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Sherman, TX
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After
I graduated from dear ‘ole PHS, I married Dayton Brack and moved to
central Kansas. He went to work at the helium plant at Otis, Kansas, and
we had three children. When the Otis plant closed in ‘65, we transferred
to the Masterson plant (back in God’s country). We lived in Dumas for
three years where we had our youngest son and then moved to Amarillo so
that it would be easier for me to finish college.
I had gone to Ft. Hays State (Kansas) for one semester. Started at
Amarillo College and loved it! It is still the best college that I have
ever attended. Finished at WT with a major in business education and a
minor in English. By that time (1972), teachers were a dime a dozen and
the only way you could teach was to start out subbing. Well, I have a lot
of patience, but not that much. Went to work for Dorchester Gas as a gas
accountant and mostly stayed in accounting from then on. Worked for Mesa
Petroleum, Santa Fe Energy, and then for the State Comptroller for over 20
years.
In ‘82 I had divorced and thought I needed a change of scenery, so
transferred to the new Comptrollers office in Tulsa, OK. Was there for 6 ½
years and then transferred back to the Dallas West office in Irving.
Yup,
you guessed it…another divorce. I did a lot of oil and gas tax auditing
and have audited most of the major companies. Twice have spent a year in
California’s east bay area on a major audit. Have done audits in many
states (you have to go where company records are located) and truly
enjoyed some of my experiences, but in my next life I want to come back as
a good guy and not a tax auditor. Took the CPA exam and passed the first
two parts in 1989 and the last two in 1990.
Got married again in 1990, and that lasted for 9 years. I don’t do well at
picking husbands, but I have four beautiful intelligent children and four
beautiful intelligent grandchildren, so I have been blessed. Rodger Brack
(divorced) lives here in Sherman and is an electrician.
Kathleen (Kathy) lives in Mt. Juliet, TN (Nashville) and is assistant
manager of a bank. Her husband, Kelly Warrell, works for Southwest
Airlines. She has three children, a boy and two girls. Stephen is the
manager of a bank; Kristina is a bank teller; and Jennifer works for a
marble and tile company. Have no great-grandchildren yet, but Jennifer is
getting married next June on the beach in Panama City, FL.
Melanie lives in Amarillo and has been at Pantex for 14 years and is in
nuclear non-proliferation. She travels extensively, and at times I meet
her in some of the places she goes. She has one son, Coby Leach, who plays
football for Randall High. Her husband, Wayne Beighle, is a highway
patrolman and was spokesman for the Panhandle district for many years, so
you may have seen him on TV. He’s now on the helicopter unit that
has finally come to Amarillo.
The youngest son, Bret Brack, (also divorced) lives in Fritch and works
for Conoco-Phillips. He was the smallest baby (6lbs, 2 oz.), but is the
biggest kid at 6’4”. It has to be because he was the only one born in
Texas. He has a huge barbeque grill built on a trailer, and he and former
father-in-law still cook for fund-raisers, celebrations, club meetings,
etc. and compete in cook-offs.
I belong to a travel club, and have traveled extensively, both for work
and for fun. Still have six states of the 50 that I haven’t seen, but hope
to get to those in the next year or two. Most fun vacations were probably
Ireland, Hawaii or the Island of Barbados. Have been to France and Monaco,
but still would like to see Switzerland and Germany. Scotland was nice,
especially because Kathy and her family were there and in England with me.
Haven’t traveled much in the past two years since I had a lot of health
problems in ‘06. Had knee surgery in Oct. (minor) but that brought on a
massive clot in the lungs, and in the hospital they found other
complications. Am doing much better now, but have been plagued with
chronic hives periodically for the past three years. Was able to go to
Branson in April and had a really good time.
Was really looking forward to this reunion since I have not been able to
come to any of the others, but Kathy has recently been diagnosed with
cancer…a very aggressive form, and she will probably be in chemo at that
time. I will stay with her until she is through it. Just need all your
prayers.
When I retired, I moved to Sherman area. Was raised in a small town, and
guess this was more home-like than the big city. Had 25 acres and a small
house. Decided that I needed less acres and a bigger house. Foolishly
thought that I needed at least 4 bedrooms so that the kids could all come
home at once. With their families and jobs, that has never happened. Also
thought that one acre wouldn’t be too much to care for…boy was I wrong.
Moved to the Nashville area, and lived there for 4 years, but the kids
kept talking about maybe transferring back to Texas, so came back “home”
The big house still hasn’t sold ( my son lived in it while I was gone) but
am currently in the process of building a smaller house on a smaller lot
in town. Love the challenge of designing a house. Think this one will be
an octagon and my lot is a long, narrow triangle beside a creek. I usually
play “hand and foot” two afternoons a week with a seniors group and belong
to a craft club, so stay busy. If anyone is in the Sherman area, be sure
to look me up!
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