Mark Russell:
CLASS OF 1963
New London High SchoolClass of 1963
New london, CT
Mark's Story
After high school â¦
Right now I am confined to the house; because of snow, so I guess it might be a good time to write what I did after graduation ⦠so he goes.
I will never forget the first thing I did after graduation, within days. My uncle had a cottage out near Gardner lake; and fell out of his boat into a small pond he had dug. I dove into the pond but was not able to find him; the state police eventually found the body.
I spent that first summer at Mitchell College trying to prove to myself that I could succeed academically. Got all Aâs; a big change from high school.
I went on to Wentworth Institute in Boston and received an associate degree in electronic engineer with high honors.
In the summers I worked for Ajax Engineering in Waterford, CT.
In 1966 I accepted an engineering job in Cleveland, Ohio. At the end of the year they transferred me back to their Boston office as a service engineer. I specialized in analog and digital control systems for large power generation stations, pulp & paper mills, and some merchant marine. This took me all over New England and did work in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands on several occasions. I finally ended up working for them out of Lynchburg, VA as a nuclear start-up engineer.
During this period I went on to Northeastern University to get my bachelor of science. Also, got married to Deborah Crooker from Quincy, Mass; we had 3 boys. Now in their 40âs ⦠Jeffrey, Timothy, and Scott.
After all of the traveling we decided to settle down on Cape Cod as instrument supervisor for Canal Electric. After 2 years we decided we needed to have a bigger environment than Sandwich, MA to live in. After completing 3 years I changed jobs.
From here we moved to Manderville, Jamiaca where I was the plant instrument engineer for the Alumina Partners of Jamaica. There were management problems and there was a change and almost everyone left.
From here we sort of came back to the states. I accepted a position as a start-up engineer for Midrex, a division of Korff Industries in Germany. Basically they built steel mills. I worked out of Charlotte , NC. I actually had an assignment in the Boston area for several months. And an assignment in Georetown, SC. But, most of the time was spent as electrical construction superintendant in Sorel, Quebec Canada (my family lived with me there and the kids went to the local schools) and in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. Work got slow so I moved on. Again.
This time I accepted a position with Aramco in Saudi Arabia as a maintenance engineer in Abqaiq. That lasted about a year; before being promoted to superintendant in their refinery at Ras Tanura. I held several position in maintenance and operations in the refinery. I was eventually promoted to one of the refinery managers of the Ras Tanura refining facility.
During this time we had twin boys: Andrew and Adam. They eventually returned to the states and went through the Montville school system from K to high school.
Saudi Arabia was a great place to raise a family, although I have to admit it isnât the same place, now.
T...Expand for more
he Saudi government was building a huge power generating station in Ghazlan and asked to borrow me. I was the plant manager and over saw the start-up of the power station. After several years I was offered a permanent position with the Saudi Consolidated Electric Company. I was the director of steam power generation; over seeing the Ghazlan and Qurayyah power stations.
Teenagers donât belong in Saudi Arabia; so my family returned to Montville, CT. I continued on for 3 years before leaving; and returning to my family in Connecticut.
The Saudi adventure was one that took me all over the world on business (and a few vacations with my family). I travelled on business to the USA, England. Holland, Belgium, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, and a lot of stops in-between.
On my return to Connecticut I tried farming; starting in Montville. But, moving to Thompson, CT in 1999 where we had a 100 acre farm. We tried raising sheep, beef cattle, goats, llamas, and alpacas. We had one of the largest llama/alpaca farms in New England with over 150 animals, mainly alpacas.
In 2005 we called it quits; cash flow from farming was one way; out going.
To supplement the farm I have also worked for the local movie theater companies (Interstate and Hoyts) in Waterford, Westerly, Killingly, and Madison. And, as an electronic technician, for the Mohegan Sun, repairing slot machines.
After selling off the animals we worked as a contractor with an RV travel/caravan company and helped run RV caravans in New England & Nova Scotia, western Canada, Alaska, Mexico, South America and Panama. We lead 2 caravans from Texas to the Panama canal; we liked it but it was all work and very trying/tiring.
All of our travels, the last few years, have been by cruising: the Canadian maritimes, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Bahamas, Mediterranean, East coast of South America, South Africa & Indian Ocean, and West Africa.
Our last cruise, January 2013, was to the Caribbean and a chance to crew on the 12 meter world cup yacht, Stars and Stripes.
We have put the farm up for sale; and bought a smaller home in Danielson on 3 acres of land.
Deborah works occasionally as an RN in a local rehabilitation/long term care facility. The boys: Jeffrey is a manager with Stop & Shop, Tim also works for Stop & Shop (both with 20+ years), Scott is at the Mohegan Sun (he also belongs to the Screen Actors Guild and does acting as parts become available), Andrew travels around the states testing power distribution and power lines, and Adam creates software for âappsâ . (I donât really understand all of these communication gadgets. It is hard to believe I have a degree in electronics and was president of the college computer club ⦠maybe things have changed.).
My hobbies and interest are sort of up in the air right now; selling the farm and buying a new house are very distracting. I like working in my woodworking shop (which is turned upside down right, now) and researching and studying the art that I have collected over the years (mainly paintings and etching).
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Photos