Marital status:
Married
Children:
3
Occupation:
Retired IT Professional
Comment:
I got a BS in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M in 1974. I moved back to Dallas and lived down a street looking north at TJ for my first year back! I married Deborah Phillips (TJ -71) in 1973 and that lasted only 9 1/2 years. My oldest Son, Chris was born in 1980. I met Marianne Commons in 1982 and we married in 1984, still the love of my life and my best friend. She still laughs at my jokes.
I worked at Methodist Hospital for five years, then Tocom, a cable box manufacturer and service provider (with Carl Schoeneberger) for three years. Then 8 years in IT and Engineering consulting, followed by about 10 years in Database and IT management with a market research firm.
In 2001 I started a temporary IT work assignment at First Presbyterian Church in Dallas that evolved into a 20 year job as Director of IT for the, and I loved every minute of that position. I retired last summer and love it even more!
In the late 70's I bought a condemned house in Old East Dallas and completely restored it over almost 40 years. Marianne and I had two more children in that home and they graduated from Woodrow Wilson high school in that neighborhood. Marisa, Texas A&M '2009, now owns a dance studio in Wylie, TX - Red Door Dance Academy. You should send your grandkids there if you live in that area - she runs the best dance studio I've evern known. Michael, Woodrow '10, is the Digital Content Manager at FPC (where I worked for 20 years). Chris is the SAP expert at General Datatech. We have 7 Grandkids, and are fortunate to have all of them in the Dallas area.
In 2012 we Downsized - sold all our furniture and most of our stuff - and moved to a high rise in Downtown Dallas for 2 years. It was the high life! (literally and figuratively). I loved walking everywhere, and being able to live with only 1 car in the family, unheard of in Texas.
A couple of years later, while filling our time looking at homes, we found one unexpectedly in Plano and bought it. we still live here, close to Dallas but no longer a lifelong Dallas boy and girl.
I do a lot with our church - East Dallas Christian Church near our old East Dallas home. I sleep late and stay up late, and do what I want. I walk a lot - about 25 miles a week for exercise and relaxation. Tuesday night is movie night, and Marianne has convinced me that a movie a week at a real theater is worth the effort. I now fully agree. Popcorn and Coke always included. I also garden - our home was a featured home for the 2019 Environmental Yard Tour in Plano, and I grow a small 'square foot' garden for vegetables. I love cooking and using our garden fresh herbs. (I'm the more gullible one in our house, as Marianne has charmed me into believing I'm a good cook and should do most of the cooking. Then again, she can charm me into doing - willingly - just about anything.)
I still do lots of woodworking and I can fix just about anything. The latter is kind of a curse, because I'm always fixing things.
