Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Marchant.
Hi Joe, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Denison Texas High School graduated 1951 at age 16; lived with my sister in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas; two bus busses to my job in North Dallas; then earned Associate of Science at Murray State School of Agriculture (now Murray State College) Tishomingo, Oklahoma; student commander of the Air Force ROTC unit; Murray founded as a high school and two-year college for Native Americans; full-blood Native Americans could earn all their room and board working for the college, partial breed (me) could earn one-half — we worked for fifty cents an hour (room & board was $30 a month, raised to $36 my second year; hitchhiked home each weekend to work 12 hours on Saturday at J C Penny for seventy-five cents an hour for tuition money (which was $24 per semester) and other expenses.
Worked first semester of summer 1953 in Dallas and attended North Texas State (now the University of North Texas) in Denton, Texas; worked for the KATY railroad in downtown Dallas, lived with my sister in Oak Cliff, and traveled each morning to Denton for my 7:30am classes; last class ended at 11:30, traveled to the rail yard in downtown Dallas (now called The East End), studied in the “yard shack” until work, work was 2 to 10pm; obtained a part-time job in Denton manufacturing and installing venetian blinds (a trade I learned during high school) and continued Air Force ROTC; pledged and was active in the Sigma Nu Fraternity, my senior year I earned the Roger M. Ramey Award for Outstanding Cadet of North Texas and was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in the Air Force in January 1956; after retirement from the Air Force in 1976, I served as the North Texas Sigma Nu Chapter Advisor and then as the District Commander for Texas; proudly, my son (Texas Tech) and grandson (University of Houston) are Sigma Nu alumni.
While waiting to enter Air Force active duty, I accepted a job as the Speech Teacher of Longview, Texas Junior High School: there lady introduced me to her granddaughter in McKinney, Texas; I was called to active duty with two weeks’ notice and reported to Pre-Flight Training at Lackland AFB (San Antonio, Texas) on March 15, 1956. each weekend I traveled to McKinney, Texas to date my future wife; a vision defect (later determined to be a result of polio at age 11) eliminated me from flight training, and I was sent to the Surface Transportation Officer school at Sheppard AFB, Whicita Fall, Texas; my future wife, Clara Marie Perkins was now a student at the University of North Texas; now I traveled each Friday evening to Denton; girls were required to be in the dorm at 10 pm, and universities classes were Monday through Saturday; I slept in the Sigma Nu Fraternity house each Friday night, driving her home after her Saturday class, returning Sunday afternoon to Denton in time for me to return to Sheppard AFB
People find it humorous that I never proposed; during our courtship, we discussed possible accompanied and unaccompanied assignments (meaning with or without family); when I called to tell her my first assignment was to the Naha AFB, Naha, Okinawa, she asked, “can I go?”; when I replied that after a wait up to six months for housing, wives could join their husbands; her reply was, “Guess I’d better call Mother and schedule a wedding”; we were married in her home on June 14, 1956; our honeymoon was enroute to Parks AFB, California for me to fly to Okinawa and she returned home to await permission to travel to Okinawa.
Next would be her story of trip seven months later (in 1957) on an old troop transport ship, six months pregnant in stormy seas (this was the last journey of wives by ship, and the ship was decommissioned after the trip); our first two children were born in military hospitals in Okinawas, the first of which was WWII Quonset huts; skipping the highlights of our time in Okinawa, I persuaded medical personnel that I had corrected my vision deficiency, earned a regular (vs. reserve) commission and qualified to re-enter pilot training; when my condition reoccurred a year later, my record was such that the Air Force sent me to the Astronaughts Training Facility to determine the exact cause and if my vision could be corrected (it cannot)
Now skip to when I was at Langley AFB, Virginia, and received a special directed duty assignment to the cadry of the new Air Force Officer Training School, Lackland AFB, Texas; my success as a Military Training Officer allowed me to become the school’s Executive Officer, gave the oath and signed the commissions of more than 10,000 new lieutenants during the build-up of the Air Force during the Berlin Cuba crisises, also serve as the narrator of the Lackland AFB Warhawks Flight Team; again, I was selected for a special assignment.
I was sent to the University Oklahoma to earn a Master’s Degree in public relations/journalism/broadcast (in 11 months) and then to the Alaskan Command to coordinate the military (Army, Navy, and Air Force) participation in the Alaska Purchase Centenial; I co-authored a musical about the birth of Alaska designed to run two nights, it ran a week and the proceeds completely paid for the newly built theater in which it was held; I also found time to teach night classes at the Anchorage Community College
My commander from my assignment at the Officer Training School, now assigned to the Headquarters US Air Force Military Personnel Center came to visit me in Alaska and informed me of another special assignment directed by Hq Air Force; I served as the Director of Information of the USAF Military Personnel Center, Randolph AFB, Texas
Slated for Viet Nam, as the conflict was ending, the draft was also ending and I was by special request diverted to the Air Force Recruiting Group at Westover AFB, Mass because the greatest challenges in recruiting in a no-draft environment was in New York and the New England states; only one -third of the major eligible for promotion to lieutenant colonel were selected; I was selected and allowed to become the Commander of the most challenging assignment as the Commander of the Air Force Recruiting Squadron the Metropolitian New York City Area (the five boroughs, Nassau and Sufflock Counties (Long Island), and Rockland County (norther suburbs).
Near the completion of that assignment, I was selected as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force as the Director of the Air Force Office of Information, New York City; my office was 663 Fifth Avenue and with a staff of eight we were the liaison of the Air Force to the broadcast networks, the New York Times, and the publication based in that area (including Fortune, Time, and Life); we got to meet the Prince of England aboard the HMS Hermese, and a great joy was representing the Air Force in the US Centennial, including being aboard the aircraft carrier in New York Harbor for the parade of the tall ships
But now, we had a high school graduate daughter, a son graduating a year early from high school, and a son entering high school, all with great potential and we had lived in 21 houses during our moves; one day, I called my wife and said, “I can’t see Texas from here, we’re going home”; As a regular (vs reserve) officer, I could serve 30 years as was due for promotion in December; I gave my notice and retired, being credited with 21 years’ service.
I became a Regional Manager for an international floral service, managed the home operation, then developed the training program for a national company serving the interior design industry before becoming the Executive Vice President of the Dallas Building Owners and Managers Association, helping it grow to be the third largest local association in the commercial real estate industry and the largest single-site provider of the education and training in the commercial real estate industry; I received the Chairman’s Award from BOMA International; I am a Life Trustee of the Building Owners and Managers Institute, and served on several college advisory boards and panel; I retired from BOMA after 22 years.
I am active in the Episcopal faith serving on the diocese Chaplains Training Program, as a Lay Minister for the Ill and Infirm, and president of the Episcopal Mens’ Fellowship of my local parish.
Teaching includes:
The Air Force Officer Training School
Anchorage Community College
Seminars at the USAF Military Personnel Center
North Lake College
The Business and Professional Institute
Brookhaven College
University of Phoenix
University of Texas at Dallas
Clara Marie and I celebrated our 65th anniversary in 2021
Not being humble, but I don’t know why Britney suggested you interview me. I think it is because my life is apparently different than the other senior people she knows. To me, for a career professional in the US Air Force, my life is ordinary. I served with many people that have given much of their life, and some gave all, in the service of their country. I am one of the lucky ones that met the lady God intends me to spend my life with and that he/she has given me many opportunities.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Living in 21 homes surviving a soft tissue sarcoma (cancer) in my left thigh
I live with my third pacemaker
Hearing is now a challenge
The loss of our middle child (our oldest son)
Disappointment in not being an Air Force pilot (civilian straight and level flying is not satisfying, it’s like driving a truck to me)
In teaching business writing and practices to young persons, it is difficult to communicate that the basic elements have not changed.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I turned to oil painting to try to teach myself patience while I was in a high-pressure position in New York. Looking back, I think it was more the commuting into “the city” (Manhattan) each day than the work. I required very little sleep and because of my personality, I found I like painting wet-on-wet, and I would work all night on a painting. But painting was relaxing. Then with the challenge of retiring from Air Force active duty and finding new challenges, I neglected my painting.
To prepare for my retirement from my last full-time position, I returned to oil painting. After several years, I shifted to the challenge of watercolors. Now I find I enjoy sketching. On a trip in France with our son and daughter-in-law, I was sketching while riding on a bus. Our daughter-in-law awoke, looked over my shoulder, and asked for my drawings. That encouraged me and I looked for a way to use my sketches. My wife began to have more medical challenges and we were spending more time in medical waiting rooms. I began to sketch on note cards, then I added the use of watercolor pencils. My wife started sharing the cards with nurses, doctors, and medical technicians.
This summer, my wife was in two hospitals and three rehabilitation hospitals. I sketched while sitting with her and she enjoyed giving my sketches (with envelopes) to those attending to her. Many people appreciated them, and I observed it enhanced the quality and frequency of service to her as many staff members came to visit her after they saw the cards given to their fellow staff members. I estimate she gave away over 250 cards during her five hospital stays this summer.
I recall places we have been and places we enjoyed and simple, colorful sketches are appreciated. I think my best “artistic” work is some of the oil landscapes I painted, but I greatly enjoy seeing my wife’s pleasure in sharing my cards with colorful sketches.
How do you define success?
More important is understanding that “Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.”
Success is achieving goals, but it is more important to know how to set goals. Goals should be challenging, but achievable and you should be able to measure the total results of what you achieve.
