Mike Delaney & Paula Anthony Delaney - 1963
Bio from 2008 & Pictures from 40th & 45th Reunion in 2008
Bio Update for 50th - More Pics




















October 1, 2008

Having gotten a taste of the medical profession while working at the Kaiser Permenente Hospital in Panorama City, California back in 1967, I set my life goals to include having an impact on the physical well being of others.

After working in sales with a couple of national pharmaceutical companies I was promoted into the marketing department of a large eye-care company and spent several years preparing business plans and introducing new products into the medical industry.

I was later introduced to the excitement and challenge of the operating room and founded a new company dedicated to the development of innovative new products for patient positioning during surgical procedures.  I received U.S. patents for two of these products, which are still being used in surgical theaters throughout the world.

For the last several years I have been working with a hospice group in Greenville, Texas as a Community Education Representative.  I find this work exceptionally rewarding and another step toward fulfilling my expanded goal of providing physical, mental and financial relief to individuals in need.

I owe my recent success to my lovely bride, Paula Anthony, who became my wife in May of 2002, and convinced me to move to her home State of Texas.  Together we have settled in the bustling city of Pecan Gap (population 214), and live here with our dog Gypson and cats Anita, Peaches, Creampuff, Hannah and Stormy.

We live in a small, gingerbread cottage on a beautiful wooded lot on the very edge of town where we can enjoy the musical sounds of the birds and tree frogs…..a far cry from the ruckus noises I had been experiencing in the various cities where I had lived, including Indianapolis, Denver, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco and San Diego.

Before moving back to Texas, I had been living in Springfield, Missouri for several years where I was able to fulfill other life goals such as experiencing close hand the beauties of nature, hiking the various trails and floating the many streams.  I still have a cabin on the Lake of the Ozarks with my sister, and return several times a year to relax and visit with family.

I also had the thrilling experience of racing stock cars on both the dirt and asphalt race tracks in the Ozarks, and didn’t hang up my helmet until the end of the 2001 season.

But most importantly, Springfield is where I met Paula and fell in love.  She has become my first, and will be my only wife in this life, and I am very grateful for the circumstances that brought us together.  She and her children have added so much to my already full and rewarding existence, including a beautiful grandaughter Kinley and grandson Kai.

Most recently, Paula and I  purchased property in a privately owned RV resort on the Illinois River between Siloam Springs, Arkansas and Tahlaquah, Oklahoma.  We enjoy rafting, swimming, sunning, and just plain having fun with new friends in this beautiful section of the Oklahoma Ozarks.  We try and get up to the river a couple of times a month.

We intend spending even more time at both the river and the lake in the future to be closer Paula's children and our grandchildren.  Perhaps someday we may even retire in the area.
 
 

Scroll Down for more Pictures from Mike & Paula

Granddaughter Kinley & Grandson Kai - 2008


Michael & Gypson - 2003


My crewchief, Jim Inman and the car I raced in 1999.
Back to top of this page

 

May 21, 2013

After graduating from Hickman in 1963, several of my classmates and I entered basic training for the Army at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Some of us had joined the local National Guard units, either battery “B” 128th Artillery or the MP unit in Columbia. After completing basic and AIT (Advanced Individual Training) and BUT (Basic Unit Training) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, I enrolled and attended the University of Missouri for two years. From there I attended Central Missouri State University where I received a marketing degree, and attended graduate school studying for an MBA.

Following school, I moved to Dallas, Texas where I went to work for a pharmaceutical company called Smith, Miller and Patch, later to become CooperVision. I worked as a sales representative in Dallas until being promoted into the home office in Mountain View, California as a Sales Promotion Manager, then Product Manager. My career extended from there to include employment with Dow Corning, Edgewater Medical Systems and later my own company called MEND TECHNOLOGIES, Inc, where I was responsible for developing several medical products, including two that I was issued patents for that are still used in the operating room.

Today, I am still working in the medical field for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, where I am so grateful to have the ability to help people and their families facing end-of-life situations find the special care they need and deserve. Living in Paris, Texas with Paula Anthony, my wife of 11-years, I travel daily to Greenville, Forney, Terrell and other smaller communities in Northeast Texas, talking to doctors, hospitals, nursing homes and various organizations, convincing people of the value they will find in hospice.

Between graduating from Hickman in 1963 and today, I have enjoyed a full and exciting life that has included many years of backpacking, car racing, firefighting and most importantly, meeting my bride whom I met, in all places, Springfield, Missouri. Our lives crossed paths in 2000 and we married in 2002 when she convinced me to move to her home state of Texas where our wonderful adventure began. I had never been married and did not realize how much I had been missing. We still find time to travel a lot even though I work full time. We love staying at our lake house outside Warsaw on Lake of the Ozarks, or our home on the Illinois River between Tahlequah, Oklahoma and Siloam Springs, Arkansas. We also visit various RV preserves as members of 1000 Trails Camping Association with beautiful locations from the coast of California to the shores of Florida. Although we live in Paris, Texas, my job takes me closer to the Dallas area, so during the week we often stay in our RV on Lake Tawakoni, about 75 miles from home, returning to Paris on weekends. Our new puppy, Lexi, thinks all dogs have four homes and get to jump into a car every few days to travel to them.

Having had such a late start getting married, I never had the pleasure of children. But, my lovely wife Paula, the mother of three children, has provided me with three grandchildren named Kinley, Kai and Kroslee. Our two granddaughters live with Paula’s oldest daughter Heather in Battlefield, Missouri and our grandson lives with Paula’s son Nic in Orlando, Florida. Her middle child is the perfect Aunt Holly, who lives in Branson West, Missouri. I was named “Unnie” by our oldest granddaughter, Kinley, and I am sure I am their favorite grandfather! It makes me very proud and happy to be part of this great family that includes Paula’s mother Jean and father Hugh, who have been so kind to me.

Some of my travels take me to Columbia where I get to meet up with and enjoy visiting with Charley and Karen Blackmore.

I’m guessing that when I do finally retire, say around age 75 or so, Paula and I will settle down in our lake house at Paradise Point Beach, Missouri. I may even learn how to fish.

 

 


Paula & Mike wedding

Spring-break 2013

 


Back to Directory