Almost a century later, they still share school memories at Maryhill Manor Nursing Home in Niagara.

The 98-year-old Rhodes and the 99-year-old Banks — along with Drucilla “Dru” (Eckelaert) Meidl, 99, now of Fort Myers, Fla. — are the last surviving members of the Niagara High School Class of 1940.

The pair at Maryhill Manor recently marked their 80th class reunion.

Banks told the story of how she came home from kindergarten and announced to her mother about the cute boy dressed in a white shirt and bow tie who was always nice to her. That was Fred Rhodes.

FREDERICK RHODES

Banks’ son, Bryan, attributes his mother remembering Rhodes’ attire because she sent him to school dressed the same way for his first two years.

“It was fascinating to hear their stories,” said Nancy Reece, pastoral care director.

Rhodes’s daughter, Pam Vross, was instrumental in getting the event organized at the facility. The chapel was decorated in purple and white balloons, along with a display of reunion and graduation pictures and posters of the trio that included class photos and short biographies. A complete list of the class members was available as well.

They were presented with purple fleece tie blankets embroidered with NHS 1940-2020, a 1940 50 cent silver piece and Niagara Badgers key chain from Vross.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions still in place, only staff members and residents were able to stop by to congratulate them and share cake and punch.

ANNABELLE (BIRR) BANKS

A special guest at the party was Rhodes’ younger sister, Marilyn Allen, also a Maryhill resident.

Vross said they were able to talk to Meidl, who still lives alone, by telephone before the party.

“They enjoyed being able to chat to one another,” Vross said.

Vross also provided Rhodes’ yearbook for the party.

“It was neat to read Annabelle’s note to Fred wishing him ‘good luck’ in the service,” Reece said.

Reece credits Vross for making the celebration possible. “We really appreciate everything she did, including making the beautiful blankets for them,” she said.

Rhodes and Banks both have been Maryhill residents for about seven years.

Rhodes was born in Medford, Wis., to Lester and Maude Rhodes and had two older brothers, Stanley and Roland, along with his younger sister, Marilyn.

“He recognizes his ‘mum’ as an angel,” daughter Vross said.

Rhodes remembers how he would run back home after his older brother would drop him off at school and the principal would have to send his brother to bring him back.

He had great friends growing up — including lifetime friends and classmates Dave Higgins and Gerald Strouf.

He would tell a story about the night he and his friends had a few beers and decided to go to his house because they got hungry, where they cooked one of the chickens over a campfire. It didn’t seem so bad until the next morning, when they discovered they had picked a chicken — or maybe it was a goose — his father had trained to follow him when he played his harmonica. “We got in big trouble,” he would say.

After school, Rhodes worked at the Niagara Mill with his two brothers, who had returned from the Navy. When the war broke out, his brothers re-enlisted and the next January, at age 20, he joined the Navy as well. He was in the invasion of Normandy in 1944 — code name Neptune, noted as the largest seaborne invasion in the history. Rhodes made numerous trips between South Hampton, England and Normandy, delivering troops and transporting the prisoners. During one of those trips, he met a German soldier that swore he was from Rhinelander, Wis., who was forced into the German Army after a visit there. He gave Rhodes a compass he has to this day.

He married Carmen Farrington in 1947, and they had three children, Vross, David Rhodes of Utah and Michelene Kaster of Wisconsin.

“He is a man who loves his God, country and family,” Vross said. His son served in the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam and his grandson in Iraq.

He was able to participate in the Wisconsin Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., which had a tremendous impact on him, she noted. He also was invited to the state Capitol in Madison for the 70th anniversary of Normandy.

Rhodes loved fishing, hunting and raised beef cattle at his 180-acre “hobby farm.” He was Niagara village trustee for 18 years.

After he and his wife retired, they enjoyed traveling and wintering in Arizona during and spending summers at their lake property in Wisconsin.

“He taught his family faith, love, kind and forgiveness,” Vross said. “His love is huge.”

Banks says her life was “normal” for the times. She had a group of friends that would gather, usually at her house because her mom would make them treats and desserts.

After high school, she went to work as a bank teller in Niagara. She loved that job so much she declined a job offer at the mill, she said.

She recalls how she and friends would get dressed up and ride the “Chippewa” train to Chicago to see Broadway shows.

After marrying Darrold Banks in 1949, she gave up her bank job to be a homemaker. “Dad told her we got married to be together,” said her son, Bryan. He said the bank also offered her a promotion and a huge raise, but no meant no.

She, along with bank co-workers Jane Antonissen and Louise Hohol, got together for a “long” evening of eating and visiting until 2009. The tradition started when they all worked at the bank more than 60 years earlier.

After her son Bryan was born, it was her next chapter as “normal” life but centered around him.

“Dad worked at the mill, mom was always there when I came home,” he said. “The kitchen was her favorite place — excelling in baking of all kinds, especially cookies and candy to be distributed at Christmas time.”

Buying 25 pounds of flour at a time was normal, he added, because she was always baking homemade bread.

After retiring in 1978, they spent three winters in Florida. “They were both much happier in Niagara,” Bryan said.

Darrold Banks died in 2015 at the age of 100.

For the majority of Dru (Eckelaert) Meidl years growing up, she lived across the street from the school. She recalls having fun on the snowbanks on the way to school and ice skating on the river.

Meidl says her parents were very strict, so she was never allowed to go to “spin the bottle” parties or the bars.

“I didn’t do much in high school, but I did take dance and piano lessons,” she said.

After high school, she attended Oshkosh Teacher’s College and graduated with a degree in education. She married Norman Meidl during the war and they had two children — a son, Jim of Atlanta, and a daughter, Ann of Knoxville, Tenn. She also has three grandsons and four great-grandchildren, all living in Knoxville. Norm Meidl died five years ago, after 70 years of marriage.

After her children reached school age, she started teaching kindergarten at Franklin Elementary School, where stayed for 20 years.

After retiring, the couple wintered at Six Lakes Country Club in Fort Myers, Fla., where she still lives. In Florida, she golfed, performed with the tap dancing group, played in the ukulele band, sang in the choir, played bridge and attending aerobic swimming class.

Until the pandemic, Meidl was volunteering at All Souls Episcopal Church Thrift Store every Saturday morning.

“I have had a good life,” Meidl said.

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