David Stoika:
CLASS OF 1972
Oak Lawn Community High SchoolClass of 1972
Oak lawn, IL
David's Story
A timeline is the best way to go about this, I think.
1972-74: worked at Nabisco on 79th & Kedzie, went to MVCC, both full-time.
1974-77: attended Eastern Illinois University. Majored in history, minored in P.E.
Oct. 1974: married a girl I met at Nabisco.
March, 1975: our son was born. You can do the math, what happened is pretty obvious.
March, 1976: became a born-again Christian.
1977-81: taught jr. high school (6,7,8 grades)social studies at Lynnville-Sully schools in Sully, Iowa. Had another son and a daughter born. Coached wrestling and jr. high football. Had two Iowa state wrestling champions; coached Jeff Criswell, who played in OT the NFL with the Jets and Chiefs in the 1990's. Lost the job due to state budget cutbacks.
1981: at God's direction and provision, moved to Athens, Tennessee. The man who was my pastor in college was in Athens and had a job for me. Worked in a small factory for 3 years, waiting for a teaching job to open.
1983: our youngest daughter was born.
1984 - present: teach American History and head wrestling coach at McMinn County High School in Athens, TN (also had to coach freshman football for 3 years). Have had one two-time state wrestling champion (Shazzon Bradley, ...Expand for more
1987 & '88) and one girl's state champion (Kelsey Hampton, 2009). I teach A.P., honors and regular level history.
Misc.: My kids are named, in birth order, Brian, Tim, Charity and Dawn. I have 7 grandsons and 1 granddaughter. My sons & their families live near me, but Charity lives with her husband & 2 kids in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Dawn (the youngest, unmarried), lives in Nashville, TN. My wife & I divorced in Sept. '08 (it wasn't what I wanted, but most of it was my fault).
As a hobby, and to have something to do in the summer, I began volunteering as a car host on a local railroad excursion ride. Soon, I entered a program to train to be a railroad conductor. That'll take 1-2 years to complete, but no matter. It's fun nonetheless.
I'm a political conservative, loved Ronald Reagan, but even my liberal friends say I'm more tolerant and open-minded than most right-wing radicals. Living in Tennessee, I drive a pickup truck, but it's a nice '97 little Nissan. No rebel flags, fishin' poles, or gun rack. And yes, I have electricity and indoor plumbing! I live in east Tennessee; Gatlinburg is about a 2 hour drive from me. So if you take a Smoky Mountain vacation, get in touch and we'll get together, if you like.
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