Dan Porter:
CLASS OF 1969
Lathrop High SchoolClass of 1969
Fairbanks, AK
Dan's Story
I graduated from Lathrop in class of 69. Went to Oregon State University right out of HS and received a degree in Nuclear Engineering. Met my wife, Cynthia, one year behind me at OSU, and married her in '72 at the start of my senior year. (Only knew each other 4 months when we got engaged, married after knowing each other only 10 months...so whirlwind romances can have happy endings for all you romantics out there. Broke out of my HS nerd shell at OSU and joined the rowing program, lettered 3 years, gained a lot of weight...hmmm.
Upon graduation from OSU, took a job with Bechtel Power Corportation in San Francisco, living initially in Larkspur, Marin County and then buying our first house in Pleasant Hill (East Bay). I was a nuclear systems design engineer on both Peach Bottom and Limerick nuclear plants, both in Pennsylvania. After four years there we found ourselves with a new baby (Kevin, now 36, still single, mechanical engineer living in Kirkland, WA) and a loooonnng commute. So we moved to Richland WA in '77 (still here) and went to work for Washington Public Power Supply System, now Energy Northwest.
Initially at Energy Northwest I continued in nuclear systems work until 1990 when I transitioned into project management. Meanwhile we had two more children, Karen, now 33, married and due in May with their first child, and living in Olympia, husband Mark. Our youngest, Brian, now 29, is a structural engineer, married to another engineer, living in Bellevue, WA; they have a daughter, Isabel, 8 months old...what a joy. All that college tuition kept my wife and I humble, but it was worth every penny as none of the kids have returned home broke. :-) We spent much of our time and focus, of course, on our child raising, starting off clueless like the rest of you, and slowly catching on, just in time to be out of business. Our kids now tell us we did OK, but that sure wasn't the story when they were young. :-) We were very active with their school work, sports, motorcycles (camping, trails only), boating, water skiing, some fishing. Whew!
We are presently both retired (6 years now), Cynthi...Expand for more
a from teaching. I spent the last half of my career siting, permitting and constructing new power plants for my utility, the latest being natural gas plants and large scale wind turbines. I was amazed at how much more challenging the development business is than engineering, forcing you to be a jack of all trades...not sure if a master of any, but learned a lot about personnel management, team building, finance, economic analyses, contracts, commercial law, all in the school of hard knocks, but I loved it, even if it was stressful. And I even kept up with a bit of engineering.
Since retirement, we have been traveling and doing a lot of volunteer work, quite active in our church. Over the years I have built my own houses in my spare time, worked with friends on thier houses, Habitat for Humanity, etc., and even got into commercial construction on church buildings, all volunteer...or at least unpaid. I love to work with my hands, never met a tool I didn't like, so naturally that continues in retirement. My wife and I have been on some mission trips to Romania with others from our church doing relief work with orphans. We have traveled Western Europe mostly on business. We have also been on a couple of cruises...Caribbean and Western Mediterranean, really like the adventure of it all. I guess I should also confess that I am a bit of a computer nerd...build machines for our own use, our family and friends, try to keep up on the technology, practically own NewEgg.com...or do they own me...not quite sure...but it is a good hobby for me, and even somewhat for Cynthia.
But most significantly, we have been blessed with good health, love to bicycle, motorcycle, hike, etc. Bottom line, we are enjoying life and staying very active.
We would be interested in any reunion plans. I have taken my wife to Fairbanks once, before we were married, very risky move. Gave her the opportunity to bow out after seeing my old hunting and fishing haunts...she hated the mesquitos...but she stuck with me somehow :-) Would love to take her back if there were a reunion anytime.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Dan
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