PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY, WIFE JACKIE AND GOVERNOR JOHN CONNALLY IN CARKay Lewis was a senior in high school on November 22, 1963. She was Kay Oliver then, and she wanted to skip classes at Thomas Jefferson High School to go see President John F. Kennedy arrive in Dallas.

Her parents weren’t keen on the idea.

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Kay, now a resident of Lake Highlands, and her friend Virginia Rakow, now Ginger Camp, lobbied their parents for days.

“It was a big deal – the president was coming,” Kay remembers. “I had never seen a president live. There had been so much talk about it at school and on the television, but both sets of parents were negative about it at the beginning of the negotiations. The objection was the skipping school.”

Kay and Virginia continued their full court press.

“There were lots of phone calls back and forth. What finally tipped it for us was my mother said she had seen F.D.R. when she was younger. Until then, she hadn’t known he was crippled. She admitted it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see a president.”

“Then the school system announced that the absence would be excused if students got right back to class. Based on that, our parents said it would be okay. My dad worked at the post office and he often worked a later shift. He didn’t care anything about going, but he said he would drop us off at Kip’s Big Boy near Love Field, then pick us up when it was all over.”

“We stood at the corner of Lemmon and Inwood. There were car dealers there then like there are now. We got there early – well ahead of the motorcade. It was a beautiful, sunny day.”

“Seeing the president was a big deal. Of course, the cars were open convertibles. They drove right near the curb. I think we could have reached out and touched their car. I was awed by how absolutely beautiful Jackie was in her hot pink suit.”

“Originally, our concern was – would right-wing kooks make something ugly out of it by saying bad things or throwing tomatoes or something, but everyone was on their best behavior. We couldn’t have asked for anything better. Everyone was smiling and waving. It was a happy, festive atmosphere. That was the response they got everywhere they went, all over town.”

“After the police and everyone cleared, we went back to Kip’s and got a hamburger and shake for lunch. As we were finishing, a 10-year-old boy came in saying, ‘somebody killed the president.’ We thought, ‘why would someone let their child say that?’ We thought he was badly behaved.”

“Outside, my dad was so somber. He told us it was true. When we turned on the radio, they said the president had died. They announced that Air Force One would soon return his body to Washington.”

“At that time, I lived on Amherst near Love Field. When we got home, we went outside and saw the plane. It was the only plane taking off.”

“Of course, nobody had any clue of the horrors that would follow, such as Oswald being killed. We were off from school for Kennedy’s funeral service, and we watched on TV with another family. My parents were staunch Republicans – they didn’t like LBJ – but they were very respectful watching those services.”

“’This is our president – we show our respect.’ This had been the tone in our home before he came and after. That’s good to remember.”