We came to live in Bend by chance, driving from the hazy Valley to (what was then) dingy Klamath Falls, looking for a place to live that was not as expensive as Hawaii, where we had been living. It was 1971, we knew no one, had no contacts, no job in Bend, and Ann was soon to become pregnant. We were a modern pioneer family.

For the next twenty years we raised a family and were employed. Don worked full-time first at North Pacific Products (the largest maker of the smallest planes in the US), later as a mover of household effects, a janitor, and finally a career as a research chemist. Ann was a stay-at-home mom and later a part-time bookkeeper. During that time, Ann became the first bookkeeper for Bend Aid (14 years), a helping agency based at the Red Cross. In her spare time she also filled in as secretary for the American Cancer Society, helped conduct glaucoma checks for the Red Cross, helped start the local La Leche League group, and did a county library inventory (before computers). She also helped with eye screening tests for the Happy Learners Kindergarten. Before leaving for Tacoma in 1999, she had put in 8 years driving once a month for Meals-on Wheels. During this time, Don became involved in driving and shopping for Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers, an organization designed to help people remain independent and at home.

We left Bend for the school year 1999-2000 to care for grandkids. When we returned, retired and at a loose end, we remembered Habitat for Humanity, a home and hope building organization introduced to Bend by the son of Chuck and Miriam Stein returning from his work with the International group in South America. Our church was still heavily involved, so it was an easy introduction for us.

Don started with the ReStore and spent the next six years doing once or twice a week truck runs to pick up donations. In the summer of 2001 we picked up our hammers and became framers. We mostly spend about six hours a day, three days a week in a crew building from foundation to sheet rock. We’ve helped build twenty-three homes, and de-constructed a house on Miller that was built with sawdust in the walls for insulation and a pistol in the attic easily reachable through the ceiling by the front door as an early domestic alarm system. On Silver Lake our crew demolished a barn and a house trailer. We filled 9 huge dumpsters. Ann likes de-construction so much she has joined Les Alford’s deconstruction team that benefits ReStore by salvaging sites that will be remodeled.

Ann sews some of the quilt tops ( over 500 at home ) and spends 3 hours a week sewing them into quilts with the Presbyterian Quilters who give the quilts away to community agencies as well as sending them on many mission trips with people from area churches traveling to Mexico, Central America, Cuba and even to Africa.