Bill (William) Conkel:
CLASS OF 1966
North Polk High SchoolClass of 1966
Alleman, IA
Polk City Elementary SchoolClass of 1960
Polk city, IA
Bill (William)'s Story
Life
This really needs updating.
Married too young at 17; divorced after only 3 yrs; have a son living in/near Des Moines. Now, remarried for 52 yrs and raised 2 daughters. It wasn't easy. In about 2017 or 2018, my wife Connie was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. In 2020 she was evaluated to be in stage 6D or 6E. Of course, this is life changing for the both of us. I am currently her full time care giver. Very tiring & emotional.
I'm still 6'2"... lost about a half inch due to gravity :). I hope to someday get back to some sort of exercise regiment. Maybe have to go the home gym route, since I cannot get out.
Now, (still) living near Memphis in Bartlett. I am still into classic & hot rod VWs now over 25yrs. I had give up heading up the local VW club too. I have a flamed, hot rod Show Bug, a daily driver bug convertible that has undergone an "extreme makeover," and an old 62 project Bug, but sold that one. They all have names.
Our current "baby" is an aging 11-year old, black Shih Tzu named Shadow. He is crazy and keeps us in stitches. But he is developing some old age issues.
I am retired from FedEx Services in IT, after 28 years... I reached burn-out as Project Mgr and moved over to tech writing for a few years before retirement.
I retired in January of 2012. I would rather be on a beach, under a palm tree somewhere, sipping a daiquiri or a cold ice tea. But, that is another bio.
More "me, me, me" (my apologies)
I received my PMP (Proj. Mgt. Professional) certification over many years ago. We were all a bunch of NERDS! Aren't you glad to know all that junk?
Enough for now already. Maybe later.
School
Elementary School is pretty vague. A few memories... boxelder (SP) bugs in the brick walls; what seemed like a really big hill to run down.. and get a compound fracture of the upper right arm, sticking through my shirt sleeve in the first grade; telling Rocky B. that I thought "a snake had bit me," a line straight out of a cheap B/W western movie. I remember my little brother Irv missing the pad in the gym and splitting his head open during "fire engine races" or something like that. Red Rover, red rover... I remember that. Sadly, I also remember being among the last kids to be chosen for games. Seems like I had a crush on every one of my female teachers.. well, except a couple. But, if I remember the name correctly, all the boys esp. liked Miss Jenkins (?). Then she married. :( Twissted... both o...Expand for more
f my wives were "older," only if by a few months. Ha
4th grade was revolutionary, when the schools consolidated and there were all these neat new kids.
High School was not among my best years. I took to smoking Lucky Strikes and working at Elwells Grocery in Madrid. I don't think I had a life after that. Just made enough to make payments on that old 55 Chevy, buy gas, and pay liability insurance. I sometimes laugh over that day in history; when I was trying, stealthily, to snag and hide the purse of my second cousin, Roberta McCaulley(sp). She screamed, I got busted by Terry Holdridge for what he THOUGHT I was doing (something sick?)[come on, "she's my cousin!"] and was sent to see the principal.... Burrell with coffee breath. Did you ever experience Burrell's "board of education?"
Remember Miss Swenson, our Algebra Teacher? She was a sweet lady. I liked her. Of course, nerd that I am, I liked Algebra too. And what was the music teacher's name (Jr. High); also taught English? I remember the day she was yelling at one/all of us in English, classroom windows open, and she sucked in and choked on a fly! That was pretty gross. Rumor was she was "let go" for using the "D" word on somebody in class. Was that true? I heard her use it on Marvin F. one day. Too bad, you hear that on TV almost everyday. We're in the long downward slide.
I think I was guilty of following too much. Oh, and I often had crushes on lots of female classmates. Who didn't? What a little nerdling. What was I thinking?.. Getting married after my junior year? Gawwhhh! Well, I have self-diagnosed that issue, but won't torture you here. High school brings "war bumps" and awkwardness if you are not among the fortunate few. Thank the Lord it doesn't last forever.
If you haven't read it someplace else, I ended up going to Des Moines Tech High (nights) for my senior year credits and graduated from there... before eventually getting drafted for 2 yrs.. the Nam. But I pulled one over on Uncle Sam. Instead of getting drafted for 2 years, I enlisted in the Army Security Agency for 4 yrs. Tricky..eh? That's where I got into Electronic Countermeasures. Got an all expense paid tour to Korea (!). My life started a long, slow, banking turn in the right direction at that point.
I used my GI Bill to go to college here in Tennessee. More (full-time) night school, though, while full time at 3M. This is just TMI.
Later, Bill
Workplace Retired 2012
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