Dennis Mattingly:
CLASS OF 1969
Clinton Massie High SchoolClass of 1969
Clarksville, OH
Cumberland CollegeClass of 1976
Williamsburg, KY
Clarksville Elementary SchoolClass of 1965
Clarksville, OH
New Carlisle Elementary SchoolClass of 1958
New carlisle, OH
Harveysburg High SchoolClass of 1940
Harveysburg, OH
Dennis's Story
Life
After graduating from CM in '69, I went to Cumberland College in Kentucky, finally getting a BS in Psychology. My first teaching job was in Campbell County, Tennessee. I married Linda, my college sweetheart, the next year. She was from Dayton, Ohio. We managed to snag a beautiful home on Norris Lake and while I taught, I also started working on my MS in Psychology at the University of Tennessee. After completing my MS, I returned to Cumberland College to teach in the Psychology Department. Since Linda was still finishing her BS at Cumberland, I actually had her as a student. In 1978, I started work on a PhD in Psychology. However, in 1980, I decided to go to law shcool, so, with my wife and 1 year old son and two dogs and two cats in tow, off to law school we went. I graduated from Chase Law School in 1983 and started practicing that year here in Clinton County, where we still live. Most people probably thought I would need a lawyer instead of being one. Our oldest son now lives in Saigon, Viet Nam, where he teaches and travels. Our youngest son is in music recording/production. It's quiet with the kids gone, but I stay busy with my flowers and my animals and my love of 33 years. She now works for the local county board of education after teaching for 22 years at East Clinton High School. I kind of retired in 2005 but recently found myself assuming ownership of Bryant Law Office in Wilmington after the untimely passing of my mentor, Jerry Bryant.
School
We lived in New Carlisle (Clark County) the year I started first grade, which was the fall of 1956. So that's where I attended my first year of school. I remember that my teacher was Ms. Judd, at least I think so. I called her Ms. Mudd and got sent to the office. That was just the first of many trips to commune with the school principal. We moved to Clarksville during the summer of '57. That's where we stayed until I finished high school at CM.
College
I started Cumberland College in the fall of Â69 on a music scholarship. I think my academic scholarship offer was returned to sender for lack of sufficient postage. I never really considered any college other than CC since my entire family seems to have gone there. America had just landed a man on the moon that summer, Woodstock had just finished, and we were watching the Vietnam war on TV during dinner each night. The psychedelic music and drug scene was making a steady march from the west coast to the east coast, and was becoming entrenched in Ohio. Cumberland College, situated on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, had been virtually isolated from the influences of sex, drugs and rock and roll. That changed when the freshman class of Â69 arrived. The newest students of that year were significantly more attuned to the changing political climate in the country as had been previous students. The influence of rock and roll was...Expand for more
everywhere. And we were inclined to party at the drop of a hat. My first year at Cumberland was essentially a nine month party. I was more obsessed with having a good time, although I was aware of the possibility that I could be walking in rice patties if I flunked out of college. Long hair and sandals was everywhere, which heretofore had been foreign to Cumberland College and Williamsburg in general. On December 1, the first ever military draft lottery was broadcast on TV. We gathered around a little TV in my dorm room and watched as each day of the calendar was assigned a random number. Low numbers meant you would be immediately drafted if you flunked out, while high numbers allowed some breathing room. My number was 324. Some of my friends werenÂt so lucky. I didnÂt see some of them again after that semester. I met some good friends that year, among them being Randy ÂOzzy Osborne, Al Striano, Larry ÂGator Gates, Jenny ÂSticks Dunham and Besty ÂBB Walker. I think I finished that year with a GPA more suitable for ÂBluto of Animal House. That same month, America learned that Nixon had been secretly bombing Cambodia, and the Beatles released their last album just four days after Ohio governor James Rhodes authorized the killing of four Kent State students. Year two was a little more focused, and clear headed. Despite the ever-increasing variety of off-campus parties, I did attend class often enough to learn the professorÂs name, and those of more new friends - Paul ÂGoose Goocey, Pat Faulkner, David ÂWishbone Evans, and Wendy and Carol, just to name a few. There were others, such as Yankee, Chumsy, Ro Ro, Mule, Red Rag, Stoner, Freaky, but their real names escape me at this moment. Then again, maybe I never knew their real names. Year three was better yet. I settled in on a major in Psychology and a minor in Special Education. Dr. Jack Williamson was department head and very intelligent, but veeeeery strange. There were fleeting moments when I actually understood what he was saying, such as in Statistics. Go figure!! Anyway, this was the year that we saw the beginning of the end of Richard Nixon and his corrupt administration. The Watergate scandal was unfolding on a daily basis, the war was winding down, and AmericaÂs Apollo space program had successfully landed men on the moon six times. Things were looking up. I went to Florida that summer to work, but the sun and the beaches were just too attractive, so I stayed for a year. I lived in Orlando and took a few classes at the University of Central Florida, known as Florida Tech at that time. It was a fantastic year, but it was time to go back to college full time. I returned to Cumberland to finish a BS in psychology, met my wife, bought my first Irish Setter, and set out looking for a job. Life was going to be good.
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