Lynton (Bill) Stewart:
CLASS OF 1961
Mojave High SchoolClass of 1961
Mojave, CA
St. Michael's High SchoolClass of 1961
Santa fe, NM
University of San Diego High SchoolClass of 1961
San diego, CA
Albertinum SchoolClass of 1957
Ukiah, CA
Kachina Elementary SchoolClass of 1957
Phoenix, AZ
Lynton (Bill)'s Story
I went to school in Portland, Oregon (Kindergarten and 1st grade); Kerby, OR (2nd & 3rd grades as Billy Peck); 1st half of 4th grade in Willits, CA, 2nd half of 4th grade, all of that summer, and 1st half of the 5th Grade at The Albertinum in Uhiah, CA (a Catholic Boarding School); the 2nd half of the 5th grade at 2 different schools in Eureka, CA and I finished up the 5th grade in Reno, Nevada.
My entire 6th grade was back at the Albertinum in Ukiah, Seventh grade was in Cloverdale, CA. 8th grade began in Auburn, CA, then to North Highlands, CA and I finished 8th grade at Kachina Elementary in Phoenix, AZ.
9th grade was spent at St. Michael's High School in Santa Fe, New Mexico (I was a boarding student there). I came back to enroll for the 10th grade, and was informed that I could not attend, because my mother had no paid the tuition for the last several months I had been there the previous academic year. I didn't say anything, I just turned around and left.
I literally had no idea where my mother was at.. She and my step-father had put me on a bus at Couer d'Alene, Idaho, with $1.00 for food,to return to Santa Fe, but they were moving on. My sister had moved, and I didn't know where.
My brother was stationed with the Navy in San Diego. I walked to the Greyhound Bus Station, where the Western Union office was at, and I talked them into sending a collect telegram to Seaman Douglas Stewart, Care of the US Navy, San Diego. He actually got it!
He had just heard from my sister the day before. He called her, and she called St. Michael's, saying "You call yourselves Christian Brothers, yet you turn a 14 year old boy out on the streets?" They didn't know I was on the streets, because I had been well trained that you NEVER spoke to anyone outside the family about family business.
My favorite of the Christian Brothers, and 2 of my friends from the year before came to the bus station. They told me to come back to the school, I would have a bed for the night and meals, until my sister could make arrangements. I refused to go with them. If I wasn't part of their school, they couldn't tell me what to do!
My sister sent bus fare, and meal money and I was off to San Antonio, TX (I had spent the first part of the summer there, before Mom and her husband made m go with them as they traveled all over the Western States), The morning after I arrived, we loaded up my sisters old Chevy, and set off for San Diego. That car broke down several times, but we were always able to fix it, and we made it.
My brother had borrowed some money from Navy Loan Sharks, my sister got a job, and they provided a home for me. My mother showed up around Christmas, raising hell about why I wasn't in St. Michael's. I told her exactly why that was. Her contribution to my support for that academic year was a 50 lb. bag of potatoes.
My sister arranged fr me to attend University of San Diego High School for only $5.00 a month in tuition. I completed my 10th grade at "Uni High".
At the end of May, my mother showed up without her husband (he was back in prison). She removed me from my sisters, and we moved to Capistrano Beach, CA, where she got a job as a waitress, and I worked at a gas station. After about 3 weeks, we moved to Laguna Beach, and I got a job at the Walnut Grove Bakery ...Expand for more
in Dana Point from 4:30 a.m. - 11:30 and at Wong's Canton House in Laguna Beach as a dishwasher. from 4:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.. I asked Mr. Wong if he would teach me to cook Chinese food, and he very graciously did that. I got $1.00 per week in spending money from both of those jobs.
Come September, we moved to Mojave, CA (my step-father was moved to Tehachipi State Prison, not far away). I went to school at Mojave High, and also worked full time evenings and weekends at a local restaurant. Suddenly, in early December, my mother told me that we were moving to New Orleans. She wanted me to abandon the school books, and my school owned Souzaphone, but I refused. I returned them to the High School, and off we went. We spent time in Steamboat Springs, Colorado (where I ended up making a LOT more money than my mother, which REALLY upset her), in Santa Fe, NM working at the La Fonda Hotel, and ended up at the El Tovar Hotel at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
I never went back to High School on any regular basis. Instead, I enlisted in the Army a few months before my 17th birthday, to get away from the utter chaos of my home life.
I spent almost 10 years on active duty, with the last 7 of them as a Neuro-Psychiatric Specialist. I took the High School and the College GED exams, and as far as the Army was concerned, I had credit for 1 year of college (unfortunately, civilian colleges didn't recognize the College level GED). I spent 5 wonderful years at Valley Forge General Hospital in Phoenixville, PA, where I was also very active with Forge Theater (a community theater), appearing in a number of plays, and working back stage on many others.
When I got out, I discovered that I had to have a minimum of a Masters Degree to do the same work that I had been doing in the Army for years. So, I started College at College of the Desert in Palm Desert, CA, earning my A.A. Degree in 3 semesters.
I transferred to California State University - Fresno (Fresno State), and completed my B.A. in Psychology in 3 more semesters. I then went on to Graduate School at Fresno State, and completed 2 60 semester unit Masters Degrees in 2 more years (an M.S. in Psychology and an M.A. in Rehabilitation Counseling).
I worked for a number of years with Developmentally Disabled teens and adults, and their families, at the Devereux Foundation in SantaBarbara, CA. It was there that I met my wife, Melanie Rausch, and we married on My 6, 1978.
I loved that work, but the pay was not all that high. So, I transitioned into becoming an Expert Witness in legal cases, working in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Wyoming, Utah, Alaska and California.
I went back to college, on a Federally funded program, and earned my Ed.D in Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of San Francisco.
I was married to the perfect person for me, for 36.5 years. She was my best friend, my sweetheart, and absolutely the very best thing that ever happened in my life. Unfortunately, she died 8 years after we had retired to Bowling Green, KY.
I live in a big house, on 3 acres of land, about 10 miles South, South East of Bowling Green. I am very active with my church, singing in the choir, doing various forms of ministry, working in our food pantry for the poor, etc. I am also very active with the Knight's of Columbus.
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