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 and immediately after graduating, 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.