Growing up: The early years

I was born in Toledo, Ohio to Jerry and Phyllis Luce in 1956. I already had an older brother, Rick, who was 10 years old at the time.

__Within a few years, I had a younger brother and sister as well. We played together a lot and fought a lot.  I believe that is where I honed my negotiating skills and the understanding of when to leave well enough alone.

_My parents were divorced when I was about 7 and much of the time growing up it was we three.  Most of that time was spent playing in the fields or nearby creeks in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, or Wyoming.

But then my life changed dramatically and for the better.  I met Kathy Bandeo. I got lucky at the Sadie Hawkins dance as she accepted my tin ring and we were "hitched".  We have been going steady ever since.

Now I also believe I knew Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as a young child.  But Kathy and I started going to church together regularly and eventually we were baptized together.  The three of us have been walking together ever  since.

It turns out I was pretty good in math and chemistry, so Chemical Engineering was a logical choice for a major.  I ended up getting a 3.92 GPA back when 4.0 was as good as it gets. 

It was time to get a job.  After the coldest winter on record for Madison, our primary objective was to get back to California.  I was lucky again and landed a job with Chevron in the Bay Area. 

The four are now eight with each of them finding wonderful spouses. As seen below, the family is still growing.

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So how did I get involved in the political arena?  That's for a separate page "Political Career".

_While being from Ohio, I remember very little about it as we moved frequently.  I was in 11 different schools by the time I reached  high school.

 I was not the best student in grade school as the sight of the wind rustling through the trees out the classroom window always caught my attention.  I was often staring out the window when I should have been listening.  Frogs, turtles, fishing, forts, sling shots and other such things occupied my mind and my time.

_We arrived in California when I was in junior high and stayed there through high school. I did not have many dates in junior high or the first couple years in high school but I was very good in track and field and won league championships in the half mile, mile relay, and cross-country. 

She was smart and I was lucky.  It is always better to be lucky than smart.   She followed me to San Jose State University where I was studying Chemical Engineering.  After a few years she was getting itchy feet,  so I found a ring I could afford and got lucky again.  She said yes.

_Some of her smarts were rubbing off and I was doing well in school.  I started getting "A's" in high school and the pattern continued into college. 

We then moved to Madison, Wisconsin where I received my Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering.  We also received Wendy, our first child.

_That is when we moved to Napa.  Our family continued to grow and eventually our four children (Wendy, Bethany, Naomi, and Adam) made it though Napa public schools and are now in graduate school or working with very successful stories to tell.