Spouse:

Kathleen Kilcullen. Kathleen is an attorney who works with disabled people. We met in Moses Lake in 1987. Both of us had been married before. Kathleen was raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania. When we met Kathleen thought I was a real dud. But I managed to convince her to go on a date. We spent the evening discovering we had much in common, specially our interest in the same books. So now we have been together for 25 years.

Family Life:

We have two children and four grandchildren. Firstborn Tim is now 34. He got off to a very rocky start in life (much like me) but has now completed two years of college at Western Washington in Bellingham and will probably get his degree in computer science. Our daughter Katie graduated from Gonzaga University and we are still hoping to see her go to law school. The grandkids are of course wonderful and we spend as much time as possible with them. Two girls, Danika and Romi both in grade school, and two boys, Gavyn and Nathan both in middle school. They have all been selected as student of the month, some more than once, an achievement that completely escaped me.

Education:

Kathleen attended Penn State University for two years, then Western Washington University for two years and then Gonzaga Law School for three years. My history is a bit different, I attended Washington State University for two years, then the University of Cologne in Germany for one semester, then University of Washington for one quarter, then Eastern Washington for two years. Kathleen became an attorney and I became an engineer. When we were in the 9th grade I was in Mr. Hollingsworth's home room. We were all required to choose a vocation, research it and give a speech. I chose electrical engineering, did some research but never finished it then refused to give the speech and received an F grade. 15 years later I managed to become an electrical engineer anyway. Go figure.

Military Service:

None.

Career:

I began working first as a surveyor. Worked several large construction projects. The work was not regular and required too much moving around so I took a 50% cut in pay to start work as a surveyor for Grant County P.U.D. in 1974. Got on permanent in 1976 as an engineer and stayed for 28 more years, retiring in 2004.

Residences:

I still live in Ephrata not far from the first house my family moved into in 1948 when I was 4 years old. Prior to getting married I lived in Cologne, Germany, for a year and later in Barcelona, Spain, for 9 months. I also lived in San Francisco for a time, then in Seattle for four years, then in Spokane for two years and finally returning to Ephrata in 1972.

Travels:

I've already mentioned some of the places I have lived. A friend and I spent several weeks in Mexico in 1974. We stayed in a small coastal village called San Blas. The town had received electricity only two years before our arrival. It was a beautiful and exotic place. Our hotel was right out of the movie Casablanca. My first wife and I vacationed in Europe for three weeks in 1984. We took the "romantic road" through southern Germany through several medieval towns right out of Grimm's Fairy Tales. Kathleen and I love to cruise. We have taken several Caribbean cruises, a Hawaii cruise, a European one and one in the Mediterranean. We loved all of it but Santorini Island in the Mediterranean is where we would return and stay for a long time if possible. Very romantic place. We also vacationed in New England for three weeks in October during the fall color season. Great for photography.

Hobbies/Interests:

My primary interest/hobby is photography. I have a lab quality printer at home and spend much of my time on the computer working with photographs. I also love to read and listen to music, travel and be with the grandkids. My wife also is into all of these same things.

Retirement:

I get to sleep in. My wife is still working (until 2014 at the latest). I spend a lot more time thinking about politics.

EHS Influence:

I can only speak for myself but I found high school to be a bit of an anticlimax. For me the experience that has stayed with me and for which I will be eternally grateful was that incredible and magical period of time during Junior High, the 7th, 8th and 9th grades. So many firsts came during this time. The friendships, the puppy love, the sports, the school, the sock hops, the long warm summer nights and all of it with our own brand new rock and roll music playing in the background. I have never again had friends like I had then and I am most grateful to all of them. And of course there was Jill. She was so good to me, so patient and so gentle at our parting and understanding of my rather severe lack of maturity. Hey it was the 50s and I'll never forget it.

Final Word:

Just looking forward to seeing everyone at the 50th reunion. You know, this may be the last one for many of us so we should make it special