John Denti John Edwin Denti

Attended Ohio University and received a BS in Botany. The Kent State shootings dampened my desire to go on to grad school so I went to work for my neighbor's lumber company in Columbus. In 1973 I became the plant manager and moved to Wooster, OH to run the Holmsville Division.

In 1981 I went to work for...............HALIBURTON..............and then moved to Charlotte, NC in 1986. I bought an abandoned house for 30K, took 7 years to restore it, and before the colapse, it was worth about 750K!!

I now work for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte; a 25K student branch of the UNC system. We have a 10 acre botanical garden on campus and I am the greenhouse mgr, mostly dealing with the orchid collection. Since this job is more like a hobby I get paid to do, I'll probably work here until I'm 70, then retire to the NC mountains; or come back to UA........this website is making me homesick!

My life at UA was not a pleasant one.............I was one of those who just didn't fit in. It's really no one's fault but my own. I was never pushed or encouraged; my Step Father had no use for me and my Mom was happy to have me around to clean the house and do the yard work! Looking back, I am grateful for having been educated there as it made going to OU seem like going back to the 8th grade. I will always remember Mr. Dudrow for instilling the love of the living world in me. (Now girls, don't be squeemish!!) Oh how I wanted to teach like him, but realized early on that I don't deal well with children! I also remember the few weeks we had a student teacher we called Mr Y (Yanchunez?) in Mr Snouffer's chemistry class, and how sad we were when he left. On his last day, one of the girls wrote him a poem that was so touching she had to finish reading for him because he couldn't.I actually ran in to someone 20 years later that had him as a teacher in the Cleveland area. My proudest moment at UAHS came in Spanish II when Mrs Ridgeway fell ill and asked ME to conduct the class!

As painful as high school was, I have attended EVERY reunion and have had a blast! Like old cheese and wine, y'all have mellowed well!!
You choir members should know that I got a copy of the Christmas concert and have played it every year for the past 49........"CHRIST IS THE LORD, OH PRAISE HIS NAME FOREVER" still sends chills down my back!!

You should also know that as I read your bios and go through the yearbook, I'm saddened by all the great opportunities that UAHS offered that I never took advantage of. AND even though most of you never knew who I was I consider ALL of you my friends.