Troy Wernette

July 17th 1951 - June 6th 1967

 Baker ... Tom Browne ... Carroll

Mrs. Wernette now lives on a ranch outside of Hondo TX ... Joanie, a '65 Carroll grad and Blake are also in the Hondo/Quihi area.  Starr lives in San Antonio ...

Troy's favorite class & favorite teacher ... Here he sits with his legs crossed ... sporting a madras shirt ... white Levi's ... bobbie socks ... and penny loafers ... He dreamed of being an artist and talked about it frequently ...

... Troy was "in love" with Marsha but she never knew it ...

as confident around girls as he was, Marsha "had his number" 

1975 ... Terry Standard '69     Jody Jenkins '71

Terry was Troy's best friend for many years ...

Troy's favorite song was "The Wanderer" by Dion & The Belmonts

Troy spent his younger years growing up on Mistletoe St. by the Collier Park pool and spent his nites chasing foul balls at Price Field Softball Complex near Weber Rd. and Gollihar.  He was good at it. You could either get a dime or a snow cone for a retrieved ball. Troy always took the dime ...

The Wernettes then moved to Panama St., one block south of Mary Carroll High School in '65 ... Early during his sophomore year at Carroll while smoking between classes in the boys restroom, a barrel chested bully from the senior class with a disdain for sophomores was shoving his way through the entrance to the restroom. While the rest of the sophomores immediately moved out of the way of this grown man who already had facial hair, Troy didn't. When the bully went to shove Troy a second time to make sure that he understood the rules, Troy took him to the ground in a headlock and never let go until the bell rang. The bully never came back into that restroom for the rest of the year ... Those who spent the night at Troy's on a Saturday nite were treated to a ride around the neighborhood in his parents second car, a '55 Chevy 2 door 3 speed on the column. But only after his parents had gone to bed. Troy would push in the clutch and steer while his guest would quietly push the car out the drive-way. Come morning, his guests WERE REQUIRED to attend church services  (as per Mrs. Wernette) at Southcrest Baptist Church  at the corner of McArdle & Carroll Lane.  The preacher there, Brother Buddy Murphrey,  had 4 kids that all ended up at Carroll.  Johnny ... Tommy ... Helen ... & Timmy ...    Mildred (Troy's Mom) had a sweet spirit and always had a roast in the oven ready to eat when the services were over. Afterwards, Troy, too young for a drivers license, and his guest would hitch-hike to the beach. He was a "professional hitch-hiker," always wearing his sleeveless unbuttoned white Levi jacket with no shirt underneath. Troy had a patent on  how to look cool while doing it. Marlboro cigarettes were expensive, 35 cents per pack, but Troy always shared with his friends. The outline of a chromed "Zippo" lighter could always be seen in his right front Levi's pocket. Underneath his "James Dean" demeanor was a very soft hearted guy ...  When Troy died, in memory of him, a lot of his friends would continue to attend the church services and sit with the Wernette family. Among them were the Jenkins brothers, Frank '69 & Jody '71 ... the Hunt brothers, Eddie '69 & Mike '71,  and the Luxton brothers, Donnie '69 & Larry '71  along with Brian Wolfe '71 ...