney) Wotring , who was in the class of 1966 and a younger brother, Derwyn, in the class 1971. Their Father died in 1981.
April 23, 2021
Authorities say 70-year-old Idaho resident Bronwyn Grissom was riding passenger in a Toyota Tundra heading northbound when the truck drifted off the right edge of the road for roughly 415 feet before hitting a steep earth embankment, bringing the truck to a complete stop.
The unnamed driver and Grissom were taken Converse County Memorial Hospital before Grissom was taken to Wyoming Medical Center in Casper. She died en route to Casper.
According to the report, driver fatigue and/or falling asleep are being investigated as contributing factors.
The extent of the driver’s injuries has not been specified. The road was dry and the weather was clear. Thursday’s crash marks Wyoming’s 27th highway fatality in 2021. At this point last year, there were 22.
Jeanne Murrin tried to leave me a message about this back in May. I’m sorry I missed it.
I feel abandoned! I was born and raised in Trona. But we left when my father died. I was 11 yrs old and had finished the fifth grade. My family lived there for 25 years. Two older brothers and a sister graduated from Trona High School. I lived and breathed Trona High where both of my brothers played varsity football.
Now I am an orphan! I didn’t graduate from Trona High, so I have no class to belong to. It is where I walked barefoot in the sand, where the asphalt curled under our toes and the windstorms blinded us but never sent us back indoors. Where I walked to school every day with my dog Lassie who stayed outside the school yard and waited for me to return. Where I passed the homes of my teachers who invited us in for Kool-Aid and cookies.
We had big yards, alleys between the houses and we knew everyone on our street and down the alley.
There was scary Bobby Jones who always beat up the younger boys on the street, there was “Big Mary” that we all fantasized about and “Little Bill” and his brother Skipper who lived across the street (I was “Big Bill”).
We lived on Lupine street where, in the company owned town, the big shots lived. You were assigned your house, you didn’t pick it. We went to the open air movie theater at the town center, got banana splits at the counter in the drug store and paid for things at the grocery store with company script (not dollars).
If you didn’t have a car, you left town on the Trona Stages, our bus company. If you weren’t married, you lived in the bungalows across from the town center.
I roamed the desert fearlessly, escaping rattlesnakes, capturing desert turtles that became pets, discovering old mine shafts hidden in the tumbleweeds. I’m not sure if I owned any long pants or even shoes! The priest at our church, then located near the center of town, just rolled his eyes when we altar boys showed up barefoot and in short pants to serve at Mass.
My favorite time was the summer when we would go to the huge pool at Valley Wells. Most of the town was there almost every day. It was where we escaped the crippling heat and became human beings again (there was NO such thing as air conditioning then. Just useless water coolers that were only effective if you stood directly in front of it).
My Dad had a massive heart attack earlier in the year of 1952.. He retired as the President of Trona Railroad in June of 1952. He died the night we moved from Trona. I was 11 yrs old.
My two brothers, Michael (1950), Bruce (1952) and sister Elizabeth (1945) who graduated from Trona High are deceased now, but my sister Eileen, 88 yrs old is still around. Probably the last living member of her class of 1951. I don’t think she will be attending any reunions!
So that leaves me. A Tronan without a home! A lost soul whose identity is like a ghost living in a world that exists only in another universe.
Oh, except we moved to Santa Monica, the jewel of all beach communities in California, if not the world. I spent my teen years in a place that I could not afford to live in today! But it also has its memories.
I live today in San Clemente, CA and have done so for the past 46 years. My recollections of Trona have faded somewhat over the years (I’m 80 yrs old) and I suspect it does not match my childhood memories that are so idyllic.
But I am still a Tronan in my bones. It is the wellspring from which I come and defines me by a childhood that could not have been more perfect.
As many of you know the Trona High School alumni generally hold an all class reunion every five years. If it had not been for COVID-19 there would have been a reunion in 2020. The reunion committee decided it would be best to postpone it until 2021, however, since COVID-19 is still a concern the committee decided to postpone it one more year until the fall of 2022.
I am a member of the graduating class of 1961. There were about 19 or 20 graduating classes that came before us and 60 that came after us. That now seems pretty amazing to me. My sister, Patricia, graduated in 1953. I can remember some of her friends and the friends of my brother, Joel, who graduated in 1956. I can remember about 90% of the class of 1961 and just a handful of underclass-mates that were in school at the same time I was.
I guess my point is that there are a heck of a lot of alumni that I don’t know and I’m pretty sure the same is true of everyone else. It is seems almost unbelievable that there are people that are willing to put in the hard work of making all class reunions happen. With any luck in 2022 we will all be able to get together again with the people we know and maybe meet some of the ones we never knew.
I recently learned that Ken, my classmate and friend, passed away and is buried in Trona. Ken and I spent a lot of time together when we were growing up. He died April 6, 2019 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Ken was born 10 January 1943. He was the son of Carl Tyre Hall (1901-1965) and Nora May Hall (1913-2002). Both of his parents are also buried in Trona. He had a sister, Virginia, and two brothers, Carl and Richard, who also attended Trona High School.
After graduating Ken attended Brigham Young University for two years and while there he decided to interrupt his education and become a missionary for the LDS church in Chile for two and half years. After he returned from Chile he planned on getting a college deferment so he could continue his education, however, the LDS church failed to forward the letters the draft board was sending him and they had him listed as a draft dodger. This made him ineligible for a deferment and moved him to the top of the list to be drafted.
His only other option was to enlist. I suggested that he try to get into the National Guard or reserves. The only reserves that will still taking enlistments at that time was the the Marine Corp Reserve. When he went to talk to the recruiter the recruiter convinced him that a 3 year enlistment would be better than 6 years in the reserve, I only heard from him once after he left for boot camp.
After being discharged from the Marines he returned to BYU to finish his education.He got married in1969 and settled down in Birmingham, Alabama.
Someone else will have to fill in the rest of his life story from there.
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Jennifer Corrion Smith, 65, of Bozeman, MT passed away at home on July 22, 2021, due to natural causes. She was born on June 7, 1956, in Trona, CA where she grew up and graduated from Trona High School in 1974.
After college graduation at Loyola Marymount as an English major, she and Jim were married in 1979 and lived in Davis, CA where Jennifer obtained her teaching credential. In 1984, after several moves around the country including Texas, Wyoming, and Cut Bank, MT, Jennifer and Jim settled in Bozeman. Jennifer had a great interest in children and taught pre-school for many years at Learning Circle Montessori and later Highland Montessori schools. She also ran a computer services business from 2002 until about 2012.
Jennifer was an avid hiker and dog lover and could often be seen on the trails and at parks around Bozeman where she met and befriended many other hikers. She will be deeply missed by her family, fellow outdoor enthusiasts, her friends, and extended family across the country.
Jennifer is survived by her husband, Jim Smith, of Bozeman; her daughter, Kallie Smith, of Salt Lake City; her son, Drew Smith (Abbi Dayton); and by her granddaughter, Audrey Smith, of Louisville, CO. Jennifer is also survived by her brother, Gregory Corrion, of Trona, CA; and by Jim’s brothers and sisters in California and Utah.
Jennifer was preceded in death by her parents, Maury and Phyllis Corrion; and by her sister, Barbara Sherman.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, September 10, from 3:00 to 6:00 P.M. at the Lindley Center located at 1102 East Curtiss Street in Bozeman.
I was contacted by Paul’s son who notified me of his passing.
Paul had an older brother David in the class of 1959 and a younger brother Robert in the class of 1962. Paul passed away in his sleep on June 23, 2021 in his home in Vacacville, CA. The cause of death was Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease and Pulmonary Emphysema. He had only one child and 2 grandchildern. He will be missed.
I’ve always had a great deal of respect for Paul and am deeply saddened by the news. I express my sincere sympathy to his son and the rest of his family.
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We just received word of Keith’s death. We believe he died in May of 2021. He was living in California City at the time. Keith went to school in Trona from the fourth grade to the tenth. He moved between his sophomore and junior year and later returned to Trona and worked in the plant for several years. Keith was the son of Raymond (1910-1999) and Theresa (Hicks) Schofield (1912-2008). Raymond worked as an engineer for AP&CC.
Keith had two older sisters who also went to Trona High school, Nadeen (1939-2006), who was in the class of 1957 and Donnarae who was in the class of 1959.
We are sorry to hear of Keith’s passing and wish to express our deepest sympathies to his friends and family.
Bill Sisco was born August 25, 1932 in Los Angeles County to William and Ethel (Clark) Sisco.
While going to Trona High School he was co-captain of the varsity football team, was a member of the yearbook staff, Sok- Hop chairman and was member of the glee club and band.
He passed away on January 18, 2020. Although we received word of his death just recently we would like to send our condolences and best wishes to his family.
