M.A.G.M.A. and DirtyRockhounds Members
Member profiles:
Bob Morgan (rockman1944)
Hi all, guess it is my turn. If others took the time for a good cause, I can too.
My life began February 21, 1944, in Columbus, Nebr., not that I remember it but I recall seeing it written down some where so I believe the date. I was #3 in a family of 5 boys and raised on a large wheat farm since age 3 in Western Nebraska. Kimball, Nebr. was the closest town to our farm.
I was nearly 8 before the telephone lines made an appearance out there in the country. We became pretty good back then at sending smoke signals until the telly got put in, and then had to wait your turn on a 10 family party line. Wow, has things came along ways since then!
Got introduced to television at age 9. I remember Dad had this colored plastic sheet to put on the front of the tube. Blue on top(sky), red in middle(everything else) & green on the bottom(grass), and you instantly had colored television, (to a degree)! Growed up thinking water was green until I seen a lake one day.
Being a farm family, one just adjusted to wheat eating grasshoppers, lack of rain, winds, dust, hailstorms & tornadoes taking out the crops. You had to adjust and pinch pennies when needed as there was not another option.
During my days growing up on the farm I became as a full fledged member of the FFA , and learned greatly from holding FFA Offices. The FFA meant a lot to me and afforded me some “good sense” in the future years.
Christmas season as a member of a farm family, did not include all those fancy toys and stuff of today’s world, but lots of food, all home grown and maybe a pair of shoes or a coat, but I was satisfied.
I never knew what it was like to talk back to my parents(as some kids now do), as I learned respect from the git-go, and that rearing made me better in the long run I am sure.
Those country living days soon turned to years, (good while it lasted) and then I suddenly found my life without my mother at age 14, and without a dad in the not to distant future. Us brothers were then forced to fend for ourselves. There were many tough times back then but I was determined to make something of myself, so a set of goals became implemented. I did graduated from High School in 1962,(as I felt it was important) and from the University of Nebraska through a scholarship program.
I married my childhood sweetheart Mary Kay in 1965. Together we decided to fulfill my military obligation and did so through the US Army.
My child hood dream of Law Enforcement became a reality beginning in 1968, in Sioux Falls, SD until I retired in 1983. By then, the family had grown to two boys & two girls. Along about the same time, I developed a yearning to write. Several small articles at first, and then that part of my life took roots.
As a child growing up, I became interested in rocks very early on. I soon learned that with just a little “elbow grease”, that plain old yard rock soon became something of a beauty, and then another, and another. My love for rocks stayed with me and does to this day.
I must admit my Fairburn Agate collection is quite impressive. Mary Kay & I moved to Rapid City to be near the Beautiful Black Hills and a “rock hunters’ haven”, and the peaceful quiet to expand my writing skills further. My interest in rocks continued to grow as did the displays and the “piles” in our yard. In November 2004, I put the finishing touches on my first real book, “Western South Dakota Rock & Mineral Collecting”. I am very pleased with that book and happy to announce it is selling very well throughout the United States, Australia and Japan. At the present I am working on two other books, not rock related. I enjoy my continued rock hunting pleasure, as well as metal detecting, exploring ghost towns, abandoned mines and fishing.
I thoroughly enjoy leading other rock hunting enthusiasts from all over the United States every summer, so they also can lay claim to owning one of the elusive Fairburn Agates and one of the many other very interesting and beautiful specimens that South Dakota has to offer. It was through one of those rock hunts that I met John Deney, a wonderful man. He has been coming back to South Dakota for several years now and I truly enjoy his presence.
I also keep busy with my web site at http://www.angelfire.com/nb/rockman, in which I have many of my Fairburn’s on display.
July 10, 2006, Mary Kay and I will celebrate our 41st Anniversary. It has and continues to be a wonderful life. We now have 6 grandchildren and love and enjoy them all.
Dirty Rockhounds has been a blessing for me. I appreciate all the friends I have made through it, and find it a learning bulletin board. Keep up the good work.
