Legislator Details
Vital Records Information:
Marital Information:
Number of Children: 0
Background
Education:
Meteorological training while serving in the United States Air Force, earning ameteorological technical degree in Atmospheric Science from the Community Colleges of the Air Force;
attended Northwestern Michigan College
Biographical Sketch:
He began a career as a broadcast meteorologist in 1991, working for Northern Michigan radio and television stations, including WTCM-Traverse City, WATZ-Alpena, WBCM-Boyne City, WJML Petoskey, WMOM in Ludington WWTV/WWUP TV 9 and 10 in Cadillac, Chief Meteorologist for WPBN/WTOM TV 7 & 4 News and WGTU/WGTQ 29 & 8 in Traverse City. He served 10 years in the USAF, based in Idaho as an observer and was sent to Germany as a forecaster in 1987. He joined the American Meteorological Society in 1987. He was an instructor at Northwestern Michigan College teaching Aviation Weather. He was a spokesperson for the FAA on related subjects dealing with weather in the aviation community and was an agricultural and Forensic Meteorologist. He attended Sacred Heart (Catholic)Church in Elk Rapids. His hobbies included various martial arts, competition Tae Kwon Do, golf, hiking, camping, boating, scuba diving (ice dive, search and rescue, deep water and shipwrecks), underwater archaeology, flying, baseball, golf, NASCAR, Red Wing hockey and hunting. He has served as media representative for the U.S. Marine Reserve Toys for Tots for over a decade, was past-chairman, founder and past president of the Grand Traverse Bay Underwater Preserve where he spearheaded and organized the first Underwater Tourism Summit in the Great Lakes region. He was appointed a member of the Michigan Underwater Salvage and Preserve Committee for 2 terms and was a member of the Northern Michigan Mutual Aid Dive Team, based out of Charlevoix County.
Notable Facts:
He was a licensed pilot.