I graduated from Geneva College (1966) in Beaver Falls, PA and met my wife there, who was a fellow biology major. Upon graduation, Vicki began work at Parke Davis Pharmaceutical (Ann Arbor, Michigan) in research while I worked on my masters in audiology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. The trips to Ann Arbor in a Volkswagen were always eventful, with the “pedal to the metal” up and down hills on the freeway rarely ever exceeding the speed limit. Those trips were no more eventful than our trip to Seattle, Washington in our little “bug” after we got married in 1968. We lived in Seattle several years while I worked on my Ph.D. in audiolgy at the University of Washington (U of W) and Vicki worked in trachoma research at the University hospitals. We loved Seattle and hiked weekends in the Cascades, took trips to Mt. Rainier, ferry rides around Puget Sound and thoroughly enjoyed the northwest environment. Many car trips were made across the US while our parents were alive and those trips back to Pittsburgh remain some of our most memorable travels when our two boys were young. National parks and the beauty of this country are truly amazing. We tried to take both northern and southern routes to vary the scenery and experiences while the boys were young.
We weaned ourselves from Seattle after I completed my doctorate when I took a job on a grant at Portland State University (PSU). The U of W is “publish and perish” and not being too fond of perishing I chose my true love of teaching and working with graduate students. Our first son, Owen, was born in Portland, Oregon (1973). It’s interesting that he returned to the state to attend the University of Oregon and married a “native” and now lives but a few miles from where we lived in the early 70’s (Beaverton, Oregon). My primary job while on a grant at PSU was research on hearing problems of the elderly and providing hearing services to senior citizens – how apropos. We moved to California in 1974 where I have remained ever since at California State University, Sacramento. Our youngest son, Sean, was born in Sacramento (1978). I’ve thoroughly enjoyed teaching, supervision and administration during my 35 years; working on national and statewide committees and most recently working on a grant for our national association on research and research ethics. I completed my early retirement but still teach one course a year and provide some supervision of graduate students in our speech and hearing clinic and community each semester. Vicki worked with various engineering firms as an environmental chemist, which prepared her for her county government work as an environmental health specialist where she is still employed. We visit our son and daughter-in-law in Beaverton, Oregon and our two granddaughters whenever possible. We are finally enjoying our youngest son once again, whom we hadn’t seen in over 2 and ½ years while he was in the Peace Corps in Madagascar (a former French colony). Subsequent to those three years he traveled across Africa and the Middle East on land for the next year on his way “home” – where we met him in Paris the spring of 2010 on our first trip to Europe.
We’re really looking forward to Vicki’s 50th class reunion in the summer of 2012 and Edgewood High School’s 50th in the fall.
We weaned ourselves from Seattle after I completed my doctorate when I took a job on a grant at Portland State University (PSU). The U of W is “publish and perish” and not being too fond of perishing I chose my true love of teaching and working with graduate students. Our first son, Owen, was born in Portland, Oregon (1973). It’s interesting that he returned to the state to attend the University of Oregon and married a “native” and now lives but a few miles from where we lived in the early 70’s (Beaverton, Oregon). My primary job while on a grant at PSU was research on hearing problems of the elderly and providing hearing services to senior citizens – how apropos. We moved to California in 1974 where I have remained ever since at California State University, Sacramento. Our youngest son, Sean, was born in Sacramento (1978). I’ve thoroughly enjoyed teaching, supervision and administration during my 35 years; working on national and statewide committees and most recently working on a grant for our national association on research and research ethics. I completed my early retirement but still teach one course a year and provide some supervision of graduate students in our speech and hearing clinic and community each semester. Vicki worked with various engineering firms as an environmental chemist, which prepared her for her county government work as an environmental health specialist where she is still employed. We visit our son and daughter-in-law in Beaverton, Oregon and our two granddaughters whenever possible. We are finally enjoying our youngest son once again, whom we hadn’t seen in over 2 and ½ years while he was in the Peace Corps in Madagascar (a former French colony). Subsequent to those three years he traveled across Africa and the Middle East on land for the next year on his way “home” – where we met him in Paris the spring of 2010 on our first trip to Europe.
We’re really looking forward to Vicki’s 50th class reunion in the summer of 2012 and Edgewood High School’s 50th in the fall.
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