Gary Chaney:
CLASS OF 1965
Chardon High SchoolClass of 1965
Chardon, OH
University of MiamiClass of 1975
Coral gables, FL
Florida International University - EducationClass of 1975
Miami, FL
Kent State University - Geauga CampusClass of 1974
Burton, OH
Gary's Story
I have moved around and been around the block a few times, so to speak since High School. I somewhat consider myself a Jack of all trades, as I have had many. After High School I moved from Chardon to Newton,New Jersey and worked for Snapforms Co. also of Chardon as a Copy Proofreader/Printing Plate maker, This only lasted a couple months before Uncle Sam realized that I did not go to college and came knocking in December of 1965 with a 1A draft classification and requested my presence for induction, so I returned to Chardon to enlist in the Air Force and entered in March of 1966. I spent just short of 4 years in the U.S. Air Force, first a year at Minot AFB, North Dakota, a year and half tour of lovely Southeast Asia (Vietnam) and discharged as a Sargeant after a little over a year at Charleston AFB, South Carolina.
After the Air Force I returned to Chardon in 1970 and became a Geauga County Sheriff's Deputy for a short period. The Kent State riots and shootings of which I was present made me rethink what I was doing and I changed jobs to become a Security Officer at the Ravenna Arsenal. These two jobs met my public service requirements of a year in exchange for getting a 3 month early out of the service.
I then turned to General Aviation and working for North American Rockwells Remmert Warner division in Cleveland at Burke Lakefront Airport. All the while attending Kent States Geauga extension. I did my Freshman and Sophomore years there.
I got married in January 1972 to Terri Dinsmore of Kirtland and we moved to sunny Miami later that same year. I went to the University of Miami for my junior year and then transferred to a State School after receiving my state residence status. I stayed in the general aviation field for another 7 more years, we even bought an airplane and I aquired a pilots license, as well as recieving my BS degree in Social Studies Education from Florida International University.
In 1979 I joined Eastern Airlines in Miami and after a year with them there we moved to Atlanta, Ga. I stayed with Eastern for just over 7 years ( even with almost annual layoffs) and near the end of their downfall I went back to school and attende...Expand for more
d a Vocational College (1985-87) where I took up electronic engineering. I needed to beat the rush for a new job before its collapse.
After graduating in 1987 I started to work for Turner Broadcasting Systems(CNN) as an Operations Engineer. A year later I transfered to Turners Satellite Teleport operations as a Satellite Engineer. I traveled around the globe sending news feeds back to the Atlanta headquarters. This included a short period of living in Germany covering stories in Africa, Russia, Eastern/Western Europe and the Middle East, including the Gulf War 90-91. In 1999 I left CNN and we moved to the Upstate of South Carolina and our vacation house there.
After a 1 year sabatical, I used my college education to take up teaching electronics for I.T.T. Technical Institute in Greenville, SC. I only did this for 2 years, as the 63 mile commute each way was just not practical. Since we live in a relatively rural area of SC., there are very few tech. job opportunities here, so I worked for 3 years with a local Lowe's Home Improvement Center as a manager of first Plumbing, Lawn & Garden and then lastly as a Team Leader of Flooring. During this time I used every employee discount possible to build our current home on beautiful Lake Keowee near Seneca, SC.
Lastly I went back to the books in 2007 and attended classes to acquire my Real estate license and became a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty out of Greenville, SC., I worked locally here in Seneca from my home. I specialized in Lakefront homes surrounding our lake. Unfortunately timing is everything and of course the market collapsed. It simply became too costly to try and break into this new field and after two years I called it quits. I am now taking retirement and putting an end to my working days. Finally!!
So,as you can see, it has been a varied ride through out my life and I have enjoyed most of it to the max.
In the immortal words of the Greatful Dead..."What a long strange trip it's been" It is also said that Variety is the Spice of Life and I'm here to tell you that is very true. I belive that I have tasted most all the spices and have enjoyed the different flavors as much as possible.
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