Bio, 2009: Bob Leslie
Following graduation from OSU in 1968, I accepted a position with PPG Industries in Pittsburgh, Pa. on their Chemical Division Controller’s staff. I was assigned to their chemical plant in Lake Charles, La. In September 1968, I was drafted into the Army. With an Accounting Degree and work experience, I was certain that I would serve two years as a Payroll Clerk somewhere in the world. Instead, I was trained to be a scout dog handler in the infantry. Prior to going to Viet Nam in 1969, I married my wife of 40 years Sue Broussard, whom I had met in Lake Charles.
Following my return from Viet Nam in 1970, we rejoined PPG in Lake Charles. In 1975, we were transferred to PPG’s Corporate Office in Pittsburgh. After two winters in Pittsburgh, we left PPG and moved back South to Houston where we lived for 15 years until 1992. During this period, we had our only child – a son that just turned 35. Sue was a Surgical Nurse at the Medical Center in Houston, and my career progressed through various Controller and V. P. Finance positions that involved extensive international travel.
In 1992, our son graduated from high school and went to college, at which time Sue and I graduated from Houston and I became the controller of Lufkin Industries, a public oil field equipment manufacturer located 120 miles north of Houston. We lived there for 16 years and were able to fulfill a long term personal goal by living at Lake Sam Rayburn, the largest lake in Texas. Sue worked as a Surgical Nurse in Lufkin as well as trying her hand at operating a Stained Glass Studio and a lake front bed and breakfast. I was elected Lufkin’s Treasurer/CFO in 1999, and I retired in May 2008. I still do some consulting and Board work. Prior to my retirement, we built a patio home in Lake Charles which has enabled Sue to “return home” and be near her family.
We have three grandsons, ages 6 – 4 & 2, that just moved to Cairo, Egypt for three to five years. Prior to this assignment, our son and his family spent two and one half years in Calgary, Canada and three years in Tulsa. Needless to say, we are ready for them to get transferred back to Houston. In August of this year, our son will complete his on line MBA at OSU. Sue and I plan to return to Stillwater in December for his graduation ceremonies.
As many of you have noted, Sue and I are enjoying our retirements by sharing time between Lake Charles and Lake Sam Rayburn, playing in couples golf tournaments, working on stained glass projects, fishing, and taking extended daily walks with our new Golden Retriever. We try to make most of the OSU football games when they come to Texas to play the various Texas Big 12 teams, and we would be interested in meeting up with any of you that may travel this way. Unfortunately, we will most likely not be able to attend the October reunion due to a previously scheduled trip to Cairo and to attend some wine festivals in the Alsace region of Eastern France, where Lufkin had a manufacturing facility.
©2009 Stillwater High School Class of 1964