I had never been to Iowa, until I headed there for football practice in August 1970.  My cousin, Larry Embling (1968) picked me up at the airport and drove me to Pella.  All I could see was tall corn lining each side Highway 163, which was still just a two lane road with curbs on each side.  I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and was full of anticipation as I looked forward to new experiences at college.

I managed to survive my first real winter, and then in the spring of 1971, along with 11 other men, pledged Phi Delta Tau.  All 12 of us made it through pledging and thus began a great experience as actives in this special brotherhood.

Life after Central College

When I was a junior and senior at Central, I had a business internship opportunity at the Iowa-Des Moines National Bank.  I really enjoyed my experience there, and when they offered me a position at graduation, I happily accepted.  The bank was affiliated with Northwest Bancorporation, which became Norwest, and then in 1998 merged with and took the name of Wells Fargo and Company.  My first job was as a personal banker, but I worked through many training roles in my early years at the company, and in 1984, was named President of our bank in Cedar Falls, Iowa.  In 1989, I was named President of Mid-America Bancorp in St. Paul, Minnesota, and then in 1991, was hired back by Norwest/Wells Fargo to serve as President of a recently acquired bank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Eventually, I was named Regional President with responsibility for our banking operations in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan.  In 2008, I retired from Wells Fargo after 34 years of service.

I quickly un-retired, and accepted a position as Executive Vice President of First Niagara Bancorp headquartered in Buffalo, N.Y.  I was given responsibility for all community banking functions and served as one of five members of the executive management team.  While the banking sector was reeling at that time from the “great recession” we had a strong balance sheet and were in a position to grow rapidly through strategic acquisitions.  The bank grew from $9 billion in assets to $33 billion in assets and was eventually sold to Key Corp.  My second retirement began in 2012.

Family

On the personal side of things, I got married the weekend after my graduation in 1974.  I was blessed with twin daughters, Sarah and Emily in 1981, and with a third daughter, Elizabeth in 1986.  All three of the girls are married and continue to live in Milwaukee.  I am lucky to now have three grandsons and one granddaughter. 

In 2006, single again, I reconnected with an old friend from Phoenix who I first met in 4^th grade, and who had been a classmate of mine from that point on all through high school.  Susan and I had only a handful of “dates” in high school, but our friendship had always endured.  We saw each other at our 10 year high school reunion, but had lost contact after that.

When we reconnected, she was living in Pennsylvania and I was still in Milwaukee.  She had also recently become single again, and so we renewed our friendship by phone and by meeting for the occasional “destination dates.” 

My move to Buffalo in 2008 put us a little closer together, and in 2009, we were married by Rev. Charlie Morris (1970) in his church in Pt. Washington, N.Y.  Susan has three sons, Aaron, who lives in New Jersey, and Andy and Randy, who live in Pennsylvania.  She has three granddaughters.

In 2012, we decided to make Bonita Springs, Florida our home base.  We live in a very active community and both enjoy golfing, tennis, boating and beach time as well as trips north to visit family.  We also each still have family in Arizona, and head that way for visits as well.

Memories of Central and Phi Delta Tau

I really enjoyed my Central College experience.  Being a part of Ron Schipper’ s football program was a highlight as was having some great classroom experiences led by professors like Doc Butler, Rich Glendening, Bob Maurer, Bette Brunsting, Bob Wegter, George Lauber, Georgeann Huck, Gene Heidemann, and on and on.  I was treasurer for Student Government, and during my junior and senior year also served as a student Trustee on the College’s Board.

As a freshman, one of my student jobs was to serve as a maintenance man for the President’s house.  I got to know Ken and Shirley Weller quite well over the course of that first year and still count them as dear friends today.  In 1987, Ken invited me to join the Board of Trustees of the College.  I still serve on the Board today, and was fortunate enough to serve as the Board Chair from 2011 to 2018.  I have been truly blessed to be able to keep Central College as an important part of my life for all of these years.

Pledging Phi Delta Tau will always be a special memory.  Learning about the history of the fraternity and hearing the stories about actives who had gone before was a lot of fun.  Bonding with 11 great pledge brothers was a powerful experience and I still feel a lot of pride in how we came together as a group.

As actives we all enjoyed all the PDT had to offer.  The house was a special place to hang out, and while we were there, we were able to participate in an expansion and updating of the house, including a great chapter room in the added basement space (thank-you Charlie Laug!).  Memories include the Bowl, Mama Laqua dinners;  Homecoming decoration competitions;  trips to Indian Rocks Beach, Florida to see Bob and Mary Gaunt;   giving blood to help pay for trips to Florida;  road trips for dinners at Bob and Frankie’s in Mitchellville;  Eight guys in Rich Steinstra’s Volkswagen beetle heading to a 2 am breakfast at the Osky Lunch;  knocking at the back door of Jaarsma’s Bakery at 2 in the morning after the Grill

closed to buy fresh doughnuts right out of the oven to eat on the walk back to the house; and I can’t leave out ordering Dubit’s Grinders and pizzas for delivered for those nights when there was time to gather in the TV room.

I am grateful to my cousin Larry for helping me to find my way to Central College and Phi Delta Tau.  Those years had a big impact on me, and created strong friendships that continue to endure.