Ray Stephenson

Milan, IL

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Hi Old Friends of Long Ago, 

As I write my bios, the first thing that comes to my mind is, “If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of my body instead of relying on my youth and modern medicine for repairs, replacement, mending, and curing.”  The other thing is that I would not have been heeding the advice I was getting from Larry Cruise and Bill Brown during my high school and college days.  Following their advice and actions was not what I had been taught at home, but it was fun while it lasted.  It lasted for approximately 35 years. 

I never did graduate from college, as the President and Dean at the school did not see eye to eye with me about what you go to college for.  As I was heeding Larry and Bill’s advice then, I just could not seem to make it all year without getting caught doing something I shouldn’t be doing after completing my freshman year. 

I have worked in the pipeline industry for most of the years since I graduated from high school and went to college.  I worked for two of the major pipeline companies in the U.S. as Director of Construction, among them Enron, and two major pipeline contractors as a Project and / or Contracts Manager.  I worked for Phillips Petroleum Company in a uranium mine in Grants, NM for two years during 1961 to 1963.  From 1963 to now, I have more or less worked in the pipeline industry; except for one year that I took off in 1986 to 1987and lived at Waterwood Golf Resort at Lake Livingston.  I was single during this time and I played golf, fished, hunted, drank a little Budweiser, and just had a good time.  I lived about 100 yards from the clubhouse, and my patio was on the women’s first tee box.  After one year of this exercise, I had to go back to work so I could rest up. 

My work has taken me all over the United States, into Alaska, and into Canada.  I have worked from the east coast to the west coast and from the Canada border to the Mexican border.  I have lived and worked in Palm Springs, CA; Scottsdale, AZ; Tallahassee, FL; the Woodlands in Houston; Waterwood Golf Resort at Lake Livingston, TX.  This past year I was working near Bristol, TN and Martinsville, VA when they had the NASCAR races.  I have been fortunate enough to work in nearly every state in the union except for Hawaii and Oregon and possibly a few others. 

My wife, Janet, and I were laid off Christmas 2003 from one of the pipeline contractors, Murphy Bros., Inc. as they have not done very well the past three years and are broke.  They are the largest pipeline contractor in North America or I should say they were.  Janet was the Environmental Manager for the Company.  Because of the layoff, I will probably retire - fish, hunt, play a little golf, go to the rifle range, and spend some time with old friends.  Janet wants to continue her pursuit as an Environmental Consultant as she is not ready to retire.  We hope to move back to Texas sometime this spring or summer when she finds something she wants to do.  We currently live in Illinois 150 miles west of Chicago at Milan, IL, which is not far from the Mississippi River. 

Janet and I have been married for nine years and we have three daughters, one of mine (Stacey 40) and two of hers (Dawn 36 and Shannon 33).  My daughter, Stacey 40, has four children, who call us Grand Dad and Grandmother.  That is when you know how old you have gotten.  There are no grandchildren on Janet’s side.  But we are glad in one case, as Dawn is not married.  You all will like Janet.  She is a fine Christian woman, but she does like to visit with people and she does that rather well. 

My Dad passed away in 1984.  My Mother contacted Alzheimer’s five years ago, and this year we moved her to an Alzheimer’s Assisted Living Care Unit in Lubbock, Texas.  My brother, Jim, and his wife, Jean, have a new home in Lubbock and are able to look in on her.  Her memory is not there, but she is healthy and happy and does not seem to have a care in the world.  I still remember the fresh cinnamon rolls she would make for the guys that used to come out to see us when we were going to school.  I bet Larry Cruise, Bill Brown, and Mike Conway remembers that, too. 

Janet and I hope to make the next reunion, for now we know how to get in touch with everyone.  I am looking forward to seeing as many of you as I can.  It has been a long time and this brings back many good, but old memories.  My thanks to everyone who has worked to make this happen, especially to our Webmaster, Mike Conway, and to Joy and Ronnie Rice for getting my e-mail address to Mike and Bill Brown.  (We ran into Ronnie at Joy Dawn’s old homestead two weeks ago when my brother and his wife and Janet and I were touring the Pampa and Hopkins area for the first time in about 40 years).   

October 19, 2006 Update

 Hello Again Classmates and Friends of Long Ago, 

There have been some major changes which have impacted Janet's and my life since I last wrote my bio.  Since Mike wanted everyone to update theirs if it needed to be revised, I asked him to send me the word file my bio is on.  I will share with you what is going on in the Stephenson household. 

First of all, my mom passed away from Alzheimer’s disease on August 25, 2006 in Lubbock, TX at the Alzheimer's home.  As everyone knows, losing a parent is a major loss, but Mother had become such an invalid and was dependent on someone for everything that she required in her daily life that it was probably for the best.  She was in good health and was happy, but she just did not have her mind anymore.  She is missed.

 The day she died, Janet and I were going through customs in Calgary, Alberta, where we have moved.  Janet got a senior management environmental position with an environmental and engineering management company based in Canada in August of 2005.  She went to work for them in their Chicago office, where we moved there from Milan, IL so she could take the job.  She has since been promoted and relocated by the company to their Western Canadian Regional Office in Calgary.  We are really happy about the move.  She is because of the good job and its opportunities; and, I am because of the fishing and hunting possibilities in this beautiful country. 

I have more or less retired this year.  I worked for two years in the fall and winters of 2004 and 2005 for a major pipeline contractor in Colorado and in Wyoming.  But unless one of my pals in the pipeline business persuades me to help them, I am going to start fishing and hunting when I can go.  That will be when we ever get these many boxes unpacked and the house arranged so we can get settled.  I imagine we will have it all unpacked in time to move back to the states when Janet retires.  That should be about 2011 or so at the rate I am unpacking and getting settled.

 Relocating to another country when you are nearly 67 is not a very good idea especially when you have accumulated as much stuff as we have during our marriage.  I do not believe we were thinking about picking up and moving everything we own when we were buying all of that junk during our 12 years together.  That is not to mention all of the things you have to do in Canada to start all over again; i.e. – visas, driver’s license, car registration, importation of vehicles and household goods, non-resident firearm and ammunition import applications, establish credit, bank accounts, metric system conversion, etc.  In spite of all the new things that we had to do and that we take for granted in the States, we sure like Calgary and living here.  It is a far cry from the Texas Panhandle.

 The country is absolutely beautiful up here.  Calgary is in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.  Banff is approximately 80 miles west of us, which is like Aspen, CO and other major snow skiing areas in the U. S. Rockies.  We have managed to take three Saturday trips to look at the scenery and beauty of the mountains, rivers, lakes, trees, and wildlife.  It takes us about an hour to get to the mountains and it is fabulous.  I wish everyone could be as fortunate as we are during their lifetime to see it.

 I am looking forward to seeing everyone at our 50^th Anniversary Graduation Shindig in 2008.  I want to again thank Mike Conway, Joy Dawn Rice, the others involved with our website, and for the former classmates that provide information to the website.  It gives me the opportunity to see what everyone is doing and to be able to communicate with old friends that I grew up with and share many good memories.  I hope to share more with them if time allows.  I have really enjoyed visiting on the internet with Mike, Joy Dawn, Larry Cruise, Bill Brown, Buster Baird, Cora, Jimmie, and the others.  I have missed you all.