ABOUT ME
I was born in Madison, Florida, November 4, 1943. We lived in Madison County for a couple of years and then moved to Lakeland, Florida, where my father traded his 1937 Plymouth for two lots and proceeded to build a house. I graduated from Lakeland High School (The Dreadnaughts, school colors orange and black) in 1961 and the following year joined the Navy.
I volunteered for submarine duty and attended 21 months of electronics training in Great Lakes, Illinois, and Dam Neck, Virginia. I then attended basic submarine school in New London, Connecticut. I was assigned to the USS Lafayette in July, 1964 as an Electronics Technician in the navigation department and served on her until I left the Navy in 1969. In 1968 I completed the USN Underwater Swimmer's School in Key West, Florida, and became one of the two Scuba divers aboard the boat.
After my discharge in 1969, I worked for an electronics shop in Charleston that specialized in electronics aboard yachts. I took night courses at The Citadel. In 1970 I moved from Charleston, South Carolina, to Largo, Florida, and began attending the St. Petersburg Jr. College in Clearwater, Florida, from which I graduated with honors in 1971. I then attended the University of South
Florida in Tampa, Florida, graduating with a bachelor's degree and a double major in botany/microbiology in 1973.
In 1974 I began my career with the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as an Agricultural Quarantine Inspector trainee. Two years later I was promoted to Officer in Charge and moved to Ponce, Puerto Rico, where I opened the seaport office there, and subsequently set up operations at the airport.
In 1978 I was promoted to District Director and sent to Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico, where I established an office. My area of responsibility included the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, Villahermosa, Quintano Roo, Yucatan, and the country of Belize.
In 1981 I resigned from the federal government and bought an 80 acre farm in Douglas County, Missouri, where I raised feeder pigs.
In 1984 I rejoined APHIS after electing to enter the Foreign Service and the US Diplomatic Corps. I took a position as Officer in Charge in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. I moved there and established an office.
In 1986 I was promoted to Area Director and moved to Caracas, Venezuela where I established an office. Coverage included Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana. While stationed in Caracas I met my wife, Ana Maria.
In 1988 I was transferred to Santiago, Chile, where I was Area Director for the other South American countries: Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruaguay and Brazil.
In 1991 APHIS established a South American Region and I was promoted to Regional Director. I was then responsible for the entire continent. Also that year, Ana Maria and I were married .
In 1993 we vacationed in Mountain Home, Arkansas, and while here bought a retirement home nearby. I retired in 1995 and we moved here.
