After high school I worked at several different jobs before volunteering for army induction in 54. One of my jobs had been with Western Electric and I was assigned to the Signal Corp. After 5 months of schooling at Fort Monmouth I was attached to the Far East Signal battalion and spent 15 months in Japan. After service I attended Seton Hall in the evenings and graduated with a B/S in Business Management. In 1967, I started working for a British bank in NY. Twenty years later they gave us early retirements packages and I left the bank as an Assistant VP. The children were still in school, so once again I worked at a variety of positions until I finally retired in 1999.
My wife Anne and I were married in 1968. God blessed us with our biological son Kevin in 1970, and we subsequently adopted two Korean children. Our son Michael lives in Florida, and our daughter Mary lives in Connecticut. Kevin recently transferred from his job in Orange, NY to Wilmington NC. With our children living in three different states we get a chance to travel both north and south. Anne and I have been enjoying our senior years. Outside of the normal aches and pains associated with so called golden years, we have been enjoying good health, and have been able to travel to several European countries as well as seeing the US.
Looking back we both agree that we had good childhoods and a lot of fun growing up in Jersey City and Hoboken. We were very clannish in those days depending upon what part of JC or what parish we grew up in. I can remember playing sports on lots downtown (no Little League fields) . Depending upon which way the wind was blowing you could get a whiff of soap from Colgate's, tobacco from the Old Gold factory, and the smell of beef from the Armour and Swift packing plants.
The 50th Reunion and the "after reunion lunches" have given me time to renew old friendships and to get acquainted with fellow graduates who were in other classes or groups. I tip my hat to the organizers, for the time and work that they have put in keeping the class of "52 together.
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