Comments:
Married my first wife in t961. We had two children. I worked at Miles Laboratories at the time.
Divorce first wife in 1965.
Moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1965. Married Janice Strawser in March of 1966.
Became a truck driver in Green Bay. Loved it.
Got drafted in 1966. Third and last child born at Ft Jackson Army hospital in April, 1967. Sent to Viet Nam in July 1967. Worked there as a radio operator. survived Tet offensive of February 1968. Had a great R & R with Jan in Hawaii in March of 1968.
Left the military in July 1968 honorably discharged.
Drove truck for Bristol Corporation from August 1968 to September 1978. Started a canoe livery, Fluid Fun, in 1973 and raced canoes with my wife for about five years. Sold Fluid Fun to Terry Streib in 1978. Became shipping foreman for pipe division of Bristol Corp. from September 1978 to October 1983.
Moved to Gaylord, MI, started commissioned agency and freight brokerage there. In 1989 a downturn in business required one of us to get a job. I became a Paramedic for Otsego County EMS, retiring from there in December 2011. Jan continued to operate the business which began to prosper in the mid 90s. We owned the business until July, 2018, when our full time dispatcher, John Peters, took it over and still operates it.
Celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in March, 2016. Had a celebration of that anniversary at Hermance Park in Bristol on May 28, 2016. It was a blast.
We have 14 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren. (Number updated in 2021.)
I basically quit playing my cello after I graduated from high school. I kept the cello, but it sat untouched for years. In about 2010 someone asked why I didn't play any more. So I started playing again. It was tough to get the skills back, but I worked at it. Then I met someone who was willing to take me on as a student. He's much younger than any of my children, but he is a math teacher in the Gaylord schools, and is a serious cellist. We met in the community orchestra. He has brought me a long way back near the skill level I had in 1959. To me, that is amazing a pleasant. I've been able to play special music for church several times, and performed at least twice in small public venues. And, of course, I get to play in the Gaylord Community Orchestra.
