Burlingame High School – Class of 1964

Waldo Schakel passed away in May 2010 and I was struck by the impact he had on so many classmates. Below are some of the emails I received about Waldo. D

Hi guys,

I just got off the phone with Jack Gipe, and he told me that Waldo Schakel passed away last Wednesday, 5/19/10.  He was a
lifelong smoker and had been diagnosed with cancer the week before the reunion.  I didn’t see him very much recently but always considered him a friend and one of the real characters of the class of ’64.  He had incredible musical talent
and played several instruments well…the tuba was his favorite.  I will miss him and thought that you guys would like to know about our fellow former classmate.

Fred McElhany

Waldo was an absolute Original!

I have one indelible memory image from a Tahoe trip, circumstances completely forgotten, of Waldo effortlessly floating on his back, out beyond the recreational swimmers, spouting a geyser of that cold water up out of his mouth to a height that could easily be seen from shore. The companion image is in the basement of the Fiji House in Berkeley, circa 1966-67, of Waldo rolling and smoking giant joints using pages from the telephone book. Even the world-class sociopaths who were my frat brothers knew they were seeing someone who was not a “civilian” in any sense of the word. If the energy of Waldo’s spirit is joing some cosmic “One” somewhere, the whole system just got a power boost.
Hill

yep,very talented in his own way.i do believe jack f tried to break the slide steel over his head for playing all nite every nite.and when he took up the 12 string,he played it as easy as everybody else played the 6 string.i do believe hearing about him an mike pealing off from the bhs band on the football field playing “wont you come bill baley”on thier tuba and trombone to the consternation of the band leader.and pat donat’s art class wouldnt have been the same(he helped me get a C by tattooing my initials on my arm.and yes Pat put a grade on my arm.) well too bad -never gonna hear the Waldo laugh again.

Don Davis

Psychedelic Waldo!  I have told the tale many times of us stealing the memorial bell at College of Small Minds.  We were there late at night unscrewing the bolts that held the bell – and the bolts were screeching like mad.  When the bell hit the ground on the slope it started to roll down the hill and was clanging.  Waldo dove for the clanger and rolled down the hill with the bell.  We were not the most adept thieves.  Sad to hear of his passing.

Jay Gandolfi

I’ve often thought I’ve no memories as outsized or bizarre as those I have of Psychedelic Waldo (and when it comes to Bay Area characters, that’s saying something).  My favorite is the two of us taking acid in the Summer of ’68, then sitting at Gipe’s and drinking a quart of mescal between us.  He finally left around midnight on that bicycle of his and, for some reason, I went looking for him an hour later.  I featured myself a big time tracker because, even at night, I could follow his trail of barf and blood (apparently he kept crashing the bike) all the way up Burlingame Avenue to The Pink Ostrich.
When I got there the bent bike was overturned in the street.  Waldo was five feet away, face down on the curb with a gash in his head.  Apparently he’d bought himself a couple roast sandwiches, then sat down to eat them.  He passed out before he finished the second one so I did it for him, then walked up the street to my room at The Burlingame Hotel.

Fair is fair I thought . . . I’d let him eat the worm.

STEVE PARK

A couple of Waldo memories…..While at CSM we used to meet in the cafeteria in the mornings and Waldo always had a orange juice and coke mixture that was dubbed “The Waldo Grade.” After a while we were all drinking “Waldo Grades.”……In 1966 a gang of us went to the Millbrae theater and saw a movie called “What Did You Do In The War Daddy.” There are some hilarious scenes of actor Harry Morgan lost in the catacombs under the Italian city and Waldo didn’t just laugh he roared,and I mean roared. I am sure his laughter is still reverberating in that theater. Time spent with Waldo was always entertaining and a pleasure. Another reminder of what a”gift’ it was growing up in Burlingame!
Hope you all are well, EK

Gentlemen,

Yes, this is a very sad day.  Waldo truly was one of a kind.  We hadn’t seen eachother in many years, but when we did, it was just like high school was yesterday, even right down to resuming conversations that we had broken off in mid-stream!  You were right Donnie, Waldo was a musical whiz!  We played in marching band, pep band, and orchestra together! We used to ride in the band bus back from away football games and have mini jam sessions!  (I forgot how much we really enjoyed that!)  He was always at the ready for a good song, good laugh, and good fun!  He was the creator of the BHS Close Order Marching and Drill Society…we would line up, 10 of us, all within three inches of each other (in the Navy they called this formation “nuts-to-butts”) and march all the way from the Band Bldg. to the football field with Waldo as the leader.  Now that’s what I call a precision unit!  Waldo showed up to Herbie Wood’s history class one day with his head shaved and all kinds of writing on it.  My personal favorite was “cut on the dotted line.”  Plus he was always in the Top Ten on the F.F. of V. List!  Right up there with Jay, EK, and Fred.
Rest in Peace old friend…somewhere in the great beyond there’s a tuba player organizing a musical get together.  Waldo you really were special!

ANT (Mike Antosik)