I was born in 1948, in Long Beach, CA. My family lived in Paramount, which was a milking town. My father was a milker who worked a split shift six days a week. My mother already had five children from a first marriage in Missouri. My youngest half-brother was sixteen years older than me, and I had nieces and nephews that were older than me. I had a great childhood because I had a lot of people taking care of me. Our life was very simple but truly happy.
When I graduated from Paramount High School, I was recruited by a number of colleges but chose UCLA, because I wanted to go to the Rose Bowl. I majored in History and had a great time in my four years. UCLA’s football team was great back then and I was lucky to be part of the gutsy little Bruins. In my sophomore year I played as an offensive tackle defending Gary Beban and playing against OJ Simpson from our rival, USC. My senior year, with Dennis Dummit as our quarterback, was truly a great team. We won all our games but tied Stanford. And then with the Rose Bowl dangling in our eyesight we lost to USC in the last minutes of the game. So, the whole Rose Bowl dream became just that, a dream.
But I wasn’t done playing football. I was drafted in the tenth round to play for the Oakland Raiders. At UCLA, I was pretty big, at 6’ 5, and 250 pounds but in the pros that was nothing. I needed to beat out some guy named Art Schell. After being used as a punching bag for two months John Madden, having known I was interested in becoming a lawyer, offered me that opportunity. I suggested I could do that in the off season, but they asked for my playbook and that was that.
I graduated from Loyola Law School in 1975 and began the practice of law. I joined the international firm of Baker & McKenzie in its LA office where I became the Chairman of the Litigation and Employment Depts. I moved to SLO in 2012 and became associated with the firm of Andre, Morris & Buttery. I also became the President of the California Coast Chapter of ABOTA, the American Board of Trial Advocates.
My wife Jennifer and I were married in 1973. Jenny is a retired flight attendant. We have two daughters Laura and Julie. Laura is married and has two children. She recently returned to school to get a Masters in child advocacy. Julie is a local veterinarian with a small animal practice. She has a 20-month-old daughter.
Also, I am a Rotarian.