After reading Phil Holcomb’s
bio, I find that hard to beat. I enjoyed reading it and all the others
that have been sent in have been great without reservation.
Unfortunately I did not graduate with the classof '56 as I should have, but
decided to join the navy and get out of dodge so to speak. I enjoyed the
navy but four years was enough.
After discharge I went south to Lousiana and Texas and worked in the oil
fields in power generation and facilities engineering. However, the feel
for travel never got out of my system (and still isn’t)so I looked
into going overseas for employment , and bingo I landed with AT&T in
Frankfurt Germany for eighteen months installing microwave communications
and power generators. I had the opportunity to travel through Europe from
Holland down to Italy & France.
After I finished that contract I went with Trans Arabian, a sub for Aramco
in the middle east , and
stayed there for a while. I enjoyed it and loved the work … on one
of my vacations home I met
and married a girl from Syosset. I was thirty by this time, and should have
known better… it didn’t last --nnulment in a year. She didn’t
like Saudi Arabia. When things started to get ugly I decided to leave and
go with Hess Oil in the Virgin Islands.and stayed for a little while, and
returned home to take care of my mom and dad who were getting on in years.
I
hung out for the first year and decided I had better get back to work.
I worked in Westbury at the popular Westbury Chef for two years and
decided enough of this. In the meantime, summer of '68 I met and later
married the most wonderful girl in the world, Jessie Marie. We had three
sons who are the
greatest. We settled down at the old homestead in Woodbury, and I worked
for the Syosset Fire
District until I was stricken with three heart attacks-- one every year for
three years, and I was not a candidate for surgery. I retired, and Jessie
continued to work at Finnegans in Huntington for several
years. By this time mom and dad had passed. We moved to a smaller home
on Woodbury Road and
stayed there until our move to North Carolina in 1987.
I had done some consulting and bartending until I got back on my feet and
did very well . When
we moved to North Carolina all three boys ( Lachlan Jr, Thomas, and Douglas)
came with us, but went back to New York to attend and graduate from Syosset
High School. My oldest went to la Salle in Oakdale.
We built our dream home and things were going well until 1989 when Jessie
developed cancer. We tried Duke and all the hospitals but she left us on
Feb. 4 1991 to be with our heavenly father. She is still missed-- she was
the greatest.
I never thought I would marry again. That was before I met the woman who
knew how to handle me.When we finally got together, Diane brought
a lot of joy into the marriage...two sons (Chris, Curtis) and a daughter
(Deanna) PLUS three grandbabies (and three added since then!)...a real extended
family and I love them all.
I returned to the work force nine years ago for just one summer, and
I am still here at GE Power
Systems and Nuclear Fuel. I don’t think that I could retire
and do nothing. I dislike fishing and hunting but do like camping--
I'm sorry I
sold the camper. Looking foreward to seeing you all in '06.
Take care and
god bless…
Lachlan J. Mac Neish Sr.
3020 Lager lane
Wilmington, NC 28405
910-799-4509
