"My goal was to enter medical school, but both of my brothers, Larry and Ken, were in college, and my sister, Babe, was ready to start. In order to reduce the financial burden on the family, I decided to teach for two years before entering medical school.

I applied for the position of Director of Physical Education in the Desloge, Missouri School District, and was accepted. This was the beginning of a most satisfying and fulfilling experience. There is nothing that offers a greater opportunity to know and appreciate other human beings than does teaching.

My assignment included teaching health classes and physical Education for both boys and girls. I also coached volleyball, basketball and baseball. We were blessed with very good athletic material, and managed to win the St. Francois County High School Championship during my second and last year at Desloge.

My experience at Desloge was great fun. I grew to love the kids, and they seemed to feel that I was something else. It was an easy life for me. I was given full freedom to run the athletic program in the direction and in the manner I saw fit. I enjoyed the situation so much that I gradually came to the conclusion that teaching was a most desirable career, and that I seemed to fit in. I also decided that I should move to the academic instructional areas in which I was fully prepared to teach, biology, chemistry and physics. I have always been thankful that I turned in this direction, for it brought me professional advancement and great personal happiness. Desloge was an intern period for me – a sort of try-out time, for which I have always been grateful. "