Forty years have passed since Gale Pipe, Mike Rasmussen and Larry DeGusseme walked out the doors of Centennial secondary for the last time as students.
But it does not take long for the memories to come flooding back as the three stroll around the old hangouts and share memories of their time at the school.
And with the original building slated for demolition in the next few months, this year’s class of 1976 reunion, which will take place on Sept. 24, has taken on a special significance.
“It is a bit sad for me,” said Pipe, the organizer of the event. “I am sentimental about stuff like that.”
DeGusseme, the class of ’76 valedictorian, has a more pragmatic view, noting the educational needs of the school have changed along with building seismic standards.
Still, he said it will take a while to get use to not seeing the old school standing anymore.
“We have been driving by for 40 years,” he said. “When it is gone, the visual memories will be wiped away. That will be the most obvious impact. We will have to rely on memories and photographs.”
DeGusseme attended the former Hillcrest elementary and Dr. Charles Best junior secondary before making his way to Centennial for Grades 11 and 12. He was a diligent student, noting that at the time he was in school, it had some of the best teachers and science facilities in the province. The knowledge he garnered in his two years at Centennial, he said, helped him on his way to Simon Fraser University and BCIT and in his career as an occupational health and safety advisor.
“Academically, it was a great school,” he said. “It had lots of resources. We had the shops. We had the technical academia side. It had a wonderful staff.”
While DeGusseme was focused on academics, Rasmussen said his fondest memories revolve around friendships he made during his time at Centennial.
The school’s class of ’76 had 800 students and was the largest in British Columbia until that point, meaning there were lots of opportunities to make new friends. The scraggly-haired teen was popular enough to be voted minister of finance in his student government, a role he enjoyed in his final year at the school.
“The social side, for me, was more enjoyable than the academic side,” Rasmussen said, shooting the same grin displayed in his yearbook photo.
After graduating, he got into the real estate business and has had a front-row seat to the changes taking place in Coquitlam and the Tri-Cities over the last four decades.
“When I got into real estate, Safeway [on Barnet Highway] was a campground,” said Rasmussen, who attended Vanier elementary and Montgomery junior before coming to Centennial. “People use to go down there to get away from the traffic… This area and Ranch Park — that was all the new area.”
He added that the building does not hold much sentimental value to him, noting the memories and friendships are what he takes away from his high school experience.
While two years is not a long time over the course of a person’s life, Pipe, DeGusseme and Rasmussen all said that Grades 11 and 12 at Centennial helped shape the lives they would go on to lead.
“It was a big two years,” said Pipe.
REUNION INFO
• Centennial class of 1976 graduates looking for more information about the upcoming reunion should call Gale Pipe at 604-936-6855.
@gmckennaTC
