Stories from Rick

Rick graduated from North Muskegon High School in 1964. Started college at a community college in 1965. His car of choice, at the time was a '55 Chevy.  There is a great framed 8" x 10" of him and the car that his brother Dave took around '65.  The other cool framed photo Rick has is of his Dad's Grand Haven intramural basketball team in 1935.  His Dad is seated on the bottom left in the photo.  He bought the car used and fairly souped up!  He was drafted in the Summer of  '66 after he dropped a class in college and was no longer considered a full-time student.  He put the Chevy in storage when he went to Vietnam and his Dad sold it for him while he was oversees.  Did ~6 months of basic training in Kentucky before heading to Denver for a ~6 month stint. Then sent to Vietnam as part of the military police and served there from Summer of '67 until Summer of '68.  He was 22 when he was in Vietnam.  Barb's brother Bob was only 18 when he was there.  Was excited we he received notice he was to come home early (about 5 weeks early) because there happened to be space on a return flight. Flew into Traverse Air Force Base in Northern California. Hung out with his cousin in San Francisco (even visited Haight-Ashbury district) before his Mom insisted he come back to Michigan. One of his most-remembered songs from the era was "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)". The song was produced and released in May 1967. The song became one of the best-selling singles of the 1960s in the world, reaching the fourth position on the U.S. charts and the number one spot on the U.K. charts.

The other cool framed photo Rick has is of his Dad's Grand Haven intramural basketball team in 1935.  His Dad is seated on the bottom left in the photo.

Rick recalled the time he want to visit his grandparents in Grand Haven – they made him a grilled cheese sandwich with cheddar cheese, rye bread and real butter…. Instead of oleo and fake cheese which was the norm in his household.   He thought he had died and gone to heaven.

To this day, one of the most vivid memories in Rick's life was the morning he was woken up by a clerk and told he was going home - the orders had just arrived.  It was a nice surprise as they were about 8 days early.  The song has been called "the unofficial anthem of the counterculture movement of the 1960s, including the Hippie, Anti-Vietnam War and Flower power movements." Ironically, Rick said the summer had a double meaning to soldiers in Vietnam because if you were going to San Francisco it typically meant you were going home.

When he arrived home and walked up to his house his dog Oswald heard him approaching the door and started barking.  Rick told him "no barking" from the other side of the door and upon hearing his voice he started whimpering in excitement.

Upon arriving back in Michigan one of the first things he did was buy a '68 SS Chevelle 396 for ~$3050. It was matador red with a white racing stripe and a black top. That Fall he enjoyed going to visit his sister Sandy at Western Michigan in Kalamazoo. He recalled it being like "candy land" with lots of girls his sister introduced him to.

He met Barb in a bar called Gomely's in Norton Shores. Barb got he her friends to go tell him she wanted to dance with him. Got engaged on November 14, 1969.  Rick popped the question in the house of one of Barb's friends but delivered the ring a bit later in a Burger Chef restaurant.

That morning was the kick-off of deer-hunting season and he went with his Dad and a friend at 5:30. This, after getting home from a night out with Barb 'til ~4:30! They tied the knot on June 12, 1970 at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church.

In 1979 Rick and Barb bought a '79 Pontiac Grand Prix in Glacier Blue.  It was mainly Barb's car and they kept it for quite a while.  In fact, Jennifer learned on it when she was learning to drive and to Rick's dismay she had the bumper off within 2 weeks.  The family car was like the below.