When did you get your first car?

 I bought my first car in 1965 when I was 12 years old, it was a 1965 Plymouth 4 door sedan.  I bought the car for 35 dollars from either my brother or some neighbors, can’t remember which.  I could only drive the car in the fields around our house and NOT on the road…right!  I put seat belts in the car and would pick up the neighbor boys, Tub and Ike Bonsen and go racing through the fields… It was fun.  When I would get stuck, which was very often my Grandpa would take the John Deere tractor and pull me out.  We lived next to a marsh and there was always places that were wet.  Funny thing I don’t remember asking if I could buy the car, I just did it.  Can’t remember getting in trouble with Mom and Dad but the neighbor’s Mom raised holy hell when I had her boys with me…. Dust flying as we zoomed through the fields… It was an automatic with push buttons on the upper left side, man I loved that car…





What qualities do you most value in your friends?

 My guidance on what qualities I value in people is extensive and for the most part what I try to live by.  I must say I have failed on occasion and it haunts me for years when I don’t follow my own rules.   Case in point, when I was an undergraduate I needed money and borrowed some money from my high school football coach, Jerry Ayres.  I cannot remember how much it was but when I borrowed the money Jerry told me that he would lend me the money but I needed to keep track and pay him back as I could because he had children that needed to go to college as well.  I paid him back but I did not keep good records and cannot be sure I paid him all of it and since I was suppose to keep track I could not ask him if I paid it all, this crosses my mind more often as I get older.  

Do what you say you are going to do… if you tell me you are going to do something, get it done, if something changes let me know. 

If you borrow something return it, if it breaks you pay to have it fixed and return it the way it was when you borrowed it.  

If you use my truck put gas in it before returning it and don’t Cowboy the equipment.  What this means is treat my stuff with tender loving care.  My Dad is the one who coined the phrase “Don’t Cowboy the equipment.” It means go easy on equipment and don’t push it to the point of breaking. 

Always pick up the phone when I call or send me a text that says, “I can’t talk right now.” 

Call sometimes just to check in and say hey, don’t only call when you need something.  

Respect for each others opinions and beliefs… don’t tell me that there are topics “political, religious or social” that are off limits.  

Pay your way, when we eat out I will always pay if that is what you want but it goes a longways with me when the costs are shared but I will never expect you to pay.

Have empathy for those that do not have as much as you do,  help them and don’t judge them.

What is one of the best shows you've ever been to?

 The best show I have ever seen is River Dance.  I was traveling from Hawaii to Auckland, New Zealand on a TDY from the United States Air Force and went by myself one night.  That in itself was very unusual for me because I am not very big into shows of any kind.  I remember it like it was yesterday… the dancing and music were phenomenal.  The actresses all had red hair and could they dance… It has stayed with me all these years and from time to time I see the show advertised and think it would be fun to go see it again.  As of this writing I have not, simply because the memory of that performance was so good that anything that follows would let me down, so for now I will cling to the memories.

How did your parents pick your name?

 The story that was relayed to me by my Mother was that she saw the name in a news paper and liked it.  There were five kids in our family,  Tracy Lee, Sharon Lee, Peggy Lee, Terry Lee and Michel Lee.  Not sure how they picked out our middle names as Lee but the first names except for mine are very common and typical for that era.  My name is actually pronounced like Michelle.  My name is a typical French spelling of the name Michael.  My whole life my name has been an issue, everyone changes the spelling to Michael which causes many problems, so I changed it to simply Mike…  

When I was in elementary school on the first day of school the teacher would call out the students names and we would raise our hands. When the teacher got to me, she would always say “is Michelle Bunning here?”  Everyone was expecting a girl and when I would reply and the laughing would start… So not much history on my name, as I look back, any family with five kids doesn’t spend a lot of time worrying about names and picking it out of the newspaper seems to make sense!   I have one person thus far named after me, Michael Dude!  Son to John and Amy Dudte, friends of Jennifer and I from Iraq.  Sweet fella



Did you receive special recognition for your time in the military, or were you awarded any medals?

 PROFESSIONAL MILITARY HONORS:

- Company Grade Officer of the Quarter
Vandenberg AFB, California (January - March 1990)
- Company Grade Officer of the Year
16th Air Force (1991)
- Company Grade Officer of the Year
Zaragoza Air Base, Spain (1991)
- Company Grade Officer of the Year
406 TFTW Clinics, Zaragoza, Spain (1991)
- Public Health Officer of the Year
United States Air Force (1993)

MILITARY AWARDS AND DECORATIONS:

- Meritorious Service Medal with five devices
- Air Force Commendation Medal
- Air Force Achievement Medal with two devices
- Joint Service Commendation Metal
- Army Achievement Metal 
- Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon with Star
- National Defense Service Medal
- Southwest Asian Medal with Star
- Air Force Training Ribbon
- Air Force Longevity Ribbon
- Outstanding Unit with two clusters 
- Kuwait Liberation Medal
- Foreign Duty Award
- Outstanding Unit Citation with the Department of Health and Human Services 

CIVILIAN ACTIVITIES AND HONORS: 

- Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities (1975 and 1976
- Four-Year Athletic Scholarship to Cameron University (Football) 
- Chi Lambda Upsilon, Honor Fraternity, Cameron University
- Senior Class President, Cameron University (1975-1976)
- Junior Class President, Cameron University (1974-1975)
- Alpha Phi, Honor Fraternity, Oklahoma State University
- Board Member of Veterinary Teaching Committee, Oklahoma Veterinary
- Medical Association
- Lay Ministry Coordinator for Western Oklahoma District
- Founding member of Clinton Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
- Oklahoma State University Alumni Association
- Clinton, Oklahoma United Way Board of Directors (1983 – 1988)
- Boy Scouts of America, Webelos Den Leader (1993 and 1994)
- Coach, National Science Olympiad (1995)
- Coach, Little League Baseball (1996)
- Coach, Minor League Baseball (1997)
- Secretary of Health’s, Outstanding Service Award, Nipah Virus Investigation (2000) 
- James H. Steele Veterinary Public Health Officer of Year for the Department of Health and Human Services (2000) 
- Secretary of Health’s, Outstanding Service Award, West Nile Investigation (2001) 
- Charles C. Sheppard Science Awards Winner (1999/2001/2002) for scientific writing
- Expeditionary Service Award from the Secretary of State, for service in Iraq 2008-10

As of 2015

What is one of the most expensive things that you've every bought?

 I think we can set aside buying houses and explore other personal purchases.   This is a sort of a timely question, as I get older and have a little more disposable income, I tend to buy more of things I want.  So the most expensive single item I have ever purchased is a 2016 Toyota Tacoma pickup.  I have been driving a 96 Ford Ranger pickup for the better part of 20 years.  The seats were tore up by Jada looking for a ball, the ceiling looks like a wild cat got loose and clawed it up.  So I thought what the heck, I am going to get a new truck…and went out and found what I wanted and bought a great truck.  I spent 35K and this is a tricked out truck, navigation, cameras and all kinds of extras… best truck I have ever owned…  About a couple of days later, I went to get in and felt like my head was hitting the ceiling and the truck had seemed so big.  The seat was not as comfortable as my Ford Ranger either.  So after about a week, I went back to my Ford Ranger and that’s what I prefer to drive.  If we take a long trip we take the Toyota and I am ok with it but it is just to much…  In my Ford, I can take the dogs running in it and I know every noise and quirk it has and know what to expect.  So my biggest purchase in my life time was a bust… go figure.







Which Sports did you play in High School?

 As a young boy I knew I was going to play football.  My older brother, Tracy played football and was very good at it.  It was the one thing in life that really seemed to make my Mom and Dad proud of us.  I am sure Freud would have something to say about this… At an early age I would play out in the yard with a football, throwing it and then chasing it down like it was a fumble and recover it.  Friday nights we would all go to town to watch Tracy play football.  As I grew older, I knew I would play football and had hoped early on to play for “The Ohio State.” I also wrestled and ran track but did those to stay in shape for football.  After my Freshmen year playing for the Port Clinton, (Ohio) Redskins, population around 6k,  my family moved to Snyder, Oklahoma home of the Cyclones. (1971)  (population 12 hundred).  What a change… my brother Terry and I played for them, he played offensive linemen and I played linebacker and fullback.  Football was big in Snyder and we were immediately popular.  Again, my parents really got into it and we very active in the community.  On one Friday when I was at school and were to have a game that night, a funeral wreath arrived at our school from the team we were to play that night, Tipton Tigers, our rival.  It really got the team fired up and we won the game…come to find out my Mom had sent it! My Dad was the guy firing the shot gun after we scored, very happy time in my life.  So I was semi-successful playing football and was lucky enough to get a full ride scholarship to Cameron College, now Cameron University, Aggies.  I played all four years and was a starter after my freshmen year.  Football allowed me to go to college, my parents could not afford it and I would not have let them try.  In looking back, when I started college it was so I could continue to play football but slowly changed to getting an education.  My parents were not as involved when I played college ball and moved to Colorado to chase their own dreams.  They moved to Colorado and lived on a ranch in the back country.  Mom cooked and Dad trapped, some of the happiest times of their lives….

Going to Cameron University and playing football on a full ride scholarship College seems to be a big deal for a while.  Other people in high school had partial rides but I was the only one with a full ride.  (everything paid for) For the first year or two I was all in and football had all my attention and I attended my classes and completed my studies so I could play football.  In my second year we were watching films from the game the night before.  Coach Lavender was my coach and during the filming he said, “Bunning if you would get your God Damn nose out of your school books and into the play books you would not make mistakes like that!” I was floored, it was clear to me from that point forward that my coach did not care about me or my future.  So from that point forward football was important for a very different reason, it was a stepping stone to an education.

Are you a regular at any of your local restaurants or cafes?

 At the time of writing this, I am currently living in San Antonio, Texas and yes, our family has a favorite cafe.   It is called Taqueria El Charro on 2351 Harry Wurzbach Road.  We have been going there since it opened in 2010.  It seats about 35 people and everyone there speaks Spanish and the food is totally TexMex, so good!  The restaurant is only 2 and half blocks from the Wiltshire House.  

We usually go there for breakfast, all the Grandkids love it, (except Kami who says she does not like it, but I think she does) and they look forward to eating there every time they visit our house.  Kelsie and Kassidy once they arrive will actually get up early to go eat there and they compare all breakfast tacos to El Charro’s.  They do have a menu item called and American breakfast that Carson and Cash love.  Two eggs, two pancakes and bacon.   When they visited in March of 2019 they would walk over by themselves every morning, I was at work…  and they loved it and would eat the same thing everyday.  

I have eaten breakfast taco’s all over San Antonio and this little place is by far the best! Everything is made fresh and so good.  The ladies that work there know all the kids and fuss over them, especially our newest Kennedy.  Rosie is my favorite of all the wait staff.  I am never sure who the owner is of the restaurant but I think it may be a young Hispanic man and I don’t know his name, will have to make an effort.  

We go there at least once a week, we have tried supper a few times and all the food is good but I really like breakfast.  Love sitting there with family and watching our dogs out the window after running them at the ball park… everyone is all smiles.

EL Charro

Kami and Kennedy  2018

Carson 2019

Are you still friends with any of your classmates from grade school?

 “Are you still friends with any of your classmates from grade school?”

Mike Bunning, Terry and Jerry Wiechman, the others I am not sure on…1958

I hope so but really don’t know… I went to Kindergarten at Erie Gardens in Port Clinton, Ohio and grade school at Jefferson Elementary in the same town.  Middle school was on the same campus as my elementary school but in a much older building.  Funny the desk we had for so many years, that I am now trying to get rid of was from my Middle School and I ate my lunch in desks just like it.   During that time we identified into two groups, city kids and country kids.  I was in the latter group and was very proud of that fact.  We lived about seven miles from town and would ride the bus back and forth.  You got to know everyone from the bus ride, everyone in Bay Township would ride the bus, I still remember the route and most of the kids names.  The bus took the same route everyday and everyone had their friends who they would talk with on the way in to school.   I started middle school in 1965 and this was the first time I could play football, wrestle and track.  Practice was after school and since the bus had already taken everyone home after school we had to hitchhike home everyday.  Mom and Dad both worked and could not pick us up, so if you wanted to do after school activities you had to find a way home.  Most of the Country Kids did not do after school sports for that very reason.  Sometime we would have to walk a while but most days we got rides.  We never gave safety a second thought and always got home safely.  I started High School in Port Clinton as well and that’s when my folks decided to move to Snyder, Oklahoma.  My Dad worked the Job Corps at Wichita Wildlife Refuge as a heavy equipment instructor.  It was not until Social Media started that I really was able to reach out to a lot of my former classmates and get up dates.  So yes, I am still friends, I get some updates but most of my generation does not participate in Social Media and so the updates are spotty…
I have classmates from both Ohio and Oklahoma who are on Facebook and recently met with a high school buddy, Jeff Pierce for lunch.  I have good memories of my younger years but this has not translated into life long close friendships.  I don’t feel like I am missing a lot as my moving resulted in allowing me to see the world.  
I believe my children and I will share this experience as they have moved many times in their lives, being military brats.

This is Peg, Mom, Terry, Mike and Tracy 1959

What do you admire most about your Mother?

 What do you admire most about your Mother? 

At the end of each day my family would gather around the table to eat supper, my Father always at the head of the table my Mom to his left and the five kids scattered around the rectangular stainless/formica table with matching chairs.  We said a prayer, very brief and never led by my father.

Starting on the right,  Sharon, Terry, Peggy, Tracy, Mom, Mike and the empty chair was for my Dad.  

We were living in rural Ohio, near Lake Erie on the Little Portage River.  My Dad worked construction and my Mom was a waitress.

Supper was the only meal of the day where we all came together, and recounted the day’s events plus we always had new tasks assigned or reminded of over due ones.  On a typical evening my Mom would insist that the children take two or three slices of bread prior to sitting down to dinner.  At the time I thought she was just trying to get rid of bread but now it is clear she was trying to fill us up.  

As “farm folks” we always had a big garden and the bounty always found it’s way to our table in the form of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans and watermelon.

Mike working the garden with the tractor at 7 years old… 

Looking back I now know we were poor but it never felt like it, my parents went to great lengths to make our house a home.   We always seemed to have what we (children) needed, celebrated all holidays and generally had a very happy childhood. During the summer a typical meal would have the garden vegetables and in the winter the same type of vegetables only canned.   Yes, my Mom canned all sorts of things.  We would often have fish we had caught, ducks we shot or any variety of wildlife we could find.  When we were lucky enough to have chicken or beef it was very special. So there are seven of us crowed around the table all with healthy appetites and there would be only one chicken.  My Dad would always go first and he would always take a breast… At this point you should know that I was the youngest of five… yes, last for everything.   Because meat passed from my Dad to the left where my Mom set, your position at the table was vital for your fair share.   Typically by the time it got to me I would get a wing or leg, never one of the prime pieces.  Seems funny now, if I was feeding seven people, one chicken would not cut it these days but back then it worked.  

I always thought it strange that my Mom’s favorite part of the chicken was the back and tail… she would make a big deal at the table on how no one could touch that part of the chicken because that was hers!  I always thought, go for it… I hated that piece, there was never any meat on it but it looked like a regular piece of chicken. Now with aid of hindsight and a better understanding of Mothers it is obvious Mom was sacrificing for all of us and doing it in a very magnanimous way.

Mom and Dad at table. 
I wonder what else my Mom did for her family that I will never know? So what did I admire the most about my Mother?  She raised 5 children (successfully), worked a full time job, always tried to make each child feel special, never said anything negative about my Dad (while I was a child), was a fabulous cook and was never afraid to take a risk… I miss her

Christmas 1960

What were the games you played as a kid?

 There a variety of games that we played and as we got older the games changed.  The first game I remember playing, ( I was eight years old)  is war with my brother (Terry) and out friends (Terry, Jerry, Tub and Ike).  We lived next to a creek and they had come along and dredged the ditch and made mounds of dirt along the ditch.  This was our play area for the whole summer, digging “fox holes” and setting traps, we would play for hours… It was a dream come true for the boys and by the end of the summer we had explored the dirt piles and had forts everywhere.  

All of the kids in our family were members of our local 4-H club.  Ray Bonson was our leader and it seems like we met once a week at the Bay Township Hall.  Before the meeting we would play games, softball and Red Rover.  Softball has not changed, we played in a cow pasture across the Route 53 from Bay Township Hall.  It really was a cow pasture, we had to climb through the fence and watch where you step… We also played Red Rover…  The game is played between two lines of players (usually called the “East” or “West” team, although this does not relate to the actual relative location of the teams), usually positioned approximately thirty feet apart with hands or arms linked together. The game starts when the first team, in this example the “East” team, calls a player out, by saying or singing a line like “Red rover, red rover, send [player on opposite team] right over”, or “Red rover, red rover, let [player on opposite team] come over”, or even “Red rover, red rover, I call [player on opposite team] over”.

The immediate goal for the person called is to run to the other line and break the “East” team’s chain (formed by the linking of hands). If the player called fails to break the chain, they join the “East” team. However, if the player successfully breaks the chain, they may select either of the two “links” broken by the successful run, and take them to join the “West” team. The “West” team then calls out “Red rover” for a player on the “East” team, and play continues. The game needs five people to play at least, although this would be a very short game.

When only one player is left on a team, they also must try and break through a link. If they do not succeed, then the opposing team wins. Otherwise, they are able to get a player back for their team.  This game favors the bigger kids and I remember running with all my might and trying to break apart the hands of two of the kids on the opposing team.   Most of time with success but some times I would be stopped…when you are the youngest of five kids that is hard to live down. 

Those days seemed so magical, we would play games, have our meeting and someone would present a program and then end the night with kool-aid and snacks, usually cookies.  We were all country kids and had grown up together, knew each others families and would only go to town for school and shopping.  The summers were our time with everything leading up to the fall fair…when we would show our animals, cooking items and the all manners of projects.

What is one of your favorite children's stories?

 I am assuming this question is based on “my” childhood memories and what I liked as a child and not my favorite children’s story as an adult?  So with that assumption, “Jack and Jill” is the first story I remember.  In first grade, we read this story to learn how to read, that is my first recollection of any children’s story.  I don’t ever remember any of my Grandparents, parents or siblings ever reading to me as a child.  In addition, compared to my own children, who  grew up in house,  where there were bookshelves filled with books, I don’t remember seeing any books until I got to kindergarten.  I don’t think we had the money and I know my parents did not have the time.  In addition, the only baby sitter I remember, is my Aunt Norm, and reading to children was not the standard at that time.   If you think I was deprived you are wrong, those were completely different times.  We lived next to a creek and a marsh with acres to roam and discover.  I would go outside and explore…spending hours outside playing in the marsh and in the big culvert down the road that had crayfish and a variety of critters for my brother (Terry) and I to play with.  One of my favorite memories as a kid was in the spring eating wild strawberries along the road.

They were small and so sweet and free for the picking…Whenever I eat strawberries today I think of the taste of those wild strawberries and wish today’s berries would taste like the ones I had as a kid…   My personal all time favorite children’s story as an adult is “Make Way For Ducklings” by Robert McCluskey.  I am positive reading to your children is very helpful for many different reasons but encouraging them to explore outdoors on their own is just as beneficial.  

Jack and Jill went up the hill 

To fetch a pail of water

Jack fell down and broke his crown

And Jill came tumbling after

Up Jack got, and home did trot

As fast as he could caper,

He went to bed to mend his head

With vinegar and brown paper.

What was your first boss like?

 What was your first boss like? 

Well since you asked it was a job I got all my myself on a neighbors dairy farm, I believe I was 10 at the time the year was 1963.  I would walk to work from my house down old country roads (Highway 17) to the Casper’s Dairy Farm in Bay Township, Ohio. The Casper’s had a very well keep 60 cow operation.

Mr. Casper had two grown sons that were away at college, as best I can remember.  The farm was very well kept and had a long drive way with a white house and red barn and a silo.  I would work in the summers helping to milk the cows in the morning, leaving my house at about 5 AM and walking the 2.5 miles to their farm.  I loved milking cows, it was so calm in the morning with the sounds of the milking machines running, radio playing in the back ground and then there were all the smells of the animals and the farm in general.  When we finished milking and cleaning up the barn we would feed the calves… this was my favorite part.

There was always about 6-10 bottle calves that would just make you feel good, bawling for breakfast and jumping around.  Once we finished we would spend the rest of the morning taking care of other tasks on the farm, there were always many and they always varied.  

Mr. Casper was a very quite and deliberate man, every move seemed to be with purpose.  He was not a big talker, just giving the  cursory good morning and instructions as needed.

He did a good job of explaining things one time and after that left it up to me to figure out.  We never talked much and I did not really know much about him, the farm was his life and he seemed to be happy.  

We would break everyday at 11 AM for lunch and boy was it a spread.  I don’t recall his wife’s name but she could cook.  Always a full meal, meat, potatoes and more and always with dessert.  Strange as this was it seemed normal at the time, when we went in we would take our shoes and pants off…I know weird by today’s standards but we would sit around the table and eat lunch pants less.  After lunch there was mandatory 30 minute nap, at first it caught me off guard and I would lay there and toss and turn and I thought this is crazy.  After about a week, I would lay down and pass out.  They would always have to wake me up after that and as time went on by the time lunch was over I would be falling asleep.   My whole life, since then, I can fall asleep anywhere very quickly.  

My favorite day of the week was always Friday…pay day.  I made about a 110 cents an hour, so I would make about 45 dollars for a full week but most weeks were about 30 dollars.  Mr. Casper would write me a check, which was very strange the first time he did it because I was not sure what to do with it.  My Mom drove me to the little store to cash it, no ID, no bank account just cash for the first time in my life, I was hooked.  On that day, I could buy what ever I wanted and I did, pop, candy bars and chips…freedom.  Looking back it was the end of my childhood but it was good.