Pat, after a BSN, did the home work with two births and more than a dozen foster babies.
Five of those children stayed to fill the house with noise and love. Pat worked
outside the house again for about 6 years at Parents As Teachers, screening Webster Groves
preschoolers for hearing, sight, and general development. When Ken retired, there was "pressure"
on Pat to be more available for travel. After her retirement, that "availability" resulted in
a trip or two to Italy nearly every year thereafter.
The next generation is already underway. Dionne Bass, 5th by age, has four children. They are: Quentin, Brianna, Erika and Kaleb. Brian, our first-born, has two, Lauren and Megan.
Pictures from Jan/Feb 03.
How much they grow in less than or about one year!
And in another year
and a half...
Pictures from Nov/Dec 04.
For a group picture of all of the above (except Bruce)
Click here.
On Easter, 2005, the
cousins hunted eggs on the Versailles Lawn...
Picture from 27Mar2005.
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I always had music in my life so I suppose one of my main interest remains as Music. I had lessons as a child in piano and violin but after high school, vocal music was my only musical involvement as an active participant. I sang in school chorus, both high school and college. I sang in church choirs continuously from junior hi to the present. While in High School (Roosevelt High, Cedar Rapids, IA; 1957) I sang in a quartet and also several summers with the Cedar Rapids barbershop chorus, just for fun. In college, (Westmar College, AB 1961) I performed in several operas produced by the music department.
While in graduate school in St. Louis (Washington Univ. Dept. of Physics 1961-1969) I sang several years in the Early Music Society of St. Louis (Jim Miller, director) and during the years 1980-90, with the St. Charles Choral Society and sang Tenor in the Saint Louis Symphony Chorus (Thomas Peck, director) during the 1986-87 season.
Aside from music, my interest was always along the lines of science and technology applied to the phases and phrases of life. It started, I suppose, looking over the edge of the desk where my father was working on courses in the International Correspondence School to advance his position (started as a sweeper) at the electrical power station in Cedar Rapids. He would take the time to explain what he was doing in the solutions to problems provided in his studies. Little did he realize that verbalizing the solutions helped him understand it and even less did he realize that it would form the thought process of the child at his elbow.
A quality basic education in the public school system in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, prepared me for the pursuit of science and math as an undergraduate in a school marginally prepared to excel in science or math. The dedication of the instructors there and my willingness to spend time in the library reading current journals and classic books in a wide variety of topics and fields inspired me to continue beyond the bachelor's degree. A Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, 61-62, allowed me to attend Washington University where I expanded my curiosity and my trouble-shooting skills. Two years teaching undergraduate physics at North Central College (Naperville, IL, 1962-64) gave me time to develop laboratory skills in electronics, especially the new, solid state circuits.
When I returned to graduate school at Wash U., I got into the group doing Cosmic Ray Research. I was involved in the experiment and equipment design as well as the construction of electronic and mechanical components for the devices sent to the top of the atmosphere beneath helium-filled balloons. I also developed software to read the film record of interactions within the detector system and to compile the number of primary cosmic rays of each atomic number (element).
During the data analysis phase of the project which was to be my doctoral thesis I became involved in other electronic projects. Some of those had medical applications and it became clear that I was more interested in those than solving the big questions, How, When, and Where did the universe begin. In the summer of 1969 I left graduate school and turned all of my attention to electronics with medical applications. Within a few years, I was responsible for the product development of a small but vibrant company of creative people. These people were also excited about applications in medicine and were thankful they were not working for the Military Industrial Complex which had (has) a high profile in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Eventually, computers became fast enough to visualize 3-dimensional images of the human anatomy and the distribution of radiation dose within that human resulting from a simulated application of radiation therapy. These computers (at first, UNIX-based) could be interconnected to allow shared information and processing resources. Additionally, all (20+) programmers and a similar number of testing staff had access to the sources during development, test, and release phases. I was involved in the design of a source control system that would support all of these people working in these phases, all within a single Local Area Network (LAN).
With that experience in computer hardware and software and networking, it was probably not surprising that I got signed up by several non-profits with which I had previous exposure. Currently I am acting as webmaster for a couple of institutions and also support the networks and computer systems for them as well. It keeps me busy several days a week when I am in town.
It started in 1976 when Pat gave me the Sea Snark. Actually, it began the summer before when I sailed the same type boat on a small lake in N.E. Wisconsin. We sailed our eleven-foot styrofoam hull with lanteen sail on Creve Cour Lake (Saint Louis) a dozen times in the 15 years before we got our own place on that lake in Wisconsin. After that, the little boat got plenty of use every year (May thru October).
In 1995 I bought a used ('85) day sailer, Zuma. 13 foot, fiberglass sloop. I customized the rigging with snap hooks so sail, rudder and centerboard can be taken from the lakehouse, installed and the boat out on the water in about 8.4 minutes. On that little lake, there are times (wind velocities) when the shore-to-shore time is under 2 minutes. The turn-arounds, either tack or jib, are well practiced. To date, only capsized 4 times. Twice, I didn't get wet (rode the gunnel). May 02, went in backside first with a sudden reversal of winds. That lake is tricky because of the land profile and tall trees around it. There are swirling winds at the windward shore (yes, windward because the wind/lee-ward directions are defined from a ship, not from the shore...) making it possible sometimes to sail around the lake without a single tack. Anyway, it is a hobby less expensive than bowling and, in my humble opinion, more fun than fishing.The first full week in May (2003) Ken and niece-in-law, Bev, were
in the Dodecanese (Greek Islands near Turkey) on a 55 ft sailboat. Now
that was some sailing! (see http://www.seascape-sail.com/ )
Click on pictures line below.
And in Aug 2007, Henry Kipp looked for one replacement on a 4-man
bare-boat charter thru the Apostle Islands from Bayfield, WI. The 33 ft
sailboat was less roomy than the Greek experience and the air and water
much cooler but in a month where temperatures in Saint Louis were above
90 almost every day, spending 12 days above the 47th parallel on a body
of water which makes up 10% of all the fresh water on earth was very
special. Find the link below to a few of the pictures taken.
We have traveled to Japan too (June '93,Aug '05, Mar '12). Our friend since the early 70s, Yasuo Ashino and his family made our visits very special and long to be remembered. Also, in the Spring of '95, we went London. Ken had responsibilities at the Philips Medical Systems' User Meeting. Mom J. and Pat took several day tours by bus from London to the nearby sights. Ken joined them on the one to Canterbury and Dover before it was time to return to the States. We also traveled together, even before the kids were grown when, in '87, we joined with the Missouri Ecumenical Choir to tour Switzerland and Hungary. This was before the fall of the Iron Curtain. Ken went on similar tours to Poland ('85), East Berlin (January '89) and USSR (August '89).
But, except for the number of times we have visited N.E. Wisconsin (see Sailing, above), Italy is our most frequent itinerary. Trips by the two of us, often with a friend or two, include '91S(Spring), '95SF(Spring & Fall), '97SF, '98F, '99SF, '00F, '01F, '02SF, '03F, '04F, '05F, '07F, '09S, '10F, '12F, '14S, '16S, '17S, '18S, '19SF. The predominance of Fall trips highlights our love for Gun Lundberg Cesarini, a gracious Swedish-Italian hostess who lets us pick olives from the trees in her grove. Many of those trees are 200 years old. Before TSA, we carried back oil sueezed from those olives. Technically, EVOO is a flamable liquid. In addition, Ken went alone for a week (TWA hot ticket) in '00S and attended four (4) operas across Northern Italy. Ken also went with his brother, Ray, to Naples for the eve of the Millennium (31DEC2000) and the first dozen days of the third millennium thru Sicily on a train pass. All of our trips have been "self-guided" using the internet to preview the smallest of villiages and festivals, to know the street market days, the days and hours of museums and to fly on the day with the lowest fare. For safety and economic reasons, we never rent a car on the arrival day, in stead, depending upon the train to take us safely to one night in a stationary bed.
For three weeks in May and June of 2011, we had the opportunity to travel again with Y2, our friend of many years. It was on the occasion that she needed to return the ashes of her mother to their homeland, China. We were treated like family in the home city. We continued our time in China visiting some of the popular tourist sites but including visits with cousins, nephews and nieces in nearly every city. Awesome!
Pictures:
We got a digital camera, Spring '02. (a few days before a trip to Italy) Someday we will scan and post a few pictures of family and travel caught only on film.
To see just a few of our photos taken in Italy, Click Here
For some photo-moments at the Wisconsin lakehouse Click here
The last few days of March 03 and the first 10 days of April, we were in Germany and Austria along with Berta, Y2 and Wei Nung. Click Here
Ken went sailing with Bev S. in the Dodecanese (12 Greek islands very close to Turkey) the first week in May 03. Click Here
Ken went sailing again among the Apostle Islands (Very North Wisconsin) in the middle two weeks of Aug 07 with Henry Kip, his brother, John, and a long-time friend of Henry, Richard Neumann. To see some photos of that excursion, Click Here
To see some photos of that excursion to China, Spring, 2011, Click Here
It was a long time coming but we finally made it past the 50 year mark as a married couple. Even longer as best friends which is saying a lot. We had a gathering of Pat's siblings and most of their families and most of our kids. Everyone had a camera at the gathering, 28th and 29th of September, 2013. To see a few of the pictures collected from those days Click Here