Family Life 1971 -1982
Fayetteville / Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Upon my return from my second tour in Vietnam, we moved old brick officers’ quarters on Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Marilee’s mother, Irene came to live with us. Being an accomplished piano and organ player, she soon landed a job playing at a fancy Greek restaurant in Fayetteville. Marilee became the hostess at the same restaurant.
We decided to buy a house and picked one that was in the early stages of construction. We got to pick out colors and many other custom details to suit. I was able to wire the house with stereo outlets in every room while it was still being framed. A significant factor in deciding to buy the house was I’d been told I could expect to stay at Fort Bragg until retirement. A couple of years later, we moved to Würzburg, Germany with a new assignment.
A frightening day occurred when I saw my youngest daughter Teresa lying flat on her back in the middle of a street. She was out cold. Although an ambulance had already been called, I put her in the car and we took her to the Army hospital on Fort Bragg. She had a concussion but was otherwise okay.
Würzburg, Germany
Upon arrival I was billeted in Bachelor Officers’ Quarters. When Marilee and the kids arrived, we were assigned to the upper floor of a leased German house in Kist, just outside of Würzburg. The owner of the house was still working on the ground floor and basement, so he was frequently around, along with his two daughters. In spite of differences in language, all of the kids got along very well. I found our girls were picking up German very quickly.
Our landlord invited us to dinner once. It was on this occasion that we were introduced to an egg liqueur. I didn’t expect to like it but accepted to be polite. It was delicious.
Kist was a typical small village which didn’t have “grocery stores.” Rather you bought bread at the bakery, meat at the butchers, eggs from a farmer, etc. Of course, we did our shopping at the commissary on post.
We finally got American neighbors when a captain Ralph Shrigley and his wife Trudy arrived just down the street. We struck up a friendship with them that lasted until we returned to the U.S.A.
A few months later we were assigned government family quarters on post. Our quarters were on the third floor which had the advantage of not having to listen to neighbors above us.
Lacey, Washington.
We returned to Washington State during the summer of 1977 to retire from the Army and start a different kind of life.
Marilee and I lived in my truck-mounted camper parked in the driveway of a good friend (and former in-law) while the kids slept in her house until we bought a nice three-bedroom house in Lacey.
In September, I enrolled in The Evergreen State College near Olympia where I pursued studies in psychology with a goal of a career as a psychological counselor. Marilee was employed at Madigan General hospital adjacent to Fort Lewis. After a year of counseling during my internship, I decided counseling was not for me.
Marilee and I separated in 1981 and were divorced in 1982. A significant cause was my refusal to even consider getting a job. My firm belief was that I was a retired army officer and didn’t want to be known as anything else— period. Also, I had discovered that my retirement pay was better than a lot of people working a 40-hour week.
Lacey, Washington — New Family
I met Mary Potegal at a United Singles dance January 9th, 1982. While talking between dances we discovered a mutual interest in movie musicals. We discovered neither of us could remember who the female was in the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. There was no Internet with search engines in those days. I went to the Lacey library and found a book with movies casts and synopses. I found the star was Jane Powell. The next day, I looked up Mary’s address and rang her doorbell. When she opened the door I said “Jane Powell”. She was surprised I had remembered her name was Potegal and was impressed that I’d went to the trouble to find the answer as to who played Millie in the movie.
We married June 5th, 1982 at The Evergreen State College during their Super Saturday pre-graduation celebration. They had to shut down the helicopter rides until our outdoor marriage ceremony completed. During the ceremony a young woman came through our guests with a box of kittens she was giving away.