Ron Eby:  

To be honest, my high school years were the hardest times of my life. My dad died when I was 10 and my mother struggled to provide a living for herself and 3 kids. I was very shy and introverted so I didn't have a lot of friends or participate much in school. It was a miracle I graduated. After high school I worked a while at Texas Instruments and at Mercantile Bank in downtown Dallas. Then in December 1974, a life changing event occurred when I joined the U.S. Navy. It's true that joining the military can change a boy into a man, and in my case this was certainly true. The Navy was a maturing experience and much of what I learned from my experiences during my enlistment I still use today. In 1979 my enlistment was up. The Navy made me a generous offer to re-enlist. However, I had gotten married while in the Navy and I didn't feel it was fair to my wife to be left alone while I spent extended time on sea duty. So I turned down the re-enlistment offer and we packed our bags and moved back to Garland, Tx. Upon our return to Texas, I got a job at Varo, which made power systems and night vision goggles for the military. We also bought our fi...Expand for more