Glen Ping

Glen left Western in the spring of 1966 intending to join the Army Reserves and finish his schooling at a later date. However, his plan changed when he received his draft notice in May 1967 with an assignment to Vietnam that October. In Vietnam he was with the 3/5 Cavalry (Armored Reconnaissance) Division attached to the 9th Infantry and later the 1st Cavalry. After serving two years in the Army, he moved back to Louisville, Kentucky, and then to Beckley, West Virginia. He worked for twenty-five years in sales for a building supply manufacturing company and retired in 2002. He and his wife, Nancy, have two daughters and a son, and now live in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

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Hugh Ridenour

Hugh graduated from Western in 1966 and immediately began teaching history in the Webster County, Kentucky, school system. He received his draft notice in 1968, but due to the extraordinary need for teachers in Webster County, the draft board granted a deferment, thus making any military service unlikely.

For the next twenty-eight years he taught history at the secondary level while also training show horses. These years were interspersed with summer backpacking trips to Europe and mountain climbing in South America. In 1996 he received a master’s degree in history from Western and in 2005 completed a three-year term on Western’s Alumni Board of Directors.

Hugh is presently involved in historical research and public speaking. He has authored one book and several articles for scholarly history journals, his primary interest being the World War II era.

In 1968 Hugh married Carolyn Duncan, a Western graduate. They live in Hanson, Kentucky.

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Bill Ritter

Bill entered the Army upon graduation from Western and spent twenty-eight years in the service, retiring in 1992 as a colonel at Fort Hood, Texas. He then worked as personnel director with the local school district for thirteen years, retiring in 2005. He married Anita Preston, a Western student; they have a son and a daughter. Bill and his wife are both retired and live in Harker Heights, near Killeen, Texas.

While reminiscing by email with fellow PRs, Bill wrote, “Damn, we had good times, and all we had to worry about was ‘getting to class’ and having a little ‘spending money.’ We drank a little, most of us didn’t smoke, and I don’t think any of us knew what drugs were.” He indicated that he is now enjoying the good life, “a little golf, a little beer, some gardening, very little exercise, and some gambling.”

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Jackie Roper (Rudolph)

Jackie left Western just a few hours short of graduation in 1966 to marry and follow her husband, David, as he joined the Navy. Twenty years later Jackie went back to school and received a degree in political science and English from Athens State University. After her husband left the Navy, they settled in Huntsville, Alabama, where she worked in the human resources field for the Motorola Company and later for a hospital healthcare organization.

After an attempt at retirement in 2005, Jackie went to work for a company manufacturing helicopters for the government. In Jackie’s words, “I didn’t know anything about helicopters, but they needed someone who knew the Huntsville business community to run the office. . . . They would take care of the helicopters.”

Jackie loves to spend her leisure time riding motorcycles with her husband: “We fall somewhere between the ‘matching jackets with teddy bears on the handlebars’ and ‘leathers and tattoos.’” She is very active in her church and loves to collect anything “Rudolph.” According to her, “Our house is absolutely tacky during the Christmas season.” She also loves hand quilting and shooting trap and skeet, stating, “I am probably the only woman on the block that got a 12 gauge as a birthday present.”

Jackie and David have been married for forty-years and have two children and four “awesome” grandchildren.

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Ken Scott

Ken graduated from Western but, due to back surgery, did not receive an Army commission. He married Betsy Carroll, a Rebelette, to whom he has been married forty years. In her words, “I deserve a medal.” Ken took a teaching position in Metcalfe County, Kentucky, where he taught for one year. He and Betsy then moved to Bowling Green, where Ken took a teaching/coaching position for two years while attending graduate school at Western, with Betsy also teaching. After receiving a master’s degree Ken took a principals position in the Warren County School System, then went to Glasgow as a principal for four years. Afterwards he enrolled in doctoral work at the University of Kentucky. After receiving his doctorate he became the Director for Educational Research and Program Evaluation in the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. According to Betsy, “Those were some of our happier times.” After five years in that position, they moved to Frankfort, Kentucky, where Ken became Associate Executive Director of the Kentucky School Boards Association until 2002. During this time Betsy worked for the Kentucky Senate and sold real estate. Ken now conducts his own business involving superintendent searches and superintendent and CEO evaluations as well as some part-time farming.

Ken and Betsy have two children, Beth and Sarah, and one grandchild. They are enjoying their role as grandparents and particularly love taking the entire family to the North Carolina seashore each summer. They presently live in Frankfort, Kentucky.