John was recalled into the military in the meteorology squadron, and specialized in severe weather forecasting. He retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in 1962, and worked in civil service as a meteorologist in Kansas City, Kansas and later in Denver, Colorado until his retirement in 1982.After retirement, John taught briefly at Metro State College in Denver, and briefly worked for FEMA processing disaster claims. His favorite job was for civil service on Wake Island, where he and his family lived from 1962 to 1965.John and Geraldine divorced. John met his second wife, Clair, in England while serving in the military there. John and Clair had seven children, Paul, Barbara, Tony, Johnny, Marilyn, Pamela and Brian. They had 33 years of wedded bliss, and in 1986 Clair passed away. John then married a lady named Mildred, who passed away in 1996.Now in failing health, John is living with his daughter Barbara in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He was sorry not to have been able to join his classmates at the recent 1935 class reunion.
John Eakin, Class of 1935
September 30, 2005
Santa Paula High School
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By B. J. Harding, President, SPUHS Alumni Association
The only son of Freeman and Alice Stafford Eakin, John was raised in Santa Paula, along with his sisters, Margaret (40), Jane (41) and Alice (49).At Santa Paula High School, John was in the orchestra, band, and the Glee Club, all directed by H. Peyton Johnson. He played the character of Dr. Blackstone in the Senior Class play The Spider, a murder mystery. He was in the International Club, and on the El Solano staff for his junior and senior years. Some of his classmates were Johnnie Burleson, Ed Buster, Forrest Fullmer and Bob Jauregui.Following graduation from SPHS, John attended the University of California at Berkeley and got his degree in chemistry. He worked as a chemist in Ohio and Trona, California.In 1941, John married his high school girlfriend, Geraldine Jenkins, Class of 1938. They had three children, David, Dwight and Janet.In July 1942, John enlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to Keesler Field, Mississippi as a cadet in meteorology. His further training included 10 months at UCLA and six months with the Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, after which he was sent to Cairo, Egypt. He spent a year in Liberia and Casablanca with the 19th Weather Squadron in Africa.John was discharged in the fall of 1945 with the rank of lieutenant. He obtained his teaching credential from UCLA and taught briefly at Taft High School.
