Mark Nelson:
CLASS OF 1968
Jefferson High SchoolClass of 1968
Jefferson, OR
Jefferson High SchoolClass of 1968
Portland, OR
Mark's Story
Life
Let's see. . .ya'll know I graduated from Jeff in '68. Went to Brigham Young University from '68 to '70. Then lived in Germany (missionary) from '70 to '72. Home in Portland to save money for school in '73-'74. Back to BYU, and got married, in '75. 1st daughter born in '76. Graduated in '78 (10 years to get out of college. . .is that some kind of record?), and moved to Illinois for grad school. 2nd daughter born in '79. Masters degree in Library and Information Science in 1980. 3rd daughter born in '82. 1st time public library director in '83. 4th and last child - a son - born in '86. Public library director in West Des Moines, Iowa from '87 to '92. Bought a house in '88. Mid-life crisis" from '88 to. . .what. . .'98? (Why do it in half measures, right?) Left the Mormon church in '89-'90. Library consultant from '92 to '93. Dropped out of the city government and business "rat race" in '94. Divorced in '95. Knocked around a bit, and ended up as a freelance painter, writer, and photographer. Sort of a "starving artist." (From the latest pictures, you might question the "starving" part.) I manage to visit siblings in Portland, California, Arizona, Tacoma, and Salt Lake City at varying intervals. We'll be having a family reunion in Tacoma in July 2006, and I'll be in the Portland area. My parents passed away in 2002 and 2003, and the old hom...Expand for more
estead on Portland Blvd. was sold. Who'd have thought the place was worth such a price? I "inherited" the family photos, and some letters and papers, to organize and keep for family reference. I've been going thru pictures and stuff from the past, and thinking about earlier times a lot. I'd LOVE to see or hear from anyone from the old days at Jefferson, or Ockley Green, or even Chief Joseph. It's weird. . .I haven't lived in Portland since 1974, but it will always be my home. I haven't made it to any of our class reunions. I've seen precious few of our crowd since graduation day in 1968. I kind of regret that. My ex was from Illinois, and we moved toward her family for grad school. I always figured we'd move west again. . .but got no farther than West Des Moines, Iowa. That hardly counts! I've stayed here while the kids were in school, to keep our connection close, but the midwest has never seemed like home to me. When I get back to Oregon, and especially the north Oregon coast - where our family had a beach house - I feel like I'm home again, and I feel most like myself. Well, that's a nutshell version of my life in the last 40 years (can you BELIEVE it?). If you run across this stuff, get in touch, OK? ("Old, balding single guy seeks contact with former friends and acquaintances, " as the newspaper might put it. I'd love to catch up.
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