Vess Lawbaugh

DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: March 31, 1935, Saint Mary, Mo.

FAMILY: wife Sonja, children Christine, James, Jeff, Julia, John, Karyn, Kathleen, Kathy, Kimberly, Kevin (deceased) and Steven (deceased). We have 35 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

WHAT’S BY MY BED: the book Blood, Sweat & Honor, Memoirs of a Walking Dead Marine in Vietnam by my friend Derl Horn.

MY FAVORITE MUSICAL: Oklahoma!

MY FAVORITE MOVIE: Gone With the Wind. I’ve seen it dozens of times and can quote all the lines.

A SELF-INDULGENCE OF MINE: I swim every day. Each year it adds up to somewhere between 125-165 miles.

A SCENT THAT MAKES ME NOSTALGIC: praline. My mother used to make praline candies, so that makes me think of her.

THE SOUND THAT TAKES ME BACK IS the ringing of bicycle bells. When I was in Vietnam, the schoolgirls would ring the bells on their bikes as they were cycling to school.

IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING IN THE WORLD, IT WOULD BE to get rid of selfishness and greed, usually usurped by financial matters and the start of war.

FANTASY DINNER GUESTS: Bill Clinton, John McCain, Derek Jeter, Thomas Jefferson and my grandson, Brian Botello. He was killed in action in 2008.

IF I WAS STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, I’D HAVE TO HAVE the Encyclopedia Britannica. It would have a lot of information that could help me.

STILL LEFT ON MY TO-SEE LIST: North Africa, Tunisia, Malta and Monaco.

A WORD TO SUM ME UP: overachiever. School was not natural for me, but I went to get my doctorate and to law school. I’m not a natural athlete, but I work hard at it.