Today's Featured Biography
Mike Lanning
Terence Michael (Mike) Lanning
I attended Meridian Elementary Kindergarten through first half of 2nd grade. (1951 - 1953).
Teachers:
Anna Pierce (Kindergarten), Irene Hanson (1st Grade) and Ruth Cougher (2nd Grade)
Memory:
I recall being spanked by Mrs. Hanson for pulling Linda Parker up the stairs by her hair. Linda and I enjoyed it but Mrs. Hanson did not see the humor. I learned from the experience and never did anything like it again. Also, I really liked the "My Little Red (Blue Green) Book" series with Tom, Betty and Susan.
I attended David L. Payne Elementary the second half of 2nd grade through 6th grade.
Teachers:
Ruth Cougher (2nd Grade), Clare Ottoway (3rd Grade), Doris Martin (4th Grade), Marie Brady (5th Grade) and Corland Branson (6th Grade).
Memories:
I received almost daily spankings from Mrs. Cougher for failure to work my Arithmetic quickly enough.
Once a week, we would go up to the front of the class in small groups and sit in a circle to read. One day as I started to sit down, Johnny Benedict pulled my chair out from under me and I landed on my rump. Mrs. Cougher scolded Johnny and said if anyone ever did that again, there would be a spanking. Well, next week when we went up, as Johnny was sitting down, somehow my hand reached out and pulled his chair out from under him. Naturally, it was not a scolding for me.
One day, I needed to go to the bathroom and held up one finger. Mrs. Cougher yelled at me and told me that I could not go. About 10 minutes went by and I was getting desperate and I held my finger up again. She came back and jerked me out of my chair and spanked me and said I could not go. I finally I couldn't hold it anymore and peed my pants. Mrs. Cougher shortly came walking by and saw the puddle under me. She spanked me again and told the class what a horrible boy I was.
I especially recall the extra effort from Mrs. Ottoway in 3rd grade to help me understand Arithmetic and regain my confidence which was nearly destroyed by Mrs. Cougher.
I had girlfriends Diana Sue Morgan (4th Grade) and Eleanor Maderas (5th Grade). I donâ;;t think Eleanor had any clue I considered her my girlfriend.
I attended Allison Junior High 7th through 9th grades.
Memories:
I remember being so intimidated by Mrs. Welch (7th Grade Social Living) that I used by first name, Terence, through my Allison years. Mrs. Welch said that we could only use our full 1st names and I thought that was a rule that could not be broken. As a result, I was generally miserable during Junior High.
One day after school, Wiley Jones, Ronnie McGlothlin and I got into a snowball fight. The assistant principle (can't remember his name right now) caught us and took us to his office. He told us that the next day he would let us know whether he was going to give us spats, suspend us for a day or suspend us for 3 days. I was scared half to death and the next day as I went to school, I was a wreck. I continued to worry myself crazy all day, but he never called us back to his office and never mentioned it to any of us again.
As a 7th grader, I got in a fight with Richard Lynn Starns on the way home from school. He wanted me to shine his shoes. This was what the 9th graders did to the 7th graders, but he was only a 7th grader like me so I refused. It was sometime later that after hearing that he had been killed in an accident, my dad told me about remembering his name from the day I was born. Dad and Richard's dad sat in the waiting room together and Richard and I were born within an hour or so of each other. Richard (who went by Lynn as he got older) had a best friend named Jerry (canâ;;t remember his surname. Jerry once was standing on the bumper of a car that took off and he fell backward off the car, hitting his head and was killed. I think Lynn may have been driving the car. Then not too long, maybe a couple years, Lynn was killed in another accident. Lynn and I had become friendly after our fight.
I attended West High 10th Grade through Graduation.
Memory: Many good times with Bill Vredenburg and Connie Veach as well as some crazy times with Danny Park.
A couple West High memories were:
Danny Park and I skipped school one day and walked to Valley Center where my girlfriend when to school. On the way, we stopped at a pay phone in Riverside Park and I called the school and said in my best adult voice, "this is Burtis Park. My son Danny is ill today and will not be in. About a half hour later, we stopped at another pay phone and Danny called the school and told them he was Red Lanning and that his son Mike was sick and would not be there. Danny managed to laugh all the way through the conversation and I knew I was dead. We walked into Valley Center High School between classes as the students were moving from class to class. I saw a friend of my girlfriend and walked up and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and saw me and screamed. We were standing just outside of the school office. Mr. Hunsinger came out and ran Danny and me out of the school. The next morning, Dad woke me to tell me that I had been kicked out of school pending a parent conference with Mr. Dorsey. Dad and I had to go in and meet with Mr. Dorsey before I was released to go back to school. Nobody ever said anything to Danny about missing that day.
Danny and I went down to the exit doors near the gym at lunch one day and Danny fired up a cigarette. I told him that I was going back to class because I didn't want to be involved in smoking in school. Later, as I stood across from 4th grade English class, Danny came and stood talking to me. Mr. Dorsey came up and told us to go with him. He took us to his office and kicked us both out of school for 5 days for smoking in school. Even Danny tried to tell Mr. Dorsey that I was not guilty, but he would not listen, so I had a week of making good money by working full time at my job instead of part time.
I also remember Eugene Schulte and me throwing grapes at each other in Mr. Small's English class. I sat in the back and Eugene sat near the front. I threw one grape that went over Mr. Small's head and splattered against the green board. Mr. Small just looked at it, shook his head and went back to what he was doing.
I began working at CEC Bowling Alley as a pin boy in 1956 making a dime a line. The first time I got to set pins was for a league, and when the league was over, a bowler named Leo Erne threw 2 quarters down the lane. After I got the quarters, I went to my friend Larry Atwater and told him that I had already been paid by Leo throwing the quarters down the land and Larry laughingly told me that the 50 cents was a tip from Leo, not my pay. I was thrilled to learn that the league was 10 bowlers rolling 3 games each so the pay was $3.00. Since Ronnie had set lane 4 and I had set lane 3, we each earned $1.50 plus the 50 cent tip each. I thought I was as rich as I'd ever be. I continued at CEC through 1961. I also worked at times at MAL Manufacturing doing minor assembly work during the same time frame. I worked at Joyland Swimming Pool as a basket boy summer of 1961 where I got acquainted with Danny Park, Steve Matthews, Bob Norton, Mike Coffman and Alfred Elvin, all West High students. I was working at MAL on my 16th birthday and was given a tool drawing for a die for the Coleman Company. It was my first Tooling job. Most of my life since has been involved in Tooling.
I married Judy Shewmake (Valley Center '65) August 7, 1965. We had two daughters (Gina and Gayla) and one son (Troy).
I started working at Wesley Hospital in surgery on August 9 (just 2 days after marrying Judy) and remained there until December when I felt I needed to make more money to support a family. Judy was pregnant by then. I moved on to Lear Jet until the following June when I went back to MAL Mfg. I started as a spot welder at Coleman March 31, 1969 and transferred to Tooling at Coleman in October, 1975. Left Coleman for Boeing in April, 1979. I have been a Tool Analyst Engineer, Tool Designer and Project Manager during my years there. I was still at Boeing in 2005 when the commercial division of Boeing Wichita was purchased by the Onex Corporation and eventually became Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. When the buyout was complete, I retired from Boeing, but remained at Spirit doing the same job. I remain there at this time.
My marriage with Judy ended in divorce after 12 years. I then married Karen Langhofer (Martin) (North High '67) on June 17, 1978. Karen had daughter Kristi, age 3 who we then raised together.
Karen and I have had a wonderful life together. We met bowling and continue to league bowl every winter until about 2003 when we finally retired. We also enjoy baseball and basketball. We are Wichita State basketball season ticket holders and hope to have WSU baseball season tickets also when we retire. We enjoy movies, Broadway musicals and attend numerous concerts. We are annual season ticket holders for Music Theater as well as the winter concert series, whatever it may be called from one year to the next.
We love many kinds of music ranging from Country to old time rock and roll, Jazz, the Pop Standards, etc. We have become real lovers of the Prairie Rose Wranglers (later the Diamond W Wranglers) and their wonderful Western Music. We traveled to New York City with them to see them play at Carnegie Hall as well as accompanying them on a cruise. We also have gone to Las Vegas to see Barbra Streisand's Millennium Concert and Paul McCartney American tour.
In 1991, I won $1000 in the Gold Pin Fun Center tournament on Channel 12. While I was only about a 175 average bowler at the time, I managed to average about 215 during 2 qualifying rounds at Rose Bowl West, the 6 game qualifying round at Thunderbird Lanes on the day before the television day and then the one game I rolled on television. I was the number 1 qualifier on Saturday so I got to wait on all the others battled out who got to bowl me then I only had to roll one game. I actually rolled a 193 on the television game, although the television scorekeeper made a mistake and gave me 10 extra pins. It didn't matter as I would have won without the extra pins. I never realized that I was given the extra pins on television until a week or so later when I watched a tape of the game that Bruce Haertl provided.
I was always and continue to be a big Elvis Presley fan and was able to see him in 1972.
Karen and I love hosting family get-togethers and annually host the Thanksgiving Dinner for both sides of the family, Christmas Eve for my family and Christmas Day Dinner for her side.
I finally retired from Spirit AeroSystems Oct 31, 2014.
I am a reuntion committee member. If you are unsure that we know where you are, please contact me.
VIEW ALL BIOGRAPHIES
|