General Comments:
After retireing from Nordhoff my parents moved to Cambria where dad was very active in Lions Club and the Cambria Presbyterian Chruch. He was in charge of the book section for the thrift store the church ran, and could be found every Monday picking up donations in his little Ford Ranger. He also worked part tme at a hardware store. He has always loved reading and doing the crossword puzzle in the newspaper.My mom and dad took a couple trips to Europe as well as many Elderhostel Tours thoughout the U.S. He always enjoyed old buildings and history. In March of 2005 my folks moved to Corvallis Oregon. My dad had shown some signs of Alzheimer's about that same time and shortly after getting settled in OR. it was confirmed. He still has his wonderful sense of humor and can carry on a conversation as if nothing was wrong. He will talk about his years in Ojai and people from his past, fond memories. My mom is able to care for him currently which is a blessing. He isn't very mobile, his knees are worn out I 'm sure from all the projects, building and going up on ladders to fix things, quite a handyman! He turned 87 this past June and he and my mom, Ellen, have been married for 58 years. In his day he could play a mean game of "Skip-bo" and still today can compete in a game of "Catch Phrase". He is a fan of Louis Armstrong music, and on the way to school (Matilija & Nordhoff) any riders "got" to listen to him sing the oldies, if you wanted a ride that was the price you paid! He is a man of strong morals and Christian beliefs, honest, trustworthy and funny.
My dad doesn't know the first thing about computers so to hear from former students would have to be by mail or through my mom. She does email!
I graduated from Nordhoff in '75, my brothers in '72 and '77.
Chris Strader Kresge
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After he retired from Nordhoff and my Mom retired from elementary school teaching, my folks moved to Cambria, CA close to San Luis Obispo, the area where they grew up. There he volunteered at his church on many activities, setting up for events, building props for plays/skits and working in the church's thrift shop.
Dad is still able to go to events that my Mom drags him to: readings at the library, music events at Oregon State University, country fairs, etc. He enjoys them at the time but has no recollection of them within hours, or minutes sometimes of them ending.
He really wouldn't know any of his former students. In fact for years and years he would say that someone stopped him on the street to say "HELLO" and he would act as if he remembered them, but in fact had no clue. He said that teaching for 30+ years allowed him to meet many former students, and there was no way he would remember their names. He has mentioned many times that teaching was a highlight of his life. He said he picked electives to teach, like mechanical drawing, because it was something that if a student signed up for it, it meant they wanted to learn. He liked that.
If anyone would like to drop him an e-mail their e-mail address is the following: ellenandroy@comcast.com (my Mom would have to show it to him, computers are not something he ever had an interest in), He may or may not remember the student, probably depends if they listened to him or not ;)
Regards,
Gary Strader
