Mike Williams:  

Being somewhat brief... September 1970..On their way moving to Portland, my parents dropped me off at Sea-Tac to catch a plane to Navy boot camp, San Diego. I had signed up before graduation. "Last one out, turn off the lights". While in the Navy, I got my private and commercial pilots license. GI Bill payed for 90% of cost. April '73...War over, got my early out. Started college in Portland, met Nancy, got married and started family. We were blessed with two great kids. I'm proud of them both. In '76 Chris was born and in '77, Jennifer (Nicki) arrived. Chris now lives in Dallas, TX and Nicki in Dallas, OR. Nicki and her husband Brian gave us 4 grandkids, 2 boys and 2 girls. We lived in Portland for 8 years or so and with a 1 year layover in Seattle, headed to North Idaho, bought some rough property, built a home and I finished my electrical apprenticeship. Well, the economy tanked and we lost everything. So, we borrowed some money, moved to Springfield, OR and started over. We bought a 26 acre old dairy and raised the family there. A great 4-H type of environment for the kids...big barns, horses, pigs, chickens, turkeys, pheasants and sheep. I had joined the Fire Dept. and became a Lt., Instructor and EMT Sept. 1998...With the kids graduated and moved out, we sold the farm (no one left to do the chores) and bought a nice older home in Redmond...Expand for more