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When I was in my teens, Dad was in the Air Force, and we lived in Stuttgart, Germany. My school, Stuttgart American High School, was populated by American military dependant kids.

Like all high schools through the ages, SHS had a well-defined pecking order. It ranged from a stratum of royalty at the top to the usual untouchables at the bottom.

During my sophomore year, the king and queen of our royalty were a brother and a sister, Tom and Judy Gautschi.

Tom was a junior, co-captain of the football team, an All-Europe player. Judy, a senior, was Student Council President and the Homecoming Queen.

Tom and Judy were terrific kids — exceptionally pleasant and likeable. And they were benevolent rulers. Handsome, charming, academic stars, beloved by students and faculty alike.

But there was a peculiarity about the Gautschis that was recognized by all, acknowledged by none. It was this:

Tom pronounced his last name as you would expect: “GOW-Chee.”

Judy, on the other hand, unable to make peace with the name, called herself, and insisted that others call her, Judy “Guh-SHAY.”

And everyone did. Such was her position of influence at the school.

I can remember school assemblies in which the principal referred to “Tom GOW-Chee” in one sentence and “Judy Guh-SHAY” in another. With a straight face. With no snickering from the audience. That would be rude.

New students who transferred to SHS always had a “what-the-hell?” reaction to this, but after someone explained Judy’s idiosyncrasy, the new kids fell in line. I assume the same thing happened with arriving faculty.

The Gautschis left SHS at the end of the school year. Their dad, an Army general, was transferred to England.

But throughout that year at SHS, I never heard a single person, student or faculty, publicly pronounce a Gautschi sibling’s name the wrong way, or make fun of the fact that we did it.

Privately, of course, everyone thought it was hilarious.

The Stuttgart Stallions, forever galloping through the fountain in front of SHS.