Here's the Denning family...Danielle (20 in August and a sophomore at TCU), Mary Kay and Bill, and Brian (18 in October and a senior in high school). Billy sent this in response to Glenda's request in the first comment, below. So glad he did!!!
Here’s a photo of Billy from the memory book distributed after the 40th reunion.
07/29/08 ~ Billy Denning responded to a request I made for biographical information for the blog. Ed and I had the pleasure of visiting with him at the 40th reunion and I knew he had a lot of interesting things to tell us about his journey. Here is his response. KD
I know you thought you would never hear from me ~ I am notoriously bad about responding to such things ~ but it certainly isn't that I don't care. You were correct that I would find writing a bio a chore... well actually beyond my simple abilities.... so I will just respond to the simple prompts you provided. We currently live in St. Louis, Missouri. I moved to St. Louis in 1987 as a single (unfortunately divorced) male from Greenwich, Conn.
A little background history may answer most of your prompts. By the way, thanks for making this easier with the prompts. After graduating from Milby, I attended TCU in Ft. Worth and graduated on time in 1964, much to my mother's amazement. I then served in the U.S. Army as a 2nd, then 1st Lt., mostly at Ft. Bragg in North Carolina, being discharged in 1967; honorably I might add.
I returned to Texas following my discharge and began my business career in Dallas, Texas with Energizer Batteries which was then part of Union Carbide Corp. In 1968, I was married to my first wife in San Antonio. Following two years in Dallas, we moved to Memphis, TN for a year and then off to New York in 1970, still with Energizer. I divorced while still living in the New York, Conn. area.
In 1986, Energizer Battery was sold to Ralston Purina in St. Louis which prompted my move to St. Louis in 1987. In the interim, I met my love, Mary Kay, in January of 1987 and we married in August of 1987. We now have two lovely children, Danielle (20 in August) and Brian (18 in October). Danielle will be a sophomore at TCU and Brian is a senior in high school.
I retired from Energizer in 1999 as Chairman of North America (Energizer was good to me over the years and probably advanced me well beyond my abilities) and basically have spent the years since playing golf and keeping up with growing kids. Both were, are, wonderful athletes (Danielle soccer, Brian baseball and soccer) and I have had a wonderful time attending their games both locally and in other cities as both had travel games, Brian more so than Danielle.
The golf part of me is really more than a hobby. It's a mainstay of my life other than family. I play a lot, play very well, and do a good deal of traveling to play golf.
So that’s Billy’s biographical sketch. He closed his e-mail with these heart-warming comments, “Seems I'm so far away that it doesn't occur to me that anyone would still care, which is somewhat of a paradox given that I always read the birthdays, anniversaries, and sadly the death notices. I reviewed the blog before sending this note and it is awesome. Thanks for all your work to help us old folks keep up with one another. You've really done a fantastic job.”
Thank you, Billy ~ for your kind words, for your interest in your “old” classmates, and for this biographical information. Please visit the blog often and leave your comments!
Now, dear readers, YOU please take the time to make a comment in response to Billy's biography. You will also enjoy reading the comments that others have left.
CLICK HERE to return to the top of the main section after reading comments below, and/or making your own comment.
Hey Billy! It's great to hear your story. You're charmingly modest about your abilities, though. I'm sure (as we all are in remembering you from our school days) that you are a person of great wit and ability, deserving of every promotion. How about adding a photo of the family? I'll bet you have a handsome brood.
Posted by: Glenda Burns Minniece | September 07, 2008 at 11:59 AM
You DO have a handsome brood! Thanks for letting us see your pride-and-joys. How nice that your daughter chose your wonderful Fort Worth school (and Fort Worth is a great little city!).
Posted by: Glenda Burns Minniece | October 11, 2008 at 07:51 PM
Hi Billy,
You have a handsome family. That's a great picture. Many of us would like to know the secret of keeping all that hair!
Posted by: Charles Simmons | October 12, 2008 at 09:41 AM
Hair? What hair? I don't need no stinkin' hair...
Billy you look great and your family looks fantastic, why don't you make plans to bring them all down for the 50th.
Posted by: John Echoff | October 25, 2008 at 03:33 PM