Don Tigges - KV4PU

I was born in 1946 in Dubuque, Iowa, a town on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River. Growing up, I held several jobs there but, the one I enjoyed the most playing in a rock-and-roll band called the Les Sabres. We played night clubs, school dances, and ski lodges. After graduating from high school at the age of 17 my parents signed for me to join the military.

I joined the Air Force. Two weeks after going to Lackland AFB, Texas, for basic training, my parents received my draft notice. I was glad I joined the Air Force instead! Following basic training I went to Chanute AFB in Illinois for training as an aircraft electrician.

Over the next 20 years, I was assigned to a number of bases, including Travis AFB in California, Yokota AB in Japan, Da Nang in Vietnam, Mactan Island in the Philippines, Castle AFB in California, Anderson AB in Guam, Utapao AB in Thailand, Clark AB in the Philippines, Chanute AFB (where I met and married my wife, Marie), and Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona.

In 1984 I retired from the Air Force and moved to Mississippi. My first civilian job was with the Howse Implement Company. We manufactured brush hogs and other farm equipment. After 4 months I went to work for a division of Sunbeam supervising an electronic bath scale production line. Later I became the supervisor of the service department.

Next I went to Peavey Electronics to make guitar amplifiers. When our daughter started high school we moved to Clinton, Mississippi to a better school system. While there I started a mail order business, Fancz Feet Dancewear, selling clogging supplies and shoes. I also starting working for the post office as a rural carrier substitute.

Following our daughter’s successful run for Miss Mississippi Teen, we moved to Oklahoma. Years later, just two weeks before the Murrah building was bombed, we moved to Morristown in east Tennessee. I worked at the post office and continued to grow my business. Eventually I sold the mail order business and we moved back to northeast Oklahoma.

In Oklahoma I worked at the post office and started a computer business. We first offered tutoring then repairing and building computers. We owned an 80 acre ranch with Black Angus cows at the same time. Once the drought hit I sold all the cows. We also had 150 chickens and sold eggs to the health food store in Grove, Oklahoma. In 2011 I sold the computer business and moved to Florida for retirement.

We loved our first year in Florida, but it went downhill after that. After a period of about two years, we found our current home in Vanleer, Tennessee.  We really enjoy this area. The people are so friendly, kind, and always helpful.

My wife, Marie (KV4PV) and I are both hams. We studied together and tested for each level. We earned our Extra tickets in July of 2013.

73 - Donald Tigges, KV4PU, AFFC #550