Nickname (that you know of): Bon
Marital status: Married
Spouse's/Significant other's name: James
Phone #: (217) 483-4125
Your life since 1964:
I graduated from Iowa State in May 1968 with a B.S. in Math, and a week later I was married. My husband, also an ISU graduate, was working for GMC in Pontiac, Mich. We lived there until November, when he was drafted into the Army. After his basic training, we spend a year and a half at Fort Polk in Leesville, La. While there I taught high school math and he was in the motor pool working on Army buses.
My first son Mike was born in 1970. When Mike was 3 months, we moved to Illinois. Second son Dan was born in 1972 and third son Ryan in 1976. I was a busy stay-at-home mom. My husband stayed busy working for GMC until 1976, then moved on to other jobs with truck dealers and the van-conversion and motor-home industries. The boys were into scouts, soccer, piano, swimming, and playing baseball in the backyard.
All 3 sons graduated from college, with very different interests and degrees, Mike in Music, Dan in Business/Marketing, and Ryan in Civil Engineering.
Since leaving Iowa, we've lived in Michigan, then Louisiana, Illinois, Minnesota, and back to Illinois. The majority of those years we've been in the Springfield area.
In 1993 I decided to go back to school so I could get a job as a computer programmer, something I've wanted to do since high school. The last programming I had done was at ISU, on an IBM-360, using punch cards. I found out how technology had really changed since the 60's. After a few classes, I started my job search and was hired by the Illinois Dept. of Revenue as a programmer/analyst. I continued taking classes and earned an M.S. in computer science.
Your life now:
I'm still working, as a Systems Analyst, at the Dept of Revenue. My husband retired 4 years ago, and I'll probably retire in a couple of years. The kids all live fairly close so we're able to see them often. We have 2 wonderful grandchildren, who keep us hopping.
My older brother Jim (class of '63) lives in Florence, Kentucky, with his wife Cookie. He has 2 sons and 2 grandchildren.
We drive to Iowa to visit family a couple of times a year.
What classmates have you kept in contact with?: Marilyn (Wright) Scales
Which classmates would you like to hear from?: Everyone. The web site is a great idea. It's fun to see what everyone has been up to the last 4 decades.
Hobbies: I enjoy photography, swimming, playing bridge, reading, silk painting, crosswords, sudoku, & flower gardening.
Favorite song of 1964 or earlier: Anything by the Beatles.
Memories of Clear Lake: The Corner Drug Store, cherry cokes and black cows. A & W root beer in a frosted mug. And who can forget the Barrel. Swimming in the lake (it definitely wasn't 'clear'), diving off the raft. Ice skating on the bumpy ice, dancing at the Surf, riding the roller coaster by the 'island' (just once was enough). And, my first summer job, at the Silver Boot, selling (and eating) lots of cotton candy, popcorn, and cherry sno-cones.
