Fred Vaughn

 

FRED VAUGHN
3235 Roswell Rd Unit 814
Atlanta, Georgia 30305

404-307-1128

fred_vaughn@msn.com

Retired

After graduating from William and Mary & marrying my college sweetheart, I spent 5 fairly exciting years in West Berlin courtesy of Uncle Sam. Post military, I returned to grad school and picked up a couple of graduate degrees in business. I was a CPA/banker for a few years in Richmond, VA - that was okay, but I had developed an interest in mountain climbing and in 1984 decided to pursue that passion full time. I spent the next three years based in Seattle and Vancouver, BC but traveling constantly [Asia, South America, Europe and Canada mostly] and climbing mountains. Sometime during that period I found myself divorced; more unfortunately, my climbing career came to a rather abrupt halt after experiencing a couple of bouts of pulmonary edema in one of the more remote areas of the world.

In late 1987 [a week before Black Monday], I went to work with Dean Witter in NYC. In 1993 I linked up with some friends to help build a small software company in Santa Monica [experiencing the '94 quake in LA was not the highlight of my life!] We sold the company a few years later and at that time the urge to begin my second retirement proved irresistible; I moved back to Seattle for a year - mostly just visiting with my old climbing buddies. Then I was coerced into moving to Spain for a year - which was a great adventure, just hanging out and traveling around. When I returned to the states for my annual pilgrimage to Taos, NM some good friends here in Atlanta convinced me to settle down for awhile to watch two of my eight godchildren grow up some - a good decision! I've been here for a couple of years now, playing a lot of golf, skiing during the winter and traveling occasionally - and babysitting for my good friends! I haven't remarried yet, although I've come close - twice! I keep planning on returning to the productive side of life but expect spending a few years of traveling to those places I just have to see before the 'big one" will be my next adventure?!

A bit of reflection - in some ways high school seems like a very distant thing - but the memories are always very vivid and usually very amusing - could we have had that great a time as teenagers? For certain, the friends are never forgotten!