Following my discharge from the Army, I worked as a Dispatcher in the Town of Big Stone Gap, VA, Police Department. That lasted a little over a year. During this time I “found” my future wife, Teresa Brickey. After a courtship and engagement of one year (we were old-fashioned; we allowed time to “get acquainted” before we married, just to be sure (NO, we didn’t live together during that time – that was a “no-no”– and her dad had a shotgun)). We were married in 1962.

Six month before we married, I moved to Erwin, TN, another small town, and started work as Chief Engineer at a (the) radio station there. In the eighteen years at that job in Erwin, I stepped through the ranks up to Station Manager.

Erwin was the headquarters of the Clinchfield Railroad that carried only freight (no passenger cars), primarily coal, from the mines in SW Virginia and Kentucky to Spartanburg, SC. From there, other railroad lines carried it throughout the South.

Eventually, in the late ‘70s – early ‘80s the Clinchfield was sold to the Southern Systems and moved the Erwin offices and shops to Savannah, GA and Jacksonville, FL (the Clinchfield is now part of the CSX Rail System).  Plus, in the early ‘50s, four other major local employers shut down operations. That pretty much made Erwin a ghost town! But, creativity in the economic development people there started bringing in other diverse industries and today Erwin is making a good comeback.

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Following marriage, we decided to wait a few years before starting a family. Teresa went to Cosmetology school and became a hair dresser, eventually owning two beauty shops. She was very talented and quite successful in that field.

Then we found out that we, medically, could not have children! So, we applied to adopt a child. In TN at the time, adoptions were done through a State agency. A year later we were bless with a little five-month-old girl whom we named Tracie. You can read her story at THIS site.

Over three years later, our naturally-born son, Marty, made his appearance, to the surprise of the doctors! But Marty has always been able to make things happen – even after his delivery!

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During the years we spent in Erwin, we were involved with the Erwin Presbyterian Church. It was there that we experienced an enhanced relationship with the Lord. More on that later.

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In 1978, I left the radio station; I felt that I had gone as far “up the ladder” that I could in that field, at that location. I went to the local telephone company as a Microwave Technician and spent nearly three years in that (well-paying) position. Then in 1982, I got a call to go to Florida!