James Phelan:  

After Graduation in 1983, I worked a few odd jobs trying to figure out what to do in life. My first two plans kinda fell through as I wanted to enlist in the Marines or go off to college and play football. Thanks to a knee injury my Junior year of school, those options were eliminated. I worked out, played lots of sports and stayed in shape, and applied and went to work for the Pasadena Police Department. I entered Pasadena Police Academy about a year and a half after graduation (Feb 1985). I worked in the Pasadena Police Department in several functions, I trained recruits, was on the Honor Guard and the Riot Squad. I had a brief stint in C.I.D. Other than the life long friends I made and the experiences in the Pasadena Police Department , the best thing to happen to me was through an introduction by a fellow officer's Fiance'. I was introduced to a wonderful girl, whom I am still married to today. I married Lesli Croft in April of 1991 and we lived in Pasadena till April of 1995. We had one daughter Paige in 1993. The three of us transferred to Plano, Texas where I went to work for the Plano Police Department in May of 1995. We added another daughter, Bailey in 1996, who is a freckled face sunshine future Florence Nightingale nurse. I worked Patrol for several years and transitioned to a Detective in the Family Violence Unit. It's a great job, and I love that no two days are ever exactly the same. Its never boring, and always a challenge. I also had the honor of working closely with many excellent Police Officers, Four of them that lost their lives in the line of duty. They are the R E A L H E R O E S and were my friends and brothers Les Early,Jeff Ginn, Wes Hardy and Larry Candelaria. They are missed every day! 2015 has been a true year of transition for my family. We saw our oldest married to a fine young man, who is serving our country in the US. Navy. So we now have Jan and Paige Phelan-Russell in the family. Paige was sworn into the doctorate program at Parker Chiropractic College and will be a Doctor in 2018.Our youngest daughter is Bailey and she is now entering her sophomore year in the University of Texas at Dallas, and is in t...Expand for more