Alan was born in Elmira, New York in 1946. Barbara was born on the other side of the US in Salinas, California in 1950. They met, fell in love and have been married 51 years this coming June.
Alan has 1 sister and one brother (he’s passed away). Barbara had 3 brothers and one sister. Two brothers and her sister have passed away.
Together they have four kids – 3 girls and 1 boy – they are all good kids.
Barbara had a fascinating job – helping score SAT tests. Alan worked for McCormick Spices for 29 years and 11 months. They gave him a retirement for 30 years. He then went on to work for Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority as Recycling Coordinator. He retired from there in 2012 and they moved to Oregon.
Alan’s Navy experience was 1964 to 1968 as Aviation Ordinanceman in VP47. He did spend some of his military time in Viet Nam.
Both Alan and Barbara chimed in saying that the most interesting thing that has happened to them was meeting Bill and Hillary Clinton. Alan was the Mayor of Salinas and the Clinton’s came to San Francisco for a fundraiser. While he was the Mayor, he’s proud to say that the City rebuilt the rodeo grounds and the Steinbeck Center. They opened a Community Center for kids called the “Bread Box”. The community was very involved and wanted to make sure the kids had a place to call their own.
Alan stated that he had a fear of public speaking and Barbara worries about her health. She’s recently had a knee replacement and faces a hip replacement on March 5th.
Alan is proud of being elected Mayor of Salina, CA and served for eight years. Barbara is proud of raising their own kids and foster kids, 8 of them including a family of 3. She beams when she says – “they all graduated from high school”
Words of wisdom – Alan says “Always look forward” and Barbara says “try to push yourself out of your comfort zone”.
Barbara is looking forward to getting back in her garden after her hip surgery and Alan is looking for better days – after Barbara’s surgery to seeing more of our beautiful Oregon.
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