Enjoying ~ and staying active in ~ retirement – Pocahontas Times

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Around the world and home again The view out the windows of a beautiful sunroom that overlook the mountains and the land farmed by his ancestors and, to the north, the Pocahontas County Country Club must be a bit of heaven for a West Virginia boy who loves to golf and returned home in his retirement. Thats where Jack Gay and his wife, Ellie, are these days. The road to retirement has been a long and serendipitous journey for this couple. Jack was born in Buckeye in 1937, a son of Lewis and Marguerite Gay. He graduated from Marlinton High School, received his Bachelors in Animal Science from WVU and his Masters from the University of Kentucky. From there he planned to enlist in the military because he was tired of school. Out of the blue, he said he got a call from his advisor asking if he would be interested in teaching for a year at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. The college need-ed someone to teach animal science while its usual teacher was on sabbatical. Jack agreed to the one year, short term contract, and it was there that he met Ellie Gibson, who was a senior at Berea that year. The two became engaged, and married in 1962. Again, out of the blue, Jack received a call asking him to be involved in a 2,500 acre experimental station project at Auburn University in Alabama, and the couple began their married life there. It was a good fit, Jack said. He was raised on a farm, had a degree in animal science, and Ellie was raised on a tobacco farm in Ohio. Ellie taught first grade in Alabama that year, and in the fall of 1963, Jack was asked, out of the blue to be a part of a new program, implemented by WVU, which would provide teachers to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. In their early and mid-20s, Jack and Ellie stepped up, and Jack became a teacher at Bukalasa College in Uganda. It was so natural, Ellie said. We loved the people, and they loved us. It was quite an opportunity to see the world. Jack said there was a lot of optimism there at the time a different and very peaceful climate. One of Ellies hobbies in, and prior to, retirement is birdwatching.

ELLIEGAYBIRDWATCHING in Panama. She said it is the couples passion for birds that keeps them traveling. Ellies goal is to see every bird in the world.

JACKGAYPLAYING golf in Jamaica. Jack got interested in the game while working in Uganda. Now that hes retired, he volunteers at the Pocahontas County Country Club.

JACKGAY WITHhis Real Deal Brazil recycled-tarp hat just right for a puttering farmer and Ellie with a book about her favorite hobby, Sumi-e, Japanese Brush Painting. Puttering and painting are just two of many activities that keep this couple busy in retirement.

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Enjoying ~ and staying active in ~ retirement - Pocahontas Times