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Howard (Preble), Pat

Pat Howard-Preble

Howard, PatMany of us go back to McKinley Grade School, Emerson Jr. High and then Enid High. It can’t be 50 years – can it? After graduation I married, attended Phillips University, had a son and moved to Hawaii (before it was a state). I returned to Enid, divorced, attended Enid Business College, and worked for Champlin Oil Company for 5 years. Then I married Ken Preble, moved to Kansas City, and had another son. Later we moved to the St. Louis area and built a house in O’Fallon, Missouri.

When my youngest started kindergarten I returned to college, earned a BA and helped set up the elementary art curriculum for AAA rating in the local school district. After 5 years of teaching it was more fun to fly on trips with my husband, who was an airline captain. He also piloted the B-25 and B-29 for the Confederate Air Force.

Ken retired in 1994. After 30 years of miserably hot and miserably cold St. Louis weather, we built a retirement home in Asheville, N. Carolina with a view of the Smokies from our deck. Ken said he had seen enough real estate from 35,000 feet and wanted to travel at ground level. So we bought an RV and kept on the go. Enough to keep our boys wondering where we are.

In the past few years we have driven up to Prudoe Bay, Alaska and stuck our toe in the Arctic Ocean, toured the Maritimes and taken a ferry over to Labrador, plus many places in between. We usually head West for Christmas with our sons and have spent the winters in Arizona and the Rio Grand Valley. This past winter we ventured down into Mexico to the Copper Canyon. RV traveling is certainly more relaxing than trying to catch an airplane somewhere plus you have your “house” with you. (We have squeezed in some cruises and train trips also.) Retirement is busy. We formed the only East Coast Chapter of the Alpenlite Travel Club and served as wagon master and secretary/treasurer. Now I am advisor for the hosts to set up chapter rallies held on the East coast. Another adventure was a tandem sky-dive from 13,000 feet to celebrate going on medicare. What fun!

Our sons are in Abilene, Texas and Henderson, Nevada. No grand children but we do have grand-dogs. Miss Milam would probably put plenty of red check marks on this article! Kathyrn Bales is the teacher that I remember the most. You all in Enid are doing a superb job getting the gang of ’57 together. Thanks for all your work. I certainly appreciate it. Pat

Howard, Pat '07