I Discovered my Favorite Teacher was my Cousin

In 1957 I attended fifth grade at E E Morrison School in Great Bend, Kansas. In the mornings,  the teacher of our class was Pearl Dodd, the Principal of the school. Right after lunch, Elinor Brining Haneke arrived and taught us through the afternoon. In 1958 when I was in the sixth grade, a new principal, Leo Lake, taught us in the mornings, and again Elinor Haneke taught us in the afternoons. My mother proudly told us that she attended high school with Elinor. I thought that was special. But it was Mrs. Haneke's personality that endeared me to her. I loved her! A couple of friends and I would get back to school before the 1:00 bell rang and watch for Mrs. Haneke to arrive. When she got out of her car, we'd run to her and walk her into the building. I adored Mrs. Haneke. I studied her demeanor, what she wore, how she graded papers, her personality. I've always remembered her November 13th birthday. 

This is a picture of our 6th grade class. I'm standing in the 2nd row, 4th from the right. 

 

 Leo Lake and Elinor Haneke plan the lessons for the day.

Today I was reviewing my genealogy database and noticed the Brining name as part of a descendancy chart of my relatives. I quickly searched for more information in Family Search and discovered what's shown in this chart.

You can see that Elinor Louise Brining, wife of Ralph Haneke is the 7th cousin of my mother, Ruby Flanders. So my beloved teacher, Mrs. Haneke, was my 7th cousin, once removed. Discoveries like this are meaningful to me. Yes, I'm a woman who's very easily impressed. I'd give anything if I could tell my mom that I'm actually related to her high school classmate, and my favorite teacher!