Craig,
Great Job on the reunion site.
Attached is a brief bio of the last 50 (no, it can’t be…) years, and also 2 recent pictures to go along with it. I won’t know till the last minute if I’ll be able to make it to the reunion, but I’ll give it my best shot.
Many thanks for all the work you’ve put into this.
So much has happened in my life since May of 1960 that I hardly know where to start. Most of my close friends know these stories; however, I’ll add the highlights here for those who don’t know me well.
After graduation I attended Seattle University, and shortly thereafter married Patricia Shore (also part of our graduating class of 1960) We both had played cello under Mr. Madden in the school orchestra, and later our union gave us 2 sons, David, now 47, and Duane, 45.
Though Pat and I remain friends, our marriage didn’t last; I’m re-married, and will celebrate my 30th anniversary this year. Robin and I have one son Ben, who is now 20, and attends Oregon Institute of Technology.
Early in my career I joined IBM, and in 1964 returned to Anchorage; as is the case for so many of us, that was a tumultuous year. My mother ran a family business and was about to open a restaurant on 4th Avenue, right across the street from the Captain Cook Hotel. That spring, in a very few minutes, the building and business disappeared,
For the next several years, I continued with IBM, and then later taught at the U of A / ACC. Along the way I managed to obtain a Coast Guard Charter Captain’s, and a State of Alaska Guide’s license. I ran a cleanup vessel after the oil spill and later a charter boat in SE Alaska.
By the summer of 1982, Robin and I were married and expecting our first son; we moved from Anchorage to Oregon to be closer to her family. I started a consulting business which has had its ups and downs for nearly 30 years, and now keeps me on the road many more days each year than I spend at home.
To me, the word “Home” has many different meanings. If home is where your heart is, than Alaska remains my home; however, from a residence point of view, home is Lake Oswego, a small community just outside Portland, Oregon. My “work home” is in Houston, Texas, where I consult to an oil field services company. I develop and conduct business related training sessions across the US and around the World (China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, UK, Canada, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, and others I’ve forgotten). This was initially a 3 month contract, which has now lasted more than 7 years, and I’m hopeful it will continue, at least till Ben is through college.
Robin and I return to Alaska nearly every summer; lately it’s been Southeast, where I expect we’ll eventually retire. The most likely spot is Ketchikan, but the smaller communities of Petersburg and Wrangell are possibilities as well. I don’t know if we’ll once again become permanent residents, or snowbirds, and I expect health will play a big part in that decision.
So there you have it; the highlights of 50 years boiled down to less than 500 words.
Dan Riker