Jeff Canterbury:  

Life I joined the U.S. Army Reserve during my senior year in High School. After I left High School, I attended Beckley College for one year. I really didn’t have my heart in school at the time and didn’t have the money to continue, so I dropped out. I worked a few small jobs but mainly bummed around for the next couple of years while living most of the time with my brother John. In February 1983, I moved to Des Plaines, IL to look for work while staying with my sister Lois and her husband George. I got a part-time job right away with Jewel Foods. I became the store’s utility player by volunteering for jobs no else wanted and always filling in when people called in sick. So, the part-time job quickly turned into full-time. I also continued serving in the Army Reserve by transferring to a unit in Chicago. My brother-in-law George received kidney dialysis treatment. I used to take him for his treatments, so I got to know most of the patients at the center. A lot of them were limited on the amount of physical activity they could perform. I learned that most of them still owned homes with big yards and had to have someone else do the work for them. So, in the summer of 1983, I started a landscaping service to assist the dialysis patients at a cheaper price. In January 1984, I started doing short Active Duty tours with the Reserve and continued to work at Jewel in the evenings after my Army duty. I continued this until August 1984, when I decided to give up the Jewel job and devote more time to the landscaping business while working for the Army. In late fall 1984, I was promised the possibility of full-time Active Duty employment with the Army Reserve in a young program called the Active Guard Reserve (AGR) Program. So, I applied for AGR duty and was assigned to a unit in Glenview, IL on February 1, 1985. After going on Active Duty permanently, I couldn’t spend as much time with the landscaping business. I hired one worker in 1985 and another in 1986. I sold the business in August 1986, when the Army moved me to Sacramento, CA. I met my wife Trina in June 1986. Trina was a second year special education teacher in Mundelein, IL. I only knew her two months before I moved to CA. So this began our long distance relationship. After about six month of this long distance stuff, I finally asked Trina to marry me. She said yes, and we were married on June 17, 1987. Four days later, we had her stuff packed up and were traveling west with her cat Crunchers in a U-Haul. We moved from CA to St. Louis, MO in the March 1988 and then to Apple Valley, MN in October, 1993. I’ve traveled to several other places (Panama, Germany, Bosnia, Hungary & Kuwait) because of the Army and left her at home to maintain the farm. Trina has continued as a Special Educator for the last 18 years. She just got hired last month as the Special Education Coordinator for the Lakeville MN school district and started July 1. Trina and I have no children, just weird animals. The dog: Abe (Abraham) is 4. The cats: Zelda 16 1/2, Clarissa 13, & Frieda 13. Oh, and I can't forget my other kids who have passed on: My dogs Gretchen & Madge (Named after my mother-in-law) and the cats, Crunchers "the King", and Smokey "Smoke Man". I just ended my employment with the Army on July 12, 2005. I go on the retired roles as of October 1, 2005 (I’m using my vacation time until then). I never thought I would stay in 25+ years! For those of you who know military rank, I'm retiring as a Master Sergeant (E-8). I had hoped to get promoted one more to the rank of Sergeant Major. But I just couldn’t stick around any longer. Time to move on to new adventures! I’m still not sure what I want to do when I grow up! Right now I’m going to visit family and friends that I’ve ignored for the last 25 years, and paint my house. Then look for a job while continuing to buy and sell antiq...Expand for more