Richard Doran

Heights High School

Class of 1982

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Richard Doran - Class of 1982 - Heights High School

First Name	Richard
Last Name	Doran
Graduation Year	Class of 1982
Gender	Male
City	N/A
State/Province	FL
Country	United States
Occupation	Technical Design Director
Married	Yes
About Me	After graduating high school I spent a year bumming around and partying like a fool, working just enough to pay rent and buy beer. When I sobered up, I realized that I needed to do something with my life. I enlisted in the U.S. Army, and was trained as an Airborne Ranger and was stationed in Ft. Benning Georgia, Schweinfurt Germany and Ft. Knox Kentucky. Training schools, Combat Missions and other duties took me all over the world. I was Honorably Discharged in 1985. After the Army, I returned to Wichita and went to College at Wichita State University, where I studied Engineering, Graphic Design and Technical Theatre. I also joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. I got married during my junior year. I was also working several side jobs in almost all of the local theaters throughout Wichita and during the summer I was the Fabrication Shop Lead for Music Theater of Wichita. I became a member of the Stagehands Union, I.A.T.S.E. Local 190 (The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees). While working in the theater at Century II on the travelling Broadway Tour of “La Traviata”, I met a group of stagehands who also worked as roadies for some big name rock and roll bands. They invited me to join their next tour and I agreed. I began touring the country as a rigger for “Def Leppard” I had so much fun that I continued and worked with most of the major rock and country bands throughout the late 80’s and into the mid 90’s. I also toured as the Head Rigger and Technical Director with several Broadway National Touring Companies. My wife and I moved to Dallas and I began working at the Dallas Theater Center, while there the theater was asked to help with the motion picture production "J.F.K.", directed By Oliver Stone, which was filming in Dallas and needed local union members to work on the production. I worked on the movie set for over a year, while continuing to do shows for the Dallas Theater Center. My wife was never very comfortable in Dallas and with my work constantly taking me away for months at a time; we decided to move back to Wichita and closer to her family. I continued working in the theater and on the road as a roadie and stagehand, but the resulting stress began taking a toll on my marriage. In an attempt to relieve her worries and stay closer to home, I began working in the local construction field. Unfortunately the damage was already done and we divorced in late 1992. I returned to working on the road. Being single on the road was very profitable and I was able to make a small fortune. I moved to Florida in 1994 and got a job with a Company called Cinnabar. They specialized in building scenic elements for the entertainment industry, including TV commercials, dramatic and comedic series, major motion pictures and live events like the Superbowl Half-time Show. I quickly became the shop foreman and became involved with the theme park division. We built several theme park rides and roller coasters all over the world. Once again I was having fun travelling to different places around the world for extended periods of time working on film shoots and installing rides and effects. That’s when I met Rebecca, I knew that my life was about to change for the better. I asked her to marry me and she said yes! We were married in March 2002. To prevent a disastrous repeat of my previous marriage, I left my job at Cinnabar and started working for Caylex Corp. I am the Director of Technical Services, a fancy term that allows the companies owner to call on me to perform almost any job that the company needs. It actually includes several titles like Project Manager, Production Manager, Operations Department Manager, Estimating Manager, Installation and Site Supervisor, Network & IT Administrator, Purchasing Agent, Design Engineer and Senior CAD Draftsman. In 2002, Rebecca and I went to the Wichita Heights 20th Reunion and had a fantastic time with everyone there. It was a really incredible experience. I felt great about all of the renewed friendships and even better about losing some of the old rivalries and animosities to become friends with people that I really didn’t get along with at school. Rebecca became friends with several classmates while we were there as well. I can’t thank everyone enough! The trip home was well worth the time and expense of travelling that far. Getting to see family and friends again was reward enough, however Rebecca and received more there than we bargained for. 9 months later, in May of 2003, Rebecca and I were blessed with a beautiful little girl; we named her Natalie Beth Doran (After Natalie Wood and Elizabeth Taylor). A year and a half later, October 2004, we were blessed with our second beautiful little girl; we named her Audrey Nichole (After Audrey Hepburn and Nicole Kidman). I feel a theme here. Today Rebecca and I live with our girls in a very happy home outside Orlando Florida. I am very pleased with my career. Rebecca is going to college; she is taking courses in Laboratory Technologies and is almost finished with the base program and ready to start her Major Program. I cannot begin to say how proud I am of her and the work she’s done, on top of being a wonderful Wife and Mother. Thank you Lord! I want everyone to feel free to contact me at any time via e-mail or my MySpace page or any other way you would like. I...(read more)