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Parent’s Names: Ethel and George
Bennett Pope
Education Milestones: B.S. U.L.L. (It was S.L.I.
at that time); M. A , Ph.D. The University of Texas at
Austin.
Leisure Activity: Gardening, reading,
singing in the church choir at David Haas Methodist Church,
and at present, taking painting lessons.
Career History: I was a faculty
member and research associate in the Microbiology Department
at the University of Texas at Austin.
Hopes for the Future: I wish everyone good
health, energy, and enthusiasm for life and that the Class
of ‘54 continues to make this world a happier and better
place for all.
Summary of the Last 50 Years:
My first 50 years post-high school have
been very interesting and satisfying and I expect that the
next 50 will be as exciting! I lived in Austin, TX for
approximately 47 years and while I was there Austin grew
from a country-friendly city of about 100,000 to a vibrant
and energetic city of over 1,000,000. I loved living there.
My professional career was spent
at the University of Texas where I taught and did research
in the Microbiology Department. The course that I was most
identified with was Human Infectious Diseases. It is an
exciting course to teach because students were enthusiastic
about this most interesting subject. I also taught an
intensive laboratory course in which students learned to
handle and identify clinically relevant bacterial
pathogens. For me the best part of teaching has been
interacting with and affecting the lives of many wonderful
students who have gone on to be successful and productive
scientists, physicians, and health care professionals. I
also had the good fortune to be associated with several
stimulating research groups. My projects involved both
developing model systems to study how pathogens cause
disease and how production of bacterial virulence factors is
regulated. I was active in the American Society for
Microbiology and held office in both the state and national
organization.
During the mid-90's the thought of
retirement became more attractive and after watching
extremely ancient people tottering to and from the library
daily I realized that it was very important to retire while
one still has energy and enthusiasm for life. After my
mother died in 1993 I refurbished her home making it more
“wheelchair friendly”. My wonderful friends Nancy and Lloyd
Newton volunteered to be the contractors and I have enjoyed
the results of their hard work ever since! I began to spend
more and more time in Bunkie so when I decided it was time
to move, it wasn’t hard at all. I felt like I was on a
short trip to Bunkie with a huge amount of luggage.
I became an enthusiastic gardener while
I lived in Austin and when I moved to Bunkie I naturally
began to prepare beds and plant in them - the end is not yet
in sight. I sing in the choir at the Methodist Church - our
choir is small but we all love to sing and we sound pretty
good. Last year Juanita Overby Courtney began to offer
lessons in oil painting and so I joined her class. I am
thoroughly enjoying it. I have not had a moment of regret
and I look forward to an exciting future in Bunkie!
I am also
happy to report that my broken femur has healed and that I
am back at home. I hated to miss the party at my home, but
I loved visiting with all who came to the Bailey House to
see me. I thank everyone for your cards, words of
encouragement, letters, visits, beautiful flowers and
pictures. They really made my days in captivity much
brighter! I hope that we can meet again soon for a reprise
of our 50th party. I am determined to be more
careful especially when backing up!
You
may be thinking that this sounds like a pretty boring and
lonely, but it hasn't been that way at all. I have made
many wonderful and caring friends from all over the world. I
had a very active social life in Austin and I keep up with
my friends there luring them to Bunkie whenever they have
time.
Since moving back to Bunkie 2 years ago
I have been busy with many activities. I have not had a
moment of regret and I look forward to an exciting future in
Bunkie!
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