Born in Lake Forest, IL; graduated Bradley University in Peoria, IL, with a BS in business management and administration (1975); commercial pilot, amateur radio operator, and 30-year USAF Master Navigator and combat veteran on KC-135 jet tankers and C-130 cargo aircraft; retired as full colonel and vice commander of the 168th Air Refueling Wing in Fairbanks, AK (2000); 11-year veteran and retired Moscow, ID, police officer; Christian conservative; life member of the NRA, Military Officers Association of America, VFW Post in Potlatch, and the Farm Bureau of Benewah County; spouse: Maria for 49 years; seven children; 22 grandchildren.