mick taylor life history

8/14/2019 Mick Taylor Life History

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Tips for writing life history:

Your Beginnings

In Your Neighborhood

School Days

Off to Work

Romance and Marriage

War and Peace

Triumphs and Tragedies

Words of Wisdom

Humor

Words of Gratitude

My Beginnings

Mexico

I was born on March 27, 1943 at the Muguerza hospital (add linkto Jose A. Muguerzaand a linkto my birth certificate) in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico (Nuevo Leon is thestate in Mexico where Monterrey is located). From Moms journal:

On 27 March 1943 our second baby, Michael, was born. He was fat and chubby andhad dark hair and blue eyes. These were some of my happiest years, Monterrey with thetwo little boys.

My birth name is Michael Taylor (no middle name). My parents are Harold WhitneyTaylor and Jean Gay Pratt Taylor. At the time of my birth, Dad was working as anaccountant for the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) at the time(add linkto ASARCO Company History).

Dad was born in Colonia Juarez and Mom in Colonia Dublan (now known as Nuevas

Casas Grandes).

Thanks to Dads purchase of a 16-mm movie camera and a film camera, many of myearly years in Monterrey are preserved. As I view those movies and photos, it is hard forme to distinguish which things are a part of my actual memory and which are soley dueto their capture on media. Nevertheless, as I remember them (and as I see them onmedia), those first three years were wonderful, adventurous years and I was loving life. Iwas close to my brother Terry (Terry Chileno Taylor) and we played outside a lot, had


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wonderful toys, were familiar with the neighborhood swimming pool, and never wenthungry (as evidenced by my pot-bellied shape at that age). The folks had housingprovided by ASARCO and had household staff to do the cooking and cleaning. So lifewas pretty good back in those early days. For Moms 90 th birthday, I put together a DVDthat captures a lot of that footage. Copies have been distributed to all of our children (its

the one with a photo of a young married Mom and Dad on the DVD cover).

Oxnard, California

When I was around 2 years old, our family moved to southern California, to the city ofOxnard in Ventura County. Oxnard is a coastal city and at the time heavily agricultural.My Dad and my Uncle Ray Taylor (Morris Ray Taylor) had decided to go into businesstogether. There were two properties involved: the Handy Spot market and a trailer parkjust to the south of the market. The market had a gas station outside on the east side withone or two pumps, living quarters in the back on the west side, and a side yard on thesouth side. As I recall, there were only two bedrooms, a small bathroom, and a kitchen.

No tub, just a shower stall. Following is an article about the market written in 1948. Forsome reason, they got Moms name wrong, calling her Ruth.


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I remember going to a nursery school somewhere in Oxnard. It seemed as though thedays were very long and I wanted to be back with Mom and Dad and didnt want to be atthat school. My Mom says this from her journal:

We lived on a five-points intersection and we put the boys in a nursery school for a

while during the day when we were so busy in the store. Wartime business was verygood.

There was a trailer court adjoining the market, full of Okies and Aarkies, etc., andtransient workers. Terry and Michael played with their children and brought them to thehouse.

Another memory I have there is when Terry was killed in an auto accident. It is to thisday a very vivid memory. A group of us kids were playing outside. The store was locatedon the southwest corner of Wooley Rd. and Saviers boulevard. The location was alsoknown as five points because of the five major streets that converged at that location.

Here is a picture (from Google Earth):


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The large red square by the five-points intersection encompasses the area where theHandy Spot and trailer park used to be (it is now a car lot). Terry was killed on the streetthat runs north and south right just to the east (Saviers Road).The small red square fartherto the west marks the property of 220 West Wooley Rd, where we moved after thestore (more about that later).

I had been crossing Saviers Road back and forth with Terry holding my hand. The lasttime he crossed the street, he let go of my hand and went by himself. That is when wasstruck by a car driven by a doctors wife. The next thing I remember is that I wasworking my way through a large crowd gathered in the street and I looked down on Terrylaying on his back. I could see that there was blood on his chest and I could see theoutline of his ribs through the blood. He was making some rattling sounds with hisbreathing, I think there must have been a lot of internal damage and that his lungs werefilling with blood. That is my last memory of Terry alive. Mom wrote a touching story ofwhen she and my Dad were at the hospital and they learned that he had passed away. Dadfainted. Here is an account from Moms journal:

Saturday 2 June 1947, Rollo and Helen were married. Next day was Sunday and we allpicked strawberries on a local farm. That night I was to go to a fireside chat but couldntget a baby tender so Harold went and I stayed with the boys. I read to them while we alllay on the bed together. Terry hugged me hard and said I love you, Mama.

Next day was Monday and we had halibut and peas for lunch, Terrys favorite. He hadbeen playing in a pepper tree with his little friends all morning. I was concerned that hemight fall so I had gone out to check. He called to me from high in the tree, LookMama, I can climb clear up to heaven!

At lunch he lost one of his little teeth, then ran out to play again. I was washing thedishes about 3:30 when a woman ran into the store saying Mrs. Taylor, its Terry! Iran out carrying my dishtowel with me to see a large crowd collected on Saviers Roadand little Terry lying in the street in a critical condition but still breathing. After ages, itseemed, the ambulance came and we went in it with him to the hospital. They examinedhim while we prayed desperately but when the nurse came out she told us Hes gone.

Harold fainted but it still seemed unreal to me. There he lay in his little dusty overallsand some new heavy shoes we had just bought him. His little-boy hands still faintlywarm and his long golden lashes against his cheeks. I kissed him goodbye and we leftwith Romer Bell, president of the Oxnard Branch. He was very kind and helped consoleus. Terry was buried at the Ivy Lawn cemetery near Ventura. Burton Bushman andRomer Bell spoke at the service and Blenda Andersen and Ben Taylor sang.

We missed Terry but Michael missed him more. We were thankful to have Michael andhe helped so much to comfort us. Michael told us he and Terry were walking on thesidewalk when a friend called Terry from across the street at the service station. He toldTerry to come over across Saviers Road to the rest room. Michael told us He let go ofmy hand.


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We had always had a testimony of the gospel but it seemed that losing Terry made itmuch stronger and helped us to become more active. About this time Oscar W.McConkie became president of the California Mission and called for volunteers to behome missionaries. I was set apart and served a two-year home mission for which I

received an honorable release. I also served three years as YLMIA president in Oxnardthe three years as chorister of Sunday School; music and dance director of MIA, twoyears each; literary teacher in Relief Society one year.

I remember after that accident that Mom cried a lot. We had an upright piano and shewould play it to comfort herself and me. One time I was sitting on the piano bench withher and she was so sad. I said, Dont worry, Mom, you still have me! She blamedTerrys death for a while on the fact that she and Dad were less active in the church.

The store was a playground to me. I saw and learned a lot. I remember some of thepeople that would come in to the store. There was this one large man with a huge potbelly

that would come in to buy chewing tobacco. He wore coveralls and had tobacco stains alldown the front of his coveralls. I asked Dad about this and he said that he couldnt spitthe tobacco far enough to miss his coveralls, so thats where all the ugly brown stainscame from. Ladies would come in and make over me and ask where I got such beautifuleyes. Dad told me to tell them They came with my head! I had a lot of neighborhoodfriends that would come into the store and ask me to get them a treat. So I would pass outcandy bars and pop. I think I usually asked first, but I cant recall exactly if I always did.

Speaking of food, when I think back in those days, there couldnt have been manypreservatives used in the food. I remember that for breakfast, I would just go to one of theshelves and grab a box of cereal, open it, and pour myself a big bowl. One time, I openeda box and a few moths flew out! Evidently, some eggs had been deposited in the cereal,the larvae fed on the corn flakes, and turned into moths. It was pretty disgusting! Thestore is where I was first introduced to Hostess cupcakes, you know, the ones with thechocolate frosting, with the white squiggly design on the top, and the whipped creamfilling. I loved those! And they are sill around to this day!

I loved Nesbitts orange drink in those days, it came in a tall skinny bottle, and had littlebits of orange (maybe orange peel?) floating in it. Yummy!!


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I also remember Tootsie rolls. They were delicious and very chocolaty and melted inyour mouth into an almost chocolate syrup/paste. Much better when compared to todaysversion. Also, we had Beemans gum and Clove gum.

Dad had a spot behind the counter in the store where he had a small butcher shop with acounter for cutting meat and a glass-covered refrigerator so you could see the finishedproduct inside. Hed buy the large cuts of meat and then use a meat cleaver and sharpknives to create chops and steaks per customers orders. He also had a grinder for makingground beef. He tried to teach me how to use the equipment a couple of times, but I wasscared of the meat cleaver it was a pretty wicked looking thing.

We had a big metal tub in the back yard. It was rectangular, maybe six feet long and threefeet wide and two feet deep. Dad would fill it up with water and I would jump in with mybathing suit and splash around. Neighbor kids would also come over to join in. I think itwas some army surplus item. I also remember that one time the tub was upside down andour cat had a litter of kittens under it. We also had a round metal tub inside the housewhere Mom used to give Terry and me our baths. She would heat water on the stove andpour it in the tub for us to bathe in.


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I have a memory of eating breakfast in the kitchen and spilling milk on the floor. I wastoo lazy to wipe it up and Mom came walking in, slipped in the puddle, and wentcrashing to the floor. But I dont remember getting disciplined over it or anything.

Of course, I grew up believing in Santa Claus and the Easter bunny. On time on a

Saturday night, the night before Easter Sunday, I was in bed, still awake, eagerlyanticipating the arrival of the Easter bunny the next morning. I looked out from my bedand saw some amorphous white figures moving quietly about in the next room where Iknew the Easter baskets were going to be found Sunday morning. I was absolutely surethat I had spotted two large Easter bunnies. In retrospect, I am sure it was Mom and Dadmoving about in white clothing (maybe garments?).

There was a doorway between the main store and the living quarters. There was no door;instead, the opening was covered with a cloth curtain that was quite frayed at the bottom.I was fascinated with those frayed ends and one time I struck a match and lit one of thoseends to see what would happen. Of course, the curtain quickly caught fire. Fortunately,

Mom and Dad were close by and quickly put it out.Some other random memories I have of the store:

We lived fairly close to some railroad tracks. If you look at the earlier aerial photo, youwill see that these tracks run east and west on the north side of Wooley Road (there is aline of green trees that border the tracks). Late at night while in my bed, I could hear thewhistle of the locomotive and I always got a spooky feeling but I also tried to imaginebeing on that train at night headed for mysterious destinations (sort of like in the PolarExpress book).

I made friends with some kids in the trailer park. One of them was named Duane. When Iwould visit his trailer, his mom would fix toast but it was buttered and then fried in askillet. I dont know if we even had toasters back then. It was pretty good, and I wouldoften bug mom to fix me Duane toast. I knew an old lady in the park and every time Isaw her, she would say my stars, you are getting big or something to that effect.Whatever she said, it was preceded with my stars. I also remember that there weresome unsavory characters that lived there. I stayed as far away from them as I could.

I had a bedwetting problem for a while. Those incidences always were accompanied by astrange dream. The dream was that I was walking by or through a huge factory with allkinds of complicated machinery. There were lots of gears, smokestacks, and randombuildings. Everything was tall, and I was always looking up to see everything. After thedream, I would always wake up to a wet bed. I remember feeling stressed during thedream, like something was going to happen to me.

Around February of 1948, we went to Knotts Berry Farm with my uncle and auntBeecroft. I think we must have driven in separate cars. On the way back to Oxnard, I wasstanding up in the back seat pretending to shoot at Indians in the hills along the freeway(Highway 101). All of a sudden, everything went topsy-turvy. Dad has fallen asleep atthe wheel and crossed clear over the highway onto the other side and the car rolled and


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ended upside down. I dont think I was hurt at all, but I remember Mom had somelacerations on her leg that were bleeding and Dad broke his finger I think. The car was a1942 Chevy coupe. Interesting thing about that car. Some policemen came by the houseonce and almost arrested Dad because a very similar grey 1942 Chevy coupe had beenused in a crime. It looked exactly like the one below:

I was standing in the back seat on the drivers side looking out that little window whenthe car rolled. When we all got out, I remember seeing the tires sticking up in the air andthey were still spinning around. I dont remember how we got home.

I dont remember how many years my folks managed the store, but we eventually moveddown the street to 220 West Wooley Road. From Moms journal, here are the eventsleading up to the move and the changes in employment for Dad and Mom:

Harold and I had been running Taylors Market in Oxnard until the highway wentthrough in front of the market at five points and the location was to be demolished. Wedesperately needed another source of income and Harold obtained a position in CivilService and I (with a small noisy Underwood typewriter) did typing at home for YourSecretary for $1.00 per hour. One day I was delivering some work to the office of thecompany and ran into Gene Hare, who was a legal secretary. We talked for awhile aboutour work and she mentioned a legal firm in town that needed an extra secretary at thattime. I applied there to Attorney Edward Maxwell whose office was in the Bank of ALevy building upstairs. His secretary interviewed me and I was hired part-time eventhough I had not had previous legal experience.

One day Mrs. Hunter (the secretary) told me a Mr. and Mrs. Broome were coming in toconsult with Mr. Maxwell about the settlement of Mr. Broomes fathers estate as he hadjust died and he would be bringing his wife. When they came to the office Mrs. Hunterintroduced me to both of them. I could see Mrs Broome was very pregnant. Soon afterthis Mrs. Hunter turned over some books from Rancho Guadalasca for me to keep up todate with entries until he could find a permanent secretary/bookkeeper.


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One day Mrs. Hunter told me the Catholic Church was hiring an entrepreneur from NewYork to come to Oxnard to manage a fund raising campaign for St. Johns Hospital.They needed a pool of expert typists for the time the campaign would last (approximatelytwo weeks) and suggested I apply which I did. My sister-in-law, Helen Pratt, was eagerto take care of Rosie who was just one year old.

Toward the end of the campaign which had been very successful, a big rally was held at abuilding in downtown Oxnard. There was music and refreshments, all the typing poolwas there and also all the fund raisers, which included Mr. Broome who headed up allthe ranchers and farmers in Ventura county as they were the elite and richest of thepopulation.

At this party I saw Mr. Broome sitting all alone in a corner looking very downcast. Onimpulse, because I had remembered meeting him and Mrs. Broome in the law office, Iwent over and asked him if their baby had arrived yet. He said no.

When the campaign finally ended several days later Victor Larsen (the entrepreneur)came over and asked me to come outside to his car as he had something to tell me anddid not want the other girls listening. I could not imagine what was going on. He toldme Mr. Broome needed a secretary and bookkeeper and had asked him for their fastesttypist! I told him I was not interested in working as I had a little girl only one year old.He was very persuasive and gave me the ranch phone number and urged me to at leastgo for an interview.

I talked about this with Harold and neither one of us thought it was a good idea, butwhen the day came I did drive out to the ranch and was interviewed by Mr. Broome. Iexplained there would be more babies coming, that my first priority was my home andchildren and might have to work only part time. He agreed to this and said somethingcould be worked out for a period of confinement. I save my last salvo for last. I hadbeen earning only $1.00 per hour so I decided if I told him I had to have $1.50 he wouldgive up. He agreed and the job was mine, for 27 years!

My moms mother, Grace Zenor Pratt, purchased a home at 220 West Wooley Road andwe lived in a small house in the rear (220 ). My moms brother Billy (Noel BillingsleyPratt) built a 2-unit, two-story apartment building between the two homes that grandmarented out. She also owned some beach property on Oxnard beach, which she eventuallysold. Uncle Billy took me out there a few times to show me the property. He was in lawenforcement at the time.

It was about this time that Dad began work as a civil servant at Point Mugu Naval base.The base was about 10 miles from the house. He took a job as a painter and specialized inpainting all kinds of signs and equipment. He also was very skilled in calligraphy. Momalso began work at the Broome Ranch across Highway 1 from Point Mugu after havingworked in some law offices in Oxnard. Mr. Broome discovered her there.

Below is a photo of grandmas house (taken in 2007):


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And here is our home (also taken in 2007):


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I had a lot of adventures at 220 West Wooley Road. There were three huge apricottrees on the southwest part of the property. I used to climb up in them and pick theapricots when they were ripe. Delicious! There was also a large plum tree in the front

yard with big, dark purple plums. I would also climb up that tree and eat them till I wassick. In addition, we had a huge avocado tree in the front yard. Between our house andGrandmas, there was a giant Jacaranda tree that had very beautiful purple blossoms inthe spring each year. We also had some flowers that some people called pink ladies andothers called naked ladies. I thought the latter name was a little more exciting. Heres apicture (they are actually a type of lily):


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I remember my cousin Evie (Evelyn Pratt Dykes) and I would take turns playing in aswing that had been erected in the tree. There was also a huge fig tree that was on theneighbors side, but hung over on our side, close to the apricot trees. I tried to get intoeating the figs, but never really liked them much.

Dad planted flower beds in the front yard with a large variety of brightly colored flowers.I must have been stung by bees once or twice because I became obsessed with a fear ofbees and every night would pray that the bees wouldnt get me. I also learned a lot ofswear words from my friends and I remember when I was 8 or 9, I would march aroundthe yard repeating these swear words having no idea what they meant.

Some friends and I thought it would be a big adventure to dig big caverns in the groundby the apricot trees and cover them with planks or sheets of plywood. I mean, these holeswere big! They were over our heads and wed climb down in them and pull over thecovering so it was very dark, and wed pretend we were at war, or hiding from enemies,or any number of wild and crazy things. I sill remember to this day the odor of the earth,

and little roots and vines sticking out from the earthen walls. Mom and Dad didnt seemto concerned with these activities although if one of these forts had collapsed, wecould have been buried alive for sure!

At the back of the property, there was a small warehouse. It wasnt ours, but I used to getinto it and go exploring. One of the great discoveries was bullets of all shapes and sizes.They fascinated me. I would work on a bunch of them with pliers, wrenching off the leadtip and then dumping the gunpowder onto the sidewalk in back of the house. When I hada big enough pile, I would throw a match in it and watch the explosion and smoke andfire. I was really a pyro, I guess. I did the same thing with a chemistry set my folksbought. I would mix sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate (aka gunpowder), make a pileon the sidewalk, and ignite it. Pretty soon, the sidewalk was all marked up with blackspots from these mini explosions. One time, I even made a fire under one of the biggerbullets to see what would happen. I dont think it ever exploded luckily for me.

Dad built a storage shed in the back. It was directly under a huge pepper tree. He attacheda basketball backboard and hoop to the side of the shed, so that is where I got my start inbasketball. When you climbed on top of the shed, you could get access to the pepper tree.I nailed some planks into the trunk so I could climb up the trunk far enough to climb outon the various huge branches that reached out over the property to the south, which wasusually planted in crops of corn and squash. I spent hours in that tree. When I climbed outfar enough on a branch, I could get it rocking up and down and have quite a ride. Dadbuilt a tree house in that tree, so it was always an adventure to go up the tree and hang outfor a while. One time, Bob fell off the shed roof onto the ground. Another time, I sliddown headfirst and my pantleg caught on a nail, which kept me from falling all the wayto the ground, and I was hanging there for a while. I dont remember how I got out of thatpredicament.

My schooling began at Driffill school, just a few blocks to the west. Here is a picture.


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Kindergarten was my first experience. My teachers name was Mrs.Womack. I dontthink we had preschools back then. If Mom were her, shed deny this, but I know that shewas concerned about my complexion and sometimes, shed tie a scarf around my headand apply lipstick (we didnt have chapstick back then). I remember a mandatory

naptime, snacks, and running around the playground chased by girls in my class. Forsome reason, the girls chasing me and my guy friends always caught us. There was alarge shoe in the playground (as in the story of the old lady in the shoe, she had so manykids, she didnt know what to do).It was a shoe you could climb up on and go inside andplay in it. We met in a quonset hut several of the building on the schoolground wereQuonset huts. I think they must have been army surplus. Some research yielded this:

During WWII somewhere around 160,000 of them were built. After the war the militaryoffered them to the public at very cheap prices. They were made of corrugated steelsheets. The two ends were covered with plywood, which had doors and windows and theywere insulated and a lot of them had wooden floors. Here is a typical picture.


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It was about this time that I got engaged in sports. There was a baseball diamond at thesouthwest corner of the school and I would often go there and play baseball with olderboys. I had no idea how to run the bases and had to be told which base to run to after I hitthe ball and where to run when the next batter hit the ball. I remember feeling reallystupid because I wasnt sure what to do half the time. I was surprised to go on GoogleEarth and find that the ball diamond is still where is was 60 years ago!! Take a look. The

red square encloses the ball diamond. I attended K-6 all over the school, in variousbuildings. Wooley Road is the street just to the south of the school.


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One of my first experiences with basketball involved a boy by the name of PhillipTucker, a black boy. I was always amazed how good a player he was. Instead of shootinga regular layup, he had a technique of spinning the ball off his fingertips so that when ithit the backboard, it would angle and glance into the basket. It was almost like magic tome. I tried to become skilled at this, following his lead. At lunch and recess, wed alwayshead to the basketball court and play pickup games. Philip has a strange body odor abouthim.

I grew up in the era of Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris. One of the firstgloves I bought was a Joe Dimaggio glove. It cost around $8.00 at a local sporting goodsstore in downtown Oxnard. I got some Neatsfoot oil and would spend hours cleaning the

glove and conditioning it with oil, until it was soft and supple. At night, I would press ahardball into the pocket and form the glove tight around it so it would make a nice deep,well-formed pocket. On Wooley Road, between 220 and the Handy Spot, there was alarge empty field, where we would often play pickup games with other boys in theneighborhood. I remember some older boys that were really talented and I hoped I couldplay as well as them someday.


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It seemed like I always had a bicycle. I had a pretty bad bike accident while riding oneday on the sidewalk with Gordon Eastwood, a neighborhood friend. I must have beenaround 5 or 6. We still lived in back of the Handy Spot at the time. We were racing downthe sidewalk when I suddenly flew over the handlebars and landed on the sidewalk. I splitopen my chin and it was bleeding like crazy. I went home and Mom took care of me. We

went to see the family doctor (Dr. Tolmach) and he stitched it up. I still have a scar there.One of the big adventures I had on the bike (it had a basket on the front and a little bell)was to ride out to one of the fishing piers in Port Hueneme. Gordon and I would pack upour fishing poles, tackle boxes, lunchbox, and bait (if we had any) and travel the 3 or 4miles out to the pier on a Saturday and spend most of the day there. The picture belowshows the route (red line) we took to the pier. The pier is at the end of the red line.


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One of the most fun fish to catch was jacksmelt. Here is a picture.

The fun thing about jacksmelt is that they really put up a fight, so it was always veryexciting to hook one and reel it in. Perch were also bountiful off the pier. We would cutup the smaller perch and used for bait to catch more jacksmelt. Occasionally, we wouldsee large dark shapes swimming around the pier. I believe they were sharks.

Another bad bike accident happened to Scott Eastwood, Gordons younger brother. Wewere playing on the sidewalk in front of Gordons house and some kid came by ridingreally fast on his bike and collided with Scott, breaking his leg. The rider almost hit me aswell.

I did pretty well in school. In class, I was always raising my hand because I could get theanswer to the teachers questions faster than the other kids. And the kids would all relyon me to help them with homework. But in one of my classes, I met my match with a girlthat was smarter than me and pretty soon, they were all asking her for help instead of me.I was pretty miffed about that and resolved to try harder to beat her. I remember the smellof the pencils and pencil lead when working in class. We had these huge wooden pencilsand the leads would always break, so we would have to ask permission to go to the pencilsharpener and sharpen the points. We read the run Dick, run and see Jane run typesof books. In first grade, I had a bully that kept following me home and trying to beat meup. I was pretty upset about this and told Mom and Dad. They talked to the school to seeif they could do something, but I think their hands were tied, so I just had to work things

out for myself and try to avoid him.

I was big for my age, so when it came time for me to go to first grade, they accidentallyput me in second grade. Heres the story from Mom:

We lived in Oxnard and Mickey attended kindergarten and elementary school in Oxnard.As it was just past war time, schools were very crowded and in the confusion, he was putinto second grade instead of first. As he was a large boy, the mistake was not discoveredfor several months. He kept telling us school was kind of hard! (Anyone ever seen themovie Matilda?). The principal was embarrassed by this error but his teacher (secondgrade) insisted they should leave him where he was. We were impartial, so to settle the

dispute, they had a psychometrist come up from UCLA to give him many tests and thedecision was made to leave him a grade ahead as he came out so well academically andsocially on the tests. Consequently, he has gone through school one grade ahead of hisage group.

I only remember one question that he asked me: Why do you put on your pants one legat a time? I told him that if you tried to put both legs into your pants at the same time,you would fall over. Brilliant, dont you think?


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As a result of this decision, I turned 17 in March, 1960, and graduated high school threemonths later.

Every year we had to go to the nurses office and get shots. I hated that. When I wasreally young, Mom and I were walking to a doctors office and she said I was going to

get a shot. I thought she meant someone was going to point a gun at me and shoot me.Maybe thats where my dislike of shots began.

When I was in elementary school, I used to walk home with a group of kids and wewould get into mischief. One time, I picked up some rocks and chucked them into thestreet. One time, a rock bounced up and hit a car in the windshield. Turned out to be ournext door neighbor on Wooley Road. Mom marched me over to the house and made meapologize to the lady driving the car and promise to pay for the damage. That was atraumatic (but learning) experience for me on being responsible for my own actions. Thebill came to $30.00 and it took me a long tome to earn it so the debt could be paid.

I remember quite well the day I got baptized. At least I remember going down into thebaptismal font with Dad and being immersed in the water. It was warm and felt quitegood. Afterwards, I got dressed and was confirmed. Then I ran around the church withsome other kids. Mom and Dad were not too happy with that. This was in the Elm Streetchapel.

When I got a little older (probably around 10 or so), I took on a paper route with the LATimes. I would get up each morning at 4 AM and ride to the home of the man responsiblefor all of the carriers and pick up the papers. I would have to go get my stack of papersand fold them and put rubber bands around them. Then I would stuff all the papers Icould into a cloth paper carrier with pouches in the front and back and slip it over myneck and climb on my bike. Or sometimes I would put the paper holder over thehandlebars (see the picture).


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With a full bag of papers, it was often hard to steer my bike, and I would often tip over toone side or the other.

It usually took me about 2 hours to make all of the deliveries. Sundays were hard becauseI had to make at least two trips (the papers were so big I couldnt take them all in one

trip). On Sundays, the manager would use a special machine that tied and secured strongstrings around the papers to hold them together. Rubber bands were not strong enough.After I arrived back home, I would go back to bed and Mom would wake me up when itwas time to get ready for school. At the end of every month, I had to go collecting,sometimes going two or three times to some doors before they would pay up. And, Iwould try to get starts: - new subscriptions. If we got a certain amount of starts, we wonprizes. The hard thing was keeping track of starts and stops and coming out even on thenumber of papers picked up and delivered. Finding addresses in the dark was always fun!I think I made around $20/month with the paper route.

One Christmas, all I could dream about was getting a model airplane with a real gas

motor. The plane I was interested in was a red plastic one with an .049 engine that I wasfascinated with. The .049 refers to an engine displacement of .049 cubic inches. It was areal motorized model airplane that you could fly around in a circle with control wiresconnected to a handle that you pulled on to make it go up or down. That plane cost about$13.00, and I begged and pleaded for it, but to no avail. I was really disappointedChristmas morning when there was no plane under the tree.

Wen Mac airplane. .049 engine. $13.00

I was always fascinated with model airplanes. The shed under the pepper tree contained aworkshop for Dad, but I soon made space in it for my own hobby of making modelplanes. I remember being so excited to buy a kit and go to work on it. These kits hadseveral sheets of balsa wood with the patterns for the parts stamped in blue right on thewood. The idea was to follow step-by-step assembly directions, which involved using arazor-sharp X-Acto knife (from which I suffered many cuts) to cut out the parts. And thenuse tubes of Testors glue to attach the pieces. After the wings were assembled, theywould be covered with thin tissue paper and painted with dope to make them stronger. It


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was a very tedious process, but the end result was really worth it. The wings lookedsomething like this before adding the tissue paper:

I did put together some kits and added a gas powered motor. To get the motor running,you would attach battery wires to the glow plug to get it glowing red hot and then primethe engine with model airplane fuel and flip the propeller to get it started. I was neververy successful in getting the engine to run long enough to actually launch the plane. Idid get a lot of propeller nicks on my fingers, though.

When money was less available, I enjoyed buying gliders and throwing them into the airto get them to do acrobatics. Sometimes, I would buy the ones with a rubber-bandpowered propeller. Guillows was a popular brand.


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My first memories of church attendance were at the Oxnard Community Center indowntown Oxnard. My Moms brother Rollo taught our Sunday School class.

Cecile Richards wrote this about the early days of the church in the area:

On 24 July 1938 our first Sunday School was held in Oxnard at the Oxnard CommunityCenter. This was done under the Santa Barbara District Presidency. At that time therewas no branch in Oxnard; the members went to Ventura. On 18 September 1938 ourmission president, Aird Mac- Donald, came and Oxnard Branch was organized and itwas announced that all members south of the Santa Clara River should attend Oxnard.This included Hueneme, Camarillo, Saticoy and Simi. Writing this has made me thinkback to all the good times we had. Not much money, but we lived close to the Lord andprospered. Seems like we were always trying to raise funds for something. Wewere a non-complaining gang and it always turned out great. Cecile Richards.

As the branch grew, the leaders thought it was time to construct a chapel for the Oxnard

area. A site was picked out on Elm street in Oxnard. In August 1949 the site for the ElmStreet chapel was purchased and on 1 March 1950 building began. The chapel wasdedicated on 9 December 1951 by Elder Spencer W. Kimball.

Here is commentary from Dad on the new chapel:

Harold W. Taylor came with his family from Monterey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, to Oxnardin April 1945. He reminisces on the construction of the Elm Street chapel:

We began building the Elm Street chapel in March 1950 and, as I recall, the Churchheadquarters furnished either 50% or 70% of the cost. At this time Elm Street was thesouthernmost east-west street in Oxnard. There was a small sub-division west of Cstreet and Wooley Road and another starting with Ash, Birch, Cedar and Date Streets.From Elm Street to Pleasant Valley Road there were a few farmhouses on either side ofSaviers Road. Practically all of the rich farm land was planted in lima beans.

There were about 8,000 people in Oxnard in 1945. Being bilinqual, I applied for the jobof a census taker in 1950. I was assigned the Colonia area which, at that time, was totallyHispanic except for a dozen families of blacks living on Mariquita Street. There was oneAnglo living in a hotel. The rest of the 2,000+ people with Hispanic names constituted atleast 95% of Oxnards Hispanic population.

Since the Bushman Brothers were the prime contractors for the Elm Street building, wewere able to furnish a large percentage of our share of the building cost in labor. Whilethe chapel was being built, however, a four-unit apartment building adjacent to thewoefully inadequate parking lot on the west side of the chapel was built using the skills ofboth members and those less active (a lot of them). My recollections of working on thatedifice are mostly of carrying one-by-six sheeting boards up the stairs to the roof andthen nailing them in place while carpenters wielded their Skilsaws to fit them into thevalleys and ridges of the roof.


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Saturdays found a big crew of able-bodied men and older boys digging the footings withpick and shovel (no trenching machines) and since ready-mix cement was either notavailable or prohibitive in cost for Saturday delivery, we had a large cement mixer ablyoperated by Manson Bushman who kept a line of wheelbarrows busy wheeling the cementup the ramps to the footings and the floor of the gymnasium and, finally, sidewalks. I

have 16 mm color movies of these activities and, when shown on rare occasions, the fondmemories of the unity and dedication of the Oxnard Branch members come floodingback.

As Brother Manson Bushman will attest, the raising of long 2X6 sections of thegymnasium walls required a lot of manpower and was accomplished without accident orproblem.

After the cement floor had cured for an appropriate length of time, the laying of theparquet floor in the gymnasium began. I helped on that installation. I recall that a finishcarpenter, Lowell Chatwin, was hired full-time to do the final carpentry, making

doorjambs, putting on the moldings and hanging doors.

As I was unemployed about that time, I spent quite a lot of my free time working in thechapel with Brother Chatwin. I learned a lot of valuable carpentry skills which I madeuse of when I began building our home in Camarillo three years later.

Considering the amount of unskilled labor used in constructing the chapel, we wereindeed fortunate to escape serious injuries to anyone. The nearest thing to a seriousinjury happened when Lewis Leake (later to become one of Oxnard Wards bishops)stepped on a ceiling tile above the hallway and crashed through with more hurt to hisdignity than to his leg, which was slightly skinned. Lew and his wife, Sydney, are now ona mission in Singapore and India (1989).

After the tedious cabinetmaking and other finish carpentry came the painting. As I wasa professional painter, I felt quite smug when painting the window sashes and paneswithout using masking tape, as most of the men and quite a few women did to keep thepaint off the glass.

When the pews arrived, one of the Santa Barbara District Presidency, Karl Haws, (whowas a distributor for the Fuller Paint and Glass Co.) came down, mixed up severalgallons of stain and gave us hints and instructions on doing a professional job.Unfortunately, mahogany does not withstand the wear and tear that oak does andscratches and blemishes soon appeared on much of the woodwork.

When the mahogany framework of the stage was nailed in place, the different shades ofthe mahogany wood used were very noticeable. Fortunately, we had an elderly less-active brother of German origin who was a master painter and, with the magic touch ofhis brush, was able to grain the wood so that the different boards and molding matchedperfectly.


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We had a brother Bill Bradford, an electronic engineer, who installed a panel for soundand lighting which, at that time, was considered quite sophisticated.

One of the minor glitches in the design of the building was that of the baptismal fontwhich required two eager young men with mops and buckets to soak up the water in the

hallway as the newly baptized and those who performed the ordinance made their way tothe rest rooms to dress.

There was a courtyard approximately 50 X 85 feet which is now covered withclassrooms. On one end was a huge brick fireplace which was used frequently for MIAand ward dinners and socials.

Also, the courtyard was used on many occasions as an additional area for dances whenlively conga lines and square dancing enticed some of the younger members to enjoy thefresh air.

The Elm Street chapel has indeed had an interesting and worthwhile life during thesealmost forty years and, with an occasional remodeling and refinishing, there is no doubta lot of life left in it. -Harold W. Taylor

Here is a picture of the chapel today at 290 E. Elm Street.


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When I was attending at the Elm Street chapel, Mom bought me a suit. It had no liningfor the sleeves or pants and was made of wool, or something else that was very scratchyand uncomfortable. I hated that suit, because every time I moved, something was pokingme. She called it a chip suit although I had no idea what that meant. Nina Eastwoodwas the Primary teacher and was always so friendly and enthusiastic. All of us kids loved

her. The Primary room was at the west side of the building and had a large window.There were a lot of Sundays that I would sneak out that window, along with Bill Fisher,Gordon Eastwood, Jimmy Kortum, Clayton Netzley, and Ted Richards, and make ourway to a small convenience store to buy goodies, then come back later and finish church.We also had metal folding chairs. We discovered that if you folded them up, turned themover, then stomped on the underside of the seat, you could pop the metal in the seat out ofplace so that when someone sat back down, the seat made a loud pop as the metalsnapped back into place. We called it loading the chairs. The primary room doubled asa Scout room, and that is where I learned knot tying, morse code, and studied to beprepared to earn merit badges. Brother Gene Harris and Bill York were some scoutleaders I remember. Also brother Grant Dial. Some of my memorable scouting

adventures are:

Joshua Tree National Forest. Lots of Yucca plants and cactus. Desert. John Muir Trail out of Bishop (packing in and out by horseback). Jumping into

ice cold mountain ponds, getting rained on and pulling plastic sheets over outheads while in our sleeping bags and ant swarms. Trout fishing at Ladder Lake.

San Felipe Bay in Mexico (we found a place to buy fireworks and set them offclose to our leaders tents). I remember some amazing sunsets and moonrises overthe water. Also, exploring the tidepools for little fish, crabs, and octopus. BrotherDial was pulling a boat and it fell off the trailer on the way back home.

Lou Cvijanovich was my 7

th

grade basketball coach at Wilson Jr. High and my 8

th

Gradebasketball coach at Haydock Jr. High (the Haydock Hurricanes). Under his leadership,our team won the Rotary Club tournament championship on March 19, 1956 (I was 12,just one week from turning 13). We beat the team from Santa Clara Catholic school. Hethen coached my baseball team at Camarillo High School. After that, he went to SantaClara Catholic High School in Oxnard, where he coached for 41years, becoming thewinningest boys basketball coach in California history. I called Mr. C on 9/8/09 andspoke with him for a few minutes. He remembered me (as Mickey Taylor)! He is now 83and suffering from 3 herniated disks in his back,, but told me he does not want anoperation. We had a short conversation and I thanked him for the life lessons he taughtme.

Lou Cvijanovich

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lou Cvijanovich was the boys basketball coach forSanta Clara High School in Oxnard,California from 1958-1999. He is the winningest high school basketball coach inCalifornia history, with 829 wins.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_High_School_(Oxnard)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxnard,_Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxnard,_Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxnard,_Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxnard,_Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_High_School_(Oxnard)


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In addition to his 829 victories, Cvijanovich led the Santa Clara program to threeCalifornia State Championships (1989, 1990 and 1999), 15 CIF Southern Section titles,the second highest total in California history, and 30 league championships, the mostever.[1] He coached several players who moved on to collegiate careers, includingNickJones andB.J. Ward.

Cvijanovich was inducted into the California High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1999,the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1998, the National High School Hallof Fame in 1997 and the Ventura County Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1996, Santa ClaraHigh School re-named its gymnasium "Cvijanovich Gymnasium".[1]

In addition to his time as the basketball coach at Santa Clara, Cvijanovich was the headfootball coach for 17 years and the head baseball coach for 11 years. He posted 104 winsin football, earning a pair of CIF championships and seven league crowns. In his time asthe baseball coach, Cvijanovich guided the Saints to a 114-30-2 record, one CIF title,and five league championships.[1] He is the only coach in California prep history to win

CIF championships in football, basketball, and baseball.

UCSB Basketball head coachBob Williams was quoted in 2004 saying: "CoachCvijanovich has meant so much to basketball in the state of California, but more thanthat he has been a great teacher and a tremendous role model for young people." [1]

In addition to his monumental basketball achievements, "Coach C" (as he is lovinglyreferred to by Santa Clara High School faculty, students and alumni) maintained a rigidand robust physical education curriculum, which he developed during his esteemedcareer at Santa Clara High School. A consummate physical education proponent, LouCvijanovich understood the importance of weight training and an overall sense of

physical and spiritual well being, especially for young people. This emphasis stemmedfrom Cvijanovich himself, in terms of his own physical prowess, which has becomelegendary. It is rumored by many students that the familiar sounds of Coach C's forcefulgrunts and groans echoed throughout the hallowed halls of Santa Clara, as he wasknown to bench in excess of 400 pounds, through powerful thrusting repetitions on theweight bench, well into his late 70's.

Cvijanovich began coaching all sports at Santa Clara in September 1958 after shortstints at Wilson Junior High and Haydock Junior High in Oxnard and Camarillo High.

"He has to be the biggest figure in Oxnard, period," said Shon Tarver, the player who ledSanta Clara to its basketball state championships in 1989 and 1990 and who now playsprofessional ball in Japan. "Everyone knows Coach C. He stressed for me to get mydegree more than anything else. It would have been embarrassing to come back and seeCoach and not have that degree."

Haydock Jr. High (where I attended 8th grade) still looks exactly like I remember it. Theonly change is the addition of tennis courts and that the basketball standards in theblacktop area used to go north and south instead of east and west. Here is a picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIF_Southern_Sectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Joneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Joneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._J._Ward_(American_football)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventura_Countyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Santa_Barbarahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Williams_(basketball_coach)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Williams_(basketball_coach)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Santa_Barbarahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventura_Countyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._J._Ward_(American_football)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Joneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Joneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Cvijanovich#cite_note-http-0#cite_note-http-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIF_Southern_Section


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The little red square is our house at 220 West Wooley Rd. The red lines show theroute I took to 6th Grade each day on my bike. I couldnt find Woodrow Wilson Jr. Highon Google Earth. Maybe it was demolished. It was in North Oxnard.

In those days, the basketball shoes to wear were the Chuck Taylor All Star Conversehigh-top models. They ran around $8.00. The first ones I bought were in 7th grade (1955).

1955 was also the year Bill Haleys Rock Around the Clock ushered in the era of rockand roll, Elvis Presley, and the like. I remember listening to these songs when I attendedWilson Jr. High. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5fsqYctXgM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5fsqYctXgMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5fsqYctXgM


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To the east of the Handy Spot, on Wooley Road, there are two places worth mentioning.The first is a sugar beet factory, located on the north side of the street, and the second is adrive-in movie theater, on the south side of the street.

Here is the sugar beet story:

In 1897, Albert Maulhardt invited Henry and Robert Oxnard of San Francisco to lookinto the possibility of building a sugar beet factory in this area, which at the time wasknown as Bayard. The town site was defined as Wooley Road on the south to MagnoliaBoulevard on the north; from Saviers Road on the east to "F" Street on the west. Thestreets, all 80-feet wide, were named alphabetically north-south, and numbered east-west. The majority of the 1,500 residents of this community resided on the R.J. Hillproperty, where Oxnard Boulevard, Saviers Road, and Wooley Road all converge - nowknown as Five Points.

The sugar beet factory was built and the population of this area swelled rapidly. The

Oxnard brothers, who also had a very successful sugar beet factory in Chino, California,returned to San Francisco having never resided in this community. A Civil War veteran,Major A.J. Driffill, was installed as the president of the sugar beet factory. The sugarbeet factory at one time was the second largest producer in the United States.

I used to walk up to the factory now and then with Mom. They had some kind ofrefreshment booth by the factory where we could buy treats and I remember some giantpalm trees close to the factory. There were also acres and acres of sugar beets across thestreet from the factory. When the factory was processing beets, the smell permeated theair.

The Sky-View drive-in theater was a cool place to go. It had a capacity for 1000 cars andI remember going there lots of times with the folks and later on in my teenage years aswell. It had at least two screens (and maybe three). It was torn down in 1995.


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Back in the day, Oxnard had a nice little downtown area with a plaza filled with trees andgardens. Around the plaza were a variety of shops and stores. On Sunday evenings, afterchurch, Mom and Dad would take me down to the plaza and we would park the car andwalk around. We frequented a small shop (sort of like an old time 7-11) where theywould let me buy the latest comic books and get a treat or two. I always looked forwardto that little excursion.

The Oxnard public library was located on the northwest corner of that plaza. Here is apicture and blurb about the library. The large palm tree to the right is on the central plaza

I mentioned.


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The structure, resembling a Greek temple with Doric columns on three sides, was builtfrom 1906-1907 as a Carnegie library. Industrialist Andrew Carnegie initially gave$10,000 toward construction of a public library for the City of Oxnard, but as the planswere to be drawn, the city decided to build a more expensive building that could alsohouse the city's municipal offices and city hall. In July 1906, the city signed a contract


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with Thomas Carroll for $14,000 to build the dual-use facility. Carnegie agreed to payhalf of the additional appropriation in addition to the original $10,000 gift Oxnard's firstmayor, Richard Haydock, selected the Greek Neo-Classical architecture, which wasdesigned by Los Angeles architect, Franklin Burnham.

The building opened on May 15, 1907, and five years later, Oxnard could boast that itslibrary had "the largest circulation of any city of the sixth class in the State. In 1923, athree-story addition was built on the east side of the library. The structure continued toserve as Oxnard's city hall until 1949 and as the Oxnard Public Library until 1963

Here is a shot of the plaza. The library is at the northwest corner across from the plaza.Today it is called the Carnegie Art Museum. The sporting goods store where I bought allmy sports equipment growing up was located in the block just east of the plaza.

The reason the library is memorable is that one summer when I was 8 years old, I entereda reading content at the Childrens Library (this library was located in the basement of thelibrary).along with almost 1500 other kids. The contest was called the Circus Vacationreaders program. You could check out a certain number of books each day, take themhome and read them, and then come back the next day for more. I faithfully did thisduring the summer of 1951 and by the end of the summer had read 175 books. I won thecontest. More details are recorded in my scrapbook.


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When I was around the same age, I got signed up for swimming lessons one summer atthe Meadowbrook Plunge in Thousand Oaks. I would take a bus along with other kidsand we would spend some time there learning how to float, swim, and dive. Here is apicture. There is also a picture on my scrapbook.

Memory Joggers:

Going with Dad to visit members in the Colonia area of Oxnard.

HT with DadHT with Ted Richards (100%)Sons of Helaman car clubGet photo of scout outing from my room and scan itTrips out to Jimmy Kortums house in country (Margie)Weeding and hunting at Broome RanchWeeding bean fields and being chased by beesThrowing walnuts at cars from walnut treesMy crazy aunt Margie swearing in bedroom. Walking past Eucalyptus trees and beingscared of men in them. Close calls at pier and with needles.Bus trips around town babysitting?

Crime spree with bullets.7th grade Wilson school. Mr SiefertSunday night excursions to buy comic books and a treatHigh jumping and accident at Oxnard HighChuck Taylor All Star Converse high top canvas basketball shoes around $8.00


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I will use the below blurb later.

I served a mission to Chile from November 1962 to May 1965. When I returned back toCamarillo, things had changed a lot after 30 months away. But I was excited to be home

and make adjustments to a new life. Little did I know that over the summer and fall Iwould meet and fall in love with a beautiful brown-eyed girl named Dee Dee Dodgewhom I would eventually marry and have as an eternal companion.

When Dee Dee and her family moved to Camarillo, I was teaching young adult SundaySchool. I remember being up in front of the class and seeing a very attractive young ladythat caught my attention. It was the eyes (plus a whole lot more).

That summer, the Camarillo ward was putting on a musical titled Summer Sounds,which was also the title of a hit song by Robert Goulet that was made into a 45 rpmrecord in 1965. So Dee Dee and I were able to get to know each other better during the

course of that musical (singing, dancing, and you know ).

We had contact on and off during the summer she dated, I dated, but I kept my eye onher. Later in the year, she actually asked me out on a date to see the movie Shenandoah(Jimmy Stewart) and The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock). Since I didnt have a car of my own,she took me in her 1957 Chevy and we had a great time.

I re-entered Ventura Jr. College in the fall to study electronic engineering and sheattended Mt. San Antonio college (Mt. Sac) in Walnut, while staying with her aunt inCovina, California. We saw other more often and dated as time went by, and on January25, 1966 we became engaged. I proposed to her in her parents home in Camarillo hardest thing I have ever done, getting up the courage to ask her. I remember she waswearing a green-and-white checked dress and was absolutely gorgeous. I was so relievedwhen I finally asked her and she said yes. I had a splitting headache afterwards. I hadbeen looking for a bolt of lightning from on high to tell me yes, she is the one. I guessthat bolt must have come after all when I was looking the other way, because I sure had aheadache from all of it.

After that decision was made, we never looked back. We have had a wonderful 41 yearstogether. Dee Dee has had many, many challenges in her life, but had had great faith anda very positive outlook on life. I will tell our children that all of your happy genes comefrom Mom, not me. I dont know how she does it. And talk about a worker I cant evencount the number of family dinners, parties, reunions, gatherings, picnics, and outings shehas organized and pulled off without even very much help from me. I love her andcherish her. She is a queen in my book and I am so lucky to have her by my side.

Now, she thinks she is getting older, but I want to tell her she just keeps getting better.We have been blessed with a great posterity six children, 16 grandchildren and stillmore to come I am sure. When it really comes down to it, family is all that matters. DeeDee is really the center of our family and I am there to help out when needed. I hope you


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all remember that and cherish her as I do and always give her the attention, respect, andlove that she so deserves at this stage of her life.

Dee Dee I love you. What more is there to say?

Jos A. Muguerza (December 7, 1858 March 14, 1939) was a Mexican bornentrepreneur and philanthropist who is best known for founding one of Mexico's mostimportant healthcare facilities, Muguerza Hospital, now known as Christus MuguerzaHospital. Based in Monterrey, the hospital which started in 1934 grew to become theMuguerza Group. In April 2001, Muguerza Group partnered with Christus HealthSystems in the US and formed the Christus Muguerza Group alliance, the largesthealthcare system in northern Mexico. Along with other prominent businessmen,Muguerza served as founder and board member of other great Mexican enterprises suchas Cervecera Cuauhtmoc, Banco Mercantil de Monterrey (now Banorte), Cementos

Mexicanos (now Cemex), and the Compaa Fundidora de Fierro y Acero de Monterrey.

ASARCO Company History--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1899Asarco organized as American Smelting and Refining Company. Included in originalconsolidation were mines and mining claims in Colorado and Mexico. Major plants in

consolidation included: Globe by-products plant (Denver, Colorado), East Helena leadsmelter (Montana), El Paso lead plant (Texas).1901Merged with M. Guggenheim's Sons. Included in the merger were the Perth Amboycopper refinery (New Jersey) and smelters in Mexico (Chihuahua lead smelter, San LuisPotosi lead and copper smelter, Monterrey lead and copper smelter). Acquired fiveadditional mines in Mexico.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1858http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christus_Muguerza_Hospital&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christus_Muguerza_Hospital&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterreyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cervecer%C3%ADa_Cuauht%C3%A9mochttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banortehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cemexhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banortehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cervecer%C3%ADa_Cuauht%C3%A9mochttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monterreyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christus_Muguerza_Hospital&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christus_Muguerza_Hospital&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1939http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1858http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_7

mick taylor life history

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