Bill Janky

After all the good times(?) at KHS I had great times at the University of Illinois (except for the year I roomed with Tom Morrissey). I graduated in 1980 with a BS in Engineering Physics. I married my college sweetheart, Kathy Knell, about a month after graduation and the great times ended (kidding, I hope she doesn't read this). This was after being best man in Tom's wedding. I like to say that I picked up Kathy in a bar at school, although it's not totally true. I tried, but I wasn't strong enough. I then went to work for GE Aerospace in Utica, New York. Don't go there unless you like shoveling snow.

During our 11 years in Utica I got older. We also had three kids - Jonathan, Lauren, and Natalie. Jon (JJ) is now at Virginia Tech. Gee, I'm old. I managed to pick up my Master's in EE while working for GE and changing diapers. At GE we were trying to keep the world safe for democracy by building cool stuff to accurately kill people. It was fun, but the end of the cold war brought an end to a lot of those nice cushy defense jobs, so.....

I then moved to Virginia and took a job with Ericsson, and except for some acquisitions and name changes that's pretty much where I am now. Hey y'all. It's nice in Virginia if you like a moderate climate and beautiful scenery. They stopped fighting the Civil War last year so my life is threatened a lot less often now, except at work. I still cringe though when people mispronounce my name "Yankee." My company makes radio systems for public safety (police, fire, etc.). My job consists of telling people what to do and then yelling at them when they don't do it. It's fun. I saw Tom brag about his one patent - ha, kid stuff. I've got 4 filed and 7 more in the works. Of course, they pay us for patents so that's obvious motivation to sit around and think great thoughts.

I have tried to stay young and active over the years with some success, except for the young part. I still play tennis, golf occasionally, and I play in a band. We do gigs quite infrequently at almost none of the best places. There are four of us in the band and I guess if you had to classify our style it would be kind of CSNY-ish; acoustic guitars and 4-part harmony. I play guitar, sing, sometimes play bass. I bought an electric guitar last year as part of my mid-life crisis. It was cheaper than a sports car. My band is pretty high-class - one of our members is a former Miss Alabama. The rest of us are not that beautiful. I stay active in the church and sing in the choir, too. It's Methodist so I'm now on the Pope's hit list, and my mom's. I went to Jamaica last year on a mission trip, if you can believe that. I'm still scratching bug bites. It's not quite so nice away from the resorts.

I'm sort of a gentleman farmer now, too. I live in a subdivision, but it's kind of out in the country. I have about 3.5 acres, mostly woods, and have a dog, cat, horse, and a goat. The goat keeps the horse company. It's a long story. I'd like to retire, but with the recent stock market crash I'll probably just die at my desk in another 20 years. I have been struggling the last few years with teen-age children. Were we that unbearable when we were in high school? I think parents know too much these days. My parents were blissfully unaware. Speaking of them, Papa Oscar is gone and Mama Charlotte is in a nursing home in Kewanee. She's doing good - still cusses like a sailor. I would give you a link to my personal web page, but it's pretty lame.

Well, that's about it. Things are OK, can't complain too much, but I do anyway.