Born in Lake Forest, IL; graduated Bradley University in Peoria, IL, with a B.S. 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, and the VFW Post in Potlatch, ID; spouse: Maria for 52 years; seven children; 23 grandchildren.