On June 12th, 1931 in Detroit, Michigan I was born John Morton Stong, son of Clair L. Stong and Elizabeth Murphy Stong. Both of my parents were natives of Iowa. Clair was born in Douds, Iowa in 1902 and Elizabeth was born in Ottumwa in 1903. My first memories as a small child are in Lakewood, Ohio where we lived for a short time. It was while we lived in Lakewood that my only sister, Marjorie Ann was born at a hospital in nearby Cleveland. Presently Marjorie resides with her husband Don in Fair Oaks, Texas near San Antonio. I started school in Eastchester, New York. By the third grade we had moved to nearby Scarsdale, New York.
Radio became an interest at an early age. Initially I was an avid shortwave listener. I learned of amateur radio from my father who had been licensed as 9BRG but was no longer active. We studied code and theory together and earned amateur radio class 'b' licenses. My father became W2PFM in February, 1946. W2POY was assigned to me in May of 1946 just one month before my 15th birthday.
School was difficult for me attending the very excellent Hill School in Pottstown, PA from 1946 to 1949. My parents divorced in 1949 and as a result I attended Scarsdale High School for my senior year. Following high school I joined the U.S. Navy for four years and attained the rank of Radioman 2nd class. After my release from the U.S. Navy I worked as an electronic technician while attending Columbia University night school. After working in design and development for six years at the Technicon Corporation, I transferred to sales where I moved up to Western Regional Sales Manager. At the present time I am Western Regional Sales Manager for Precision Systems, Inc. of Natick, MA. Precision Systems is a manufacturer of biomedical chemical and analytical instrumentation.
Today I have two grown sons, Michael and Nicholas. They both reside in the Denver, Colorado area. Michael is a computer scientist completing his masters degree. Nicholas works in manufacturing and has two sons. I married Marilou Abella in 1988. We have two sons, Omar and Vincent. Omar is 19 and attending St. Augustine Catholic High School. Vincent is 10 and attends St. John's of the Cross Catholic School. My wife, Marilou is a Certified Nurse Assistant and works for San Diego Hospice, San Diego, California.
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