David Overly -- from 1965 to present -- sorta

(We received Dave Overly's bio this week. Dave missed the reunion on the grounds that we hadn't located him in Park Rapids. Would have enjoyed coming, he said. In lieu of that, we asked him to jot a few things about the past 40 years. Here it is:)

On graduation night, 1965, I got in my brother's car and headed to the Cities. My older brother, Jim, had driven up to witness my graduation and then take me back to the Cities. After spending the night on the couch in his apartment, he put me on a train to Colorado where I joined my family who had made the move earlier in April.

A buck an hour
I tried to find a job in Loveland and especially in Estes Park, but no luck. So I ended up painting the house we were renting, inside and out for $1 an hour. I also painted the neighbor's kitchen (because she liked the way I had done ours).
Even though I had been accepted at Moorhead, I had decided not to go, because the family was now in Colorado. So, as Uncle Sam's letters of invitation began to find me, I did the noble thing and joined the Navy. I was in Vietnam twice, once at the Naval Base in Danang and later on the USS Enterprise.
Upon receiving an "early out" in order to start college, I was discharged in June of 1968 and was traveling home to Colorado with a friend the night Bobby Kennedy was shot.
I was planning to attend CSU in Ft. Collins that fall, but in August while participating in a Sports Car Road Rallye, flipped my new MGB and broke my hip. Because I was bent on pursuing a career in theater, I decided to attend UNC in Greeley the next fall instead.

The greatest event of all
It was here in the Spring of my Sophomore year that the greatest event in my life took place. My best friend called me one night to tell me he had gotten "saved." I said, "What does that mean?" He said, "It means I have trusted Christ as my Savior, my sins are forgiven and I'm going to heaven!"
"Good for you, Mick", I said, "But I'm not interested in anything like that. I'm going to New York, to be a professional actor." Four days later, Mick calls again.
"Dave. I want you to go with me to hear this singing group".
"Great! What kind of group?"
"You will really like them!"
"What kind of group?"
"I know you will really like them."
"Mick. What kind of group?"
"It's a Christian group called 33 A.D."
"No thanks. Not interested"
More persuading on Mick's part. Finally he says, "Dave, if you go, you will get to meet some really neat girls."
"OK," I said. So I went to hear these kids sing, and during the songs some shared their testimonies -- how since coming to know Christ they had purpose, peace and joy in their lives, etc. As I sat and listened, I knew that I wanted what they had. So that night, April 28, 1971, I repented of my sin and trusted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and that one single event changed my life forever.

Baptist Bible College
A lot of neat things happened in my life, and two years later I was enrolled as a Junior at Baptist Bible College in Denver. There I met a beautiful girl named Brenda, who became my bride on June 8, 1974. That was the second most blessed event in my life. Seven equally great events followed in the next 13 years, beginning with the birth of our first son, Joshua, in March of 1975.
I graduated college in May of 1975 and the three of us headed back to Minnesota.
I got a job as a painter that summer, but the fall found us headed to Boston in a 1965 Black Ford Galaxie, pulling a U-Haul with all our earthly possessions.
We spent five years in New England, helping to plant a church and start a Christian
school. I was also ordained into the ministry in 1977. That was the beginning of 20 years in full time ministry, which took us to several different places, including Park Rapids, Minn., which has been home to us for the last 20 years.

Painting contractor
These past several years I have been working as a painting contractor and my wife works as a nurse in the nursing home here.We have three married daughters, 10 grandchildren and one son left at home in school -- Seth, who is a Junior. None of the boys are married so I don't know how many grandchildren we will be blessed with before this is all over. Uff da.
We are hoping to get a family picture on Thanksgiving, and if it turns out, we will forward for posting.
Well, that is an account of some of the major highlights of my life since good JHS days.
Blessings to you all,
David