Michael Strasser:
CLASS OF 1983
Coeur d' Alene High SchoolClass of 1983
Coeur d' alene, ID
Chaffey CollegeClass of 1993
Rancho cucamonga, CA
Lakes Junior High SchoolClass of 1980
Coeur d' alene, ID
Suzanne Middle SchoolClass of 1979
Walnut, CA
Vejar Elementary SchoolClass of 1977
Walnut, CA
Michael's Story
Life
After 5 1/2 years in the Air Force, I moved to Southern California in 1991. Along with the sun, sand, smog and hanging around with my little brother Dave, I finally got a full-time software development gig. Prior to that it was just part-time.
In 1994 I relocated to the Monterey Bay area on California's Central Coast, where I just had to take up golf. Heck, Pebble Beach is just down the road (wish I could afford to play there!). I started working with a great company, Greentree Systems, Inc., and as of 2013 I'm still here. It's a great company based in Campbell, CA. My office is in Carmel, CA where I lead our development efforts with my crack team of software developers.
I married my beautiful wife, Lynette, in 1997. In Nov 2001, we became parents for the first time with the birth of our son, Anton. Go Figure!
We've been enjoying Anton as he grows up. It's really surprising to watch their development... kids don't miss anything. I've learned not to underestimate him. He enjoys swimming, baseball, soccer and karate. I've been teaching him golf, chess & a bit of music. Never a dull moment.
Oh how the years have gone by. Now it's 2013. He's had nearly 4 seasons of Pop Warner Football for the Monterey Peninsula Jets and he made the Peninsula Pop Warner Hall of Fame 2 times. Now he is concentrating on Lacrosse (2013 will be his 4th season). He normally plays for the Monterey Tribe but he will also play for the 2013 All-West Elite travel team based in San Fransisco. He is so hard working!
An update to this is that he has finished his summer league play with AWE. He was on the U11 but was asked to play up on the U13 team when they found out he was a goalie. That was funny, as he was trying to keep that secret so he can play other positions. Anyway AWE is a really great organization. A new bit of news is that Tribe831, a local elite travel team, has opened its doors to the U13 boys group, and Anton is playing goalie for them this fall. Looking forward to playing Palm Springs in Jan2014.
2014
Palm Springs Update: Jan2014 Tribe831 U13 boys take 2nd place at SandStorm Lacrosse Festival! over 250 teams and 16,000 participants. It was Huge!
2014 Spring Lacrosse is a but different. Team now run by board instead of YMCA, and I'm on the board. What fun! Monterey Tribe Lacrosse Club now in full swing and kids had a great season. Currently in Tribe831 summer travel. U13 boys took 3rd place in their first ever box lacrosse tourney in Alameda, 4th in US Lacrosse Championships West but continue to fight and won our first ever team from out of state. Just sorry to say it was Sawtooth LAX out of Boise.. I guess you can tell we are all LAX all the time LOL.
Still nothing much different over the years... just getting a little older, fatter and uglier LOL. I'll have to see if the 40's are better than the 30's. I better hurry up because the 50s are creeping around the corner! We've had a couple of changes, though. We have moved from Marina to Monterey and our son now goes to school in Carmel. It's a nice change and more sunny!
Have Fun!
Military
As I write this, it's been many years since I was in the military. I separated the USAF on July 3, 1991 after about 5 1/2 years of Active Duty. I signed up for 4 years, but I really liked it and extended twice to get assignments. I decided to get out because ...Expand for more
a couple of reasons, but mainly to attend college.
I attended boot camp at Lackland AFB, San Antonio Texas. The thing I most remember was that the temperature was in the 90's and 100's in Feb/March while it was snowing in Idaho.
After boot, I went to Tech School at Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls Texas. Mainly this was pretty boring except for the Airman's Club when they turned the beer on. It was said that the Airman's Club served more beer than the pro football games. I don't know if that was true, but it sounded interesting.
After Tech School, my first assignment was at Altus AFB, Altus Oklahoma. My first boss, Bob Carnes, was the best role model for any young airman. Bob retired as a Senior Master Sergeant. My roommate was a great guy named Alan Anderson. I lost track of Alan, but I hope he, and his folks, are doing well. No more car surfing! I met a lot of great people in Altus.
After about 1 1/2 years in Altus, I received a long tour (3 years) assignment to the Philippines. Used to be known as the PI (Philippine Islands), but we knew it as the RP (Republic of the Philippines). This place was always a little wild. I was assigned to the 13th AF Medical Center. This was probably the most difficult and most rewarding time in my USAF career. Shortly after I arrived, we had a lot of terrorist problems off base with the New Peoples Army (NPA, a communist terrorist organization). Also saw a couple of coup attempts and natural disasters, but I just rotated home before Mt. Pinatubo erupted. My last roommate, Kyle, was there until the end to see that one. I "partied out" there. Once you partied at the best, nothing else compares. For those of you out there who have been there, you know what I'm talking about. For those of you who haven't... all the stories you ever heard are true. There are so many great people that I met and worked with... American and Filipino. Probably the most influential people that I had the great honor of working with are Capt. J.P. Moreland, and SSgt Suzan Fay. Capt Moreland really was instrumental in my working with computers. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel (I think he deserved to be a full bird Colonel). I lost track of SSgt Fay when I left. I still correspond with friends and co-workers from Clark AB. In truth, I have never met a better group of folks than the ones I served with in that medical center, and there were so many. I wish them all well.
One of my best friends that I met at Clark was Mark McManaman. On a very sad note, Mark passed away early 2007. RIP Buddy. We'll play a round of golf together on the other side! Additionally, my buddy and fellow logistician, Michael Steele, just passed away at the young age of 51 in June 2014. RIP Steely Mike!
After the Philippines, I was trying to get cross-trained into another career field. I was attempting to get into Systems (computers), but was not able to. I was assigned to Mountain Home AFB, Mountain Home Idaho. This was the time of Desert Shield and Desert Storm. I separated from the service in July '91 and moved to Southern California to restart my academic career and to start a new life.
For anyone contemplating service with one of the Armed Services of the United States, I would say this: Go in with the right attitude and it will be one of the most rewarding things you can do for yourself and your country.
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