Michael Smith

I met my wife, Danielle, in 1986, after I started taking classes at the local Aikido dojo (school), where she was the chief instructor, 7th degree black belt, shihan. We married in 2000. In January of 2016 I was awarded the rank of 6th degree black belt by the head of the art, Moriteru Ueshiba, in Tokyo, Japan. Danielle's son, Colin, married in 2010 and we now have 4 grandchildren, Aria, Kara, Brennan, and Keva.
I only attended 3/4 of the Junior year at MVHS, though it was probably the most memorable time of my high school years. I finished that year at Santa Monica HS (military family!). I graduated from Crossland HS in Camp Springs, MD. We then moved to Colorado Springs where I attended U. of Colorado. After my freshman year, I enlisted in the Air Force, serving one year in California and 3 years in Montgomery, AL. I graduated from Troy State U. with a B.S. in Computer Science.
After graduation I took a job with CSC in Tehran, Iran. After 6 months I returned to the US and moved to Monterey, CA where I lived until 2019. Danielle and I now live in Carson Valley, Nevada.

Building the 1969 Homecoming Float in our garage/driveway. I think we 'borrowed' some of the materials from a construction site on an adjacent mountain.