College, Career & Marriage

1. Circa 1957, Bob had a vicarage in Sherwood, a small city about 30 minutes southwest of Portland. In this context, being a vicar meant Bob was a pastor-in-training and Sherwood a temporary assignment while he gained experience. In summer 1957(?), Jim and his parents went on vacation to Glacier National Park. On their return trip, they visited both Bob and the campus at Concordia College in Portland. Jim loved the location and decided to apply. The campus combined a high school with a two-year college. Jim thrived while earning his two-year degree from 1957-59. Here he is (right) pictured as Vice President for the graduating class of 1959.

2. Jim was also a member of the Judicial Council, apparently taking the “blindfolded to represent impartiality and objectivity in the legal system” a bit too literally. Concordia means “concord” or “harmony” in Latin. Historically, Lutheran schools have attempted to have the campus address be on Concordia (e.g.: Baltimore Lutheran High School on Concordia Drive and Concordia University Irvine on Concordia West).

3. Jim played baseball for the Concordia Cavaliers.

4. Jim also played point guard for the Concordia Cavaliers basketball team.

5. Jim (center) was also Vice President of Chi Rho, a co-ed service fraternity. Chi Rho is a Christian symbol formed by combining the first two Greek letters of the word Christ, which are chi (X) and rho (P). It is one of the earliest and most common monograms for Jesus Christ.

6. While on summer break from Concordia College (c. 1957-59, 17-19 years old), Jim returned to the Dittmar house. To help pay his college tuition, Jim worked as a substitute delivery driver for the independent owner of a Helms Bakeries truck while he went on summer vacation. Here Jim is washing the delivery truck backed into the rear driveway at the Dittmar house. Notice the awning extended over the truck’s back doors. Jim was paid $100 a week.

7. Jim’s bakery truck parked in front of the Dittmar house. Helms Bakery was well-known in Southern California from 1931 until 1969—famous for its "Daily at Your Door" delivery service. The bakery was primarily based in Culver City, though Helms had no retail stores. All of their bakery items were sold by trucks, which drove to neighborhoods throughout Southern California—similar to an ice cream truck.

8. By the end of the 1960s, however, truck deliveries were becoming passe due to fierce competition from ever-expanding retail stores. The Helms Bakery concept was no longer financially viable and the business closed in 1969—some 10+ years after Jim had his temporary summer job.

9. Jim’s truck nosed toward the garage in the backyard of the Dittmar house, displaying the various drawers—six with clear glass fronts—that held fresh bread, donuts, pastries, and other baked goods. The rear awning is retracted. The signs on each door read, “Cold Cr. Puffs” and there appear to be photos of fancy cake options on the left window. Note the basketball hoop mentioned in the previous chapter.

10. Dittmar Dr back when the address was 1224 and had not yet been changed to 13932. Also, the left front of the house was flush with the front door. Adolph had the left side of the front elevation extended so it was flush with the right, leaving the door inset. The next photo shows the updated front elevation.

11. Jim visiting his parent’s Dittmar home, likely during his college years. Here the old covered porch is gone, the front door is now inset, and the left front of the house has been brought forward to match the right.

12. Jim is not certain, but this may be at his graduation in Oregon. The campus later became Concordia University, but was permanently closed in April 2020.

13. Concordia College in Portland, Oregon, was only a two-year college. This is Jim’s photo upon departing Portland (1957-1959) for Illinois. This 1959 graduation photo might just be the most serious Jim ever looked.

14. Jim transferred to Concordia Teachers College, 7400 Augusta Street, River Forest, IL, for the 1959-1961 school years. Interestingly, the college was only 8 miles from the W Cullom Ave home the family had left six years prior. Jim has no yearbook, so sadly no pictures. Jim graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. This is Jim’s 1961 graduation photo.

15. As Jim neared his June 1961 graduation from Concordia Teachers College in River Forest, IL, he hoped to land a job somewhere west of the Mississippi River—his parents now lived in California after all. Instead, he was offered and accepted a position at First Lutheran School in Towson, Maryland, as teacher and youth director. The ground floor of a home adjacent to and owned by the church had been converted into the school. Part of the appeal of extending an offer to a newly minted, young, and single teacher like Jim was, the church could offer living arrangements in the upstairs above the classroom. In this photo, Jim is decorating the downstairs classroom.

16. Jim’s first position was teaching twelve 5th and 6th graders at First Lutheran School in Towson during the 1961-62 school year. The classroom was the combined former living and dining rooms in the downstairs floor of the house. The remnants of the wall that formerly divided the two rooms is obvious in the photos. The school’s principal Fred Wunderlich was planning to retire soon, so the church saw Jim as a natural replacement once he had a few years of teaching under his belt.

17. At only 21 years of age, Jim had not lived on his own outside of college and had little interests in learning to cook for himself. He made arrangements to pay Earl and Helen Smith—church members who lived 2-3 blocks from the church and school—to join their family for weeknight dinners. Earl and Helen had two older boys and their youngest child was Bonnie. Jim and Bonnie are seen here cozied up on the couch inside the Smith’s house at perhaps Jim’s first Christmas in Towson in 1961. Jim’s robe was a Christmas gift. Earl was an official with the Baltimore County Police Department. He and Helen later visited Jim and Ruth during their early years of living in Tustin.

18. During his second year (1962-63), Jim again taught 5th and 6th graders in the downstairs portion of the house. The house no longer exists. Principal Fred Wunderlich indeed retired following the 1962-63 school year.

After teaching a Bible class on Wednesday evenings, Jim routinely went to the local Norge Laundry and Dry Cleaning to do his weekly laundry. Mildred Verdone worked for Norge and got to know Jim over his regular visits. She took a liking to him and eventually asked if he was interested in meeting her daughter Ruth.

19. Jim was in his second year of teaching and Ruth was attending Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) when Mildred introduced them. In a triple coincidence: both their mothers were named Mildred, both of their fathers had birthdays in November, and Ruth and Jim’s mom also shared a January 19 birthday. Here are Ruth and Jim, probably in Spring 1963, in the backyard at Pat and Mildred’s house at 12122 Jerusalem Rd, Kingsville, MD.

20. Ruth graduated from Western Maryland College in June 1963 and spent most of that summer traveling across the U.S. with her brother Pat and his family. Throughout the trip, she and Jim kept in touch by writing letters—a correspondence that deepen their bond.

21. On his meager teacher’s salary, Jim purchased this 1960 or 1961 Rambler Classic four-door sedan by American Motors Corporation (AMC). Ruth believes this photo and the previous one were taken when Jim visited her at her parents' house after she returned from her travels with her brother Pat and his family. She recalls not being particularly impressed by his car, remarking that it looked too much like a station wagon.

22. Now dating Ruth, Jim not only continued to teach 5th and 6th grade during his third year (1963-64), but—as anticipated upon the retirement of Principal Wunderlich—Jim was named principal. He would remain in this teacher/principal/youth director role for an additional five school years. That summer, he and Ruth were married. Shortly before the wedding, Jim was sent back to Concordia River Forest, IL, to complete classes to help him meet the many obligations as a newly-assigned 23-year-old principal.

23. Jim and Ruth were engaged and began planning their wedding for the summer 1964. Based on this announcement, apparently Adolph and Mildred had moved from Dittmer Dr in Whittier to 15125 La Forge St in Whittier. Jim has no recollection of this particular address. As was Adolph’s penchant, he and Mildred later moved to Escondido, Placentia, the Whittier Towers, and Glendora.

24. Parents Pat and Mildred kiss their daughter Ruth inside the Kingsville house on August 1, 1964—Jim and Ruth’s wedding day.

25. Jim’s beautiful bride Ruth.

26. A favorite image of Ruth on her wedding day.

27. Jim and his best man Bill Roemer shared a lasting friendship. Bill and his wife Gertrude were active members of First Lutheran Church, where Gertrude served as church secretary. Though they had a strained relationship with their own children, they found renewed purpose in mentoring Jim—a second chance to nurture someone younger. Living just a few blocks from the church, Bill and Gertrude became steady influences in Jim’s life, guiding him through his early years as a teacher and principal, and later supporting Jim and Ruth in their first years of marriage.

28. The wedding took place at Ruth’s home church: Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church, 4601 Belair Rd, Baltimore, MD. It was the church her family had attended for many years, and since Jim’s congregation at First Lutheran was too small to host a large wedding, Jerusalem provided the perfect setting for their celebration. Jim’s parents living in Whittier, CA, were unable to afford travel to MD for the wedding.

29. The newly married couple leaving the church.

30. Outside Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church. Also on the steps are Joyce, Miriam, Marie, and Chris (identified further in Photos 31 & 32).

31. Jim and Ruth with the Verdone family: Pat (brother), Paul (brother), Jim, Pat (father), Mildred (mother), Donald (Pat’s son), Ruth, Lynne (Paul’s wife), Joyce & David (Pat’s kids), and Mary (Pat’s wife).

32. The bridal party: Marie Verdone (Ruth’s cousin and Vera’s younger sister), Miriam Evans (Ruth’s best friend from college), Virginia (“Ginny”) Cameron (Warfield), maid of honor Vera Verdone (Ruth’s cousin), flower girl Joyce (Pat’s daughter), Ruth, Jim, best man Bill Roemer, Chris Dunker (friend from church who played baseball with Jim and whose youngest brother was also in Jim’s school), Pat and Paul (Ruth’s brothers).

33. Cutting the wedding cake at the reception held inside the meeting hall at Jerusalem Evangelical Lutheran Church.

34. Ruth feeding Jim a slice of wedding cake.

35. Ruth and Jim in the back seat of a Buick Skylark owned by Jim’s best man Bill Roemer. Ruth was now a teacher, and another teacher from her school needed a car delivered to her brother’s house in San Francisco. Jim and Ruth agreed to drive the car to him as part of their honeymoon. They used Bill’s Skylark for the wedding, so the other car remained ready for their big trip. Because Jim’s parents could not afford the trip to MD, Jim and Ruth used the occasion to visit them. They also visited Disneyland, where Jim got Ruth a large stuffed animal that Ruth had to carry with her onto the plane for their flight back to MD. At the time, Jim and Ruth could scarcely have known that six years later they would live only ten miles from Disneyland.

36. After flying back from their cross-country honeymoon travels, Jim and Ruth moved into the bottom right apartment at 222 Donnybrook Ln, Towson, MD. The apartments had been recently renovated for students attending nearby Towson State University. They lived here for approximately two years, from roughly 1964-66, while both taught at separate schools.

37. This photo was probably taken during the 1964-65 school year—out of the converted house and into the newly build school. This was Jim’s fourth year teaching, his second year as principal, and his first year of marriage.

38. Ruth believes Jim’s parents may have visited them in Maryland during the early years of their marriage. This photo of Adolph, Jim, and Mildred appears to be at the Kingsville house.

39. From the apartment on Donneybrook Ln, Jim and Ruth moved into a row house at 1603 Thetford Rd, Towson, MD. Steve and Amanda visited with their boys while attending Mildred’s funeral (Ruth’s mother) following her passing on September 27, 2000.

40. The 1967-68 school year was Jim’s seventh year teaching and his fifth as principal—roles he would hold for only one more year at First Lutheran School. Prior to the 1969-70 school year, the pastor of First Lutheran Church had an affair and left his family. The ensuing controversy effectively marked the end for First Lutheran School.

41. Thankfully, in the years leading up to the dissolution of First Lutheran School, a man named Herbert Stuenkel had been busy establishing Baltimore Lutheran High School (now Concordia Preparatory School, 1145 Concordia Dr, Towson, MD). As the high school was being formed, Jim served with Herb on the school’s board. When finally established, Herb became its founding principal. Jim’s ninth year of teaching (1969-70) hanging in the balance, Herb offered Jim a position as teacher and coach at the high school. Jim accepted and also completed his Master of Education degree from Towson State University that year. This is Jim outside the Thetford Rd house in his master’s gown in June 1970. With so much on Jim’s plate, Ruth often jokes that she too earned his master’s degree.

42. A decade earlier in 1959, plans to establish a Lutheran high school in Orange County, CA had begun. Momentum was gained in 1969 when Herb left Baltimore (after hiring Jim) and moved to California. Herb knew two things: Jim wasn’t truly happy working at the high school (he preferred to work at a school attached to a church), and Jim had family in CA. When Herb learned Clyde Showalter, the senior pastor at Red Hill Lutheran Church in Tustin was looking for a principal to serve their school, he recommended Jim. Herb would become the founding principal of Orange Lutheran High School when it finally opened in 1973.

43. In March 1970, Jim and Ruth welcomed their first child Stephen. Shown here is a congratulations notice on a bulletin board at Baltimore Lutheran High School. Below the notice is a sign for the Drama Club’s April 3 presentation of A Bull in the China Shop at Calvary Lutheran Church.

44. Jim in his master’s gown and Steve (approximately 3 months) in June outside the Thetford Rd house.

45. Brooks Buick opened in the early 1930s on Mt Royal Ave in Baltimore, before moving to Towson. The owner of the dealership had kids enrolled in First Lutheran School and he bought his wife a new car every year. Probably in 1968, he made a very good offer to Jim and Ruth on the wife’s one-year-old 1966 Plymouth Fury III convertible, and Ruth rid herself of the ugly Rambler. This photo of Steve (approx. 3 months), Jim, and Beagle Holly is beside the relatively new Plymouth in the driveway of Pat and Mildred’s house in Kingsville, MD. This photo was probably taken in early June 1970 shortly before Jim, Ruth, Steve, and Ruth’s parents flew to meet family in CA and interview with Clyde Showalter.

46. With a summer trip already planned to visit Paul and Lynne in Sacramento and Jim’s parents in Escondido, it was relatively simple for Jim and Ruth to meet with Pastor Showalter at Red Hill Lutheran Church, as arranged by Herbert Stuenkel. Jim was later formally offered the principalship. Here is another classic Mildred Verdone photo featuring half of Paul (Ruth’s brother) holding son Danny, Lynne (Paul’s wife), Jim, Steve, Ruth, and Pat (Ruth’s father) outside the California State Capitol in June 1970.

47. Though neither Jim or Ruth could be certain, this photo was likely taken in August 1970 as the family drove from their home in Towson to their temporary digs inside the church-owned apartment adjacent to Red Hill Lutheran Church.

48. Red Hill Lutheran Church and School, 13200 Red Hill Ave (right). The church also owned several residences that backed onto the church property, including the grey house to the left. When Jim, Ruth, Steve, and Holly arrived in August 1970, they initially moved into the upstairs portion of the house, which had an address of 13232 ½ Red Hill Ave.

49. A few months after moving into the small apartment beside the church, Jim and Ruth bought this home 1.6 miles away at 14426 Silverbrook Dr, Tustin, CA, for a mere $42,000.

50. This would be the family’s home for 16 memorable years. Note the addition of the pale yellow Buick LaSabre 4-door sedan with black hardtop in the driveway. The family of four would eventually make a cross-country trip towing a tent-trailer behind this car.

51. Christmas 1971 (based on Steve standing in the background) inside the Tustin home, Jim opening his Master of Education diploma from Towson State College mounted on a plaque suitable for hanging in the principal’s office at Red Hill Lutheran School.