Carole Curtis:  

Life Where to begin??? After graduation, I married another classmate from 1960, Dana "Jon" Higgins. We had two children, Kathy (born May 1961) and Ellie (born March 1964). We divorced in 1967. Jon died in about 1985. I then married James R. Eckles (class of 1961) in 1969 and in 1972 we moved to Houston, Texas. In 1978 we divorced in Houston, Texas. Jim later married a gal in Houston and to my knowledge is still in the area. I met a guy in Houston who was from California and in 1982 William N. Lightbown, Jr. and I were married. I gained two stepchildren, Roger (born in September 1964) and Elena (born in December 1970) from Bill's first marriage. We moved to Vancouver, Washington in 1984. Bill worked as a Marine Engineer aboard oil drilling ships all over the world on a 28-day on/off schedule. I worked as a legal secretary for 30 years and retired from that profession in 1992 in order to be able to do some travelling when Bill was home for his 28 days off time. Unfortunately in September 2001 (on my birthday) Bill was diagnosed with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. This is one of the rarest forms of cancer. Its only cause is from exposure to asbestos and it does not show up in one's system until anywhere from 15 to 50 years AFTER exposure. This is the same type of cancer that Steve McQueen died from, but his was in the abdominal region. Bill went through 4 months of chemotherapy treatment in preparation for surgery which we had hopes would extend his life by 7-12 years. In April 2002, Bill underwent an operation to removed his right lung and its lining with hopes of removing the cancer. It would have been followed by a year of radiation. Unfortunately, he did not recover fully from the surgery and passed away on May 14, 2002. Even though I thought I had prepared for the worse, it hit hard when they removed the life support and he did not take another breath on his own. Bill was survived by not only myself and our combined four children, but also by 5 grandchildren, both of his parents, three sisters and many nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews. He was a marvelous person who was a mentor and father figure to most of his nieces and nephews while they were g...Expand for more