Abe G. Messarra:  

Hi Y'all . . . . . NOTE to Abe: Is anyone going to actually read this??? BTW - what happened to the hair in the picture? Nothing exciting, just a Wonderfully Blessed Life! For you English majors, I know, there are toooo many I's in the following comments . . . . Well it started about 9 months before I was born, my Mother and Father were having a discussion and I am not sure how it ended, however, here I am. My 4 Brothers and 1 Sister are spaced 2 years apart; (all are still living as of 10/1/2009). I followed along 11 years after my Sister arrived. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, WI, my family moved to Corpus in 1946. I am a Naturalized American citizen so I never became The President! Went to Fannin Elementary, South Park JR High, then Carroll. '61 was the first class that started as Sophomores at Carroll and graduated as Seniors. Well after graduating from MCHS, several of us boys attempted to join the service together. I wanted to get into the branch that would get me some computer training (I started working with computers at Groce-Wearden grocery warehouse at nights while going to MCHS). My Brother-in-law, Paul, worked with computers and I guess that is what got me on my computer journey. I was told the Air Force would be better for me to get the computer training I wanted to get in the service. They also mentioned that additional schooling (especially a Bachelors degree) would be very beneficial. I went to Del Mar, and got an associate degree. While I was at Del Mar I became politically active and thought about heading in that direction (getting into politics) however was HIGHLY DISCOURAGED of that direction by Pat). Commuted to Texas A & I for two years while working at P P G industries full time at night running a computer lab. Pat was working at a local law firm as a legal assistant. I graduated from A & I in 1967 (now Texas A & M Kingsville) (BBA - Accounting and Computer Science). Ended up getting married and having children and never got that training in the Air Force. In the mean time, I met the most Beautiful and Wonderful little Girl while at the 1964 State JR College Student Council convention in Baytown TX. I was representing Del Mar and She was representing Wharton County JR College. I remember seeing Her across the gym that we were meeting in wearing a very pretty dark green pants suit and was determined to meet Her. I did and Proposed to Pat the night we met (She did not accept that night - it took a little convincing) and we married 5 months later in Jones Creek TX (Sept 5, 1964). We were married for 38 perfect years. Two daughters, (Greta & Gayla) two GRANDsons (Koby, 17 & Jay, 13). (Ages as of Oct 2009) When I graduated, I accepted the position of managing the Computer Science Dept at P P G Industries in Corpus. We moved into our first home, an 8 X 40-foot mobile home located in a trailer park on the Robstown Hwy (Texas 44 I think). Pat was commuting to Texas A & I at that time to continue Her education. One morning the car She was riding in on the way to A & I was in an accident. This caused Her to lose about one-half of Her kneecap, which bothered Her the remainder of Her life. Pat was in a serious cast for what seemed like years. This accident put Her in the history book because this was the first recorded lawsuit having to do with the wearing of seatbelts in Texas. The occupants of the car She was riding in were NOT wearing their seatbelts. We won the lawsuit but the jury only awarded compensation of $1 because the occupants were not wearing their seatbelts! Pat had to drop out of College and never went back to earn Her degree. Greta, our first Daughter, was born in Corpus. I always wanted to teach and about six months later accepted a teaching position in the new computer science department at BEE County JR College in Beeville, TX. So we moved to Beeville. After a year and a half, the entire computer department quit because of the working conditions. We were not only teaching, we were responsible for operating the computer system for the college and somehow squeezing in our teaching (4-5 classes a day - six days a week). We moved to Bryan (six trips in a large trailer we built - GOD guided our safety) and I went to work for the Business College at Texas A & M University as a Computer Systems Analyst. Shortly after moving to Bryan, our second Daughter, Gayla, was born. The main reason for moving to Bryan was to get a Masters and Ph.D. in Computer Science from TAMU and begin teaching at the University level. Never did get an advanced degree - did however, get very proficient in the Computer industry. When I was attempting to find a job in the Bryan/College Station area, I had interviewed with every company in the area that had anything to do with computers. Six months after moving, I was offered and accepted the position of managing the Computer Department at Alenco, a National Window Manufacturing Company in Bryan. Backing up in time for a moment, my Father was an Entrepreneur, as I was growing up, so I grew up in that environment. I had my own business, a gasoline service station on the West Side of Corpus for a while before I started going to Del Mar. I even remember selling gasoline for 19.9 cents a gallon. Remember those days? Not letting any grass grow under my feet, Pat and I bought a Bookbinding company in Bryan that we enjoyed working in. We would repair olde books that were important (had value) to individuals (like Old Bibles). (Pat really enjoyed it because of Her Love for reading and books). It was a little too much for us as I worked full time in my job at Alenco and Pat had to 'drag' two small children around. We merged with another company and sold it after a year and a half. On July 12th 1972, We bought an existing very small business that grew into 5 divisions (Office Equipment, Office Supplies, Home & Office Environmental Systems, a Service department, and a Computer Division - (that manufactured sold & serviced computers and also included a 12-station computer classroom). For about ten years we trained private individuals, business employees, and many University employees to use the application software (i.e. Word Processing, Excel, Accounting programs, and other programs that were requested) for use on t...Expand for more