Jean LaGrone:  

I lived most of my life in Beaumont, going to school at Voth Rosedale, then Austin Jr. High School, and, finally French High School, where my father, Leon Thompson, was the drafting/architecture teacher. We moved to Beaumont when I was about three years old, my parents having grown up in Denton, where they attended North Texas University. Besides the regular school program, I enjoyed band and math. Most of my free time, before and after school, as well as lunch, was spent practicing with the band. Seems that we were either practicing marches for football games or practicing music for concerts and competition. I also enjoyed taking drafting and architecture from my father. I had hopes of becoming an architect, but my father convinced me that this was a man's job, and that women needed to become teachers in order to be at home with their children. So, I spent most of my career in education. I moved away from Beaumont when I graduated from Lamar State College of Technology and got married in 1968. I moved back to Beaumont in the late 70's and moved away again in the late 80's. I moved back again and completed another degree in Psychology. Subsequently, I enjoyed working at Lamar University. Later, I moved to Houston, where one of my two sons lived; the other moved to Salt Lake City, UT. My son in Houston now lives about three blocks from me and has 2 daughters, with another due in April and my son in Salt Lake City has a son and a daughter. I am now retired and my father lives with me. Retirement has been a busy time, as we are rebuilding a beach house after the Ike storm. When we are ...Expand for more