What is New with the Winchell’s?

This month we caught up with Terry and Sheldon Winchell, a father/son duo born and raised in the KCK area. Terry is a KCKJC alum from the class of 1968 and his son, Sheldon, attended KCKCC in 1998.

Q: What programs or classes did you take at KCKCC/JC?

I took a electronics technology course after I graduated from Sumner High School. I was just always interested in electronics, technology and computers, so it seemed like the natural first step for me.

Sheldon

I graduated from Turner high school and then went on to KCKJC. I attended from the fall of 1966 through spring of 1968. I earned an associate’s degree in liberal arts and then went on to Kansas State College of Pittsburg. I attended there for a semester, it just wasn’t for me. I went on to attend the University of Missouri in Columbia and majored in Wildlife Conservation.

Terry

Q: What attracted you to attend KCKCC?

It was so convenient, community colleges are more new-student friendly, more so than most colleges or universities. It was also more cost-efficient. My older brother also graduated with an associate degree from KCKCC.

Sheldon

The main thing for me was that I was so undecided about what I wanted to do and to go away to school was so expensive. At other schools, I would have had to pay for room and board and tuition was much more expensive. KCK Community College was close and very efficient. I could still live at home too. I also had much more freedom, and the hours were flexible. I met some very good friends from the Kansas City Kansas area that had attended different high schools, I would have never met them if I hadn’t gone to Kansas City Kansas Junior College. Some of them ended up being lifelong friends.

Terry

Q: What did you like most about your time or courses at KCKCC?

I just found the subject matter interesting. I learned quite a bit that I didn’t know about the basics of electronics, something I didn’t really have any experience with at that point. I just had experience with computers prior to that. I was able to learn about resistance, amperage, and voltage – really learned the basics of electronics technology. We had to write equations and some of those were really complex! Probably my proudest moment was scoring a perfect midterm.

Sheldon

Q: Did you have a favorite class or professor at KCKCC?

I built a great rapport with Professor Gannon, he was a great instructor.

Sheldon

One teacher that I remember stood out a lot and really impressed me was Mr. Jewell. It’s hard to explain, but you could just tell from listening to him for a few minutes, he was very deep and an authentic person. He was a deep thinker. He was a really kind person I think that really came through in his teaching.

Terry

Q: Terry, what did you do after graduation?

After school, I had some various jobs. I worked for Budget Barber and Beauty Supply, I worked for Roadway Trucking. Honestly, I didn’t stay very long because I just wasn’t ready to settle down yet. My dad was encouraging me to get a job and I don’t blame him for that, but in the summer of 1971, I took off hitchhiking by myself. I hitchhiked to Emporia, I knew some friends that were in school there and they let me stay at their apartment for a while. I even stayed in the dorms for a while. I had a friend in the dorm and the floor manager let me stay. Things were much more relaxed then! I eventually got a job with a trucking company driving a semi dump truck for a while, but the construction project ended so that job was over in about three months. I was looking in the paper for a job and saw Paramount Pictures had come in to shoot a movie. So, I went out and applied and was hired as part of the crew. The name of the movie called Bad Company, starring Jeff Bridges, Jerry Houser, and several other notable actors. The movie was a western and it was really a interesting experience because I got to see the whole movie being made. I forgot, prior to that, I was also an extra in a movie called Prime Cut before I lived in Emporia. This only lasted a few days, but there were a couple quick shots of me. I am not trying to act like a movie star, but I actually got in that movie. It’s not a very good movie, but it was shot around Kansas City and Lawrence.

Terry

I can attest to that; it was not a good movie! But It actually had Gene Hackman and Lee Marvin in it.

Sheldon

(laughing) Of course, I have a hundred copies of it.

After this, in 1972, I got married and wanted to work for Forest Service with the Federal Department of Agriculture. They were not hiring and ended up forwarding my application to the US Food and Drug Administration and I got hired on there. It was totally different from wildlife conservation, but I ended up worked there for ten years. I went on to work with Marion Laboratories because of my FDA experience and I was there for 17 years. They sold and I eventually became an independent consultant in clinical research. My career ended up being totally different from what I originally planned to go into, which was wildlife conservation. This is totally different from what I think my inherent nature is, which is a writer. It is like a card game. You keep getting different cards as your life goes on and you try to play the hand you are delt the best way you can with what knowledge you have at the time.

Terry

(laughing) Unfortunately, I have always been dealt the joker.

Sheldon

(laughing) I was going to say that about me, not you Shel, but some of those hands I didn’t play too well. You just got to do the best you can with what you have at the time.

Terry

Q: How has KCKCC Impacted your life?

Attending KCKCC gave me an idea of the kind of career I want to pursue, it is more oriented toward computers now though. We covered really interesting subject matter and it gave me something to look forward to. I probably could have done a lot more with it, but I made the most of it. It really sparked my interest in IT security. I don’t have a formal education it in, but my knowledge is pretty extensive compared to before school. Attending KCKCC really got me interested in learning more.

Sheldon

It was a great transition for me from high school and then eventually going away to school, it was a good experience. I really liked my instructors and I even got a partial scholarship for being on the track team, that was a nice boost. The coach was Mr. Dean, he was a really good person. Another impactful thing were the friends I made while at KCKCC, there were some close relationships I established and have kept my whole life.

Terry

Do you ever come back to campus?

I used to come back and run quite a bit, until I had a little knee trouble, but I still walk there a lot. I have lots of little friends I see when I walk, ducks, geese, and catfish. It is really kind of funny, I think they recognize me because I feed them sometimes. They come up to me when they see me walking. I can tell who some of them all just because of how they act, they all have personalities.

Terry

Q: Anything else you would like to share?

I still just really like living in Kansas City, Kansas. KCK has seen such growth and the legends area, what a tremendous boost to the area! That is one of the best entertainment areas in the Midwest, in my opinion.

Also, Shel and I have prepared a little comedy routine to share…no I am just kidding!

Thanks so much for having us, we love KCKCC!

Terry

1 thought on “What is New with the Winchell’s?

  1. I graduated with Terry Winchell in 1968. He’s right, we Wyandotte High School guys befriended him and his group from Turner High School…….all good guys! We had some of the same teachers and I was on the track team with Terry. We used to sneak out and go fishing on nice afternoons. Great guy…I moved away in 1968 and lost touch. Paul Jewell, Doug Dean and Jack Flint….all KCKCJC originals. Please give him my email and tell him to contact me. Pete Mirkovich
    bigmirk@comcast.net

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