Dick Erickson:
CLASS OF 1963
Willow Glen High SchoolClass of 1963
San jose, CA
Gridley High SchoolClass of 2005
Gridley, CA
William H. Taft High SchoolClass of 1964
Woodland hills, CA
Dick's Story
Life
Hi! I've been living and teaching 8th grade in a small, rural town in northern California for 35 years. My wife and I celebrate our 36th anniversary this year. My son graduated from Santa Clara and now teaches with me . . in the same school. My older daughter graduated from California University at Chico, is married and is teaching 1st grade in San Francisco. My baby is married and living in Long Beach. I have one granddaughter . . three years old and a 5 month old grandson.
I have had very little contact with high school friends. I miss that connection to my past.
Workplace
I started teaching at Sycamore Middle School in 1968. I have taught every possible class at our school including girls PE and Special Ed. For the last 25 years I have taught 8th grade . . the crazy guys, and they are wonderful!
I have two core classes, reading, language, and US history. One meets for three periods in the morning and the other for three in the afternoon. I have taught and coached for 35 years and am now retiring.
I was asked a couple times to go into administration, and I was asked by friends why I had not "advanced into administration." I never looked at that as an advance. Anything that would take you away from the kids and give you more paper work sure never seemed like an advancement.
Life has been wonderful, and teaching has given me a chance to make a difference. I cannot imagine having spent my working life any other way.
--
It is a bit more than ten years later that above, Friday, December 19, 2014. That 3 year old granddaughter is now 14 and a high school superstar freshman. Her brother is no 12 and in the 6th grade . . a tremendous athlete. THEN . . I have 3 more grandson. David is 3, Jeffrey is 5, and my daughter and her husband's oldest, Ryan is 7. I am so blessed. Those three little guys are on their way to being great athletes and students themselves.
My wife, Lynn, and I have been retired . . I lost track. I think it has been 12 years? We have a place in the mountains. When we retired, we spent 2 years building a 1200 foot addition so that we can go up there and have all three of my children and the five of their children and have a good time. I'll be 70 in May and cannot believe that number. Life has been so good to me, God has been so good to me and my family, I sit here 51 years after graduation wondering where all those days . . over 18,000 of them . . went. I have best wishes and the hope that anyone who is reading this has had as good a life as I have so far.
Ron Brooks is someone I was occasionally in touch with; I miss him.
That small, northern town I have lived in is Gridley . . about an hour north of Sacramento. I'm in the country where I can pretty much make all the noise I want.
At the age of almost 70, I wonder what the next year, 5 years, 10 years will bring.
One short story. I wa...Expand for more
s sitting with my dad watching TV like the rest of the world when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon. I questioned my dad about his transportation, and he remembered riding to church in a horse and buggy rig. Dad went from that to the proliferation of the automobile, the airplane, the radio, and television. We both were amazed at the changes during his lifetime. I wondered with him what the changes in technology would bring when I was as old as he. Do you remember the Sunday comics and Dick Tracy with the two-way wrist radio. In our wildest dreams and greatest creativity and then throwing in some fantasy, we could not have dreamed up the Smart Phone and the other technology we have today.
My best wishes to you.
I feel it necessary . . R . . to try and annoy U class G mates S . . just a little rebel in 63 me. If at you catch this, class earth mates, link . . I apologize dot but your restricting me, net just made me want to try.
I have no idea about the paragraph above. I did not write it and have no idea who might have.
My last entry was over 20 years ago. That baby girl I'm holding in the only picture I ever posted graduates from college Saturday.. She was valedictorian at Sycamore Middle School - 8th grade, she was valedictorian at Gridley High School, and she is the valedictorian at St Katherine's University.. She's also a high school and college athlete.
She is the first grandchild, through.
My four grandsons are also great students and great athletes. One recent favorite story is about one of those boys. Last week in seniors, he struck out three times in a row. He came up with the bases loaded in the last inning down by 2. After three strike outs, he hit the ball over the centerfielder's head to clear the basses and drive in the winning runs.
My older grandson had his senior year of basketball shredded by the China Virus, He did have a great baseball season and is pitching in college.
A freshman playing JV basketball was labeled "The Beast' for his rebounding and presence under that basket. My youngest is having a great year in Little League. Last year in the school track meet, he won the 75 yard dash by 20 feet. He got the button about even anchoring the relay and crossing the line so far ahead of second placed, it's hard ti estimate.
My wife and I retired after 35 years of teaching, and we retired 20 years ago. We will celebrate 55 years of marriage in July. I cannot convince her we should do something special.
Life continues to be better than I deserve. Thank You, again, God. I tried to leave Gridley twice and He slapped me down . . . Thank You again.
My life, my wife's life, my children's lives, and my grandchildren's lives have been blessed beyond any fantasy my wife and I had when we got married.
I hope that whoever you are that has read this far that your life has gone even better.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!
Photos
