Category: Bio

Bob Lakey

Graduated in 1957 with the rest of the class of course, and at the last moment (two days before classes started for the fall semester) I journeyed over to Stillwater to inquire about attending college. I had had no intention of going to college after high school, and it was only at the continued insistence of our renowned chemistry teacher , Mr. Marvin Myers, that I finally decided to give it a try. I studied chemical and electrical engineering at OSU and graduated after seven (yes, seven) long years of working and studying. After graduation, I took a job in New Orleans working on the Apollo space program. (great new experience for a small town boy who had never been further from Enid than Stillwater!) That lasted until late fall 1964 when Uncle Sam (aka U.S. Army) sent me a greeting suggesting that I report for active duty with the United States Army at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. So I started a 28 year career in the military, both active and reserve. I was given the opportunity to become a military pilot and did so. I spent much of my military career flying both airplanes and helicopters. I received an all expense paid tour in Vietnam as an attack helicopter pilot out of the deal. I retired from the Army in 1992 as a senior officer. I still pilot airplanes and helicopters for business and pleasure.

After I was released from active duty in the Army, I worked as an engineer, mostly in the aerospace industry. I went to graduate school in the early 70’s and completed the requirements for an MS in electrical engineering. I finally retired from Boeing in 1992 and then started an aircraft sales and service business, which I have been doing since.

I met my wife at OSU (a local Stillwater girl who was also attending OSU). We were married in 1964. We have two beautiful daughters and two granddaughters. My wife is a practicing CPA with a firm in Fort Worth.

I have been lucky in that I am in excellent health (as of this writing, anyway) and enjoy life to the fullest. I consider that I have had a rewarding career, both military and civilian, and still enjoy aspects of both. I am also blessed to have a wonderful wife and family.

I have told many people over the years – and I believe it to be true – that were it not for my experiences at EHS and particurily my chemistry teacher, Mr. Myers, who gave me endless encouragement to go to college, I would not be where I am today. For that, I am truly thankful.

John LaFon

Greetings from California. Here’s a short version of my bio:
During the 60’s I lived in Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, France, Maryland, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Arizona.
During the 70’s I lived in the Philippines, Germany and California. During the 80’s I had residences in California and Korea. Through the 90’s and at present I lived in California.

I was a member of the USAF from 1958 thru 1984, San Gabriel Valley. I was employed by the Tribune newspaper from 1985-1990 and by the US Customs Dept from 1991-2005.

I am a widower with 2 daughters. My daughters reside in Torrance, CA and in Lexington, KY. I also have 4 grand children!

My interests are Family, Motorcycles, Photography, Gardening, Travel, Model Trains and Languages.

Recent travels included visits to Cape Lookout, North Carolina, Utah, Jamestown, VA and Alaska. I have some land west of Enid in Major County. I’m looking forward to seeing y’all at the reunion.

John A. LaFon

Dennis Keahey

Mr. Jewel Ridge made a statement in Mechanical Drawing class one time that I thought was way off. I don’t remember the exact wording but it was something to the effect that if he were a betting man he’d bet a steak dinner that most of us in his class would be married within 3 years. I laughed under my breath and thought he’d lose because I didn’t even have a girl friend at that point. There was no way.

In September, 1957, this girl from somewhere called Chehalis, Washington came to Enid to be with her sister whose husband had just been stationed at Vance Air Force Base. We met at church, fell in love, I proposed in May and she went back home – with a ring on her finger. I looked for work in Enid and she looked for work in Washington. It was a slow time for the economy and no one was hiring, especially if a person didn’t know where they were going to live.

We were married in August, 1958 in Chehalis with all her friends and relatives attending plus my Mom, Dad, and two brothers on my side. Our honeymoon was spent in a primitive cabin at Mt. Rainier National Park in Ohanapecosh Hot Springs Resort. Early on the second morning there was a knock at the door. There was her father, her mother, my father, my mother, and my two brothers. Does this sound like a 50’s song? It actually happened.

My family returned home to Enid and we moved to a cute little one bedroom rental on the banks of the Skookumchuck River in Centralia, WA. It was made for maturing a marriage what with a wood heating stove, a wood cook stove with a water tank over the stove for hot water, and no firewood. Two weeks later we bought this huge refrigerator so we would not have to leave the eggs on the back porch to keep cool and I got a job with a roofing contractor. The details are worthy of a book but we had fun together.

Our first child, a boy, was born in September – one year later. It was the first grandchild on my side of the family so we planned to surprise my parents by driving to Oklahoma for Christmas 1959, leaving while Weyerhauser Timber Company was shut down for the winter season. I was working in the woods as a logger among evergreen trees that were up to six feet across at the stump and taller than the oil derricks in Oklahoma. We drove from Centralia, Washington as far as Albuquerque, New Mexico before the motor gave out on our car. The price we got selling it at a junk yard was enough to buy tickets for two and a baby on Greyhound. We stayed in Oklahoma and I worked for Peerless Ice Cream Co. until 1964, three kids later.

At my request we moved back to Washington (no job lined up but confident), raised three boys and a girl, married them off and were blessed with ten grandchildren. Housing did improve and so did the job situation. I went to college for job advancement later in life. We live in an exclusive neighborhood about two miles from the Washington State Capitol building. I received early retirement from Centralia Steam Plant, a coal fired electric generating plant, at age 59 and went back as a consultant for a couple of years.

But the success of our lives is we served the Lord Jesus Christ from the beginning and He is still the center of our home. Our children have chosen to live the same life style of serving the Lord. We are blessed. It has been a great life with wonderful memories and we are still having fun. One advantage of starting at the bottom is the only way out is up.

I owe Mr. Ridge a steak dinner.
Dennis and Darlene Keahey

P.S.—- Dennis and Darlene wrote:
Sorry to take so long to get this in. We will not be able to attend the reunion but we are in Enid several times a year to visit my mother in Greenbrier Nursing Home. At 92 she is still sharp, witty, and loves to talk about the love of her life, Jesus Christ. My wife, Darlene, and I teach separate Bible Studies and have always been involved with teaching kids or teens or adults at our stages of life. Next year we celebrate 50 years of marriage but I understand some of you may be celebrating your 50th during the reunion (Norma and Nate Franke). Good for you! Thanks to all of you who put this whole reunion together and thanks to my classmates for making those years in Enid High pleasant memories.

Dennis Keahey

Don Karns

I have been very excited about the upcoming reunion. I had a scheduling conflict so my son, Mike is going to fly me to Enid Saturday afternoon. Please—no stories to my son–I told him I was an exemplary student in school!

When I graduated from Enid High School, I was off to OSU. I joined a fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, although my Mother seriously disapproved. She was concerned about excessive drinking. As it turned out, I never had a drink until age 23. Joining a fraternity was one of the best decisions I made in college. I made the Dean’s List several times.

I played football and baseball for Oklahoma State University. We had a great baseball team. We still hold the best Won/Loss record in OSU baseball history. My senior year, I was named to the “All Big Eight” baseball team. I was also voted into the OSU Sports Hall of Fame because of that team. We finished second in the nation, losing to USC 1-0 in the finals of the NCAA Championships. In football, I led the Big 8 in pass receiving my senior year.

After graduation, I signed a professional football contract with the Minnesota Vikings, but was released. They sent me to Canada to play and gain experience. After two weeks, I decided to get a “real job”. I had an engineering degree. I went to work for Texas Instruments in Dallas as an engineer.

I married my college girlfriend and we had two great boys. Both are in business for themselves. Mike is a real estate developer/investor. Steve is a criminal defense attorney. He defended the first person tried in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse case in Baghdad. He was on CNN and several national talk shows following the trial.

My marriage to Patty ended after 13 years. I later married a wonderful girl, Jan Barton Elias, from Bristow, OK. We have been married 32 years. I hit a real home run! Jan has two daughters near the same age as my boys. We raised all 4 children together as the real “Brady Bunch”. All went to college with 3 of the 4 getting advanced degrees. Katherine has her own medical sales company. Lori is self-employed as an occupational therapist.

We are blessed with 3 grandchildren. All of our children live within 3 miles of our home so we have plenty of kid/grandchildren days.

My professional career began as an engineer at Texas Instruments. Don Carey talked me into going into engineering as all we ever wanted to do since grade school was to be fighter jocks. We both flunked the eye examination, so neither of us, fortunately, flew a lick!

I worked at TI for 5 years, knowing that was the last thing I really wanted to do. It just did not fit my personality. In 1968 I went to work for an investment firm. I led the company nationally in sales my second and third year in the business. The next year I formed my own company, Don Karns Insurance Agency, Inc. Today we do business in over 20 states, including Oklahoma.

Being in business for myself has given Jan and I a lot of freedom to travel. I also play golf and fish in my spare time. Since I am in excellent health, I have no plans to retire as yet. I have, however, turned in a 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. guy working about 4 days a week.

I am excited to see everyone but I will sure miss seeing Bobby Atkinson. We always reminisced about riding his Cushman Eagle and singing The Great Pretender. If Gene Bodes still has a voice, maybe the Bushwhackers can make a comeback! I think our group included Page, Carey, Gene, and myself. I remember Glenda Braithwaite played the piano for us.

See you the sixth!

Joyce Bruner Jones-Dearborn

Paul and I have been married almost 44 years. He retired from the Air Force in 1968. We had been living in Mountain Home, Idaho and decided to move to OKLAHOMA, as my parents lived in Waynoka. Paul worked for Addressogragh-Multigraph for 20 years and I had my own accounting business, working from my home.

We have three wonderful children:
Rick Dearborn, age 42, is single and works in DC. He is Chief of Staff for Senator Sessions of Alabama.
Penny Dearborn, age 41 is married to James Cain. Both are attorneys in NYC. They have restored an old brownstone. They have one little girl, Keith Ford Dearborn Cain, age 4 1/2.
Tami Dearborn, age 40, is a single mom. She is a teacher in Mid West City and she has a daughter, Taylor Rene Dearborn age 8 1/2. Tami lives in Edmond near us.

We have been blessed in many ways. My parents both lived with us until their passing. My dad was 98 years old. My husband, Paul, suffered a stroke just before my dad passed away, so I have been a care giver for many years. We have home-care and we are thankful for each day.

Taylor is my sunshine, I care for her before and after school; I have learned there is nothing like an 8 year old to keep me young. Plus we just got a Yorkie; “Rocket” is certainly adding his share of action to our household. I hope all of the class has a wonderful reunion. You have worked hard to make it a great memory. Best of luck to all of you.
Joyce Dearborn

Janet Jones-Wright

I thought if I dragged my feet long enough I could get away from doing a bio, but James Faulkner is persistent!!

I married in 1960 and graduated from the University of Colorado in 1961. I taught 5th grade for three years at McKinley in the same room and same school where I had attended 5th grade. I started my family – Kate, Matt, and Adam. Of course all are gone now.

I later divorced and went back to Phillips University and got my Master’s degree in Guidance/Counseling. For the next 12 years, I taught and was a counselor. I remarried and moved to Germany, then to Pennsylvania, and then to Wyoming. I returned to Enid 12 years ago and today am counseling at Taft Elementary school. I plan retirement in May, 2009.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone very soon. 🙂
Janet Jones-Wright.

Waunita Howell-Rodriquez…. Hello from Spokane, WA.

I did not actually graduate with all of you but I should have! I attended Harrison Grade School, Emerson Junior High and Enid High.

To begin my saga I married Ray Rodriguez July 28, 1956 and started my senior year but became pregnant within the first month of marriage. I naturally wanted to hang out with all those married folks and lost interest in school. In April, 1958, Ray got out of the Air Force and we moved to Isleton, CA where I resided the next 30 years. In September 1958, I returned to high school and graduated from Rio Vista High School in June, 1959. My first born, Marianne was now 2 years old.

I was hired by a local manufacturing company that developed the first tomato harvester. I worked there till I was due to have my 2nd daughter Diana July 1, 1961. I gave birth to a son Ray in October 1963 and was a happy stay-at-home Mom when a neighbor came knocking and wondered if I would like to drive a school bus. I had no idea how to drive a school bus but he assured me he could teach me and he did. That was back in the day when kids would mind what you said and we had a great time. It was actually easier than it appeared. The great part was 3 months off in the summer with pay.

In March 1967 I was hired by the Post Office to work Saturday relief and gradually my hours were increased. I was able to juggle both jobs for several years. In September 1973 I was appointed Postmaster of the Isleton Post Office. In 1978 after 23 years of marriage Ray and I divorced. In 1983 I took an assignment to the district office in Sacramento, bought a house and moved to Sacramento. I had a 32 year career with the Postal Service and loved every minute of it. I spent 19 years as a single gal and did a lot of traveling for the Post Office, doing country swing dancing and riding my bicycle.

In October 1995, I met my 2nd husband Robert Fischbach. We began talking bicycle riding on that initial meeting and we were privileged to take 4 bicycle trips around Europe the next 5 years. Never did I ever dream I would go overseas but what a wonderful adventure. We married on the American River bicycle trail in Sacramento July 25, 1998 and we celebrated our 9th anniversary last month. In April 1999, I retired from the Post Office and in March 2002 we moved to Spokane WA. This is Robert’s hometown and his 94 year old Mother is still very active and living in the house he was raised in. Robert is self-employed and sells erosion control products; he has developed products of his own as well as representing others.

We are both very active in our church and enjoy traveling to visit my 4 grandchildren who are in New Jersey and Rob’s 2 grandchildren presently in Ft. Campbell, KY with parents in the Army. When they were stationed in Germany we made several trips to visit them.

Since retirement, I’ve been learning to quilt. This past year I finished my first quilt and will be showing it in the local quilt show this October. Our 8 year old Shih Tzu named Boomer keeps me busy also with our daily walks. I’m looking forward to getting reacquainted with the few kids I hung out with as well as all those I didn’t have the privilege of knowing as a kid. See Ya soon!

Pat Howard-Preble

Many 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

Sue Holley-Hagopian

Looking back in time to 1957 (such a long time ago), I think about how easy life was then. Who to go to parties with, what new outfit my mom could sew for me, how much I had to study to get good grades, etc.

Now life has come full circle – we are retired and I don’t have many worries, but in between these years there was so much to do. After high school graduation, I went to spend the summer in Springfield, MA and work for my uncle. There I met a charming, handsome young man who lived across the street from my uncle. We dated that summer and the next, but basically we had a long distance relationship. Letters and phone calls for two years were just not enough, so June 26, 1959 we were married in Enid.

As newlyweds, we moved into a lovely apartment at the University of MA where Gary, my husband, was still attending college. I worked for the next year doing bookkeeping at the Town Offices in Amherst, MA until August 1960 when our first child was born. Now I was a stay-at-home mom with daughter, Margo. Gary graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree and I received a PHT from the Engineering department. If you don’t know what PHT means… Putting Hubbie Through… I deserved it too! I’d typed so many papers that I knew all the engineering terms. Not just Gary’s papers, I made money typing for other engineers as well.

Graduation came in June 1962 and so did our second child, son Gregory. We moved to Wilbraham, MA and Gary went to work in the family business. In 1966 our third child, son Douglas arrived. The house we’d built was then getting small for our growing family so in 1969 we built a larger one and in 1970 we added a fourth child, son Eric. Now we had a full house.

Time flies when running errands for four children, entertaining for a successful husband, working for your town political organization while finding time for fun activities. I wanted to go back to work after our daughter went away to college and felt that the boys were old enough to be self-sufficient. The family business was short office staff and Gary persuaded me to work there, which I did for the next 10 years.

Now the kids are grown, married with children of their own, and we are retired. We enjoy playing with our old Jaguars and traveling. Our five grand children are a joy and they love to come to “Gram and Gramp” camp in the summer at our home on Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire. Recently we purchased a home on the West coast of Florida where we spend the winters. When spring comes we travel back to New Hampshire for a lovely summer and fall, but the Florida warmth beckons when it starts to get cold again.
Ahhh… life is good!

Bob Hayes

It has been a busy 50 years, but here goes.

After graduation from EHS in ’57, I made an attempt to attend Phillips U. for a semester, but I discovered that I just wasn’t ready to get smart. So, I let Gene Bodes talk me into joining the USAF with him to see the world (that proves how smart I was).

I spent my first year in the AF going thru basic training and tech school for radar repair. My first and last assignment after tech school was all the way to Sherman, Tx. (280 miles from home). During those 3 years, I met and married a wonderful young lady. We had 2 sons by the time I was discharged from the AF in Feb. 1962.

We moved to Garland Tx. as I got a job with Texas Instruments. I was fortunate to transfer into the Integrated Circuit Engineering Dept about 2 years later. This dept. was managed by Jack Kilby who is known as the father of the integrated circuit and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. I worked with an engineer in developing the first integrated circuit linear amplifier. Boy, has electronics come a long way since then.

After I left T.I., I was working for a small equipment manufacturing company when I got interested in the stock market. I decided I wanted to be a stock broker, but Merrill Lynch told me they required a college degree or sales experience to become a broker. So, I found a job in electronic sales with a small manufacturing rep. company. About a year later I attended a seminar on investing in commodity futures. With dollar signs in my eyes, I opened an account with $1,000. I purchased a contract of (you guessed it) pork bellies. I sold 2 days later with a loss of $660. I put in more money and bought a contract of fresh eggs. I sold 5 days later with a loss of $500. WOW!! (I will let you guys read between the lines on my last comment.). Commodity futures looked more exciting to me than becoming a stockbroker, so I asked the office manager what it took to be a futures broker. He looked over towards the windows and said “I have an empty desk”. Two weeks later I was sitting at that desk wearing my new suit and looking out the 10th floor window of a Dallas skyscraper. I thought I had found my calling. I could write a book about that wild ride, but I will spare you the gory details and leave it at this — it was a very hectic and pressure packed 3-4 years in that business.

Since my discharge from the military, up to now, my wife and I have added 3 more children to our family.

Over the next couple of years, I tried several business ventures including janitorial service, equipment sales, smoke and fire restoration, and selling life insurance. None of these seem to fit, so when a friend offered me a job at a environmental test lab for testing electronic components, I accepted. I soon became the department manager for military qualification testing. About a year later, a larger company bought us out and I was back on the streets. I then found a job as the production control manager at a company that manufactured printed circuit boards. After about a year, I realized this is not how I wanted to spend the rest of my working life.

Let’s see, what career field have I not explored? Oh, yes, technical publications. I spent the last 20+ years of my working years spread between 3 companies as a tech writer, a supervisor, and in management. At the 2nd company, Electrospace Inc, I worked in their aircraft division. We had contracts with the Air Force to modify and install the latest technology equipment in such aircraft as the AWACs, the World Wide Command Post fleet, and Air Force One. When Chrysler bought out Electrospace, they moved the aircraft division to Waco, Tx. I did not want to leave the Dallas area, so I went to work in the tele-communication industry with DSC/Alcatel. We built the large switches that control the world wide telephone networks. I spent my last 3 years with Alcatel in the Motorola division. We supplied Motorola with the equipment and software for their mobile phone network. When Motorola decided not to renew their long standing contract with Alcatel, the two companies came to an agreement that over the next 12 months we would train them on how to do our jobs so Alcatel could lay us off. All 250 people in this division, from the vice president on down, lost their jobs during the 12 month period. My time came on January 1, 2001.

RETIREMENT!!!! Oh, what a beautiful word. The last 6+ years since I retired has been great. I guess I have become that stock broker that I wanted to be 40 years ago. I have only one client — me. I spend most weekdays in front of my computer, short term trading stocks on – line. One of my sons and I try to go fishing on the weekends.

Yes, I am still married to that beautiful young lady that I married over 47 years ago. We have 5 children, 8 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren. We manage to get together 3 or 4 times a year. It is a very rewarding experience to sit back and watch them as they visit, joke, laugh, and just enjoy being together. My mother has lived with us for the last 7+ years. This has delayed some of our travel plans, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The recent photo shows my son Mark and me on one of our many weekend fishing trips. We always compete as to who is the best fisherman. This trip, I won.

See you in October…
Bob Hayes