De O'Roark:
CLASS OF 1979
Bad Kreuznach American High SchoolClass of 1979
Bad kreuznach,
De's Story
After graduating from BKHS in 1979, I went to the University of Virginia, graduating from the college in 1983 and the law school in 1987. I took a year off in between to live at home in Fort Hood, TX, where I was a newspaper reporter for the Temple Daily Telegram and covered local politics, crime and (best of all) high school football.
In 1987 I went on a trip to Europe, stopped by BK for a day and went by the high school. Ms. Blocker, Mr. Kittelson and (as I recall) Ms. Woods were still there. Ms. Blocker introduced me to her class, told them I had just graduated from law school, and the students could not have been less impressed. Mr. Kittelson expressed grave disappointment that I had lost my way and gone into law. Oh well. I also had a long talk with Mr. Heppler, who got me caught up on everyone he had kept in touch with.
When I got back to the states, I began work as a commercial litigator with a firm in Atlanta. The following year (1988) I went to St. Louis for a BKHS reunion, where I saw lots of old classmates and teachers -- to name a few, Pete Regnery, Doug Schweitzer, Bobby and Kelly Fredericks (BKHS sweethearts who married), Butch Cotton, Steve Ferger, Pam Brady, Lynn Schaeffer, Marina and Jo Fotianos, and Ms. Jensen.
I met my wife, Kim, in 1989 and we married in 1991. Pete Regnery (Class of '77) was my best man and managed to work in a story about Mr. Boeppel in his toast. Kim and I celebrated our seventeenth anniversary this year. Kim is from Atlanta and was working as a wholesale foreign exchange broker when I met her; she has since moved into interior design.
We had a good scare in 1993 when I was diagnosed with cancer (Burkitz lymphoma). They caught it in time, treated me with massive chemotherap...Expand for more
y (a real bummer) and I've been fine ever since. When I was diagnosed, Kim and I were told that because of the necessary treatment, we would not be able to have children. We proved them wrong and Elizabeth was born in 1996, the year the Olympics were in Atlanta. She is now 12 and getting ready for seventh grade. She is a good kid and has been a tremendous joy and blessing.
In 1997 I left the firm and went in house with MCI, which was in a battle between the long distance companies and the local phone companies, who were trying to get into each other's markets under a law passed in 1996. Ultimately there was consolidation in the industry and I now work for Verizon as its southeastern general counsel. We still live in Atlanta, but I travel to Florida quite a bit because a lot of my work concerns our local phone business in the Tampa area.
In 2004, we had a mini-twenty-fifth reunion for the BKHS class of 1979. Paul and Suni Thomas (another pair of BKHS sweethearts who married), Brenda Gilbo and Laura Beatty (the latter two with their spouses) came in. We had a great weekend together and laughed and reminisced the whole time (and learned a few old secrets, too).
My family is well. Mom and Dad are retired, healthy and living in Louisville, KY. My sister Frances (Missy) O'Roark Dowell lives in Raleigh with her husband Clifton and their two boys. She is an accomplished author who writes books for "tweens." Her titles include "The Secret Language of Girls" and "Dovey Coe," for which she won the Edgar Award. My brother Doug lives in Chicago with his wife Jessica and their two children. He is the chairman of a high school math department, where he is developing innovative teaching techniques and is a leader in his field.
Register for Free to view all details!
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!