I was born September 13, 1938, in Van Nuys, California. I spent most of my early years, until 1950, between the San Fernando Valley, Oxnard and Henderson, Nevada. In 1950 my parents divorced and I moved to Oxnard, California, to live with my grandparents. While living with my grandparents, I completed junior high school and high school, graduating from Oxnard Union High School in 1956.

At this point I moved back to the San Fernando Valley, to live with my mother, brother and step-dad. I attempted to do the college thing, going to Los Angeles Valley College and Pierce College, both in the San Fernando Valley area. I quickly learned the college life was not for me. Over the next two years I worked several odd jobs, including assembly line worker and gas station attendant. I was also involved in a hotrod car club, the Road Dusters. (I’m still a member of the club. We meet every two years.)

Finally, my best friend Jerry Walker, and I decided it was time to do something with our lives. We were both hesitant and undecided about our futures, but as we talked, we discovered that we were both interested in becoming police officers. We were both twenty years of age and at that time we knew we wouldn’t be hired by a major department, so we had to figure out what we could do.

In 1958 the US Army was offering a plan, known as the Buddy System, where two friends could join together, do the first three months of training together and chose what profession they wanted to train for. The US Army was the only service branch that offered police officer training, so we joined for a three-year enlistment.

Our initial training was at Ft. Ord, California, starting in September 1958. Military Police training was at Ft. Gordon, Georgia. When we completed our training, Jerry was stationed with the 502nd MPs in Munich, Germany and I went to the 793rd MPs in Heilbronn, Germany. I spent two years as a patrol officer, heading a detail of six officers who were in charge of investigating traffic accidents. During this time I was fortunate enough to go to school and get a semester’s credit in accident investigation, criminal investigation and photography.

When I returned to the United States, I was again stationed at Ft. Ord, California, with the 293rd MPs. I worked traffic investigation and assisted the California Highway Patrol. I married in 1961 and my oldest son, Rick, was born while I was still stationed at Fr. Ord. I was due to get out of the Army in September 1961 but the Cuban Missile Crisis required me to extend my service until April 1962.

In March 1962 I sat for exams for five different police departments. I passed all the exams but decided to join the Burbank Police Department in Burbank, California. I placed high on the exam, but because of competition and limited openings, I didn’t get placed with the force until March 1963. My first year was spent as a patrol officer. Soon I became interested in becoming a motorcycle officer and I was fortunate enough to do that until 1971. At that point I returned to patrol officer status. I went back to college and got a degree in law enforcement while studying for the Investigator Exam, which I passed in 1974.

My career became interesting and exciting when I became a member of a twelve city Burglary Investigation Team set up by the Federal Government. We were a very diverse group of people, from varied backgrounds and ethnic groups, but we quickly galvanized into an elite unit with a common focus: we were going to put away bad guys. We worked out of an office in Pasadena, California, investigating major burglary rings. We did this for three years while the Federal grant lasted and we made a lot of progress fighting crime. Our unit was responsible for sending an unprecedented 117 people to state prison and recovering over $3,000,000 in stolen property. At the end of the grant period, I returned to enforcement/investigation with the Burbank Police Department.

In May 1979, I heard about a job opening for Chief of Security at Black Butte Ranch, Oregon. I learned about the job and got the needed information from another Burbank police officer whose cousin was the Fire Chief at Black Butte Ranch. By this time I was thinking about change. I wanted to get my family out of the big city. I sent off my resume even though I had never been in Oregon. Soon, I received a call from Dick Howells, who was the Ranch General Manager at the time. My wife and I flew up for the interview. The spectacular country side I saw driving from the Portland International Airport over Santiam Pass made me really want the job.

In 1979 a California boy going after an Oregon job was anything but a sure thing. There were 17 applicants from Oregon so I didn’t give myself much of a chance. The Board of Directors for the district included: Bruce Price, Ozzie Dunaway, Bill Gamish, Bob Lucas, Wally Beckett, Earl Graham and Dick Howells. Even though I thought I did well in the oral exam with a group of very intelligent and successful individual, the idea of it being me against Oregon loomed large. When I left the Ranch on Sunday to return to California, Dick told me not to worry about being a Californian and that he would call me Tuesday morning.

On Tuesday at 0800 hours, well actually at 0755 hours, I got up and poured myself a cup of coffee. I was just starting to sit down when the phone rang. It was Dick. The first thing he asked was, “Are you sitting down?” I said, “No.” Dick then said, “Well, don’t, because you need to sell your house. You have one month before you take over as Chief.” I was really surprised!
What a mad house that month was! It was more difficult than my wife and I had expected it to be, but we got it done. The day we moved we looked like Gypsies with all the cars, trailers and the camper truck heading out to Oregon.

We moved into Rock Ridge 50 which was to be our new home at the Ranch. Soon my wife of 21 years decided she didn’t like it in Oregon. She chose to go back to Los Angeles and we later divorced.

The next few years were unbelievable. The first thing I had to do was convince the Deschutes County Sheriff, Sheriff Scholes, that I was any good. The challenge was getting me commissioned as a Deputy of the county working on the county’s behalf, but at Black Butte Ranch. It took some effort, but at last I was deputized. This was important because as a deputy, I could make arrests without having to call another county deputy. The other officers who worked for me were not county deputies, so they had to work through me. That was all right for the time being. Working in a small organization offers interesting challenges and opportunities. As part of my job, I was required to become a volunteer fireman and had to earn EMT certification

During this time the Ranch General Manager, Dick Howells, stepped down and management of the Ranch returned to the president of Brooks Resources. Having bosses who were not at the Ranch all the time created some difficulties, but my board was always supportive and we kept things moving in the right direction.

Finally, Mike Gallagher was hired as General Manager for the Ranch. We had to work our way through some difficult learning experiences. We focused upon common goals, always keeping the good of the Ranch as our focus. Over time we became great friends.

Some time during the mid-1980s the Ranch police department became members of the Rural Fire District as a police force. This allowed my officers to become commissioned county deputies, with all the associated enforcement capabilities. Then in 1988 we were told that the rural fire district could not include police officers. This was shocking news and it turned things up-side-down for awhile.

For nine months, while everyone was trying to figure out how to effectively offer police coverage at the Ranch, I had to become an independent contractor who hired the officers as employees. I'd never run a business before and this was a new experience. It took the help of numerous Ranch homeowners and my wife, Betsy, who was an accountant, to make things work. As the nine months were coming to an end it looked like the Ranch Board of Directors was going to hire a private contractor out of Portland as the Ranch police service.

Betsy and I had married in 1982, so by 1988 when the problem with the department happened, we had two young boys. This made the idea of starting over difficult to think about. The Portland police services contractor said I’d have a job but nothing was assured. I was ready to go back to the Burbank Police Department if things couldn’t be worked out. Even though it had been nine years, I was told they would be happy to take me back.

There were a great number of homeowners, including the police board who didn’t want to lose the police department. Finding and crafting a solution to the problem required the time, knowledge and effort of some key people, including, Keith Skeleton, Ed Denniston, Pat Fordney and Jack Morton. These people invested months of work, without pay, their only concern being what was good for the Ranch, to help form a Public Service District. It had never been done before on the West Coast. We were looking to form a public service police district for an unincorporated community. The project ended up requiring a bill to be crafted allowing for the formation of the district which then had to be voted on by the both the Oregon State House of Representatives and the Oregon Senate and finally signed by the governor. Special thanks have to be given here to Bev Clarno and Ben Westland and the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners for helping us get the bill through the legislature.

Once the bill was signed, it had to be voted on by the registered voters who lived on the Ranch. As I remember, the vote was 181 for the new district and three who voted against it. This was a landmark decision, leading the way for other communities, such as Sunriver, who now has their own service district.

Above I mentioned the four people who went to bat for me, but there are so many others; the list is long. I have so much to be thankful for regarding the support I received. A few people who always helped me keep my spirits high were Carl Burnham, Paul Goodmonson and Bob and Peggy Lucas. My Police Board was supportive, too, telling me there was no way I would be leaving the Ranch. All the warmth and support from so many people made me feel like I had a large family. I love these people dearly.

Once the Service district was in place I was able to hire quality personnel and send them to the Police Academy in Portland for certification. I want to give special thanks to Sergeant Harry Hawkins who came on board as a certified officer. He and I formed a department that was respected by all the law enforcement agencies in the area. The Oregon Chiefs of Police, of which I was a member, offered excellent support to our department’s development.

It was hard at the beginning to convince some people that we needed a police department. The Ranch was growing. Even more important were outside influences which brought crime onto the Ranch. This was proven numerous times over the years. A few of the outstanding instances are listed in Peggy Lucas’ book, There is a Place.

As I look back, I wouldn’t change a thing. We did the right thing for the Ranch and I made many, many wonderful friends.

Since retiring, which was hard to do, I’ve become very active within the Sisters community. I’ve worked a lot with the Sisters schools and other organizations. I’ve become a coach and gotten really involved with the kids. I’m well known when I walk around Sisters High School and that feels good. Both of our boys went all the way through the schools in Sisters School District. Betsy and I are proud to be part of a community that has schools that are as good as any in the nation.

Betsy and I love the community of Sisters and the homeowners of Black Butte Ranch whose support allowed us to stay in this wonderful place.