I
was born at a very early age at Long Beach Community Hospital on March
22, 1944. I grew up in the Bixby Park area of Long Beach near Cherry
Beach. Since our church was 1st Brethren at 5th
and Cherry everything was close by…except I attended Brethren High
School in Paramount. When I graduated in 1962, I went to Long Beach
City College until I went into the Army on March 28th 1963.
My basic training was at Fort Ord, California near Monterey. Basic
training is something you are glad to have completed and after that I
went to Fort Gordon Ga…3 days on a Greyhound bus, and a real
difference in country and culture. I attended Military Police School
for 8 weeks and before graduation they give you dream sheets asking
where you would like to be assigned. They are called dream sheets for
the obvious reason, it’s just a dream assignment. Since I thought I
was of German extraction, I asked for Germany (more on this later) and
of course I got sent to the 1st Cavalry Division, just
south of the DMZ in Korea. After an exciting year in the Land of the
Morning Calm, I was given another dream sheet. I was feeling homesick,
so wouldn’t 18 months at Fort Macarthur be a fantastic way to finish
my enlistment. Well you guessed it, I was sent to Ft. Belvoir, Va just
outside of Washington DC. After Korea’s rough and tumble excitement
this was like Mayberry RFD.
While at Ft. Belvoir, I went home on leave and discovered my bride,
Margie. She had been there all along but we didn’t have eyes for each
other while in high school. My discharge finally came (I missed the
party in Viet Nam by a whisker) and I returned home to Long Beach.
Margie and I wanted to get married but I needed a real job first. My
three years of in the military qualified be to be a steward at the Los
Alamitos Naval Station. I worked there about 6 months until a family
friend got me hired at Douglas Aircraft. I had finally got enough
salary to get married in 1966, a whopping $460.00 a month. I worked
for Douglas Aircraft for about 6 months on swing shift before I got
hired by the Long Beach Gas Department. Our church at 5th
and Cherry had been burned down by an arsonist so we got married at a
little Baptist Church at Gardenia and Carson.
While at the Gas Department, I had a friend, Paul Smock who had a 1914
speedster and he was moving to other interests, such as VARA a vintage
racing association with his British Junk, as I call it, with his
Triumph sports car. I bought his Model T but since it didn’t have all
the Howard $$$$$ racing stuff, I was looking to return it to a more
normal life. Tom Leroux spotted a Depot Hack body where he bought his
C cab truck and I went up and bought it. After deciding I wanted a
starter on the car I went through the process of changing the
necessary parts and had the transmission and magneto rebuilt. I then
installed the new Hack body and started a new life for my car. It is
known by various members of the Club as the “Garage Queen” because it
hasn’t seen the light of day for some time. It is “almost” ready for
the road.
I also have an interest in military vehicles and have a 1942 Willys MB
jeep and a 1968 Ford M151A2 jeep that I have taken to various veterans
parades and car shows and other events with my army buddies. George
Gunther got me interested in the military club he belongs too and one
thing leads to another….unfortunately it usually costs money.
I retired December 31, 2002 from my job as Superintendent of
Measurement, Regulation and Telemetry with 36 years of service with
the City of Long Beach. My first 10 months have been spent catching up
with honey do lists and other stuff after downsizing our house and
moving 4 years ago. Still have more work to get done.
We spend time between Long Beach and Sky Forest (Arrowhead area), Our
church, Grace Brethren of Long Beach, Long Beach Area Council of the
Boy Scouts of America, where I help out as needed and serve on the
Council Properties Committee. We are keeping busy but never caught up.
My son was on the internet several years ago and ran across a Goble
website that traced our ancestors back to Sussex England, before they
immigrated to the Mass. Bay Colony in 1640. Boy, moving form a Kraut
to a Limey what a change. Now I guess we have to put England on our
“Too Do” list….some day, after I get my “Garage Queen” on the road.
