Headed to greener pastures
CTC coordinator retires to family ranch
By LISA CARNLEY Staff Writer

PHOTO BY SHERRY DeSHAZO Dave Schiefelbein, center, receives a watch from Robert Farrell, CTC deputy chancellor, resource management for his retirement from CTC with over 22 years' service, while Jim Nixon, left, dean of Fort Hood and service area campus, looks on.

Getting teenagers to take advanced classes in high school can be a challenge. Imagine, then, how hard it could be to get them interested in taking college-level courses while still in high school.

That's been the task for the last 20 years for Dave Schiefelbein, Central Texas College coordinator for Lampasas and Mills counties. He soon will head for greener pastures when he retires to concentrate on the family ranch in Topsey.

Schiefelbein's father is retired military and during his 27-year career, the family traveled all over the world.

In fact, Schiefelbein met his wife of nearly 40 years, Marilyn, while both their fathers were stationed at Gray Air Force Base (now Fort Hood). Her father also retired after 27 years of military service.

Schiefelbein joined the Army and earned a degree in general studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

He served four years in the Air Force, eight years in the Coast Guard and 10 years in the Army before retiring in 1983.

A friend recommended he apply for a teaching position at CTC because of Schiefelbein's experience with the Analytical Point Positioning System, which he taught at the Defense Mapping School during his Army stint. APPS is a computer system for aerial photography.

Prior to that, Schiefelbein was an aircraft engine mechanic and a terrain intelligence analyst.

CTC hired him in 1986.

In 1988, Schiefelbein, tired of traveling around the world teaching and being away from his family, sought work closer to home.

He became the CTC coordinator and for two decades has assisted students in getting a head start on college.

"It makes a big difference for the kids," he said. "I have enjoyed seeing all the students graduate from Lampasas High School who have 15 or more semester hours of college.

"It really doesn't matter if they have only one college class under their belts, because even that classifies them as a transfer student," he said.

The benefit is that transfer students don't have to wait in line with new students, and they have a better shot at getting the classes they need and want, he added.

The CTC coordinator has worked with thousands of students over the years, and he said he will miss that interaction with students. "It's been great helping them. I will really miss that."

But the 83-acre ranch where he raises Longhorns is calling, and Schiefelbein is answering. Today marks his last day on the job.

He plans to spend most of his time running the ranch. Mrs. Schiefelbein, a retired state employee, is employed at CTC. She is not yet ready to retire, her husband said.

The couple have two children: a son in the Air Force and a daughter who teaches school in Killeen. She and her family also live on the family ranch. The Schiefelbeins also have two grandchildren.

Schiefelbein, who instigated the Central Texas College Advisory Board -- a group that provides mini-scholarships to local students who take a CTC class in Lampasas -- hopes that whoever replaces him will keep up the scholarship program. "It has been so much help to local students. I have enjoyed working with the committee," he said.

CTC will fill the coordinator's post at a later date, and Schiefelbein would like to see that happen by the time summer registration begins.

Will he miss it?

"Of course. But I will mainly miss the kids. It has been a great experience. I have enjoyed helping them get started, but it's time for me to go."