After graduation from Arvin High School, our remaining family moved back to Oklahoma. You see, I am the eighth child of ten in the family.
I left home in Oklahoma and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where I worked for an elevator company as a stock boy, then shipping clerk. In January 1961, I joined the Marines and went to San Diego, CA for Boot Camp. After that, I went to Camp Pendleton for infantry training. My first duty station was in Okinawa as a basic 3500 MOS. I ended up a truck driver in Motor Transport. I stayed in Okinawa for 21 months before being reassigned to Marine Corp. Air Station at Yuma, Arizona. I was there from May 1963 to October 1965 in the Heavy Equipment Section learning to operate road construction equipment and cranes.
I got married in December 1963 to Genevieve Wolsey.
In 1965, I was transferred to Camp Pendleton, California, to serve as a driving instructor for a new driving school, and was promoted to sergeant. The next transfer was to III MAF, 3rd Marine Division in Da Nang, South Vietnam, where duties carried me from the DMZ to Saigon, dodging any injuries. From Vietnam, I returned to San Diego to Drill Instructor School. But with my worn-out knees, I was permanently assigned as Motor Transport Maintenance Chief for a Communications Battalion and promoted to Staff Sergeant in June 1968. In June 1969, I received a medical honorable discharge.
We moved our family with four children to Ardmore, Oklahoma, where I worked for the Ardmore Police Department. I began attending Murray State College nearby on a part-time basis. When enrolling there, I received my transcript from Arvin High School where Mr. Shultz had written, “About time”. I graduated in 1974 with an Associate’s Degree in Social Sciences. I worked mostly in law enforcement serving with the Oklahoma Dept. of Corrections, as Town Marshall of Lone Grove, OK, with the Carter County Sheriff’s Dept., and even running for sheriff of Carter County in 2000. Then in 1992, I lost my first wife to cancer. In 1993, I retired from the Carter County Sheriff’s Dept. via the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement Association, and began driving a truck cross-country as an owner-operator until I retired in 2004. Our 4 children are married and have given us 13 grandchildren.
In 1993, I married a wonderful lady. All of my children love her as a mom. We have two children of our own, a girl age 5 and a boy age 6. Second chances are great! So far, I guess I’ve had a wonderful life. I look forward to renewing some old friendships that I cherish dearly and to seeing you all.
