Bill & Charlene Sullivan

2007-2008

Charlene was born at Florence Nightingale Hospital, Dallas, Texas, in April 1944. My family moved to a farm at the corner of Wintergreen and Westmoreland in the late 1940's and it was the dividing line of three school districts De Soto, Wheatland and Duncanville. I was able to attend all the schools at some point starting in De Soto and coming to Duncanville for the 3rd grade year and then back to go to Wheatland for a year and then back to De Soto. I finally realized that Duncanville was where I wanted to attend and graduate from so I came back in the 7th grade.

Everything about high school was wonderful.  I loved everthing about school.  We had fantastic teachers, who were not only your teachers, but your friends as well.  Since we were such a small school, we were able to try out and hopefully make all the sports teams or any other endeavor we wished.  The best part of school was being a Pantherette and going to state my junior and senior years.

Our graduating seniors had something really unique in that 62 graduated in 1962.  Unfortunately we graduated during the Vietnam War and our class lost several classmates and our city lost others to the war effort.  I consider my class very exceptional, because we have met every five years since our graduation.

I met Bill when he was a senior, and I was in the 7th grade, at Lee Collins roller rink in Duncanville.  He was working as a bouncer and I fell in love at first sight.  We dated off and on throughout my high school years and eventually married before my graduation.  We have been happily married for 46 years.

Bill was born in Houston, Texas, in March 1940.  He played baseball and basketball and loved the coaches and teachers.  Bill graduated in 1958 and their were 44 in his class.

In 1962, Bill was due to be drafted into the Army, the Vietnam War was going on, and he decided he would rather go in the Air Force so he joined in April 1962 and was sent to San Antonio, Texas, for basic training.  He was tested and they decided he would best serve his country by being in the Security Service.  He was sent to San Angelo, Texas, in 1963 and he and his family lived in an apartment in the little military town until he graduated.  After graduation he was sent to Misawa, Japan, on Northern Honshu.  The family joined him in September 1963.  We had a small home off base, because Bill was only an airman basic.  We lived in Japan for three years.  They were very special years for us as a family and an experience we will never forget.

We returned to Duncanville in 1966 upon Bill's discharge from the Air Force.  Bill eventually went to work for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service in 1966 and we made our home here until 1974 when we were transferred to Atlanta, Georgia.  We lived in the small town of Stone Mountain, Georgia.  We spent two years there and then low and behold we were sent back to Japan.  This time we were sent to Yokota Air Force Base, Japan.  Stephen was 13 and Lance five.  We were fortunate to have a home on the base and lived in a nine story high rise apartment complex on the 9th floor that was just off the air strip.  Our apartment terrace faced the flight line and we had a beautiful view of the airplanes coming and going and we could see the famous Mt. Fuji from every room in our apartment.

We really wanted our oldest son, Stephen, to graduate from Duncanville and he wanted this too.  So he was only with us for a few years when we sent him to live with his grandparents who were still in Duncanville.  It was a very hard time for all of us.  We stayed in Japan this time for five years.  They were really enjoyable years for us.

In 1981, we returned to our beloved Duncanville and have been here ever since.  We have truly been blessed and have traveled to wonderful places and had some fantastic experiences.

Bill and I have been very active in the DHS Alumni Association and D.I.S.D. Education Foundation since their inception.  We love our family, city, school and all our friends and classmates.  

Duncanville is a very special place to live and we are very proud to live in this great country. We have been fortunate to visit many countries and after each visit, we thank God for our country and all the blessings he has given to us.