The eighth grades remained at Hales Corners until the fall of '60 when they were moved to high school and semi-deparmentalized.  I was appointed assistant principal of Whitall (7-12) in 1962 and then opened Whitnall Middle School as Principal in 1970.  Assigned next as Principal of Jefferson and Valley View in 1976, I closed Valley View in 1982; was Co-Principal  Whitnall HS and principal of Jefferson in 82-83.   At Jefferson  I was the half time principal and closed it and  retired in June, 1984.  During the late 60's and early 70's, I taught Adult GED classes at the Whitnall night division of Milwaukee Area Technical College for 5 years.

    Our family grew from the 3 children we had in 1956 to 7 between 1957 and 1964, 3 girls and 4 boys.  All attended a variety of colleges and universities in WI and out of state. Six of the seven are married and they have provided 14 grandchildren.  Their homes are scattered from New Jersey to Idaho.  None are teachers, but two have done some college level instructing in their fields.

    My wife, Jeanne, never returned to her Foods and Nutrition field, professionally, but used her skills very effectively for our benefit.  She did take a position in the local bank--2 blocks from home and with 3:00 PM closing hours when the youngest was in the upper elementary grades. She retired in 1986 when the bank was still  2 blocks from home but the business hours were much longer!  We both did a lot of community volunteer work with church, scouts, library board, municipal,and school district committees.  I was the Municipal Judge for 17 years, and ran unsuccessfully, one time, for the State Legislature.

    I remained active in Naval Reserve until I was placed on the retired list as a Commander in 1972.  This meant attending weekly training drills and 2 weeks of active duty during the summer until 1972.  This service allowed me to be qualified for a  Defense Department retirement at age
60.

    About the time you left 8th grade, teacher associations were becoming organized for collective bargaining and I became active in the Whitnall Area group which became part of the Wisconsin Education Association.  Principals were not part of this organization, so in 1962, I the became active with the state and national  principals' association and served on various committees and boards.

    After retirement,  I was invited to become a member of the Milwaukee Area Retired Teachers' Association and the Wisconsin Retired Educators' Association.  Volunteer committee assignments followed quickly and eventually, I served as state president of WREA from 1995 to 1997.  I remain active on some committees of both the WREA and the state AARP, through the National Retired Teachers' Association, a division of AARP.

    The Navy only partially fulfilled the promise that I might see the world, but it did provide a good start.  We began family camping in the mid-50's and have continued.  While still in education, spring vacation camping trips permitted the most flexibility and togetherness--we couldn't compete with summer jobs after about 1966, but we did manage to do the Spokane Worlds' Fair in 62 as a family and the one in Montreal in '67, as well.  With great confidence in the older children, we left the seven of them at home and flew to Europe to tent camp 7 weeks and celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in 1975!  The following year we moved up to a small self-contained RV and now have the 3rd and much larger one.  It is now our winter home in the southwest and allows us to visit elsewhere around the country in better weather.   Used our RV#2 for a 7 week trip to Alaska in 1987.

    With wanderlust as part of my makeup, soon after I retired I was able to establish an association with a Hales Corners travel agency as an part-time outside travel consultant.  The time I spent away from teaching in the early 50's working in the passenger department of the Northwestern and Union Pacific Railroads gave me some experience and insights I was able to use. Many friends and acquaintances allowed me to assist them with travel planning. I have organized and escorted groups traveling in the U.S. and abroad.  There have been many opportunities for my wife and I to see much of the world, as I had always hoped to be able to do.

    God has blessed us with a vibrant, loving family, exceptionally good health and memories of  stimulating interactions and friendships with a great many individuals.  These have been very rewarding.  Our interests are varied and we spend a lot of time outdoors, gardening at home and bird watching and biking wherever we are!  We still live in the large home we moved into here in Big Bend in 1963 and will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary here in June, 2001!