Roomie Reunion

Carol Stonecipher picked up the Sun Day paper and started reading an article featuring a sidewalk chalk artist. She recognized a name in the article, Mary Kay Prindiville. Stonecipher said, “I had a college roommate by that last name.” She looked in the directory, called the number, and found out it was her college roommate’s sister.

Stonecipher said, “I found Mary Kay in the directory and found out my college roommate Kris lived in Sun City, too. I shot Kris an email, ‘HEY ROOMIE’.”

Kris Ash said, “I was surprised to hear that she lived here in Sun City. We were college roommates in an East Neptune Dorm rooms at DeKalb. At that time the dorms were all girls. We had a 10:30 curfew Monday through Friday. But the boys did not have a curfew.”

Stonecipher decided to try to find their third roommate, Diana Swanson Cornelissen.

“I knew that Diana and her husband owned a restaurant in Elgin. It was famous for the fish fry. Many Sun City residents probably went there. It was called ‘Our Place.’ I was at a car dealership getting my car repaired in Elgin and the mechanic had lived his whole life in Elgin. I asked if he happened to know Diana. He was able to connect me with his cousin who had Diana’s number.”

Cornelissen said, “I was first upset that my phone number was given out.”

“Her phone message gave me a laugh. Her message asked the caller, what is your purpose? Leave your name and number and I might get back to you,” Stonecipher said.

Cornelissen said, “I couldn’t believe that both roommates lived in Huntley. That’s where I grew up. At that time, the population was 300 and we had 9 bars.”

Stonecipher said, “Diana was Huntley High School Prom Queen.”

The three decided to get together to reminisce and catch up on their lives. Cornelissen had kept a photo album of their college days.

They had not seen each other for 35 years, but the conversation did not stop between the three women who had a reunion at Brunch Cafe.

Cornelissen said, “We were going to make an effort to get back together every month, but we all got busy with life and it never happened. But this time we are going to make that commitment.”

Kids and grandkids kept the three busy. Kris Ash and her husband, Bob, have four kids and five grandkids, Carol Cornelissen, and her husband Jim have two kids and four grandkids. Diana Cornelissen has a blended family of four kids and three grandkids with her husband, Ken.

What are some of their memories from the college days?

Stonecipher said, “We had another roommate that took German. And she would set the alarm for 3 a.m. to get and study German. The alarm would wake all of us except her.”

Ash said, “We packed a lot of fun in those years. Once I came back into the room and found that all my sheets, bedding, and clothes were gone.”

Cornelissen said, “I remember dressing up as a cowboy once and I had used cold cream to hold some broken up crumbs from a cigar. It looked like a beard.”

Stonecipher had a photo that held that memory. The wild days of yesteryear may not all be captured in photographs, but the memories and laughter keep them alive.

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