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(I had five siblings, two of whom were already in college).

I was leaving to go to the Coast Guard Headquarters to accept an appointment when my father’s business partner told me, “I know you are being pressured to accept this appointment.  Do not accept the appointment unless you truly feel the ocean is calling.”  I went down for the acceptance meeting at the San Pedro US Coast Guard Headquarters.  The office is on a hilltop overlooking San Pedro and Long Beach Harbors.  I stood on the porch and stared out at the ocean; no mermaids called me!!  So, I informed the officer, I could not commit to a career in the Coast Guard. The officer recommended that I go to college for one year and to reapply if I was still interested.  He promised I would get an appointment.

This was during the spring break of my senior year.  Not the best time to apply to college for the fall semester.  Surprise, Notre Dame and Duquesne Universities accepted me with late admission due to the Coast Guard appointment process.  I did not want to go East for college.  So, I pleaded with my father to let me remain on the West Coast.  After negotiating for a while, he asked,  “Well, where do you want to go?”  My mind went blank!  I lived near Pasadena at that time and finally, I remembered USC because they were in the Rose Bowl that year. If it had been any other West Coast school, that would have popped into my mind.  I ended up a late admission to the USC School of Engineering.

Everything was going well in engineering, until I came across a copy of Time Magazine that had a picture of a taxi driver on the front page. The title was: “Can you believe this guy has a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering?”  A professor went out of the curriculum to explain this article to my class that day.  He stated, “If you do not make the transition to management by the time you are in your mid-forties, you will become not technically obsolete, but economically obsolete.”  My roommate and I went back to the dorm, convinced this was terrible, and that we needed to learn about this “business stuff.”  Dennis and I went to the counseling office and the counselor advised that if we wanted to learn about business, we should transfer to the business school our junior year and study quantitative business analysis, as the engineering math curriculum already exceeded the math requirements for the business degree.  Dennis, eventually, became a Harvard- educated lawyer.  I became a dentist.  Both of us earned our master’s degrees in quantitative business analysis and have enjoyed fulfilling careers in the Learned Professions where you can make the decisions that control the outcome of your task and that controls the welfare of your patient or client and, ultimately, where and how you live.

After graduation from the Creighton University School of Dentistry, the expectation was I would be serving in the US Army Dental Corps to fulfill my draft obligation.  In March 1973, due to the scaling down of the Vietnam War, the army waived my entire class as they no longer needed “new” dentists.  We all started scrambling to find positions.  My options were: a faculty position at the University of Nebraska School of Dentistry, an associate position in Pasadena, California, and an associate position in Burlingame, California.  I chose the Burlingame position.  In 1976, I became the third owner of this practice which dates from 1928.  Dr. White, the founder, unfortunately, contracted Tuberculosis (a common occupational hazard for dentists at that time). Dr. Daley took over the practice and practiced from the late thirties (interrupted by WW2 where he served in the Marines in the South Pacific, returning in 1946) until he retired.  Due to loyal patients, I have had the opportunity to follow the changing trends in both dental disease and the associated treatment philosophies that have changed over my 52-year career along with insights from the records that date back to 1946.  The insights learned from the mentoring of Dr. Daley, an experienced and successful dentist, and later continuously caring for families for over fifty years have been enlightening.  The types of diseases, disorders, and the available technologies used to treat these conditions have changed dramatically over the years.

As of February 28, 2025, I transferred ownership of this practice to Dr. Parisa Shahi, DDS, who will be providing restorative care going forward. Presently, I provide consulting on select cases and help with minor procedures as I approach my 80^th birthday in January 2026. The focus of the practice has always been the preservation of the patient’s natural dentition throughout life.  I have done this by prioritizing definitive restorations in middle age, avoiding patchwork dentistry, and providing my dental hygienists with adequate time to provide for the all-important maintenance of my patients’ periodontal health. I am confident in Dr. Shahi’s ability to steward your dental health and this legacy practice forward.