Hollis Brannon

Questionaire:

Address:  3720 Cerise Circle, New Bern, NC 28562-8450

Email:  hollis.brannon66@gmail.com

Phone:  (252) 631-3010 (home), (252) 639-8282 (cell)

Spouse:  NEVADA married 1968

Met at:  At a Nursing School dance. She went as a blind date w/ a friend of mine and I went w/ a close family friend. The next week I asked her out and the rest is history. My friend and family friend started dating soon after and remain married to this day. Nevada was one of 3 girls and grew up on a potato farm in East Moriches, NY. At the time we met she was a 2nd year nursing student at CISH. She is my best friend and soul-mate, mother of 3, grandmother of 8, registered nurse, community volunteer, great cook, gardener, boat mate, and lover of animals (on the farm she had a pet crow and raccoon). Ask her about her vulture story!!

Kids:  We have 3 children, 1 son and 2 daughters who all live in NC. Our son, Shawn (50) is a plant manager for Tower Components in Siler City, NC; Rebecca (47) is an IT Specialist at Principal Financial in Raleigh, NC; and our youngest daughter, Lorrie (45) is a flight attendant with Southwest Airlines and has been there for 22 yrs. We have 8 grandchildren (4 boys & 4 girls) who range in age from 7 to 21 years old. Three are in college (ECU & UNC), 2 in HS, 1 in MS, and 2 in ES. Mackenzie (ECU) is a rising senior majoring in Pre-Med and is currently working part-time as an EMT; Chris (UNCC) is a rising junior majoring in Mechanical Eng and hopes to join a NASCAR racing team; and Michael (UNC-Chapel Hill) is a rising sophomore majoring in Finance & Business. Emile (HS) is an exceptional soccer player and plays at the “Elite” level.

Animal:  Besides having several dogs and cats while the kids were home we also had a pet goat, 2 crows, and an assortment of other creatures. We currently are petless although my wife has indicated that when I pass she will replace me with a dog rather than another man because they are easier to train than a man and offer unconditional love and affection.

College Major: BSChE,  I passed the EIT and NCEE Engineering Fundamental Exams, and hold a Professional Engineering License in ChE in MD

Career:  Drying Technology (Spray, Fluid Bed, and Flash Dryers) for the Food, Pharmaceutical, and Chemical Process Industry.  Started with Bowen Engineering in NJ who was purchased by VMF-Stork (Netherlands) following which we were purchased by Niro Atomizer (Denmark) in Columbia, MD. Niro was finally purchased by GEA (Germany) and we changed our name to GEA Process Engineering. For most of this time I work as a Project Engineer and later as a Project Manager before finally becoming the Manager of Project / Process Engineering.

Spend Time:  Yes, retired in April 2012 after 44 years with the same company. Currently a church Elder and Chair of the Outreach Commission; work several days / month in the local RCS soup kitchen; Federal / State tax preparer for VITA / TCE (5 yrs); play tennis several times a week; boating, 3 days/wk at gym, travel;, and spend time with grandkids and their various activities. Following Hurricane Florence I was asked by our Pastor to be a co-coordinator for our churches disaster relief and recovery efforts which has mushroomed into our community with the Craven County Disaster Recovery Alliance (CCDRA). Currently we are repurposing an old church education building into a volunteer center to house 60-70 work team volunteers who come to New Bern to repair damaged homes.

Most interesting job:  While working at Bowen Engineering I formed my own side business and operated a sole proprietorship building and wiring electrical control panels for flame safety systems and stand alone dryer control panels for almost 4 yrs.

Where lived: New Jersey (Somerville, Flemington, and Pennington) for 10 years; and Glenwood, MD for 30 yrs. We currently reside in New Bern, NC.

Interesting place visited:  There were too many to mention but particularly enjoyed visiting Bucharest, Romania; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Changshu, China; San Paulo, Brazil; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Coatzacoalcus, Mexico.

Greatest accomplishment since graduation :  Remaining with the same company for 44 years and successfully completing a total of 78 projects ranging in size from several $100K to over $15MM most on-time and under budget. Following retirement, using my PM experience to develop action plans for local disaster recovery following Hurricane Florence in September 2018 which devastated ENC

One thing you wish you knew:  Life is short so enjoy each day to the fullest.

Favorite college memory:  Playing football in the snow in the backyard and leapfrogging into the river; T-Bag Fridays; Mrs Loomis’ donuts and steak dinners; constructing ice statues for Ice Carnival; Vic parties; interfraternity sports; sleeping in the attic in sub-freezing weather; emptying out a sorority house’s furniture and bringing it over to Triangle house under the cover of darkness; UO, organic, and P Chem labs; and receiving APC tablets from Dr. Levy for all aliments.

Favorite hobby:  Boating, coin / stamp collecting, and driving and maintaining my Y2K C5 coup red corvette

News that stands out:  The assassination of President John F Kennedy in November 1963.

Friends anxious to see:  Everyone in the Class of 1967 & 1968 and especially Stan Elkerton who we haven’t seen since our wedding in 7/68.

Health issues:  None, for either of us. We are fortunate that we able to eat and drink anything, and stay pretty active.  Life has been good to us and we are truly blessed