Phil Waldrop:  

Phil is from Fort Wayne, Indiana. His schools include South Wayne Elementary, Harrison Hill, and South Side High School. He later attended Victor Valley College (Victorville, CA), Ball State University (B.S. - Industrial Education) and Purdue University (M.S. Education and PhD Industrial Education). He and his trophy wife ;-) of 50 years, Jeannette (Columbus IN '64) met on a blind date at Ball State. and now live at the mountain forest and lake community of Big Canoe, east of Jasper, Georgia, near Amicalola Falls State Park, north of Atlanta. He was originally in the SSHS class of '63 but missed a year while living in Monrovia, Liberia with his parents (his father retired in 1961 as a captain in the Fort Wayne police department to pursue a second police career with USAID). Phil returned to Fort Wayne in 1962 and lived with relatives, to graduate in 1964. He returned to Monrovia for the summer of '64 before heading to California to live at George Air Force Base with his brother Park (Central 1965), a pilot. He became involved in the sport of judo while there, and continued involvement through 2004, as the university club faculty sponsor and instructor. He has the rank of Nidan (2nd degree black belt) in both traditional Olympic-style judo, and in jujitsu. Phil began teaching in the field of industrial technology at the (then) new Heritage High School just west of Monroeville, IN where he lived from 1968 to 1976, when he returned to graduate school. He retired in 2011 as a Profe...Expand for more