John O'Brien:
CLASS OF 1955
Hampton High SchoolClass of 1955
Allison park, PA
Pennsylvania State UniversityClass of 1978
State college, PA
John's Story
After High School I attended the Coast Guard Academy in New London Connecticut. After six months I resigned and returned home. With help from a friend I started working as an electrician wiring houses and small commercial facilities. For entertainment I drove around and went roller skating. It was while roller skating that I met Barbara Matisz. We started dating on Easter Sunday 1957. In the fall of 1958 I entered the Army for two years. Trained at Fort Jackson, South Caroline. During basic training I received a two week leave at Christmas time. Returned to camp in January to complete the last five weeks of the 10 weeks of training. At the end of training I was shipped to Fort Ord, California. From there I was sent special duty to the Persido of Monterey, California where I worked with a small group conducting research for the Army. Worked there until early August. In August 1959 I took a months leave to get married to Barbara, then returned to the Army, going to Fort Lewis, Washington to board a ship for Korea. In Korea, I was assigned to the Area Engineers, Seoul, Korea. Served there until October 1960 when I returned to the United States by boat. The boat stopped for a few hours in Alaska, then sailed to San Francisco where I was discharged from active duty. Flew home to Pittsburgh, PA the next day. Barbara had found us a furnished third floor apartment in East Liberty section of Pittsburgh. We lived there until about August 1961 when we moved a few blocks to North Saint Claire Street to a larger unfurnished apartment that covered both the second and third floors of the house. I attended electronic school at Penn Technical Institute on Liberty Avenue during that time. My father died in December 1961, In 1962, my mother sold the family home to Barb and I. Mom moved to Orlando, Florida to live. Barb and I mov...Expand for more
ed into the family home in Allison Park, PA. I quit working as an electrician and started working for Mosebaugh Electric as an electronic technician. I worked there until 1964. In June 1964 I went to work at the reactor facility at the Pennsylvania State University, in State College, Pa. Barb, I and the family lived first in a rented home on Waddle Road just outside of State College on the north side of town. We lived there until 1966 when we sold the home in Allison Park and bought a home at 615 Walnut Street in State College. Our family lived there until March of 1979 when we moved to Richland, Washington. We bought a new home there in March 1979 after sell the home in State College, PA. Barb and I still live in the Richland home. At the end of February 2002 Barb and I both retired from our jobs in Richland. Barb had been working for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and I worked for Duratek. I had been hired here by the Hanford contractor, Rockwell Hanford, the contract switched to Westinghouse Hanford and then to Flour Hanford. Under the Flour contract I worked for Rust Engineering which was sold to Waste Management which was sold to Duratek. Since retirement we have done a lot of traveling in a 22ft RV we bought at retirement. The first year our trip lasted about two months. We then spent about two and a half years with Barb's father in his home to help him out. When his health got to the point we could not provide adequate care he was moved into a nursing home. At that time we returned home and resumed our traveling. Over the years the use of our RV has increased, We have over 140,000 miles on in 11 years. We have driven in all the contiguous 48 states. Most more than once. We stop and visit friends and relatives when we can. We hope to remain healthy and continue traveling for many more years.
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