D. J. Sumner felt a need to tell about the old "managed telephone offices" that existed around the country before dialing came into being. This is the story of her family residing in, and her Mother who was the Chief Operator and Manager of one of those agencies which belonged to the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in Sublette, Kansas. She was born in Oklahoma and raised in western Kansas where she spent most of her teenage years as a telephone operator helping her Mother. With this background training, it helped to pave the way into working in some of the jobs she has held in both civilian and military careers. After her discharge from the U.S. Navy, she followed her husband while on active U.S. Army duty and finished her sophomore year at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Because of frequent army moves, she did get to complete one year of business college at Draughon's School of Business in San Antonio, TX. In April 1993, she retired from the U. S. Federal Government Service and has been active with women's business groups and is currently in a Naval Club for active and retired Naval women. She likes to play golf, enjoys watching baseball games, reading, avid astrology follower, and putting jig-saw puzzles together.