I was born and raised in Western NY in Jamestown. I went to Jamestown Community College and Albany State University to become a chemistry and physics teacher. However I determined that teaching was not what I wanted to do and spent my work career in sales, marketing and company management. Pat and I have 2 children and 5 grandchildren. We moved to Connecticut in 1970 and I worked in Stratford for a manufacturing company. In 1976 we moved to Westfield Center, Ohio and resided there for the next 48 years. I was involved with a start-up company in 1980 that manufactured custom dispensing equipment that grew to 160 employees and $25,000,000 in sales. I was President of the company for 10 years until the company was sold in 2005.

We went on vacation in 1979 to South Seas Resort and fell in love with Captiva and being on the beach. We purchased 6 weeks of Time Share at South Seas and have continued to look forward to returning to Captiva each year. I have been a Florida resident since 2005 and snow birded back to Ohio in the summers. My first wife Pat passed in 2015 and her memorial service was held at the Capiva Chapel. Her remains are in the Chapel Cemetery. I remarried in 2017 to Trudy and the wedding was held at the Captiva Chapel. She passed in 2019 and told me that she wanted to be buried next to me but not next to my first wife! That was worked out and her memorial service was at the Chapel. I have been very active in the Chapel since then and have been on the Board for the past 6 years. I am also responsible for the Christmas lights which are a very popular draw for so many visitors to come to see each year. I currently live in the Shell Point Retirement Community close to the Sanibel Causeway.