Gregory Ropp \u2013 My 50-Year Journey<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After graduation I moved to Temple, TX, attended one semester at Temple Junior College, then went to work for Skyline, and got married. Skyline sent me to briefly to Arkansas City, KS then Mansfield, TX. There we had a daughter, Audrey, who I kept custody of three years later when we got divorced. Then, stupidly, got remarried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1981 I went to work for Chaparral Steel and became a steelworker. My second marriage lasted 3-years, whereupon I became a single parent for a few years. I started taking classes in Tae Kwon Do with Audrey. She made it to 1st degree brown belt, me 1st degree black. In 1987 I met and married Ginger, who had a 11-year-old son, Andy. My third time was a charm. While working for Chaparral Steel, I was nominated, then selected for a scholarship and attended the University of Texas at Arlington, graduating in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1994 I went to work for a small consulting firm (DBA) that was 100% travel. Most projects were on the east coast working for clients in automotive, telecommunications, paper & steel production. We moved to Tucson, AZ in 1995. Then weary of 100% travel we moved to Indianapolis, IN in 1998 where I worked for a chain manufacturer, redesigning their job shop into a production flow system. In 1999 we moved to Santa Barbara, CA and I went to work for another consulting company (KRG) that specialized in the printing industry, which again was 100% travel. Most jobs were on the east coast, a few in California & Missouri, then we expanded to Europe for work in England, Malta, Hungary, France, and Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While in Santa Barbara I began running. Over the next several years I ran many 5k\u2019s, a few 10k\u2019s, a couple of half-marathons, and three marathons. In 2004 we moved to Bryan\/College Station, TX until the birth of our first grandchild which prompted us to move to Marysville, WA in 2006. Our second grandchild was born three years later. I started a Microsoft Excel blog, ExcelSemiPro.com, which I maintained for a few years and then sold. I started a scrapbooking blog and YouTube channel, My Sisters Scrapper, for Ginger who turned out to be quite popular and successful in the Scrapbooking world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2011 I accepted a position at Boeing\u2019s 737 plant in Renton as an Industrial Engineer where I became an Associate Technical Fellow. In 2019 I transferred to Boeing\u2019s plant in Mesa, Arizona where we could enjoy the sunshine again. In September 2021 Ginger contracted COVID-19 and passed away. Consequently, I decided to retire from Boeing, sell my house, and move in with my daughter who was living in the DFW area. In the winter of 2022, I went to Florida to spend time with my sister, Nancy, and ended up buying a new house not far from her, and am currently a resident of Winter Haven, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Florida I\u2019ve been to several beaches, attended a few concerts, a Dallas\/Miami football game, and a couple of NBA games. I\u2019ve done some traveling to Texas, Washington, Colorado and Hawaii. I\u2019ve also become a Rangemaster certified handgun instructor. I work out 4-6 times a week and am trying to enjoy life one moment at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gregory Ropp \u2013 My 50-Year Journey After graduation I moved to Temple, TX, attended one semester at Temple Junior College, then went to work for Skyline, and got married. Skyline sent me to briefly to Arkansas City, KS then Mansfield, … Continue reading