My Story in a Nutshell

My desire to know who God is and how to relate to him began early in life. It was a rocky and unrewarding road at first.

I was born in Ohio in 1938. My dad had recently begun his own business, a manufacturing company that made oil burners used in heating homes. The early years were tough. The company was under-financed, and with the onset of World War II, he had to make radical adjustments just to survive.

Even with the enormous demands of the business, my parents were deeply committed to my two younger sisters and me. We attended the Episcopal Church in our small town and made family vacations a priority. We never doubted that we were loved.

I decided to follow my father into engineering, and was able to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) – the nation’s top engineering school. Boston held lots of attractions. Though church didn’t top my list, I regularly packed off to Sunday morning services.

Churchgoing filled a niche, but I sensed I was missing something. Many questions went unanswered, especially the most important question: how should I relate to God? Nor did I find answers in calculus classes or at fraternity parties.

Following my first year of college, I met Wendy during a summer vacation in Canada. She and her family were very special – and different! They were warm, engaging people who enjoyed life and spoke easily of a close, personal relationship with God. This stoked my curiosity.  But their vibrant faith just didn’t square with my rational, logical approach. I kept searching.

After graduation, I began working in the aerospace industry in the town where I’d grown up. Wendy and I were married a year later, and we began a family. A few years after this, my dad asked me to join him in the family business – a small company with twelve employees. It was a big change, but I sensed it was the right thing to do.

A One-Two Punch>