The Purple Hat Gang

It was April 2nd, 1961…the day before my thirteenth birthday and exactly sixty-eight days before Eighth Grade graduation. President Kennedy was in the White House, a pack of smokes cost twenty cents, and I was one-fifth of the tightest group of girlfriends Henry R. Edmunds Elementary School had ever seen.

We called ourselves The Purple Hat Gang.

Were we a real gang?

Not hardly.

But, we did wear hats…you know, those loosely knitted kind that you just pull over your head, like sailors always wear - only these were purple - a beautiful, bright and regal purple. We also wore black and white saddle oxfords on our feet. No one but the Catholic School girls ever wore saddle oxfords and they absolutely hated the ‘ugly things.’ But the five of us were different - spirited and feisty - what decades later would  be termed ‘in-your-face’ personalities, so, the symbolism of the black and white shoe style more than suited us. We didn’t care what the Catholic kids said.

So, just who were these five young ladies who had shared every school day in the same classes from Kindergarten through Grade - who spent more time together than they did with their own siblings?

Let me tell you…

Kate Turnbull:  Katie lived in a tiny rowhome with her mother and younger sister, Krissy. Kate was a straight ‘A’ student, a great-looking kid, quick-witted and very sweet. She was the first one of us to get a hickey. I was almost envious.

            Dee Ann Stockton: Dee Ann was a very pretty blonde. She was also intelligent, goodhearted and charming - a genuinely happy kid, with a laugh that was contagious. Dee came from a really wonderful family…and it showed.

Myra Greenman: Her father was a wealthy businessman in Center City, Philadelphia. Her mother passed away when she was only three, leaving Myra to be raised in the care of her maternal grandmother, “Bubby.” Myra was a bookworm, an absolute whiz-kid - a sweet, fiery redhead who always had a quiet answer for everything.

Mary Ellen O’Brien:  The fifth child out of a dozen, Mary Ellen was a born peacemaker. She was smart, funny, cuddly and sensible. She had sandy-brown hair and these great big blue eyes that never ceased to sparkle. Her two front teeth protruded just a bit and she continually sucked her tongue over them hoping it would eventually straighten them out. It didn’t.

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