Sandra (Porter) McLendon
R. E. McLendon
110 Ramble Rose Court
Simpsonville SC 29681-5761
864.288.4107
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA PORTER MCLENDON
During my senior year, I began my banking experience by working at Merchants
and Farmers Bank, West Helena, AR, typing cotton contracts. Following
graduation I worked there in the bookkeeping department until R. E. and I were
married on August 26, 1956. R. E. was in the Air Force stationed at the SAC
Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, WN. We were there for two years and our son,
Bob, was born 11-03-57. I worked for the Old National Bank in Spokane while
we lived there.
R. E. was discharged from the service in August '58 and immediately enrolled at
Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, and I began work at People Savings
Bank. This time period was very interesting living in MS with the civil rights
movement, trying to make ends meet, and making the grades to finish school.
In early l962 R. E. began work with GENESCO, Nashville, TN, and thus began
our odyssey. Our daughter, Susan, was born in Nashville, June 1964.
While working in the shoe and leather industry we lived in many states, cities, and
towns. We were exposed to many different frames of mind, accents, and ethnicity.
We have lived in WA, TN, KY, IL, MS, MA, GA, PA, NC, and SC. We lived in
Nashville/Brentwood five separate times. Having bought and sold eleven homes,
we probably should have been in the moving and storage business or, at the very
least, the real estate business. In KY I worked as secretary/assistant to the plant
manager of Palm Beach Company. In MA I worked for the Topsfield Mutual
Savings Bank. We have enjoyed every place we lived, met wonderful new friends
and learned the history and culture of the area. For the most part I was fortunate to
be a stay- at -home mom, corporate wife and secretary. This meant that I managed
the home front while R. E. traveled and fought the corporate battles. I learned to
play pretty fair golf and tennis and throw a dinner party at the drop of a hat in
between our many moves. Corporate life can be exciting with a lot of travels in
and out of the U.S., meeting new people, and experiencing new cultures, food and
life styles.
When Susan graduated from Brentwood Academy, I began my business life. I
planned, designed and stocked my tennis specialty store which opened in August,
84. R. E. was my biggest cheerleader, coach and supporter. He was "My
Corporate Husband." He helped with advice, initial seed money and "atta girl's."
But he also insisted that I had to get in the trenches and fight with the
manufacturers, landlords, and the sporadic emergencies. I soon came to the
conclusion that women can run a tighter and better ship because if you can
effectively run a household, you can run a business. My store, The Tennis Match,
was a success and I sold it in '91.
When R. E. left the shoe and leather industry in '94, we purchased a TCBY
franchise in Alpharetta, GA. We eventually had three stores of which we ran the
largest in Duluth, GA. We sold the last store in '02 and moved to Greenville, SC
where our daughter, Susan, lives.
Our son, Bob, and his family live in Lawrenceville, GA. Bob graduated high
school in Topsfield, MA. He began college in MA but transferred to GA State
when we moved to Atlanta. Since that move, Bob has lived, married and worked
in Atlanta. Bob works for Nortel in corporate sales. His wife, Nancy, is an RN
and works in the education department of the Gwinnett Regional Hospital
implementing the new bedside computer system. Our grandson, Will, the
computer wiz, is a senior at University of GA and has just been admitted to the
Terry School of Business. Our beautiful, blond granddaughter, Austin Margaret,
is an excellent student, terrific athlete in three sports, and lovely young lady.
Our daughter, Susan, graduated from UT in engineering. She works for Milliken
in Spartanburg and received a MA degree in textile engineering at the Institute of
Textile Technology, Charlottesville, VA. She is now one of two women in the Six
Sigma two year commitment programs at Milliken. She has completed the exams
and one of several projects required for Six Sigma certification which is
recognized by major corporations world wide.
We enjoy living in the SC Upstate where the mountains and the coast are just a
couple of hours away. R. E. manages a self storage company and I work part-time
for Carolina First Bank. We enjoy our life here and at the family lake house on
Lake Lanier, Gainesville, GA, just two hours away. We have lots of family fun
year round at Sunset Cottage. It is still a loving work in progress with always a
to-do list for painting, repairs, and clean-up from storms, residual hurricanes and
animal visitors. It is worth all the work, scrapes, and bruises just to sit on the party
deck, ride the waves, watch our granddaughter water ski and toast the beautiful
sunset in the GA foothills. Of all our experiences, challenges and successes we
are most proud and thankful for our children and grandchildren. They have made
this journey worthwhile and make our dreams of a better world possible.
R. E and I look forward to being with everyone at the reunion and making some
more happy memories.