Ronald J. Reed
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Home Page - http://ronaldreed.com
E-mail: http://www.passco.com/email
Home Page - http://passco.com
E-mail: http://www.passco.com/email
The Early Years
Ronald "Ron" Reed, a.k.a.. "Dancin' Gator", was born in Logan, Ohio in 1935, and raised in Tiffin, Ohio. His family moved to Califorina in 1951, where he graduated from Venice High School in 1953, and attended Santa Monica City College as a college freshman.
After a move to St. Petersburg, Florida with his parents, and a year spent working to secure funds, he continued his eduation and graduated from St. Petersburg Junior College in 1956. In the fall, he enrolled as a physics major in the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Florida, Gainsville. He married Priscilla Reichel in August 1958. He is a 1959 graduate of the University of Florida with a BS in Physics, and a 1960 "Gator" graduate with a Master of Education in Junior College Education.
He taught physics five years at St. Petersburg Junior College campus, then moved to open the Clearwater Campus in 1966. In 1967, he moved on to open and teach Physics at The Florida Junior College at Jacksonville. There a colleague posted his test grades on computer printouts from a 8K IBM 1401; taught him something about binary numbers, and the "hook was set"!
After spending 1968-69 teaching modern mathametics as a National Science Foundation Fellow at North Florida Junior College (Madison, Fla), he spend three years as an Assistant Professor of Business Data Processing at Sauk Valley College in Dixon, Illinois.
Then spent the 1972-73 school year at Tidewater Community College in Chesapeak/Norfolk, Virginia as Associate Professor of Data Processing, Director of the Computer Center, and State and Federal Reports Coordinator. Thus, the "Peter Principle" took effect from wearing tooooooooo many hats.
Moving out of the academic arena, he moved on to the adminstrative environment at Mercer County Community College in Trenton, New Jersey. There designing programming applications, and performing faculty/student liaison with the Computer Center which became the job of the Systems Analyst for Academic Services.
That takes us up to 1974 when he wandered away from the college campus after twenty years, and out into the "Real World".
The Next Twenty Years ( 1974-1994 )
Thus, from March 1974,there is a whole other story.... entering his post-acedemic world of over twenty years, he was well qualified for many occupations, working environments and employers, as an adjunct educator, a professional application programmer / analyst, consultant, and eventually an independent consultant and owner of his own consulting firm, PASSCo, established in 1986. The next twenty non-academic years are reflected here.
The Later Years
After a major heart attack in 1981, another in 1991, and acute anemia in late1993, his medical condition warranted an early full disability at age 58. A quadruple by-pass in his single remaining artery in late 1997 has not stopped his interest in computers. From 1997 through 2004, he was an instructor/volunteer at the Ewing Seniornet Computer Literacy Center since October 1997. He maintains his PASSCo consulting and computer domain.
He webmasters his graduating high school class website in Venice, Califorina, the Tiffin Columbian Alumni Association "alumni" website and web pages for all the high school classes in his "hometown". There is a saying that "you can take the boy out of the mid-west, but you can't take the mid-west out of the boy".
His having many nationwide and international chat friends, he has developed an international weather site in ten lanuages, whose visitors are about 40 percent foreign in origin.
With the recent use of web cams by commercial firms, Departments of Transportation, resorts, etc., hundreds of web cam sources are accessible by time zone, by states and randomly. This feature in an ongoing effort.
He writes tutorials for online, maintains a site of online computer related tutorials, and teaches seniors whose interests may be from these basic tutorials and beyond..
In April of 2003, he established another domain for his Senior related files called New Jersey SeniorsDot.Net (njseniors.net). The purpose of this online site (not renewed, and accessed now by a domain thief) was to provide information for Seniors about the use of their computers. It listed computer centers in the New Jersey areas, access policies to their computers, what assistance they may provided, and what courses and programs are available, ... and much more! The site utilization was not restricted to residents of New Jersey. After living thirty-one years in Trenton, New Jersey, and a faculty member of the Ewing Seniornet Literacy Center for seven years, he and Priscilla moved to Olive Branch, MS.Between the Retirement and "Expirement" Years
With the use of the many search engines, and a desire to seek online sites related to Olive Branch, he found little help from existing community web sites. Thus, he purchased and hosts a domain, http://www.OBonline.Biz, whose purpose is to provide the Olive Branch community and businesses one place to find each other. If you have a web site, OBonline.Biz will link to it. If you do not have an Olive Branch related web site, OBonline.Biz will design and host one for you for as low as a "dime-a-day". Today that effort continues via the below right icon.
OBonline•Biz
An Internet presence anyday and everyday for a
In late 2005, the OBonline.Biz domain was not renewed. We no longer live in Olive Branch. The 16 months of living in the Deep South has be a wonderful experience and we hated to leave the community. In his new residence in Harrisburg (Charlotte/Concord area) , he will continue his effort in its community internet involvement. Currently, he webmasters the Carolinas Senior Citizens Online Learning Center site. He was the initial webmaster for the Cabarrus County Senior Citizens Computer Club support site, and has taught a 12 hour "Beginners Window" class.
Recently, he became the Webmaster for the HOA of the Farmington Ridge Community of over 220 residents where he has a retirement townhome in Harrisburg, North Carolina. Currently he is trying to locate a facality in the Harrisburg/Cabarrus County area where adults/seniors can meet frequently to learn the answers to the many questions adults have about computers.It is what keeps him Dancin' .
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