Bob Wilson describes himself as a newlywed, and when that red-haired gal he met at work calls him “Wilson” he perks up and listens. He and Stephanie met at J. Ray McDermott Corporation and married some 10 years ago. He no doubt claims her as one of the best benefits of his 35-year association with the company.

After Nicholls, where Bob discovered his skills in mechanical drawing in Louis Bierhorst’s classes, he enrolled in Delgado Trade and Technical Institute to continue his architectural drafting and design studies. After jobs with Bernard & Bernard Architects, Jules K. de la Vergne and Associates, Architects, and Waldemar S. Nelson, Architects and Engineers, Bob moved to McDermott. He began his career there by designing offshore oil drilling platforms. He retired two years ago as the manager of corporate office facilities and services.

He has remained in the greater New Orleans area for all his life except for the year following Hurricane Katrina, when McDermott sent him to Houston for a year because the Dominion Tower, which housed its offices, had been heavily damaged.

Bob has four children: Robert Jr., 38, is a contractor and musician, who played in New York for more than a year several years ago; Eric, 35, is manager of The Leather Factory (a division of Tandy Corporation) in Harahan; Krista, 34, works for Entergy in Kenner; and Michael, 22, is a recent LSU graduate in business finance who will take the entrance exam for law school in February 2009.

Grandchildren have increased his family by four: Raeyn is 13; Mason is 10; Ella Mia is one; and Speed is five.

The thing foremost in his mind during high school, Bob said, was wanting to get out. Even so, he fondly recalls Mr. Bierhorst and Prof. Joe Lewis, band director. Among Bob’s best memories of band activities were marching in the Mardi Gras parades and the fun the group had traveling to the football games on the band bus.

Advice for those still in school: Study hard because nothing is free!

Bob said his goals are to keep on living and to totally beat cancer, which he has conquered twice. He also helped fight the cancer battle for his son, Eric, who won a 10-year battle against leukemia that began when he was four.

Bob and Stephanie were at the Class of 1961 reunion picnic in October 2008. They’ll be at our next one, too. Meanwhile, they are perusing travel brochures. With four Caribbean cruises, and a longer cruise around the Hawaiian Islands behind them, Bob said he and Stephanie soon hope to see Italy and Sicily. A trip to Greece years ago makes Bob want to return to the Mediterranean area.