Dennis Ford

Upon graduation from BHS, I enrolled at Illinois Wesleyan University, with a projected major of Chemical Engineering.  I joined the Track Team, and earned my letter jacket by competing in the mile and two-mile races.
 
After my Freshman year at IWU, I transferred to then Illinois State Normal University, with a projected major in Mathematics.  I quickly changed my major again; this time to Russian.  I graduated with a degree in Russian in January, 1965.
 
I immediately joined the U.S. Army after graduation and, after Basic Training, was sent to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, to study Czech and Slovak.  After completing the intensive 47-week course, I was stationed at an Army Security Agency base at Herzogenaurach, Germany for two years, but before leaving for Germany, I married Carol Stegeman of Quincy, Illinois, whom I met at ISNU.  Her course of study was Elementary Education, with an emphasis on Deaf and Hard Of Hearing Children.
 
While in Germany, our first son was born.
 
I completed my 4-year military commitment with a 6-month assignment at the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland.  Liking the work there, I applied for a civilian position, was hired, and spent the next 28-1/2 years there.  I retired at the end of 1997.  Our second son was born in Maryland in 1970.
 
After retiring, I became a house husband for my wife, who continued working as a Sign Language Interpreter for the Deaf until she retired in 2007. 
 
In retirement, I worked part-time for a while at a Lowes store, and I continue to volunteer at nearby Baltimore-Washington International Airport with a program which staffs the Information Desks.  I also am an usher at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theater, a restored grand theater which first opened in 1914 and which shows traveling Broadway shows.
 
My wife and I enjoy the activity called Volksmarching, 10-kilometer walks which are sponsored on the weekends by local walking clubs. 
 
Note: Also check out Photo Gallery for a current photo of Dennis