My life has been a fun adventure so far. After Kellogg in 1968, I met my wife Phyllis (St. Joseph's Academy 1968). I worked at Keller Golf Course and liked the work, so I checked into schools and enrolled into Anoka Tech for Turf Management. Started in August of 1969 and graduated in March of 1971 with an AA certificate. The Dellwood National Golf Course was being designed and built and I was instrumental in both of those areas for two years.

We got married in April of 1971 and honeymooned in Chicago and surrounding areas. Four our 47th anniversary, we just spent two weeks touring Florida, three weeks on a cruise through the Eastern Caribbean and one week at Hilton Head Island. We loved visiting Savannah and Charleston as well.

My draft number was 12, so I enlisted i the Marine Corps in November, 1971 and was discharged in November 1973. Spent most of my time in San Diego area doing a few missions and was in the Armory among other duties. While in the Marines, took US Civil Service tests and was awarded a River Ranger position on the Rogue River in Medford, Oregon. We bought a small starter home in the town of Medford and then got a job offer in Colorado. We liked the Medford area, so I became a local city firefighter and have been there ever since. Going on 44 years! We were able to move to the mountains in December 1976, when our son Andy was 11 months old. He grew up in the hills along with our daughter JoAnna, who was born in August of 1978. We decided to upgrade and build a new retirement home in 2000. We downsized to a chalet type home with a large deck. We have four acres and 2000 trees, just a small forest!

During the years I have held a forest fire red card and have fought fires throughout the Western US. With these qualifications I was able to go to the San Diego fires in October of 2003, as a task force leader. During the 2005 season, I was at the Hurricane in Louisiana for a few months. With these credentials I became a strike team leader at the Oregon Department of Forestry when I retired as a structural firefighter in 2003. I housed a 500 gallon fire pumper at my home for 10 fire seasons, which we named the Castle Terrace Guard Station!

We were blessed with a beautiful grandson in 2015, who is a real treasure to us and a joy to spend time with as often as we can manage. He is a little mini me of his daddy, with all the same mannerisms! Babysitting is the highlight of our week. We do get called quite often.

Our daughter has been a hair stylist in Portland for the past 20 years and is successful and happy. She is not married, but has a nice boyfriend. She is content with that for now.

As a firefighter, I was a Safety Office for 25 years, attending and teaching classes throughout Oregon.

While a river ranger in 1979, I became a whitewater guide and have been taking people down the river for 40 some years, taking 1,2 and 3 day trips in the area. We live just a mile from the mighty Rogue River! We do take advantage!

For a brief time, there was a need for a Fire Chief in our neighboring town of Gold Hill, so guess who got asked to do the job? Yup! It was an adventure with all the small town issues. At the end, I wrote a couple of books to blow off steam. One book was published with not much fan fare.

Being a firefighter and being on my knees fighting fires and hiking in the hills sometimes 12 to 15 miles per day, took a toll on moth knees. In January 2016 my left knee went through a total knee replacement that was not at all successful. Currently I am being treated for glue replacement in the joint. We do not consider this our Golden Years, but the Rusty Years!

We have tried to see the world and good old US of A. Traveling is a pastime of ours seeing all 50 states, Australia, many European countries, the Caribbean and Canada. The best trip was France, Spain, Italy and a ten day Adriatic Cruise. The Holy Land in 2011 was a great highlight for three weeks and we saw almost all of the important Biblical and historical spots. The visit really brought the Bible to life for us.

Lastly, doing community service positions, I have been an officer in the Central Point American Legion for the past 37 years. Many years also in the Lions Club and IAFF firefighters union president for two years and fifteen years on the union Executive Board. Well enough!!!!!

We are truly blessed and have want for nothing – except maybe for a working knee!!