On May 25, 2008, my mother died while I was at her bedside in Nebraska. That event has brought an even more urgent need for me to write this story about my dad.

I always felt that my mother may have "poisoned" what the Nebraska relatives thought about him. I was pleased to find out that they thought dad was a "prince of a man" and couldn't understand why mom left him. Dad would tell you that he is not perfect nor characterize himself as a "prince of a man." The Monday before my mom died she was still "railing" about dad. Tuesday brought severe pain and her focus were changed until her death six days later. I don't understand that kind of 40-year anger.

It is imperative that I continue to tell this family story through these interviews with my dad. I have decided to make more selective entries for simplicity and clarity as there is way too much information to put in this format.

Marge, my stepmother, is a wonderful human being who is protective and a micro-manager (like me). I think she was threaten the first time we started this process.

Marge and Dad golf in different leagues on different days. The first Tuesday that I called was to touch base with them and to ask when would be a good time to call for family history information. He said, "Why not now?"

Marge was leaving for golf and as it turns out, dad was always available on Tuesdays. So, just like the wonderful book, "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom, I have called my dad at 12:00 P.M. and we have created this beautiful hourly journey each week.

My dad is the only person in my entire life that I can argue passionately with and we challenge each other and no one gets angry. My dad is a scientist and I am an artist; he is agnostic (or recently says he is a deist) and I am a Christian; he is a Republican, but he says as he is running out of money, he is becoming a Democrat and I am an Independent with Republican leanings.
We share the same passion for people, ideas, our country, family, and both believe that our Nation's strength is in our diversity.

In this lens I will make daily postings until I bring the lens up to "real time" on our weekly talks. Obviously, I cannot possibly fill each posting with everything that was said each week, so I will edit each conversation. Perhaps a book is in the future. I hope you find this lens of interest, but more importantly that it encourages you to document someone in your life.

My sister Deb wanted me to ask dad about the time my mother was committed for two weeks because of alcoholism. Her concern was with the diagnoses since so many of mom's siblings have suffered from depression and alcoholism. Unfortunately dad never received any information during this medical challenge, patient confidentiality. He commented that everyone gets depressed from time to time.

I told dad that I reread "War Footing" and I could see why he got depressed after reading that book. Dad remembered some concepts in the book and had been thinking about this country. How would we feel if every Christian religion were forced to give up their autonomy and become one body of faith? Good point.

Dad had just started reading the book, "Words that Work." The importance of communication and how we how our words are heard are a science. As soon as you begin speaking, the other person starts thinking and processing, and may misinterpret what you are saying. The book is very helpful.

Dad read an article in National Geographic about "swarm intelligence" and how ants make simple little contracts between themselves that generate action for the whole colony. Now that's communication!

Dad talked about "luck" as opposed to working hard and how "luck" may be the worse thing that could happen to an individual.

I asked my dad about parenting, for sometimes I feel inadequate for this "job." The example that we have set for our sons is about working hard, but I know we haven't always worked smart. Two of our three sons lack consistent direction. I asked, "How did you do it when you were young?"

Dad said that when he was a teenager, he didn't think about college. He thought he was pretty well set and thought about getting married and working as others did for the rest of his life. He did want more money, but he just lived for the day. He enjoyed hunting in the winter months and fishing in the summer months. All his recreations were mundane and he wasn't getting anything out of it.

When he was in high school, he took a one year program of college prep courses just because he was interested in technology. He feels that your ambition is related to how much you like what you are doing, and if you like what you are doing, you will make money at it.

Dad told me a story that seems to contradict the last paragraph. He recalled that the summer after high school, he and Ted worked together doing odd jobs. They unloaded a coal car and made $20 and split it. He said it was the hardest he ever worked, but they made more in one day than they would have in a week working for an employer.

We are all faced with freedom of choice and are responsible for what we do. Dad never had any instruction from his dad or grandmother. His advice to me was to tell our sons what I think and to let them know that we are on their side.

I think the most wonderful aspect of talking to my dad each week is to gleam his wisdom. There is a difference between intelligence and wisdom. Fortunately for me, dad has both.

I recommended another book to dad, "War Footing," by Frank Gaffney. He felt this was a very thought provoking book and worse than "Triple Cross," because it was depressing. We both thought that our leaders should read these books.

Dad was not in favor of the Iraq war and questions the bureaucracy in the FBI, CIA, and Bush's reasons for going to war. I was uncertain about the war, but we have to stay until Iraq is more stable.

After reading the Koran, dad felt more knowledgeable about the religion and notes that the challenges are with extremists. In "War Footing" it is noted that only 10-20% are fanatics but that is a lot of people.

Logic and reason seem to be a challenge in this world and we talked about the United Nations and the role that it could play instead of the role that it does play. We need an organization where each country puts aside individual concerns and becomes more concerned about what is good for the world. Economic growth changes a country.

After we solve the political and economic challenges, we must solve the finite energy challenges. Now dad starts talking about fusion, how to generate additional atoms, and how the sun is fusion energy. Whoa, wait a minute, I'm the artist and I'm lost.

That prompted me to ask Dad where in his family did he get his intellect? He balked at the question but mentioned that his paternal grandfather couldn't read or write. He remembers that his grandfather practiced signing his name 100 times, in pencil, on the garage wall, just so he could sign his name. His father only read the newspaper. It was his paternal grandmother that was most educated.

His mother's father was a junk dealer and he met him for the first time when he was ten years old. One member of the Heinz family, related to his paternal grandmother, was a physician. As a young boy, he was eager to learn and his paternal grandmother's big Bible was a daily source of knowledge. He questioned much of it in conversations with his grandmother. I am convinced that my dad's strong moral convictions were honed during this time.

In 1997, Dad brought Robert Johns (my nephew) and Jeff Stephens (my stepsister's husband) to Beijing. On dad's first trip (1989) to China, his escorts were driving with a 55-gallon drum of gasoline in the van because there were no gasoline stations. On this trip, there were now super highways, gas stations, and hotels, but they were eerily vacant. China had built an infrastructure prior to the need. Today, we have heard about the pollution from cars and industry that threatens the individual Olympic performances.

Dad's concerns about the future include nuclear power, water availability, population growth, pollution, resources, and terrorism. Phoenix has the largest nuclear power plant in the world and it has had challenges with consistent operation. In the Southwest, they seem to have just enough water to get by. The world's population growth is not being addressed as a whole with the exception of China. But even China's population has dramatically increased in recent years from 800 million to more than 1.3 billion, and that's with the supposed restriction of one child per family.

When people use up all the resources, my dad feels that is when we have mega disasters like Easter Island. I feel that technology will save us. Dad points out that coal can be converted to diesel fuel, but even that is a finite supply. Also, some are concerned about increased greenhouse gas emissions with this process.

We have both read "Triple Cross" by Peter Lance. It is one of the most comprehensive chronicled books that we have ever read on the rise of terrorism from 1980's to after 9/11. Finally, I know if seems that our problems are great, but I believe that we can solve them. My dad has seen a lot and has doubts, but my optimism has given him some hope.

Marge, my step mom, worked at James Knights Company, as a secretary, right out of high school. She married Glen Johns and had two children and soon after divorced Glen. She would work other jobs before joining James Knights several years later. Dad and Marge would work together for years, and after my parents separated, they started to date. They would marry in 1968.

When dad joined James Knights, he hired most of the new engineers and one was Darrel Kemper a graduate from De Kalb. In 1973, Darrel Kemper hired my dad to come to Arizona to be in charge of crystal production where Darrel worked. Our second son was just born and I remember being disappointed that dad would not be around as much.

Dad told me that looking back, he has questioned some of his decisions to change jobs. Motorola offered to pay for his master's degree in Business Administration, he turned them down. James Knights had some exciting opportunities and profit sharing and he left. And the choices continue to be second guessed. But isn't that what life is? Isn't it like a series of turns in a maze and somehow each decision brings surprises, disappointments, and joys?

Quartzteck was a company, owned by Tyco Laboratories, that was highly leveraged and they were looking for a buyer. Darrel Kemper and dad bought this company, and for years had an exciting roller coaster ride in business. Darrel had a friend that was helping K & L Microwave find a company to buy, so dad and Darrel sold Quartzteck to them.

K & L Microwave would eventually fire Darrel and make dad general manager before eventually moving most of its operation, leaving dad as a consultant. Because dad was in a Who's Who publication in the crystal industry, Jack Lei would find dad for consultant work in China.

Dad is grateful for this very interesting time in his life and yet a little embarrassed about the VIP treatment that he received in China. He told me, on one trip, he was walking in the rain between buildings and a man was carrying an umbrella shielding dad from the rain. Dad said, "I could have walked in the rain. He didn't have to do that."

I remember that dad had several patents and I was curious about them. Dad says that he had three at Motorola and two at James Knights Company. His name is on those patents but the companies own them. Although he was paid the obligatory dollar for the patent, he signed off any further ownership. Dad's first patent idea was developed as a graduate student and Motorola bought it. It was never used, which was a disappointment, as it had great possibilities for commercial and military use.

As we were talking, I told him that I always thought that the vast education difference between my parents may have been the beginning of the end of their relationship. (Mom did not finish high school). Dad said, "No, 99% of what you do every day doesn't have anything to do with high intellect." But he did remember that he would have loved to have had a wife in graduate school.

Religion was a part of my dad's life from 8-21 years because of his paternal grandmother. He remembers taking Deb and me to church, but he never attended and is surprised that Deb and I are religious. I wondered why he did that and why he gave me a Bible? Dad said that everyone gives Bibles, so he did too.

The challenge that he has with organized religions is dogma, but how do you have religion without theological doctrines? We discussed the word "miracle." Dad's unwillingness to embrace "miracle" is because he wants to scientifically prove the event. The very meaning of the word is "an event or action that apparently contradicts scientific laws." Dad is not sure that he believes in God but in the natural order of things, "nature" but not a person.

We ended the interview with a conversation about the book, "Deadly Emotions" by Don Colbert, M.D. He is a Christian physician who became keenly aware of the devastating consequences of "dis-ease" in the human heart. We are made up of body, mind, emotions, and spirit.

My sister, Deb, asked me to interview dad about his trips to China from 1989-1997. This is a brief excerpt from this interview.

Dad made more than eight trips to China as a consultant for the Chinese government starting in November 1989, when he was 67 years old. He landed in Shanghai after thirty hours of travel. It was about 7:30 P.M., when dad picked up his luggage. His mentor asked him if he was hungry and they went to a three-sided building, open front, and at a chilly 40 degrees had a bowel of noodles and a bottle of beer. Sanitation was minimal.

The drive on a moonless night with Jack Lei (his Chinese associate) to Wuhan took more than four hours for the 120-mile journey. The road was full of people walking and if a passing car emerged, each car would turn their lights off and on as not to blind the oncoming driver.

They arrived after midnight to find their accommodations chained. After finding someone to open up, he was asked to surrender his passport because travel was by permission only. In 1989, tourism was just starting to pick up. Dad's was given a VIP large facility bedroom with a reception meeting room, bathroom, and plenty of covers for his cold room. He was finally able to get to bed between 1-2 A.M.

At 5:00 A.M., a bugle sounded over the loud speaker and all were told to get up for work. He took a cold shower, ate dumplings, hard-boiled egg, instant coffee (brought especially for him), and met with twenty guys in his reception room. The work began to create a turn key facility to manufacture oscillator crystals.

Jack Lei and Ray Petit were in a partnership and had a contract with the Chinese government. Dad had agreed to go as a consultant, but Petit later dropped out and Lei continued, but dad's responsibilities continued to increase. Dad's travels took him to various remote areas like Jinan where he stayed for seven weeks. They were trying to revive a plant for monolithic crystal production for automatic braking systems to be used by General Motors. They were not successful.

Technology changes everything. What used to take twenty crystals to do can now be done by one crystal. The few crystal companies still around are for maintenance of old equipment.

Note: There is a great book, "Crystal Clear: The struggle for Reliable Communications Technology in WWII," that shares the little-known story of how crystals helped win the war. Also, an early innovator in this field, was Galvin Manufacturing Corporation (1928 ) that would later, in 1947, be named Motorola.

My dad heard very little about the Holocaust while serving in Europe. He is sure that it was in the newspapers in the U.S., but for him, the full impact would not be felt until he returned home. No one knew how bad this was until the liberation of the concentration camps. How do you understand what's in the minds of some people?

Dad's brother, Ted, was a Quartermaster in General Patton's army and was on the front lines within a day after the landing on Omaha Beach and they were ready to go into Germany when called back to the Battle of the Bulge. Ted took many photos during this time. This photo was of POWs carrying French civilian belongings back to their homes.

Terrorism and atrocities to man began long before the 21st Century. When we dehumanized people, we commit unspeakable crimes against humanity. He feels that much of this is related to dogma, but I disagree.

We had a religious discussion back in July 2006, which inspired dad to do research on several religions and philosophers. He read the Koran and the works of Benedict de Spinoza, just to name a few. His views are very personal and are left for a different format, but our thought was people are worried about "global warming" we are concerned about having a globe.

Perhaps you can see how dad completed college and a master's degree ( and a lot more) in three years. The GI Bill would pay for only three years of his service so he went to school year round.

(Note: When I was teaching about the Holocaust, it was important for me to inform my students of the many genocides that have occurred in history.)

Dad's next destination was Italy and they blasted their way up to Rome. He was up to the front line and remained in Rome for thirteen months. At first, the liberation of Rome was appreciated, but soon the locals resented the Americans. Dad had a lot of free time and spent it drinking wine and taking classes. He took Italian, drafting, English, and algebra. Algebra was so easy for him.

The army was running out of glider pilots and they told dad that he would now be sent to Southern France as co-pilot. He was given a brief description on how to use a Thomas Submachine Gun and he waited. At the last moment, he was not needed.

These gliders, pulled by Douglass C47s, were heavy, silent, slow targets, but were hard to shoot down. They were used to move men and equipment to the battlefront and sometimes behind enemy lines. They could hold twelve troops or four guys and a jeep. Gliders could be picked up again if there weren't damaged. The photo is my dad in front of a glider in Italy.

The war was over in Europe and dad was still in Rome when the atomic bomb was dropped. He waited for reassignment and was sent back to the States on a large liner that passed through a channel full of sunken ships. He was home in six days after riding out a storm on the Atlantic. The sight of the New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty made him feel great.

Dad found his brother in NY and they had a steak and beer together before moving on. The army sent dad back to Ft Leavenworth, Kansas where he converted his money and hitch hiked back to Hastings. He was given the opportunity to stay in the army but refused.

Back in Hastings they found an apartment and he got acquainted with me. The GI Bill gave him the advantage to go to Hastings College but people were talking about how lazy he was because he didn't have a job. After a year of school, he worked at City Water & Light Company as their chemist, a job that was acquired through Hastings College.

His second job was to deliver donuts in the early morning hours before classes. Sugar was still being rationed and my maternal grandmother's husband was stealing sugar to make these donuts. When a cockroach was found in a donut that dad delivered, he quit. During this time, he went from an A to a C student in math.

Dad received a graduate fellowship in Colorado and with the GI Bill he was given living expenses, tuition, and books. He was a highly favored* student of Dr. Virgil E. Bottom, the well-known physics and math professor. They remained friends until Dr. Bottom's death.

After graduation dad was hired by John Silver, VP of Motorola, who knew about Dr. Bottom and his students. Dad became General Manager of Crystal Production, but grew tired of the politics.

When John Silver was fired, he enticed my dad to join him at James Knights Co. (now CTS Knights). This company became one of the largest crystal manufacturers in the world. The long hours of work from 7:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. caused a big problem in my parent's marriage.

(*note "highly favored" is my characterization)

In the second interview, we lost complete sense of time and it lasted almost two hours. This will have to be two postings. Also, these conversations are not structured because I was just collecting information. We do jump around a little.

May dad's parents separated when he was eight years old. Dad, his brother, and his father went to live with his grandmother. The girls went to live with his mom. Dad's German grandmother was very religious and sent him to church, but he would often skip church to visit his mom. Dad was baptized in the first Christian Church but always questioned religion.

As a small boy, he remembers fighting with a neighborhood kid that said Ted was not his "real" brother. Much later in life, dad and Ted would find the adoption papers as they were going through the estate.

Al Applebee was the reason my dad's parents separated. Al was more of a father to him because he gave my dad time and taught him to love fishing.

Dad's father severed his first finger on his left hand in an accident at Western Land Roller Co.
This accident gave my grandfather a settlement so he bought a car and was promised a secured job. That would prove to be very useful during the depression as he was only one of five left at the plant. Until purchasing the car, my grandfather never owned anything.

When my dad graduated from high school, he got a good job at Western Land Roller because
his father was the foreman.

Dad was drafted in 1942, he was so excited to serve his country because he was so patriotic. He didn't take dad very long to see that he may not be the best soldier. He didn't like following directions, would argue, and questioned everything, so he spent his time on permanent KP in the officer's mess. The upside was that the food was good. I have to laugh because I see where I get my spirit.

Dad was sent to North Carolina for training and my mom followed him, but when she became pregnant, with me, returned to Hastings. She worked in a munition plant ("Rosie the Riveter") until the work made her sick and she had to quit.

Dad was sent to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas for training to be a glider repairman. These powerless gliders played crucial roles in WWII. After training he left on a 30-day convoy to North Africa where he stayed for one month and then on to Sicily

My mom told my sister that our parents had an arranged marriage, which is not true. Mom had nine siblings and dad had two sisters and brother. He was this brainy kid that always wanted to make up his own mind and did not take the advice of his sister concerning my mom. Dad said they were friends first and eventually got married.

Dad was dissatisfied with his life only making fifty cents an hour for a twenty-hour week. A new company, with the new technology of air conditioning, started up in Hastings and offered four to five times what he was making.

On December 7, dad was squirrel hunting with friends when they heard the news on the car radio that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. They were all ready to join up in the service. Dad wanted to fly in the Air Force, but even the long hours of practicing with my mom to identify the crayons before him, could not prevent the Air Force from finding his color blindness.

Eventually he was drafted into the Army, married my mom, and went to Omaha.