It is even harder to believe it’s been 50 years.  I retired in 2008 and am really enjoying it.  Took several months to decompress and feel comfortable working to my own clock.  But now wish I had done it earlier.  Marilynn and I still have the stable business but today limit it to about 15 horses.  And I still have the retirement hobby web design business and am working on my 47th project.

The motor neuron disease symptoms have progressed slowly.  I still drive, operate most of the farm machinery and get around on the Segway.  But speech, which was not good at the last reunion, is only intelligible by me now.  I use a very good iphone text-to-speech app to communicate but it is a little awkward and slow for table conversation.  Therefore, with regrets, I will miss the first reunion since graduation.  Send lots of pictures of the event and I will post them on this site.
 

2007

It’s hard to believe it has been 46 years. After West Side, I graduated from Purdue in Mechanical Engineering and accepted a job with Pratt & Whitney in West Palm Beach, FL. Then just before leaving town, a neighbor asked me to come talk to his company, Fairfield Manufacturing Co. in Lafayette. Plans changed and I am just completing 41 years with them as VP of Engineering. The company has grown from a small local manufacturer, started by David Ross, to one of the world’s largest gear manufacturers with facilities worldwide.

Things do change. We are no longer in the country as the town has expanded to our property line. The highway in front is being widened to 5 lanes. Fortunately the house is in the center of the property and the encroachment is visually blocked by woods on all sides.

In the last few years, I have developed a disability that restricts my mobility. I use a Segway on the farm and at work to get around and have had to abandon a very active lifestyle in favor of more sedate interests such as this web design you see here.

Hope to see you at our reunion.