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June, 1954 | June, 2000 |
Bob McConnell
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June, 1954 | June, 2000 |
29 Sausalito Circle West
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
310 545 4070
April, 2000 in Ephesus, Turkey (Ancient Greece)
A Quick Synopsis of my life since DHS
After Michigan State (1958 grad), I first worked at LaSalle & Koch in Downtown Toledo ands a trainee buyer, after a short stint in the Air Force at Lackland AFB. Then, I took a programmer's aptitude test and worked for IBM for 27 years until taking early retirement (one of many!) in 1987. Then 1 and 1/2 years at Coldwell Banker, a commercial real estate company, then W-2 and independent consulting for 10 years, and now apparently retired for real, after working for an Internet company that went under like so many others!Every working day since April 4, 1960 has been spent in the computer business, making me the World's Oldest Living Computer Geek, no contest! 30 years to the month after college graduation, I earned a Master's Degree from Pepperdine University in Computer Education. Also, my wife Georgia and I are both Life Master Bridge Players and ACBL Certified Bridge Instructors, and I even wrote a book on bridge, which is on the web at www.worldwidefolks.com.
During the years I've married three times, had two children, two grandchildren and 7 step-grandchildren, and lived in lots of interesting places: New York State - Poughkeepsie, NY, when I started with IBM in 1960; in Washington, D.C. for the Cuban missile crisis and the J.F.K. assassination; then to Okinawa, Japan, for 50 months, where I learned Japanese and traveled all over the Far East; then to Los Angeles (Palos Verdes); to Alaska (Anchorage) during the pipeline boom in 1974 - 79. Finally back to the Los Angeles area at the beach, to stay. We've traveled all over the U.S., the Far East, Bermuda, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and Europe (see above - our latest, a Greek Island cruise in April, 2000.) And the ride's not over yet.
An Opportunity
Those of us who are left have an opportunity to learn how people we once knew quite well have fared over a 45 year period, even though we have gone many different ways.My personal hope is that we can connect via email and this site to renew old acquaintances, catch up on families and friends and trade life stories. If there are any writers out there, you have a chance to write the Great American True Story or social history: 50 Years of DeVilbiss Grads Loose in the Wide Wide World ! It's a natural and the materials available for free.
To me, it's really fascinating. At one time we were all together -- every day -- for most of four years. Then we scattered and each of us made his or her way in the world. Some stayed close to Toledo, some left and never looked back. Some prospered, some had hard times, but all of us have had a long run through half a century of tumultuous times: wars, jobs, careers, college, boom and bust times, technology explosion, marriages and divorces and children and the loss of loved ones. Now we can connect again thru the miracle of the Internet, if we want to. Please send me your story so I can make a page just for you on this Great DHS '54 Story site.
Or, you can just watch to see what happens. But, we don't have much time left, as obnoxious that is to realize !
