Gene Edwards

I graduated, got married and started my first job all in the same week.

I married Lynn Pearce, and this last June, we celebrated 50 years together. We had three children, our joy.

Tammy, our daughter works for the State of California in the Housing Finance Dept., helping people buy their first home by providing down payment financing.

Our oldest son, Mike, is in the ministry, working for Campus Life/Youth for Christ. He has 80 full and part time staff. They have high school campus ministries, homework and tutoring centers, youth clubs, mentoring for high school moms. Most local campuses welcome their ministry because of the positive effect it has on high school kids. Citrus Heights has built them a center in a formerly blighted neighborhood.

Our youngest, Jonathan, has his own business in Hollywood. He contracts for Steadicam projects. That's where the cameraman wears the camera, and runs with the actor in action scenes. The tricky part is when the actor is running forward, often, the cameraman is running backward. Every time you see a stunt actor, there probably is a cameraman doing a more difficult stunt just getting the actor on film. He loves his work, and his 3 kids want to be in the movies.

Out of high school, I went to work for Ray Hazelwood's (El Camino '62) dad as an apprentice painter. He was a tough taskmaster, but had a heart of gold. I loved working for him. A few years later, I started my own painting business, and Big Ray helped me a lot, as a mentor. My painting company was successful, growing to 24 painters.

I decided I wanted to be a builder, so I sold the company to two of my employees, and started building houses and small apartments in Carmichael and Fair Oaks. I was mentored in my building business by my friend, Jim Lincoln (El Camino '61).

Jim and I formed a partnership in '72, and, to this day, still do projects together. We would buy raw land, develop it, then build homes to sell. All in all, it was a great career.

I'm now retired. Besides, there isn't much building going on in Sacramento these days.

Lynn and I live in a little retirement bungalow in Granite Bay, out near Folsom Lake.

My greatest joy is volunteer work. I work around the church and help people in need using my building skills.

I have become a cool Santa Claus. I volunteer for children's programs at church, and for charities, like the food bank and rest homes. Every kid that sits on my lap gets his wish, whether it is a dog, kitty, or I-Pod. I'm afraid someday, the parents will catch up with me. I have discovered children aren't the only ones that yearn for contact with Santa. I often get older people wanting to share their Christmas wish also. Sometimes, I just sit and listen to a lonely person, and that little amount of time, that touch, means so much to them.

Teachers are special people! I was such a cut up, I'm not sure how I was able to survive and graduate.

I loved Physics with Sowers. He could challenge you to think. I loved his experiments.

Mrs. Holohan was such a sweet lady. I'm probably the only one who remembers her. She lost her job because she couldn't control the rowdy's in her class. I remember she had a young son that was in the hospital. She didn't deserve being fired because she couldn't control some punks.

I remember Senior Civics with Miss Haley. She often threatened me that she could keep me from graduating. I think she only taught with us one year, then went to Europe. Man, was she a liberal! Even as a high school kid, I noticed how biased she was toward liberalism. But, we had great debates in her class.

On Senior teach day, I taught Mr. Studley's english class. I liked him. It was probably because I met my future wife, Lynn in his sophomore english class.

And Mr. Ernst was my favorite coach, probably because he endured my goofing off.