From Tanya Dahlin:
I believe this was the last piece of writing my father Ray Dahlin did before his passing.
I don’t know if he was finished, but I think he was waiting for me to come home and type it up before sending it to
you. Therefore, he wrote in longhand and I wasn’t able to ask him about
the spellings of the names. Just like my dad, to tie off loose ends before he left and write this article for “The Anvil”
from Washington High School in East Chicago, Indiana.
He loved receiving his “Anvil” every month and would chuckle to himself reading
all the alumni’s personal stories; this would bring up memories he’d have to tell me right there on the spot.
Many times, he’d bring out the Washington High
School yearbook and reminisce. My sister, Dondi, and I grew up thinking Dad was
a “God” because he received a special place for his high school photo that was out of alphabetical
order because he had so many accomplishments that his listing could not fit in the normal space. He loved his time at Washington High School. He later went on to San Diego State University and became
still ever popular and involved with school activities.
What do you when you love school so much as he did?
You become a College professor. Following in his footsteps of his high
school achievements, Dad went on to win many National awards with his own Speech/ Debate teams from Palomar College in San
Diego and was also the head of the Theatre/Dance/ Speech department. Later, he
convinced both of his own daughters to compete on his team and they went on to become National Speech Champions, as well.
We have never regretted it and still use what he taught us today.
-Titanya Dahlin (daughter)
Raymond Dahlin * Class of 1949
Written by Ray Dahlin, a week before his passing, for
submission to The Anvil, his high school newsletter that he continued to read throughout his life.
Arguably no student ever enjoyed Washington High School as much as I did. So much that I stayed on to be a June graduate rather than graduating mid-term.
Besides, I was student body president (student manager) for both my junior and senior years
and I felt that I had to accomplish many projects I began during my first year as student manager.
Being from Calumet, I went to Garfield school until I came to Washington as a freshman. I was in awe and overwhelmed by the idea that I was going to a school, which graduated
many of my athletic heroes, including Vince Boryla, Art Murakowski, and Alex Sarkisian, et al.
I soon became involved in every activity I could and tried to attend as a supporter at every
athletic event scheduled regardless of the sport, including swimming and wrestling.
Since my brother, Charles and my sister, Doris (Hojcus) were state speech champions, I quickly became heavily involved
in heavy-duty speech activities which I am sure lead to my success throughout my lifetime.
As a freshman on the speech team, I admired Fred Corbin, Warren Wiershe and Lillian Stevens. I thought they were the most intelligent students I ever knew. Our coaches were Sam Geddes, Bernard Hurst and John Souter.
In 1948 at the state speech championships held at Indiana University, myself, Lloyd Levin,
Irene Vano and Dan Gawrorski were undefeated in debate. However, it was a double-elimination
and our archrival Hammond High had only one defeat. This means even if we lost
we would meet again because both schools would still now have only one loss. Because
it was late in the evening after three days of competing, and because we were sure we would win, we opted to debate only once. We lost to Hammond High. They won a four-feet
trophy while we got red ribbons.
In 1948, at a tournament at Indiana State University high school invitational, I became fast
friends with James Dean. For two years, we were inseparable at tournaments. He told me that he was “going to make it” in Hollywood. How right he was?
My other major defeat in high school was when I lost for Governor of Boy’s State. After
winning the nomination on the sixth ballot, I lost the election. Had I won, I
would have been Governor of Indiana for one day!
