Kirk Tangeman:
CLASS OF 1974
Newton High SchoolClass of 1974
Newton, KS
Kirk's Story
Well it has been over 34 years since I since I walked out of the hallowed halls of Newton high school, I guess it is about time to start putting my story down. It will take me some time to get it down, so check back for updates.
The summer after graduation, I worked and lived near Berlin, Wisconsin. That fall I started College at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. It was a Divison 3 school so it did not have athletic scholarships, but I wrestled any way. It was a good freshman year, Oshkosh was known for their St Patty's celebration. Broke my thumb in a Greco Roman tournament, the cast was great for knocking someone's door in the dorm.
Even though I enjoyed and had a successful first year at UW-O, I was on the put yourself thru college plan. Which meant that I needed to come back to Ks and go to a State College to make it more affordable. The choice of which college was simple, since K-state just dropped their wrestling program that only left 1, 4 yr school with a program, Fort Hayes St. was for me. So from the fall of 1979 to the spring of 1980 I was a Fort Hayes Tiger. (We won't count the one-year I laid out and worked at Hesston Corp to make extra money, some how after a year of working there wasn't anything additional in my savings.) So back to college I went to finish my degree and to get on with my life.
During my college years I worked a number jobs at school and during the summer. Everything from delivering pizza, building bridges for King construction to driving a forklift & welding for Hesston Corp. All this work experiences convinced me that I wanted to be a white-collar worker, not a blue. (Though I do like to tell everyone that I am still a Bubba at heart! Which would explain my love for the outdoors and my desire to be hunting or fishing most of the time.)
So in the spring of 1980 I moved to St. Louis to start my life as a white-collar worker, to be more exact a cartographic analyst (maker of maps).
In the fall of 1980 I meet life mate, Pam. We were on the same volleyball team at work and from there it went, we got married the following...Expand for more
spring.
In December of 1982 we bought the home we are still living in. It is a small 3-bedroom home in a suburb south of the city of St. Louis. Or as the say around here "in south County". Since buying our house I have added decks, landscaped the yard and remodeled about every room. If we decide to move when I retire, it will be hard to do.
In December of 83 our daughter Kim was born. She was our little china doll, no hair, just that fuzz where it was supposed to be. When she was 5, I was on the sidelines watching her play T-ball by the time she was in Jr. High I was one of her coaches on her select softball team. She loved sports and tried to play them all; softball, soccer, basketball to volleyball. By high school she had trimmed it down to Softball & BB. She also likes the out doors the by 2nd grade she had already caught a 2 lbs crappie. I had to wait till I was 33 before I did. She also went deer hunting with her dad from the time she was 11 till she went off to college. In that time she bagged 9 deer. Of course after they were down dad had to take over, but it was worth it to send that quality time with her. She went off to Georgetown College in Ky on a softball scholarship, unfortunately the week after school started the coach that recruited her took another job and the assistant that took over was a jerk. So after a couple of frustrating years she became a full time student for jr and senior yrs. She now works here in St. Louis and we see her regularly, (we baby sit her dog while she is at work).
In September 1985 we had our second child, Danny. Danny unlike his sister had a full head of hair. Danny had development problems from birth. The Doctors could never pin anything down but theorized that it was something to do with how he metabolized fats at the enzyme level. Danny never cried, we would have to set the alarm so that we could give him his nighttime feedings. His face always had a smile on it, and when he was happy it was even bigger. Danny never developed out of infancy; we lost Danny in January of 1998.
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