Cameo of a l959 Paducah Graduate:

My name is Charlie Johnston. I graduated from Paducah High School , Paducah , Texas in l959.

I attended and graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant , Oklahoma . Former Paducah coach Ken West (Carol's husband) was very instrumental in getting me to Southeastern and later to Childress. I will always be grateful to Ken and Carol.

Jeanene Riddell (class of '58) and I were married in 1961.

I coached in Alamogordo , New Mexico from l964-1967. After that, I moved closer to home. I wanted my 2 children (Jeana and Boyd) (and now 3 grandchildren) to get to know their grandparents well—instead of just weekends and holiday visits.

God blessed us at Childress because the Bobcats won enough games that I didn't get fired and I got to coach there for 35 years. God also blessed us with a beautiful home and a great church family, and we got to spend a lot of our time with our families. I am so thankful that I still have my mama in Paducah and my children in Amarillo .

As some of the articles I sent to Tom say—I've always considered myself an ordinary guy and a country boy who never strayed far from my roots in Paducah , Texas . I've always been thankful for my teachers, coaches, and classmates for sowing seeds in my life.

And, yes, I married up—when I married Jeanene. A little of me also died when she passed away 2 years ago.

I am looking forward to visiting with friends and classmates at our 50 th class reunion in June.