Ronald Kirkemo:  

After High School I went to RCC majoring in architecture for a year but then decided to get married and go and worked for Rohr Corp. in Riverside, I worked there for 2 1/2 years, building aircraft components, and Missile components. Then I decided that the smog was just getting to bad for me and my family and an opportunity came along to work for Kaiser Steel at the Eagle Mountain Iron ore mine. They were just starting a new Pelletizing and Consentration Plant. I worked there for about 6 1/2 years, add about that time the Longshoremen in Long Beach went on Strike and we had to shut down our opperations until the Strike was over. My wife and I decide to take a vacation and go see her Parents who had retired and moved to Oregon. We spent a few days visiting them and then decided that it was time to make another move, this time to Idaho, about 80 miles from her folks. Her father told me that there was a big Construction company in Boise by the name of Morrison Knudsen (now World Group International. They did construction all over the world. They had a Railroad Engine rebuilding shop in Boise and were hiring, so I went to work for them for 10+ yrs rebuilding around 350 Locomotives from the ground up including the bodies. I worked in both the engine rebuilding, but mainly in all the steel fabrication. One of the jobs I liked was the fact that I was able to do most of the custom jobs for the rest of the company as well, even a few motorcycle custom parts for the bosses. During the same time I worked a second job Manufacturing Custom Ornamental Iron parts, like fences, spirial staircases, gates, etc. From there I went to work for a local Sugar manufacturing company that produced sugar from sugar beets, not the cane sugar that I was used to in Calif. from Hawii. I worked in the mechanical dept. taking care of the processing equipment during the processing season and then welding pipe, etc. in the summertime while the beets were growing again. Worked there for 5 years. Just a word to the wise! Buy any sugar, don't look at the package it comes in or for name brands, it's all the same. We manufactured over 60 different brands and it all comes from the same bin. The only difference is that cane sugar tastes a little better than beet sugar in my opinion! so if you are buying beet sugar buy the cheapest you can find it's all the same! While I was at the sugar factory I decided it was time for me to get into a different line of work so I started to learn a different field. I was recruited into the Insurance industry by a company who only sold term life insurance and securities. I got both licenses but after 2+ years I decided that it was not for me and went back to what I knew best working with my hands. I worked for a couple of years down in Calif. with my brothers in the canning and bottling industry as a millwright but my real desire was to work for myself, so in the late 1980's my wife (this is my third and present wife.I have been married 3 times now, my other 2 have since passed away I am s...Expand for more