Scott Swanson:
CLASS OF 1970
Westmoor High SchoolClass of 1970
Daly city, CA
University of California - Letters & ScienceClass of 1974
Berkeley, CA
Benjamin Franklin Intermediate SchoolClass of 1966
Daly city, CA
Edison Elementary SchoolClass of 1964
Daly city, CA
Dudley Stone Elementary SchoolClass of 1958
San francisco, CA
Scott's Story
Well lets' see, when last seeing all but six of you it was 40 years ago. Oh my, much has happened since and I hope that your life has been fulfilling and a joy. Where to start......
Lauren and I made it through the senior prom and not that much later decided ,oh what the heck, we should get marrried someday. We did and that was in December of 1973. We have been together and married ever since. Good choice on both of our parts ( Ok she could have done better ).
After graduation from W, I went directly to Cal and Lauren to nursing school. Lauren decided not to be a nurse and I decided to milk a university education as long as possible. I graduated with my BA in biogeography from Berkeley in 1974 and was accepted to grad school there. We moved to Walnut Creek and Lauren took a job at John Muir Hospital so she could help support her loving husband. ( Hey...I too worked...as an iron worker on high rise steel construction during school breaks ). I received my MA in 1976 in biogeography and continued on in the PhD program.
Then lightning struck.....A big, bad burglar who was just released from San Quentin decided to try and break in to our apartment. Long story but , I caught the guy and was a momentary hero in my mind. Walnut Creek cops convinced me, a long haired liberal, to take a night school class in laws of arrest and search and seizure . It was soooooooooo different than the ivory tower stuff that I had been thriving on. I then became a reserve police officer with the Concord Police Department ( spurred on by Jim Esposto ) and the first time I was in uniform, a guy who had just robbed a liquor store tried to shoot me when my training officer and I made a traffic stop on the getaway car. The bad guy missed and we won. I was hooked ....I decided to leave the PhD program and become a real live police officer. My family was shocked, my faculty was shocked, Lauren was shocked ( but understanding and supportive ), my friends all disappeared.....
In 1977 I was hired by the Santa Rosa Police Department and my 30 year journey began. The opportunities for me were many and varied. At that time it was quite unusual for a Berkeley grad to become a police officer and I had a number of colleagues claim to be the cops who smacked me during anti-war demonstrations at Cal years earlier. None the less, I loved what I had chosen to do and fortunately Lauren stuck with me.
During the Santa Rosa years, we were blessed to have two " perfect " boys; Scott and Joseph. Scotty is now 31 and a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He has been in several public service jobs , including wildland fire fighting, and is currently assigned to the Office of Inspector General in the Department of Interior, in Washington, DC. ( You are reading about that Office currently as it investigates parts of the Gulf oil catastrophe ). Scott is engaged to be married to a wonderful woman named Danielle who is from Chicago.
Joe, 25, graduated from Montana State University, Bozeman, after following footsteps to my long standing fishing grounds on the Madison River. His attendance there caused us to purchase a home in which he currently resides with our lab , Madison, and his Montana born girlfriend Kelly ( and I might note, a runner up to Miss Montana ). Upon graduation, Joe was hired as a police officer with the Bozeman Police Department. In Joe's two years with the department he has received a statewide chief's award for saving a man's life, and was recently named a police...Expand for more
officer of the year.
While I toiled as a police officer, Lauren began a career with a well respected medical practice. She worked at and managed the practice for over 25 years, and had some famous patients whom she could never tell me about due to confidentiality concerns ( Hint...Snoopy ). Lauren was very active with the schools in which our boys attended and was recognized for her lead role in earthquake preparedness efforts . Lauren has been an active volunteer in many community activities and with her church. She loves local history and assists in a number of events with Santa Rosa's historical rural cemetary. In the past few year's Lauren has been a Sonoma County fund raiser for the Crohns and Colitis Foundation.
In my career I was a police officer, traffic officer, patrol sergeant, traffic sergeant, patrol lieutenant, personnel lieutenant (inc. internal affairs ),field services downtown commander, investigative services commander ( best gig overseeing all detective functions) and ultimately for my last three years, deputy chief of police. I was able to travel extensively for training and other professional purposes. I attended the California Command College at Cal Poly Pomona and received another MA in 1989. In 1999, I attended the three month FBI National Academy in Quantico , Virginia and jogged with the FBI director and snuck around the White House with a friend who was a Secret Service Agent ( I was allowed in the Oval Office only after Bill went upstairs to be with Hillary ).
I also have been an instructor for the US EPA National Academy in Glynco, Georgia for the past 20 years. I have been appointed as a member to the International Association of Chiefs of Police , Environmental Crime Committee and I travel the U S for the EPA and IACP and speak about issues associated with the enforcement of environmental criminal law. Last year I was part of a U S Department of State delegation who went to the Philippines to meet with all sorts of government folks ( Supreme Court justices, presidential staff, and a guy named Ron ) and we conducted a series of seminars at their most prestigious universities. The coolest thing for me was to have a private dinner with Cardinal Vidal who is revered as the moral authority of the nation. And yes, our delegation was given a private performance by the Dancing Prisoners of Cebu who did their 1800 prisoners performance of Thriller ( check U Tube )..
During all of this time, we traveled all that we could considering raising children and having two careers. We love the out of doors, camping, museums, art, ...I fish and hunt....photography, boating, voraciously reading, snow shoeing , and oh so much more. We really like Gary Murphy's Butch Whacks infamous traveling band and the Rolling Stones ( Gary compares right up there ).
Now, it's 2010 and Lauren and I have been officially retired ( except for occasional teaching and consulting that I do ) for over three years. We have been to Greece, Alaska, Canada and throughout the states. In addition to the Philippines I also went to Australia for professional purposes. We still live in Santa Rosa but a fulltime move to Montana is possible in the future. Life is very good...but we sure would like grand children.
Sorry for all the gibberish, but you paid good money to join this website so I thought it only right to give you something to read and criticize. We shall make every effort to attend the Reunion and pray that we look recognizable to you.
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