Paul Spata III – 50th Reunion Essay

Paul Spata III

1653 Linden St.

East Lansing, MI 48823-3717

paulspata@comcast.net

517-282-9423 cell

Spouse(s): Susan M. London

Child(ren): April Camille Spata (1973–2003)

Education: Michigan State University, BA, Sociology, 1971; Michigan State University, Master of Social Work, 1985

Career: 3 years as production/circulation staff for weekly newspaper; 30 years with the Michigan Dept. of Social Services as caseworker, supervisor, and administrator.

Avocations: I have played basketball weekly for the last 35 years. I drive a plug-in hybrid. I have been a disaster service volunteer with the American Red Cross for the last 15 years.

College: Silliman

I lasted only three semesters at Yale, but during that time three experiences helped shape the rest of my life. Two of those experiences were courses: calculus and psychology. Calculus convinced me to drop my plan to become a mathematics professor. Psychology started me down the path to becoming a social worker. The third shaping experience was my short time on the staff of WYBC.

Less than six months after leaving Yale, I began training for VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). As I neared the end of my VISTA training, the 1967 Detroit riots broke out and I was sent there to help public defenders prepare their cases on behalf of those arrested for rioting. Three weeks later, I was on my permanent VISTA assignment in Philadelphia, working with a former US district attorney to support requests for indigent defendants to be released from detention without having to post a monetary bond.

When the Philadelphia project ended, I enrolled at Michigan State University and paid for it by getting a job at a local weekly newspaper (doing work I had learned at WYBC). While at MSU I became an anti-war activist and organized a march of 20,000 protestors to the state capitol. I eventually earned a master of social work degree, and had a 30-year career with the Michigan Department of Social Services. One thing that made me a little different among my colleagues was my facility with computers and the internet (thanks again to skills I learned at WYBC).

My wife and I met on July 26, 1979, and have been together happily since.

At age 55, I retired and accepted a pension. A year later my only child died at age 30.

After three years of retirement, Hurricane Katrina drew me in to the American Red Cross as a disaster volunteer. Since then I have deployed to 17 disaster response operations and I regularly respond to small local disasters (housefires, tornados, floods). I have also become the primary Red Cross liaison to the Michigan State Emergency Operation Center.

I failed to mention earlier that, during my time at Yale, I briefly participated on the Silliman College intramural basketball team. I didn’t pick the game up again until in my mid-30s when I began playing twice per week on a regular basis. I still play once a week.