Grand Haven Mens Golf Assoc.

I’ve often said I’m happy that I was good at some things in life.  If I only had my golf prowess to reflect upon – I’d be a very depressed person.  Seriously, I love golf because it is such a social game.  Where else do you get to spend four (five if you’re playing with certain people) hours at a time with friends.

 

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y along with my three younger sisters.  The oldest passed away in 1989, the second is a part timer at Grand Haven and the youngest is in Hudson, FL.  I attended public grammar school and what was then one of the best High Schools in the country, Brooklyn Tech where I was a member of the varsity swimming team.  Not much dating in high school, the student body was comprised of 6,000 boys.  After high school I enlisted in the US Navy where I became an Electronics Technician and served aboard a WWII vintage diesel submarine.  Shortly after my discharge from the Navy, I married Diana who I started dating in my senior year of high school.  I was really in love, taking the subway or driving from Brooklyn to the Bronx, a distance of 28 miles, just to see her smiling face.  Diana and I have two children, a son in Dublin, OH who is a successful Leadership Consultant, and a daughter who followed her star to Los Angeles.

 

After the Navy I worked for EDO Corporation for two years, then spent 17 years at AT&T, slowing making my way up the ladder from Communications Craftsman to District Manager.  AT&T was a great training ground in that I had assignments in Operations, Sales, and Marketing.  While at AT&T I took advantage of their tuition aid plan and my Veterans benefits to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from New York Institute of Technology and a Masters in Business from NYU.  I then spent four years at Merrill Lynch as VP Network Operations; nine years at Progressive Insurance as VP Telecommunications and Computer Services; three years at MBNA Bank as SVP Telecommunications; and lastly five years at WellPoint Health Networks as VP Telecommunications.  The most rewarding part of my career was identifying the people with technical talent and drive and providing them with the tools to excel.

 

My career had us living all over the country, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Delaware and California, but when it came time to retire we returned to Grand Haven.  We moved here in 2003 but fell in love with the area years earlier when we visited Diana’s Aunt and Uncle who lived in Matanzas.  The area is only part of the draw, what makes this place really special is the people.  My sister Judy visited for a week shortly after we settled in to see if her Type “A” brother really retired, before she returned to New York she bought her retirement place here in Grand Haven.  When asked what made her decide so quickly – she said the people.  The support I receive each year for the Navy League golf tournament is a resounding testament to the kindness of the people of Grand Haven.  Primarily because of that support the St Augustine Council has been renamed the St. Augustine – Palm Coast Council of the Navy League of the United States.  Thank you all.