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 I guess my life doesn't fit into
the average nutshell. So that you may get a feel for the way I have
lived, I need to give you a brief description of my childhood.
I was born November 25, 1945, in Lodi, Ohio, which is a small farming
community just outside Akron. My father was a long distance truck
driver, my mom drove a city bus in Akron, and we were very poor. After
my birth, the family moved to Akron, where I lived until 1957 when we
moved to Westboro. My dad was the ultimate motorhead; in other words,
if it didn't have wheels and an engine, he wasn't interested in it.
When he was home on the weekends, we spent every Saturday night at the
car races, and when I was twelve he and I built our first soap box race
car and for the next three years I competed in the annual soap box
derby. He also made arrangements for me to drive a quarter midget at
the local speedway. During the summers, I would go with him on long
hauls in his truck, leading to a wanderlust for travel and thrills that
I have never been able to shake.
By 1957, my parents had built up a small truck leasing company. They
were offered the opportunity to open a truck repair garage and
truckers' motel in Southboro, so during the summer of '57 we moved to
Westboro.
My involvement with cars never waned. I helped out at the trucking
company and garage, working on and driving trucks long before I turned
sixteen. In fact, my dad bought a 1950 Ford for me and we turned it
into a mild custom which my parents let my friends, who had their
driver's licenses, drive me around in. I sold the car before I even got
my license.
My dad and me in
front of his truck - 1946
My mom and the bus
she drove - 1946
I'm in my
mom's first car. My dad bought it for her for $50.00 and she was so
proud of it. I actually fell out of that thing when she went around a
corner too fast and the door flew open!
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 When I reached high
school, shop was the only class I really wanted to take, but they
insisted that I take college courses. I was not happy with my classes
at school and quit trying. My parents even sent me away to military
school (Fork Union Military School in Virginia for my freshman year) in
an effort to get me straightened out, so by the time the senior year
came around, I was behind in science and I was held back.
At the beginning of the year I was told that if I brought up my science
grade that I would be able to join the senior class after the Christmas
break, but that I would not be able to have senior pictures taken, be
included in the yearbook as a senior or be able to participate in any
senior activities prior to that time. I became very depressed and
embarrassed, so I quit and went to night school at Milford High School
while working at my parents' business during the day. By the time
Christmas came around, I had brought up all my grades and had in fact
gained one subject, so I went back to Westboro High School and tried to
get reinstated. During a conference with the principal and guidance
counselor, I was told that I was a "troublemaker and possibly the most
worthless young man they had ever known" and they would not let me back
into school.
I went back to Milford High School and finished school getting a GED.
After being refused entrance back at Westboro High, I became very
rebellious and started hanging around with the wrong crowd. To be
honest, I didn't think anyone from my class wanted to associate with a
failure like me. This was a very sad part of my life, but I made it. I
had to work all day, and then go to school from 6:00 till 10:00 Monday
through Thursday. I think my determination to prove the administration
at Westboro High wrong was the only thing that kept me going.
During this time, many rumors circulated about me going to Florida and
getting married. Those were just rumors derived from the fact that
while visiting friends in Miami, I was involved in a motorcycle
accident where my passenger, a married woman, was seriously injured.
Now you know the rest of the story.
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Since I only received a GED
instead of a regular diploma, my hopes of going to Ohio State ended, so
I opted to go to the brand new Quinsigamond Community College. During
the summer of 1964 my girlfriend became pregnant (now how did that
happen?) and we got married in September of '64. I was 18 and she was
16 which was definitely a recipe for failure. During this same time, I
started racing, first with my Corvette, then graduating to a fuel
dragster. This kind of lifestyle didn't help make the marriage any
stronger. We had a daughter in '65 and during the summer of '66 we
separated. Since I no longer had any military deferments, I was drafted
into the Army in October of '66. Early in '67 my wife and I were
divorced and I immediately remarried, not a very smart move to say the
least.
During my time in the Army, I continued to race cars whenever I could
get leave. I was discharged in 1968 and returned to Westboro.
Upon my return home, I found that the old Joe's Jenny gas station had
closed and was available for lease. I thought this would be a perfect
fit for my lifestyle, so I started up a new service station. During
this time I also took on a line of motorcycles and began racing them
along with my dragster.
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My U.S. Army picture
- 1966
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 In 1969, my second daughter was
born. Since I was still infected with a wild streak and only really
wanted to race cars, the business failed and I sold it in '71 and moved
to northern California where I would be able to race year round. As
luck would have it, my wife became homesick, so we moved back. Shortly
after the move, my wife and I separated and I moved to Keene, New
Hampshire, where I opened a garage. We were divorced in 1972 and I got
custody of my daughter who came to New Hampshire to live with me.
My racing continued at a professional level and I traveled throughout
the country racing my own car and driving for others. While driving for
a drag racing team in Toronto, Canada, that also raced boats, I got the
chance to pilot a hydroplane on Lake Ontario. Although boat racing is
not really my thing, I can tell you that going over 100 miles per hour
on the water is quite a thrill.
In 1974 I became the first driver in drag racing to qualify for a
national event in each of the three professional categories, Top Fuel,
Funny Car and Pro Stock. This was chronicled in numerous car related
magazines and newspapers. My thirty seconds of fame came in September
of '74 when I had a fairly serious crash at the U.S. Nationals in
Indianapolis and was featured on ABC's Wide World of Sports. After the
crash at Indy, I decided to give up driving at that level and I
returned to Keene where I went back to college, utilizing the G.I.
Bill, and finished with a B.S. in Business Administration and a B.A. in
Psychology.
Late in 1974 I also remarried (some people just don't learn from their
mistakes) and we had a daughter (#3 in case you have lost track) in
1978. The motorcycle bug hit me once again and I began racing a Harley
at the local hill climbs. I also built a stockcar to race locally.
While shoveling my driveway for the third time during the infamous
"Blizzard of '78," I began thinking that since I didn't skate, ski,
snowboard, snowshoe, snowmobile or enjoy anything even remotely
connected with snow and cold weather, wouldn't it make sense to move
south, and when I put my shovel and snow blower away and looked at my
race car just sitting there covered up, I made the decision to move to
Florida right after daughter number three was born.
In June of '78, I sold the race car, my Harley, and packed everything
we could into a U-Haul truck and headed south. We really liked the
Tampa Bay area, having vacationed there several times, so I looked for
work there first. I found a job as an Inmate Counselor with the
Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. Racing was still in my blood, so I
built another stockcar and got back into it on an amateur level, only
racing locally. I also got involved in classic car cruising and
restored a '65 Plymouth Barracuda.
In 1980 my parents retired and moved near us, and in 1982, daughter
number four was born. It didn't take long for me to realize that
working inside was not for me, so I went to the Police Academy and
became a Law Enforcement Officer. The Sheriff transferred me to patrol
duty and so began my 23-year career as a Deputy Sheriff. I did all the
usual assignments including detective, undercover narcotics, dignitary
protection and administrative duty, finally retiring as a Division
Commander in 2001. During my time with the Sheriff's Office I was able
to take advantage of a very liberal education reimbursement policy and
obtained a Masters of Criminal Justice degree from the University of
South Florida.
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With President
George H. W. Bush in 1989
With President Bill
Clinton in 1994
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Shortly after my retirement, I
was contacted by Ron Allen, WHS 1967. (How many of you remember Esther
Allen's dance classes at the elementary school, girls on the left, and
boys on the right?) Ron had started a drug screening laboratory a few
years previously, then sold it, and now it was for sale again. Ron, his
son-in-law, and I purchased the lab in Worcester in early 2002. That
has been a very successful venture, and in 2008 we purchased another
lab in New Haven, Connecticut. We now have more than 100 employees and
collection sites throughout New England. Ron and I are silent owners
and his son-in-law runs the operation. Our labs service the industry,
government, insurance and the medical communities, offering a full
range of blood, hair, urine and saliva screening for all types of
substances.
In early 2003 the empty nest syndrome set in, and my wife, not so
politely, asked me to remove myself from the premises. Now, hold on to
your seats, I tied the knot again (#4 if you are keeping count) in 2005
and after you meet her at the next class gathering, I think you will
all agree that I got it right this time.
With my wife Pam in
2008
So, how do I keep myself
occupied now? I do some business development, and man our vendor's
booth at trade shows and conventions, which I also do for a K-9
contraband detection company out of New York City. Three days a week I
watch my 17-month-old grandson, go to classic car cruise-ins two or
three nights a week, and car shows or races on the weekends. My wife
and I belong to a resort and spa north of Tampa, are season ticket
holders for the Florida Orchestra, and do volunteer/fundraising work
for several charities. My wife is preparing for the Breast Cancer 3-Day
where she will walk 60 miles over a three-day period, so I am training
with her, which means working out and walking seven days a week. We
live about a half mile from the Gulf of Mexico so we often walk to the
beach to watch the sunset.
My 1970 Chevy Monte
Carlo (first year of production).
It was a 1 owner with 60K miles and no modifications. I'll probably
keep this one stock.
March 22, 2008 with
Diana W Edwards at the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala,
Florida
I had lunch with
Phil F on March 5, 2009 in Tampa
With my grandson in
March 2009
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If you have made it this far,
I want to thank you for taking the time to share in this little part of
my life's story. Believe me, I have only scratched the surface of all I
have done. I feel very lucky to have been able to do almost everything
I have ever wanted and experience things most people never have had the
chance to. I have a wonderful family and six beautiful grandchildren
with another on the way. My oldest daughter lives on Cape Cod with her
three children and owns an appliance repair company. My next daughter
lives in Worcester with her two children and is a physician
credentialist for the Fallon Medical Group. I have two daughters living
near me in Florida. The older has one child and one on the way and is a
MSW who works for the Sheriff's Office as a Child Protection
Investigator. My youngest daughter is single and trains and shows
horses for the largest Quarterhorse farm in Florida. My dad, who was my
best friend, passed away at age 90 on Father's Day 2001, and my mother
still lives nearby.
Here is something very few of you knew about me. Remember all those new
cars I used to drive? Everybody thought my parents bought them for me.
Well, they did, but there was a catch. When I turned 13, my parents had
me work at their motel and truck garage, usually every day after school
and most weekends. I was paid $1.00 per hour to work in the garage and
$2.00 for every room I cleaned at the motel (about $60.00 a week
average). My mother opened a savings account at the Westborough Savings
Bank and matched every dollar I earned with deposits. When I turned 16,
I had enough money saved to buy my first new car (actually, the Impala
and the Corvette were both low mileage demonstrators that I got really
good deals on) and paid cash for every one after that. This turned out
to be a very good business lesson, as I have never financed a car since.
Now for the best part, something that most of you will not believe,
some of you will be shocked and others may be intrigued, but all of you
will be surprised. No, on the other hand, if you want to find out what
I am talking about, you will have to ask me at the next class
gathering. See you then!!!!!!
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This page added 3/16/09
Last updated 9/10/11
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