Valerie James:
CLASS OF 1976
Farrell High SchoolClass of 1976
Farrell, PA
St. Leo UniversityClass of 2002
St. leo, FL
Monsignor Geno Monti SchoolClass of 1972
Farrell, PA
Valerie's Story
Life
My Spouse, TJ. Met him in the Air Force at
Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, Nevada, April 9, 1979.
My Kids
Daughter Jade'is 26, graduated from college magna cum laude, earning her bachelors in legal studies and masters in education and plans to become a lawyer as soon as her children are older and she can attend law school. She's engaged, has a very handsome 10 year old son, Ty, and a very beautiful 18 month old daughter, Tyjah'.
My son Torrey is 24, attends James Madison University full time and hopes to either become a sociologist for the FBI or go into the military as an officer.
Ty, my grandson, is a fantastic athlete and has played football for 4 years now. He dreams of being a Pittsburgh Steeler after college. Yes that's right! A STEELER! He hates school but gets decent grades. He is an XBOX 360 enthusiast, no an addict! But he can't play it unless he has read a few chapters from a book and done homework. He is a very loving child with a huge heart. His sister is the light of his life and he takes care of her and protects her.
Tyjah', my granddaughter, is a beautiful, very happy toddler. She was premature but you would never know it. She walked at 7 months, talked in sentences by 1 years old. She loves any kind of music, even commercials or TV show opening theme songs and dances to everything. By no means a picky eater, eats anything she is served. She adores her brother--can't keep her away from him.
My Job
My job is very interesting. I retired from the Air Force in 2000 after 22 years of service and now work with the Department of Energy at a National Laboratory. I first did Human Resources and Financial Management work but now I work in Project Managemetn and Integration as a Project Budget Analyst and love it. I meet and work with people from all over the world, many are scientists, engineers, physicists, technicians, administrators, computer gurus, etc. I love working here.
I hope to win the lottery one day, retire, travel and relax!
School
I will plead the 5th on who my biggest crush was in school. I don't think I had any teachers that I would say inspired me. ...Expand for more
If I could do it all over again, would I? Yes but not at Farrell High.
Military
Spent basic training over the Christmas and New Year holidays. I was late reporting to basic because of a huge east coast snow storm. After basic training in Texas, I went on to Mississippi. Had a blast in basic training and tech school. Then it was on to Las Vegas for my first duty station. Worked long hard hours but partied on the weekends. Travelled all over the west coast. Learned how to play blackjack and other casino games. Met my husband, got married and had my first daughter. Met my best friend Denise there. Spent endless hours at the gym, the lake or just listening to music. My first job was with Red Flag. Great job and great supervisor and commander. My best first sergeant there was Piet Pietranton who ended up being my insurance man and godfather to my daughter. I loved Vegas. Then we went overseas to the Azores, a set of islands off the coast of Portugal. Three glorious years of fun. Travelled to Germany, Spain, England and Italy. Had my second child there and made some lifelong friends. We had a maid who was also our nanny, cook, etc. We went to bull fights, festivals, and I learned how to drink a lot of vinho verde (that's green wine if you didn't know) and portuguese beer. I worked for a joint command and had the best supervisors ever. Then it was on to Nebraska. Now it's not as bad as it sounds. Omaha is great, lots to do, cheap to live. Just really cold winters, lip cracking, cheek chapping, weather. Worked at Strategic Air Command headquarters and loved it. Made great friends and had wonderful supervisors and bosses. Bought our first house there and just enjoyed life. Then we moved here to Virginia. Must say I hated the base, made some close friends but found most of the people unprofessional, especially at my last assignment there. Could not wait to retire. I have no regrets about serving in the Air Force. Never had to deploy to a war zone but I pulled many 12 hour shifts for deployment exercises. But it was the greatest experience of my life aside from raising my children.
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