After graduation, I helped my dad build our new home while looking for a job. With the help of ‘59 graduate John Schenk, I was hired as an expeditor for Lease Construction Co. which was building East High, the Alaska Psychiatric Hospital, and the new Woolworths Store on Fourth Avenue. That job lasted just three months, when termination dust set in.
In November, 1960 I got a job as counter man and parts delivery driver with Spenard Auto Supply, owned by Danny Farr. I quit and was fired almost simultaneously after about five months. We just didn’t like each other.
In June, ’61 I got an electrician apprenticeship with the Alaska Railroad. I married Judy Ellis of the class of ’61 on May 1, 1962. We had two children, Timothy in October, ’63, and Tiffany in July, ’67. I joined the Alaska Air National Guard in the spring of ’63, attending basic training and tech school in Texas that summer. Sadly, Judy passed away on January 23, 1969 of cardiac arrhythmia due to acute asthma.
I met my present wife, Nan, at church in September, 1975. We dated a couple of times, then she started coming to help build our home that I had started in 1973. We were married on January 24, 1976.
I had earned my electrician journeyman certificate in the summer of ’65, was promoted to Foreman in April of ’67, and to Electrical Supervisor in November, ’72. I was promoted to Master Mechanic for the Railroad in June of 1980. I finished my final seven years as Electrical Supervisor, retiring on October 30, 1992.
In early ’93 I started consulting for small railroads in the western part of the US with a friend that lived in Arizona. We repaired and modified locomotives for mines, switching railroads and power plants.
In March of ‘93 I moved to Northern California to work as Chief Mechanical Officer for the North Coast Railroad. On this railroad the title was a fancy name for the guy who did almost all of the locomotive and car maintenance and repair work, and also worked as conductor or locomotive engineer when we were short handed. It was fun sometimes and usually very hard work in very hot conditions.
In December of ’93, my wife Nan accepted a position as Accounting Manager for a Navy BOS contractor on Midway Island. Her contract was for one year on island, and I would be allowed to spend two weeks with her after six months. But with help from Nan, I hired on with OHM Remediation Company who needed a mechanic that would stay on the island for a long period of time. Almost all of the employees of this company stayed on the island for nine weeks on and two weeks off. This rotation caused a lot of problems getting mechanics to go to Midway, much less stay any longer than absolutely necessary. They were glad to get me! It was great for my wife and I. We spent over three years there, taking three to four week vacations each year. We really appreciated the history of the island especially the WW2 part of it.
In September of ’95 we moved to Guam, as the job was finished on Midway. I worked a lot of hours on both Midway and Guam and between my wife and I, we were able to pay off all of our debt. What a wonderful feeling!
We enjoyed visiting the three islands north of Guam: Rota, Tinian & Saipan. I had joined an Aero club on Guam and would fly around the islands frequently. We saw the four runways that the B-29 bombers used on Tinian, the pit where the atom bombs were loaded, the original Japanese installation, and the cliff’s from which so many of the people of Saipan jumped to their death. Pretty sobering.
I decided to leave the job on Guam, but before I was finished, the company sent me to Wake Island for about four weeks to demobilize the equipment used on a job there. The history on that island is powerful and I am sure glad that I was able to visit there.
From Guam we traveled to Cairns, Australia. We rented a small four-wheel drive camper and spent two weeks traveling through the outback. Rode the trains all over the country. We have returned to Australia twice, buying a car and driving all around and working as volunteers in Alice Springs on the “Old Ghan” narrow gauge railroad museum.
During our time overseas we managed to buy some land in the Ozarks in northern Arkansas. It’s right on top of the highest ridge in the County, with a beautiful 20 X 24 log cabin. We try to spend at least two months a year there.
We are more or less totally retired now. Looking forward to seeing you all this summer.