“Like a teletype machine with top secret clearance,”
Priscilla Faria, years after working for the U.S. Airforce,
spends time keeping tabs on Jeff, and doing a number
of other interesting things.

It is difficult for many civilians to appreciate the diversity of roles played by those who serve in the military. Learning a little of Priscilla Faria’s experience may help. Born and raised in Turlock, Priscilla said she felt almost compelled: “I didn’t have a choice. I went into the Air Force when I turned 21.” Priscilla first studied business at MJC before serving at Travis Air Force Base from 1968 to 1970.
“I remember being lost at the time. I needed to get out of the area. I wasn’t going anywhere here. I was at a dead end, and had an urge to explore. Turlock was a great place to grow up in, but not a place where I could mature, become my own person.”
Priscilla’s service began with six weeks in boot camp, followed by twelve weeks in technical school, where she studied communications. She then began work on the telephone, directing calls at the base. “I was like an old switchboard operator,” having to look up numbers to connect calls. “So, I devised a phone directory.” The directory proved so successful for the base that Priscilla received an official commendation.
Later, Priscilla was “in charge of secret information, just putting it in order.” She describes herself as being “like a teletype machine. I decided what should be saved or discarded, according to their criteria. I had a top secret clearance.”
Boot camp for women in 1968 was “unlike now,” Priscilla explained. “There was no combat training. We learned the chain of command, military protocol, how to have your clothes in the closet. They strip you of your personality, so you can become part of a unit. We could not have hair below the collar.” This meant a hair cutting for Priscilla at the start. “To me, the classes in technical school seemed easy, maybe because I’d been in college for two years. Another girl and I vied for the top.”
One of the joyful highlights for Priscilla was getting “to introduce some girls from Nebraska to the ocean. About age 20, they’d never seen it. I enjoyed watching the expressions on their faces. We had to go more than once. Marla Melbourne!”
Priscilla lived for six years in Pacifica, and worked for Loomis Armored Car Service in the administrative office as a secretary, then stayed home to raise her daughter, Sarah. Priscilla returned to Turlock where she met Jeff, whom she married in 1979. “We met at work, working at the Gallo Ranch. I was impressed that Gallo would hire

someone (a man!) who had a ponytail!” (Gallo liked this man so well that they gave Jeff a house on the ranch, and a raise, to keep him from leaving, ponytail and all!)
Priscilla worked in banking at Security Pacific from 1980 to 1993, as a new accounts rep. “I liked it until banking changed their image, and I was expected to be a SALES PERSON!” The bank was taken over by Bank of America. “On Friday, after the bank closed, if a customer came in on Saturday, it was totally different. There was nothing on my desk, in order to make the customer feel like ‘they were IT!’ Just a telephone on the desk.”
“They sent me to Modesto. It hurt, at the time, because I’d been working so long, but later I realized it was a blessing because I just couldn’t sell.”
The most difficult thing in life for Priscilla? “Being a mom.! They don’t have classes on parenting.” Through all of the changes, Priscilla says, “God was guiding with His hand.”
Priscilla retired in 2012 from SCOE (Stanislaus Office of Education) after thirteen years, working with career development, doing attendance for tech schools. The clientele included high risk teenagers, such as those at John Allard School. Priscilla fondly remembers the Occupational Olympics, with up to “800 kids from Stanislaus County competing. It was fun to see their preparations.”
Since retiring, Priscilla values “church involvement, volunteering at Off Center Thrift and Gift, keeping tabs on Jeff, and knitting.” She likes to travel, and has been on five cruises: Alaska, Tahiti, and three times on the Caribbean. One of these was a knitting cruise. “She dragged me along on that one!” said Jeff. Actually, the whole ship was not dedicated to knitting. There were 35 women knitters, and 3,000 on the liner. Jeff attested to the fact that he is no knitter.”I can tie my fishing line to my hook. That’s about the only knot I know.”
Priscilla found that her status on the cruise was enhanced by virtue of her origins. “Oh, you’re the one from Turlock!” she would hear. The acclaim comes from the fact of a famous knitting website hosted by Hilary Smith Callis, a friend of Priscilla’s and member of our church. The website is called The Yarniad, but this is another story!
Most important to Priscilla are “family . . . both immediate and church family. Being around those people makes you a better person,” she says. “Happy people make happy people. Different people help you to grow.”