What have you been up to since you graduated?
It has been great to be back in Tuscaloosa. I moved away and spent several years in the Air Force as a Flight Engineer on Lockheed C-141-A Starlifters based in Charleston S.C. In 1980 I entered the newspaper business working for Boone Newspapers, Inc. at The Andalusia Star News. I was Retail Advertising Manager there for six years. I also met my wife of 20 years (Pam) there. Pam was Lifestyle Editor at the paper. In 1986 we loaded up and moved north to Decatur, AL. Pam was Lifestyle Editor and I was Retail Advertising Manager at The Decatur Daily. In 1994 we moved to Tuscaloosa. I became Retail Advertising Manager for The Tuscaloosa News and Pam accepted the position as Editor of the Alabama Alumni Magazine. Less than a year after getting settled in here in Tuscaloosa, we found out that Pam had inflammatory breast cancer. We battled the disease for 8 years...chemo, radiation, mastectomy, a bone marrow transplant at UAB, more chemo, etc. On Christmas Day 2003 Pam died. In 2004 I established a fully endowed scholarship at The University of Alabama in Pam’s memory - The Pamela Thacker Burt Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is attached to The UA Capstone School of Nursing and is for Alabama residents, with a 3.0 GPA, needing financial assistance entering The Capstone School of Nursing. To date, Pam has helped some 16 UA students with their education.
I retired from The Tuscaloosa News after a 35 year career in newspaper advertising sales marketing management.
My how the years have flown by! I look forward to seeing old friends (we aren't really old!!!) and doing some serious catching up at the 50th reunion of THS. See you all there!
