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Colonel Frank Borman
Astronaut, Born March 14, 1928
"My DeMolay experience was a very positive part of growing up. I remember it with pleasure and I recommend a similar experience to every young man."
What began as a love of airplanes when he was 15 years old became a long and distinguished career in aeronautics. Frank Borman was born in Gary, Indiana on March 14, 1928, and was raised in Tucson, Arizona. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, in 1950 and a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1957. Borman completed the Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program in 1970.
An Air Force officer from 1950, he served as a fighter pilot, an operational pilot and instructor, an experimental test pilot, and an assistant professor of Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics at West Point. When selected by NASA, Borman was an instructor at the Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California. In 1967, he was a member of the Apollo 204 Fire Investigation Board. A pioneer of the American Space Odyssey, Borman led the first team of American astronauts to circle the moon. Internationally, he is known as Commander of the 1968 Apollo 8 Mission.
Borman retired from the Air Force in 1970, but his career did not end there. He began working at Eastern Airlines, and worked his way up to Chief Executive Officer in 1975 and Chairman of the Board in 1976. Borman retired from Eastern Airlines in 1986.
Borman continued to serve the business community after his retirement as a member of the Board of Directors of Home Depot, National Geographic, Outboard Marine Corporation, Auto Finance Group, Thermo Instrument Systems, and American Superconductor. His autobiography, Countdown: An Autobiography of Frank Borman , was released in October 1988. Borman and his wife, Susan, reside in Las Cruces, New Mexico. They have two sons, Frederick and Edwin, and four grandchildren.
Borman was initiated into Arizona Chapter in Tucson, Arizona, in 1943. Borman was a member of the first class to be inducted into the DeMolay Hall of Fame on November 13, 1986.
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from The Arizona Republic
In Phoenix, where the past two mayors are natives of Chicago, it seems almost unthinkable that we actually export labor and talent. The flow of migration has always benefited Arizona and Phoenix. And yet, on Monday, Barcelona Elementary and Alhambra High School grad Tom Leppert will take the oath of office as mayor . . . of Dallas.
And no one who grew up with the retired business executive is at all surprised.
The Dallas Morning News, whose editorial page editor just happens to be former Arizona Republic editorial page editor Keven Willey, endorsed Leppert as a "natural leader who commands a room. His charisma and intelligence will serve Dallas well, whether he's corralling voters on the council or selling the city to those who would bring new business or events here."
To which Surprise Mayor Joan Shafer, who mentored Leppert in the DeMolay service organization, said: "You could have said the same thing about him when he was 16 years old."
Knox Kimberly, PAST STATE MASTER COUNCILOR, the prominent Arizona-based lobbyist, was a friend through DeMolay. He describes Leppert as a Fortune 500 chief executive officer who wasn't born "with a silver spoon." Raised alone by his working mother, Leppert's good grades and leadership abilities earned him scholarships to Claremont-McKenna and then Harvard Business School. He later won a White House Fellowship in the Reagan administration before settling in Dallas, where he worked for several premier U.S. firms. In 2006, he retired as CEO of Turner Corp. - and was almost immediately recruited to run for mayor as a nonpartisan. His strongest campaign backers included famous Republicans like former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, leading business executives and well-connected Democrats. He was also endorsed by many of the pastors of African-American churches.
"Nonpartisan elections are the best way to go," Leppert said in an interview. "You can get something done."
He compares Dallas to Phoenix in its inherent optimism, its business-friendly outlook and values. "It's a livable city," one that faces considerable economic, crime and educational challenges. Working with 14 council members, his first task is to "bring people together, as we did in the campaign."
Yet, he is eager to tackle this new assignment. "My mom worked every day. Her values and her sacrifices made me what I am. I want to make a difference and give back."
That doesn't surprise his hometown friends either. "Tom Leppert has always had tremendous character, faith and persistence, qualities that served him well in the business world and that will serve the people of Dallas well," Kimberly says.
"The only regret is that he didn't return to Phoenix."
Thomas C. Leppert is a PMC of Glendale Chapter, and a Past Arizona State Master Councilor for the 1972-1973 term.
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Harold Collum, a member of the Dallas Masonic Lodge and neighborsgo reader, was kind enough to invite me out this morning to meet members of two local Masonic lodges at the Scottish Rite Hall in downtown..
It was a banner morning for the Dallas Masons because they raised funds to donate 25 police bicycles to the Dallas Police Department. The Mason's handed the bikes over in a ceremony that included comments from special guests Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and Police Chief David Kunkle. "This is the first step in our bicycle brigade program," Douglas Adkins, state board of the Scottish Rite Masonic lodge, said.
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