| Class of 1968 Biographies |
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| Bios P-S |
Rick Patterson
- I moved to Tulsa a few days after graduation to take a job with Dresser-Clark
Industries, which overhauled natural gas pumping engines. I enjoyed the
independence and loved living in Tulsa. Since I did not have a college deferment, my
call to serve in the military arrived in the spring of ‘69. I joined the Navy in May and
reported for active duty in July. While it did not seem so at the time, joining the Navy
was the one of the best decisions that I could have made
- Most of my 24 years of active service were in aviation commands (carriers and A-7
Corsair II squadrons), with the one exception serving as a Navy Recruiter for three
years. I served aboard the USS Midway, USS America, USS Nimitz, and USS Carl
Vinson Deployments in the Western Pacific, Northern Pacific, Indian Ocean, North
Arabian Sea, North Atlantic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean.
- Assignments and foreign port visits took me to such places as Portsmouth,
Edinburgh, Wilhelmshaven, Guantanamo Bay, Roosevelt Roads, Saint Thomas,
Naples, Taranto, Rota, Gibraltar, Tunis, Tangier, Hong Kong, Singapore, Olongapo,
Pusan, Osan, Mombassa, Bangkok, Yokosuka, Sasebo, Atsugi, Diego Garcia, and
Bahrain. I made multiple visits to most of these ports.
- Stateside permanent and temporary duty stations included Memphis, Kingsville,
Corpus Christi, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Norfolk, Pearl Harbor, Dayton,
San Diego, Alameda, San Francisco, Lemoore, and Patuxent River.
- My first marriage did not survive the rigors of frequent and extended deployments;
however, we were able to divorce amicably for the sake to our two wonderful
daughters. My daughters are both grown, happily married to great guys, and I have a
10 year old granddaughter and 3 year old grandson. My granddaughter will be flying
out to spend several weeks with us again this summer.
- One of my most difficult assignments was as a recruiter in Oklahoma during the early
years of the All Volunteer Military in the post-Vietnam era, at a time of low
unemployment. The working hours were horrendous and the job was often
frustrating; however I met the love of my life in August 1979. My lovely wife Rosemary
and I met on a blind date that neither of us wanted to happen. We married on
Valentines Day 1981 and have enjoyed a blissful life together. Our first assignment
after we were married was to Japan for three years. It was a great experience, even
though I was deployed much of the time. The assignment did, however, afford
Rosemary to join me in such ports as Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore.
- I retired from the Navy in 1993, after spending my final six years stationed in Alameda,
California. My awards include the Navy Commendation Medal (3 awards), Navy
Achievement Medal, and a host of campaign and service medals & ribbons. For my
second career, I accepted the challenge of taking a position in the semiconductor
equipment manufacturing industry. My Navy career provided me with not only the
opportunity to complete my B.S., but also the technical background to readily adapt
to the fast pace high tech world of Silicon Valley. I have been with Lam Research
Corporation (www.lamresearch.com) for thirteen years and now serve as a Senior
Program Manager.
- We moved to Northern California over twenty years ago and have lived in Pleasanton
(http://www.ci.pleasanton.ca.us/community/pleasanton/) for the past twelve years. It
has truly become our home. The relatively perfect weather and ability to getaway on a
weekend to San Francisco, Monterey & Big Sur, the Napa Valley Wine Country, or
Lake Tahoe make any traffic issues seem rather minor.
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Becky Saak Goodrich
After graduation I married and moved to Norfolk Va. for a few months, I then moved to
Maryland. In 1969 I had my first child Mikki Jo. I also worked in Washington D.C. for the
next year. (D.C. was quite an experience in l969 for a nineteen year old from Oklahoma
City). In 1971 I divorced and moved back to Oklahoma City and got a job working for Hertz.
I married Jerry Goodrich in 1973, our son Jeremy was born in 1975. I left Hertz in 1981,
thinking I would like to be a stay at home mom. I returned to work in 1983. I went to work
for my brother at S&S Promotions. In 1991 I bought a portion of his business and began S
& S Textiles, Inc. (I can only imagine what Mr. Lundy would say, I wasn’t his best student)
and I’m still working.
Jerry retired from the OKC Fire Dept. in 1999. We have a cabin at Lake Tenkiller where we
spend most of our summer weekends. We both love the lake. My hobbies are reading,
gardening, golf (when the weather is perfect), and my grandchildren.
We have two grandchildren ages 13 & 9. What a blessing grandchildren are! My parents
are still living and in great health. My sister Sandi (class of ’65) and brother Steve (USG ’71)
are also doing well. Our families are very close and we all three get to work together from
time to time on different projects.
All and all, the last 40 years have flown by. I’ve lived an everyday life, with everyday
blessings.
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Stan Sutterfield
Fellow Spartans,
I suppose the goal is to cram 40 years into a few paragraphs while avoiding making a fool
of oneself. So, here is my attempt to do so.
Following graduation, my only goal in life was to be an Air Force pilot. It had been my goal
for as long as I can remember. The only way to achieve that was to get a degree and join
the USAF. A scholarship to NE State University at Talequah got me started on that track.
While there I met Pat Johnson (Putnam City ‘68) and we’ve been together ever since. After
two years at NESU, I dropped out to earn some cash and switched to Central State in 1971
and finished there in ‘73 with degrees in math, physics, and computer science. Pat
finished her teaching degree in 3.5 years and we were married in Jan 1972. With a fresh
degree in hand I applied to the USAF Officer Training School and completed that training in
early ’74. I completed pilot training at Vance AFB in Enid in ’75 and stayed there as an
instructor pilot in the T-38 for three years. Then I had assignments in the F-4 at
Spangdahlem AB, Germany, the F-5 at Williams AFB in Phoenix, and the F-16 at Hahn AB,
Germany and MacDill AFB, FL. There were various service schools mixed in, as well, along
with a one year tour in Korea. I had several adventures over the years of Air Force flying –
serving during the cold war with a nuclear weapon on my jet – teaching pilots from all over
the world how to fly and fight - an ejection from an F-5 in 1984 over the Superstition
Mountains east of Phoenix – multiple classified deployments to the mid-east – a short
exchange tour with the Brazilian Air Force – many Red Flag exercises. It was nonstop
excitement. I was (and still am) living the dream.
I was promoted to O-6 but turned it down in order to retire in 1995. I immediately went to
work at Southwest Airlines flying the B-737. I began lobbying Congress in 1996 to change
a FAA rule that forced airline pilots into unemployment at age 60 – based solely on age.
After more than a decade of lobbying, we were successful by getting HR.4343 passed in
Congress on 14 Dec 07. I thoroughly enjoy my job (it’s not a job to me) and I am glad to be
able to continue flying to age 65. Of course, Southwest is a superb company and I am
fortunate to be employed with them.
Pat and I have two children, son, Kevin, born in 1974 and daughter, Keri, born in 1977.
Kevin attended the USAF academy and graduated at the top of his pilot training class at
Vance AFB in 1998. He flew F-15’s in AK, FL and VA and served in Iraq. He attended the
USAF Fighter Weapons School (like Navy Top Gun – but better) and is now flying the F-22
Raptor. Keri started a very successful publishing business in Fort Worth and then decided
to enjoy life so she got rid of everything and moved to NYC. She’s been traveling the world
while keeping an apartment as “home” in NY. Last year she started a truffle import
business and she’s gradually building the business.
Pat opened a florist business in 1998 and then decided in 2004 to become a flight
attendant. She ran the business while working as a Southwest flight attendant until we
sold the business in 2006. Now she puts her travel benefits to best use by visiting our
grandchildren, Ainsley, 4, and Chase, 2. She enjoys her work and will probably work as
long as I do.
Pat and I left Tampa (after 17 years there) in Aug 07 to move to a fly-in community near
Daytona Beach called Spruce Creek. We’re renovating the home we bought and, of
course, I really enjoy having a hangar in the back yard. There are lots of aviation people
here so the camaraderie is refreshing. My son and I bought a 1959 Piper Pacer and he’ll
take it to AK to use as a float plane. I’m building a tandem two seat plane that will go up to
230 MPH and is stressed to +6 and –3 Gs, so, it is capable of doing aerobatics. The FAA
requires that I document my work on the airplane to prove that I actually built it, so I have
an amateur web site (rv-8a.net) to document my work.
I’ve changed my flying schedule so as to attend the SEHS reunion. I’ve attended two
reunions. The first one was … well … interesting. It was the 10 year reunion and was at
the “bar” on NW Highway and several classmates got into a fight. Remember that one?
Well, the 30th reunion was more civilized and we had a great time. I’m sure this one will be
the most fun of all. Thanks to Melvonna and all of the folks who have invested their time
and money into making this reunion (and the others) a reality. It is a lot of dedicated work
to bring it all together and I appreciate their efforts. Looking forward to seeing everyone
again.
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