If you don’t know where you are going, any old road will take you there!...
I remember reading something (over 40 years ago) in a school health textbook (of all things) which said, “The greatest need for man is to actualize himself: that is, to become more and more of the person he has the potential of becoming”. I never made any attempt to remember this, but it seemed to have “branded” itself within my consciousness. Whether it was true or not, in some small way it caused me to focus more on “purpose”…More on that in a moment!
I grew up “picking cotton’, “chopping cotton”, and “driving tractors” on Evergreen Plantation in Tallulah, Louisiana. I’ve always strived/ striven to be on top because it’s the bottom that’s overcrowded! Having received a four-year Louisiana State Board of Education Academic Scholorship and BEOG Grant (to Southern University Baton Rouge) allowed me to “kiss my days in the cotton field goodbye” (forever). At that time my main PURPOSE was to “hurry up and finish college so I could help my Grandmother (who was then 76 years old and had reared me from the age of two, after my mother died) before she died!” After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science (in only 3 ½ years instead of five) I set out to “shape” my career. My goal was to work for three of the “largest companies in this nation” within the first five years, but my main PURPOSE was still the same!
Having worked at Bell Labs (Murray Hill, N.J.) as a summer research assistant and “publishing” a Technical Paper entitled: “A Preliminary Step Towards a Computer’s Recognition of English Word Senses” allowed me to accomplish this goal: IBM, Texas Instruments, Inc. (both in Austin, Texas), and Honeywell, Inc. (Clearwater, Fl.) all hired me because of my area of expertise: I worked for Honeywell (later as a Senior Software Design Engineer) for twelve years. Having done so allowed me to “do some things for my Grandmother”! My main PURPOSE was fulfilled! One day she called me up on the phone and said: “I have lived a long life. I wanted to see all of you grown and on your own, etc….” [She reared us because “she didn’t want the welfare people to separate us (kids)". I’m the seventh of seven children. She wanted all of us to “know each other"]. She wasn’t sick or anything: She said what she wanted to say, I re-assured her of some things, and one day she "got up from her recliner, got into the bed, and went on to be with the Lord”!
The greatest threat to your success is your last one (success)!
Now that I had fulfilled my main purpose, it was now time to move on… It was time to continue “developing my potential” and fulfill an “enlarged purpose”. I have been a key speaker on “Career Outreach Awareness” for the University of South Florida (Tampa), Florida A & M University (Tallahassee), and several area high schools. I’ve also been a youth motivator (for Pinellas Park High School and Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School) as well as a member of the Minority Task Force at Honeywell. In addition to that, I have also been an Educational Representative for the Charles J. Givens Organization, the largest (at that time) Non-Profit Financial Planning Organization in the World.
More importantly, I have been called into a teaching Ministry and for ten years conducted Bible Studies at Honeywell during my lunch hour. For eight years, I was an Associate Pastor of “Power For Living” Christian Center (a Non-Denominational Church previously located in Clearwater) as well as the Adult Sunday School Teacher. I also taught a weekly Bible Study in the Clearwater Community for sixteen years. In May of 1989 (by invitation) I appeared on a cable TV Public Access Channel where I discussed Biblical Prosperity and Financial Planning. Also in that same month, I became the first “non-Catholic” Minister to be invited on WBVM Radio (90.5 FM’s Innervision Program) for the express purpose of “Preaching” a sermon. Afterwards, I was asked to conduct a regular series of radio programs entitled GETTING STARTED (dealing with my “Biblically Taught Real Estate Seminar” material) and MAKING A COMEBACK (dealing with the subject of “How to Survive and Overcome after Losing Your Job”).
In February 2000, I was asked by Pastor Joe Van Koevering (previous host of the weekly, internationally syndicated television program, God’s News Behind The News) to use a Sunday Morning Service to "minister" to his ("predominately White") Congregation concerning Black History. News of this spread very quickly and the "Sermon/ Teaching" entitled "Black History: Why Should We Care?" and "Unfixing Your Fixed Income" was a great success. As a matter of fact, it provided a much needed (long-lasting) "spark" which contributed to that Church becoming a "multi cultural church" that reflected the community.
Several years ago, I was invited to speak at Southern University during Black History Month. This led to being a Speaker (five times) at the Annual Leroy Roquemore Computer Science Symposium (geared toward Computer Science and Business Management/ Marketing Majors).
I have been a Real Estate Investor/ Entrepreneur. I was also the owner of The Yard Sale Shop (a combination of a thrift shop and antique shop). I have three daughters: Janiece (2008 Computer Science Graduate of Southern Univ., now working with Raytheon Corp. in Plano, Texas); Janelle (2009 Business Management/ Marketing Graduate of Southern Univ., currently working for Johnson & Johnson in Jacksonville, Fl.), and Jana (2014 Math Education Graduate of the University of Central Florida [Orlando] , now Teaching high school math at a Christian School in Orlando Florida). Although they are all very intelligent, their most important accomplishment (and "on-going work in progress") is the fact that they are "well-grounded" in the Word of God!
At this time (November 2023), Betty ( my wife of 42 years) and I, reside in Saint Petersburg, Florida. You may contact us at any time at: Leroystpt1@yahoo.com
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
(and selected accomplishments)
Self Employed (Website Designer, Real Estate Investor & Entrepreneur) 1991-Present
HONEYWELL, INC., CLEARWATER, FL. 1979-1990
Sr. Software Design Eng.; Project Admin.; Software Qual. Assurance Eng.
Developed voice data recognition software to interface with hardware to
implement a speech transaction. Originated and developed a method
for computer automated documentation of software programs/projects.
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS, INC. (TI), AUSTIN, TX. 1978-1979
Programmer Analyst
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES(IBM), AUSTIN,TX. 1977-1978
Junior Programmer
Developed BIND & UNBIND processing software for implementing IBM's
Systems Network Architecture (SNA).
BELL TELEPHONE LABORATORIES(Bell Labs), Murray Hill,N.J. 1976
Summer Research Assistant
Designed,developed, & implemented software to enable a computer to
analyze English speech; Published Technical paper entitled: A Preliminary
Step Towards a Computer's Recognition of English Word Senses.
Malcolm C. Sevier (Evergreen Plantation), Tallulah, La. 1960-1973
Farm Laborer
Picking & “chopping” cotton, driving tractors,…you name it & I did it!
EDUCATION
B.S. Computer Science: Southern University (Baton Rouge,La.) 1976
Computer Languages & Operating Systems:
FORTRAN, PASCAL, C (K&R), ADA, COBOL, BASIC, SNOBOL4, PHP,
Unix, Multics, HP RTE-IVB, VAX, Honeywell Level-6, IBM 360/370, TI DX10
Websites:
www.AdvertiseThatWebsite.com (being re-designed)
www.CelebrateAfricanAmericanHistory.com
RosaMcCauleyParks.com
HeartForFrance.com
www.ForSaleInAmerica5G.com (released July 2, 2023)