from
Gene Baskin
in Port Neches
A little news from here----I am retiring June 30
from Motiva Enterprises (aka Texas Company, Texaco,
Star Enterprise, then Motiva)! I have worked
at the PA refinery for over 39 years as a Mechanical
Engineer. My wife Darlene and I bought a 230
acre ranch between Woodville and Livingston, TX.
We hope to build a Satterwhite Log home there but
will still live in PN. I already have a
tractor and am looking for a bulldozer! Can
you believe that? My plans are to build
approximately 3 miles of fence, several ponds, and
sell some timber. Also, I will be restoring my
old 1955 and 1956 Thunderbirds. We will travel
some, especially to my wife's homeplace of Wisconsin
and will be helping to take care of her father.
I hope to be able to send more updates of how
"retirement" is going.
P.S. For those who knew my brother James
Baskin '67, he and his
wife moved to Spring Hill, TN to be near their new
grand-daughter.
(All I can say is the word RETIREMENT should be
changed to
TIRED if you
are able to do all this! Congrats.)
from
David Elliott
in Dallas
I wanted to send you my new e-mail address so that I
may continue to receive the updates you and Mike so
diligently send to us all. Please keep up the
good work.
(Thanks for taking the time to send in the change.
Wouldn't want you to miss a thing.)
from
Nancy Jowell
Grisbee in Sugar Land, TX
(taken off of Facebook)
24 years ago this month my son Jeremy was born.
The doctors wanted to end the pregnancy because of
physical problems I had. He said I wouldn't
live to see him grow up. God had different
plans for Jeremy's life and mine. God is so
faithful. We celebrate these 24 years!
(God is indeed good.)
from
Pam Owings Hund
in Port Neches
Kenneth and I went to an all in-clusive resort in
Cozumel April 25-30. We had a great time.
Kenneth went scuba diving for three days and I swam
in a beautiful ocean and met people from all around
the world. (I always did say that if we have
to tolerate hurricanes we should at least have
pretty beaches.) Everyone was very
friendly and except for the plane
ride/airport/customs, it was almost perfect. I
divided most of my time sitting on the beach reading
from my Kindle and enjoying the water. Next
month we are headed to Padre Island. I've
never been there and just hope the water is pretty
and clear. Both of my daughters, son-in-law,
and grandson are going with us. Just give me a
beach-front view of the ocean and I am completely
content. Being able to visit all of these
wonderful beaches has somewhat taken the sting out
of getting older!
(Sounds so fun. Keep it up.)
from
Gail Wilson Felker
in Barksdale AFB, LA
Has anyone kept up with the whereabouts of
Pam Clary,
Pam Visuete,
or
Vicki Verrett?
(Any help here?)
from
Patti Farley
D'Amico in Alexandria, LA
I wanted to tell you and Mike again what a wonderful
thing it is that ya'll keep this web site going for
all of us '68ers! It must be a labor of love
because I am sure that it is major headaches at
times.
(You are right on both counts....it is a labor of
love AND can be a headache! But, headaches go
away. We both do LOVE it and all of you, too!
That is why we continue. Thanks.)
from
David Salter
in Oklahoma, OK
Our family is doing fine. Lana and I are
enjoying having the "kids" and their families within
walking distance of us. Our son and
daughter-in-law returned from a project in
Pennsylvania in February and found a house about 6
blocks from us. Our daughter, son-in-law, and
2 grandsons (ages 2 & 3) are only 3 blocks away.
That certainly makes my duty of spoiling the little
guys quite convenient.
This year I have been fortunate to connect with some
of our TJ gang. While in Houston in February,
I met
Fred McCarty,
Joel Levy
and
George Collins
for what is becoming our annual Papadeaux's dinner.
(Tough to find good Cajun food in Oklahoma.)
Also, over Spring Break, Lana and I were in the Hill
Country and were able to visit with
Leonard
and
Kathy Hilliard
in Fredericksburg. So great to visit with P.A.
family again! Leonard and I have been pals
since our first day of kindergarten at Robert E. Lee
Elementary.
from
Mary Wells
in Groves
Well, several classmates went on a cruise. The
classmates were me,
Florence "Sissie"
Woods Kilcrease,
Glenda Patin,
and
Linda Gothia.
The cruise was great, had fun, ate way tooooooo
much, but loved all the food, shopped just enough.
Glenda and I win for dancing the night away.
We outlasted the rest of them. I have
unpacked, washed and now I am ready to go again!
from
Florence "Sissie"
Woods Kilcrease in
Pineland
What goes on on a cruise stays on a cruise!!! "-)
**********************************************************************
(Notes between
Fred McCarty
and married classmates,
Nelwyn (Comeaux) and Charles Blanchette)
Nelwyn,
I wanted to check on you and Charles since I know that you
live in the Nashville vicinity. Were you
impacted by the recent flooding there? Please
let us hear from you so that we can have an update.
Fred,
Thank you for checking on us. Yes, parts of
Nashville is quiet a mess. We actually live in
Kingston Springs, west of Nashville. We had
flooding and damages in our little town.
However, we live on a high hill so our neighborhood
is in good shape. Our biggest problem was
trying to get out of our town to go to my precious
brother's funeral. He died the weekend of the
flooding. We are right off of I-40 and both
East and Westbound were shut down. East takes
us to the airport and, of course West takes us where
we needed to be since we travel with an RV.
Anxiety was really building. Thank God that 2
days before the funeral roads re-opened. We
were able to head back to PA. I did see a
couple of classmates while at the funeral home.
Thanks again, Fred, for checking on us.
from
Bobby and Jonnye
Dee (Doering) Williamson
in Port Arthur
(taken from FACEBOOK)
Jonnye and I are in Jackson, TN. We delivered
the supplies and afterward met with an old friend
who helped us during Ike. He was leading a
team, stripping, and cleaning flooded houses.
The local turnout is huge. There are about
2,000 flooded houses and estimates are that all of
them will be ready for rehab in 2 to 3 weeks.
Way to go Nashville. We were the first
delivery to the new Resource Senter. Now, that
is fast service. The first things that flood
victims need are something to sit on and something
to sleep on. There is an immediate need for
mattresses and bed clothes in twin, full, and queen
sizes. A donation as small as $10.00 could
provide a person with a full set of bed coverings.
Manufacturers sell to recovery non-profits at huge
discounts. Make your donation to Aid Matrix
Network, Red Cross, or to the Salvation Army.
bob_williamson@yahoo.com
**********************************************************************
from
David Salter
in Oklahoma City, OK
The storms Monday went mostly to the south and east
of us, so we were not affected like so many others
unfortunately were. As you have seen, there
was quite a bit of damage in a number of areas in
the state, but not in large swaths as can happen
here with the early May storms. At least 3-4
of the local television stations carry constant
coverage when we are under serious weather alerts
and track the storm systems until they pass through
the area. Most of the stations have
state-of-the-art equipment as well as a crew of
storm chasers and helicopters monitoring the
activity. All in all, not too bad a place to
be if you must be located in Tornado Alley.
Still, it is eerie to hear the sirens blaring when
we are in a warning, as we were late Monday when I
was driving back from a golf tournament I
participated in that afternoon.
from
Ricky Bradley and
wife Gloria (Phillips) Bradley
in Mustang, OK
The nearest twister was 6 miles north of us but we
did get some nice golf-ball sized hail.
(I still have
Pam Clary Wiser listed
as living in Okalahoma City, OK but have no phone or
e-mail address. Anyone know her whereabouts?
Glenn McGee
also lives in Duncan, OK. The last address I
have for
Dennis Cross
is Edmond, OK.
Larkin Eddie Thompson
lives in Tulsa, OK. I don't have time to check
out the vicinity of these cities but OKLAHOMA sure
seems a tough place to live. I just
thought
the Gulf Coast was rough. Let me hear from you
if you see your name here. Thanks.)
*******************************************************************
CRUSIN' 16th STREET/GULFWAY DR.
from
Jeanette
Constantine Morgan in
Groves
I remember having lots of fun on the DRAG! I
spent many hours just riding around and around and
always ending up at Monceaux's Drive-In for a big
frosted mug of rootbeer and a stuffed shrimp basket.
I am sure that many remember Monceaux's. Mrs.
Monceaux passed away a couple of months ago.
Of course, Dennis and I would leave the drag long
enough to go over to NuZest for a strawberry malt.
My mom worked at the Chuck Wagon so we had a
hamburger there quite often. Just riding
around and listening to the radio was relaxing.
For a lot of my slumber parties, we would make the
drag and get out and have a chinese fire drill at
the red lights.
(Thanks for being the first to share for this new
section of the NEWSLETTER!)
**********************************************************************
(an idea sent in by
Fred McCarty)
I just read the latest Newsletter and the mention of
the May birthdays made me wonder if we might provide
a listing on the website of UPCOMING BIRTHDAYS,
maybe for the next month? For example, if we
could publish the upcoming June birthdays in the
last May issue of the Newsletter, etc. I was
thinking that if our website provided that
information it might encourage more communication
among classmates. This might be a new feature
for our website , or it could be included in the
NEWSLETTER. I will do what I can to find
information if you feel that this would be worth the
effort.
(I will get Mike to add this feature to the website
front page and we will add any birthdays that are
sent in by other classmates. Thanks for the
idea to help keep the communication open between our
classmates.)
***********************************************************************
from
Chrissy Dupuis
Mullens
(taken off of FACEBOOK)
Update on husband, Richard.
Just got back from MD Anderson. The scans show
25% progression of disease. Not good but we
knew it was not working. We thought it was
gonna be that result. But, they asked him to
try another trial. He agreed. He is weak
as he had a bad reaction from barium from the scan.
He has lost about 6 lbs. He is tired and I am
tired but we will go on. Thanks to all my
classmates and friends for the prayers.
cmullens@gt.rr.com
Gail Wilson Felker
in Barksdale AFB, LA
My husband, Major Ross Felker, is deploying to
Afghanistan in a few weeks. He is currently in
New Jersy for five weeks of combat training.
Please keep him and our family in your prayers.
rgcjfelker@yahoo.com
Gloria Phillips Bradley
in
Mustang, OK
(health update taken off of FACEBOOK)
Praise report:
as of my last oncology visit (May 18), I am clean as
a whistle and I am 5 years out since my last cancer.
I now move to once a year visits now. Whoo Hoo!
All praise, love and thanks to my God who reigns in
my life every day and the keeper of my life's
breath. Bless HIS name.
gbradley73064@yahoo.com
**********************************************************************
Beth Crookshank Ayers
(death of her father)
219 Pine Hollow Lane
Houston, TX 77506
Debra Jones Shwartzenburg
(death of her mother)
8 Thornhill Oaks Dr.
Houston, TX 77015
swhwardo@aol.com
Nelwyn Comeaux Blanchette
(death of her brother)
1005 Timber Ridge Ct.
Kingston Springs, TN 37082
nelwynb@aol.com
A
note from our late classmate,
Tim Kennedy's
children
Thank you so much for the sentiments expressed for
our father, Tim Kennedy. We're glad that his
friends and classmates thought so much of him.
He will be missed by a lot of people. Thank
you for honoring him in your MEMORIAL section on
your class website. He really would have
appreciated that.
Tansy Kennedy Guidroz and Cody Kennedy
3908 Canal
Groves, TX 77619
Janice Ames Breaux
(death of her husband, Russell Breaux)
2724 31st St.
Port Arthur, TX 77642
(409)293-7359
(Remember to contact these classmates and share your
prayers and support. You may find
these obituaries on the front page of the website.)
***********************************************************************
Wow! This was a long one. I am so tired
AND happy at the same time. I do enjoy getting
news, items of interest, messages of deaths that
many times I have missed in the paper. Thanks
to all who help make this bi-monthly effort
worthwhile. Keep it up friends.