Michael Vorel:
CLASS OF 1967
Downers Grove South High SchoolClass of 1967
Downers grove, IL
Downers Grove North High SchoolClass of 1967
Downers grove, IL
Downers Grove High School (Thru 1966) Class of 1967
Downers grove, IL
Maercker Junior High SchoolClass of 1963
Westmont, IL
Lincoln Elementary SchoolClass of 1956
Downers grove, IL
Michael's Story
Life
I cut my ponytail back in 2006. Now I have short hair and no beard. The best change I made since I moved East to NY City. I have 5 children. Retired this year and enjoying the new life style. I live on the NJ side of the Hudson River, spending weekends meandering about NYC. The greatest city for theatre, museums, dining, great street fairs, carriage rides thru Central Park in the snow and just plain fun. I never thought I would leave the midwest, but after living here I can think of very few places which offer the diversity of personal and professional experience. My sons and I travel to London and Paris for long weekends for new ideas and fun times. The museums and art in these cities often offer background for conversation around dining. Visited China last year and I am now planning a return trip. Perhaps will spend 6 months or so in Japan and China, possibly to pursue teaching English in exchange for housing.
School
I most enjoyed literature, speech and math. Mrs Wood was one favorite. My biggest crush is still close to my heart and likely will not be discussed. I miss the old gang and often wonder what has developed in our many lives. I look forward to the reunion and to revisiting friendships long placed on hold.
College
Colleges I have attended
Lea College in Albert Lea MN
College of Du Page
George Williams College in DG IL
Harper College in Palatine IL
Carl Sanburg College in Galesburg, IL
There are other schools I have attended for individual classes, though it seems I cannot remember more at this moment. Some day I intend to go back and corral all these courses and complete some type of degree program.
Workplace
I started working at Centel in Las Vegas in 1969. I moved to Centel of Illinois in 1971 and left in 1986. I went to work for Xerox Corp in downtown Chicago thru 1991. I next moved to Softswitch which was purchased by Lotus Corp and then purchased by IBM. I hired on to RR Donnelly in Chicago in 1992 to establish a...Expand for more
business practice of managing corporate records for firms, spun off in as an IPO as Donnelly Enterprise Solutions Inc., was then bought by Bowne & Company, Inc., moved to New York to expand the business (successfully my firm has grown from $30 million in revenue to over $1,700,000,000 in 15 years). Our business unit was purchased by Williams Lea. I enjoy the business and particularly cherish the client relations fostered over the many years. I worked in Business Development part for the firm. I shared responsibilites for creating new business services as the primary focal point for the technology side of our services. I was Director - Client Solutions & Chief Technology Architect in our Business Development team. I never expected to become the technical architect, as my early roles in business were financial analysis, forecasting and revenue/expense modeling. It seems as if once I discovered that computers could calculate faster than I wasa able I learned to program them and add business logic. I have now worked with computers since 1975 and have experienced significant technology changes and improvements of these 30 some years. I retired May 2 this year. My only disappointment was not being able to complete my last software system design and deployment. My vision regarding revenue and profit did not fit the ego of my boss, so I felt it best to leave rather than leave under duress. 4 months later, the system remains in limbo.
Now
I left Williams Lea in November of 2008 and started my own business. Perhaps scary some days, a challenge most but fun almost every day.
Military
I failed my physical in 1968 and was never asked back.
I'm remodeling my kitchen, replaced all the carpeting with wood floors and modified the 3rd floor deck. My dream home would be a loft in Manhattan.
My first job was at Centel, where I got paid $2.35 to repair phones. What I remember most about it is how much I enjoyed building telecommunications test equipment.
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