The divorce was very traumatic for me. I loved my family and I worked very hard for all of them. Unfortunately, the pay was never enough, even with Therese working and my part time job. Raising five kids in the '60s on $100.00 a week was difficult, and eventually took its toll on both of us.
Living by myself was not an appealing prospect for me, so signing on with the Service Engineering Group gave me an opportunity to travel and be with other people. In addition, the job paid more and gave me some breathing room from my alimony and child support obligations. Whenever possible, I would give Therese some extra money to help her raise the kids. But within a year, she remarried and my alimony obligation ended.
On my second trip to California in March of 1967, my friend and co-worker, Steve Kristof, suggested that I visit the Fullerton branch of GlendaleF S. and check out one of the tellers working there. Steve worked in the same office as I did and we were part of a group of 4 from CT involved in the installation of our company's equipment for Glendale. So, one day I did go down to the Fullerton office and saw one of the most gorgeous blonds I had ever seen. Her name was Roberta Ann Shotka; Shotka being her name from her previous marriage. Her maiden name was Jackson. She had a son, Kurt and two brothers, Roger and John.Bobbie at work at GFSL
We began to talk and during the course of our conversation, she mentioned that Steve had told her about a club the four of us guys had gone to on the previous week-end. She mentioned to me that she had never been there. What could I say but "Would you like to go?" So that Sunday we went on our second date. First, we went to lunch. Then we went to see a movie; "Doctor Zhivago", and finally we had dinner at the "Body Shop". It was not a strip club as thename would suggest, but a dinner and show club, adult and a bit risque. I remember that the dinner & drinks tab was $21.00. (Remember, my pay was around $100.00 a week at the time) Our first date was really on the previous Friday. On that date, we just went out out for dinner. I left Glendale late afternoon that Friday to meet her in Fullerton at 6. The freeway traffic was so heavy and slow, that I thought I wouldn't get there until Saturday. I got there at about 6:30. The branch was closed, but she was waiting. We had a very nice dinner and talked about who we were, what we were, etc. She told me that she was divorced and had a three year old son, Kurt. I told her I was divorced and had 5 kids. Why she didn't run out screaming then, I'll never know.Bobbie with Kurt - 1967
After I left California, we continued to write to each other and of course, ran up phone bills. She said she wanted to take a trip to Connecticut so that we could spend a week together. We needed to know more about each other before we took the final step, marriage. We had talked about it, and it seemed that getting to know each other better would be the sensible thing to do since we lived so far from each other. So, in May she flew to New York's Kennedy airport, probably wondering if there would be anyone to meet her when she got there. I think her father thought her crazy to be wanting to marry someone she hardly knew, with five kids and who would probably not even show up.
This was to be her first trip anywhere by airplane and also her first trip to the east coast, so she was pretty excited about it and we were both relieved when she got off the plane and we saw each other. I was very excited about the thought of seeing her again. I had thought of her a lot since I had left California and I was very anxious to be with her again. I introduced her to my folks in Wolcott. Though I was living in the upstairs apartment at Elm St. in Norwalk, we stayed at a motel in Norwalk; a more comfortable venue than my apartment. We visited New York City, went to see a Broadway play; "The Apple Tree" with Barbara Harris and Hal Holbrook standing in for Alan Alda. She wanted to visit the Yale campus, which we did; and spent some time at the Norwalk park, where I took the [ictures above. But most of all, we made our plans to be married. It would be in August, at her home.
During the ensuing months, I continued doing my work, mostly at the Bowery Savings Bank in New York City. For at least a couple of months I was commuting to NYC every day, helping the local Bunker-Ramo office with their maintenance of the B-R system there.
In the meantime, travel had been pretty slow. I was hoping that some work would come through in California about August so that I wouldn't have to pay for my trip out there. In any case, I mentioned to my boss, Bill Folkerts, that I was planning on getting married in L.A. in August, and would he keep me in mind in case anything worked out that way. To my most pleasant surprise, he just said, "Make your own plans." So that I did. The engineering department had made some revisions to the installed equipment, work that needed to be done by us, the Field Engineering Group. So, I arranged my schedule to be in L.A. in the middle of August.
I flew to Chicago on August 2, and began work at the Talman Savings Bank, and then to Harris Bank. My work in Chicago lasted until August 10.
From there I flew to L.A. and on Friday, August 18, I took a personal day and Bobbie and I were married at her home, with just her family and my cousin, (whose first name I've forgotten) St. Pierre, and her husband who lived in Gardena, also attending. The day of our wedding, I received a phone call from my sister Rollie informing me that Therese had just married Jack Ryan.
Our honeymoon time was just that weekend at the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA. The following weekend, we went to Santa Barbara where we could enjoy some beach time. This time, Kurt went with us. I continued working until September 2. Of course, we stayed at her folks house in Placentia until it was time to leave. I turned in my airline tickets for 1st class and we boarded TWA flight 12 at LAX for New York, home and our new start.
