After graduation I began the executive secretarial course at
SouthwesternBusinessUniversity in downtown Houston.
Can you believe my business Math teacher was Mrs. Bertha P. Jacobs! I was so
happy to be her student for another nine months. It felt a little like Aldine
when Gracie Ann DeCarlo began in the fall.
My first job was with Pure Oil Co. as executive secretary in
the Scouting Dept. I was surprised to find June Roark there in one of the
departments. We had a few precious years together. Other jobs through the years
were short-term because I was married to a career Marine, and Uncle Sam kept us
on the move.One job for a year was as a
control clerk for the First City National Bank in Houston.
Another year found me as an office manager for a wholesale tropical fish
hatchery. Another time found me as a secretary for a State Farm Agent in Louisiana.
Most jobs I did as a volunteer on the military bases working with the Navy
Relief Society as well as the Officer Wives' Club. Volunteer work was always
done for the church where ever we would live.
I could write a book on all the joys and tears of my life
with the military. This was the life our two girls knew. Luther spent 24 years
with the U.S. Marines, so we lived from California
to North Carolina. He spent 3
tours of duty in Viet Nam,
and each time I'd return to Texas
so our girls could know family and have some roots. Lois McGill Boyd was
homemaking teacher for my oldest daughter (Debi) at Hambrick during one of those times. When the POW'S from Viet
Nam came home, we lived on the Air Base in Millington,
Tenn. and we made banners and posters. We
would meet the planes to help the families welcome them home. We would visit
the BaseHospital
to do what we could for the wounded. Both our girls (Debi
& Rhonda) would graduate from High School while we were stationed in New
Orleans, LA. We have so many
memories and experiences from living in our beautiful America.
We experienced an earthquake in California
and our house flooded in New Orleans.
We lived right in the paths of Hurricanes Carla, Alicia and Rita when those
girls came to visit Texas!
After Luther's retirement (1979) from the
military came the years of being a preacher's wife and a care giver for our
aged parents. Luther has been the preacher for Churches of Christ in
Greens Bayou, Huntington, New Caney and Livingston,
Texas. My hobby for over 40 years has been
creating visual aids and handwork for children's Bible Classes. Sometimes I
hold work shops to help train teachers with this work.
We now live in Diboll, Texas
which is near both our children and their families. The move to Diboll was our
22nd in our nearly 48 years of marriage. Yes, the box containing all our high
school Comet papers and other memorabilia survived and will be shared with you
at the reunion. We had 5 grandchildren. One was born with Spina
Bifida, and we lost her at age 11 months. She taught us a lot about the world
of the handicapped. The oldest grandchild is 25 and is the music teacher for Royalwood Elementary in the SheldonSchool District. Then we have twin
college students aged 19. Our youngest is a 13 year old 8th grader very
involved in Band. When we moved to Diboll 3 years ago we found Dianne Tate
(Morris Tate's wife) teaching her when she was a 5th grader. What a small world
this can be!
Aldine High School 1958