The Life & Times of Richard Swartzendruber

1960 Graduation.
1961 Enlisted in the Army with Pat Harney. Six months later, honorable discharge from the Army with a crushed ankle.
1963 Traveled to Albany, Oregon to visit my sister Gladys. I liked the west coast so much that I got a job and stayed in Albany.
1964-1967 I worked as a police officer.
1968 I received a grant to attend the new Linn-Benton Community college in Albany,Oregon toward a degree in criminal justice. While there I helped organize a student government and in 1969 I ran for and was elected the very first student body president of LBCC.
1970 I received my AA Degree from Linn-Benton Community College. Then I also married my wonderful wife LaVonne who is from the Albany area.
1972 I received my BS Degree in criminal justice from Oregon College of Education in Monmouth, Oregon.
1975 I was hired as a Deputy Sheriff for the Washoe County Sheriff's Dept. in Reno Nevada. At this time we moved from Albany, Oregon to Reno.
1982 After a two year process, I received my State of Nevada Private Investigators License and my State of Nevada Repossession License. Both licenses were used to start a new company named Pathfinder Technology Inc. I operated this company from Reno for 21 years and then I sold the company. My wife LaVonne worked for Safeway stores Inc. in their District Office here in Reno, Nevada.
1986 We bought two and a half acres on the north hill overlooking downtown Reno. There is one other two and a half acre parcel on the west side of our lot. There is a regional park that goes all the way around both our parcels so there is no other private land near us and we have a beautiful view of downtown Reno and the mountains southwest of us. Also we have two daughters who are married and live in Reno. Our first grandchild [a daughter] was born on my birthday in 1986. We are now blessed with two grandsons and four grand daughters.
1990 We bought a Hiller Helicopter through our Pathfinder company. This helicopter would carry a pilot and two passengers. Back when we lived in Oregon in 1970 we were half owners of a hiller helicopter and I at that time had received my private helicopter license. Washoe County Sheriff's Dept. has a large search and rescue department made up of volunteers all controlled by a Sergeant and a Deputy. There are nine different groups within this body,such as ATV, Four Wheel Drives, Snowmobiles, Ski Team, Water Dive Team, Search Dogs, Man Tracker ,communications and the Air Squadron. I joined the air Squadron with the helicopter. There were about 18 airplanes and our one helicopter in the squadron at that time. Each aircraft is privately owned and is called out for a search as needed by the Deputies. All search time is a donation to the county with a motto "So Others May Live". This was very rewarding for me to be able to fly helicopter and also help people in distress in so many different ways. "Yes we do save some lives". When called out, each aircraft must have the pilot and one observer.
1992 I received my commercial helicopter license and was able to do for hire work in addition to the sheriff dept. activities. The sheriff dept. did not own a helicopter until about 1997 so I got to do a lot of police activity for about seven years.
1992-2004 Lots of work and not much else to brag about so lets get to the end of this story already.
2004 At the end of December the business was sold and I became somewhat retired. The last two weekend of December 2004 we got four foot of snow each for a total of eight feet. That was the most we have ever received at one time since we have lived in Reno.
2005 Built a 1500 square foot shop at home to keep the helicopter in but later this year we sold the helicopter. I finally had rotator cuff surgery on my left shoulder and it healed very well. LaVonne retired from Safeway after 35 years of loyal service.
2006 We went on an Alaska Cruise which was the best so far out of three. We bought a 29 foot fifth wheel Montana travel trailer which now sits inside the very nice shop. We do local camping and several trips to Oregon with the Montana.
2008 We did a Caribbean cruise which was A OK but not like Alaska.
2009 In the spring I went in to have my annual pilots license physical and was informed that I had prostate cancer. God was looking out for me because I learned that here in Reno we have a leading Institute For Cancer Center where they have the newest Tomo Therapy Radiation treatment. This is where they kill the cancer cells and leave all the good cells live. I went through eight weeks of Tomo Radiation treatments. Now my PSA numbers are going down and the Doctor says the cancer is gone. Once this was done we took a cruise up the St.Lawrence sea way and back down to Boston. Then we rented a car and drove to Niagara Falls and back to Boston to fly home from there. I have been working part time for the Sheriff's Dept. as a court security officer and I used to fly the Sheriff helicopter once in a while BUT right now I am doing nothing because on December 10,2009 I had surgery on my right shoulder to repair a large rotator cuff injury. It is now almost four weeks and I am doing well but there was more pain and longer time to heal than when I had the left side done. I guess you could say this is my reason why I cannot go on the work trip this month. I am hoping that 2010 will bring less stress and more relaxation. I will be 10-42 for now.

A series of pictures will follow in another posting.