Husband, Father, Leader, Teacher, and Business Owner

Growing up in rural Marshall County, I learned the value of faith, family, and education. After graduating high school in 1982, I attended Bethel College for two years but was then faced with the reality that my family could no longer afford my education. Undeterred, I worked in a wire factory, saving enough money to return to school. I then graduated from I.U.S.B. and studied German at Die Freie Universitaet in Berlin, Germany. Coming home from Europe, I decided not to attend graduate school but to work for a while and save money. My grandfather, who was a paratrooper in World War II and one of my heroes, suggested that I follow in his footsteps and drive eighteen wheelers for a while. And so I did. Two and a half years later I had paid off my undergrad loans and saved enough money to pay for most of graduate school.

I attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, earning my Masters degree in Health Administration. After working for the University of Missouri Health System, I began one of my life’s greatest adventures. I spent five years as a teacher in South Korea. It was there, on a cold weekend night twenty-three years ago this past January that I met my wife, Lina. After two years of marriage, we moved to Oklahoma where I was the administrator of a small for-profit hospital. Our daughter, Bella, was born there. We eventually moved on to a critical access hospital in Ohio where my son, Adam, was born just a year after our arrival. Responsible for each organization’s financial health as well as building an effective, joyful culture, I gained valuable executive experience in these positions. Eventually we returned to South Korea where I again taught and started my first business. I had finally found the professional combination that brought me great satisfaction and also allowed me to be the kind of husband and father that I know I am intended to be.

I am now a U.S. History teacher at Penn High School and owner, along with my wife, of two small businesses. As a teacher, I have the opportunity to work with our dynamic and energetic teenagers, helping to prepare them for their lives' adventures. Being a business owner fulfills the inner desire I have to create economic opportunity for my family and community. I want to bring lessons learned from all of my life experiences to our county government.