Forrest Anderson:
CLASS OF 1963
Des Moines Technical High SchoolClass of 1963
Des moines, IA
Forrest's Story
Forrest from '63 to '09
Somehow I managed not to get kicked out of Mr. Rutz's sheet metal class and graduated from DMTech in '63. After a brief and unsuccessful stab at Iowa State I landed a technician's job with Iowa Power & Light.
However, at that time our Government was actively hunting warm bodies, preferably single and not in school. So I was fresh meat! Since green uniforms and speeding bullets clash with my blue eyes, I joined the Navy instead. After schools in San Diego and San Francisco I spent two years in keeping the commies from invading Winter Harbor, Maine. (You need a very detailed map to find it.) And then my next orders were to Viet Nam; my blue uniform not withstanding.
While in Maine I made some very good friends in Connecticut, (Keep in mind that the whole six states that make up New England could fit within the borders of Iowa.) thus upon discharge I moved there. Connecticut I found to be a very beautiful state, with hills and valleys, winding roads, rock walls and a lot of history. As fate would have it, Connecticut Light & Power at the time was looking for a few good men and they took me anyway. I lucked in to a career that had me driving from one corner of the state to the other (CT is only 60 miles high by 120 miles long.), in a Company car, on Company time to perform technical work in electrical stations throughout the state. Outstanding!!! I did startup engineering, troubleshooting and sightseeing for them until I retired last June. (Retire heck! They called and gave me a three-month contract for more of the same.)
Fortunately about a year after moving to Connecticut I was hospitalized. A medical technologist, who drew my blood, thought I had a funny name. (Anderson ...Expand for more
is Swedish for 'wood cutter's son'. Think about it.) She didn't think it was so funny that I did not call her right away after leaving the hospital. But she must have forgiven me, as we have been married since 1972. (I think that's the only time she has forgiven me of anything.)
Our daughter (BS in biology) is a Registered Nurse and lead nurse in the intensive care unit at Florida Hospital in Orlando. She has blessed us with two grandsons. Her husband is struggling with the economy as he is in real estate. Meanwhile, our son (BM in Jazz) is the U.S. custom drum builder for Yamaha and resides in LA. LA nightlife allows ample opportunity for him to perform as much as he wants. You can imagine our vacations, Connecticut to LA, to Orlando and back!
Over the years our interests have varied. I raced solo2 for quite a few years and we also restored a corvette for shows. We did OK in both endeavors and had quite a lot of fun and made many friends. Later the corvettes were sold to pay tuitions and we then got into motorcycling. Other than riding N.E.'s twisty roads, I became a field rep for the American Motorcyclist Association and a Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructor and teach part time here in Connecticut. NRA (We have a small shooting range set up in our back yard.), American Legion and VFW member plus the Masonic Lodge are on my totem. Somewhere along the way, I received a BS by attending night school. Presently we do volunteer work for our town's Land Conservancy.
Sometimes now we sit in our little house and consider moving closer to our kids. After we tire ourselves out pondering, Florida or California, California or Florida, we make ourselves another cup of tea and say: "Let's take a drive!"
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