Nathaniel Hummel

Our classmates, Nathaniel “Nat” Hummell passed away on March 16, 2020. I didn’t know Nat Hummel very well in high school but we did proudly share membership in the Class of 1961. We lived on different sides of our small town of South Pasadena and participated in different activities. In addition, Nat was in the top classes. In the last ten years we got to know each other much better thanks to Face Book and the South Pasadena High School Alumni Association.

For our 55 year reunion in 2016  I had talked Nat into taking the train from his home in Oceanside to our house to then drive up to South Pasadena from Irvine. But Nat called me the day before and said, “Send me some photos, I don’t travel well anymore.” I had told a few people he was coming and they were disappointed, Nat was well liked. We shared a love of family and he spoke several times about his late wife Rita who passed away in 2016.

“My wife passed away in April of this year. Had she lived just 3 months longer we would have been married 40 years.”

He always asked about my family and had some wry comments about some short reminiscences I posted on Face Book from time to time.

I’d like to share few notes from his SPHSAA page. Nat wrote,

“I worked as an indentured servant in my father's auto parts store until I was 25. When I snuck out the unlocked door of my cage :-), I then joined New York Life Insurance. Later I became an independent financial advisor. In 1971 I started my studies to become both (each a 5-yr course of study) a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and a Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC). I then focused on helping both individuals and business owners make smarter choices with their money.”

I loved his charming memory of South Pasadena from a well-remembered past.

“My parents purchased a home (up in the hills) in the early 1940's on Oak Crest Ave. around the time my older sister, Elizabeth, was born in 1941. At that time a lot of the "land" was undeveloped and I grew up hearing the sound of saws and hammers as people were buying lots and building houses. One of my favorite memories was hiking over to "Elephant Hill" which was undeveloped until the 1960's. Every year a shepherd would bring a herd of sheep to graze on the grass (which helped keeping fires down when the grass would otherwise turn brown...). It was nice to see all the "white" of the sheep on the Monterrey Hills at that time of year. Once my older sister (Elizabeth '59) and I hiked up to visit the shepherd. He was a Basque with his herd dogs. We brought him a sandwich, which he gratefully accepted. He pointed out that when we walked up the hill that we had walked through the herd and separated it into 2 herds and next time we should walk around the herd…. but he was very polite about it. We enjoyed our visit and hiked back down the hill, then up some streets to go back home. For some reason... that memory still sticks in my brain and I can recall his face and voice and the sheep and all.

Then, in the early 60's or so the whole "Elephant Hill" was developed into the "Altos de Monterrey" if I recall the name, and large (for that time) homes were built... and no more sheep and no more shepherd.”

“Funny the type of stuff you remember, and the stuff you forget, over the years, n'est-ce pas?, like this from one year of French in my senior year while I was studying 4th year Spanish What was I thinking!!... (Posible, no estuve pensando...)

We were often told that our South Pasadena school system was special and that we were privileged to study here. I have fond memories of Lincoln Elementary School, and also of both junior high and high school.

I don't think you can separate our school memories from our memories of living in South Pasadena... I believe they are inexorably linked. I think that South Pasadena, when we lived there in the 50's and beyond, had that small town atmosphere of small stores, e.g. The Toggery for clothes, Les Balk Hardware, and many others with names I have forgotten. All, in all, I can't think of a better town in which we could have grown up. Not poor, yet not rich. Not too intellectual, yet "smart enough." Perhaps analogous to Goldilocks's "not too hot, not too cold observation."

From classmate Felix Gutierrez, “Nat helped me learn Spanish and we exchanged bilingual messages over the years.
Hasta la vista Nat, mi amigo para siempre.
iVaya Con Dios!”

Soft and safe to thee, oh child of God.

Well, here's kind of an interesting vinette that I thought  any former student of "Senorita Burr" might enjoy. I had "discovered" the original, small, Acapulco restaurant in East Pasadena around 1959 or so.By the early to mid 70's the owner, Ray Marshall, had first expanded his small restaurant 3 times or so, and then purchased more locations, establishing a string of Acapulcos. (OK, I'm actually getting to Helen Burr (or Burrrrrrrrrr as she demanded we roll our 'rs when we said her name.") She was a strict teacher and a kinda crabby person at times. In January of 1975 he asked me to come aboard as a manager trainee, and within 2 months I was managing his Pasadena restaurant and honing my Spansh skills. One afternoon who walks into the restaurant, with 2 Latina women guests, apparently visiting the U.S., but Ms. Burrrrr.  Her mouth almost dropped when she saw me and physically cowered at the table when I came over. Loss of control anxiety and crabiness-guilt, I guess.  Anyway I started speaking in Spanish to her and her Latina guests, fluently and frankly with a better accent that she ever had. She appeared deadly afraid I was going to embarass her in front of her Latina guests by mentioning her temper or strictness or whatever. Instead I was pleasant and told her guests, in Spanish of course, how well she taught her students and that I owed my ability to speak Spanish to her. Oh, and I made a point of going back to their table a time or two more to "make sure all was well with the food and service. Each time she bodily cringed. I had the ability to "comp" someone if I wanted and I made a point of telling them that there was no charge as I was thanking "Senorita Burr" for her excellent teaching. Thus, this also short-circuited her ability to take credit for hosting their meal. As her guests left I thanked them, and they thanked me for the meal... kinda instead of Miss Burrrrr.

This was the only time I "ran into" Ms. Burrrrr.  (Oh, and I just had to add all those extra rrrrr's.)  :-)

I'm sorry to hear of her passing. I remember that now only was she physically beautiful but also sharp, smart and you just knew she would do well in life. As all of us Class of '61" who are in our middle 70's, are at that "Last Part" of our lives.

As I like to say when people ask how I am (I borrowed this from someone a long time ago and can't remember who it was...) I say, "I'm still upright and taking solid food... and everything else is pretty much secondary."

Nat, still upright and taking solid food... (at least while I'm typing this).

Jeanne, sorry to hear about your sister. I don't think I met her, yet I know how close sisters can be. I see she was born on April 3... same month and day as mine.

Again, sorry for your grief. Hope you feel better soon. :)

To this day I remember Professor Gruhn. You could tell he loved chemistry. He would have us do some test or procedure and then get more excited that we students. Again, his love for chemistry. He made it seem alive and well worth studying. I don't think I got a very good grade... and my "project" for the year was pitiful. However, all that won't diminish my respect for "professor" Gruhn. I'm sure God will be putting you to some great use in with some type of supernatural chemistry. :)

Respectfully, Nathaniel, not a particularly good student, but definitely a fan of Professor Gruhn. :)

Jim, what a nice way to remember Todd. Nice pictures, nice memories, nice rememberance.

As an aside... I noted your rememberance of Ms. Vesco. She was tough, but fair, and IMO a very good educator, and one who didn't countenance any 'tomfoolery" in her class, to say the least. It's interesting how some people and teachers are almost indelibly etched into our memories... and others we struggle to even remember them, let alone their names. However, I do defintely remember you and Todd and Ms. Vesco (Just can't remember if it was Miss or Mrs., :)  Again, thanks for the pictures and for taking the time to post Felix's rememberance along with yours.

Nathaniel Hummel (or just plain Nat... I don't stand on much formality these days..)

Chuck was more than an excellent orthopedic surgeon... he was also a caring and amazing person. In the 1990's my wife was having increasing back pain. She went to someone in Pasadena who was, supposedly, a leading orthopedic surgeon. He did a cat scan and said her back looked fine and that "you'll never have to have surgery." Yet her pain kept increasing and we kept trying "everything" to no effect. Finally her physical therapist referred her to Chuck Prickett. Then, we thought, "why didn't we think of him first."  He examined her, asked some pointed questions, and said, "I think I know what your problem is... I need to take 3 x-rays." He immediately, and properly, diagnosed her condition. He was just that good a doctor.

On a more personal note, following one of her surgeries I was hanging out at her hospital room and saw him at the records area at the nursing station. Not wanting to appear too familiar I went up to him and addressed him as "Dr. Prickett." He pulled me aside and said, Nat, please just call me Chuck."  He just wasn't into anything that separated himself from his patients.

At his funeral, which completely filled a large church, perhaps one eulogy told just what kind of guy he was. A woman, who lived in Pasadena, and needed surgery, said she couldn't go ahead with it because she had to be at the hospital at something like 5AM to check in for an early surgery.... and the busses didn't run that early. Chuck gave her a ride so she could go ahead with her surgery, even though it meant getting up even earlier than he otherwise would have. That was his character and committment to medicine.

One last observation... after he did his residency at USC Keck/County, I noticed he did a fellowship at some hospital in England. I thought, "Oh, poor Chuck wasn't able to get one here in the USA and he had to go to England. I later found out that this fellowship was considered a terrific honor and reserved for those few residents who shined above the rest. Again, he was that good, but so humble and down to earth that you'd never know it unless you looked.

In a nutshell, he was tremendously committed to medicine, his patients and his friends... which were and are many.