James Dunn:
CLASS OF 1953
Sexton High SchoolClass of 1953
Lansing, MI
James's Story
Life
I retired from the Department of Defense in 1998 after Jan died. My home is in Pensacola, Florida, away from the snows of Michigan. I have two surviving sons, five daughters, and ten grandchildren. They live in Holt, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Speedway Indiana, and near Tacoma, Washington. I have retired from teaching Sunday School and singing in the choir. My knees bother me, so I avoid stairs where ever possible.
I am very active in Freemasonry. Currently (December 23, 2007), I am the Worthy Patron at Eastern Star Chapter No 302, the Venerable Prophet in Zelica Grotto, the Turcopilier in the Scottish Rite, and Chapter Dad of Escambia DeMolay. I have been an officer in my Blue Lodge and the York Rite. In addition, I am a member of the Sojourners and Hadji Shrine. Life is very full for me.
In my spare time, I am President of the Home Owners Association for the subdivision in which I live. I also am into family genealogy. I have found two, and possibly three, ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War. Through one of them, I am a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. I also believe that I have one ancestor, a Tory, who was hung by the patriots during the Revolution. As an adjunct, I am a member in the Sons of the Confederacy, but inactive.
On occasions, I get to travel. When I do, I like visiting my far flung children, grand children, Uncles (I have only one remaining alive), cousins, nephews and nieces, my brothers and sisters, and many friends in far away places.
School
Sexton was a blast for me. I lived just four blocks away, and could walk home for lunch. I enjoyed most of my classes. More than any other teacher, I remember Ezra Devereaux. He taught Biology and taxidermy. The day before any major examination, he directed each question on the exam to someone in the class, and rotated so that every one got several questions. I honestly do not know how anyone could get less than a B from him, yet I know he flunked some. The Chemistry and Physics clubs attracted me. I got the Chemistry club to go visit the Oil Refinery in Alma on a school day. It was a very interesting trip. Cassius Shaft taught Chemistry and worked as a part time basket ball referee. He always put 120 points on his major examinations. One hundred points covered the main ideas, and then he always added two 10 point bonus questions. That was an easy A. Miss Benson taught several mathematics classes. One time, when she was teaching the Pythagorian Theorem, I told her, with the class hearing, that she taught is so well because she helped Pythagorus develope it. She immediately sent me to the Principals Office. I did get to know Mr. Roosenrad fairly well. Mr. Shaft sent me to the office after an in...Expand for more
cident in the window of his Chemistry Classroom. When Mr. Shuler phoned Shaft about what he saw at the window, Shaft told Shuler that he was getting to sound as funny as he looked. Mrs. Laura Millar did not teach history, she made us teach it. She had a format on each country, and we had to flesh it out. Then small groups of students would actually teach the data. It was fun. I found out that I could speak in front of fellow classmates, and now, I feel at ease before large groups, if I know what I am talking about.
College
I attended the real University in Michigan, located in East Lansing. I started as a Pre-Med Major. I took the electives of a Chemistry Major, a Physics Major, and a Math Major. After all, any doctor could do that!!
All went well for a while. Then I began to major in girls. During one period, when I was going with three different coeds and working two part time jobs at the same time, I earned 45 credits of "F" because of my failure to study. That ended my medical ambitions. However, the 3 coeds met, and I was found out. Together, and with their dorm mates, they cornered me outside their dorm and pushed me into the wading pool. The photo hit the newspaper. For anyone who tries this, make sure that the girls live in different dorms.
After being dumped by the girls, I joined the Glee Club, and became its business manager. We took several trips, and sang for our supper and lodging. That was real fun. A German Professor, "George," accompanied the Club on all trips. A basso, he could drink as much as any three Glee Clubbers!
I learned to fly through the Army ROTC Program.
My favorite Chemistry Professor was Dr. Goetz. He always wore a bow tie. Many of his demonstrations were pyrotechnic. He would get a fire extinguisher and swing it around, hitting those in the first rows before putting out the demonstrations.
A Physics Professor, whose name eludes me as I write this, used to prepare many novel ways to make his point. He built an air powered artillery piece to demonstrate how a projectile uniformly fell from a straight line due to gravity. He would then start writing the derivation of various formulae using chalk in the right hand, and erasing it with the left hand. You had to be quick to get what he said down into your notes, because he always tested on his lectures.
Military
I attended Infantry Basic at Fort Know, Kentucky. From there, I went to Artillery OCS at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. After several more sessions of training, I went to Japan, Korea, and once around the world. At one time, I felt that I should have stayed in and become a lifer. However, had I done that, I never would have raised my fine children, or had a wonderful life with Jan.
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