How to find school mates from years (decades) ago when you haven't kept in touch? *** UPDATE WED EVENING ***(1st post)

[sheryl]

I'm a native Buckeye - born and raised in Ohio.   Dh and I have "kept" and stored some of our childhood memorabilia.  Wow!  My parents, and probably mostly my  Mom, kept some childhood treasures.  I don't remember, but I guess I packed it up after I got married and I was moving to WI with my husband!   That was decades ago.   And, after my Mom passed away, my Dad never remarried and I received back some of my stuff.   (I posted recently about what "stuff" to keep and toss out, etc in another post).  

Well, I'm going through those boxes that were in the attic.  DD has been regularly bringing down boxes and I go through them.  It is emotionally bittersweet and time consuming as I read each letter and card  (actually re-read although it seems like it's the first time b/c it was originally read so long ago) that was kept.  A letter to 10 year old Sheryl from my Aunt.  A letter from my sister.  A post card from my Dad when he went out west.  And son on.  Many from my Mom sending money when I was in college.  There were many that were kept from family and friends.  I had a lot of friends (not like today where I have fewer but these friends are cherished as well).  When I moved from this one city to another, my friends and I kept up the correspondence - yes, hand-written, looooooong letters.  School age and college friends.

I tried searching for these friends b/c I kept some of their letters and the envelopes have the return address on them.  I was a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding.  I'm not able to track these people down.  I'd like to reach out and say "Hi!".   I don't want to spend money on a report for each person (as I said I had several friends with whom I was close). 

HOW do you track down somebody?  Is there an easy way?  I hope so.  Just to say hi.  

***  So these are friends from K - 6 when I lived in Ohio - moved from one city to another.  Then junior high and senior high I won't be tracking anyone down.   On to college in another Ohio city and there are some friends with whom I've lost touch.  

UPDATE!!!  WED P.M. 

I tried calling "S" and her phone number was disconnected (if I got the right person/number).  I then tried calling another friend and her line was busy.  Then I called "B" and she answered!!!! AHHHHHH!  It was sooooooo much fun to catch up.  I asked if this was B (maiden name) (married name) and she said yes.  I told her who I am and immediately we started talking and reminiscing.  She comes to NC to visit a nephew and we're going to get together.  We exchanged personal/mobile numbers.  The number on Google was her landline/work number.  She works from home.  Thank goodness I had that number at which to call her.
It was so much fun!  🙂 She was thrilled as well!  🙂  

 

 

 

UPDATE!!! WED A.M.

So, here’s my exciting update!  I took many of your suggestions and combined the ideas.  I googled again changing phraseology in Google and played around with it some.  I stopped on first page before and hjffkj suggested looking on other pages, which I did (2-3).   Also, gardenmom and others suggested https://www.classmates.com/.  Either one of you suggested or I found this link:  https://old-friends.co/. 

There are many other options and will also try again on FB for some others.  But, for now -------- (drum roll), I think I found 2 friends.  And, not only that but there’s a twist.

I found a friend “B” from Ohio.  She was a girlhood friend and in fact our families grew up together.  And, it goes back further still as my Dad and her Dad were best boyhood friends and went to college together.  Wonderful, wonderful family!  My friend was named after my Dad using the female version of his name!!!   AS A RESULT of looking for my friend “B” in her city and year of graduation, I stumbled upon my friend “S” (I was a bridesmaid in her wedding!).  I visited old friends link above looking for B and found S!   That means my 2 friends went to the same high school and graduated the same year!   They “probably” knew one another or knew “of” one another.  Again, B and I were friends from birth.  I met S in college and B may or may not have known (of) S. 

I actually found their info on Nuwber for B and PeopleLooker for S – complete with age, other relatives, middle name/initial, address and phone number.  I think I know where B works. 

I’m planning on reaching out to them today but in my enthusiasm don’t want to alarm them nor do I want any false expectations.  Still, I’m excited.  At the very least I’ll attempt to call and let them know I pursued finding them and wanted to reach out.  If they aren’t interested, I’ll try to understand.  If they are, then I’ll let them make the next move so to speak.

Have any of you ever done this before?  I will update again to let you know if I was actually able to speak/connect with these 2 friends.  

Edited July 31, 2019 by sheryl

[vonfirmath]

If you all went to HS together, you could contact the HS. They try to keep track of their alumni for reunions.

I have also found long ago friends through Facebook

 

[sheryl]

No, did not go to same high school. I'll edit my post and make that more clear. 

[Farrar]

I do feel like this is the primary purpose of Facebook.

[sheryl]

Farrar, 

Yes, to a point.  I don't have or want FB.  Dh has it from work and I've tried searching on there.  There are many with the same name.  I'm sure these friends have moved to different cities and I don't know with "Julie" is the right one.  (Name changed, not that it really matters lol).

[JustEm]

9 minutes ago, sheryl said:

Farrar, 

Yes, to a point.  I don't have or want FB.  Dh has it from work and I've tried searching on there.  There are many with the same name.  I'm sure these friends have moved to different cities and I don't know with "Julie" is the right one.  (Name changed, not that it really matters lol).

then it is a matter of looking at their profile pictures or other pictures to identify if it is the person you are looking for.  You can also try to look for relatives of them.  Som, say if 'julie' had a brother named Jon you could try looking him up too and then see if you can find her on his friend list.  Sometimes it is very easy to find someone but other times it is very difficult.  

[JustEm]

Also, just googling their name and searching through the first few pages of results or looking through the images could get you a hit.  I've been able to find old friends that way.

[Arcadia]

For college friends, I managed to contact some through the alumni network on the internet, and some through emails since I graduated in 1997 where most of my college mates have Yahoo email accounts. I have my email listed as my contact info on my college alumni account so former schoolmates can drop me an email.

For K-12 friends, it was through emails and Facebook. Finding a classmate on Facebook means that I would get a few other classmates contacts and so I managed to join a WhatsApp group of my 39 middle school classmates that one of the classmates created. I am in my elementary school’s alumni Facebook group. I am also in my middle school and high school alumni Facebook group. Not all my former schoolmates are on Facebook but I could get contact details through mutual friends. I do have a few friends not on any social media that I lost contact with. I could ask mutual friends who are local to them to “hunt” them down but these mutual friends are currently in a busy stage of their lives. 

[gardenmom5]

classmates.com

FB  -looking up their name

you can also do a general search for their name, and probably be disconcerted about how much comes up.....

[TheReader]

For K-6 friends, if you know/remember/have written down anywhere what their parents' names were, you might try looking for the parent, if still alive. If you found the parent (or sibling, as someone else said), you could then use the friends list to find the child/sibling who was your friend. 

Sometimes on FB there are also "grew up in XYZ Small Town" groups, and lots of folks join those for nostalgia's sake...you might look at the member's list of those (if any exist) for your town from back then, and see if any of those same names are members of that group. Or if there's a group for the school you attended back then, etc. 

Once you find one, if people are in touch, you can find them through the friends list of the others. Also, if you *do* ever get a FB account, if you list your hometown, school, etc., FB will suggest you to people and may lead you to connections. Now, I personally have specifically *not* listed all of that, because of that, but if you're trying to find people, that's one way to do so. 

[sheryl]

27 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

then it is a matter of looking at their profile pictures or other pictures to identify if it is the person you are looking for.  You can also try to look for relatives of them.  Som, say if 'julie' had a brother named Jon you could try looking him up too and then see if you can find her on his friend list.  Sometimes it is very easy to find someone but other times it is very difficult.  

Well, I guess I can remember what they look like but that may be dicey.  

26 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

Also, just googling their name and searching through the first few pages of results or looking through the images could get you a hit.  I've been able to find old friends that way.

Right.  You would think so.  I type their name in to Google and I'll select a link like been verified.  That's not the one but the only one I can think of right now.   And, this link will decide it doesn't like the spelling of their name and change it.   I've entered in each name.  

25 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

For college friends, I managed to contact some through the alumni network on the internet, and some through emails since I graduated in 1997 where most of my college mates have Yahoo email accounts. I have my email listed as my contact info on my college alumni account so former schoolmates can drop me an email.

For K-12 friends, it was through emails and Facebook. Finding a classmate on Facebook means that I would get a few other classmates contacts and so I managed to join a WhatsApp group of my 39 middle school classmates that one of the classmates created. I am in my elementary school’s alumni Facebook group. I am also in my middle school and high school alumni Facebook group. Not all my former schoolmates are on Facebook but I could get contact details through mutual friends. I do have a few friends not on any social media that I lost contact with. I could ask mutual friends who are local to them to “hunt” them down but these mutual friends are currently in a busy stage of their lives. 

Smiling here.  I guess I'm a bit older and graduated way before 97.   I grew up with no computers, etc.  However, I think what you're saying is these institutions may have entered that info in even from decades past.  

18 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

classmates.com

FB  -looking up their name

you can also do a general search for their name, and probably be disconcerted about how much comes up.....

Will try classmates and FB through my dh's acct.  Well, that's the kicker.  My only interest is to reach out and say hi.  Do you remember we were friends in YEAR and CITY?

17 minutes ago, TheReader said:

For K-6 friends, if you know/remember/have written down anywhere what their parents' names were, you might try looking for the parent, if still alive. If you found the parent (or sibling, as someone else said), you could then use the friends list to find the child/sibling who was your friend. 

Sometimes on FB there are also "grew up in XYZ Small Town" groups, and lots of folks join those for nostalgia's sake...you might look at the member's list of those (if any exist) for your town from back then, and see if any of those same names are members of that group. Or if there's a group for the school you attended back then, etc. 

Once you find one, if people are in touch, you can find them through the friends list of the others. Also, if you *do* ever get a FB account, if you list your hometown, school, etc., FB will suggest you to people and may lead you to connections. Now, I personally have specifically *not* listed all of that, because of that, but if you're trying to find people, that's one way to do so. 

I can remember a few of the parent's names but they are probably all deceased now (as I mentioned to Arcadia, I graduated years ago so my k-6 friends were from decades ago.  

[Scarlett]

47 minutes ago, sheryl said:

I'm a native Buckeye - born and raised in Ohio.   Dh and I have "kept" and stored some of our childhood memorabilia.  Wow!  My parents, and probably mostly my  Mom, kept some childhood treasures.  I don't remember, but I guess I packed it up after I got married and I was moving to WI with my husband!   That was decades ago.   And, after my Mom passed away, my Dad never remarried and I received back some of my stuff.   (I posted recently about what "stuff" to keep and toss out, etc in another post).  

Well, I'm going through those boxes that were in the attic.  DD has been regularly bringing down boxes and I go through them.  It is emotionally bittersweet and time consuming as I read each letter and card  (actually re-read although it seems like it's the first time b/c it was originally read so long ago) that was kept.  A letter to 10 year old Sheryl from my Aunt.  A letter from my sister.  A post card from my Dad when he went out west.  And son on.  Many from my Mom sending money when I was in college.  There were many that were kept from family and friends.  I had a lot of friends (not like today where I have fewer but these friends are cherished as well).  When I moved from this one city to another, my friends and I kept up the correspondence - yes, hand-written, looooooong letters.  School age and college friends.

I tried searching for these friends b/c I kept some of their letters and the envelopes has the return address on them.  I was a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding.  I'm not able to track these people down.  I'd like to reach out and say "Hi!".   I don't want to spend money on a report for each person (as I said I had several friends with whom I was close). 

HOW do you track down somebody?  Is there an easy way?  I hope so.  Just to say hi.  

***  So these are friends from K - 6 when I lived in Ohio - moved from one city to another.  Then junior high and senior high I won't be tracking anyone down.   On to college in another Ohio city and there are some friends with whom I've lost touch.  

Facebook is great for this type of thing.  I found my best friend from when I was 10 before we moved 2500 mikes away.  I was super excited....and then so sad to discover she had died 3 years earlier from breast cancer.  I did get to chat on FB with her teen son.  

Anywya, my advice is search now.  It might be too late tomorrow.  

[Scarlett]

Also if you check for parents or grandparents obituaries their children and grandchildren are often mentioned by name and location. So if you had girlfriends you could glean the. Arrived name that way.  

[Arcadia]

3 minutes ago, sheryl said:

  However, I think what you're saying is these institutions may have entered that info in even from decades past.  

 

My alma mater did entered in (or probably got the records from the Registrar office) of alumni that graduated at least 30 years before me. When I ask for my alumni account, I have to give name, year of matriculation and graduation, major, and some form of photo ID (that shows name and birthdate, image can be cropped to leave out address and other info) for verification purpose.

[katilac]

Yep, sorry, Facebook is the king of finding old friends, lol. 

It's much easier if you know someone who has an active FB account and also lived in that area during the same time. "My friend Hannah Banana is looking for Julie Smith who went to Capetown Elementary from 1974-1979. She had a brother named Jimmy and a black dog, and she was in 4-H. Anybody know her?" 

[Tanaqui]

Have you tried searching FB or Google for name + school + birthdate or name + hometown + birthdate? How about name + mother + father?

[sheryl]

4 hours ago, katilac said:

Yep, sorry, Facebook is the king of finding old friends, lol. 

It's much easier if you know someone who has an active FB account and also lived in that area during the same time. "My friend Hannah Banana is looking for Julie Smith who went to Capetown Elementary from 1974-1979. She had a brother named Jimmy and a black dog, and she was in 4-H. Anybody know her?" 

Got it.  See, the problem is I last saw these girls in grade school and only know their maiden name - now that's assuming 1) they got married 2) they didn't keep their maiden name 3) they kept their maiden name and added hyphen married name or 4) they didn't remarry to be given a new married name.   See, I don't know how FB works, I guess. 

2 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

Have you tried searching FB or Google for name + school + birthdate or name + hometown + birthdate? How about name + mother + father?

OK, this sounds good and will try this too.  I have name and school "at the time" when we were kids and city.  But, I don't remember their birthdays.  I don't remember their parents and more than likely they are deceased given how long ago it was and what age they'd be today.  

1 hour ago, Patty Joanna said:

I found about half of the "missing alum" for our 40th high school reunion.  I used FB a lot, looking at friends of friends, and so on.  But the way I found a few classmates was through the obituaries--wait!  It's not that they were the subject matter of the obituary, but the children of the deceased.  Once I knew what town they lived in, which is often cited in obits, I found them.  Sadly, I did find four classmates that way.

I will add that I have an extraordinary memory for names, including middle names, parents names, maiden names, and so on.  So I could be sure I was finding the correct person because I remembered their middle names from 50 years ago.  Such a useful talent...haha.

Patty J, that's incredible.  OK, we might be in the same age league! :)  I don't know if we (my girlfriends and I) discussed names of parents, middle names, etc.  See my reply above re: maiden names/married names.  I knew their birthdays at that time but do not remember any now.  Hmmm.  This is turning out to be difficult.  I haven't yielded anything yet from the 6-7 friends.  

[katilac]

6 minutes ago, sheryl said:

Got it.  See, the problem is I last saw these girls in grade school and only know their maiden name - now that's assuming 1) they got married 2) they didn't keep their maiden name 3) they kept their maiden name and added hyphen married name or 4) they didn't remarry to be given a new married name.   See, I don't know how FB works, I guess. 

Lots of people search when they don't know the married name (or if there is one). You just say her name was Julie Green at the time and you don't know if she married or changed her name. That's when adding little details can help - she had a brother, she had a dog, she was in 4-H, she wore those cat-eye glasses that were so popular then, other friends were Becky Blue and Kelly Khaki. 

[sheryl]

5 minutes ago, katilac said:

Lots of people search when they don't know the married name (or if there is one). You just say her name was Julie Green at the time and you don't know if she married or changed her name. That's when adding little details can help - she had a brother, she had a dog, she was in 4-H, she wore those cat-eye glasses that were so popular then, other friends were Becky Blue and Kelly Khaki. 

So, Katilac, I like your examples! :)  Are you saying to use the FB search button and add "Becky Blue, brother, 4-H, or whatever" ?  In the search bar? 

[BlsdMama]

6 hours ago, sheryl said:

Farrar, 

Yes, to a point.  I don't have or want FB.  Dh has it from work and I've tried searching on there.  There are many with the same name.  I'm sure these friends have moved to different cities and I don't know with "Julie" is the right one.  (Name changed, not that it really matters lol).

Could you consider a temporary FB to get contact information?

The way I find someone is friends of friends.  For example, my closest two friends from high school are J.W. and K.K.  Once you're their friends, you can see their list of friends (including profile picture)  Then you add friends with whom you're familiar.  After a little bit, FB begins to realize the circle in which you're rotating and make other suggestions.  It's a little creepy tbh, but on the other hand, it is a very easy way to find precisely what you're looking for.  

[Tanaqui]

Quote

OK, this sounds good and will try this too.  I have name and school "at the time" when we were kids and city.  But, I don't remember their birthdays.  I don't remember their parents and more than likely they are deceased given how long ago it was and what age they'd be today.  

 

Name and birthyear might work. Even if their parents are deceased that doesn't mean anything - that information is public, for one thing, and for another they may have posted something like "In remembrance of First Middle Last, the best mother a kid could have" or something.

[katilac]

2 hours ago, sheryl said:

So, Katilac, I like your examples! 🙂 Are you saying to use the FB search button and add "Becky Blue, brother, 4-H, or whatever" ?  In the search bar? 

No, I would ask someone who lived in that area, in that timeframe, to post for me. Ask them to make it public or at least friends of friends. I see these posts all the time, and people respond, "idk but @katilac might" (tagging the person who might know) and the tagged person might tag someone else, and that person says, "last time I spoke to her she was at Genius University" and eventually someone knows her, lol. 

[sheryl]

1 hour ago, BlsdMama said:

Could you consider a temporary FB to get contact information?

The way I find someone is friends of friends.  For example, my closest two friends from high school are J.W. and K.K.  Once you're their friends, you can see their list of friends (including profile picture)  Then you add friends with whom you're familiar.  After a little bit, FB begins to realize the circle in which you're rotating and make other suggestions.  It's a little creepy tbh, but on the other hand, it is a very easy way to find precisely what you're looking for.  

Hi Kelly, I like your picture - looks good! 🙂 Well, my dh has fb for work so I tried searching today but to no avail.  He said to go to fb/groups.  He also asked me for a name and he'll try searching. I said I'll give him 2 and he smiled.  LOL!  

40 minutes ago, Tanaqui said:

 

Name and birthyear might work. Even if their parents are deceased that doesn't mean anything - that information is public, for one thing, and for another they may have posted something like "In remembrance of First Middle Last, the best mother a kid could have" or something.

I don't have an exact birthyear for some but may vary by 1-2 years on either side of me.  I'll continue to pursue.  DH said he's found some friends! 🙂  This would be so cool if I could contact some of all of these girls and I forgot there was one boy I used to play with all the time.  He lived 2-3 houses down from me in one of these cities.  Ironically I met up with him 1 time in college but that's it. 

[sheryl]

3 minutes ago, katilac said:

No, I would ask someone who lived in that area, in that timeframe, to post for me. Ask them to make it public or at least friends of friends. I see these posts all the time, and people respond, "idk but @katilac might" (tagging the person who might know) and the tagged person might tag someone else, and that person says, "last time I spoke to her she was at Genius University" and eventually someone knows her, lol. 

Oh, I get it now.  I'll see if there is anyone I can think of that might help in the chain of events.  Thanks!!!

[EKS]

Facebook.  I see that you are against Facebook, but if you're serious about contacting long lost friends, it is the best.

Edited July 31, 2019 by EKS

[sheryl]

25 minutes ago, EKS said:

Facebook.  I see that you are against Facebook, but if you're serious about contacting long lost friends, it is the best.

Kai,  I'm not sure how you got I'm against fb, but ok.  I mentioned several times upthread that I don't have fb b/c I don't want it but have used my dh's acct for this purpose and similar ones.  I was on today in fact and have gotten no where.  NO WHERE.  I must be doing something wrong.  🙂

[TravelingChris]

11 hours ago, Farrar said:

I do feel like this is the primary purpose of Facebook.

Yes. my best friend in Jr HIgh found me on Facebook

[Momto6inIN]

I saw the thread title and literally thought, "I'm pretty sure that's why Facebook was invented."

[KidsHappen]

I have never once found a person I was looking for on FB, not even with full names and relative birthdates and of course where they lived when I knew them.

[EKS]

2 hours ago, sheryl said:

Kai,  I'm not sure how you got I'm against fb, but ok.  I mentioned several times upthread that I don't have fb b/c I don't want it but have used my dh's acct for this purpose and similar ones.  I was on today in fact and have gotten no where.  NO WHERE.  I must be doing something wrong.  🙂

I got that you were against using Facebook because you said this:

12 hours ago, sheryl said:

I don't have or want FB.  

Finding people on Facebook isn't just about searching.  It's also about allowing others to find you.  If you can become friends with even one person from the group you are interested in finding, it becomes so much easier to find others as well.

[Shoeless]

I was able to find friends from elementary school via Facebook.  I went to elementary school in the 1970s and had not seen those kids (now adults, lol), since I was 12. 

Even if the women have married and changed their names, Facebook allows one to enter their maiden name as well as married name, to make it easier for old classmates to connect. 

Do you know what high school these kids would have *probably* graduated from?  What was the name of the high school in town?  Even if you did not attend that high school, you can look up the school on classmates.com and see which alumni have registered there. You might find some of your old friends there, or at least, find them listed with their maiden and married names.  Then you can start building up more information to further your search. Most of your former classmates would have graduated from the local high school and not moved away.  

Did any of your friends have a unique name? If you had one friend that had a somewhat distinct name, search for them.  Search for anyone you remember from that time at your school that had a unique name!  I went to school with a couple of people with very unique names, (can't really forget a girl named Venus, lol).  I searched for Ms. Venus, found her, and then was able to look through her friends list to find other names I recognized.  Eventually, I built out a web of people and was able to find the "kids" I had been friends with. 

Basically, you're going to have to be nosy and dig around on people's facebook profiles, lol. 

Edited July 31, 2019 by MissLemon

[BlsdMama]

11 hours ago, sheryl said:

Kai,  I'm not sure how you got I'm against fb, but ok.  I mentioned several times upthread that I don't have fb b/c I don't want it but have used my dh's acct for this purpose and similar ones.  I was on today in fact and have gotten no where.  NO WHERE.  I must be doing something wrong.  🙂

Drat.  
Hmmm...
I think the hardest connection is to find one.  But the problem you're going to run up against is this - unless you "friend" one of them, you can't poke around in her friends list unless she has everything public.  I don't know about most people, but my stuff isn't public, so no one can search (to my knowledge) my friend list unless they are already my friend.  It is doubtful your friends will "friend" your unknown husband if they get a request from him.  Hence the extreme difficulty of ever making the connections.  It's a 1 + 1 scenario - it's diffiicult to make the second connection if there isn't a first.  It isn't as simple as the good 'ol white pages where you can simply seek someone. :/ It's a matter of making the connection with one known, then going from that point - between searching friend lists and letting the FB algorithms do their job.

[Arcadia]

Does your husband have a LinkedIn account? Some of my former schoolmates are on LinkedIn and some of my husband’s former schoolmates contacted him through LinkedIn. 

[sheryl]

12 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

Yes. my best friend in Jr HIgh found me on Facebook

That's great!  Have you re-connected at all?

11 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

I saw the thread title and literally thought, "I'm pretty sure that's why Facebook was invented."

Ha!  I know many of you have said that on this thread. 

11 hours ago, KidsHappen said:

I have never once found a person I was looking for on FB, not even with full names and relative birthdates and of course where they lived when I knew them.

I haven't yet.  DH actually made more progress than I.

11 hours ago, EKS said:

I got that you were against using Facebook because you said this:

Finding people on Facebook isn't just about searching.  It's also about allowing others to find you.  If you can become friends with even one person from the group you are interested in finding, it becomes so much easier to find others as well.

I don't want it or care for it but I'm "not" against it.  The group thing some of you have mentioned is new to me - I had no idea b/c I don't have fb.  My limited exposure is through my dh's acct.   I am thinking about getting Instagram as dd will be going to away college in the future and I could add some friends, other family, etc. 

10 hours ago, MissLemon said:

I was able to find friends from elementary school via Facebook.  I went to elementary school in the 1970s and had not seen those kids (now adults, lol), since I was 12. 

Even if the women have married and changed their names, Facebook allows one to enter their maiden name as well as married name, to make it easier for old classmates to connect. 

Do you know what high school these kids would have *probably* graduated from?  What was the name of the high school in town?  Even if you did not attend that high school, you can look up the school on classmates.com and see which alumni have registered there. You might find some of your old friends there, or at least, find them listed with their maiden and married names.  Then you can start building up more information to further your search. Most of your former classmates would have graduated from the local high school and not moved away.  

Did any of your friends have a unique name? If you had one friend that had a somewhat distinct name, search for them.  Search for anyone you remember from that time at your school that had a unique name!  I went to school with a couple of people with very unique names, (can't really forget a girl named Venus, lol).  I searched for Ms. Venus, found her, and then was able to look through her friends list to find other names I recognized.  Eventually, I built out a web of people and was able to find the "kids" I had been friends with. 

Basically, you're going to have to be nosy and dig around on people's facebook profiles, lol. 

Yes, I have an idea on where most/all went to high school.  It one case, and perhaps others, our little town "back then" with one high school has grown in population making it necessary to open another high school "today".   Unique names - interesting and will remember to try that angle if needed.  Thanks!  

1 hour ago, BlsdMama said:

Drat.  
Hmmm...
I think the hardest connection is to find one.  But the problem you're going to run up against is this - unless you "friend" one of them, you can't poke around in her friends list unless she has everything public.  I don't know about most people, but my stuff isn't public, so no one can search (to my knowledge) my friend list unless they are already my friend.  It is doubtful your friends will "friend" your unknown husband if they get a request from him.  Hence the extreme difficulty of ever making the connections.  It's a 1 + 1 scenario - it's diffiicult to make the second connection if there isn't a first.  It isn't as simple as the good 'ol white pages where you can simply seek someone. 😕 It's a matter of making the connection with one known, then going from that point - between searching friend lists and letting the FB algorithms do their job.

Thanks Kelly!  I understand now how fb works, I think.  It must be like Insta?  It's easier to acquire info if acct is public but limited info if private acct.  OK.  I'm going to try these other angles first. Read my update - soon to come!  🙂 

[sheryl]

7 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

Does your husband have a LinkedIn account? Some of my former schoolmates are on LinkedIn and some of my husband’s former schoolmates contacted him through LinkedIn. 

Yes, thanks.  He does have LinkedIn and suggested that last night.  There are other options.  I'm typing an update - read in 10 min.  🙂  

[sheryl]

Update in first post. 

[Kassia]

38 minutes ago, sheryl said:

Update in first post. 

 

So happy for you!  🙂