Jon Flanders

It has been 21 years since I was last involved with Muscatine High School. For those who knew me then, you may remember that my father got a job transfer and we moved to Texas two weeks before the start of senior year. We ended up in a suburb of Dallas and it was quite a culture shock. Senior year went well there and I did graduate. (I have two 20 year high school reunions to attend, although Muscatine will always be #1 in my heart!) I went to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (one of the federal service academies), located in Kings Point,NY. I became an officer on merchant ships(containerships, tankers, cruiseliners, etc.) and have had the opportunity to travel all over the world. I joined the Sandy Hook Pilots in NYC in 1997 and am now a partner. We guide the ships into and out of the ports of NY and NJ. We physically get on the ship and take over for the captain while in port. There is a program on the TLC channel and the Discovery channel about ship pilots, if you are interested in finding out more. I am married to a woman I met in NY while I was in college (she'd already graduated from Yale a couple of years earlier - my older woman!) and we have two children, an 11 year old daughter whom we adopted from Colombia when she was 7 and a 8 week old son. My wife currently works at Citigroup as a Senior Vice President (as long as they remain in business (lol)) and is the brains of our operation. I have passed through Muscatine twice in the last 20 years, both times on the way to funerals in Ottumwa, Ia, so I'm happy to have gotten an invite to reunion and have a happier reason to visit.