[`99 Tornado] [Tahquamenon Falls]
I used to have a larger collection of family member information and pictures here. However, I have removed most of it from here (but access is available to my actual family members upon request!). I do now have just a couple of albums on Picasa. The remaining information follows...
I (and 3 other family members) went to Iowa State University (go Cyclones!) where I (and my dad and one brother) was a member of Beta Sigma Psi fraternity, but my children made other choices!
Sarah has taken a post-doctoral position in the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine working with Ivan Soltesz. She will begin there this fall (2009).
Sarah recently defended her Ph.D. in physics at The University of Michigan. She previously received an NSF graduate fellowship which started in May, 2005. Her thesis advisor was Michal Zochowski with whom she studied coupled dynamical systems with applications in neuroscience. In the summer of 2006 she attended the Beijing Complex Systems Summer School in Beijing, China.
Sarah graduated from The University of Kansas (started Fall 2000) with majors in Physics and Mathematics. In the spring of 2003, she became one of the four recipients from KU of the Goldwater Scholarship. And, she was chosen as a recipient of one the University of Kansas Chancellor's awards (and see the full list) granted at graduation in the spring of 2004.
Sarah graduated from Norman High North and was a member of the band and orchestra, playing flute. She was named to the OMEA (All-State) band and OMEA orchestra while there.
Alex is currently working on a Ph.D. program in philosophy at the University of Oklahoma as of the fall of 2007. He completed a Masters degree program (M.Litt.2) in 2007 studying philosophy at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.
Alex graduated (spring 2006, began fall 2002) from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa with majors in religion and philosophy. He also made the varsity roster for the men's soccer team and earned a varsity letter his freshman year there. He worked at Pine Lake Lutheran Camp in the summers of 2003 and 2004. It is part of Crossways Camping Ministries. In the summer of 2003, he got a break from camp and worked at the ELCA national youth gathering in Atlanta. In the summer of 2004, he was selected as an Undergraduate Fellow of the Fund for Theological Education. He did a semester of study abroad at Lancaster University in England in the fall of 2004.
Alex graduated from Norman High North and lettered on the varsity soccer team there. He had also played for the Celtic Green 84 club soccer team which was part of the NYSA (Norman Youth Soccer Association).
My wife, Jan, works at Kennedy Elementary in Norman and even has a class web page!
I have a write-up of my Dad's tour of duty in World War II. I also have a copy of his obituary. And, discovered after his death, we found that, appropriately, Saint Arnold was the patron saint of brewers of beer.
My sister, Peggy, teaches 7th grade at St. Paul's Lutheran Church & School in Bonduel, WI.
My sister, Karen, is an Associate Professor in the College of Nursing at Seattle University.
... if you find web pages for any of my other siblings or in-laws, I'll be glad to add them!
This picture of me was taken in the fall of 1992. It was scanned into a .jpg file (from the PC lab scanner) in November 1994.
Ok, just for the humor value... a progression of photos of me. Also, I downloaded the satellite images (from April 23, 1994) of the farm (lower left section plus part of the lower right section of the full square mile on the right) where I grew up and the farmyard close-up from the USGS images available from TerraServer. From the information at that site, the farm house is located at: 43N 23' 10" and 93W 00' 40". Another satellite photo of North America taken from space at night shows the lights of my home town and of my current city.
On May 3, 1999, there was the worst tornado outbreak in central Oklahoma since I have lived here (which is since the fall of 1974). Here is a map of preliminary tornado paths with Oklahoma county outlines. The map covers all of Oklahoma except the panhandle and the easternmost counties. The 'X' is approximately located at our address, showing how close to us the worst tornado came (at the large scale).
To see a bit more detail, here is a map from the National Weather Service showing the tornadoes paths and strengths in central Oklahoma. Our house is about halfway between I-35 and the little dot to the left of the word 'Norman' (in Cleveland county). The nearest approach of the tornado was about 10 miles and it was about F4 or F5 in strength then (we could hear the roar from our front yard). Here is a photo taken of the tornado at about the time we could hear it. (Photo from The Daily Oklahoman by photographer Paul Hellstern - their caption indicated this was when it crossed SW 134th and Pennsylvania Ave.)
Here is an aerial view of looping vortex suction marks near Cashion, OK from this same set of storms. This photo was taken by John Jarboe of the NWS.
One of my favorite images is this one of Tahquamenon Falls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This provides me with a great sense of calm and peace as I recall the times I have visited this spot. Note that, on a Sun workstation using the xv program, a Gamma factor of 1.8 to 2.5 greatly improves the appearance. This picture came from Travels with Samantha (a "book" written in a form available on the WWW and one of the earliest of such written).
[Part of Andy's web pages]
