Class of 1959 Paducah High Graduate.

        I left the sanctuary of my home which was five miles north of Paducah in 1959.  I had lived there all but the first three months of my life.  I went to Midwestern State University before the fall semester started because I was to be in the MSU band and band members had to be there early.  I had a great time my first year at MSU, but then I decided it was time to get serious.    

In November of my second year I got married.  School, family, and a full time job consumed me for the next year.  Than a year and nine months later my first child came along, and school became secondary. I finally finished my bachelor's degree in Business Education in the fall of 1969--ten years after I had started, but, by then, I also had three boys.    

I started teaching in the evenings with the Wichita Falls Independent School District in their Adult Education in 1970.  That way I did not have to leave my children with baby sitters.    

By the fall of 1977 I had added a daughter to my family, had obtained a Masters in Education with a major in counseling, and had taught for the Wichita Falls Independent School District for seven and 1/2 years in their Adult Education and in their summer school for three summers.  Busy times when you throw in PTA, little league, piano lessons, etc.    

In 1978 I went to work for State Representative Charles Finnell in his Holliday office and worked there until 1982.  In 1982 I became employed by Midwestern State University in the Division of Continuing Education.     

Henery (Hank) White and I were married in January of 2000.  In March of 2000 I retired from Midwestern State University and, and later that year Hank and I moved---back to the farm five miles north of Paducah. 

Circle of life. / Billye Ruth

Hank and Billye Ruth(2004)