Richard Moore:
CLASS OF 1961
Fairview High SchoolClass of 1961
Dayton, OH
Gettysburg Elementary SchoolClass of 1958
Dayton, OH
Richard's Story
Dropped out of college freshman year, worked for a year at a mind-numbing job, then joined the Navy. Jumped ship in Singapore and traveled up the peninsula to Bangkok. Shacked-up with a Chinese chick who was working as a nurse. AWOL morphed into Desertion. Earned a Dishonorable Discharge in absentia.
Met an interesting fellow who was making a great living in the slave trade. Pitched in with him and made a ton of money over the next three years, stashing bullion in a safe deposit box in Perth.
Met and married my first wife, Fa Que. 4'-6", 80 lbs. Her family forced a dissolution of the marriage after finding me in bed with her paternal grandmother. Met my second wife, Ronny, shortly thereafter. It was not until her brother talked with me that I learned Ronny actually was born Ronald. It's amazing what surgery and hormones can accomplish. Exit, stage right.
All good things come to an end. I was arrested for my complicity in the slave trade and spent the next 10 1/2 years in Bangkwang prison. Upon my release, I was invited to leave the country. Next stop, Perth and a raid on my bullion stash.
Then began a long string of drunken nights and incoherent days. Ran into a lovely young Irish thing in Melbourne. Our first night together, removal of her blouse revealed three breasts. We were married the following day. She was very well-to-to, confiding in me that her money had been earned in trafficing harvested Philippino organs to wealthy Japanese businessmen. Well, off we went on this new (for me) venture. For the next five years, life was very good. Eventually though, she tired of my need to turn her around with her back to me to slow dance and we split the sheets.
Next stop, Kowloon. This is where I discovered that I am a pretty good singer. I scored a gig with a band and really, for the first time in my life, thoroughly enjoyed myself. It's also where I discovered gambling and heroin. The money I earned with the band couldn't possibly support my two new habits, so the Perth box was raided on a more and more frequent basis until there was nothing left.
The headaches from the Bangkwang beatings aren't as severe as they were and I'm dealing pretty well with the diseases I picked up from dirty needles. I'm living alone in a small travel trailer that's owned by a friend and I have a dog named Spot.
Naaaa.....just having some fun.....
The truth is......
Worked at Standard Register for about a year, then relocated to Charlotte, NC to be near my family and go to school.
Married Teresa, joined the Navy. Served in San Diego and Naval Air Station, Memphis.
After discharge, bought first home in Charlotte. Teresa and I split the sheets after 4 1/2 years. No kids. As related in the Jerry Reed song, she got the mine and I got the shaft.
Married Mary, who was pregnant with our daughter. Lisa was born 1968. Mary ran off with one of my co-workers at the Caterpillar dealer in 1969, taking Lisa with her. I went to work one morning and everything was in place. Came home for lunch and the place was cleaned out. Didn't see my daughter for another 26 years.
Moved in with Sharon, filed for divorce from Mary. Divorce was final 1970. Married Sharon same day. Richard Jr. born 1972. We've been a couple ever since. Moved to Arizona 1973.
Started two businesses 1979, a courier business running loan packages to VA and FHA for mortgage bankers and a credit reporting business compiling credit reports on new home buyers and selling the information to mortgage bankers. At one point, had 16 employees working full time. Sold both businesses 2002. Fully retired 2004.
In 1995, my 27 year old daughter contacted me. She had been looking for me since she was 16. Her mother and the scumbag she ran off with had told Li...Expand for more
sa that he was her pop all the time she was growing up. When she was 16, she requested a copy of her birth certificate from NC state and discovered that I was her father.
In 2003, my elder son Greg contacted me for the first time. (no, I'm not making this stuff up). He was 40 at the time. We have talked, but have never met each other face to face. His mother, who was my high school sweetheart, is the victim of a rare terminal disease and he wanted to inquire about my general health to assess his chances for a normal life. Well Greg, pretty much everything I was born with is still there and working.
The only person I've been in contact with from the high school days is Ken Thomas. We call each other frequently and always seem to settle in talking about our adventures and mis-adventures during the Viking Customs days. I often wonder whatever happened to the rest of the Vikings. I don't see any of them on Classmates. I'd also like to know whatever happened to Betty Willis.
UPDATE: Jim Lohnes e-mailed me 7-21-08. He said he sees Jim Tandy on a regular basis. I still carry a silver dollar-sized 3rd degree burn on my leg received when I wrecked Lohnes' Whizzer Sportsman. He and his father had just rebuilt it and I felt like mud for years after that because I wrecked his beautiful new bike. I email him politically-conservative articles, jokes and other interesting things on an almost daily basis, just as I do for Ken Thomas and Elrod Whizzel .
Lohnes used to date Sharon McGriff (now Sharon Kelley, a widow) back in those days and to prove that it is indeed a small world, I learned recently that Sharon lives within a few miles of me here in Tempe. We have begun meeting at Starbucks every few weeks for coffee and talking over the latest news. UPDATE: 12-15-10, just got off the phone with Sharon. She had a hip replacement 4 weeks ago, so I like to call her frequently to check on her and see if she needs anything. She related the news this evening that Jim Tandy's wife has died recently. My best wishes go out to Jim and the family.
I still fiddle around with engine swaps, hot rods and motorcycles and have had a part-time position as chief technical inspector at the local drag strip since 1990. It's sort of like working at a hobby and getting paid to do it. Ken and I used to set up the drags on a side taxiway out at Dahio airport on Sundays beginning back in 1958. I loved it then and I love it still. Nothing in the world compares with standing between two Fuel Funny cars when they launch. UPDATE: 12-15-10. Quit the tech inspector job. Getting too old to bend and stoop and crawl around under race cars, but I did enjoy it as long as I could do it.
Oh yeah, my wife Sharon and I divorced due to irreconcileable differences in 2006. I relocated to Wisconsin to live with a friend for 6 months, then to the island of Tobago where I intended to stay. But like they say, you can't help who you love, so went back to Phoenix to live with Sharon. We're still divorced, but live together. Go figure.
Sharon sent this to me in an email and I'd like to share it with you. It pretty much sums up how I feel about life in my advanced years........
There comes a point in your life when you realize who matters, who never did, who won't anymore...and who always will. So, don't worry about people from your past.
There's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.
Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't.
Be kinder than necessary. Everyone you meet is struggling with something.
Believe everything happens for a reason.
If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands.
If it changes your life, let it.
Don't ask for life to be easy, just worth the effort.
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