Houck, Robert
Robert C. Houck
At LAHS, Bob was active on the staff of The Garnet & Gray, a cast member of musical and dramatic productions, a member of the band and SE district band, an AFS summer exchange student to Greece, the Delaware County winner of the Voice of Democracy oratorical contest and Secretary General of the Philadelphia World Affairs Council's Model United Nations.
In retrospect, his junior year was the happiest of his high school experience. In addition to extra-curricular activities, much of his free time was spent with his first real girlfriend, Valerie Fallon ('55). The next year was a different story! Having skipped most of his junior health and gym classes (boring!), he was forced to make them up the following year.
Also as a senior, and needing the science credit to graduate, he attempted to fake his way through the first half of College Chemistry with disastrous results (a 47 average). Embarrassed by the poor performance of such a visible representative of LAHS to the community, Principal Moore negotiated a deal with chemistry teacher Paul "The Baron" McClure; If Bob could pass the final exam, he could pass the course and would receive the credit required to graduate with his class.
After three months of outside tutoring, and many after-school hours spent making up lab work, Bob scored a 69 on the final exam, one point short of passing. The Baron wouldn't budge, saying "Some day you'll thank me for this." As a result, Bob missed out on the senior trip, the graduation ceremony and several awards. He received his diploma in August, having scored an A in chemistry at summer school in Springfield
Working as a cashier at Penn Fruit while attending summer school, Bob was disheartened and afraid that he lacked the self discipline to succeed in college, Funding was also an issue, so he joined the U.S. Air Force. He was based in Texas, Korea and New Jersey and enjoyed flying throughout Europe and the Far East as a flight traffic specialist for the Military Air Transport Command.
Having married an Air Force squadron mate at 19, Bob moved to Eugene, OR, at the end of his enlistment to attend the University of Oregon. Two years later, with a wife and child to support (and another on the way), he returned to the Philadelphia area and was employed by Hertz Rent A Car as an auditor on the graveyard shift at Philadelphia International Airport.
Car and truck rental was a growth industry during the 60's and 70's and Bob's rise through the ranks was swift. He was able to successfully compete against college graduates and spent 38 years with several firms in the rental and leasing industry as an operations, marketing and franchising manager and ultimately as an executive.
Having lived and worked in Philadelphia, Richmond, and Pittsburgh, he has resided in the suburbs of Washington, DC since 1976. Upon his retirement from the rental industry in 1998, Bob joined a small management, training and technical consulting practice in the Washington, DC area as chief administrative officer.
This business was dissolved in the aftermath of 9/11, with disastrous financial consequences for Bob. Too broke to retire again, Bob went to work for VABC, the state agency which controls wholesale and retail distribution of alcoholic beverages in Virginia. He is enjoying his retirement career as manager of a large volume VABC wholesale/retail store in Chantilly, VA.
Bob's two marriages ended in divorce after 22 and 21 years respectively. He maintains cordial relationships with both ex-wives and plays an active role in the lives of his three children (ages 46, 44 and 22) and 7 grandchildren (ages 24 through 7). He is delighted and somewhat bemused by the fact that he recently became a great-grandfather.
At this writing, Bob is active, healthy and good spirits. He is enjoying living alone for the first time in his adult life, but is open to the possibility that "MS Right" could come along and cause this status to change! He is a loyal friend, an avid reader and a political junkie who appreciates the wide range of cultural, historic, entertainment, sports and dining opportunities available in the Washington, DC, area.
Bob remembers most of his time at LAHS with fondness and feels blessed to have reconnected with best buddies Bill Bingham and Tish Henderson before their untimely deaths several years ago. He is looking forward to attending our class reunion and would welcome hearing from classmates between now and then at bobhouck@hotmail.com or 571/434-0956.