The July senior citizen of the month at the Newcastle Senior Citizens Center is Ryan Jernigan, 85, a longtime resident of Newcastle who now lives in Dibble.
Jernigan was married to the late Brenda Jernigan. He said he met his sweetheart at a swimming pool. Jernigan was employed at Western Electric right out of high school, but then was drafted in 1961. He served for two years in Berlin, while the Berlin Wall was being built.
After serving in the armed forces, Jernigan worked short stints for the railroad and then the United States Postal Service. He then went to work at Tinker Air Force Base as a B-52 aircraft electrician.
In his younger years, he enjoyed water skiing. He said as he grew older, he spent his time fixing anything he could find around the house that was broken.
His favorite memories of Newcastle are those he made while his two daughters and their friends were in Newcastle Public Schools.
