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Members of the Brigham Young High School class of 1961 pose for a photo Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Provo.

Courtesy Glen Miller

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Members of the Brigham Young High School class of 1961 pose for a photo Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Provo.

Courtesy Glen Miller

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Members of the Brigham Young High School class of 1961 pose for a photo Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Provo.

Courtesy Glen Miller

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The graduating senior at Brigham Young High School who attended kindergarten together are shown in an old Daily Herald photo. From left, front row, Marie Keeler, Judy Matson and Mary Halliday; center, Glen Miller, Nick Faulkner, Maraley Redd, Sandra Jacobsen and Julie Van Wagenen; back, Alan Jolley, Nick Boshard and Roy Taylor.

Courtesy Roy Taylor

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There is a saying that every man dies twice: once when he is buried and again when the last person speaks his name. 

If the same can be said for schools, one group of former classmates is doing its part to ensure the legacy of Brigham Young High School never dies. 

The passage of time has not shaken the bond among members of the BY High School class of 1961, 17 members of which met last month to celebrate their 65th reunion. Among their ranks were another, even tighter group of six of the 11 students who began as kindergarten classmates at BY Elementary School in 1948.

“Our class has been closely knit forever,” said classmate and St. George resident Roy Taylor. “About every five years or every 10 years we’ve had a major reunion.”

They share the commonality of having attended a private school owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and located in the former Brigham Young Academy building, now the Provo City Library. They were among the school’s final classes before it closed in 1968. 

Many who were enrolled there were children of BYU professors or came from multigenerational Provo-based families that held prominence in the community. Taylor said the quality of their education was high because many of the instructors were also professors at the university. He recalls his class’s proficiency in music and debate. 

Their sports teams, however, were lower achievers. Taylor said their small football and basketball teams, which played their games at Y Stadium and the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse, respectively, often took their lumps against larger high schools such as American Fork and Pleasant Grove.

These are among the topics the former classmates reminisced about while participating in a busy reunion weekend together. The graduating class went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant, some members went bird-watching at Provo Boat Harbor, and they were given a tour of BYU’s campus in golf carts.

The formal part of the weekend came at noon that Saturday, when they reconvened in their former school building, took photos and and chatted until late in the afternoon.

“Just sitting in one of the rooms at Academy Square, and (using) a microphone, because the best way at our age to communicate is not standing up but sitting down,” Taylor said. “And reminiscing about individuals, fellow classmates, events, and just in general, getting to renew our relationships.” 

The group consists of many people who went on to accomplish notable things with their lives. Taylor recalls the details of just about everyone’s careers. He himself worked in the wholesale clothing business, where he owned a handful of stores, and is now on the board of the Sons of Utah Pioneers in St. George.

To name a few others: Douglas Wilkinson became a prominent attorney in Salt Lake City, and Paul Gilbert started a law firm in Phoenix. Carol Gerber Allred founded the Positive Action Program, a student curriculum business.

“Many of them have moved on to other parts of the country and been successful there,” he said.

The bond runs deeper, though, than just relishing their classmates’ life achievements that many have had. In the 1990s, Taylor was part of the reunion committee, in charge of finding classmates and inviting them to the reunion. One classmate could never be tracked down, no matter the effort the committee gave. 

One Sunday, Taylor went to the Utah State Prison, where he volunteered to be an advisor for prisoners doing family history. When the doors opened to reveal the inmates he would be assisting that night, there stood the former classmate that never came to the reunions.

“The only thing I could say, because I was shocked, was, ‘No wonder you’re not coming to our class reunions,” Taylor recalled. “And bless his heart, he didn’t slap me around or something.”

From there, the pair became good friends again, with Taylor sharing class updates during his visits and engaging in conversation.

“We’ve come together as a class in the most unusual places, and we’ve still been together,” he said. “We’re a slice of society. Not all of us have been good or righteous or done what we should. But we represent the core of Americans.”

The connection has continued into the 21st century, with the classmates now in their 80s. Of the 11 who started at BY Academy, seven are still alive, and six were in attendance at the last reunion: Taylor, Glen Miller, Nick Boshard, Julie Van Wagenen, Marie Keeler Blanchard and Sandra Jacobsen.

One was unable to make it, Maraley Redd, and four have since died: Alan Jolley, Nick Faulkner, Mary Halliday and Judy Matson.

Last month, when 4 p.m. arrived and it was time to end the reunion, Taylor said there were several classmates who wanted to stay longer and continue chatting at what was considered the final in-person get together. 

Future reunions have plans to continue remotely, though, and BY High School will live on. 

“Even at our age, the experience was enjoyable enough that we wanted to plan for other reunions, which I think speaks volumes,” Taylor said.