I grew up as an Army brat, moving around the country. In 1945 we landed at my grandmother's house in Salt Lake City: here I am in the irrigation ditch out back.

After M-A, I went to Harvey Mudd College and studied engineering for two years. Then I volunteered to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and was called to Brazil for 2-1/2 years. Upon return home in 1963, I decided to continue engineering at Stanford, where I stayed until 1966, receiving an MSEE. Kay Lea (M-A '59) and I were married in 1964 and played starving student couple for those last two years.

Upon my return in 1963, I completed a BS and MSEE at Stanford and married Una Kay Lea, M-A '59. (Below right is the newlywed couple with Kay's parents.) In 1965 I took a job with Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati. Over the years I did engineering work in papermaking, graulated detergent making, nonwovens processing, potato chip making, and peanut butter. We lived in Cincinnati, Albany GA, Jackson TN, Huntisville AL, and Lexington KY. In 1994 I retired, as P & G offered an extra year's salary to retire early. Excellent decision!! I went to work right away as a consultant, doing more fun engineering for P & G. Last year we decided to start our own engineering company under Kay's ownership. Lea Consulting Services is prospering and we are having fun.

Kay and I have had seven children of our own, now ranging from 33 down to 17 years, and adopted an older girl who came to us as a foster family. Our youngest son is living with his oldest sister in Price, Utah, finishing high school. We have two daughters in Colorado, one son in Alabama, and three children near us in Kentucky. The picture below left is from 1995 when number 3 son Ben was married: the last time we caught the whole family in one place.

On June 8, 2000 at 1:34 PM, Ben and Cindy Silver welcomed their daughter, Lynn Marie Silver. She weighed in at 7 lb. 11 oz., 20.5 inches long. She has blue eyes, and dark hair with light undertones. She is calm and quiet, no crying. The doctor checked her breathing with a stethoscope, and said, "She's just fine. Breathing is all that's needed. Crying is optional." This makes her birthday the same as her cousin Katie Silver, who is seven today.

The photo at right is me holding Ben & Cindy's son Benjamin. We have had two more grandchildren arrive since then, and are expecting our eleventh grandchild in June 2000.

This last picture below is one of my favorite hobbies, restoring old VWs. Our daughter Gail with boyfriend Bryan are in front of the '69 Camper we repainted and decorated. All old buses need flowers!

In 1999 we traveled to Veracruz, Mexico, and visited with friends we made while they were here as contract workers on a local farm. We just got back from a trip to Brazil to celebrate the graduation of our youngest daughter Sara, 22, from massage therapy school. The trip included Iguassu Falls, which makes Niagara look like a bathtub toy!

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