David L. Taiclet was born on August 28, 1963, in Winamac, IN, a farming community of 200 residents, to Gordon and Dorothy “Dot” Taiclet. He grew up, along with his siblings Teresa, Rebecca, Pamela, Danny and Barbara, working on the family’s small farm and other businesses. Dave attended the University of Notre Dame on a […]
Mary Beth Geraci was born in Sheboygan, WI, on April 21, 1964. Her parents, Judy and Doug Born, were both teachers and instilled in her a passion for lifelong learning. She says she is grateful for the wonderful life they gave her and her sister, Jennifer Rutten. Mary Beth attended Sheboygan North High School and […]
Richard W. Hartel was born October 22, 1951 in Brooklyn, NY, to Paul and Wilma Hartel along with his three sisters and two brothers, Irene, Kathy, William, Paul and Nancy. After graduating from Sewanhaka High School, Rich says he did not know what he wanted to do other than go to college and keep learning, […]
Peter W. Blommer was born on October 11, 1963, in Evanston, IL, to Henry (Hank) Joseph Blommer Jr. and Helen Story Smith. Including Peter, his parents had a total of seven children during a span of 15 years — Janet Jennings, Joe, Tori Blommer-O’Malley, Mary Carreno, Steven and Katie. Peter says his father always pushed […]
Scott E. Hartman was born on March 13, 1959 in York, PA, to Stewart and Joann. Along with his brother Terrence, Scott represents the 10th generation in the Rutter’s Farm Stores business that dates back to 1747. Scott started working in his family’s c- stores stocking and cleaning shelves when he was 12 years old. […]
Richard A. Brindle, Jr. (Rick) was born on January 21, 1960, in Washington, DC, and is the oldest of six children to Richard A. Brindle, Sr. and Maria. Growing up, anytime he could Rick would go to work with his father, who was with Safeway Stores and who also owned a couple of restaurants before […]
Mary L. Villa was born on May 5, 1960, in Spokane. Growing up with her six siblings, Donald, Michael, Richard, Dianna, Anita and Thomas, she says her parents Shirley and Cornelius Bird, had to be creative – they couldn’t just go out and buy what they wanted. Her father would spend time at the library […]
Basant K. Dwivedi was born in December 1945, in Arga, India, as the only child of Brahm Bandhu, who died when Basant was two, and his mother Ram Rupa. With an early dream of becoming an engineer, Basant says he “sees chemicals” in his head, which helped earn him a BS from Panjab University and […]
Raymond J. Cote, Jr. (Ray) was born in Bridgeport, CT, on February 26, 1958. His father, Raymond Sr. died at the very young age of 35 following a tragic industrial accident. Ray says his father ensured he gave as much as possible to provide an even better life for his children, which include Ray’s three […]
Sara B. Clair was born to Jim and Jane Bancroft on July 17, 1958, in San Francisco. After attending Head Royce School, she went on to earn a BA from Stanford University in 1980, and a MA in 1982. While working in catering during high school, her dream job was to be a recipe tester […]