Halfway through my junior year at William Penn, my
parents bought a house east of Harrisburg and I was forced to transfer to
Central Dauphin East. William Penn, however, remained my true alma
mater.
Following graduation, I completed a one-year
course in data processing and computer programming at Thompson Institute.
A few weeks later, I received a draft notice in the mail so I enlisted in the
U.S. Air Force. I spent most of my four-year enlistment at a
computerized radar station in Port Austin, Michigan. In 1970, I moved to
southeastern Arizona, where I began a career with the U.S. Postal Service.
I am now retired and work part-time as a computer technician at a local
charter school. I am also a volunteer docent at Discovery Park (http://www.discoverypark.com),
a science and education center here in Safford. My duties at the
park include tour guide, operating a 20-inch telescope (that was once on Kitt
Peak), operating a space flight simulator ride and a narrow gauge train
engineer. Discovery Park is also the official visitors' center for the
Mount Graham International Observatory. The observatory, (which made
national news in July, 2004 when it was almost destroyed by a forest fire)
will soon be the site of the world's largest telescope. The Large
Binocular Telescope (LBT) will be completed by the end of 2005.
I have a daughter, 29, now living in Germany with
my son-in-law, who is in the Army, and my 8-year-old grandson. I also
have twin sons, 20, who are currently attending Eastern Arizona College.