Tom Johnson:
CLASS OF 1967
Hammond High SchoolClass of 1967
Hammond, IN
Graham High SchoolClass of 2012
Graham, KY
Washington Junior High SchoolClass of 1963
Hammond, IN
Lew Wallace Elementary SchoolClass of 1961
Hammond, IN
William McKinley Elementary SchoolClass of 1961
East chicago, IN
Tom's Story
Life
Man, it has been a few years since my Hammond High School days! "Class of '67." WOW! It has been over 40 years since graduation.
Our class had a FANTASTIC 40th Reunion in August of 2007! It was great seeing those of you who were able to attend. I wish all of us could have been there. Several of my classmates are deceased, but they have not been forgotten. Their memories were honored at the reunion.
Before I tell about my life after HHS, I want to publicly thank God for the wonderful childhood that I had.
I had a mom and dad who feared God, loved one another, took me to church every Sunday, and kept their marriage vows. I had a stable, nurturing environment in which to grow up.
Dad worked hard, maintaining a full time job at the Minas Parking Garage in Downtown Hammond and "moonlighting" with his parking lot striping business. Because of Dad's hard work, Mom was able to be a full time housewife and mother, and she was home for me every day after school; I did not have to come home to an empty house.
We lived at 6432 Woodward Avenue in a simple little bungalow style house that had a dormer roof, white weatherboard siding, and some well manicured evergreens in the front. Even though it was not a big house or a fancy one, it met our needs very nicely, and it was a great place for a kid to grow up. How I wish I could go back and visit that house today and find everything exactly as it was back then!
I would not change a thing about my childhood. We had all the things we needed and a few of life's little "extras." We were definitely in the lower middle class, but I would not have traded places with the richest kid in the world.
OK, here's what I have been up to since HHS...
I went on from HHS to Purdue and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Forestry, which I received in June of 1971. My first year of college, the 1967-1968 school year, was at Purdue-Calumet, and then I transferred to W. Lafayette for my final three years.
My Forestry career never materialized; there was a hiring freeze in effect in the Forest Service for full time permanent positions at the time of my college graduation. I worked the summers of 1971 and 1972 as a temporary Forest Service employee in the beautiful Coeur d' Alene Mountains of northern Idaho. I had hopes of receiving a pe...Expand for more
rmanent offer, but after being laid-off for the winter for the second year in a row, I gave up and moved to Kentucky in February of 1973.
I still live in Kentucky in the area where both of my parents were born and raised, and I work at a paper mill, where I have been employed for over 35 years.
I married a Kentucky gal, Georgeann, in 1975, and we have two grown children. We became first time grandparents on 6/24/03, when Payton Nicole, our beautiful granddaughter, was born. Our second grandchild, another gorgeous little girl, Taylor, was born 9/17/05.
Tom
School
I did the kindergarten thing and most of the first semester of 1st grade at McKinley School in East Chicago, but I really don't remember much at all from those days.
I attended Wallace Elementary School for the remainder of 1st grade and on through 6th grade. The years would have been late 1955 through June 1961.
I went on to Washington Jr. High for 7th and 8th grades from 1961 through 1963.
Then, it was DOHHS from '63 to '67.
I attended Purdue University from '67 -'71, receiving a BS degree in Forestry.
Workplace
I had a job waiting for me in Idaho with the Forest Service immediately upon graduation in June of 1971. This job was not a permanent position, and I was laid off in November of '71. I drove the 1800 miles back to Hammond and spent the winter with my parents. Another season of temporary work in Idaho followed in 1972, but I was laid off again. The hiring freeze for full time permanent Federal employees was still in effect.
After failing to land a permanent job with the Forest Service after two years of temporary work, I gave up and moved to my parents' hometown in Kentucky. I made up my mind in 8th grade that I wanted to work for the Forest Service somewhere out West, and I chased that dream for ten years, but I guess it was just not meant to be.
I took a series of crummy jobs here in Kentucky until I got on with the construction company that was building the paper mill where I now work. I switched from the construction company payroll to the paper mill payroll after start-up of the mill, and I have been there ever since. That was in June of 1974.
After working a few months as a lab technician testing paper, I was promoted to quality manager, and then, in 1981, I was named technical director.
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