Ken Blake

What happened after graduation:
I worked the summer of 1958 as a dump truck driver.  In the fall, I put all my belongings in a suitcase strapped to the back of a 1948 Harley Davidson and took off down Jackrabbit Road (parts of which were not even paved) toward Austin and The University of Texas.  During my time at UT, I worked summers and long holidays as a roughneck and sometimes band member playing guitar and bass (Curly Blake and the Carburetors).  During my junior year, I was fortunate to get a half-time job at a small physics research company (Texas Nuclear Corporation) founded by a group of professors and graduate students from the UT Physics Department.  I graduated from UT with B. S. Physics in 1963 and Masters in 1970.

What happened after UT:
I was was offered a full time position at Texas Nuclear as Research Scientist which I gladly accepted, since I had decided that Austin would be my home.  Over the next 35 years, Texas Nuclear was acquired and renamed by various larger companies, and I continued to work for the new entity in various positions.  From Research Scientist, I went to Application Engineer, Product Manager, International Sales Manager, and in my last position, Managing Director of our European Sales and Service Company which I started up in Holland in 1995.  Sick and tired of traveling, I resigned in 1997, and was finally able to leave the company in early 1998.

Ken finally settles down (well, sort of):
In 1972, Jerry Lou Barho--a woman from Austin, and I were (and still are) married.  In 1978, we had a son, Joshua Byron Blake and in 1988, we had another son, Colin Barrett Warren Blake.  Josh graduated from Leander High School and went directly to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York; he graduated in 1998.  Josh is now living in Austin and working to get established as an independent film producer and actor.  Colin graduated from Cedar Park High School in 2007 and will attend Texas Tech University in fall, 2007.  Currently his major is "undeclared".  Jerry is currently Theater Director at Cedar Park High School which keeps her extremely busy.  Check her out at www.cphstheatre.org

Here is a picture of my family.  Ken, Jerry, Colin, and Josh.

My most useful high school elective courses:
Typing:  Throughout my professional career, written communication was extremely important.  My ability to touch type saved me countless hours.

Spanish:  I don't remember if this was an elective or required.  I had only one year, taught by Mrs. Powell, who insisted that she only taught "Castillian" spanish.  Whatever.  For several years, I travelled on business in Mexico, Central and South America.  I found that after a day or two, my vocabulary (and confidence) started to come back to me.  For serious negotiations, I always had an interpreter, but for day-to-day activities, I can get along just fine.

Mechanical drawing:  This skill was key in getting a part time job in my junior year at UT.  It was also invaluable when Jerry and I built our house in the mid-1970's.  I actually drew every board of the house frame before building it.

What Ken does now:
I am a member of the Austin Senior Golf Association for which I created and currently maintain an association website (www.austinsga.org).  We play a tournament each Tuesday.  I also usually play on Fridays.  I live near Lake Travis (coordinates 30 28'09.17"N,97 51'41.11"W for Google Earth users), and I do a fair amount of bass and crappie fishing.  For a year or so, I participated in local bass tournaments, but that turned out to be too intense for me.  I prefer to relax when I fish.  I volunteer for the Travis Audubon Society--technical support and database maintenance.  All my life, I have been an avid reader, so I now have more time to enjoy that activity.  I also build computers from parts purchased on Ebay.

Coolest vacation:
Since I stopped working because I was sick of traveling, I rarely take a traveling vacation.  However, a few years ago, Jerry, Colin and I went to Dominical which is on the Pacific side of Costa Rica.  It was most enjoyable--we actually saw a giant anaconda in the wild.  It was frightening.