Rodney Brewer:
CLASS OF 1980
Santa Fe Trail Elementary SchoolClass of 1980
Overland park, KS
Mound City Elementary SchoolClass of 1980
Mound city, KS
Prairie View Junior High SchoolClass of 1980
La cygne, KS
Iola Middle SchoolClass of 1980
Iola, KS
Chanute High SchoolClass of 1980
Chanute, KS
Rodney's Story
Life
I have been married for 35 years to my best friend, and we have been blessed with two beautiful children, a son, and a daughter, and four adorable grandchildren. We have been blessed in other areas of our lives, and we continue to strive to make ourselves better and more productive on a regular basis. Our Son is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps where he served as an Infantryman. He is also the father of an adorable daughter. Our Daughter, the baby of the family, is a housewife and mother of two beautiful daughters and a handsome son. I have earned degrees in Public Safety and in Homeland Security. I retired at the rank of Captain in 2017 during my 21st year on a career fire department. I am currently working as an apprentice in the International Union of Operating Engineers. I enjoy learning new things and continue to be a student while living life.
School
I spent Kindergarten through fifth grade at Santa Fe Trail Elementary in Overland Park, Kansas. My parents ripped my world apart when they sent me to Overland Park Christian School for sixth grade. In 1974, we moved to Mound City, Kansas, where I spent my seventh grade. In 1975, we moved to Cadmus, Kansas, and Prairie View in La Cygne is where I spent my eighth grade. Then, in 1976, we moved again, this time to Iola, Kansas for ninth grade. 1977 brought another move to Chanute, Kansas, and tenth grade at Chanute High School. 1978 was no different than the previous years. Our family left Chanute and moved to Dickinson, Texas. My eleventh and twelfth grade years were spent at Dickinson High School, home of the Gators. I learned much about myself and others by moving around so much, but I never learned to deal with the pain of making friends during a school year, and then leaving them behind the following year. I still think about c...Expand for more
ertain friends that I made from each school. I wonder how they are doing now, and what experiences they had growing up. The six years that I spent at Santa Fe Trail were great, and it is probably the one school where I feel like I left the largest number of friends behind. Sixth grade was not really a year that I remember much about, probably because I still lived in the same house as when I attended SFT, so I still was able to see some of my friends from there. When we moved to Mound City in the fall of 1974, I just withdrew from everything. I did not know anyone, and we didn't live in town, so it was hard to make friends. That situation repeated itself over the next few years until we finally landed in Dickinson, Texas. I tried to get involved in sports, but my parents were not cooperative, so I got involved in AFJROTC. I felt like I had found my place...finally. I lived close enough to school which allowed me to participate in activities that I was interested in. In addition, I have had some wonderful teachers throughout my education, and I had my favorite(s) at each school. Mr. Bob Johnson, Mr. Paul LaFleur, Mr. Jim Rubach, and Mrs. Annexstad were the ones who inspired my love of learning, and the confidence to pursue other interests. If I had to do it all over again, I would have gotten more involved with sports, especially Baseball. I would have studied more and paid more attention in class. I really enjoyed my two years at DHS, and I will always remember the good times, the sad times, the funny and goofy times, the nights at the Bridge, the Drive-In, the Beach, and cruising Palmer Highway in Texas City.
College: College of the Mainland, San Jacinto Junior College, IVY Tech Community College, and Purdue University.
Workplace: Lafayette Fire Department
Military: United States Marine Corps
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