| Walt's Page |
| Walt and Carol, 1990 Reunion. Photo by Janean. |
| 2007: Walt and Carol at their celebration of his 30 years with Northrop Grumman. Walt is our "Resident Rocket Scientist." |
11/4/07, I sent Walt these questions. Here are his answers:
J: Who was your favorite BHS teacher?
W:Both Mr. Pass and Mrs. Hitt
J: What did you do when you left high school?
W: Went to UT, Stanford, taught at University of New Orleans for 4 years,
worked at General Dynamics for 1.5 years, Pacesetter Systems for 9 mos,
then Aerojet and Northrop Grumman (who bought out the Aerojet
division) for almost 31 years. Just retired on Oct. 31, 2007.
J: What was your college major?
W: Electrical Engineering.
J: Did you get advanced degrees?
W: Lots: MSEE and Engineer at Stanford, then UT for Ph D EE
J: How many children do you have?
W: 2
J: What flavors?
W: Both
J: What are they doing now?
W: Son is lead shop foreman at Aero Union in Sacramento, CA, where
they make tanks to go on aircraft for fighting fires. Daughter is school
teacher of primary grades, for science, I think.
J: Any grandchildren?
W: Not myself, but my wife has 8 from previous marriage.
J: Do you like them?
W: Yes, lots
J: Where all have you lived?
W: Austin 1960 to 1964; Palo Alto, CA, from 1964 to 1966; Austin from 1966
to 1971; New Orleans from 1971 to 1975; Pomona, CA, from 1975 to 1986;
Claremont, CA, from 1986 to now.
J: Anything exciting that you've worked on in your career?
W: Yes, lots. Just finished delivering the SBIRS GEO-1 payload to
Lockheed, and the Air Force. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-Based_Infrared_System
J: Now that you're retiring, what are you going to do for fun?
W: Mountain biking mostly. Other hobbies that I have done are
genealogy, photography, fishing, hunting, camping, traveling, church
volunteer, astronomy, among others. I know that I cannot do hobbies full
time, so I intend to find some activity to replace my job. Just have not
identified it yet.
J: Do you read much?
W: Lots.
J: What do you like to read?
W: Just about anything. The most recent books are about the stock
market. Others are religious, genealogy, Crichton, etc.
J: Travel? Where?
W: Like to travel within the US where I can go fishing and camping,
mostly in the western US. Also have been to Europe twice; England twice
and France once. I really liked London. Paris is OK too.
J: Can you find anything on TV to watch?
W: Not much, even though I have a really big HDTV and satellite service.
J: Do you play any sports?
W: No
J: Who would you like to be able to talk with from our class that you
haven't seen in a long time?
W: Gary, and lots others.
J: Thanks, Walt. I'm looking forward to learning about your life, and
seeing you at our reunion in 2010.
J: Who was your favorite BHS teacher?
W:Both Mr. Pass and Mrs. Hitt
J: What did you do when you left high school?
W: Went to UT, Stanford, taught at University of New Orleans for 4 years,
worked at General Dynamics for 1.5 years, Pacesetter Systems for 9 mos,
then Aerojet and Northrop Grumman (who bought out the Aerojet
division) for almost 31 years. Just retired on Oct. 31, 2007.
J: What was your college major?
W: Electrical Engineering.
J: Did you get advanced degrees?
W: Lots: MSEE and Engineer at Stanford, then UT for Ph D EE
J: How many children do you have?
W: 2
J: What flavors?
W: Both
J: What are they doing now?
W: Son is lead shop foreman at Aero Union in Sacramento, CA, where
they make tanks to go on aircraft for fighting fires. Daughter is school
teacher of primary grades, for science, I think.
J: Any grandchildren?
W: Not myself, but my wife has 8 from previous marriage.
J: Do you like them?
W: Yes, lots
J: Where all have you lived?
W: Austin 1960 to 1964; Palo Alto, CA, from 1964 to 1966; Austin from 1966
to 1971; New Orleans from 1971 to 1975; Pomona, CA, from 1975 to 1986;
Claremont, CA, from 1986 to now.
J: Anything exciting that you've worked on in your career?
W: Yes, lots. Just finished delivering the SBIRS GEO-1 payload to
Lockheed, and the Air Force. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-Based_Infrared_System
J: Now that you're retiring, what are you going to do for fun?
W: Mountain biking mostly. Other hobbies that I have done are
genealogy, photography, fishing, hunting, camping, traveling, church
volunteer, astronomy, among others. I know that I cannot do hobbies full
time, so I intend to find some activity to replace my job. Just have not
identified it yet.
J: Do you read much?
W: Lots.
J: What do you like to read?
W: Just about anything. The most recent books are about the stock
market. Others are religious, genealogy, Crichton, etc.
J: Travel? Where?
W: Like to travel within the US where I can go fishing and camping,
mostly in the western US. Also have been to Europe twice; England twice
and France once. I really liked London. Paris is OK too.
J: Can you find anything on TV to watch?
W: Not much, even though I have a really big HDTV and satellite service.
J: Do you play any sports?
W: No
J: Who would you like to be able to talk with from our class that you
haven't seen in a long time?
W: Gary, and lots others.
J: Thanks, Walt. I'm looking forward to learning about your life, and
seeing you at our reunion in 2010.
| Aug. 5, 2009: Walt and Carol had begun their 10-day road trip up the California Coast from their home in Claremont (near L.A.) to Mendocino. Here's Walt at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, 50 miles south of San Francisco. The lighthouse, at 115 feet, is one of the tallest in America. It has been guiding mariners since 1872. See more of this trip and others at Travel California, Page 2. |
| 2009: Carol with granddaughter Olivia |
| 2009: Walt with daughter Dee in Citrus Heights, CA. |
| Walt with son Alan in Corning, CA. |
| 2009: Carol at rest stop near Monterey |
| Jan 11, 2010 from Walt: Hi folks, We are camping at Pismo State Beach this week. Weather is great, in 70's. Hope to see Monarch butterflies. Walt |
| April 2010: Walt shows off his new ping-pong table. |
Pismo State Beach