After serving 4 years in the Air Force, and then spending a few years playing pool and chasing girls, I eventually married a girl from Medina in 1973, and the following year, we had a son, Richard Jr. In 1975, I went back to school and graduated from SUNY, Buffalo with a Bachelors degree in accounting in 1979.

While vacationing in Clearwater, Florida, during spring break, I was offered a job by Honeywell Aerospace. Immediately after I graduated, they moved us to Florida where I spent the next 13 years as a Production Control Coordinator on the Space Shuttle program. It was a rewarding experience and my favorite memory is being at the Cape when the first shuttle lifted off. It was awesome!

In 1978, my wife and I had a daughter, Angela. But eventually, we divorced and she and the kids moved back to New York. I remarried in 1987 to my current wife and in 1991, Honeywell transferred us to Phoenix where I've been working ever since as an Operations Project Leader on the International Space Station program.

After 25 years with Honeywell, I'm looking forward to retirement in the next few years. We'll probably stay in the Phoenix area and continue to visit my family occasionally in New York. I now have 3 grandchildren to also visit there and my daughter expects to bring her second child into the world while I'm in New York for the reunion...great timing! We also take annual trips to Florida to visit my wife's 2 sons from a previous marriage who still live there. We enjoy staying on Clearwater Beach and sometimes take a cruise for a few days to the Bahamas. For local recreation in Phoenix, I have a Harley that my wife and I like to ride when the weather is nice. It's great cruising through the mountains where it's cooler when the temperature in Phoenix hits triple digits, and it's great not having to wear a helmet! I also spend quite a bit of time bowling with my friends and I'm secretary/treasurer of a couple of bowling leagues.

2015 Update:  In 2009, with 30 years behind me at Honeywell Aerospace, I decided it was time to relax and start enjoying my golden years, so I retired. My wife enjoyed her work so she continued to work for a couple of years. In 2011, when she finally retired, we decided to move back to Clearwater, Florida, so we could watch sunsets on the beach and see more of our family. My wife's 2 sons and their families still live in Florida, and my "kids" still live in western New York, but occasionally vacation in Florida, so we now get to watch our grandchildren grow. We both still enjoy bowling and I sold my Harley and bought a Can Am Spyder (the motorcycle with 2 wheels in the front) and we joined a local motorcycle group and enjoy rides from time to time with the group.

I'm really looking forward to our 50th class reunion. I'm sincerely grateful to everyone who has worked so hard to make it easy for all of us to stay in touch over the years.