Email: zatopek@attglobal.net
Some weeks ago I promised Harry a write-up, and ever since then I have struggled with collapsing the last 40+ years into a "brief" bio. Here goes.
Coming to Caracas in 1955 was an adventure for my whole family. At the end of WWII, my dad decided to remain in the U.S. Army Inactive Reserves, rather than enter the Regular Army, so we avoided the typically transient army life. When the Korean conflict required activation of reserve units, my dad volunteered for duty as an instructor at the Artillery School at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. At the end of 4 pretty great years there, my dad accepted an assignment as Advisor to the Escuela Militar in Caracas. We arrived via Grace Line (not the way we pictured army personnel being transported!) the summer of 1955. I spoke zero Spanish, but Daddy brought the dictionary he used at the Army Language School, and I began to work on learning the language. Once school started and I realized everyone but me spoke at least 2 languages, the motivation factor kicked in. By the time I left in 1958, I was getting the hang of it.
With the revolution in January 1958, my folks began to get pretty nervous about whether I would graduate in time to leave in May when my dad’s assignment would end. Agonizing days later, we decided I would go to Oklahoma City to live with family there to finish high school. I was not yet eighteen, but I was going to get on a Pan Am flight that stopped in Cuba, and involved changing planes in New Orleans and again in Dallas, but the riskiest part of the plan was getting from Las Mercedes to La Guaira. Sunday, January 25, Col. Finch and my dad dressed in their uniforms with sidearms, and we got into a military staff car for the trip through town to La Guaira. The crowds on the streets were noisy and made lots of gestures, but we arrived without incident. I will never forget the sight of my dad standing on the tarmac waving his uniform cap at the plane as we took off. What a decision that must have been for my parents!
My aunt and uncle in Oklahoma City had no idea I was coming, thanks to the communication blackout. My uncle was a Presbyterian minister, so it was late Sunday evening when I reached them and explained that I would arrive shortly after midnight to live with them for the next 6 months. Thankfully, they were as welcoming as they were surprised. My cousin’s older sisters had already left home for college or marriage, so he was pleased to have a sister in the house again—he was also a senior and really helped me get acclimated. I truly enjoyed the stateside high school experience; later when "Grease" came out, I recognized many folks from Capitol Hill High in Oklahoma City! It was great fun to attend the 40th reunion in 1998 and renew some old friendships.
In December of 1961 I graduated with a degree in Spanish from the University of Minnesota (my dad was assigned there as Assistant Professor of Military Science and Tactics), and promptly married. I didn’t realize until some time later that my new husband was bipolar. 2 darling children and 20 years later, I finally gave up on our completely chaotic life together and filed for divorce. During those years I was a stay-at-home mom until the children were in school, and then I was blessed with several professional opportunities that helped me keep my own sanity. In 1968 we moved to Houston, Texas, where I taught Spanish for 4 years, worked for a Mexican company for 4 years, then worked for Sohio Petroleum for 10 years until they became BP Exploration.
18 months after my divorce was final, I married Ed Zatopek, the man my mother dubbed "Mr. Wonderful". She was absolutely right. I have 4 terrific stepsons and more brothers- and sisters-in-law than I can count. Ed is a native Texan, an Aggie engineer who has been with IBM for 35 years, most of which he spent working on the space program at NASA. He was transferred to Dallas in 1994, and I was able to continue working for a NASA sub-contractor for another couple of years here in Dallas. After that I went to work for Andersen Consulting, and retired in April of this year.
My daughter Margaret volunteers as an instructor/trainer with the E-Quest program here in Dallas; she has been married for 10 years, and is the stay-at-home mother of the precious twins and baby in the picture. Joe, Ed’s number-3 son, is married and works for IBM in Dallas. Number-1 son Ted works for the systems group of BankOne here in Dallas. Number-2 son Mark is an architect by degree and a graphic artist by profession in Austin, and number-4 son Bill is an accountant in Houston with the State of Texas. Sadly, we lost my younger daughter Joy to suicide in 1996. She left a husband and all the rest of us who would have stepped in to help, had we but known how. We are still recovering, but we’re okay.
Mark has designed our retirement house, and we hope to begin construction before the end of the year on our property near the little town of Boerne in the Texas Hill Country west of San Antonio. We have about 5 acres that we share with turkeys, deer, bobcats and scorpions, and that probably won’t change much once we have a roof over our heads. Ed’s dad is in an assisted living center in San Antonio, and my dad will come to live with us in the new house, so we’re looking forward to having "old guys" around for as long as they can stay. We’ll have room for lots of company—the address will be 110 Ridge Place, Boerne, Texas…y’all come!
e-mail address: zatopek@attglobal.net
Picture taken Easter Sunday, 2000
Caption: Left to right, Brooke Elizabeth Henry, age 18 months
Ed Zatopek, Meredith Jane Henry, age 6 years, Allison Lane Henry, age 6 years
Lane Zatopek