What do you remember about the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas?
In a retrospective posted on crainsdetroit.com this week, Crain's Detroit Business Editor-in-Chief Keith Crain recalled being on an airplane from Denver to Chicago on Nov. 22, 1963, when a pilot announced over the intercom that the president had been assassinated.
"We were in the clouds for two hours without any news, just speculation on the part of the passengers," Crain wrote.
Crain's publisher remembers the rumbling printing presses
Mary Kramer, publisher of Crain's Detroit Business, shares this recollection of the day:
"Only two things really stand out in my memory of Nov. 22, 1963.
"First image: A teacher in my school had come to my fifth-grade classroom in Grand Rapids murmuring 'My God, they've shot our president.'
"Now, who 'they' was – that is what struck me most. Of course, I was concerned that the handsome president – cuter to this fifth-grade mind than Richard Nixon – was shot and, later we learned, killed. But like a lot of kids of that era, I went to bed at night wondering if nuclear war would come while I was asleep. That may sound crazy now, but to a fifth-grader at the time, well, not so much. Remember the Cuban missile crisis? The Bay of Pigs? My first guess at "they" were communists Russian or Cuban.
"Oddly, school was not canceled. No 'grief counselors' descended. My parents both worked and I had swimming lessons at the downtown YWCA, so I took the bus, as usual, but those lessons were canceled. I am not sure how I got home that night; I think one of my parents picked me up.
"But before that happened, I watched and listened to the rumbling printing presses in the old Grand Rapids Press building next door to the Y. That is my second vivid memory. The newspaper was printing 'extra' editions and someone was selling them on the corner of Fulton Street and Sheldon Avenue.
"I would like to say that is when the journalism bug hit me, but that wasn't the case. That came later."
'We all saw Kennedy as leader of the free world'
Errol Soskolne, M.D., chief medical information officer and past chair of pediatrics for St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor:
"I was in South Africa at the time in high school. I remember we were in class and the announcement came over the loudspeaker and everybody was absolutely shocked. We respected him and all saw Kennedy as the leader of the free world.
"We had apartheid in South Africa at that time and we were hoping in that role he could put pressure from the free world to help drive out apartheid. It was personal and a huge loss for the U.S., but also a huge loss for the world and devastating for us."
'5 state police cars came roaring by'
Fred Hubacker, managing director at Birmingham-based advisory firm Conway Mackenzie Inc.:
"I was a student at Michigan State at the time. I remember the day well.
"I was doing laundry at a laundromat across the street from my fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi. A man ran through the door and said the president's been shot. I figured he was a nut. I didn't think much of it.
"A minute later, five state police cars came roaring by, on their way to the Capitol building I'm guessing. At that point, I figured something was going on, so I ran across the street and turned on the TV and saw what had happened. I'll never forget it."
Second-grader didn't understand finality of it all
Melonie Colaianne, president of MASCO Corp. Foundation:
"I'll never forget the day JFK was assassinated. I was sitting at a small metal desk in my second-grade classroom when the wall speaker came to life with xylophone tones announcing an interruption of our lessons by the principal.
"The principal could barely get the words out that the president had been shot; I don't recall hearing at that point that JFK had actually died. We were sent home.
"The black and white television blared the news as my parents, sister and 3-week-old brother sat quietly – very quietly – while the anchormen took over the airwaves. It was the first time I ever saw my father cry. At 7 years old, I remember being glued to the television for days thereafter, not quite understanding the implications or finality of it all.
"That was the day America changed forever."
Shook hands with Kennedy in Detroit
Bill Roberts, recently retired longtime mayor of Walled Lake:
"I was born in Boston, but grew up in Michigan, and so I thought the Kennedys were really great. In 1960, I campaigned door-to-door for John when he was running for president.
"When the assassination happened, I was in English class and it was a real shocker. I remember it like it happened yesterday. I had actually shaken hands with him when he was giving a speech at Cobo Hall – I followed him outside after it was over and shook hands with him as he was getting into the car."
'Everyone was in a state of shock'
Maud Lyon, executive director of CultureSource, the association representing local nonprofit arts and cultural groups:
"I was in fourth grade, and they announced that the president was shot on the school loudspeaker. They let out school early because everyone was in a state of shock, and I ran home to tell my mother, trying to beat my sister to be the first with the news. So I burst in through the front door shouting, 'Mom, the president's been shot!'
"Of course, my mother already knew and had the TV on. We were glued to it through the announcement of his death and then the days that followed, with the funeral."
'Everyone was clustered around the TV'
Fred Whitehouse, M.D., division head emeritus, endocrinology, diabetes and bone mineral metabolism division, Henry Ford Hospital:
"It so happened that Iris and I were at the annual AMA autumn meeting (not held anymore) where I presented an exhibit on the diabetic foot with Bill Lowrie in New Orleans. Iris and I were driving back via Meridian, Miss., toward Nashville and noted flags at half-mast. Wondered why. The day was beautiful.
"We stopped in a little restaurant in a small Mississippi town. We noted everyone was clustered around the TV, and then they told us of the assassination of JFK. We felt terrible.
"We stopped for the night just south of Nashville (in a town that was the home of President James K. Polk) and watched TV until after midnight. It was a bleak day and a bleak time."
First memory of a national tragedy
Lorna Utley, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit:
"I remember vividly. I was in fourth grade on the playground during recess. A first-grader came running up to a group of us saying the president had been shot. Being a worldly fourth-grader, I said that was Lincoln.
"I returned to the classroom and our substitute teacher was standing at the front of the classroom crying. We were dismissed shortly after that and I walked home. My mother sat crying in front of the TV. It is my first memory of a national tragedy."