Jim Ward:
CLASS OF 1962
Johnson High SchoolClass of 1962
Sacramento, CA
Peter Lassen Junior High SchoolClass of 1958
Sacramento, CA
Saint Patrick SchoolClass of 1958
Sacramento, CA
Strawberry Elementary SchoolClass of 1956
Santa rosa, CA
Peter Burnett Elementary SchoolClass of 1955
Sacramento, CA
Jim's Story
Life
Joined the Coast Guard the summer we graduated. Figured I would stay in California and crew on a patrol boat. Half right, crewed on a patrol boat in Viet Nam for a year.
I've been married to the same wonderful woman for 38+ years. I met her at a funeral and figured it could only get better from there -- it certainly has. We have two great kids, 25 and 34 years old. Kevin, the youngest just graduated from Cal State Hayward with a BS in business. He is engaged and will be married this July. My daughter also went to Cal State Hayward and has a BS in Industrial Psychology. Her employer is paying for her to go to law school starting this summer. She has two daughters.
After 30 years in sales and sales management I made a mid-life career change. For the past eight years I have been a property inspector here in the East Bay Area, working for myself. It is something I wish I had started long ago.
My wife works for Genentech in SSF. They were the original biotech company ...Expand for more
and have come up with a number of life saving drugs.
Overall, it's been a great life. Made a lot of mistakes, but learned from them. Being we can't have any "do overs," it's about as good as it's going to get.
College
About 20+ years after leaving high school, my wife and I entered a prgram for working adults at our local community college. It was a new program at the time and allowed us to attend classes and maintain our jobs. It was a great experience because, even though we were among the oldest in the class, most of the other students were returning after being in the real world for a number of years. Most of our instructors were also working full-time and teaching in the evening and Saturdays. The discussions were lively and the classes interesting. We both graduated with AA's. My wife eventually continued at St. Mary's and earned her BS degree. I interrupted my education to coach my son's baseball teams for a few years and never went back. I have no regrets at all.
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