| Bob Brown Littleton, Colorado
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What's Up:
I enjoy many things but it seems that most of my activities have a
physical nature. I go pheasant hunting several times every Fall in N.
Dakota with my two Brittany dogs and Scott Cromwell (WRHS'66), ride my bike on
the Highline Canal paths, shoot sporting clays, exercise at the YMCA,
and take an occasional road trip in my Corvette. We enjoy traveling to
many places but love Maui and own a time share there. I haven't been
able to justify or afford an actual residence on the island but who
knows what may happen. After I retired, I joined the e-mail circuit and
share jokes / political commentary with internet pals.
Since 2005 I have had an interest in all of you and have
assisted in reducing our class missing list from 325 down to less than
20. My commitment has been based on the belief that all classmates
should have the honor of receiving an invitation to all class events.
Attendance is their choice. During this period, it has been my
privilege to reconnect with so many and discover what marvelous adults
they became.
I spent all of 2009 working on my family genealogy. When it became
apparent that I was descended from a Mayflower passenger, Linda Michels
Larson suggested that I obtain a membership in the Mayflower Society
which requires documenting every generation with a birth, marriage, and
death record or an acceptable substitute After many months of research,
I was granted a membership on January 14, 2010 as an eleventh generation
descendant of passenger William Bradford. He organized the move to the
new world, was the governor of Plymouth Colony for about 30 years, and
we can thank him for our annual celebration of Thanksgiving. I was
later granted supplemental memberships as a descendant of John Howland,
his wife Elizabeth Tilley, and her parents - John and Joan Tilley. I always
loved history in spite of what a couple of my teachers believed and this
search was one heck of a lesson! Along the way, I made contact with
several distant cousins none of which I have ever met but we now
regularly communicate by e-mail. I worked on the Mayflower project with
a woman in CA and we are similar in age and interests. Our great
grandmothers were sisters and are depicted on the 1870 Census as living
together in St. Louis. I have had some of the same experiences
currently being displayed on the television show "Who do you think you
are" and they are fantastic! If any of you would like to start your
journey and need help, call me. I learned a lot and know where to look.
My Occupation:
Much to the surprise of my parents and anyone who knew me,
I graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Business /
Accounting and I spent my career in the area of banking, real estate,
and mortgage financing. Retirement became available in late 2005 as an
employee of Wells Fargo and I decided to do it. I miss two things: the
pay check and my customers. If you want to meet a lot of people from
all walks of life, hang out at a grocery story and a bank. I enjoyed
all of my customers but I think we tend to remember a few more vividly
than others based on how much we had in common, pain they may have
caused, or notoriety. Among my favorite customers I include the
daughter of a past nation's vice president, several large corporation
CEO's, a nationally known author, and an assortment of business
professionals. I will never forget being in the office of the board
chairman of an international environmental engineering firm when a
secretary interrupted our meeting with the news that Iraq had invaded
Kuwait. Worse, two of their employees had been taken hostage!
My Family:
I married Marcy Kane, a Machebeuf High School alum, in 1974. We
met as a result of both being employed by United Banks. I was a
bank auditor and she was working in one of the affiliate banks. We
have four children, all of which are now married and well established in
their own lives plus five grandchildren. The oldest grandchild is
very active in Boy Scouts, obtained the Eagle Scout award and is now a
senior at Embrey Riddle University where he is studying aeronautical and
aerodynamics design engineering. Paul is a railroad engineer and
his daughter is attending the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs
on a volleyball scholarship. Christy is married to an airline pilot
living in Phoenix, and Cliff is a new home sales staff manager. His
oldest son recently accepted a baseball scholarship to the University of
Minnesota where he is currently slotted as a shortstop. His high school team won the Colorado state championship
in 2018 but finished 2nd in 2019. He was named to the All State
team, however. Tyler, our youngest, graduated from
Metropolitan State University, got married in 2017 and is working in his father-in-law's cement
contracting business where he does estimates and supervises commercial
cement pours.
Favorite Memories:
My favorite memories seem to center more on what was happening on Friday
and Saturday night as opposed to the classroom. And, all of my teachers
would testify to the accuracy of this thought! I was very active in the
Order of DeMolay and cherish the great times I had with classmates such
as Buddy DeArvil, Scott Cromwell, Jay Byerly, Leroy Knopfle, Dwayne
Walker, Will Hardesty, Gary Kehl, Cecil Morehouse, Chuck Stout, Phil
Hufford, and many others. The Farmer's Barns were always fun, save one,
which featured a college dance band. A singular, defining moment would
be watching Jay Byerly attempting to relieve himself from the driver's
seat of his convertible while we were going 100 MPH with me steering. The two
guys in the backseat weren't impressed but they were highly excited
about what was about to happen to them. The good news is that we all
managed to survive. |
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