There were some years - when I was the sports editor of The Leader Enterprise and the football/basketball announcer for the Locomotives – which I enjoyed more than others. Winning teams always made the job “easier,” but any time I could write about the good kids that Montpelier had produced it was worth the effort, despite any team records.
Looking back, one of the most enjoyable times I spent writing and announcing was the boys’ basketball season of 1991-1992. The team was led by Mike Bumb and Chris McCrea and during the season each was able to join the “1,000 Point Club.” What made it even more fun was that both young men were just such nice guys.
Mike Bumb did not wander “far from home” as he has stayed in the Montpelier area. He and his wife Andrea and their girls were our neighbors when we lived on John Street and have always been special folks to Barb and I. Mike, of course, is now well into a successful career coaching and teaching at Hilltop.
Chris McCrea, however, did decide to go “far from home,” so this column will catch up with Chris and his wife Michelle (Wolf), also a Montpelier High School graduate.
The first stop for Chris was the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated from West Point in 1996 with a degree in economics. Michelle headed to Athens, Ohio, and graduated in 1996 with her degree in elementary education.
“In 1996 I was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was assigned as a PATRIOT missile officer in the Air Defense Artillery Corp,” Chris explained. “Michelle and I were married three weeks after I graduated West Point, and three weeks after that we shipped off to El Paso, Texas.”
The road got a little farther from home when Chris and Michelle were sent to Germany and stationed at a PATRIOT Missile Battery.
“Michelle and I spent the next three and a half years living in the small Bavarian town of Ansbach and while there took the time to travel most of Europe and parts of the Middle East before being sent back to the states to finish out my tour of duty. It was a wonderful experience as a young couple. Michelle taught fifth grade at the local American military base, while I worked on my newly assigned missile battery. It was a wonderful time for both of us.”
After a stint in Yorktown, PA, where their first daughter, Annie, was born, Chris left the military in 2001 as his five year tour was completed.
A return to northwest Ohio was slated, and Lima was the next stop for the McCreas. Chris took a job as a Plant Manager with BOS Gases in their hydrogen production division. “Never thought in a million years I’d be in the chemical business or doing any type of engineering related work, but it’s kind of funny how things work out.
While in Lima, Chris received a master’s degree in finance from the University of Dayton, and he and Michelle welcomed a second daughter, Olivia.
The family of four hit the road again in 2005, heading back to Texas to work for The Linde Group selling large scale hydrogen plants primarily to multinational and petrochemical firms.
“Michelle and I currently live in Kingwood, TX, a northern suburb of Houston. I now work as a business manager serving Linde’s refining and petrochemical customers, and Michelle is again teaching fifth grade at the local elementary school here in Kingwood. Oil, gas, and energy firms are the large employers in the city, and most of our neighbors, friends … everyone really, is touched by this sector in some way. One never realizes how many people and how much effort it takes to bring oil up from the ground, and in turn, put gasoline in your car. The scope of the effort is truly amazing.”
Chris said he and Michelle and the girls enjoy living in Texas, although they always enjoy a trip back home to see family and friends.
“Our lives are filled with the usual family and work related activities – school functions, kids’ activities, and work … the usual. We hope to someday start traveling again like we did when we were a bit younger, however, given the constraints of work and family, we may have to wait a bit longer.
