Marla Kingsley - 1963 Bio & Picture from 40th Reunion Oldie from Marla's Archives Answers to Charley's Questions for 50th - New Pics Marla Kingsley McElvany    My life is pretty simple. I am a goal oriented person. Many of the plans I made over the years materialized and of course there are new goals to work on. I am enjoying my job as a microbiologist at Methodist Hospital. When I first moved to Houston in 1973 I wanted to work in the Texas Medical Center where they were doing heart transplants. Well, now I do. I had always wanted to teach biology and I did that also, back before kids carried guns to school. (They hopefully don’t do things like that at Hickman.) One of my daughters was killed in an auto accident in 1985. This was the worst thing I’ve ever had to deal with. I miss her every day. My other daughter Dana, worked very hard to earn her Master’s degree in Physical Therapy. She has a lovely family in Ft. Worth, Texas and I have two grandchildren. Her life and good fortune are a blessing. My husband, Mike McElvany, is a great guy, in fact perfect! He dabbles in my horse hobby and is a really good rider. Horses and country life are my passions. We completely renovated a house on five acres in “far West Houston”. We have a tractor, a barn, a pick-up and lots of board fencing. I am very happy, and have learned a lot over the years. I look forward to meeting new challenges of the future.       Ruth Ann Caldwell, Patricia Kunzler, Bobbie Hunt, Carolyn Hunt and Marla Kingsley     Answers to Charley Blackmore's 20 questions for Virtual Memory Book & Directory/2013 1. I was born in St. Louis, MO. In my earliest memory I am sitting on my mother's lap and I asked her “How old am I?” She said, “You are threeeee years old” and held up three fingers. We lived in Columbia on Hinkson Ave. in the first house that I remember. 2. After high school at Hickman, I was a “Townie” at Stephens College. I graduated with AA degree in 1965. I went back to school in 1967 and it took me until 1970 to graduate with a degree in Medical Science and training to be a Medical Technologist. My BS degree was from Wisconsin State U. Along the way I got a Masters in education at University of Houston and I taught high school biology/chemistry/physical science for 4 years. 3. My longest job ever was 18 years at Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX working as a Medical Microbiologist. I retired in 2011. Now I work part time staging homes for quick sale and I am really good at this also it is fun and except for the lugging and hauling it is not like work. 4. I am married to Ralph Michael McElvany a native Houstonian. We met at SSQQ, a country/western/social dancing studio. We both love to dance. We have been married since 1995 and both of us have 2 previous marriages one long, one very short in our histories. (TMI) 5. I have one daughter, Dana LeMone Natwick, she was born in 1971. My daughter, Nicole LeMone was born in 1966 and died in 1985. 6. I have been to Mexico, Bermuda, England, Germany and Japan. But I hate to travel. 7. I don't have a bucket list because I do pretty much what I want to do as I go along. 8. My best memory from Hickman was being in Li'l Abner, some assemblies, and winning the Home Economics award. (Ha! Because I didn't win much else) My worst memory was a night out when a group of us tried to turn over a car. It was pretty crazy. 9. My favorite place to go after school was home. On weekends I usually went to movies and of course the Drive-eat-teria. 10. Carol Ekern (sp??) was my favorite teacher.I can't find my old yearbooks to check the spelling but I did find an old wine rack while looking for them. I also really liked Jerrie Teeter. 11. I would have to say that Charley Blackmore is the only person I've kept in touch with. 12. It is so weird that I don't have much contact with my daughter or grandchildren so I can't answer the question about telling them something I learned. I can say now though that I learned to stay away from sun-lamps. 13. I loved the Jefferson City bridge, the river and that little village where you could by apples- Easley? 14. My biggest accomplishment at Hickman was graduating and my biggest accomplishment presently was accumulating a large enough retirement package to be comfortable. 15. I have no idea what classmates will remember about me but I hope they think that I was nice and cared a lot about people's feelings. I was pretty mean to a particular boyfriend and I hope he doesn't hold that against me. 16. High School was really a very small percentage of my 67 years so I don't feel too bad to say that I can't think of a great big impact from any one teacher. There was a lady who taught me “ my very easy math jars some undernourished people.” and that is how I remember the planets. Currently though Pluto is not considered a planet-so there you have it. She did however inspire me to take chemistry and to pursue math and science in college. She would be the one if I could remember her name. Marla & Mike @ Dana's in Ft Worth Marla @ home, summer 2012 Back to Directory