After graduating in 1966 I went to work for Rohm and Haas Company in downtown Philadelphia. I worked in Philly for about a year and a half then went into the Army. I was very fortunate not to have to go to Viet Nam. I served as an officer in a Nike Hercules Underground Missile Silo. There were 9 of these secret installations around New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, DC. I went back with R&H out of the service. Being a good old southern boy they sent me to New York! I was in charge of 4 boroughs of NYC. My boss kept telling me I didn't have the Bronx because if I got lost over there they would never find me again. (I think they were right!)We moved to Chattanooga and Columbus, GA. Then a close friend who was a VP of Ciba-Geigy talked me into coming to work for him. That got me to Greenville where we have been since the mid 70'S. I worked for this company for about 10+ years. They got bought by National Starch and Chemical Co. After about 6 months, National wanted me to move to Bridgewater, NJ. My kids were almost high school age and moving to the New York was not high on their hit list. Plus Vicki wasn't excited about such a move either.

A close friend was doing a consulting job for Sun Chemical Corp and contacted me about a starting a new operation at the Sun plant in Chester, SC. I was asked to run a new polymer operation in Chester. (I told them OK as long as I didn't have to move.) I ended up staying there 25+ years. I am proud to say when I left we had 5 plants in the US, two in Asia and two in Europe with sales in the range of $400 million. I retired in 2012. I was so fortunate to have spent 46+ years nearly all in the chemical business. It has been a wonderful trip.

Those of you that were in school with me no doubt remember Vicki and Frannie Arnold well. Vicki and I will celebrate our 47th anniversary next month. (We got married in Raleigh on the State – Carolina football weekend. Not real smart!) Frannie, of course, was our Sweetheart in 1965. She moved from Raleigh to Greenville about a year ago. So we see her just about every week. She looks good and is doing just great. Vicki and I have been enjoying retirement. I have not gotten bored, which I thought I would. I teach math for the Literary Association, we do other volunteer work at a local elementary school. My golf game is low-80's (maybe high 70's on a good day!). I work out most days. We have a summer home in Blowing Rock, NC so we spend a lot of time up there this time of the year.

I am so looking forward to seeing so many Sigs at the Beach Weekend. I have kept up with a fair number of guys but there a lot of you I want to know what you have been up to. I loved Jeff Schneider's closing sentence in his bio. They are my sentiments exactly.