Mark Welker:
CLASS OF 1958
York Township High SchoolClass of 1958
Van wert, OH
Van Wert High SchoolClass of 1958
Van wert, OH
Mark's Story
I attended York Township School (grades 1-12) graduating in 1958.
At 16, I met Suzanne (Suzy) Binkley, of Van Wert, in the summer of '56. However, we did not start dating until the fall of '57. Before the end of the year we were going steady and quite committed to each other. We were formally engaged on October 29th, 1960 and married the following June (June 3rd, 1961). We have been happily married since then.
I attended the University of Toledo graduating with an Industrial Engineering degree in 1963. Suzy attend Bowling Green State University graduating with an Elementary Education degree in 1962. Yes, she started a year later and finished a year sooner.
Suzy taught school in Toledo, Ohio while I finished my Engineering Degree and then in Upstate New York (Maine, NY) after we moved there for my job with IBM.
I took a job at the IBM Space Guidance Center in Owego, NY after graduation from The University Of Toledo. Monday, June 17th, 1963 -- I remember it well. At that time the Space Guidance Center was working on: The B52 Bomb/Nav System, Titan Guidance Computer, Gemini Guidance Computer and Saturn V (Apollo Launch Rocket) programs to name a few.
While living in Upstate New York, Suzy gave birth to our daughter, Wend...Expand for more
y on April 15th, 1965. The Income Tax Return was filed late that year. Wendy, her husband Curt and two children Colten and Camden live in Colorado not far from where Suzy and I currently reside.
Suzy and I were able to achieve our dream of moving west in 1966 when I took a job at the new IBM Boulder, CO, Site which had been established there the preceding year. Even though IBM was often translated "I've Been Moved" in those days, we were able to stay in Boulder, CO until this day. I stayed with IBM until I was 66 in 2006 but continued doing part time consulting work for them into 2009.
If you are a student of IBM history, you know there were some rather thin years in the "90s and "00s. However, through multiple job changes, I was able to maintain my employment with them until I retired in 2006. There we lots of good years at IBM both in Upstate New York and Boulder, Colorado.
Suzy and I are happy with our life in Colorado and still live in the house we built in 1969. Prior to that, we lived in a mobile home that served us well in Bowling Green, Ohio, Toledo Ohio and Upstate New York. After that it was apartments in Poughkeepsie, NY and Boulder, CO until we build our house that has served us well for the past 45 years.
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