- I was born in Idaho Falls and raised on a farm west of town, not attending city schools until the ninth grade.

- After graduation from I.F High I attended and graduated from Idaho State University (then Idaho State College) with a bachelor degree in Business Administration.

- I served two years in the U.S. Army playing my trombone in the 493rd Army Band. While stationed in Ft. Dix New Jersey, I appeared consecutively on the Arlene Francis "Soldiers on Parade" TV show from New York City, singing in the Army Chorus. My folks in Idaho Falls could pick the delayed program up two weeks later on their black & white TV.

- I married Georgia Kortum of Pocatello and we spent our first year of married life, and my last year of army service at Ft. Benning, Georgia.

- We returned home and raised four children on our farm west of Idaho Falls and on our cattle ranch in the Centennial Valley of Montana.

- Georgia and I became very active in the Republican Party. Georgia worked for both Sen. Jim McClure and Sen. Larry Craig in their Eastern Idaho Regional Offices for a total of 24 years.

- After semi-retiring from farming in 1996 I began working for then Rep. Mike Crapo and have continued doing so for fourteen years. I spent time in Washington D.C. working on the crafting of the 2002 Farm Bill.

- I took leave from Sen. Crapo's office for a short two years and we moved to Boise. I assumed a political appointment to become the State Executive Director for the Farm Service Agency of the USDA Boise office.

- Upon the change of the federal administration, we returned to Idaho Falls and I resumed working on agricultural issues in the state for Sen. Crapo, as his Special Assistant, which I am continuing to do at this time.