PROFILES
FOUR PEAS IN A POD Rodney Hanson and Rodney Courtney entered West High’s halls the year it opened as best friends. Forty-six years later, history repeated itself and their grandsons now walk the same halls.
by jiung jung
jjjiung@gmail.com
R
odney Hanson and Rodney Courtney are two typical best friends. They met in the 8th grade, where they both went to South East Junior High and then entered West High in 1968, the first year it opened. “We actually met because another close friend lived right next door and Courtney always came over to hang out. We had an upstairs room
in the neighbor’s garage where we all got together and slept over. The time we spent [together was] by far [one of] the best times of my life,” Rodney Hanson said. Rodney Courtney graduated from West in 1971 and Hanson the year after. Although they went their separate ways, the two friends kept in touch and met at several social gatherings throughout the years.
In 2006, their paths crossed again. The two friends’ grandchildren coincidentally met at Cub Scouts, and eight years later, Mason Hanson ’18 and Clayton Courtney ’18 entered the halls of West High as best friends, just as their grandfathers did 46 years before. Although the boys were aware of their grandfathers’ friendship, they believe it was not a factor in their
Rodney Courtney graduates from West High.
Rodney Hanson and Rodney Courtney first meet.
1967
own relationship. “It kind of just happened. It was a fate-type thing,” Mason Hanson said. Despite the great age difference between the two sets of friends, Mason Hanson and Clayton Courtney tend to spend a significant amount of their time together with their grandfathers. “If we’re at Clayton’s house, we
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1971
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Rodney Hanson and Rodney Courtney attend West High the first year it opens. 10 PROFILES OCTOBER 2014 wsspaper.com
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