I am very
grateful to my parents, Bernie and Gige Hanrahan, who brought me up with a
very strong sense of family. My mother
still lives in Mashpee on Cape
Cod. My Dad was a decorated World War II Marine Corps veteran of Guadalcanal
(Semper Fi, Marine!) and other campaigns in the South Pacific and retired
from the uniformed division of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles
(now the Massachusetts State Police). (As a matter of fact, my Dad issued me
my first driver's license at the age of 16, after a grueling two hour
examination on the road!) My mother, Gertrude ("Gige" to all) was
always there to help her six children grow (I'm the oldest of six) in addition
to multiple careers as an office administrator and surgical scrub nurse.
I grew up
in the southeastern Massachusetts town of Stoughton, about 20 miles southwest of
Boston. After graduating from Stoughton High School in 1967, I attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst,
where I graduated with a degree in Anthropology
in 1971. So what does an Anthropology major do? Among other things, he goes
into highway/right-of-way work, real estate appraisal and commercial real
estate. Over the years, I have been employed as a right-of-way agent by the
West Virginia Department of Highways, and by the First National Bank of Boston
and Fleet Bank as a vice president of their respective commercial real estate
divisions. In the last few years, I have been self employed as a broker
developing ground sites for the telecommunications tower industry. In the
current industry downturn, I have called upon my long standing interest in
radio and law enforcement and am currently working as a dispatcher for the Kissimmee Police
Department in Kissimmee, Florida. Additionally, I'm a licensed Florida
real estate broker. (View resume).
On
the personal side, I've been married to Jane for 20 great years, and am the
proud Dad of three grown kids and two grandkids. Erik, my oldest, is a
commercial charter pilot and flight
instructor in Arizona, Air Force veteran and graduate of Arizona State University.
My hobbies
and interests are varied. I have a life long interest in amateur
radio which culminated in an Amateur Extra class license, W1WH. Former callsigns held are KA8EUE, KA1KF and W1VFR.
My other primary interest is aviation, particularly general aviation flying.
I'm a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight
Southeast, an organization of volunteer pilots which provides free
emergency medical transportation for those in need. I'm also a member of AOPA (the Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association), and recommend that you check out their site if you're interested
in getting started in aviation. I'm 
also into GPS (Global Positioning System) uses and
technology, which I've used extensively while piloting and in the course of
developing wireless telecommunications sites as well as multipointing
(an unusual hobby involving the researching exploring of various locations
where multiple boundaries intersect. I'm the creator of a boundary and
multipointing-related group list called BoundaryPoint).
Jane and I
are also members Mensa of 
and
belong to its local chapter, Central
Florida Mensa. Other
interests include off-roading in my Jeep, reading and listening to classical
music and Jimmy Buffett.
