Joyce Nelms Marlar

Abilene, TX

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How do I sum up the past 50 wonderful years—after graduating from Pampa High, I attended Business School for a while and in August 1958 I married my high school sweetheart, Lloyd Marlar.  He was in the Air Force at that time and after our marriage, we were off to Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona.  After that, we were transferred to Roswell, New Mexico, and remained there for 7 years.  During that time, our son, Robert, was born.  From there we were transferred to Travis AFB, California, and then to Hawaii for three years.  From Hawaii, we went to Westover, Massachusetts, where our daughter, Melinda, was born.  Lloyd was involved in the Vietnam War, and after his return from there, we were transferred to Dyess AFB, Abilene, Texas, where we remained until his retirement in 1978. 

We are still in Abilene and have been here for over 30 years.  I was a secretary to the Logistics Commanders at Dyess and retired in 2000. I have been quite healthy, but in November 2007, I had some dizziness and fainting so the choice was to have a pacemaker installed.  During the procedure, the cardiologist punctured my heart with one of the wires and I ended up with open heart surgery to repair the damage.  Although it was a near death experience, I am doing well now and thank God for his goodness in sparing me.  

After his retirement from the Air Force, Lloyd has worked for civil service at Dyess for 25 plus years and is the C-130 Engine Manager there.  He talks of retirement but has not applied for it yet.  He had triple bypass surgery in 1990, three back surgeries in 1997 and two stints in his heart in 1998.  He is an avid golfer (not that good he says) but loves the game and makes golf clubs as a hobby.  

My son and his wife, Pam, live in Richardson, Texas. He is the Service Manager for Holt Caterpillar in Lewisville.  Pam is an oncology nurse at Sammons Cancer Center in Dallas.  Pam had two grown sons when they married, and they each have children.  Our son, Robert, does not have children of his own but is very close to Pam’s sons and children as are we.   

Our daughter, Melinda, lives here in Abilene and works for Dr. Carlton, an orthodontist.  She has divorced this past year.  She has our two granddaughters, Chelsea and Michaela.  Chelsea turned 18 in June and graduated from Cooper High in May 2008 and will attend Cisco Junior College here in Abilene for two years.  She wants to get some pre-med classes in preparation to attend Texas Tech to become a pharmacist.  Michaela is 10 and will begin 5^th grade in the fall.  

We are very proud of our children.  They and our grandchildren are the greatest joys in our life. 

We are both involved in Masonic work and Eastern Star.  Lloyd has been Master of the Lodge and District Deputy.  I will be District Deputy this year.  We are involved in our church and have a very active Sunday school class which we are enjoying very much.  We thank God every day for his many blessings—we have been so very fortunate and blessed. 

When we are at the reunion this year we will have celebrated our 50^th wedding anniversary August 30.  We look forward to the reunion and visiting with everyone.  Thanks, Mike, for all your hard work and thanks to everyone who has worked so hard arranging this reunion.