Ronald Fern:
CLASS OF 1961
Long Beach Polytechnic High SchoolClass of 1961
Long beach, CA
Saint Anne SchoolClass of 9999
Santa ana, CA
California State University Class of 1968
Long beach, CA
Charles Evans Hughes Junior High SchoolClass of 1958
Long beach, CA
Signal Hill Elementary SchoolClass of 1955
Long beach, CA
Ronald's Story
It seemed to take me forever to get through college. My parents told me to be an engineer, because that was where the money was...so that was my path.
Went to LBCC, the BTD campus on PCH, as it was close to home. Spent 5 semesters there, due in part to poor counseling and some bad grades.
On to Cal State LB in the spring of 64. Only took 12 units to keep me out of the draft. Dropped a class, got an F and D, and was on probation for a couple of years before I got my grades up.
My Dad died while I was still in college. My Mom never worked and was 9 years my Dad's junior...no widows benefit, etc.
Worked at Chicken Delight in LB on W. Anaheim St. full time my senior year to support my Mom and me. Was lucky enough to get a job through the summer program at Cal State working for McDonnell Douglas. Started there in Sep. 67, but didn't graduate from college till the Spring of 68 due to a D in Physics and a dropped class due to low enrollment.
Never dated much in high school or college. My first "real" girl friend was during my senior year at Poly. She was a junior from our rival high school, Wilson. I didn't mention it to many of my Poly friends.
When I started work at MDC, I soon realized that it didn't pay to date someone where you worked. I only dated briefly for about the first two years, then chose to concentrate on my work and hobbies.
Early in the 1970's, I became quite active in numismatic errors and civil war tokens. Wrote articles on coin errors and oddities. Became a member of the Numismatic Literary Guild. I did research, edited a monthly coin publication, the "Errorscope", and opened a mail order business along with my regular job.
I became close friends with two southern California families, one in Huntington Beach, the other in Newbury Park. Each family had two children. One two boys and the other two girls. In a way, they sort of became my kids, because I was around them so much and saw them grow to adults. We took trips together and I had many a meal at both homes.
In the 1980's I bought a 4 wheel drive vehicle, metal detector, CB radio, and got into visiting NV ghost towns. There are a lot of stories to tell here and many fond memories. One of my favorite ones ...Expand for more
is the old Chinese railroad camp we found in southern NV. You could actually see where they dug out the side of the mountain to put their tents. There were old railroad spikes, bits of pottery, blasting powder cans, old metal toys, buttons, and coins we found.
The 1990's found me doing coin shows and gun shows on weekends and mini-vacations. I usually split a table and shared the expense with three or four different dealers. We did shows in CA, AZ, and NV. A lot of contacts and friendships were formed with my fellow dealers that would last a lifetime.
Worked for McDonnell Douglas/Boeing for 34 years. First as an Industrial Engineer, then into supervision, working my way up to Business Unit Manager of Build Support Operations. In 1992, the company downsized, and I left supervision to become a technical specialist in Industrial Engineering. Remained there into 2002, when I retired, due again to downsizing and no commercial aircraft work.
Somewhere in the mid-nineties I decided I didn't want to be alone in my senior years, so I started dating. I found a really nice lady with two grown children. We hit it off from the start. We dated exclusively for years before I asked her to marry me. We got married New Year's Eve in Vegas 2005.
Spend retirement years reading, spending time with the three youngest grandchildren (we now have 6), attending estate sales, taking trips to around the US, and managing the space in Old Town Pomona where my wife and I sell antiques and collectibles. In 2010 we took a cruise to Alaska. Last year we went to Utah for the Shakespeare Festival.
My wife and I are now Board Members for Saint Anne Parish School in Santa Ana, CA. We hope to help these children as they face the new technological challenges of the 21st century. The school is in need of assistance, both financially, and with goods and services. Buildings need repair, roofing, painting, signage, etc. The students can use playground equipment, i.e., basketballs, jump ropes, soccer balls, etc. Please consider helping us achieve the goal. Santa Ana is a tough town to grow up in.
Life is good.the "golden years", but If I had to do it all over again, I'd be ant artist, a photographer, or a forest ranger.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Register for Free to view all yearbooks!
Reunions
Register for Free to view all events!
Photos
Register for Free to view all photos!