MAN WEDS, GRADUATES SATURDAY

As an events supervisor at the Show Me Center, Don Doerr has dealt with a lot of different events.

But for Doerr, none will be as important as two events scheduled for Saturday at the Show Me Center on the Southeast Missouri State University campus.

First, Doerr will participate in the university's 3 p.m. commencement ceremony where he will graduate with a bachelor's degree in general studies and minors in criminal justice and recreation. In all, degrees will be awarded to 652 undergraduate and 57 graduate students at Southeast.

At 5:30 p.m., the 56-year-old Doerr will marry 22-year-old Teresa Gale Rogers, a Southeast student and part-time employee at the Show Me Center and the adjoining Student Recreation Center.

A former newspaper printer, who worked for newspapers in Chicago, Doerr said he never finished high school.

But he passed a GED test and received a scholarship through the state of Missouri to attend college.

"I'm looking forward to graduating. I never thought I would do it," he said Thursday. "I never believed it was possible."

Doerr not only will be graduating from Southeast Saturday, he will be graduating with honors.

Doerr said he has been a student at Southeast for the last four years. During the past three years he has also worked at various campus jobs.

He has worked at the Show Me Center for much of that time, including the last 1 years as an events supervisor.

Doerr said he found time to handle the full-time job and go to school.

He said it seemed only natural to schedule the wedding in the Show Me Center. "I have a lot of people coming in from out of town, from different parts of the country," said Doerr, pointing out that this way they can attend both the graduation and the wedding.

"I spend a lot of time there (in the Show Me Center) anyway," said Doerr.

About 200 friends and relatives are expected for the wedding, including many friends on campus, he said.

After graduation and the wedding, Doerr and his wife will soon be departing for Gainesville, Fla., where he will begin a new career as a probation officer.

Doerr said Saturday's wedding won't be the first one held at the Show Me Center, but it will be the first one to be held following a graduation ceremony.