Lannie Altenberger
General Information:
School Activities:
Freshman Year - Chorus, Boy's Ensemble
Junior Year - Chorus, Library Club
Junior Year - Chorus
Senior Year - Chorus
Lannie Altenberger
After graduation I attended Belleville Barber School and worked in a few shops in the area, then in 1967 I bought my own shop in downtown E.St. Louis. I also married my high school sweetheart , Brenda Burgess, in June of 1967.
Because of social and economic changes in the area I closed my barber shop and moved on to other things. September of 1969 I went to work for Collinsville Unit #10 as a custodian. My first assignment was at the High School. This was a little odd at first, being coworkers with the same people that just a few years earlier were my teachers.
I worked there until 1976 when I moved up to the maintenance department. In 1990 I was appointed by the board as maintenance supervisor for the district. I held that position until my retirement in 2003.
I have always felt that everyone has the obligation to give back to the community so in 1967 I became a member of Collinsville Emergency Management Agency (at that time it was Civil Defense). We assist the police dept. and fire dept. in emergency situations however we are needed. This was the beginning of my second career, so to speak.
From 1976-1982 I worked as a Special Police officer for the Collinsville Police dept., and during that time I completed my EMT training.
2001 I became a reservist for the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA. After 9-11 I was part of a team that began teaching classes to the public on preparedness and emergency response. I have also taught classes at SWIC and SIU-E on emergency response.
2005 I was deployed to Southeastern Texas to assist the victims of hurricane Katrina and Rita. I spent 6 months there helping them to get temporary housing, i.e. trailers and mobile homes.
2006 I was deployed to the FEMA headquarters in Washington DC where I worked with reps from the Red Cross to institute a computer program that tracks evacuation shelters across the country, which makes things a lot easier when disaster strikes.
But with all this my pride and joy is my family, Brenda and I have 5 children, their spouses, 13 grandchildren and 3 greats. We are lucky they all live in the area and so we have a lot of family time.
With all this being said, with the exception of a few hiccups along the way, I think my journey has been a success.
Lannie Altenberger
"A lot of people pretty much only listen to the chorus." Lenny Kravitz