Where are they now – Jimmy DeAnda

Editor’s note: This feature is dedicated to profiling Van Horn High School Alumni and updating locals on what became of them after graduation.  The Advocate welcomes information for publication on VHHS Alumni and will try to highlight two Van Horn Eagles every week.

It’s has been a very long time since graduating with the Class of 1980.  So much has happened in the thirty-six plus years after leaving Van Horn, it will take time and much space to write all my experiences both good and bad.

After graduating from Van Horn High, I attended the University of Texas at El Paso for one year when I found out I was not ready nor disciplined enough to continue.  I then made the choice to enlist in the United State Air Force.

I entered the Air Force in January of 1982 and became a Security Policeman after completing all required training.  I was then sent to San Vito Dei Normani Air Station, Italy.  This was an electronic security listening post during the height of the Cold War with the former Soviet Union.  I was fortunate to have lived and experienced the culture in southern Italy for nineteen months.

In January 1984, I was assigned to Kelly AFB, in San Antonio, Texas.  I spent a total of seven years in the San Antonio area.  I met and married my spouse Eva in 1989 in a ceremony held on Kelly AFB.  We recently celebrated our twenty-seventh anniversary.

In 1990 my oldest daughter, Arianna, was born at Lackland AFB.  We left the Air Force in December, 1990 and our family moved to Del Rio, Texas. I spent two years in the Air Force inactive reserves but I was never reactivated during the Gulf War.

My son, Jimmy Sebastian and Brielle were both born in Del Rio.  All three of our children have graduated from school.  Brielle is currently a junior at Texas A & M.

I spent a total of nineteen years in law enforcement.  I earned a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.  Currently I am working on a Masters in Clinical Psychology specializing in Forensic Psychology.  After completion, I would like to go into teaching at the college/university level.

I t has been many years that we have visited my sister, Josephine in Van Horn.  We hope to be able to come down and visit soon when our work schedules allow.

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