Karin Benning
Hello. I decided today to try to find out about Barbara Varenhorst. What is she doing these days, I wondered? When I was in the 9th grade at Ray Lyman Wilbur Junior High in Palo Alto, I was slected to be Mrs. Varenhorst's student office helper, a job which I loved. She gave me a lot of repsonsibility, and treated me wonderfully every day. When she found out that I was moving to Los Altos after graduating from Wilbur, she insisted that she introduce me to her next door neightbor: a girl my age, named Ellen who would be my high school classmate the next year. She arranged for us to get together that summer at her house next door to Ellen's home. Ellen and I have remained best friends ever since, especially helping each other during these trying Covid times. We are now 78 years old! It is with great sadness that today I discovered that Barbara is gone from us, and I wish I had told her of my lifelong friendship with Ellen. She knew that starting all over in a new community would be taxing for a high school freshman without someone with whom I could connect. This is just another example of her personal greatness in helping so many people. Thank you for lettng me tell this story. It was because of people like her that I became a teacher and taught at a junior high in Napa CA for 37 years, hoping to make differences in the lives of young people by following her example. Karin (Rogers) Benning ([email protected])