On the Street Where You Live-Part 4

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

After Fred graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he was unable to find a position with a church or school in his field.  Consequently, his Draft Board informed him that he would be “next” for call-up for military service.  Since he had a college degree and two seminary degrees, he looked into becoming an officer in the Air Force.

The result of that inquiry was his enlistment in the Air Force.  He had to go to San Antonio, Texas for his training.

The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas

The River Walk, San Antonio, Texas

At that time, in 1966, wives were not encouraged to follow their husbands to the OTS training (Officer Training School). That was mainly because the men were billeted in barracks for six days, with only one day allowed off base.  But Fred and I were determined to be together as much as possible.  So we moved to San Antonio, and we rented a small apartment over the garage of the landlady.  At least this apartment had a separate bedroom!  

It was furnished, so had a table and four chairs in the kitchen, which was just one long room into the living room.  The bedroom and bathroom (which didn’t have a tub, just a small shower stall), were at the end of that room.  There was a sleeper sofa and a chair in the living room. Again, it wasn’t air conditioned, so our big window fan came in quite handy.  We actually sold it to the landlady when we left there.

We were only there three months, so I don’t really remember a lot about that apartment.  I do remember that the only entrance to that apartment was by the stairs outside the garage.  The kitchen had cabinets and a window over the sink and a stove and refrigerator.

I worked at Kelly AFB through Civil Service, and lived in that place all by myself except for Saturday nights.  I would pick Fred up from his OTS place on Lackland AFB and take him home.  I think his only good night’s sleep was that one night at the apartment with me.  I had to return him to the base on Sunday afternoons.

We did manage to join a small Baptist Church there, and became good friends with the pastor and his wife.  They were about our age, and were a fun couple.  His wife’s name was also Judy, so that was made a nice connection.

After graduation and commissioning as a 2^ndLieutenant, Fred was to report to San Jose, California for schooling to become a Meteorologist at San Jose State College. 

He wasn’t due for a few weeks, so we stayed in San Antonio a few days, then drove to Albuquerque to visit with my parents. 

Fred’s Dad came for his commissioning ceremony and we each pinned on Fred’s new bars.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

Tags: Military Life, San Antonio, San Antonio River Walk