S. Richard (Richie) Smith:  

Now that the 50th reunion behind us we now can look forward to “middle” age. Hopefully, we’ll all see each other again at the next reunion. We all appreciate those Oakhaven graduates who have remained in and near Memphis to be able to make the arrangements and coordinate our past reunions. I’m sure I speak for many other graduates who hope they continue! As for me as I approach middle age, I cannot just retire. I’ve “un-retired” and now gone back to NASA to mentor the next generation of aerospace engineers and technicians who we hear about only when there is a launch. I hope to see each graduate again at the next reunion. Stay safe and stay active in these “middle age” years! My email address is S.RichardSmith at yahoo dot com. Drop me a line. My history: Who would have thought in 1968 that we were ever going to do anything meaningful in life! Sure, we hoped we would do something fun and be successful, but like many, who knew for sure? Personally, I was peddling as fast as I could but I didn't know which fork in the road to take. Like everyone who graduated, I did the best I could! The first road I took was to start at Memphis State University in the School of Architecture in the Fall of 1968. Even though I was a 3.0+ student my Freshman Year, I received a notice in mid 1969 from the Draft Board that I had lost my 2S (student) deferment. WHAT? I called my guidance counselor at MSU, who told me that my grades were good in my architectural course of study, which was a 5-year course of study. The Draft Board told me that to keep my 2S deferment I had to complete 1/4 of my graduation per year! I went to summer school and took an additional 14 semester hours, but I was THEN told the school year was from June 1 to June 1. My summer school hours didn’t count! I should have gotten a lawyer, because some fellow students did not lose their deferment. Another fork in the road.....I joined the Tennessee Army National Guard. Ugh.... After Army Basic Training in mid-1970 I got married and had two children, Chris and Stephanie. Life happened. I was a classroom (architectural and mechanical) drafting teacher from 1972 to 1979. In early 1979 we visited my sister and her family in Houston just a few miles from the Johnson Space Center (JSC). Job advertisements were e...Expand for more