Jeff Ragsdale:
CLASS OF 1980
Parkview High SchoolClass of 1980
Springfield, MO
Jeff's Story
Life
Since graduating in 1980 I've had a pretty diverse and interesting life. I got married in 1982 to a girl from Republic and we had a son in 1994. Some of you maybe met them at the 20 yr reunion. Last year I ended that 24 year relationship after 22 years of marriage.
I'm now married to the most wonderful woman I have ever known. We were married September 3, 2005. She's a local attorney, working as a substitute teacher at Willard right now. She's almost 9 years younger than me, and a Kickapoo'ite, but I don't hold that against her :-)
Like most parents, my 10 year old son is my pride and joy. He's currently enrolled at Sherwood, and if we stay where we live now, he'll eventually attend Parkview, just like his dad and granddad. :-)
We now have TWINS on the way, with a due date of October 8th. So we're excited and terrified at the same time lol.
A little personal highlight for me was when my softball team (with Tony Craig, another Parkview alum) was the team of the week on channel 33, won the city league undefeated, swept 2 qualifier tourneys, and got to play in the Mens Invitational Super D World Series in Fort Lauderdale, FL. That was a blast :-)
I haven't seen much of any of my classmates. I sometimes see David Roberts and Guy Prince, who work at St Johns also, and once in a blue moon I'll see Tim Nelson or Wally Ransom or Mark Cotner. I do talk to Doug Shy pretty regularly, and... well I guess thats about it lol. When I worked at Greene County I'd see Melinda Mullins and David Fielder often, but not any more. Sigh...
Since the last reunion I've lost about 50 pounds, (its amazing how fast a desk jobs catches up to you) so I might be a little more recognizeable next time. I'm not a paid member here right now, but if anyone would like to get in touch, you can email me at jeffragsdale at the hot mail place.
Anyhow, that's probably all you wanted to know about me and more, so I'm looking forward to hearing from anyone.
Laters,
Jeff
School
Ok, hmmm... I don't have a clue what to put here, so I guess I'll just go by whats up above here.. biggest crush, etc.
My biggest crush... hmm... a tie I guess, and since I was terminally shy, neither of them had a clue I'm sure lol. Top of the list was Melinda Mullins (I still remember the first day she walked into class (what was it, algebra?) in junior high... that red hair had me starstruck lol) and the other was Jennae Harris ( I hope I spelled her name right) but I think all the guys had a crush on her :-)
Oh, and of course, my first love (remember swimming at SMSU?) and good friend forever... Tammy Savard - sorry Kevin, no offense please :), I hope you two are happy for another 50 years, you guys are the best! I really missed seeing you both at the 20 yr :(
Which teacher inspired me the most... I have no idea, I wasted most of my opportunities in high school. I was either too busy doing things I shouldn't, like skipping class with Scott, or doing things I REALLY shouldn't like sneaking out behind the gym to smoke to pay much attention in school. I guess I'd have to say Mr Hawk though, he was a really unique person. Overall my favorite teacher was Jackie Gibson, from Billings HS, she was awesome.
If I could do it all over again would I?
Yeah maybe, but I'd definitely do some things dif...Expand for more
ferently.
College
I don't have much to write about college...
I took 19 hours at SMSU right out of high school, promptly got hopelessly behind and dropped all those classes (unfortunately I didn't do it properly and got 19 hours of F's!)
I went to Drury for a couple of semesters, and also went to Draughon.
Later, as an adult, I went back to SMSU but had to drop out to take care of my Grandmother.
So, no degree still.. oh well, maybe next lifetime :P
Workplace
In high school I was living in my own apartment and working 3 jobs my senior year... in the mornings I would work for my step-dad at his 4x4 shop, then I'd go to school. After school I'd work at McDonalds on North Glenstone, when McDonalds closed I'd go work at the Hilton Hotel bussing tables and running room service until the kitchen closed. Then I'd go home, get about 4 hours sleep, and do it again... phew
For most of the time from 1980 to 1995 (other than when I was away) I worked for my grandfather, leasing and repairing his rental properties with some different odd jobs thrown in at various places.
From 1986 to 1992 I played music for a living at Culleys Pub where we were the house band about 4 nights a week. We also played about every bar in Springfield, and played as far away regularly as Westport in Kansas City and Branson.
Since 1995 I worked for the Greene County Circuit Court as a Deputy Circuit Clerk and Court Recorder, during that time I also had my own private detective agency. In 1999 I left Greene County to run the Republic Municipal Court and be Safety Coordinator for the city of Republic.
After running the court successfully for three years (and designing the new courts facilities) I decided maybe that job was a little too high profile for me and left there to work at St Johns (at the time about 6 blocks from my house) in the Safety and Security Department, where I still am today.
I'm currently a Nationally Registered Fire Department Medical First Responder, Healthcare Provider Level Certified in 1st Aid and CPR, and a licensed SCUBA diver, and BLS Instructor. I also possess certifications in ASP, Extendable Baton, OC Spray, Handcuffing, CLAMP, Tazer, GRASP, PPCT, Crisis Prevention and Intervention, and I am the administrator for the Dispatch Operations and have software development oversight, coordination and training for my department at St Johns.
I have been formerly licensed or certified as a Private Investigator, a real estate salesman, a real estate broker and an honorary Greene County Deputy Sheriff.
I am just a years membership away from being a Certified Court Administrator (the highest certification currently available for Municipal Court Administrators) and have had literally hundreds of hours of training in the form of continuing education programs in that field.
Current plans are for me to work with my wife-to-be in her law office as soon as business picks up enough to support us both. She just went out on her own in January, so we're still waiting for her client base to grow a little.
Military
I enlisted in the Army before I graduated. Now, I can't talk about my military experience... really. :P
Ft Leonard Wood, Ft Sam Houston, Ft Huachuca, Langley, Quantico... seen them all. MOS 98G, 98H Signal Interceptor/Interpreter Linguist (Russian)
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Yearbooks
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Reunions
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