We have no children...which means no grandchildren... But we have fostered and helped out several kids along the way.
Do You have any Pets and what type? Stories about your Pets?
My wife Patty & I do not have any children, but we currently have several cats... (I'm afraid to tell you how many...lol) and believe me they can be just as demanding, Atleast we're spared the expenses of school and buying, clothes and such.
We strongly believe in responsible pet ownership. We have volunteered our time with the Humane Society and the Feral Cat Coalition. Help keep the spread of pet diseases down by having all your cats & dogs spayed or neutered!
Personal Website Homepage:
Family Genealogy Website...I might post later.
Share some of your Personal School Stories:
I know of several stories to add here...but one in particular I need to mention. Since my diving accident happened during the summer after my sophomore year, I was forced to spend most of my Junior year away from my classmates receiving much needed physical & occupational therapy in Portland and then later at the Benedictine Nursing Home. It was through this period that I remember getting many cards, letters, and visits from this same class that never forgot about me. With your love and support during those months you helped build up my physical and mental strength that has continued to help me persevere throughout these many long years. Do you guys remember the intercom system they set up for me from the Nursing Home to one of the classrooms at the high school? Even though I couldn’t always answer when asked something over the intercom, I could hear you guys interacting during the class period. It was almost like being there in person…sort of. Of course there were probably times you were talking to a disconnected unit from my side. Anyway, this connection to my classmates at this time was very helpful in brightening up my outlook on life and coping with my disability at that time. This is a very much belated thank you for all of you for being there for me and being my classmates.
Even though it’s been 40 some years now that we all have traveled our own pathways on this journey of life…we all shared an important leg of that journey…our high school years. I will continue to add other interesting moments here as I recall them from time to time.
What did you want to do or think you were going to do when you finished high school?
My main interest during my early high school years was to go on to college and then into medical school for a professional career as a medical doctor. Of course, things do change in life...so my second interest turned out to be Business Administration.
What did you do right after leaving Kennedy HS?
(NOTE: The following is a condensed version...if you wish to view my more detailed history, just let me know and I can send you a copy)
’69-‘70
University of Portland (U of P), Portland
Liberal Arts
’70-‘71
Mt. Angel College, Mt. Angel, Oregon
Liberal Arts
’71-‘82
Portland State University (PSU), Portland, Oregon
B.S. in Business Administration & Finance Law
Lucky to have several opportunities for both pleasure & business to travel to the east coast and visit a lot of the great sites within New Your City and Washington D.C. and the surrounding areas.
Through our VoIP communications company, we were able to set up several satellite businesses in New Delhi, India and Conakry, Guinea (West Africa). If it wasn’t for my disability and the length of time for traveling to these locations, I would have loved experiencing first-hand these countries, the people, and their cultures. But instead, my business partner had to do this.
I was able to trace my genealogy lines from my ancestors who immigrated to the United States back to Europe, mainly Germany and surrounding areas. It's also amazing how much of our Family Trees are so inter-connected, especially to a lot of the "founding fathers" around the Mt. Angel area. You'd be surprised to find out how a lot of our fellow classmates' families are somehow interlinked through past family marriages.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Besides setting up and working on this website, I enjoy many different things including listening to music (all kinds except Rap & Country), Reading (fiction, non-fiction, classics to contemporary), Movies (most genres from old classics to contemporary both American and Foreign made), Genealogy research, Writing (short stories, children’s books, historical, and other), Playing games (cards, board, mind, and computer), and entertaining my cats (kids).
Photos / Albums / Slideshows:
Comments on your Photos/Albums/Slideshows:
Above is our MySpace slideshow of our company's storefront, Earth-Centric, LLC. We specialize in providing environmentally-friendly, nature-based, biodegradable and/or compostable products for both the retail and wholesale market. If interested, you can check out our website at: http://www.Earth-Centric.com.
Our natural renewable products range from anything from starch from corn, potato, tapioca, or other plants and vegetables, combined with biodegradable polymers, to create products that reduce the impact on the environment in absolute carbon footprint terms. Our many listed products here range from Bioplastics, PLA, and even recycled Sugar Cane fiber. We also specialize in providing our product-line in not only Bulk Carton/Case packaging but also in smaller Sleeve and 100 & 25 Pack formats so now anyone can choose to be environmentally safe.
This video is a demonstration on how to set up your own videos and such to be embedded here as described in the "How To Use This Site" catagory section on your left-hand menu column.
JFK HS Website Comments/Suggestions:
Well...since it's been a while since our class has been able to keep up with our lives to each other...except for a few reunions from time to time...now we have a website to share things with others. I will try and follow up here and include a short history on my life ever since we graduated in 1969. Hopefully all of you fellow classmates and others from other classes who attended John F. Kennedy High School in Mt. Angel from 1965-1969 will share your stories on you and your family's lives as well. Let me know if you have any questions and/or comments. if you have any other information to add about yourself or other classmates please pass it on.
Thomas (Tom) Smith
