James Self:
CLASS OF 1972
Crete-Monee High SchoolClass of 1972
Crete, IL
Gadsden Business CollegeClass of 1991
Gadsden, AL
Hubbard Trail Junior High SchoolClass of 1968
Crete, IL
Balmoral SchoolClass of 1966
Crete, IL
James's Story
Life
Edra and i have been married over 40 years.. We have 4 children and 11 grandchildren. We enjoy going on cruises. We have been on several. We have cruised the Eastern and Western Caribbean. We cruised to Alaska in Aug. 09 for our 35th wedding anniversary. We are living in an automotive industry state. My employer is heavily in the automotive industry. We make parts for many of the automotive companies. We do subcontract work. Stamp the parts out and do some welding and assembly. I am the materials co-ordinator. I input production into the computer. I also help the ladies in my office with inventory problems they have. I get them out of trouble most of the time. I also do internal audits for our quality system and have a reputation for being very tough on our management team. I am the one who is known for writing them up for not following procedures. I even get to write up the plant manager and there is nothing he can do.
Edra is an administrative support assistant for the state of Alabama. She works with birth and death records at the county health department.
We are both active in our church. Our average church attendance on Sunday morning is over 1,500 people.
School
Crete-Monee was a great experience for me. i have many fond memories. Learning how to get around the first day in our freshman year to the last time i walked out the doors in my senior year was packed full of fun.
I remember World History class in our sophomore year. I was sitting in between my friend Steve Green and Kathy Yoder whom i was going steady with. We talked to each other more than we listened in class. Finally we were all moved around the last quarter and i think we may have learned something.
I also remember getting in trouble on the school bus one year and had to sit in the front seat for a week. I was sitting with some rowdy friends who got a little noisy. I got caught up in the sting. A nice quiet guy like me would never get into trouble on a bus.
I had a study hall one semester i never showed up at. The first day of school the teacher did not have my name on the roll. So i ...Expand for more
took all three lunch periods.
College
Edra and i went back to school after we moved here to Gadsden We both took some computer classes. Edra took office classes while i took management classes. Edra finished in spring of 1991 and i finished in the fall of 1991. Took me longer to learn how to type. Both of us finished very high in our graduating classes. I had the highest gpa of the management grads.
Cramming for tests and finals were no joke. I was working 10 hour days and Saturdays. Made me wish i had gone back to school many years prior. I guess it worked out for the best for both of us.
Workplace
I spent 14 years with G.E. and Hobart in Chicago Heights. Then when Hobart closed the doors WE moved to the big city of Gadsden,AL. People here say how small the town is. I tell them Gadsden is the biggest city i have lived in. After all when you live in Crete and Peotone almost anything else is larger.
My first job here was a nightmare. I worked at my present employers competitor. I never wanted to knock someone out like i did there. I was very tempted but held back until i found another job. It was a real sweatshop.
Now i go to work and feel like i accomplished something everyday. I come home happy and relaxed.
Something funny though on the job i currently have. When i was first promoted to the office i was in an office in the middle of the plant. The material planners were on the other side of the plant. I tried to get my own phone so we would not have to go down stairs, across the plant, go up stairs to see each other when we needed to discuss inventory problems. I could not get one. Then they combine us all into one office with our own cubicle. I now have a phone. I can call them when i need them or they need me. We have not figured this one out yet. When i needed one i could not get one. Now that i do not need one i have one.
I retired at the end of January 2016. I have been busy remodeling parts of the house. Now I am about ready to go back to the work force part time somewhere just to keep myself busy. Edra is retiring at the end of July 2016.
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