Classmate Snippet - MIKE CALDWELL

Mike Caldwell's family lived on McLain Lane, next to the Corpenings. When we were 15 they moved out to West County and then out of state. Mike's old gang still keeps in touch, and as many of us are, Mike sometimes gets a hankering to "reconnect". We recently found another classmate who was part of our "crowd" but only for a short while. We'd been wondering about him for a long time and finally just did the work and found him. That's another day's story, but for now, thought I'd publish Mikes story as it is a very interesting one. Thanks Mike for sharing and if anyone wants to get in touch with him, just post a comment and it will be done!

"I moved to Creve Coeur at 15 and met Janet. Only there one year (Parkway West High), then to a teenie town in S. Illinois. Coal mining town; I was generally called “Hey, Slick”, so you know I didn’t get a good welcome. BS in Aero Engineering from Univ of Illinois, married Janet, and off to the Air Force for seven years. Janet bore our first son, but he lost his battle with leukemia at four. Flew KC-135s, doing midair refueling. Out in 1977 with a MS in Systems from USC and on to Texas Instruments in Dallas. By then had sons Andy (now 34) and Chris (now 31). Got MS Electrical Engineering while working at Texas Instruments, then on to National Semiconductor in Salt Lake City for one hundred years. No, wait, only four; it just seemed like 100. Been in California since 1984, mostly with technology companies, but for the last six years have been practicing patent law. Andy lives right across the street with our seven year old grandson and five year old granddaughter and their mother. Chris just got married for the first time, to a younger Russian girl. He is 6’ 3”, and she is a size zero; they’re quite a pair, and just returned from a month in Moscow meeting the rest of her family."

Mike & Janet attended our 35th reunion so if you go to http://www.khs65.com/ and look at that photo album, you'll see some pix. Mike and Wayne Stine were best buds from waayyyy back, and if you remember, Wayne died 1/1/2004. We hear from Mike from time to time that Wayne's family is doing well.

Awhile back Mike was commenting on a grade school/Robinson photo on the website. In the process of identifying his many girlfriends from long ago, he mentioned Luff Johnson who was another person who began grade school with us then moved. Here is more info on Luff, perhaps some of you Robinsonites remember him.... "Luff's real name is Charles, Luff his middle name, his mother's maiden name. She was once a model & Luff was once in a LIFE Magazine full page ad for Purina Dog Chow, had a puppy in a wagon." Mike has an amazingly good memory & has sent some other snippets, among them the fact that he remembers Jim Moriarity as a newbie to Robinson, who had just moved here from New York City and had a "REALLY heavy NYC accent." Actually, for us as little kids that would be a memorable factoid to have remained in his databank...how many kids from NYC did we KNOW in grade school?! Mike also found the participant in his first kiss in a class photo, and in that same photo she & two more of his "first loves" are seated all in a row. Wonder how the photog knew? He mentioned another classmate who moved, Reid Bartleson..anyone else remember him? I do but vaguely... so we know Mike was kissing in the 5th grade, and the girl was cute too, I remember her! But I'll not tell who, poor Mike we need to let him have some secrets! Wonder how many of us remember our first kiss? Comments on the subject welcome :-))