Where Are They Now?

From time-to-time, I receive emails from former employees of Zytron/First Image, or friends of people captioned on my web pages.  (Most find my website from internet search engines.) Most of the time they want to know if I know how to contact so-and-so.  If I know how to contact the person of their query, I pass the request along.  After a recent reunion of "ex-Zytronites" (06/11/2008) in Dallas it occurred to me that asking about former employees could be expedited by posting contact information for those that

1.) I have such information

and

2.) are willing to share this information with the world-wide-web.

Here is the information on former employees that I can share with the "internet world".  As always, if you desire information about other employees, contact me at tom.baker21@verizon.net and if I have additional contact information I will pass your request along.  If not, I will reply to you directly.

If you are a former Zytron employee and would like your information included here, email me at tom.baker21@verizon.net.

  Without further delay, my "Where Are They Now" roll call, in alphabetical order by (most-prominent) last name.

Click on the name below for the latest contact information or on the thumbnail for a larger picture.

Who?

Name

Post-Zytron History (in Texican, "Whatchabeenupto?")

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Baker, Tom

I left Zytron/First Image/Anacomp in December, 1998.  I immediately joined Systemware, Inc.  Purchased a house in Carrollton, Texas in January, 1999.  Still in that house and working for Systemware.

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Bogue, Terry and Meg (Edwards)

"Greetings from Rancho Bogue in Chico. Terry and Meg have been here for over 9 years.  Our business is Interquest Detection Canines of North Valley Counties. We provide a deterence program by bringing kid friendly dogs to school. Indy, our black lab, can find all illegal drugs, abused meds like vicodin, alcoholic beverages and gun powder."

 

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Cooper, Mike

I left First Image in August 1995 and was a founder of Xpress Data Imaging Corp.; we later changed the name to Xpress Data, Inc (XDI).  We are in the document composition and delivery (real mail and e) business, mostly for credit unions.  Current Zytron count at XDI is six or seven if you count Sid Smolen (our contracts lawyer).  We frequently reminisce about the “good-ol-days” and how good we were back then.

I’m still living in San Diego, with my wife (ReNae) of 33-years.  Our two kids (Erin and Ross) still live in the area, although they aren’t kids any more.  Erin is married (5-years now) and works at XDI as our Client Support Manager.

I play golf from time-to-time, although I continue to be a duffer.  I still go deep sea fishing, when I can get away; a 6-day trip to Guadalupe Island is planned for October ‘08 where I hope to catch some large tuna and maybe see some White Sharks.  One of my favorite pastimes is driving my Corvette on race tracks; not wheel-to-wheel racing, just racing the clock and trying to drive the perfect race line.

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Gregory, Robert

My last assignment at First Data was in 1998, helping divest First Image to Anacomp, ACS (Endata data entry business) and Southern Micro (print & mail that wound up as Regulus).  Since then, I worked at Lason in Detroit as the CTO and EVP of Ops for a corporate turnaround, and then commuted to Rochester NY to run manufacturing and launch a service bureau in automated book scanning.  Since 2006, I've been one of the Zytron alumni at Xpress Data in San Diego.  I've also been involved editing a couple books and doing change process consulting with a small firm called Innovation Labs (in California and Florida). 

 

Our family still lives in San Francisco; Jan's a busy neuropsych clinician and associate professor at UC Berkeley, our oldest son Kellan did ChemE at Tufts and works in a SF start-up that creates molecular and biological collaboration databases, and baby Carson graduated from NYU in music / sound engineering.  We still do wild family vacations; recent trips were to Honduras, Prague and Turkey,then in 2009 to India; we also took a family and friends trip to Bucerias to play with Buddy a few years ago.  My only personal vehicle is the motorcycle and I am not dead from that yet - it's a red R1150R.  Zoom. 

 

I miss Zytron, still - dozens and dozens of great people made a permanent, and wonderful, impression. 

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Hahn, Claudia

After the demise of the Product Sales Team at First Image I decided to try going out on my own. I ran a successful product sales company of 1 for about 3 years. As with all small business', I wore all hats to manage a business and realized that I had a natural talent for accounting. With that, I decided to leave the document imaging industry and began working temporary positions in accounting for a number of local large companies.

I managed to land a position with The Pillsbury Company as the Controller of their small commercial bakery plant in Lewisville. After 6 months and the departure of the Plant Manager, I was promoted to Plant Manager as well as retaining the Controller responsibilities. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Pillsbury, however, they sold the plant to a local business man who couldn't keep his fingers out of the money and a year after he took over I could see the writing on the wall. I chose to leave while my name and business integrity remained in tact. He on the other hand became a target of the IRS and was investigated for fraudulent business practices about a year after I left. I really dodged a bullet there!

I again fell back into working temporary accounting work and managed to secure a position at the corporate headquarters of Sally Beauty Company in the Inventory Accounting Department. I have been with Sally now almost 9 years and enjoyed accounting for 8 of those years with the exception of our federal governments implementation of Sarbanes Oxley. It seems I also have a natural talent for developing and writing Sarbanes Oxley documentation. I became the focal point of documentation for the Inventory Accounting Department.

About a year ago, I decided I'd had all I wanted of accounting and SOX and moved into the BSG Merchandising Group at Sally. I am now the Promotions Manager and enjoy my new role. If all goes well, I plan to retire from Sally in about 10 years.

On a personal note, my daughter Courtney graduated from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in the spring of 2000. She is working for a division of Omnicom in Dallas and seems to enjoy her work. I am happy to announce that just recently she and her boyfriend Christopher became engaged. They will be planning their wedding sometime after he graduates from UTA within the next 2 years.

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Hon, Jerry and Diana

Retired, from 7000 employees to 0, and following in the steps of Larry Whitaker (now driving a school bus.)  Diana (x-Zytron employee) and I live in Keller, Texas.

I retired from Lason, an outsourcing company that processes data off shore.  I had offices in India, China, Mexico and Barbados.  I retired as EVP of International Operations.

Diana and I have been married 29 years.  Leslee, our oldest daughter, has graduated from college and got married in October of 2009.  She is a neonatal ICU nurse Taryn is living in Austin, doing office work.  We have a dog, Madi, and a Grandog, Calvie, both poodles.

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Hoppe, Warren

"I left Zytron/First Image/Anacomp in Feb. 2001. I am currently with Mike Cooper’s company in San Diego…Xpress Data Inc. There are several former Zytron folks there…it’s as close to a “Zytron” as you’ll find anywhere.  Judy and I live in Burleson, TX…a small community just south of Ft. Worth, TX."  

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Kern, Janet

Still living in Half Moon Bay (12 years) with my German Shepherd Mia.Description: C:\Web\bus\watn\mia.jpg I work for a mortgage bank in Burlingame and have been doing so since 2002.  After leaving the fold (Zytron) in 1992, I went to work for Home Savings where I got my start in lending, then I left in 1998 when I was recruited by a client who ran an international firm in San Francisco. It was a super place and I did lots of travel in Asia and Europe.

In 1999 Mel and I ended our marriage after ten years, though we are friends and still communicate from time to time. Around this same period I was recruited by a start up in San Francisco, and I rode the dot com roller coaster. It was wild, but fun, and the company folded after 2 years.  Then I went to work for Grant Long who was working for Elixir Technologies in Santa Barbara – he was recruited by Diane Merzel who was one of the Senior people there. I didn’t stay long, the company is privately held, Pakistani, and very interesting….

That’s when I returned to the mortgage world, in the peak of the refinance boom.  As you can imagine, my world has been rocked, however I am sticking it out. Still, it’s not the same as the old days at Zytron, and I seriously doubt that culture exists anywhere. For fun I volunteer at a local wildlife sanctuary in Half Moon Bay, and hang out with my friends in our community garden. 

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Kern, Mel

I live in Rocklin, Ca.  After leaving Zytron where I was site manager of the Sunnyvale location, I worked as a courier for FEDEX and went back to school and earned my degree in Computer Science. I spent 8 years with DHL in their IT department doing many different jobs. I managed Network Operations and Network Implementation for the last few years. DHL took me to Arizona. My wife and I missed California so we moved to Rocklin just over a year ago. In the process I started working for an IT consulting firm called Dimension Data and I Manage Service Delivery for the west coast and a few customers in New York and New Jersey.

Working from home gives me great flexibility and I am fortunate in being able to spend a great deal of time with my family and that is absolutely the most important thing in my life. It is great seeing all the folks from those years at Zytron. That period of time shaped my professional career and I’m truly grateful to many of the folks that helped me

 

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Leonard, Kenny

When I left Zytron/First Image, I went to work as Regional Sales Manager for a medical transcription software company until the Y2K bug caught up with them.  I left there and went to work for MIDCON Data Services.  I am presently the Director of our Customer Service and Client Development department.  MIDCON is a commercial records storage and data management company.  I’ve been here for 8 years.

I’m still married to Karen, my wife of 36 years, and proud to say she is a cancer survivor 3 years running with no sign of any re-occurrence and a great prognosis for full recovery.  My son Dustin is one of our supervisors here at MIDCON, married with his first child on the way.  My daughter, Heather, is a very successful hair stylist at the largest salon chain in Oklahoma City, not married but probably not far off.

I spend my time when I’m not working playing golf and woodworking.

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Minder, Cade (Danny McBride)

"All is great with me. I tried to retire in 2006 but after 6 weeks and all my project were complete I got bored. I kept saying I just needed time to adjust. but after 3 months Al told me I need to Volunteer somewhere cause I was driving him crazy with my non stop talking when he got home since I had no other outlet. I decided I would go back to work. I'm working for MAXIMUS which is a sub contractor for the state signing people up for state programs. I'm in HR, mainly payroll for the entire project of 1200+ people.

 

We went to Europe for a 2 week WWII tour in October. This May we took our mom's on an inner Alaska passage cruise for mother's day."

 

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Neale, Bill

I am still in the "imaging" business after all these years, now with IBM through their acquisition of FileNet.  I specialize in their IBM records management software.  I continue to be very active in AIIM (www.aiim.org) where I have done voluntary standards development over the last 25 years, though I have cut back a lot.  For many years I served as the chief US delegate for international standards in the ECM space.  Scary, isn't it?  I also currently (2009) serve on AIIM's international Board of Directors and have been honored to received most, if not all, of AIIM's industry awards, including the top one, the Award of Merit.  I am also a member of the AIIM Company of Fellows along with other Zytonites like Truitt Airhart and Terry Bogue.

I live in Mechanicsville, VA, right outside of Richmond.  My wife Nancy and I have two grown children, Ashby and Sarah.  I have two email addresses, though I don't check the aol one that often:  wneale@us.ibm.com and billo165@aol.com.  Zytron and First Image were great companies and I still very much value my time there (15 years) and the friends I made along the way.

 

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Preston, "Buddy" (aka, E.T.)

Buddy  retired from our "Real World" in 1998 and moved to Bucerias, Mexico.  Since then, he has hosted many of his closest friends when they have come to visit the Puerto Vallarta area.  Buddy owns and runs a fabulous after-dinner desert bar in Bucerias. (See his link to the left.) As of this writing Buddy likes to "close up shop" and do some traveling of his own during the summer.

Editor's note July 14, 2008 - Buddy's contact link will take you to the home page for his desert bar.  There is a phone number here but also if you click on the "Take a virtual tour" link, then select "Main Web Page" > "Contact" you will get a local address, phone number and various email addresses including, buddy@tapasdelmundo.com.

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Vanden Heuvel, Pat

It took me about 10 years to figure out just how spoiled I was while employed at Zytron. What a great person to report to as a green horn "Terry Lyons’! What a great business! I have often thought to my self I was in the right place at the right time and I could not believe how much fun it was to work for such a great company. I remember many times being on vacation and couldn’t wait to get back to work.

After 9 years I resigned from Zytron/First Image in August of 1993 to join forces with Terry Lyons again at a company called COPI. We figured that we would be able to win all the COM business in Houston, but boy where we wrong. After First Image moved out of Houston in 1998 we moved into their production facility (Terry designed the facility prior to leaving First Image in 1992).

In October of 1998 I decided that it was time for me to break out on my own and try to sell with someone other than Terry, so I took a sales slot with a company call Quantum. They changed their name to Regulus Group shortly after I started. They had a few old Zytron employees working there, so I felt good about leaving Terry. The new love affair didn’t last but two years, because they acquired another one of the old Zytron companies Accudata. Too many sales people to fill current sales slots and I was sent packing.

This was about the time I was searching for another Zytron and low and behold an old friend called me and said "hey we need you in Houston". I started reporting to Warren Hoppe in December 2000 for the third time, but now we were working for Anacomp. I figured this was going to be just like the past, but I had the wind taken out of my sails when Warren was RIFed a little over a month after I started. I only stayed around until June of 2001!

I called Terry Lyons and he told me he had bought COPI and changed the name to Zytron. I started assisting him in building his company in July 2001. He was marketing COM, CD storage, laser printing and mailing services. We worked together for 4 years, before I got burned out on the commute into the office each day. I decided I would work from home on commission only, and during that time at home I had many recruiters calling and ultimately took a sales position with Lason, and then with SourceLink.

I took some time off after SourceLink to be able to travel with my middle son Kevin. He was playing in some junior golf tours and the only way to be recruited to play NCAA golf he needed to be able to travel all over the US.

While working for other companies doing the same type business, I would from time to time direct some new business back to Terry at Zytron. Today is January 5, 2010 and I’m still selling for Terry Lyons and after 25 years he is still spoiling me.

I’ve been married to Lisa for the past 23 years and we have three sons, Sean a sophomore at Auburn University, Kevin a freshman at University of Arkansas (on the golf team, look out PGA) and Steven a junior in high school.

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Whitaker, Larry

Larry left Anacomp in 1998 and then spent time as VP of Sales and consultant for MSI.  He now considers himself retired, (Marquita, his wife of 50 years, says he’s  retarded not retired), however he spends part of his day driving an Edmond, Oklahoma Public School Bus and the rest of his time with his Therapy Dogs visiting  Schools, Nursing homes, Hospitals and special needs children.  You can find more about Larry and his TDI-certified Therapy Dogs, Bentley and Sterling, on his webpage, http://larrysb.googlepages.com/

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White, John P.

One of the last Zytron Hold outs at the Big A. Left with a package in in 2004. I'm Working at a small print and mail company in Farmers Branch Texas with an old client of mine from the Zytron days. Like Warren this is as close to the old days as I can remember. Just the 2 of us in sales ( He's the president and owner ) and all the rest women. No pressure with sales reports and such, just having a great time. Susan and I will celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary soon and our two children are married or engaged.

*** <update by Tom, 06/08/2011>

Sadly, John left us just before Memorial Day this year.  Thanks to Warren and others for “spreading the word” as quickly as possible.  Services were May 31st.  Many of the Texas “Zytron; where are they now?” members in attendance.  I wish I could offer more to all of you that could not attend.  The link to his obituary is:

 

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dallasmorningnews/obituary.aspx?n=john-white&pid=151407854

 

but I’m sure it will not last forever.  Here is the text of the entry:

 



White, John Philip "Johnny" Loving and devoted son, father, husband, and beloved friend to many, born June 27, 1953 at Central Methodist Hospital, passed away on May 28th, 2011 at the hospital where he was born. Johnny and Susan have been residents of Cedar Hill for 27 years. He graduated from Kimball High School in 1971 and served in the US Navy for four years. He had a long successful career in sales. Johnny's hobbies included golf, fishing and music, but his greatest passion was spending time with his family and friends. Enormously funny and loyal, he never knew a stranger and would do without if he thought it would help others. He loved giving back, and donated his time to Meals on Wheels for many years. He is survived by his loving wife Susan of 32 years; mother, Ann & step father Lamar Lovvorn; son, Donald White & wife Suzanne & grandbaby to be; daughter, Haley Manlove & husband Josh, and many beloved friends. Services are at 2:00 pm Tuesday, May 31 at Laurel Land Funeral Home, 6000 South R.L. Thornton Frwy, Dallas. Visitation will be 6-8 pm Monday, May 30. In lieu of flowers donations can be made in Johnny's honor to "Save theMusic" at vh1savethemusic.com/ donation.

</update by Tom, 06/08/2011>

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