I was born in Havre, Montana; a town about the size of Firebaugh. My family is from Turner which is 75 miles away, next to the Canadian border. I spent my summers in Montana when I was growing up working on my Grandfather’s farm and cattle ranch.
My father was a Truck mechanic and eventually became a Fleet Manager. Although he never graduated from High School, he learned to use computers and AutoCAD and set up a custom truck manufacturing facility. He is the smartest Mechanical Engineer I know who never graduated from High School. My mother was a housewife when we were young. As my sister and I grew up she went to work as a secretary at a bank and eventually became a Sheriff Deputy for Los Angeles County.
I grew up in Monterey Park, about 6 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles. After graduating from Schurr High School I went to USC and earned a degree in Engineering. I was able to attend USC because I received California State Scholarships and federal grants, and I worked while going to school. When I graduated from USC I had about $5,000 in student loans.
My first job was working at a Pizza Hut restaurant when I was 15. The manager quit about 3 weeks after I was hired and the regional manager taught me how to do the books, make the deposits at the bank, do all the prep work and close down the store at night. At 15 I was the night manager of a Pizza Hut restaurant.
My second job was a bag boy at Market Basket. Way less responsibility than Pizza Hut, and more money because it was a union job. I stayed there until I graduated from High School.
During College I worked at a Disk Drive plant that made huge drives the size of two stereo receivers with a capacity of 10 Mbytes. I also worked at a Power Supply company and was a R&D technician at a defense contractor. I went to work for Hewlett-Packard when I was a Junior in college and stayed with them after I graduated with my Engineering degree.
I moved to Hawaii in the 80’s and lived there for nine years. I learned to fly while I lived in Hawaii and eventually earned an ATP with a type rating in Boeing 737s. When Hurricane Iniki struck Kauai in 1992 I was managing an aircraft for a corporate client. I convinced my client to donate the use of his plane and I donated my flying expertise and I flew supplies and personnel for the Salvation Army for about 3 weeks straight. During this time I flew Steven Spielberg and some of the cast members from Jurassic Park off of Kauai where they were filming when Iniki struck.
I returned to USC and earned my MBA in 1996. I worked for KPMG and Racal Instruments before returning to Aviation and becoming the Assistant Chief Pilot for Atlantic Coast Airlines at New York’s La Guardia airport.
I met a wonderful schoolteacher from Caruthers in 2007, and have made my home here ever since.
I have run 6 marathons, completed the Ironman Triathlon and rode a bicycle from Vancouver, BC to Tijuana, BC all the way along the Pacific Coast. I covered 2004 miles in 21 days, on a bike that weighed 75 pounds with all my gear. I later would learn that was about the same length and time as the Tour de France.
I grew up in the Lutheran Church, was a Deacon at the Central Union Church in Honolulu, and am now a member of the Caruthers Methodist Church. I enjoy cooking and have prepared food for the Community Café many times.
I want to put my talent and energy to work for the people of the State Center Community College District.
