John M. Critchfield

I attended school in Pleasanton starting in 1936 and graduated 11 years later in 1946. For the first 6 years of school, most, if not all the boys went to school barefoot. The school had no air conditioning unless you could open a window. I do not remember how it was heated. The only paved streets were highway 181 and the street going past the Post Office and the Chevrolet Garage. There was a hitching post outside the grocery store next to the Post Office. For years, one of my relatives (Sutton) would ride a horse from his home downtown and back, he used the hitching post.

In August of 1946, Johnny Owens, Billy Maupin, and I went to San Antonio and Enlisted in the Army. Owens and I were in basic training together at El Paso. I was assigned to an Automatic Weapons Test Board at El Paso. Owens went to Korea or Japan. Sometime after he was discharged, he died in an accident. Maupin was/is MIA in Korea.

Chester Foster and I went to work for South Western Bell Telephone Company as Unlocated Lineman in 1948. Unlocated meant, we worked all over the state wherever needed. The pay was $28.00 a week and room and board.

Gussie Lee Germer and I married August 25, 1951 in Pleasanton. She has been spoiling me ever since and doing twice as much work as I do. My Best Man was Jerry Hill. We have two children, a son Steve and a daughter Rosalyn. They both live in Austin.

I went from the phone company to working for Civil Service and retired after 34 years in 1984. During this time, I worked as an Aircraft System Electrician, Radar Repairer, and Guided Missile Mechanical Equipment Repairer, Electronic Fire Control System Installer and Repairer, and in Quality Control as an Aircraft Electrical Inspector, Electronic Equipment Inspector and Electronic Equipment Inspector Lead Foreman.

During this time, I worked for the Navy once, the Air Force and Army twice. We lived in San Marcos, Austin, Corpus Christi, and in 1959 from April to July we lived at 703 Ormand in Pleasanton, then Abilene, back to Corpus Christi and now living in Austin.

I had a student pilot’s license and flew solo a few times, but the love of my life wanted me to quit, the deal was, she would ride motorcycles if I quit flying. Therefore, we both stopped. Tried SCUBA diving for a while, even joined a dive club. Gave it up because, we could not find clear enough water while living in Corpus Christi. I became quite a water skier and owned a boat for a while. One of the main things you need to be a good water skier is a good boat driver. I had an excellent one, her name was Gussie. I gave it up when I had enough skin cancers frozen, burnt and cut out, only to have more return later and needing more treatment.

We started bowling while in Abilene and are still with it. At this time I am bowling in two Leagues, while Gussie bowls in one and sub in another. She was and still is a better tournament Bowler than me. When a city is selected to hold the Men’s National tournament, National Officials go into the Host City’s convention center and put down the lanes, scoring and automatic pin setting equipment and whatever else is needed. When it is over, most of the wood and usable materials are given to Habitat for Humanity in that Area. I have bowled in Nation Tournaments at Corpus Christi, Baton Rouge, LA., Mobile and Huntsville, AL., Reno, NV., Knoxville, TN., Syracuse, NY, Billing, Mt., Tulsa, OK. Albuquerque, NM, Niagara Falls, NY etc. This year we are scheduled to bowl again in Reno, NV. We bowl in Reno every third year. They have a bowling stadium with 86 lanes in a row. Large computerized scoring screens, balls-checking equipment, lockers, comfortable seating, etc.