Wesley Phillips

I am currently museum director, educator and Registrar at the Hutchinson County Museum in Borger, Texas. I am past president of the Friends of Lake Meredith National Recreation Area and Alibates National Monument. I teach part time at Frank Phillips College in Borger (Entomology)

I retired from the National Park Service in 1999 after 34 years of service. During that time I worked at Petrified Forest in Arizona, Organ Pipe Cactue NM in Arizona, Grand Canyon NP in Arizona, Big Bend in Texas, Yorktown and Jamestown in Virginia, Everglades in Florida and both Lake Meredith and Alibates in Texas.

I am past president of The Panhandle Archeology Society (five years) and of the Lake Meredith Aquatic and Wildlife Museum in Fritch. (four years)

I was married April 6, 1968 to the former Roberta Safarik of Genoa, Illinois. We were married in Wickenburg, Arizona and our first home was the Moorehouse Kitchen at Colonial National Historical Park at Yorktown, Virginia.

We moved in 1969 to Everglades National Park in Florida. Our daughter Theresa was born In Homestead, Florida and our son John at Naples, Florida. In 1975 we moved to the Texas Panhandle were I was Administrative Assistant for Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument.

I am much sought after as a speaker on history, plant life, insects, archeology, wildlife, geology, and other related subjects. I am particularly good in children's programs and the schools often have me to talk to their students. I also talk to numerous adult groups including clubs and college students.

Currently I am teaching a series at St. Andrew United Methodist Church on Archeology and the Bible. I attend this church and sometimes the Unitarian Church in Amarillo. I give regular talks of comparative religion.

My wife Roberta is a student of Cryptozoology, with an emphasis on the legendary Sasquatch or Bigfoot. She is also an artist of note with emphases on wildlife and portrait art.

My daughter Theresa is studying Art at West Texas A&M in Canyon while my son Johnny is taking courses on windmill generators. Theresa has two girls Madison and Ashley who go to school in Canyon while Johnny and His wife Annalisa have one son Kai who is in preschool.

I remember Wichita Falls Senior High as I spent three years of my life there. I had attended Junior High at Regan Jr. High and in 1957 I entered High School.

This school is a sprawling complex of buildings, walkways, stairs, halls, classrooms, offices, and when we attended it had a great greenhouse. My Junior year I had my fourth period English class upstairs at the Western End of the building. My fifth period R.O.T.C. class was at the other end of the building across from the Band hall. It was quite a trek.

My home life while in high school was on the whole pleasant. Television was coming into its own and we watched programs in the evening. I must say, however, that my mother in particular didn't play fair. She was a school teacher and had a Master's Degree in Child Psychology. She taught adult Sunday School at the Floral Heights Methodist Church. My parents were older and by the time I was in High School, my father was retired.

School life was, however, a drudge for me. I learned easily, but didn't apply myself as I should have, so my grades were only moderate.

I became the vice president of the Biology Club and we went on many field trips during the year. Now - this was the life. I excelled in reading and in outdoor ativities and really enjoyed Biology which I later majored in at Midwestern University.

I was small, so I never went in for sports. I did attend football games regularly and watched as the Coyotes won nearly every game they played.

Wendell Willis was my best friend. We had known each other since he was 3 and I was 4. With my brother James and his friend Ronnie Sanders we formed a group and hung out together. Ronnie in particular got in some trouble once when he flushed a cherry bomb down the toilet in the area near the gym and blew the pipes out in the entire end of the building. During the summer or on nice weekends we would hike out away from Wichita Falls toward other towns, sometimes going ten miles.

I was always interested in Natural History and had a regular museum in my room at home with rocks, stamps, coins, bottle caps, insects, wood samples, matchbooks, and other collections.

Miss Milner was my Biology Teacher and later my Chemistry instructor. In Chemistry she showed us how to distill alcohol but claimed she put something in it after we left class which would make it undrinkable.

High School was pretty hard for me, but I learned so much that college was much easier, especially since I soon concentrated on science courses.