Graydon Houston (Soph yr)

I spent the first several months as a DUI Officer, then worked in the detective division, assigned for several years as an auto theft detective. During that time I worked in and at one time was president of the Colorado Auto Theft Investigator's Association. I assisted in writing the bylaws for this group and they are still in effect today. I also taught auto theft detective techniques throughout the state of Colorado. I was also active in the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators which gave me access to auto theft investigators around the world. One interesting aspect of this assignment was working with and investigating the biker gangs. I later transferred to patrol where I worked "the street" until retirement. During that time, I was active in a peer officer support group, a senior officer referral group to the departmental administration, and served as a Field Training Officer where we trained officers fresh from the academy to become functional street solo officers. That was a challenging, but rewarding assignment.

As a member of the Arvada Police Department. I was a member of their pistol team and a group of us even tried our hand at rodeoing. I rode the bareback broncos for three years. Several others of us in the department formed a country-western band and were together for over eight years. We made some good money, developed new friends and contacts, and have more memories than we can count.
Also while with the police department, I obtained my Commercial Driver's License and drove commercially for nearly thirty years, most of it part-time. I drove charter busses and the big rigs for a total of nearly a million miles.
For years I was active in my church by singing in the choir, helping with construction projects, playing in the church band, organizing and directing the security team, and filling in wherever they needed they needed a general flunky
I also enjoyed camping, MC riding and touring, skydiving, and I was a member of the Civil Air Patrol for twelve years reaching the rank of Lt. Colonel. I also obtained my private pilot's license. Lately, I have taken up golf and am not doing well at all at it.

I've been able to drive cars, busses, boats, trucks (with between 3 and 18 forward gears), and fly airplanes, but I would really like now to drive a train.

I remember choir with Mrs. Kohler. Sports (football, track) were really important and coach Ross Estes really made a very positive impression on me. I have really enjoyed re-contacting our classmates through Facebook, the class web site, and the reunions I got to attend.

EDUCATION: BS - Biology, Southern Nazarene University, Bethany, OK
MCJ - Criminal Justice, University of Colorado at Denver, Denver, CO
EMPLOYMENT: 1960-1967 - Residential construction.
1967 - 1972 - Senior Chemical Technician, Dow Chemical Co., Freeport, TX.
1972-1999 - Police Officer, Arvada, CO (Retired)
1985-2012 - Bus and truck driver.
2012-Present - Court Security Officer for US Marshal's Office, Denver, CO
2017-2019 - Retired again
2019-Present - Special Deputy US Marshal, Denver. CO (Part-time)
VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATIONS: Boy Scouts, Church, Special Olympics, Civil Air Patrol.
HOBBIES (PAST AND PRESENT): Motorcycle touring (past), rodeo riding (too old for this now), skydiving (past), music, aviation (still have my pilot's license, but not current), camping, golf (still trying to break 100)