What Fills my Hours; – Golf, tennis, travel, trying to teach all 3 of my grandsons to switch hit, working around the house and believe it or not, reading.
Family/Children – Wife, Debbie Shepherd (sold technology to Wall Street and Fortune 100 pharmaceutical companies, married 26 years) Daughter Tracy and her husband, Mark (own a structural steel company) and have 2 sons. Son Eric is married to Samantha. Eric is a Claim Rep for State Farm. Sam is a Senior Principle with Mercer and they have one son. Both families reside at the shore in New Jersey.
After Central; – spent 1st 6 months after graduation with Proctor and Gamble in their marketing department introducing Pampers to the Chicago hospital test market.
Drafted in the Army and spent 2 years working with experimental psychologists from George Washington University doing human factors research at Ft Rucker, AL.
Went to grad school at Seton Hall (MBA) then was an adjunct professor in the undergraduate school of business and then the grad school for 6 years, at Seton Hall in NJ.
One day, walked into State Farm Insurance in 1970 and retired 35 years later. Training director, then Agency Manager then an Agency Director.
After retirement at 58, we bought a second home in Naples, FL. When in NJ, we spend time with both families; boating, golfing and going to baseball games. I have volunteered at the Seeing Eye School in Morristown, NJ (first and oldest of It’s kind in the country). I worked with the Laborador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers and German Shepherd dogs as they raised their puppies.
My Phi Delt Memories; – Far too many to list but – Woodsies, Hunters, decorating the house for homecoming, all the parties at the house, Bob and Frankies, trying to talk my Pledge class into kidnaping Canfield and handcuffing him to a bed in an abandoned cabin for 2 days. (Can still remember Fairlamb and Knight saying it was inhumane). We adjusted our activities to one night taking all the chairs/desks out of the classrooms and putting them on the island. President Lubbers cancelled class that morning and we got away clean. I still think we should have kidnapped Canfield!! Going to Indian Rocks beach in ’66 and ’67 with McCabe, Gator, Embling, Danielson and Wolbrink and staying at Bob and Mary’s. Being Pledge Master twice and social Chairman for two years (certainly focused on the fraternity rather than academics).! But most of all, developing a bond and respect for so many men of very different backgrounds but joined together in a common goal and purpose. Living with Paul Ruter Gator, Knight Wells, Jack Farrell, Kent Adams, Jim Henderson, John Ackor just to name a few.
Would I do it all again? IN A HEARTBEAT! Wil see you at the reunion, I am chaperoning Gator to the affair