Ronald Norton:
CLASS OF 1954
South Gate High SchoolClass of 1954
South gate, CA
Grand View Elementary SchoolClass of 1977
Manhattan beach, CA
Pacific Elementary SchoolClass of 1973
Manhattan beach, CA
South Gate Junior High SchoolClass of 1951
South gate, CA
Stanford Elementary SchoolClass of 1948
South gate, CA
Ronald's Story
Life
After graduating from South Gate High School in 1954 I spent the rest of the 50s enjoying life and youth. I made a half hearted attempt at college at Compton J. C. , but found chess in the student union more interesting than class work. In 1968 I returned to college, thanks to the GI bill, a lot more serious and graduated from Cal. State College Dominguez Hills, with degrees in Psychology, and Behavioral Sciences, along with my wife Donna with degrees in English Literature, and Twentieth Century Thought and Expression. I met Donna (Swanson) in Avalon in 1960 and we married in 63. She graduated from Westchester High School in 62.
From the fall of 72 until the spring of 77, I taught fourth and fifth grades for Manhattan Beach City Schools. My first year at Pacific and then 4 years at Grand View. I know many of the 160, 9 and 10 year olds that I shared a year with are now teachers themselves. I wish them the best, in the toughest, most challenging and rewarding profession there is.
For the past 35 years I've had a home in rural Sonoma County, Calif. After teaching in Manhattan Beach, we left the city to raise our children in the country. We arrived on eight acres of bare dirt on July 5, 1977, with a 2 and 4 year old and 2 cats, but no house. It took a year to draw up house plans, get electricity brought in, a well drilled, a septic system in place and building plans approved. By Sept. of 78 we had enough of a house built to move out of the 10' camper donated by my father. While it is still a work in progress, a home-made house is much more than just a home. The redwood and pine seedling we planted in the "bare dirt" that first year are now 120 feet tall, and the 2 story 2600 sq/ft house is nestled in the woods.
In 1992 my wife's work as a claims adjuster for State Farm Insurance took us to Hawaii for a year or two. We lived in Kailua, Oahu just a short bike ride from one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. We returned to No. Calif. in 1998 to salvage what was left of our house after 5 years of renters.
My wife Donna and I just observed our...Expand for more
48th wedding anniversary. Our 38 year old son, Banyon is a graduate of Cal. State Santa Cruz with a degree in History. He lives in Oakland, and does graphic designs for a desk top publisher. He's currently working on an historic novel and a web based Congressional Committee Project. Our 36 year old daughter, Tysen is a graduate of the University of Hawaii, Manoa with degrees in Political Science and Art, and the Spanish Language Institute, Quito, Ecuador. She is currently on active duty in Afghanistan serving with the US army medical services corp.
Donna and I don't have paying jobs anymore, but we work on political projects and travel.
In 1958, four of us took off for Panama, Ray Carson, Bob Kimball, Bill Parsons and me. We ran out of road at the Guatemala border, but I got hooked on exploring other countries and cultures. Then in 1960 I got drafted and ended up with NATO forces in France for a year and a half. On leaves I got as far east as Turkey and spent a month camped on the Cote d'Azure with 2 French buddies. In 2004 I made my 5th trip to Europe and we spent 2 month working our way from St. Petersburg, Russia down through eastern Europe south to Dubrovnik, Croatia. We (another couple we've known for 45 years, my wife and I,) toured China and saw all the major points of interest in 2002. We finally did a 2 month tour of the US in 2005. 10,000 miles in a motor home, through 30 states. Got to see New Orleans 4 months before Katrina trashed it.
May 2008, just got back from a great trip to Thailand, with little side trips to Myanmar and Laos. Wonderful people, and fabulous things to see and do, like exploring Bangkok by tuk-tuk, canals and rivers by long-tail boats and jungles by elephants.
February 2011, was spent in Morocco. Toured Rabat, Fez, Casablanca, Marakesh, and several cities in the Atlas mountains. Spent a few days camped in the Sahara and visited nomads, schools, students, families and mosques, Took a ride on a camel and ate lots of wonderful food.
"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." ---St. Augustine
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