Celebrating Phil Batton’s upcoming birthday, back row, left to right: Jim and Betty East, Glen and Linda Bolon, Jamie and Deanna Slack, Ted Oehlerking, Carol and Tom Burford, Stan Ashby, and Mike Zeman. Seated: Sharon Oehlerking, Kathryn Sarter, Kathy Smith, Barb Wood, Judy Ashby, and Cher Zeman. Kneeling: DK and Pam Loo, and Debbie Blaine. (Photo by Ted Blaine)
Phil’s basic pilot training in 1956 in Pensacola, Fla.
Ted Blaine
On May 4, 22 former and current RVers were hosted by Cher and Mike Zeman of 164th Drive. We each added the toppings that we wanted on our individual sized pizza crusts. Then master pizza chef Mike cooked those pizzas two at a time in his new patio pizza oven. They only take about 2 minutes to cook, 1 minute to cool, and presto, we had wonderful pizzas. We gathered to reunite old friends and wish Phil Batton an early 90th happy birthday.
Phil will turn 90 years old in July. He and his late wife Shirley moved to PebbleCreek in 1995, and in 1997 he became a founding member of PebbleCreek’s Rovin’ Pebbles RV Club. He is still active with his motorhome, and in flying. Shirley passed away in 2007, and Phil and his 17-year-old cat Rocky travel in his motorhome every summer for about five months. Last year was an exception as he had back surgery in July.
Phil graduated from the University of Missouri (Mizzou) with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, joined the Navy to become a pilot, and later had multiple jobs, from El Paso, Texas, to Saint Louis, Mo., to Kansas City, Mo., and to Boston, Mass. In the early 1970s, Phil received a master’s degree in engineering management from the University of Missouri—Rolla.
Phil has a son, Jeff, and family in Kansas City, a daughter, Cheri, and husband in Phoenix, and a recently married granddaughter, Hannah, in Phoenix. He is planning to start his summer motorhome sojourn about the 1st of June as he “eats” his way across the country, arranging lunch engagements with relatives, old college mates, Navy Squadron mates, and former co-workers.
Phil joined the Navy in 1956 and after initial flight training became a Command Pilot flying the huge Martin P5M Flying Boat off the coast of Washington and did a six-month tour in Japan. He was released from active duty after 3 ½ years. Beginning in 1961, work locations had him joining the reserves as a Civil Engineer Corps Officer assigned to various Seabee units, as he moved from city to city working in the construction business. He finally retired from the Naval Reserves in 1979 with the rank of Captain. In addition to RVing, Phil belongs to a local flying club and still flies a Cessna 172 around the local area. He also shoots pistols and shotguns with the PebbleCreek Gun Club.