Roger Connor:
CLASS OF 1967
Wilson High SchoolClass of 1967
Portsmouth, VA
University of North Carolina Class of 2016
Chapel hill, NC
Campbell UniversityClass of 1975
Buies creek, NC
Roger's Story
Born in Portsmouth, VA. Spent summers with maternal grandmother and great aunts in Lake City, SC. Moved to Fremont, NC age 6. First football game, saw runner get line marker into teeth/face beneath face guard from 5 ft away- haven't liked football since. At end of 4th grade, moved to Edenton, NC. Created folio of collected leaves with descriptions of wood usage. Also won first prize for arrow head collection, and a second prize for geology collection at county fair. Moved to Elizabeth City, NC 2nd third of 6th grade. Got a 200X refractor telescope for Christmas. Moved to Great Bridge (Chesapeake), VA for last third of 6th grade, then moved to Logan Drive, Portsmouth, VA for 7th thru 12th grades.
Learned what silver dollar size blisters all over my back was like as a result of class swimming outing in 7th grade. Between microscope and chemistry sets determined I really wanted to become a Chemist. Entered Campbell University in Aug 1967, and we moved to Chesapeake, VA before I got home for Thanksgiving. Entered the USAF rather than be drafted when funding for college became unavailable in Dec 1970. After basic and electronics training was sent to 727th Tac Cntl Sqdn, Bergstrom AFB, Austin, TX. Spent off duty time with Troop 96, BSA. Finished my BS degree, Biology in May 1975, after an early out from 2140 Comm Gp. Det. 15, Levkas, Greece. After several temp positions, and several moves, landed at Research Triangle Institu...Expand for more
te, Center for Semiconductor Research, RTP, NC as a chemist in Apr 1978. Multiple hats and address changes later, in 1998, was downsized due to lack of work. Several temp positions after that, I arrived at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Environment, Health and Safety as a Hazardous Materials Technician, where I was collecting all the radioactive waste on campus. As of the end of January 2016, I retired from UNC.
In the process of my journey, I've been involved with the Boy Scouts as Assistant or Scoutmaster for 6 different Troops, and served as Unit Commissioner. I've been a microwave technician for the Air Force; a cell biologist researching toxicity of coal and peat; a semiconductor chemist for solar cells, laser crystals, impat diodes, and thin film diamond crystals; created a database to track purchases for a $6 million project; became a computer tech for windows/linux machines; learned to enjoy fantasy role playing games, and been GM for a Sword and Sorcery campaign in GURPS that's been running off and on since 1988; began attending the various Indian Powwows in NC and VA; have done considerable research on my family's genealogy - most lines are back to the early 1700s, and have run into a lack of documentation. Retirement is great! Reading a lot, watching old movies on the computer, and planning on several future trips. Email: raconnor at earthlink.net; Text or Talk at 919 in NC to 450 cell 8260.
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