grew up in Sherman,
Maine as a middle child - one of 5 brothers. He
attended Katahdin High School and Barrington College.
He enjoyed art, drama, music, and chess. He
excelled in the math and science fields setting school
records for achievement.
Early employment was working on a farm - picking
rocks, fixing fence, harvesting crops, etc. It was
hard, but satisfying work.
He began his career in Information Technology
while participating in the College Work Study Program at
Barrington where he worked in the Business Office.
It was there that he first made contact with data
processing equipment, learning how to "program" older
systems known as "unit record" equipment. He
assisted in the conversion to a small computer system in
the early 70's writing applications for the budget
process, the grading system, the general ledger and
student history.
He started work for the State of Maine in April,
1975 as a Computer Operator on their large Honeywell
mainframe (later BULL), moving up through the years to
Senior Computer Operator, Shift Supervisor and then
transferring into Software Technical Support where he
maintained the State's data network. He eventually
"inherited" responsibility for the entire system.
He took early "retirement" in 2002 partly due to
down-sizing, but has continued to provide part-time
support. He "pioneered" many innovations as new
technologies became available -- the first person in the
office to use a desktop PC and terminal emulation, the
first State implementation of FTP (including a
statistical analysis application), implementation of
TCP/IP protocols, installation of high speed laser
printers, implementation of distributed print
technologies, part of a team for the first Voice
Response system, etc.
Rick has attempted to complete his under-graduate
degree a couple of times. Besides the required
technical job training classes, he studied electronics
through the DeVry Institute of Technology, Information
Systems Management through Kennedy Western University
and Business Accounting through Husson College.
Besides his technical skills, his talents include
wood-working, knitting and crocheting, general home
maintenance and repair, and cooking.
With the insistence of a vocal instructor, he
discovered a talent for singing tenor and has since
enjoyed participation in church choirs, community chorus
and several solo selections.
