Today's Featured Biography

 
Duncan (Zan) James

Re: My �current� picture. Zan with Gwen on the Poppypedic. Babies sleep best when on Poppy�s chest. Gwen is our youngest grandkid.

Where to begin�

After graduating in 1965 from UGA in Athens, I entered grad school at UT in Austin, TX. One of my courses required a term paper and I didn�t type very well. So I asked one of the student secretaries in the Dean�s Office to type the paper. One thing led to another and Elayne and I were married in June 1967. If Microsoft Word had been available in 1966, I might never have met her; but, I�d still be trying to type that term paper.

We were married while I was serving a 2 year tour of duty in the Army Finance Corp at Oakland (CA) Army Base. I was not a warrior. The main function of the Oakland Base was to process troops going over to Vietnam and discharge them from the Army when they returned to the US. The most memorable parts of my military �career� were the long weekends we had enjoying the beautiful scenery of California.

Upon discharge from the Army in 1968, I began my business career in Houston working for Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (a national CPA firm). Over the following 30 years I worked in finance and general management for Stratford of Texas (diversified agri-business) in Orlando FL and Houston, United Energy Resources (natural gas transportation) in Houston and Public Service Company of New Mexico (electric and gas utility) in Albuquerque NM. Elayne was a stay-at-home mom until the children left for college. She then resumed her career as a legal assistant/paralegal/property manager. We retired in 1998.

After retirement we put on our travelling shoes and lived at various times in Wenatchee, Rainier, and Lopez Island WA; Angel Fire NM; Anchorage AK; and San Antonio TX. We currently live in a rural area in Edgefield SC. More on Edgefield later�..

A more interesting part of our bio concerns our children.

Dwayne lives with his wife and 13 year old daughter in Albuquerque. He is the General Manager of the NM Regional Soccer Complex. The Complex, which is composed of 22 soccer fields on a 75 acre facility, is host to about 6000 games per year. The soccer season starts in March and ends after Thanksgiving. The Complex is host to numerous soccer leagues and tournaments from teams both within NM and from surrounding states. However, his real passion is drag racing. He currently owns and drives a Ford Mustang in the 10.5 Outlaw Division of the National Mustang Racing Association. He recently achieved his long term goal of a 200 mph pass with a 203 mph (6.78 second ET) in November, 2010. If he can make consistent 200+ mph passes he will win some races. To support his racing activities, he, along with his business partners, operate Hellion Power Systems (http://www.hellionpowersystems.com/) and Motiva Performance (http://www.motivaperformance.com/). The focus of the business is the development of turbo kits for the auto aftermarket. So Classmates � if you want to add a little zip to your Mustang, Ford F150 pickup, Camaro, Charger, etc. and still be street legal, you might want to consider installing a turbo kit in your ride. It will give a senior citizen considerable street cred with the grand children and it is safer than a Harley.

After several years in investment banking, Krysten decided she wanted to become a medical doctor. She enrolled in pre-med courses at night, took the med school entrance exam, and was accepted at UT Southwestern Medical School in San Antonio. She got married between her 2nd and 3rd year and transferred to the UT medical school at Parkland Hospital in Dallas where her husband, Green Shepherd, was Director of the Texas Poison Control Center. At the end of her 3rd year, Greene accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the UGA School of Pharmacy at the Medical College of GA in Augusta. Greene�s teaching responsibilities had him out of town about 1 week per month. Krysten completed portions of her 4th year at Parkland and portions at MCG. In early May, 2005, she received a diploma in Dallas from the UT med school and on May 12 she gave birth to Heidi in Augusta. In July, she started her 1st year of residency in Neurology. Sam was born September 19, 2006, during her 2nd year if residency. Gwen was born July 30, 2009, at the end of her 4th year of residency. On September 29, 2009 she took her Board Exam in Neurology. One short note about the schedule of a typical resident. By Federal regulation a medical school resident is not supposed to work more than 80 hours per week. Moreover, residents have �call� (a 24 hour work shift) every 3rd to 4th night. In January, 2010, she began her one year fellowship at MCG in neurophysiology. She and her family will move to Asheville, NC in December, 2010, where she will be in the neurology department of Mission Health System.

How Elayne and I settled in rural Edgefield County within �babysitting distance� is still a mystery. Our locating where we are just seemed to have happened without any forethought or discussion. Anyhow, we bought a piece of property and built a home within 30 minutes of Krysten�s house. We enjoy doing projects on the property and can stay happily busy without prompting from anyone. However, we constructed our activities to be responsive to the needs of the grandkids and we have enjoyed it tremendously. Where we go from here is anybody�s guess. We still have our goal of enjoying each day.

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