MATT PARR

I didn't stay around long after graduation. My eyes were set on broader horizons. I joined the Navy and was stationed in California on the U.S.S. Okinawa (LPH-3) Sunny Southern California in the seventies....... wow!! I traveled around the world, ALL of the Orient,(Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Manilla, Pusan) Eniwetok Atoll, Australia, Africa, crossed the equator twice, Hawaii 6 times. I was 23 miles off the coast of Iran during the American hostage crises. Tensions were high to say the least. It was an episode in my life I wouldn't trade with anyone. I've experienced the best life can offer in the paradises of the globe.
I have 2 sons, Travis and Preston. Travis lives in Starks with his wife, Tana. He graduated from Lamar and is working in the oil and gas industry. Preston lives in Orangefield and recently joined the Navy also. I have 1 grandson, Jaxxon.
Since my 6 years in the Navy, I was in the transmission business for 9 years and I've been selling boats for 21 years.
I'm back in school full time working on my business degree. I hope the credentials and the experience will open a door I always only looked upon from the outside.

My best childhood memories are of school adventures. Mrs. Mckinley(3rd. grade), Mrs. Word(4th. grade), Mrs. Gant(5th. grade)Mrs Johnson(and her ruler) B.L. Williams, and so many more. I lived outside the city limits north of town on FM 1122. I rode bus #15 and eventually drove my own car to school. Open campus and drinking age 18, made for a very good lunch, a cold beer and pool game at the "Cottage", then back to school. I played football the first 3 years, then got a job after school in my senior year. No regrets, except I wish I would have had more opportunity to hang around my friends from school.