On a hot Milwaukee night in July, Lutheran High School's eighty-plus graduating class and onlooking families assembled in the gymnasium of the old school at 12th and Vine. But there was nothing typical about this commencement. The year was 1943 and the world was at war. Young men from the senior class were fighting abroad; one had already been killed. Several more would leave to fight shortly after graduation.

Tears flowed that night as seniors led the audience slowly through the hymn they had chosen for graduation, Be Still My Soul:

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

That year following graduation, 1944, the dozen or so closest female friends of Gerry (Small) Burkee were already either married or engaged. Drawn together by war, love, shared apprehension and shared faith, Gerry, Bernice, Lee, Shirley and others began meeting in each others' homes at least once each month for dinner and fellowship-the "Lutheran High School Girls' Club." They played, talked, laughed, prayed, cried and ate, usually something simple (wartime rationing). Often times in '44 and '45 their mothers would make the meals for them (all had jobs right out of high school).

The war ended in 1945, but the LHS Girls' Club stuck together. By the end of 1946 all were married, and soon most had young children in tow. But still they continued to faithfully meet. None had cars, so often they found themselves riding Milwaukee's Inter-Urban streetcar to suburban Waukesha or elsewhere, sometimes returning home only in the dark morning hours.

All of their husbands had survived the war, but tragedy still struck the Girls' Club soon after when Helena Wehmeier died suddenly from a heart condition shortly after hosting her friends for dinner. After Helena's death the girls decided to open the group to other female classmates. Doris (Kaemmerling) Zick joined soon thereafter, and others followed in subsequent years. Shirley (Pfeffer) Resnick stopped coming for several years in the 1970's and '80's, but rejoined, finding comfort and support following her husband's death in 1989. Since 1993, the group has hosted an annual picnic for all surviving members of the LHS class of 1943.

On July 25, 2004 with the United States again at war, the LHS Girls' Club celebrated its 61 anniversary. Twelve still attend, including Lee (Hoppe) Vollmer-a Girls' Club original who recently suffered a stroke and is now escorted to the monthly dinner by Gerry Burkee-and four husbands who accompany wives no longer comfortable driving at night. What has kept them together all these decades, declares Doris Zick, is their common faith in Jesus Christ, love for one another and enjoyment of each other's company. Lorraine Rosenberg remembers, "Well, that was one of the reasons my parents sent me to Lutheran High School in the first place. The friendships you build are strong and lasting!"